Families of Canadian Soldiers need our help

We send our men to fight in wars and the LEAST we can do as a country is to stand behind them and their families when they return. I read that more American soldiers died by their own hand than died in combat last year. We need to realize that war is destroying not only the warriors but their families who have already sacrificed so much. Let's all urge the Canadain govenment to respond to these people and give them the help they need!


A CBC News investigation has found a disturbing rise in domestic violence among soldiers returning from deployment in Afghanistan.Domestic violence on Canadian military bases has climbed steadily in recent years, coinciding with the return of soldiers who carry physical and psychological battle wounds home.The problem exists in military communities across the country, but is acute at Ontario's Canadian Forces Base Petawawa where a spike in cases was noted after troops returned from Operation Athena in Afghanistan in 2007.

Military police documented the trend in a 2008 report that was not released, but that CBC News has obtained through Access to Information.

Tune into The Current, March 31 at 8:37 a.m. ET, to hear CBC journalist Nancy Wood's full report. Wood's French television documentary will air on Radio-Canada's Enquête program on March 31 at 9 p.m. ET.

In the report, the independent police service notes a five-fold jump in reported cases of domestic violence after Operation Athena, when Canada's role in Afghanistan changed and troops experienced ongoing casualties.
Recommendations included reviewing psychological services for soldiers and their families. But the study was shelved.Psychology experts believe the rise in domestic violence is directly linked to physical and emotional trauma suffered by soldiers in Afghanistan, especially post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.The Canadian Forces say although that may be possible, there isn't any concrete proof the two are linked.
"We found, unfortunately, some methodological flaws in the way some of that military police data was collected and analyzed," said Col. Jean-Robert Bernier, Deputy Surgeon General with the Canadian Forces.That dismissal angers some families struggling with domestic violence in the aftermath of service in Afghanistan, who say they feel abandoned by the military.

Afghanistan changed father of four

More than a quarter of Canadian Forces troops return with some kind of "operational stress injury" or psychological problem — ranging from anxiety and depression to substance abuse.



Among those psychologically wounded, one in six will develop PTSD, a condition that triggers recurring feelings of intense, prolonged fright, flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety, insomnia and aggression.Roger Perreault is one of them."Ever since I've come back, I feel like I've lost everything, employment, life as a whole," says Perreault, a Warrant Officer in the Canadian Infantry based in Petawawa.The father of four developed PTSD after he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2006, where he was severely injured by an improvised explosive device, and watched friends die.His symptoms include insomnia, a short temper and nightmares. He has attacked his wife Fran in the middle of the night.

155 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan

"The only thing I remember of that, it's like waking up and being on top of her, and then my hands around her throat," he recalls.Fran says her husband is a good father, but changed in Afghanistan."I've got that stigma attached to me now," she said. "I'm ashamed of it. We're treating it and I think we're the brave ones because we're confronting it."

Canadian Forces says more studies needed

Roger and Fran Perreault firmly believe that their family is not alone in their ordeal. They say they know many military homes struggling to cope with PTSD-related violence.Several U.S. studies have documented a four-fold higher risk of violent behaviour among PTSD sufferers.But the Canadian Forces is skeptical about American research."They have [found] a slight correlation, but this is new research that needs to be investigated," said Col. Suzie Rodrigue, head of social work with the Canadian Forces.Rodrigue points out the military has "robust" programs already in place to help, counsel and support soldiers transitioning from the field back home.

The Perreault family says those services have fallen short for them and they've scrambled to find adequate support.They have to travel out of town for weekly marriage counselling. One of their daughters waited a year to get an appointment at a local counselling centre, where she only gets one session a month.
It's not enough, Roger Perreault says."I wish someone would just sort this out for our injured guys."

Debate over May diverts campaign

The federal election campaign took a temporary detour Wednesday into whether Green Party Leader Elizabeth May would be excluded from the televised leaders debates. The broadcast consortium that independently governs debates, made up of representatives from CBC, Radio-Canada, CTV, Global and TVA, has decided that May would not be invited to take part.
May reacted angrily, and both Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and the NDP's Jack Layton said they didn't mind her participation.Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper, appearing in Brampton, Ont., said the Tories were open to any number of formats, including one involving the Green Party. He specifically mentioned a one-on-one debate with Ignatieff."I hope that [the consortium] will consider the views of all Canadians, and everyone should be treated fairly," he said, speaking in French.
May scheduled a press conference for 1 p.m. PT in Vancouver, and CBC News has learned she has hired a lawyer to plead her case. May was initially denied a spot at the 2008 leaders debates as well, at about this point in the campaign, but in the face of threatened legal action and public opinion, May was allowed to take part.
Harper started the morning at an event with local candidates at auto parts manufacturer Hydroform Solutions in Brampton, Ont. He stressed his party's lower-tax plan for businesses and announced an extension of accelerated business write-offs for capital investments, which was propsed in the Conservatives' March 22 budget. He said this would Canadian companies invest in machinery and equipment to raise productivity and create jobs."If you want people to invest, you need to make it easy for them," he said. "Lowering taxes on investments will create and protect jobs for Canadians."
Layton reached out to small businesses, promising to cut their tax rate to nine per cent from 11 per cent and offering tax credits to help companies keep employees, but he said his party would also raise corporate taxes paid by big business to 2008 levels.

Speaking in Oshawa, Ont., Layton said the NDP would:

Offer a job-creation tax credit of $4,500 for every new hire. This would be a rebate of employer Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance contributions for a year. As well, there would be a $1,000 tax credit to the employer for people that are kept beyond the first 12 months. Extend capital cost allowances for machinery and equipment. Drop the small business tax rate from to nine per cent from 11 per cent.

Pay for this $2.2 billion program by raising the corporate tax rate to 2008 levels of 19.5 per cent from 16.5 per cent today (scheduled to drop to 15 per cent in 2012). The party estimates that the corporate tax increase would to restore $5.9 billion to general revenues.The NDP says it can create 220,000 jobs with its economic program.

Canada near top of list for asylum seekers

UN refugee agency says the number of people seeking asylum in the West dropped by five per cent last year, The agency said Monday that 358,800 people applied for asylum in the EU and 17 other countries that it surveyed in 2010.

At the peak, in 2001, almost 620,000 people applied for asylum.
Despite the overall fall, the United States — which receives one of every six applications — still saw an increase of 6,500 applications in 2010 partly due to a rise in the number of Chinese and Mexicans applying.

France, Germany, Sweden and Canada had the next highest numbers of new applications.

The largest groups of people seeking political protection last year were from Serbia and Kosovo.
The report deals with new asylum claims and does not show how many individuals were actually granted refugee status.

