Back to newsletter list 04/02/2007 22:46:16 (UTC) Canada | World Briefs | Business News | Sports | Weather Headlines  - Survey shows record number of bilingual Canadians. - Canada adds more money to foreign aid. - Conference seeks to determine future of Quebec culture.
MONTREAL: SURVEY SHOWS RECORD NUMBER OF BILINGUAL CANADIANS A new cross-Canada survey shows that more Canadians can speak both official languages, English and French, than ever before. The survey also shows that public support for bilingualism has increased over the past three years to 81 per cent of those questioned. The survey was part of an opinion poll commissioned by Radio Canada, the French network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It questioned two thousand Canadians. The survey was taken on the fortieth anniversary of a government commission that opened the way for official bilingualism. In 1969, Canada became officially bilingual, offering government services in either language. In the early 1960s, about seven per cent of Canadians outside of the mainly French-speaking province of Quebec were bilingual. The new survey shows the number is now 16 per cent. MONTREAL: CANADA ADDS MORE MONEY TO FOREIGN AID Canada is contributing CDN$14.5 million to a non-governmental agency that aids developing countries. The federal minister of international cooperation, Josee Verner, announced the contribution on Sunday, saying that it would be used to help improve living conditions for people in developing countries in South America, Africa and Asia. The money will be distributed by the Society for International Cooperation and Development, a non-profit Canadian agency based in Montreal that Ms. Verner said 'helps people in developing countries take their lives in their own hands.' MONTREAL: CONFERENCE SEEKS TO DETERMINE FUTURE OF QUEBEC CULTURE Academics and students were among a hundred delegates from across the Canadian province of Quebec who attended a weekend conference in Montreal to discuss the future of Quebec's culture. The conference took place amid a growing debate about the extent to which Quebec-born citizens should accommodate immigrants' foreign cultural customs. In the past week, two Quebec villages adopted regulations warning immigrants that they should learn local customs or stay away. The co-president of the Montreal conference, Celine Saint-Pierre, said that the villages' move shows what she called 'a certain fragility in Quebeckers' identity.' She said that Quebeckers should better learn their history and heritage so that immigrants will know clearly the society that they're joining. But other delegates warned that too much emphasis on Quebec's culture could create an atmosphere of hatred and mistrust of foreigners. TORONTO: TWO CANADIANS REPORTED SHOT IN MEXICO Two Canadians were reported injured in a shooting at a hotel in the Mexican resort city of Acapulco on Sunday. The injuries are not serious. Unconfirmed reports say that the couple is from Woodbridge, Ontario, the same town of residence as Adam Deprisco, a young Canadian who was killed in what Mexican police called a hit-and-run accident several weeks ago. His family believes that he was beaten to death by a local gang. In December, a Canadian man was killed in a car accident in Guadalajara. Last year, a Canadian couple who were also from Woodbridge were found murdered in their hotel room in Cancun. Canada's government warns its citizens to be wary of danger while travelling in Mexico. TORONTO: SEARCH ON FOR CANADIAN MISSING IN EAST AFRICA Canada's Foreign Affairs Department is trying to find a Canadian citizen who disappeared after he was arrested in east Africa more than a month ago. Bashir Makhtal is an Ethiopian-born Somali who came to Canada in 1991 and became a Canadian citizen three years later. He returned to Somalia in 2001 to start his own business. Mr. Makhtal was arrested trying to cross into Kenya on his Canadian passport in an attempt to escape the war in Somalia in late December. MONTREAL: STUDY GIVES CANADA EDGE OVER UNITED STATES A new study by Montreal's McGill University concludes that Canada's policies toward families give Canada a competitive edge over the United States. The study was written in part by Jody Heymann, the director of McGill's Institute for Health and Social Policy, and a founder of the Project on Global Working Families at Harvard University in Boston. It compared U.S. government policies with those in 173 countries around the world, including Canada. It found that the United States has no guaranteed form of paid maternity leave, and has no laws limiting work hours in a week or ensuring paid sick days. Ms. Heymann says that countries that invest in their citizens' ability to work and to raise children are more competitive. Such countries are also better able to lower poverty rates and keep citizens more healthy and better educated. Although the study showed Canada leading the United States, it also concluded that Canada could improve its policies by offering federal protection for women who breast feed at work and implementing some effective provincial policies, like Quebec's daycare program, at the national level. Ms. Heymann's team is preparing a second study comparing Canada's policies with those of the rest of the