Back to newsletter list 10/03/2007 22:14:50 (UTC) Canada | World Briefs | Business News | Sports | Weather Headlines  - Report wants reassessment of native policies approach - Northern leaders say changes needed on global warming - Ambassador says Canada and China doing fine in relationship
WINNIPEG: REPORT URGES SHIFT IN APPROACH TO ABORIGINALS A report by Canada's government could result in a reassessment of popular notions about the state of Canada's native peoples. The report was commissioned by the Human Resources Department shortly after the Conservative Party came to power in January, 2006. It concludes that misconceptions about native peoples have led to poor government policy. The report found that the number of employed native people is higher than usually presumed. It also found that although one in two adult native people did not finish high school, those who did are just as likely to pursue post-secondary education as other Canadians. The report recommends that the government worry less about unemployment among native peoples and devote more money to helping native peoples find better jobs or improve their job-related skills. On Friday the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva reproached Canada for a failure to act to alleviate the living standards experienced by the country's aboriginal peoples. Canada has more than one million members of the native community, just over four per cent of the population. OTTAWA: LEADERS CALLS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE MOVES Some local leaders in Canada's far north are urging the federal government to change its approach toward the problems of global warming. The environment is a major political issue in Canada, and the government has plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. But the northern leaders say that the government should pay more attention to helping northerners adapt to climate change. KINGSTON: AMBASSADOR LIKES SINO-CANADIAN RELATIONS China's ambassador to Canada is praising Chinese-Canadian ties. In a speech to a business group Friday in Kingston, Ontario, Shumin Lu said that the two nations had shown it was possible to achieve good relations smoothly despite their widely different social systems and historical backgrounds. China has become Canada's second-largest trading partner after the United States. The ambassador largely praised his country's progress in relieving poverty and improving human rights, saying 200 million Chinese had been lifted out of poverty in the past 30 years. He added that much more needed to be done. WASHINGTON: ANALYST WARNS OF 'COMMONWEALTH ISSUE' A US analyst is urging American officials to keep a close eye on how Canada enforces its immigration rules. Michael O'Hanlon, of the Brookings Institution, says Canada's immigration procedures are not airtight. He suggests that could pose security problems for the US. Mr. O'Hanlon told a homeland security subcommittee in the House of Representatives on Friday that Canadians have what he called a "Commonwealth issue." He said a lot of would-be terrorists who live in Britain, Pakistan and South Asia have direct access to Canada. Several experts at the hearing have testified the US can't ignore security at the Canadian border while it focuses on illegal immigration problems at the Mexican border. EDMONTON: SYPHILIS BECOMING A PROBLEM IN ALBERTA A doctor in the province of Alberta says that an increase in local syphilis cases is due to the province's booming economy. Dr. Ameeta Singh of Edmonton says that more than 200 cases of syphilis were diagnosed last year, an increase of 40 per cent from the year before. Eight of the cases are infants who contracted the disease from their mothers. Dr. Singh says that the number likely increased because the province's strong economy is attracting many transient workers who have money to pay for unprotected sex with prostitutes. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that can be easily cured with antibiotics if diagnosed early. But undiagnosed cases can lead to blindness, paralysis and death. REGINA: CALVERT MIFFED OVER HARPER'S FARM ANNOUNCEMENT Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert says he is not impressed with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's funding announcement in the province. Mr. Harper chose a farm west of Saskatoon on Friday as the backdrop to announce a $1 billion package for farmers. Mr. Calvert is miffed he wasn't informed of Mr. Harper's plans to Saskatchewan to make the announcement. Mr. Calvert, who heads a the left-of-centre New Democratic Party government, also said he was not impressed with the announcement itself. FREDERICTON: NB TASK FORCE SAYS ALCOHOL BONDS NEEDED A New Brunswick task force says the province should float a billion dollars worth of alcohol bonds to finance key investments. The province's self-sufficiency task force released its third report Friday. It says private investors should be allowed to take a financial position in the New Brunswick Liquor Corporation through a long-term bond issue. The financial return would be financed by NB Liquor revenues. The report says the money should be invested in transportation infrastructure and a high-tech system to electronically link together the province's health-care system. The bond issue would allow the province to remain in control of the profitable corporation. HALIFAX: TOBACCO MERCHANTS GET BRIEF REPRIEVE Nova Scotia retailers have an extra few months until they are banned from displaying tobacco products behind their counters. The legislature passed a number of changes to the Tobacco Access Act last fall. The changes include banning large displays of cigarettes -- known as "power walls" -- by the end of this month. But the government now says its granting stores a three-month grace period. Retailers have until June to change how cigarettes are stored and displayed. Signs featuring the colours and logos of tobacco companies, and any other materials advertising their products must still be removed by March 31st. OTTAWA: EARLY TIME CHANGE GOES INTO EFFECT Most of Canada moved clocks forward one hour overnight Saturday to Daylight Saving Time. Daylight Saving Time comes three weeks earlier than Canadians are accustomed to and will last one week later, ending on November 4th. The change aims to exploit daylight as much as possible to save electricity. Canada decided to follow the lead of its biggest trading partner, the United States, in making the earlier changeover. But two large areas in Canada will remain on Standard Time: the western province of Saskatchewan and the northern territory of Nunavut.