Cpl. Yannick Scherrer killed by IED

A Canadian soldier has been killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.
Cpl. Yannick Scherrer, 24, was killed Sunday at about noon local time while on foot patrol with the Afghan National Army near Nakhonay, southwest of Kandahar city, when the IED exploded.The Montreal native, who was on his first tour of duty in Afghanistan, was a member of the 1st Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment and based in CFB Valcartier in Quebec."Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to Cpl. Scherrer's family, and to the soldiers and friends who served alongside him," Brig.-Gen. Dean Milner, Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan, said in a statement Monday at Kandahar airfield.
"Canadians can be proud of the progress our soldiers have accomplished for the people of Kandahar province in Afghanistan. More work remains to be done."Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed his condolences to the soldier's friends and family."The relentless commitment of Cpl. Scherrer and other brave Canadians in Afghanistan is a source of pride to all Canadians," Harper said in a statement. "We will forever be grateful for the sacrifice made by Cpl. Scherrer."
Nakhonay, a battle-scarred village of about 1,000 people, has been the focus of intense counterinsurgency efforts by Canadian troops in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar province over the last year.

'Difficult nut'

In the last year here, IEDs killed at least five of the 17 Canadians who died in Afghanistan. Scores more have been wounded. "Nakhonay is a difficult nut to crack," Maj. Frank Dufault, the deputy commander of Canada's battle group in Afghanistan, said recently.Scherrer is the first Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since Dec. 18, when Cpl. Steve Martin died from an IED during a foot patrol.

Scherrer is the 155th member of the Canadian Forces to die serving in the Afghanistan mission since 2002.
Four Canadian civilians have also been killed: a diplomat, a journalist and two aid workers.

Canadian to lead NATO's Libya mission

Lt.-Gen. Charles Bouchard of Canada will take over command of the NATO mission in Libya, Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Friday. NATO agreed Thursday to assume responsibility for a no-fly zone over Libya, part of a UN-backed mission to protect civilians from forces loyal to longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. Bouchard has been designated to lead NATO's military campaign in Libya, MacKay told a briefing in Ottawa, noting the full scope of the NATO mission is still evolving.
Canadian, Lt.-Gen. Charles Bouchard will take over command of the NATO military campaign in Libya. Canadian Press

MacKay said he expected NATO to make the formal announcement shortly. He described Bouchard as a "formidable leader, with tremendous character and ability."His most recent job was deputy commander of NORAD, reporting to a U.S. general.  Bouchard, a native of Chicoutimi, Que., studied at the University of Manitoba and joined the Armed Forces in 1974, graduating in 1976 as a helicopter pilot. Among his many postings, he once served with the U.S. army at Fort Hood, Texas.

Canada has committed six CF-18s to the Libya operation, and a seventh is in the area as a backup. Two CP-140 Aurora patrol planes sent to help with the mission have arrived in Italy, MacKay said from Ottawa. In the last 24 hours, two Canadian jets successfully targeted military sites near the besieged coastal city of Misrata, MacKay said.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Defence Secretary Robert Gates have both said that American command of the operations would last only a few days.
U.S. officials say Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reached a preliminary agreement on Thursday with her counterparts from Turkey, France and Britain. But Turkey raised last-minute objections, the Washington Post reported.

De Chastelain -Great Canadian

Since November 1995, de Chastelain has been involved in the Northern Ireland peace process and since 1997 he has been Chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, which is responsible for ensuring the decommissioning of arms by paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. He has made an impact on the way that Britain has viewed the IRA since the decommissioning has begun. As part of the Good Friday Agreement an independent neutral adjudicator was selected to look over the disarmament of Republican and Loyalist paramilitary weapons in Northern Ireland. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Forum of Federations, the global network on federalism.


De Chastelain was born in 1937 in Romania of a Scottish father and an American mother. He immigrated to Canada in 1955 and was became a citizen in 1962. De Chastelain is married, and he and his wife MaryAnn (née Laverty) have two children, Duncan and Amanda, and five grandchildren. De Chastelain was educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh, at Mount Royal University in Calgary and the Royal Military College of Canada. He graduated in 1960 with a BA in history and was commissioned to the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. In 1970 he was commanding officer of the Second Battalion PPCLI. He was also Deputy Chief of Staff of the United Nations Force in Cyprus and Commander of the Canadian contingent there. As a brigadier-general, he was successively Commandant of the Royal Military College of Canada, Commander of the 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in Lahr, Germany, and Director General Land Doctrine and Operations at National Defense Headquarters in Ottawa.

As a major-general, he was Deputy Commander of the Canada Land Force then called Force Mobile Command) and Commander of the Mobile Command Division, which was exercised as such in 1985 on Exercise RV '85. As a lieutenant-general, he was Assistant Deputy Minister for Personnel, and then Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff. In 1989, he was promoted to the rank of general and appointed Chief of Defense. In 1993, he transferred to the Reserves and was appointed Ambassadors to the United States. In 1994, he was recalled to Regular Force duty after the departure of Admiral Anderson, and re-appointed Chief of the Defense Staff, from which post he retired in December 1995.

In 1985, de Chastelain was appointed Commander of the Order of Military Merit and in 1991, Commander of the Order of St. John; in 1993, he received the Commendation Medal of Merit and Honour of Greece, and was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada; in 1993, the was appointed Commander of the Legion of Merit (U.S.A.), and in 1999, he was made a Companion Of Honour from the British Government. General John de Chastelain was a recipient of the Vimy Award, which recognizes a Canadian who has made a significant and outstanding contribution to the defense and security of Canada and the preservation of our democratic values.

Dr. Wilder Penfield- early neuroscientist and surgeon

World Reknown Expert in Psychopathy is Canadian

Robert D. Hare (born in 1934) is considered the world expert in psychopathology. He is a Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia and he earned his PhD at Western in London, Ontario. He advises the FBI's Child Abduction and Serial Murder Investigative Resources Center (CASMIRC) and consults for various British and North American prison services. He has advocated for a specific diagnosis of Psychopathy for specific characteristics of criminal behavior. Currently the DSMV manual considers this to be part of the antisocial personality category.


The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) is a diagnostic tool designed to rate an adult male’s psychopathic or antisocial tendencies (newer forms also assess female and adolescents). People who are psychopathic prey ruthlessly on others using charm, deceit, violence or other methods that allow them to get with they want. The symptoms of psychopathy include: lack of a conscience or sense of guilt, lack of empathy, egocentricity, pathological lying, repeated violations of social norms, disregard for the law, shallow emotions, and a history of victimizing others. The PCL-R is used for diagnosing psychopathy in individuals for clinical, legal or research purposes. Because psychopaths are often repeat offenders who commit sexual assaults or other violent crimes again and again, the PCL-R is now being used in the courtroom and in institutions as an indicator of the potential risk posed by subjects or prisoners. The results of the examination have been used in forensic settings as a factor in deciding the length and type of prison sentences and the treatment subjects should or should not receive.

The Hare PCL-R contains two parts, a semi-structured interview and a review of the subject's file records and history. During the evaluation, the clinician scores 20 items that measure central elements of the psychopathic character. The items cover the nature of the subject's interpersonal relationships; his or her affective or emotional involvement; responses to other people and to situations; evidence of social deviance; and lifestyle. The material thus covers two key aspects that help define the psychopath: selfish and unfeeling victimization of other people, and an unstable and antisocial lifestyle. The interview portion of the evaluation covers the subject's background, including such items as work and educational history; marital and family status; and criminal background. Because psychopaths lie frequently and easily, the information they provide must be confirmed by a review of the documents in the subject's case history. When properly completed by a qualified professional, the PCL-R provides a total score that indicates how closely the test subject matches the "perfect" score that a classic or prototypical psychopath would rate. Each of the twenty items is given a score of 0, 1, or 2 based on how well it applies to the subject being tested. A prototypical psychopath would receive a maximum score of 40, while someone with absolutely no psychopathic traits or tendencies would receive a score of zero. A score of 30 or above qualifies a person for a diagnosis of psychopathy. People with no criminal backgrounds normally score around 5. Many non-psychopathic criminal offenders score around 22.

