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Ottawa Star www.OttawaStar.com • August 15, 2013 • Volume 1, Issue 4
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All boys club Couple welcomes 12th child into family fold and, yes, it’s a boy again! By Ed White, The Associated Press
DETROIT—A Michigan family welcomed their 12th child. And, shocker, it’s a boy—just like the other 11. Jay and Kateri Schwandt believed the latest baby might break the gender streak, especially after Kateri, known as Teri, was nine days past her due date. That was unusual for her pregnancies. But as it turned out, it was hardly a game-changer as a nurse at a Grand Rapids hospital announced delivery of another boy. Tucker was 7 pounds, 12 ounces (3.52 kilograms). “Of course. There was a chuckle in the whole room,’’ Teri, 38, said told The Associated Press. “I looked at my husband, and we exchanged a knowing smile. When they say it’s a boy, I think, OK, no problem. I’ve got this. We know what we’re doing.’’ Tyler is the oldest son at 21. When the school year starts, three Schwandt boys will be in high school, while five brothers are in lower grades. That leaves three more at home with Teri. Continued on page 12
Canada’s healthcare system anything but ‘free’
Rocky Mountain Flyboard instructor Jordan Wayment emerges from the water as he demonstrates the flyboard, on the Jordanelle Reservoir, at Jordanelle State Park, Utah. The Flyboard, which looks like a small snowboard attached to a hose, can propel you 45 feet in the air using water pumped from a personal watercraft like a Jet Ski to the base of the board. New devices that pump water fast enough to make people defy gravity are drawing thrill-seekers eager to try the next new watersport, but Hawaii fishermen, scientists and state officials are questioning their safety and how they may affect fish, coral and other fragile natural resources in the islands. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A typical Canadian family of four can expect to pay $11,320 for public healthcare insurance By Nadeem Esmail and Milagros Palacios
VANCOUVER, BC, Troy Media—Many Canadians and commentators in other countries lauding Canada’s governmentdominated approach to healthcare refer to Canadian healthcare as ‘free.’ If healthcare actually was free, the relatively poor performance of the healthcare system might not seem all that bad. But the reality is that the Canadian healthcare system is not free—in fact, Canadian families pay heavily for healthcare through the tax system. That high price paints the long wait times and lack of medical technologies in Canada in a very different light. In 2013, a typical Canadian family of four can expect to pay $11,320 for public healthcare insurance. For the average family of two parents with one child, that bill will be $10,989, and for the average family of two adults (without children) the bill comes to $11,381. As a re-
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sult of lower average incomes and differences in taxation, the bills are smaller for the average unattached individual ($3,780), for the average one-parent-one-child family ($3,905), and the average one-parent two-child family ($3,387). But no matter the family type, the bill is not small, much less free. And the bill is getting bigger over time. Before inflation, the cost of public healthcare insurance went up by 53.3 per cent over the last decade. That’s more than 1.5 times faster than the cost of shelter (34.2 per cent) and clothing (32.4 per cent), and more than twice as fast as the cost of food (23.4 per cent). It’s also nearly 1.5 times faster than the growth in average income over the decade (36.3 per cent). And what did these substantial funds buy? Despite talk of wait times reduction initiatives (backed with substantial funding), Canadians face longer wait times than their counterparts in other developed nations for emergency care, primary care, specialist consultations, and elective surgery. Access to physicians and medical technologies in Canada lags behind many other developed nations. And things have improved little since 2003. For example, the total wait time in 2012 (17.7 weeks from General Practitioner to treatment) is every bit as long it was back then. Don’t be fooled by claims that health spending isn’t high enough or that transfers for healthcare to the provinces have been insufficient. Canada’s healthcare Continued on page 11
Senator Mac Harb defends borrowing $230,000 from Ottawa businessman By Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA—Senator Mac Harb is defending his decision to borrow $230,000 from an Ottawa businessman by mortgaging several of his properties—including the house outside of Ottawa that’s tied to the Senate ethics scandal. The land record documents show Harb used mortgages against four properties in and outside the city to get loans from a numbered company owned by Brian Karam, a business-