world. EDMONTON: GOVERNMENT MINISTER DENIES CUTS IN PRISON STAFF Canada's Public Security Minister on Sunday denied newspaper reports that 300 federal prison guards would lose their jobs. Stockwell Day was commenting on a report in the Globe & Mail on Saturday. The newspaper used information provided by the guards' labour union, citing a study last year by Correctional Services Canada. Mr. Day says that some guards might at times be re-assigned to new locations, but no jobs will be lost. Canada has 54 federal prisons across the country. WINNIPEG: PAKISTAN FAMILY MARKS SIX MONTHS IN SANCTUARY A family from Pakistan that took refuge in a church in Winnipeg hopes that Canada's new immigration minister, Diane Finley, will reconsider their claim as refugees. The Raza family has lived in the Crescent-Fort Rouge United Church for the past six months. The family's members are Shiite Muslims. They say that Pakistan's Sunni Muslim majority will persecute them if they return. The family's initial refugee application and subsequent appeals were all rejected. Churches in Canada have traditionally offered refuge to people seeking sanctuary. Canadian police largely respect church grounds, but still have the power to enter and arrest illegal immigrants. CAIRO: EGYPTIAN WITH CANADIAN CONNECTION CHARGED AS SPY Egypt has charged three Israelis and an Egyptian man who has a Canadian connection with spying for Israel. Mohamed Essam Ghoneim el-Attar has been described both as a Canadian citizen and as a man who falsely obtained a Canadian residence permit. Canada's foreign affairs department is trying to determine his status. He was arrested in Cairo several months ago, but news of his arrest was reported only now. Egypt also laid charges in absentia against others members of a suspected spy ring who are in Turkey and Canada. Egypt says that the Israelis recruited Mr. Attar while he was living in Turkey in August, 2001, and that Israeli intelligence agents assisted him in obtaining a residence permit in Canada under a fake name and found him work in a bank. SANTIAGO: CANADIAN KILLED IN CHILE HOTEL FIRE A Canadian woman was among ten tourists who were killed in a fire that destroyed a small hotel on Saturday in the southernmost city in Chile, Punta Arenas. Police are investigating the cause of the fire. One of the victims was from Australia, three were from Germany, and four were from Argentina. Eleven hotel guests escaped. Six of them had minor injuries. OTTAWA: NEW NATIONAL FOOD GUIDE IS READY Canada's government will unveil its first national food guide in 15 years on Monday. The federal health minister, Tony Clement, will participate in its launch. The new edition is reported to be representative of the cuisines of Canada's different cultural groups. The book has been under preparation for the past six years.
IRAQ Violence in Iraq killed at least 22 people on Sunday. In Baghdad, two car bombings killed eight people. Dozens of other people were wounded in other bomb attacks around the capital. Iraqi soldiers detained 32 militants and seized weapons hidden in four places. The bombings came one day after a truck bomb killed 132 people and wounded more than 300 others in a Shi'ite area. It was the second-deadliest in Iraq since the invasion of the country by U.S.-led forces four years ago. On Sunday, the U.S. military said that four of its helicopters that crashed in the past two weeks had been shot down by insurgents. A total of 20 soldiers and private security guards were killed in the crashes. BRITAIN Britain's government has admitted that 15 British soldiers under the age of 18 were 'inadvertently' sent to fight in Iraq in contravention of a United Nations protocol on children's rights. Defence Minister Adam Ingram said that the 'vast majority' of the young troops had been within a week of turning 18 when they were deployed, or were removed from the war zone less than a week after arriving. No one was under 17. Mr. Ingram said that no soldier under 18 has been sent to Iraq since July, 2005, and measures are in place to ensure that it does not happen again. INDONESIA Floods that crippled much of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, in the past three days worsened on Sunday. About 340,000 people have been left homeless. Overnight rains caused more rivers to burst their banks, sending water up to two metres deep into more residential and commercial areas. At least 20 people have died. GAZA CITY Gunmen from the rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, retreated from their positions in Gaza on Sunday and began to enforce a new cease-fire. Both sides exchanged hostages and jointly began to patrol the streets to monitor the cease-fire. Previous ceasefire agreements to end factional fighting over the last several weeks have quickly broken down. More than 25 people died in fighting in the last five days. At least sixty people have been killed since January 25. KUWAIT Kuwait's parliamentary committe on Sunday approved draft legislation that grants landmark benefits to women. The proposed bill allows women to seek government housing, increases paid leave to 70 days from 40, and grants maternity leave for up to two years. The legislation must be passed by parliament and signed by the emir to become effective. Parliament