The twenty traits assessed by the PCL-R score are:

• glib and superficial charm
• grandiose (exaggeratedly high) estimation of self
• need for stimulation
• pathological lying
• cunning and manipulativeness
• lack of remorse or guilt
• shallow affect (superficial emotional responsiveness)
• callousness and lack of empathy
• parasitic lifestyle
• poor behavioral controls
• sexual promiscuity
• early behavior problems
• lack of realistic long-term goals
• impulsivity
• irresponsibility
• failure to accept responsibility for own actions
• many short-term marital relationships
• juvenile delinquency
• revocation of conditional release
• criminal versatility

The following is an excerpt from a film in which Robert Hare evaluates the actions of corporations using the concepts of psychopathy.

Water access 'a disaster' on northern Man. reserves

A man draws drinking water from the lake in Garden Hill, Man. The community's former chief is leading a push to improve access to safe water for all First Nations.“Water is a human right,” the bold headline states.
“Do you have running water? I don’t … and I live in Canada, I need your help,” reads the bottom caption.

The card is part of a campaign by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs to raise awareness about the lack of safe and clean drinking water on many remote First Nations. Addressed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, it also seeks to embarrass the federal government into doing something about it.It’s a short walk down a path in the trees to the lake from Adam Keno’s house on the Garden Hill First Nation. It’s a trip his son has to make every other day, so he can chip a hole in the ice and get water.

'It's very disturbing to think in our country there are people who have to live like this.'
—Deborah Martin Koop, Mennonite Central Committee“The size of this container, there,” Keno says, pointing to a plastic carton he uses to scoop the water into two 10-gallon pails.

“I come [get] the water, two pails, four pails to carry. After two days I come back.”
About half the homes in the Island Lakes region of northeastern Manitoba are hooked up to water treatment plants in their communities. They get water from taps, the same way most Canadians do.

Some have cisterns and get water delivered every week or two. That's Adam Keno's situation. But they usually run out between deliveries, and then they have to get water from one of the community wells or chip a hole in the ice on the lake.A third group of people doesn't have cisterns at all. They are forced to haul water into their homes, pail by pail.

Adam Keno, 69, and his family have a water cistern but are forced to get water from the frozen lake when their supply runs out. It's stories like this that have caught the attention of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). The agency is known for its international humanitarian work and helps get clean water to people in Palestine, Honduras, Kenya and Mexico.

“It's very disturbing to think in our country there are people who have to live like this. This is not a situation we think is healthy or normal in our country,” says MCC team leader Deborah Martin Koop. Koop visited Island Lakes on a fact-finding mission earlier this month.

One of her stops was the home of 82-year-old Moyer Taylor. He’s a diabetic and requires dialysis every few days. But there’s no running water and no bathroom in his house.“This is where he does his morning wash, that's his wash basin, that's his water supply,” says Grand Chief David Harper. Harper used to be the chief of this community but now represents all northern Manitoba First Nations through Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO).

“How far does a family member have to walk or drive to bring water to the house?” Martin Koop asks.
Harper goes to the front window and points to a hole in the lake. Then he leads Martin Koop past a curtain, to Taylor’s small bedroom.
“That’s the slop pail,” Harper says, pointing to a pail covered with a garbage bag and streaks of brown.

“Is this for everyone’s facilities?” Martin Koop asks.
“It’s mostly for him. They have an outhouse. But little kids would use that, especially at night. It’s minus 40, what are you going to do?”

Martin Koop asks if there is any home care available to Taylor — any service that will bring water to him.
Harper says yes, but there are close to 300 homes in Garden Hill alone that require water delivery.
“He’d be prioritized but sometimes at the end of the day … the last choice is to go to the lake.”
Funding must be targeted: Harper

Taylor's family gathers about eight litres of clean water per person each day. They'd be given twice that much by international aid agencies, if this were declared a health emergency.
Martin Koop says MCC is here to find out what it can do to help, but says the agency may be limited to advocacy.“Fundraising might be possible but what we can fundraise as a small organization or the general public is far below what would meet the need. The need is greater than what the general public can respond to,” she says.Moyer Taylor, 82, has no running water or sewer in his Garden Hill home. He's forced to use a slop pail in the corner of his bedroom. (CBC)Harper agrees, saying Ottawa has to target money to help people get running water.

“What we’re looking at right now is $33,000 [per] home to retrofit houses like these. $33,000 you get a tub, a sink, a toilet bowl, and a little room where you don't have to share your bedroom with a slop pail. Septic tanks included.
“These conditions are beyond Third World. No person should live in these conditions, especially in Canada.”

Being unable to wash can have much more serious health consequences than diarrhea and skin infections. It’s part of the reason these communities were hit so hard during the H1N1 pandemic two years ago, Harper says.
The Department of Indian Affairs says it has spent $91 million on water and sewer infrastructure since the 1990s in these four communities alone. They’re getting upgrades and new water and sewage trucks.

Bill would die if election called

As of Feb. 28, 116 First Nations communities across Canada were under a drinking water advisory. Health Canada won’t provide a list of them, citing privacy concerns. CBC News has obtained one from Aug. 31, 2010, which sources say is still current.

There are more communities on that list now than in 2006, when a CBC News investigation first looked at this issue, despite the fact that the Department of Indian Affairs will have spent $2.5 billion dollars to improve drinking water access on First Nations by 2013.Indian Affairs Minister John Duncan says if passed, new federal legislation would ensure there's safe drinking water on all Canadian First Nations. Bill S-11 would develop federal regulations governing the provision of drinking water, water quality standards and the disposal of waste water.

Duncan was too busy do an interview this week. In a statement to CBC News, he referred to testimony he gave at a recent Senate committee hearing.
'We want the people to know there is a disaster here in northern Manitoba.'

—Grand Chief David Harper“In 2011 it is absolutely unacceptable that FN Communities are not protected by the same standards for drinking water as other Canadians. [Assembly of First Nations] National Chief [Shawn] Atleo stated here a few weeks ago that when children and their families are not able to trust the drinking water, there is no safety or security — I agree wholeheartedly with his statement —something must be done to rectify this situation.," Duncan said.



"Members of FN rightly deserve and expect to have the same protection as every other Canadian … I don't think we can keep asking Canadian taxpayers to keep pouring resources into a system that lacks clear enforceable standards.”



But Bill S-11 will die if a federal election is called. And aboriginal leaders say more regulations won't help.
Back in Garden Hill, Harper says the proposed legislation won't make any difference for people who don't even have running water.“Bill S-11 won't help that water hole on the ice, Bill S-11 won't help that toilet standing there. Let's fix homes before we start regulating that toilet house there and that water hole down the lake.”
Besides, Harper says, the bill will die if a federal election is called. In the meantime, he's just happy to know the Mennonite Central Committee is taking the issue seriously.“Somebody has stepped in and not turned a blind eye. Someone is here to listen, that's all we're asking for. There is truth in this call for awareness for water in this region.