man and lawyer who has for years done business with the government. In a letter sent to several media outlets, Harb’s attorney Paul Champ insisted the senator—formerly a member of the Liberal caucus—did nothing wrong when he borrowed money from Karam’s company. “Sen. Harb’s loans with Mr. Karam’s corporation were completely transparent, were promptly reported to the Senate in accordance with Senate rules, and were on reasonable comContinued on page 2
Community
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Ottawa Star • August 15, 2013
2nd Annual Armenian Festival A Success Spring Action’s comedian and acrobat Sean McManus flips Canadian trampoline Olympian Heather Ross McManus into the air during their high-flying Tramp-olympian show on Saturday. Photo by Michael Power A member of Aerial Angels awes the crowd during an impressive aerial acrobatics performance on Saturday. Photo by Michael Power
Top left: The Hamazkayin Ani Dance Ensemble, a traditional Armenian folk dance group from Montreal, performed at the festival. Right: Closing the show on Saturday was Armenian-born Harout Balyan and his band. Bottom left: Amarik, an Iranian-American musician and composer, travelled from Toronto to perform at the Festival and was joined onstage by the Ani Dance Ensemble By Ellen O’Connor
The Ottawa Armenian Festival drew close to 2,000 attendees from across the nation’s capital and beyond to discover and experience the Armenian culture through food, art and traditional performances. Held over the long weekend of Friday, Aug. 2 to Sunday, Aug. 4, the second annual Armenian Festival was even more successful this year than when it was first held in Ottawa last September. Members of various cultural communities within Ottawa, including Armenians from across the globe, celebrated together on the grounds of the St. Peter and Paul Melkite Catholic Church. Visitors had the chance to taste authentic dishes, such as soujouk (Armenian sausages) and homemade basterma, browse and purchase goods at the arts and crafts
exhibit, learn about Armenian history, and enjoy the rides and games set up across the grounds. Taking the stage all weekend long were live dance and musical performances by amateur and professional Armenian musicians from Montreal, Toronto, Los Angeles and Beirut. Some of the performances throughout the three-day festival included various DJ’s, the Ottawa Zaffeh Group, and Eli Berbian on Friday evening. Saturday’s crowd—and the busiest day of the festival—were entertained by the Hamazkayin Ani Dance Ensemble, the Romanian Isvorul Dance Ensemble, Harout Bedrossian and Harout Balyan. The closing day of the festival featured a church mass, a Latin dance demonstration and workshop by Abby and Monique, and performances by DJ’s, Maxim Panossian, and Aramik.
Sisters Sophia and Sabrina Cabrera pose Comedian and magician Owen Lean encourages the crowd to draw like kittens after getting this faces painted in tighter and he kicks off his act, The Bachelor, with card tricks and at a booth along Sparks Street during Otjokes with this audience. Photos by Michael Power and Ellen O’Connor tawa Buskerfest. Photo by Ellen O’Connor
From tricks to trapeze, Ottawa Buskerfest brings it all By Ellen O’Connor
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treet performers and crowds of excited onlookers from across the globe gathered on Sparks Street for a long weekend full of magic, acrobatics, and comedy at the annual Ottawa Busker Festival from August 2 to August 5. Six stages spread along the street boasted family-friendly performances from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. with local and international acts that ranged from high-flying trapeze, contortionists and impressive magic tricks that kept the crowds captivated all day long. The festival was free, but people were encouraged to toss
small donations into the hats and baskets for the performers. Balloon animals, bouncy slides and face painting were on site for the children as well. Sisters Sophia and Sabrina Cabrera from Ottawa skipped around the street with faces painted like pink kittens. Local acts from Ottawa showed off their skills with unicycling and juggling from the Jugglebugs, Joey Albert’s circus tricks, Ry Guy Magic, a variety show from Johnny Nickelkicker, and death defying stunts by Danger Boy. Some of the international acts featured Aerial Angels, a troupe of gymnasts that perform circus feats from trapeze to fire-eating on and
around a 25-foot hot pink trapeze rig, Spring Action’s Tramp-Olympian show, and comedian and magician Owen Lean. Lean, who is based in London, England, and Vancouver during the summer, drew in crowds with interactive card tricks, one joke after another and a promise to close the show with a trick that he said almost killed him seven years ago: Finding a spike with his face while blindfolded without losing an eye. Fortunately he finished the act without injury to the applause of his fans and this year’s festival was another success for all in attendance.