IRAQ At an international security conference in Baghdad Saturday, Iraq begged its neighbours to cut off cross-border shipments of cash and weapons to extremist groups fighting on its territory. Aside from a bland pledge to "fight terrorism and enhance security," the parties remained far apart on other issues, with the US delegation accusing Iran of arms smuggling and Tehran demanding a US military withdrawal. Iran's envoy dismissed allegations that his country was fomenting violence in Iraq and instead blamed the fighting on the presence of US forces. Three kilometres away in Shiite east Baghdad, a bomber slammed a truck laden with explosives into an army checkpoint at the entrance to Sadr City, killing 26 people. Other violence, including another suicide bombing and insurgent bomb and gun attacks around the country killed at least 10 other people. URUGUAY US President George W. Bush held talks Saturday with Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez on the second leg of Mr. Bush's five-nation tour of Latin America. Mr. Bush continued to press his message of goodwill toward the region. He did not acknowledge verbal attacks by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who taunted Mr. Bush as "political dead meat," at an "anti-imperialist" rally in Buenos Aires attended by some 35,000 people on Friday. Mr. Bush and Mr. Vazquez met at a presidential retreat outside Montevideo. The site provided Mr. Bush a respite from the demonstrations that are marking his tour. Mr. Bush's arrival in Sao Paulo, Brazil and later in Montevideo were marked by protests, some of which turned violent. Further demonstrations were expected as Mr. Bush heads to Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico. BOLIVIA Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez visited flood-ravaged Bolivia on Saturday to promote the fact that Venezuela has pledged 10 times more aid than the United States. However, local leaders gave him a cool reception, accusing him of meddling in Bolivian politics. Bolivia was the latest stop on a Chavez tour intended to upstage President Bush's own trip through Latin America. Thousands of Bolivians, joined by Venezuelan aid workers, greeted Mr. Chavez at the airport in the Bolivian city of Trinidad. GUATEMALA Guatemala's indigenous people, the Maya, plan to hold a spiritual cleansing of their ancient ruins after US President George W. Bush visits later this week. Mayan leaders say that the Iximche ruins are not a tourist site, and a ceremony is needed to restore its peace and harmony. The Mayans blame the United States for helping a right-wing government destroy their villages during Guatemala's long civil war that ended a decade ago. Former US president Bill Clinton admitted that the American action was wrong. Along with a visit to the Iximche ruins, Mr. Bush is scheduled to visit farms and schools west of Guatemala City. He arrives in Guatemala on Sunday night. MIDDLE EAST The designated Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniya, will have an additional two weeks to form a new unity government. Mr. Haniya made the request Saturday to President Mahmud Abbas, who agreed. On the same day, unidentified gunmen fired on a convoy transporting a government minister belonging to Hamas. Three people were wounded. In the West Bank city of Ramallah, dozens of Palestinian writers, academics and other intellectuals marched to protest the Hamas-run Education Ministry's decision to pull an anthology of folk tales from school libraries. AFGHANISTAN Six people died in Afghanistan Saturday as a result of a bomb explosion near an armoured vehicle used by an important tribal elder. The elder, Mullah Naqeeb, and nine others were in the vehicle when it was damaged by a remote-controlled roadside bomb near Kandahar. The elder was among three people who survived. The Taliban declined responsibility for the bomb explosion. KOSOVO A UN envoy says yearlong talks on the future status of Kosovo have ended in deadlock. That reflects bitter divisions between Serbia's government and the disputed province's pro-independence ethnic Albanian leadership. The envoy, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, said there was no will on the part of the parties to move away from their positions. Mr. Ahtisaari will deliver the contentious package to the UN Security Council by the end of the month. TIBET Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Saturday marked the 48th anniversary of his country's unsuccessful uprising against China by criticizing China's new railway link to Tibet. Speaking at his base in exile in Dharamsala, India, the Dalai Lama said that he did not oppose projects that improve the poor welfare of Tibet. But he expressed deep concern that the new railway was bringing large numbers of Chinese to settle there. The Dalai Lama said that the Chinese influx has caused environmental damage. China proclaimed the railway an engineering marvel when it opened the 1100-kilometre route last year. TAIWAN The highest-ranking opposition member in Taiwan's government has been expelled from his party. Lee Jye is defence