“We want the people to know there is a disaster here in northern Manitoba, an hour away from Winnipeg.”

Romeo Dallaire- Rwanda and the World's Responsibility

Romeo Dallaire, general; commander of Rwanda international peacekeeping mission :"no human is more human than any other".

Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire was born on June 25, 1946 to a Canadian non-commissioned officer and a Dutch mother in Denekamp, Netherlands. He came to Canada at the age of 6 months and spent his childhood in Montreal. He discovered in 1971 when he went to apply for a passport that he was not actually a Canadian citizen and then took steps to become officially Canadian. In 1963 he enrolled as a cadet at Le College Militaire Royale de Saint-Jean and he graduated fro the Royal Military College of Canada with a Bachelor of Science degree and was commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery. He has been a Canadian Senator, humanitarian, author and a retired general.

He served as Force Commander of UN AMIR during the Rwandan genocide of the Tutsis and Hutu moderates about which he wrote the book “Shaking Hands with the Devil’. The atrocities and the lack of power he felt in the face of the horror combined with the lack of will of those who were in charge of the mission, left him with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and he attempted suicide after returning to Canada. This has made him an outspoken advocate for mental health intervention for Canadian soldiers. He is now a Senior Fellow at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies and Co-Director of the MIGS “Will to Intervene Project” that recently released a policy recommendation report called “Mobilizing the Will to Intervene: Leadership and Action to Prevent Mass Atrocities”.

IN 1995 he won the Vimy Award. In 1996, Dallaire was made an Officer of the Legion of Merit in the United States, the highest military decoration for his service in Rwanda. Dallaire was also awarded the inaugural Aegis Trust Award in 2002, and on October 10 of the same year, he was inducted as an Officer in the Order of Canada. He was ranked 16th in the CBC’s “The Greatest Canadian’ program which placed him as the highest ranked military figure. He is also the 25th recipient of the Pearson Peace Medal which was awarded by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. In 2006, Daillare was awarded the Human Security Award from the Centre for Unconventional Security Affairs at the University of California, Irvine. He has also received numerous doctorates from Canadian and American Universities including: U of Saskatchewan, St. Thomas U, Boston College, The U of Calgary, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Athabasca U, Trent U, U of Western Ontario, Simon Fraser U, U of Lethbridge, Ryerson Polytechnic U,the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and Queens College of the City University of New York (CUNY).His book "Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda", was awarded the Governor General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction in 2004.

For more information about this amazing Canadian, please see his website at:
http://www.romeodallaire.com/

Arranged marriage breaks down at Toronto airport

Pakistani bride says she was stood up at Pearson; groom says he told her not to come

Owais Qurni and Aisha Noor were wed in 2009 during an arranged marriage in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Arranged marriage gone wrong3:16Beginning of Story ContentA Toronto man who allegedly rejected his Pakistani bride at Pearson Airport says he wanted a divorce and told his wife to stay home.The woman, Aisha Noor, says her husband, Owais Qurni, told her he was excited about their reunion and didn't learn he was backing away until she had landed. Aisha Noor says her Pashtun culture will stigmatize her if she returns to Pakistan divorced. "I have been crying since I came to Canada," said the 23-year-old, who says she is speaking to highlight the issue of so-called abandoned brides.
Immigration officials have given Noor until Sunday to leave the country.
Qurni and Noor were married in August 2009 during an arranged marriage in Peshawar, Pakistan.
In an email to CBC News, Qurni, 22, said the marriage was never consummated and had only been held to start the immigration process. Noor's visa was issued in January, but Qurni had second thoughts, he wrote.

Conflicting stories

He says he told Noor before she arrived March 4 that the marriage would be a failure because there was no chemistry between them and that they didn't share any interests."I decided to back off from this wedding before it was too late and both our lives were further ruined," he wrote. He says he sent the application to withdraw his sponsorship to Noor's father last month.
Qurni says he had no idea Noor was flying to Canada.
"I did not find out that she had landed in Canada until an immigration official contacted me on the phone and confirmed my cancellation of sponsorship, which I confirmed," he wrote. "It was after that that Miss Aisha Noor decided to call me from the airport and asked me to pick her up. This was shocking for me because I advised her against coming because I was not willing to go ahead with preparations anymore."
Noor claims that's not what happened. She says he told her he loved her and couldn't wait for her to arrive.
"His emails, his video chat, I still remember," she said. "That was all fake."Noor also accuses Qurni of withdrawing her immigration sponsorship because her family refused to pay thousands of dollars. Qurni says those allegations are "completely false."

Couple have not met in Canada

Qurni refuses to see Noor. She says she was never served with divorce papers and can't understand his behaviour.Noor hopes to stay in Canada because she says she'll be stigmatized in their Pashtun culture if she's forced to go back to Pakistan after a divorce. Qurni admits that divorced women are stigmatized in Pakistan, but says it would be worse for Noor if the marriage had been consummated.
"In that regard her life was not ruined because we had no physical contact whatsoever," he said. Qurni said he only went along with the marriage out of respect for his parents and wants to marry somebody he loves.
Noor hopes that immigration officials will allow her to remain in Canada on compassionate grounds. It can take years for a spouse to be sponsored, but sponsorship can be cancelled in just days, sometimes with just a phone call. Critics say it leaves young brides open to extortion and blackmail.

Shalini Konanur, executive director of the South Asian Legal clinic, said it's up to Canadians "to decide whether we value these women enough even though they're not Canadians, and that we value women in general internationally." Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said all spouses should check on their sponsorship status before getting on a plane to Canada.

Ottilia Chareka Prof who taught human righs, citizenship and multicultural education dead

University prof's husband charged in her death


Patrick Chareka also taught at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S.

CBC News Posted: Mar 17, 2011
Ottilia Chareka, 42, died from injuries sustained on Wednesday. Her husband, Patrick Chareka has been charged with first degree murder. (St. FX)A former St. Francis Xavier instructor was formally charged Thursday with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, an assistant professor at the Nova Scotia university.

Patrick Chareka, 47, appeared in provincial court in Antigonish, surrounded by five police officers and a sheriff. Police say Ottilia Chareka, 42, died from injuries sustained in the family home Wednesday morning.RCMP found her with life-threatening injuries after responding to a 911 call about a disturbance at 27 Centennial Dr. She died two hours later at St. Martha's Regional Hospital.Patrick Chareka was arrested at the scene.
The eldest daughter of the couple, who have five children, including four still living at home, was in court Thursday after returning from Alberta.

The same day the murder charge was laid, the university's president, Sean Riley, said the university community is feeling the effects of the death of Chareka, an assistant professor of education who specialized in multicultural education, human rights and citizenship education.She was "a very very active person, much loved, and she essentially has been taken from us in tragic, tragic circumstances that are hard to absorb," Riley said.Patrick Chareka taught statistics a few years ago at the university, but he's no longer listed on the university's website.The judge imposed several conditions on Patrick Chareka, but a publication ban prevents any details from being released.The Crown said the couple's eldest daughter is helping care for her siblings, along with help from family friends.