Senator Mac Harb defends borrowing $230,000 from Ottawa businessman Continued from page 1
mercial terms that are set out in the publicly registered mortgage documents,’’ Champ wrote. “There was no advantage or benefit of any kind associated with the loans, and they are being re-paid with interest.’’ The Criminal Code says government officials cannot accept an “advantage or benefit’’ of money from someone who deals with the federal government without first getting written permission from the relevant department or branch. Champ calls that interpretation of the law “twisted,’’ arguing the senator is neither an employee nor a member of the Harper government. That part of the Criminal Code is one of the reasons why the RCMP is investigating Harb’s Senate colleague Mike Duffy, who ac-
cepted $90,000 from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, to cover his own improper housing claims. The Senate has so far refused to say whether Harb sought or was granted permission before accepting the loan. Harb is disputing an order from the Senate that he repay $231,649 in disallowed housing allowance claims and other expenses dating back several years. Champ said Harb is using the loan to cover both his legal costs and the repayment. “I can confirm that Sen. Harb has borrowed a total of $230,000 from Mr Karam’s corporation since May 2013, sums which are all secured through publicly registered mortgages, and all of which were reported to the Senate in accordance with Senate rules.’’
The senator’s lawyer also said it was “irresponsible and grossly unfair to suggest or impute criminality’’ on Harb for accepting the loans. The property records indicate Harb secured mortgages on his home in Westmeath, Ont., and three condos in Ottawa to get loans from Karam’s numbered company, 1202864 Ontario Ltd. All four transactions took place on the same day, May 17. The documents also indicate Harb sold his Westmeath house on Thursday for $335,000. The senator filed an updated disclosure statement to the Senate ethics officer on June 12 indicating he owed an unspecified amount of money to 1202864 Ontario Ltd. Ontario corporate documents show Karam is the president and a director of another
numbered company, 595799 Ontario Ltd. That company operates as The Business Inn, a hotel in downtown Ottawa that caters to long-term stays. Public records show the federal government has awarded The Business Inn more than $9 million in contracts since 2009. The most recent contract, worth $1.87 million, runs until the end of this year. Karam defended his decision to loan Harb the money. “The terms of such loan to Mac Harb are fully set out in the registered mortgages,’’ he said in an email. “Such terms involve no benefit or advantage to Mac Harb and are very similar to terms I have provided to others during the past year.’’ Karam also reiterated his support for the embattled senator. “To my knowledge, Mac Harb as
complied with all legal requirements, particularly those of the Senate, in relation to such loan,’’ Karam wrote. “Let me be clear; I have known Mac Harb for over 25 years and he continues to have my support and respect.’’ Harb is just one of several senators at the centre of an ongoing controversy surrounding dubious expense claims—primarily housing allowances that are designed to compensate out-of-towners who maintain a secondary residence in Ottawa in order to conduct Senate business. The RCMP filed a fresh stack of documents Thursday in its investigation into Duffy, seeking credit card and bank statements as it looks into the former broadcaster’s expenses.