minister. The governing Kuomintang expelled him after he ordered statues of former president Chiang Kai-shek to be removed from military bases. The order was part of a decision by the governing Democratic Progressive Party to remain vestiges of its links to mainland China. Chiang and the Kuomintang ruled China before fleeing to Taiwan in 1949 following the Communist takeover. Mr. Lee said he regretted losing his party membership but at present was not considering joining the DPP. JAPAN There is newly revealed evidence that Japan's emperor, Hirohito, was reluctant to start a war with China in 1937. The implication is in an entry in a diary written by Hirohito's chamberlain at the time. The diary also quotes Hirohito as saying that a war 'cannot easily be stopped in the middle. What's important is when to end the war.' Japanese soldiers fought in Hirohito's name in China and in the Second World War. After the war, the United States turned Hirohito into a symbol of a new democratic Japan. INDONESIA Indonesian officials Saturday asked for patience after revealing that relief aid meant for those left homeless by a deadly earthquake was mistakenly distributed to people who did not need it. The officials called the mix-up a "technical problem," and promised aid would soon reach everyone displaced by the disaster. Many living in remote areas away from city centres have complained of dwindling food rations following Tuesday's 6.3 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 70 on western Sumatra island. ETHIOPIA Ethiopian police said on Saturday they had identified the kidnappers of a British embassy tour group abducted in the remote Ethiopian desert on March 1st. The police police did not identify the group. The three British men and two women, one French and the other with joint British-Italian nationality, disappeared in the arid northeast Afar region with their Ethiopian drivers and translators during a tourist trip. All had links with the British embassy in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia's Foreign Minister said Friday that the hostages were "safe" although still being held by their captors. SALVADOR A Latin American woman who laid claim to be the world's oldest person has died. Cruz Hernandez died in El Salvador on Thursday. She had national birth documents showing that she was 128 years old. The documents were sent last year to the Guinness World Records organization, which verifies claims to world records. But Guinness never replied. Guinness recognizes the world's oldest living person as Yone Minagawa, a Japanese woman who is 114.
VANCOUVER: BC FERRY WORKERS SURRENDER STRIKE RIGHTS The Globe and Mail reported Saturday that British Columbia ferry workers have given up the right to strike as part of a landmark nine-year collective agreement agreed to quietly by the union this past week. The last deal between the BC Ferry and Marine Workers Union and BC Ferries expired on October 31st, 2003. Arbitrator Vince Ready was appointed to deal with the situation a day later. Mr. Ready has produced a binding report that settles hundreds of issues outstanding from a bitter illegal walkout by members of the union in 2003. He awarded awarded across-the-board wage increases of 11 per cent over four years, plus trades and officer adjustments and a $1,000 bonus. The bombshell in the settlement was the suggestion by union president Jackie Miller that future contracts also be decided by binding arbitration. The proposal was accepted by the arbitrator. HALIFAX: SEAFOOD INDUSTRY HEADS TO BOSTON Dozens of Atlantic Canadian seafood companies and organizations are promoting the region's products this weekend in a major exhibition in the United States. More than 80 companies and processors from the four Atlantic provinces are set to attend the annual International Boston Seafood Show, which begins Sunday and runs until Tuesday. A group of 23 businesses, organization and government departments will set up exhibits at the event, which attracts hundreds of processors, buyers and distributors each year. The delegation, led by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, will also look to tap into new export markets. Seafood and aquaculture is Atlantic Canada's third-largest export sector, with nearly $3 billion worth of products leaving the region each year. TORONTO: CHARTER REALITY ACQUIRE MAJOR MONTREAL MALL Charter Realty Holdings Ltd., a Toronto-based property owner, has agreed to acquire the Mega Centre shopping mall in the Montreal suburb of Saint-Laurent for $36.7 million. Charter says it will acquire the retail property from RRVP Cote-Vertu Inc. In a related development, the company will also get a $20-million financing from KingSett Capital and C.A. Bancorp Inc. for the acquisition. C.A. Bancorp is Charter's principal shareholder, owning 57.14 per cent of its shares. The Mega Centre is located on the corner of Cote-Vertu Boulevard and Rue Begin. The transaction is slated to close by the end of March. Charter Realty Holdings Inc. is focused on retail and mixed-use real estate, with commercial properties in Exeter, Seaforth and Zurich, Ont.