Another family friend said the community has lost a person who fought for justice for all, and she will be greatly missed.Chareka elected trial by judge and jury. He remains in custody and returns to court on March 30, when a date for a preliminary hearing is expected to be set.

Graeme McCreath: The Politics of blindness

Graeme McCreath is a physiotherapist in Victoria and he's training for an up-coming 10-kilometre race. So he runs this route about three-times-a-week. When Graeme says this is a challenge, he's alluding to the fact that he is blind. His running partner and the two seeing-eye dogs -- one retired, one still working -- are all there to help nudge him out of harm's way from time to time. But apart from that, Graeme charts his own course.
In many ways, Graeme defies the typical profile of a blind Canadian. In Canada, most blind or partially sighted adults don't have work. Many live in poverty. And that's why he has written a new book called The Politics of Blindness: From Charity to Parity. In it, he calls for a complete overhaul of how blind people are treated in our society. And he lays out a manifesto for blind citizens. Graeme McCreath was in Victoria

Stroumboulopoulos appointed WFP ambassador

George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight

CBC talk show host George Stroumboulopoulos has been appointed Canada's ambassador to the UN's World Food Program. George Stroumboulopoulos has been selected by the United Nations World Food Program as an official ambassador, the first Canadian to hold the position. The appointment, confirmed Tuesday on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, follows a visit by the host to Pakistan in February, where the food program is helping to feed people and rebuild communities after catastrophic flooding in 2010.

The UN's food program reaches more than 90 million people a year with food assistance in more than 70 countries. Canada is the second-largest single donor country to the program, with $286 million in donations in 2010. "I'm excited to be a part of it," Stroumboulopoulos said. "There's all kinds of work being done on the ground by all kinds of people, and so all somebody in my position has to do is shine a light on the work that's already being done, and hopefully use the position we have with the radio and television show to garner some interest and some mobilization.

"Being a solo artist is fine, but being a team player in a band is better and that's what this feels like."
Stephen Lewis, former UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, who made a guest appearance on the show Tuesday, called the food program one of the UN's best agencies. "It just does the job."

"The program has made all the difference between life and death for millions of people."
The role of an ambassador is crucial in drawing attention to the program's work, Lewis said.
"George is going to make an impact. This is a significant thing for the World Food Program to have done in Canada. People will be moved and they will get involved," he said.

Stroumboulopoulos visited WFP operations in Pakistan last month. A half-hour television special following his experience will air on CBC Television at 11:05 p.m. (11:35 p.m in Newfoundland and Labrador) on April 1.

"For most of us we only see the effects of disasters through the prism of media," Stroumboulopoulos said. "The effects of the floods, earthquakes and conflicts and it can all be overwhelming. But getting to be on the ground you see first-hand, the people working together to provide nutritious food to those in need and the empowering of those affected to rebuild."

Other celebrities who have acted as WFP ambassadors include Christina Aguilera, Sean Connery, Drew Barrymore and Penelope Cruz.

Kathleen Winter up for Orange Prize for Fiction

Kathleen Winter is one of 20 authors nominated for her book, Annabel, about a hermaphrodite raised in a remote part of Canada. Annabel is set in 1968 in remote coastal Labrador in the far north-east of Canada
A  former Sesame Street scriptwriter is among the novelists on the longlist for this year's Orange Prize for Fiction.

The £30,000 prize is awarded for the best novel of the year written by a woman in the English language.

Winter, who was born in Gateshead before moving to Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada as a child, began her career writing scripts and songs for the long-running US children's TV show. For the last 14 years she has been a columnist for St John's newspaper The Evening Telegram.

She is one of nine debut novelists on the longlist which also includes two writers - Samantha Hunt and Nicole Krauss - who have made previous shortlists, and three more authors who have also been longlisted before.Judges' chairman Bettany Hughes said it was "a huge tussle" to get the longlist down to 20 books.

"What proved a genuine delight this year was the power of observation and sympathy on the page," she said."As a panel, we had works of searing originality and epic scale in front of us - plus books that were intimate and sometimes magical."

Canadian Wins Met Opera Contest

Ottawa winner at Met Opera contest


Typically, 100 or more past participants of the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions perform in the company's productions each year.
An opera singer from Ottawa is one of a handful of promising young stars to win the 2011 edition of the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions.

Bass-baritone Philippe Sly, 22, was one of five winners chosen by a panel of experts in New York on Sunday, after performing on the stage of the famed Manhattan opera house accompanied by the Met Orchestra and conductor Patrick Summers.

Sly, a student at McGill University's Schulich School of Music in Montreal, performed an aria from Handel's Rinaldo as well as Wolfram's Song to the Evening Star from Wagner's Tannhaeuser for Sunday's Grand Finals concert — the climax of the prestigious annual competition.

Each year, hundreds of young opera singers between the ages of 20-30 compete for cash prizes and the chance to take the Met stage to sing before an audience of opera executives, talent agents, critics and industry reps.

Sly and the other four winners each receive $15,000 US toward further study. The other winners were:

• Soprano Michelle Johnson, from Pearland, Texas, who sang an aria from Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur and in Dove sono from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.

• Bass-baritone Joseph Barron, from Pittsburgh, who performed an aria from Bellini's La Sonnambula and Mephistopheles' mocking serenade from Gounod's Faust.

• Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green, from Suffolk, Va., who sang Banquo's aria from Verdi's Macbeth and Don Basilio's aria La calunnia from Rossini's The Barber of Seville.

• Baritone Joseph Lim, from Seoul, who sang Count Almaviva's aria from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and the title character's aria from Borodin's opera Prince Igor.

The remaining three finalists — including Montreal soprano Sasha Djihanian — receive $5,000 each.

Sunday's event was hosted by mezzo-soprano and opera star Joyce DiDonato, who noted to the audience that in a typical season, 100 or more past audition participants are featured in Met productions. Past National Council award-winners have included such stars as Renée Fleming, Deborah Voigt, Ben Heppner, Susan Graham and Jessye Norman.

Didonato also added that singers who didn't win — including herself — have also gone on to strong careers.



The annual competition gained a wider following after the release of the documentary film The Audition, about the 2007 finals.

Canada Offers Aid to Japan

Ottawa says it's ready to provide "any and all" possible aid to Japan, including sending Canadian troops, following Friday's deadly earthquake and tsunami. Late Sunday night, the Canadian government outlined a number of possible measures to help the disaster relief effort in Japan.

A 17-member victim identification team is on standby and ready to be deployed to Japan.
Canada has also offered chemical, biological, and nuclear technical expertise and equipment, according to a statement from Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon's office.

The Canadian Forces is also willing to send personnel and planes to help with humanitarian relief efforts, but there is no word yet on whether the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) would head to Japan if aid help is accepted.Japan's ambassador to Canada, Kaoro Ishikawa, has relayed the offers of assistance to the Japanese government and Canada is now on standby to fulfil any requests for help.

"Our government has been actively engaged since learning of this tragic event," Cannon said. "As Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated, Canada stands ready to provide any and all possible assistance to the people of Japan."
Cannon's office said government officials are in contact with the United Nations and the International Red Cross, which have dispatched disaster-assessment teams to Japan.