is expected to debate the bill in March or April. AFGHANISTAN An air strike by NATO-led forces in southern Afghanistan killed a senior Taliban leader on Sunday. He and some of his associates were struck while riding in his car near the town of Musa Qala. A town resident identified the leader as Mullah Abdul Gafoor. Taliban militants captured the town on Thursday, driving out local police. An agreement between local tribal elders and the Taliban forbids NATO ground troops from approaching the town. Following the agreement, British troops withdrew from the town. Britain's military says that it will use surgical strikes to drive the Taliban out of the town. On Sunday, British General David Richards turned over command of Afghanistan's NATO troops to U.S. General Dan McNeil. JAPAN Voters in Japan gave a setback to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday, rejecting his candidate in an important local election in Tokyo. Voters became angry at the government after the health minister, Hakuo Yanagisawa, called Japanese women 'birth-giving machines' who had to stop the country's falling birth rate. An opinion poll on Sunday showed for the first time that more Japanese disapprove of Mr. Abe than approve. His support was put at 40 per cent compared to 65 per cent support last September. Japan holds parliamentary elections in July. HONG KONG Thousands of maids from the Philippines marched through Hong Kong on Sunday to protest a controversial labour law proposed by the Philippines government. The proposal would require each maid working overseas to undergo a two-week training and assessment programme at a cost of US$215-$320. Maids in Hong Kong earn about US$450 a month. The proposal has angered millions of Philippines citizens working abroad. The demonstration in Hong Kong was part of a worldwide effort to pressure Philippines President Gloria Arroyo to scrap the proposal. ECUADOR Ecuador's President, Rafael Correa declared on Saturday that his government would suspend contracts with any foreign oil company that needlessly damages the environment. Mr. Correa said that the government is investigating suspected irregularities committed by companies involved in polluting the country's Amazon jungle region. The probe could focus on Brazil's Petrobras and its explorations in the heart of one of the world's biggest protected natural reserves.
CALGARY: GOVERNMENT GIVES MONEY TO AID HOMELESS Oxford House Foundation, an agency in Calgary, Alberta, Canada's has received CDN$876 thousand from the federal government to buy three homes to provide temporary housing for 15 people who might otherwise end up homeless. A Foundation spokesman, Ralph Watson, said the agency was looking at three months' notice to vacate the properties. The former owners of the houses were putting them up for sale, and the government money means the foundation can now buy them. Oxford House has 23 properties in Calgary in which about 100 clients were at risk of living on the streets. The residents cooperate to manage the homes while paying rent, working or going to school.
HOCKEY The Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime on Sunday, 4-3. Penguins' star Sidney Crosby was hit in the lip by a Canadiens' stick, but no penalty was called. On Saturday, the Calgary Flames took over first place in the NHL Northwest Division after beating the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, in a shootout for their fourth win in a row. John Pohl scored the winning goal. The Edmonton Oilers beat Colorado, 3-2. The Montreal Canadiens lost to the New York Islanders, 4-2, after leading 2-1 in the third period. BOBSLEDDING Canadian Pierre Lueders and his team won the silver medal in the four-man bobsled event at the world championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Sunday. Ivo Rueegg of Switzerland won the gold. Germany's Andre Lange won the bronze. SPEED SKATING Canadian Cindy Klassen won the bronze medal in the women's 1500-metre event at a World Cup long-track speed skating meet in Turino, Italy on Sunday. On Saturday, she won the bronze in the three-thousand metres. In the men's pursuit, Canada's team of Arne Dankers, Denny Morrison and Steven Elm won the gold medal. BASKETBALL The Toronto Raptors beat the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, 122-110. LACROSSE The Toronto Rock won its second game of the season on Saturday, beating the Bandits, 13-8. The Calgary Roughnecks beat San Jose, 15-11. Colorado defeated the Edmonton Rush, 16-7.
Weather Here is Canada's weather on Monday. British Columbia will be cloudy. The high temperature in Vancouver will be nine degrees Celsius. The Yukon: cloudy. Whitehorse, minus eight. Northwest Territories: sunny. Yellowknife, minus 24. Nunavut: snow blizzard. Iqaluit, minus five. Alberta: snow flurries. Edmonton, minus ten. Saskatchewan: snow flurries. Regina, minus 18. Manitoba: sunny. Winnipeg, minus 27. Ontario: snow flurries. Toronto, minus nine. Ottawa, minus 17. Quebec: sunny periods. Montreal, minus 18. New Brunswick: mainly sunny. Fredericton, minus 14. Nova Scotia: snow flurries. Halifax, minus seven. Prince Edward Island: cloudy periods. Charlottetown, minus ten. Newfoundland: snow. St. John's, minus four.
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