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Friday's results: Anaheim defeated Edmonton 5-1 and Vancouver defeated San Jose 2-1 in overtime. In Pittsburgh Saturday, Sidney Crosby joined another elite group. Crosbie scored in the third period of the Penguins' 3-2 overtime win over the New York Rangers to become only the fifth player in NHL history to record 100 points in each of his first two seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Peter Stastny and Mike Rogers. On March 2nd, Crosby became the youngest player in league history to amass 200 points, at 19 years, 207 days. DOWNHILL SKIING In Kvitfjell, Norway Saturday, Canadian Erik Guay raced to a silver medal in the next to last World Cup downhill of the season. Didier Cuche of Switzerland won the gold to clinch his first discipline title in the event. Cuche raced down the Olympiabakken course in one minute 28.51 seconds, edging Guay by 0.06 of a second. It was Cuche's first downhill win of the season. Guay's medal was his fourth World Cup podium performance this season and the thirteenth for the Canadian team. FREESTYLE SKIING Canada won more medals at the world freestyle skiing championships at Madonna di Campiglio, Italy on Saturday. Canadian Jennifer Heil captured her second medal in as many days by defending her world championship title in the double moguls competition on Saturday. On Friday, Heil finished second to surprise-winner Canadian Kristi Richards in single moguls. On Saturday, Heil brought the Canadian collection to five medals at the event by winning all four of her duals. Defending champion Steve Omischl captured a bronze medal in the men's aerials final won by 2006 Olympic champion Xiaopeng Han of China. Jeff Bean was ninth in the last international event of his 11-year career. LONG-TRACK SPEEDSKATING Canadian Denny Morrison raced to a silver medal in the 1,000 metres at the world single distances speedskating championships Saturday in Kearns, Utah. Shani Davis of the United States won the gold. Lee Kyou-Hyuk of South Korea was third. CURLING Ontario's Glenn Howard defeated Manitoba's Jeff Stoughton 8-4 Saturday to reach Sunday's final of the Tim Hortons Brier in Hamilton Ontario. Howard will play Olympic gold medallist Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador for the championship. CANADA GAMES Brianne Jenner scored twice as Ontario defeated Manitoba 6-3 Saturday to win its fourth consecutive Canada Games women's hockey title. The powerhouse Ontario team finished the tournament at the games in Whitehorse, Northwest Territories undefeated, outscoring opponents 53-4. CYCLING A Spanish judge has reportedly closed a doping probe that rocked cycling last year. Reports say no one will be charged. Spanish newspapers reported Saturday that Antonio Serrano said he cannot indict anyone because a law that carries criminal penalties for doping was not in effect when arrests in the case were made. Serrano is expected to release his ruling formally on Monday. The reports say Spanish prosecutors will appeal.
Weather On Sunday: British Columbia will have rain in the south, a chance of flurries in the northwest and a few showers in the northeast. The forecast high temperature in Vancouver: 13 degrees Celsius. Alberta will have a mix of sun and cloud in the south with a chance of showers in the north. Saskatchewan will have a mix of sun and cloud in the south and a chance of flurries in the north. Manitoba will have a chance of showers in the south and a mix of sun and cloud in the north. Highs: 18 in Calgary, five in Regina, three in Winnipeg. Ontario will have a mix of sun and cloud in the southwest, sun in south-central areas, clearing skies in the southeast, increasing cloud in the northwest and a chance of flurries in the northwest. Quebec has a chance of flurries in the south and northwest and a mix of sun and cloud in the northeast. Highs: four in Toronto, two in Ottawa, six in Montreal. New Brunswick will have rain, Prince Edward Island will have periods of rain, Nova Scotia will have periods of rain or drizzle. Newfoundland has a chance flurries or rain showers over the island and periods of snow over Labrador. Highs: seven in Fredericton, six in Charlottetown, seven in Halifax, three in St. John's. Yukon will have a mix of sun and cloud in the south and periods of light snow in the north. The Northwest Territories will have snow in the south and light snow in the north. Nunavut will be sunny. Highs: zero in Whitehorse, minus-20 in Yellowknife, minus-24 in Iqaluit.
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