Cannon is in Paris on Monday to meet with his G8 counterparts, with the international response to the disaster in Japan expected to dominate discussions.

Steven Pinker- Major Canadian Thinker

Moving Poem by Shane Koyczan

More Funny Money in Canada?

Canadian coins bugged, U.S. security agency says


They say money talks, and a new report suggests Canadian currency is indeed chatting, at least electronically, on behalf of shadowy spies.Canadian coins containing tiny transmitters have mysteriously turned up in the pockets of at least three American contractors who visited Canada, says a branch of the U.S. Department of Defence.A U.S. security report says Canadian coins with tiny transmitters have turned up, and could be used to track defence industry personnel.

Security experts believe the miniature devices could be used to track the movements of defence industry personnel dealing in sensitive military technology."You might want to know where the individual is going, what meetings the individual might be having and, above all, with whom," said David Harris, a former CSIS officer who consults on security matters."The more covert or clandestine the activity in which somebody might be involved, the more significant this kind of information could be."The counter-intelligence office of the U.S. Defence Security Service cites the currency caper as an example of the methods international spies have recently tried to illicitly acquire military technology.

Nearly 1,000 'suspicious' contacts

The service's report, Technology Collection Trends in the U.S. Defence Industry, says foreign-hosted conventions, seminars and exhibits are popular venues for pilfering secrets.The report is based on an analysis of 971 "suspicious contact reports" submitted in fiscal 2005 by security-cleared defence contractors and various official personnel."On at least three separate occasions between October 2005 and January 2006, cleared defence contractors' employees travelling through Canada have discovered radio frequency transmitters embedded in Canadian coins placed on their persons," the report says.

The report did not indicate what kinds of coins were involved. A service spokeswoman said details of the incidents were classified.As a result, the type of transmitter in play — and its ultimate purpose — remain a mystery.However, tiny tracking tags, known as RFIDs, are commonly placed in everything from clothing to key chains to help retailers track inventory.Each tag contains a miniature antenna that beams a unique ID code to an electronic reader. The information can then be transferred by the reader into a computerized database.

Makes no sense

The likely need for such a reading device means the doctored coins could be used to track people only in a controlled setting, not over long distances, said Chris Mathers, a security consultant and former undercover RCMP officer.

"From a technology perspective, it makes no sense," he said. "To me it's very strange."
Then there's the obvious problem: what if the coin holder plunks the device into a pop machine?
"You give the guy something with a transmitter that he's going to spend — I mean, he might have it for an hour," Mathers said with a chuckle.Harris speculates recent leaps in miniaturization could allow for a sophisticated transmitter capable of monitoring a target's extensive travels.

"I think we can be pretty darn confident that the technology is there for the sorts of micro-units that would be required to embed these things in a coin," he said."It's a brave new world, and greatly concerning on so many levels."Passing the coin to an unwitting contractor, particularly in strife-torn countries, could mark the person for kidnapping or assassination, Harris said."You could almost, by handing a coin to somebody, achieve the equivalent of the Mafiosi's last kiss on the cheek."

The Defence Security Service report says employees of U.S. contractors reported suspicious contacts from individuals, firms or governments of more than 100 countries during the year.Technologies that generated the most interest were information systems, lasers and optics, aeronautics and sensors.A foreign approach often meant a simple request for information from the contractor.

Can contain built-in scanners

But the report also underscores clandestine means of acquiring secrets from U.S. employees, particularly those travelling abroad."It is important to recognize copiers and shredders can contain built-in scanners to copy the data."

Other common methods include placing listening devices in rooms, searching hotel rooms, inspecting electronic equipment and eavesdropping on conversations.The report, which first came to light in a U.S. newspaper, has since been posted on the website of the Federation of American Scientists, an organization that tracks the intelligence world and promotes government openness.

© The Canadian Press, 2006

Canadian banknotes to be made of plastic

The Bank of Canada will begin churning out a series of redesigned banknotes later this year that will be made of a plastic polymer material.Canadians will literally feel the change first in the $100 bill. The reissued high denomination notes will start appearing in November.

Lower denomination bills will be similarly reworked over the following two years, with the new $50 bill set to appear in March 2012.The polymer material features a smooth durable film developed specifically for banknotes. The technology is already being used in several countries.The Bank of Canada has periodically redesigned the country's paper money to stay one step ahead of counterfeiters. The incidence of funny money rose dramatically in the period from 1992 to 2004 — when about 500 phoney bills turned up in every million notes in circulation.

Counterfeit Canadian banknotes passed in 2009

Denomination Number of bills

$5 2,894

$10 8,342

$20 24,762

$50 5,653

$100 25,030

$1,000 5

Source: RCMP

In 2004, the central bank began introducing a redesigned series of notes that incorporated a host of security features, including holographic stripes. The rate of phoney bills has since fallen dramatically to fewer than 50 bad bills per million.

In 2009, the RCMP says 66,711 counterfeit notes worth $3.4 million were passed. Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney said the new technology "will expand the frontiers of banknote security" even further.

The new banknotes will also be easier to verify and will be more economical. The use of polymer material should allow bills to remain in circulation at least 2.5 times longer than the cotton and paper bills now in circulation, the Bank of Canada says.

K’naan and generic drugs

'ndrangheta Crime Syndicate in Canada

Police conducted a major crackdown on the 'ndrangheta crime syndicate Tuesday, arresting scores of suspects in Italy and Germany, and seeking others overseas, including one person in Toronto and seven in Thunder Bay.The cross-border operation shows how the 'ndrangheta, today considered more powerful than the Sicilian Mafia, has extended its reach well beyond its original base in Italy's southern Calabria region.


Freelance journalist Sabina Castelfranco told CBC News from Rome that the connection between the 'ndrangheta and Canada dates back to the 1950s. The Canadian branch is known as the Siderno Group, because most of its members came from the coastal town of Siderno in Calabria.

Castelfranco said the group is believed to have many members in Canada — because the country's banking system is seen as secretive and an ideal place to launder money, and also because Canada is thought of as a useful drug smuggling entry point into North America.

The village of San Luca in Italy's Calabria region, which is the seat of the 'ndrangheta crime syndicate. Thirty-one suspects were picked up in Italy, Italian police said, mostly in Calabria but also elsewhere in the country, including near Rome. Six suspects, all Italian citizens, were apprehended in Germany on an Italian-issued European arrest warrant, German and Italian officials said.

Authorities said the operation also sheds light on the group's structure and how it operates outside its home region."There is a perfect reproduction of the Calabrian model," said Giuseppe Pignatone, the prosecutor of Reggio Calabria."The foreign groups always maintain contact with the mother house, which is the Reggio Calabria area, where they periodically come to take their orders, directives, long-term strategies, as well as give an account of what's going on," he said in comments to Italy's Radio 24.In the past decade, the 'ndrangheta has emerged as a powerful and aggressive organization, becoming one of the world's biggest cocaine traffickers.In a shocking act that brought the 'ndrangheta under the international spotlight, six Italian men were gunned down in 2007 as they left a birthday party at an Italian restaurant in Duisburg, Germany. The massacre was part of a long-running feud between two clans of the 'ndrangheta.

Calabria a 'failed state': WikiLeaks

In a confidential cable released by WikiLeaks some weeks ago, a U.S. diplomat said the grip of the 'ndrangheta on the economy and every aspect of life is so pervasive that Calabria would be a "failed state" if it were not part of Italy. The cable dated from Dec. 2008. The government has since launched a crackdown on the 'ndrangheta that has resulted in hundreds of arrests, millions of dollars in seized assets and the appearance of a handful of rare turncoats. The justice minister, Angelino Alfano, hailed Tuesday's arrests as another success in the fight against the mob.

Tuesday's raids followed up on a massive police operation in July that put over 300 people behind bars, dealing a serious blow to the group. Cortese, the police official, said the recent arrests stem from wiretapped conversations of a top boss who was arrested in July.The boss, Giuseppe Commisso, nicknamed "the master," was allegedly heard discussing the 'ndrangheta's involvement abroad during meetings at his dry-cleaning shop."He was the one people went to report to, including from Canada and Australia," Cortese said.

National Film Board's Spiders on Drugs

Effects Of Drugs And Alcohol On Spider Webs - Watch more Funny Videos

Warman Saskatchewan's newest resident

Three siblings from Ethiopia have been reunited in Canada thanks to the efforts of their adoptive parents and an outpouring of support from a Saskatchewan town. Four years ago Ryan Killoh and Treena Constantinoff of Warman, Sask., adopted a brother and sister, Tseganesh and Misgana, from the impoverished African nation only to learn that a second brother had been left behind.

Tseganesh, who was five years old upon her arrival and spoke little English, "was trying tell us about someone named Tesute," said Constantinoff. "It took about six months for us to figure out that she was talking about an older brother that was still in Ethiopia." "I said to Ryan, ‘I'm going to fly to Ethiopia to see if I can find him,'" she told CTV News Saskatoon.

Constantinoff contacted the orphanage in Ethiopia, which led to the village where Tesute lived with his grandmother. "A little brown face peeked out of the hut and somebody said, ‘That's him' -- and he came over and he came right into my arms and it was a big celebration," she recalled. "At that point I thought, he's beautiful, he's so beautiful, and now what am I going to do? And Ryan said, ‘Bring him home.'"

Residents of Warman, a large town north of Saskatoon, rallied around the cause, mounting two fundraising campaigns so that the young boy could also be adopted. Posters asking for support covered shop windows and donations poured in -- another couple whom Killoh and Constantinoff had never even met paid for the airfare -- leading to a tearful reunion at the Saskatoon airport on Feb. 24.

"I didn't want to let him go and I never thought I'd see him again," said Tseganesh.

With a report by CTV Saskatoon's Tara Yolan

Health board says waive OHIP wait for immigrants

The Canadian Press

Toronto's board of health is calling on the province to give landed immigrants health coverage as soon as they arrive.Currently, there is a three-month waiting period before newly arrived landed immigrants can get coverage under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan.The board says eliminating the waiting period would allow timely diagnosis and treatment of communicable diseases.

Toronto health officials say they see about 300 cases of tuberculosis a year, many of them in individuals who come from countries where the illness is widespread.The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care notes that since 2004, diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis is available to all people in the province, regardless of medical insurance coverage.

The ministry says others exempted from the three-month waiting period include newborns born in Ontario, certain adopted children under 16 and some refugees. New Brunswick recently eliminated its waiting period, leaving Ontario and B.C. as the only provinces that have a comprehensive waiting period for newly arrived landed immigrants.Quebec recently introduced a waiting period, but has a number of exemptions, including the diagnosis and treatment of communicable diseases.

"Newcomers to Ontario who have already spent time and money securing landed immigrant status should not have to wait three months for OHIP — especially when it comes to the diagnosis and treatment of communicable diseases," said Dr. David McKeown, medical officer of health for Toronto."Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial," McKeown said Wednesday. "We know that newcomers without coverage are hesitant to see a doctor, which puts their health and the health of others at risk."

Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal attract the most immigrants to Canada every year, according to Statistics Canada.

Canada has 3 Cities on the Economist's Top 10 Most Liveable Cities List

Last week, the Economist Intelligence Unit released the list of the world's 10 most livable cities in its Global Livability Report. A city's rating "quantifies the challenges that might be presented to an individual's lifestyle" and is based on scores for more than 30 factors within five broad categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. Scores for each of the factors are compiled and boiled down to one score between 1 (untolerable) and 100 (ideal). The list, led for the fifth year by 2010 Winter Olympics host Vancouver, is dominated by Canadian and Australian cities.


1. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

2. Melbourne, Australia

3. Vienna, Austria

4. Toronto, Ontario, Canada

5. Calgary, Alberta, Canada

6. Helsinki, Finland

7. Sydney, Australia

8. Tie: Perth, Australia

8. Tie: Adelaide, Australia

10. Auckland, New Zealand

Sure, Auckland, Helsinki, and Vienna are there, but look at the rest: Why are Canada and Australia home to the most ideal cities? Do these less rebellious, former British colonial holdings just get it? These cities aren't free of "challenges" like crime or poverty. Even their residents, like National Post writer and Vancouverite Brian Hutchinson, are skeptical of the rankings. One explanation, editor of the report John Copestake notes, is that "mid-sized cities in developed countries with relatively low population densities tend to score well by having all the cultural and infrastructural benefits on offer with fewer problems related to crime or congestion." (Granted, you'll probably have to take his word for it, seeing as the full report can be purchased "for only US$500.") So, it seems that size does matter—the selected Canadian and Australian cities, all of which are moderately sized and populated, can more thoroughly address urban infrastructural and governmental needs like public education, healthcare, and safety than their larger, denser global counterparts. What does it mean for livability in a Tokyo, New York, or Los Angeles-sized city?

And how important is livability to a resident's happiness anyway? I'm not completely sold on the qualification (after all, how does the EIU factor in the obvious value of such urban icons as giant ears of corn?) and I'm not alone. Matt Kiebus at Death and Taxes thinks "livability" sucks, saying "No one wants to brag about residing in a ‘liviable’ city—it sounds mediocre, it conveys the impression that [they're] settling." Are they?

Executive gender gap remains, Catalyst report says

Growth in the number of women who advance to the executive ranks at Canada's largest companies has slowed to a crawl in the past two years, a major study has found.

Female advocacy group Catalyst released a report Thursday that tracks, among other things, the gender breakdown of employees at 468 member companies of the Financial Post 500. The group has published the annual report since 1998.'If you start to see it as one versus the other, you miss the point'—TD Bank CEO Ed Clark on workplace diversity."At Catalyst, we believe that what gets measured gets done," said Deborah Gillis, a senior vice-president with the group.

While it shows slight progress through the years, the report paints a damning picture overall — one in which women are dramatically under-represented in Canadian board rooms.The percentage of women holding senior officer positions increased less than one percentage point over two years, from 16.9 per cent in 2008 to 17.7 per cent in 2010. Further, female senior officers held 6.2 per cent of top earner positions in 2010 — up less than one percentage point from 5.6 per cent in 2008.
In both years, a full 30 per cent of the largest companies in Canada did not have a single woman in their executive ranks.

Crown corporations continue to have the highest representation of women senior officers compared to other types of companies, the report found — 27 per cent, versus 14.3 per cent in publicly traded companies last year."Canadian businesses are vastly underutilizing talented women, even though women are the engine of our economies," Gillis said. "As organizations refuel and retool, it is in their best interest to ensure that this important segment of the employee base is developed for leadership positions.""Time is up for ‘give it time'," Gillis said, though she added that the solution is not simple tokenism. Research indicates that on average, companies with more women senior officers outperform those with fewer.That agrees very much with what one of Canada's largest companies has found in its efforts to reduce the homogeneity of its executive ranks.

"If you start to see it as one versus the other, you miss the point," TD Bank CEO Ed Clark said of the bank's efforts to promote more women in a recent CBC interview."By framing it as a people development issue, you don't get this zero-sum game; everybody wins."TD Bank is one of the few Canadian companies that actually employs more women than men. But that preponderance hasn't yet translated into a plurality of women in the C-suite.

"The real issue is: How do you have more women in your feeder group and not end up in your executive group with more women than men?" he said.

Toronto - a mini view of a future world of peace with great food

Maple syrup and Mounties? You will find them in Toronto, but you may have better luck sniffing out kimchi, Polish sausages and obscure Italian opera recordings. Half of this city’s population was born outside of Canada, and more than 140 languages and dialects are spoken, it is one of the most multicultural cities on the planet.

Beyond the typically North American downtown core lies a vibrant patchwork of diverse neighbourhoods, each faithfully importing a microcosm of the old world. Korea, Poland, Greece, Italy, China and India are heavily represented. There is even a Malta Village (and you thought the original Malta was tiny).

The beauty is that you can easily span the globe - or a decent portion of it - within a couple of days.

Here is a glance at the big four neighbourhoods:

Gerrard India Bazaar (Gerrard Street between Greenwood and Coxwell; www.gerrardindiabazaar.com)

It is nasal bombardment, in a good way: wafts of curry drift in the breeze, cinnamon sings on the sidewalk and many shop owners keep a stick of incense perpetually burning.

With all those flirtatious aromas flitting about, a thorough feeding is both encouraged and inevitable. In addition to both northern and southern India, delicacies from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are handy, as are restaurants catering to halal diets and vegetarians.

On the cheaper side, street vendors push two items: grilled corn rubbed with lime and spices, and Kashmiri tea, a creamy pink concoction sprinkled with crushed pistachios.

Window browsing may yield simultaneous shopping therapy and colour therapy, as sari-clad mannequins strike sassy poses and endless rows of brightly-hued bangles wink at buyers.

Both the food and the fashion whoop it up at Diwali, the annual festival of lights, which takes place from 6 - 7 November, 2010 (www.gerrardindiafestivals.com).

Little Italy (College Street between Bathurst and Shaw; www.littleitalyintoronto.ca)

Plain old streetlights simply would not do. Little Italy marks its territory with boot-shaped lights attached to each lamppost.

It is no wonder that pride is abundant in these parts: after World War II a wave of immigration graced Toronto with the largest Italian population outside of Italy. By day, dapper older gentlemen stroll along the Italian Walk of Fame, treading on plaques dedicated to Dean Martin, Connie Francis and friends. Hushed conversations are had on street corners. Espressos are sipped. "Italia"-emblazoned onesies are bought.

But - the lights were a hint - Little Italy is a night owl at heart, especially in summer. After dark, throngs of slick partygoers hit the area's overflowing outdoor patios to sip martinis, nibble on pizza and whisper "amore" while spoon feeding each other gelato from a Colosseum-sized bowl - or was that "no more?"

Chinatown (Spadina Avenue, between Queen and College)

There are, in fact, six Chinatowns throughout Toronto but this, the downtown version, is the linchpin.

Densely populated by shops whose wares spill onto the street for perusal by bumper-to-bumper pedestrian traffic, Chinatown is a magnet for bargain-seekers. Ten dollar haircuts, discounted long-distance phone cards and dirt-cheap T-shirts are frequently used as bait. Meanwhile, prices for fruit and veggies (including flamboyant produce like Sweet Dragon Fruit and Fuzzy Squash) are unrivalled in western grocery stores.

Like the India Bazaar, Chinatown has grown to encompass far more communities than its namesake. Thai, Japanese and Vietnamese restaurants now happily reside beside established dim sum joints and dumpling houses.

Greektown on the Danforth (Danforth Avenue between Broadview and Jones; http://www.greektowntoronto.com/).
Akropolis, Athens, Zorba, Athena, Omonia: the businesses on "the Danforth" have no qualms about trotting out the most clichéd Greek terms.Greek retail shops are few and far between nowadays, but the Danforth's gastronomic forte still leans toward moussaka. Large, airy restaurants dominate - edifices that could accommodate the whole family or even a big fat wedding.

The neighbourhood basks in the limelight every August during Taste of the Danforth - a boisterous street party rife with souvlaki and bouzouki music.

10 Moments in Canadian Tech Stock History that Changed the World

Yukon shipwreck yields Gold Rush tunes

Archeologists have found new clues about the music early Klondike stampeders were listening to during the Yukon Gold Rush, thanks to recordings found aboard a 110-year-old shipwreck.The three records and a gramophone were discovered last summer in the A.J. Goddard, a sternwheeler that sank in Lake Laberge, north of Whitehorse, in October 1901."It's the coolest find on the Goddard, absolutely," Lindsey Thomas, a Texas-based archeology graduate student who has been heading up research on the ship, told CBC News.

"To find a record player — it really gives insight to how they were operating throughout their daily lives, and it taught me the importance of music during the period."

Minstrel songs popular

Thomas said the three recordings, including Rendezvous Waltz and a rare 1896 minstrel recording of Ma Onliest One, were previously unknown to Gold Rush-era music experts.The bow of the sternwheeler A.J. Goddard, found this summer at the bottom of Lake Laberge, shows the windlass used to raise and lower the steamboat's anchors. "These are three new songs that we now know people were listening to during the Gold Rush, and they were playing it," she said. "Ma Onliest One was the disc that was attached to the gramophone."

Thomas said minstrel songs were popular at the time because they were "easy for the miners and for the people up there to perform."It became popular in the 1820s, but they were able to put on shows and pass the time amongst themselves as they were stuck in cabins over the winter," she said.

3 crew members drowned

The A.J. Goddard transported miners and supplies along the Yukon River until Oct. 22, 1901, when it vanished in Lake Laberge during a storm. Three crew members drowned in the storm, while two survived.A team of archeologists that included Thomas, the U.S. Institute of Nautical Archaeology and the Yukon Transportation Museum announced in 2009 that they had found the sternwheeler, mostly intact, at the bottom of Lake Laberge.Researchers also found many of the ship's contents preserved in the shipwreck, including crew members' clothes and tools, the records and the gramophone.

"Even though these are really quite early records, they were mass-produced, essentially, and they were commercial. So, of course, we will look at getting copies," said Val Monohan, curator at the Yukon Transportation Museum.National Geographic News dubbed the A.J. Goddard as its top archeological find of 2009. The Yukon government has designated the shipwreck a historic site.