Ottawa Star • August 15, 2013
Community
“From waste to wallets Local art company reduces wastes, gives to charity” By Ellen O’Connor
Ottawa-based company CanvasPop is turning nothing into something with their new initiative called Remade, aimed at reducing waste and raising money for charity at the same time. The business, which prints photos onto large pieces of canvas, is converting leftover scrap canvas into upcycled wallets and donating five dollars of each sale to Charity: water, a non-profit organization that brings clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries. Launched in mid-June, the demand for the wallets was so great in the first two weeks that they had to put their marketing
A look back at Ottawa festivals Lebanese Festival
The 23rd annual Ottawa Lebanese Festival was yet another success this year for all who came out to enjoy the events, music and food and support various charities within the Lebanese community. “It was another great year and while the weather affected our overall attendance, we had record numbers on the Saturday and Sunday,” said Ray Skaff, a member of the festival committee. The five-day celebration of culture and cuisine was held at the St. Elias Cathedral and Banquet Centre July 17 to July 21. “We are very pleased that with the outcome and that thousands of people were able to share in the Lebanese culture while helping the charities,” said Skaff. Egyptian Festival
Ottawans got the chance to dress up and experience Egyptian culture at the 22nd annual Ottawa Egyptian Festival held July 19 to 21. This year’s new addition was a photo booth for festival-goers to have their photos taken in traditional Ancient Egyptian attire including wigs, jewellry, belted gowns, and black and gold striped headdresses. “As usual the Egyptian arts, articles, and homemade food drew the admiration of the thousands who visited the festival,” said Paul Roufail, a festival organizer and member of the St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church where the festival was held. “Another attraction was the free church tours and presentations on the history, art and monasticism of the 2000-year-old Coptic Church,” added Roufail.
efforts on hold in order to complete the hundreds of orders flooding in. In just two short months they have sold almost 500 wallets and donated $2,000 to charity. CanvasPop, who have been serving customers since 2009 from their main office in Hintonburg and another in Las Vegas, launched Remade after realizing the discarded canvas overflowing the waste bin could be upcycled into something of value. Upcycling is the process of converting otherwise useless materials into a new quality product. “Our product is really focused on quality and everything has to be perfect,” said cofounder Nazim Ahmed. “Every once and a
while there was a canvas flaw, scratch or pull and waste would pile up, so we wanted to do something to reduce that waste.” After asking customers if they’d like to donate their wasted canvas and receiving permission, it is added to the production process and turned into a one-of-a-kind product, called “Surprise Me” wallets. They feature scenic shots, architecture or patterns, but you won’t know what yours will look like until you have it in your hands. The company has also teamed up with photographers and artists to print their designs on the blank white canvas left over from production, called “Featured
www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 3 Art” wallets. The artist receives two dollars for each wallet sold. While the printing and cutting is done at the CanvasPop location, each wallet is constructed by EcoEquitable, a local nonprofit organization that provides employment and skill development to immigrant and underemployed women and helps to integrate them into the community. Ahmed said the main focus of Remade isn’t about selling wallets but giving back to a worthwhile charity that are doing impactful things. “Charity: water is supplying water to people that are in desperate need and giving at a human level to help save a human life,” said Ahmed. One hundred per cent of public donations directly fund water projects and can be tracked by photos and GPS. Now that they have the flood of orders under control, Ahmed says Remade is starting up their marketing again and plan to begin selling internationally.
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Community
Ottawa Star • August 15, 2013
Business that made possible $1 million donation celebrates 30th anniversary Sam and Uttra Bhargava—Role models for immigrants By Ellen O’Connor
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n Ottawa couple celebrated the 30th anniversary of their childcare centre in the company of their community with a ceremony that recognized their contribution to the city of Ottawa and the wellbeing of the many children they care for. Subhas (Sam) and Uttra Bhargava, owners and operators of Orleans Childcare Centre, welcomed about 200 guests to share in their achievement on Saturday, Aug. 10, including staff members, parents and children, and local politicians, Mayor Jim Watson, Orleans MP Royal Galipeau, and MPP Phil McNeely. “It is a great milestone for us,” said Sam Bhargava, who also works as an engineer. “We are probably one of the older businesses now in Orleans, and it indicates stability. We’ve gone through ups and downs, but we do what is good for children and that’s where our successes lie.” Since opening their doors in 1983 after immigrating to Canada from New Delhi, India, the non-profit Orleans centre has expanded to the next door building to provide care for infant to school age children. Another centre in Pineview was also launched seven years later.
Sam and Uttra Bhargava pose at their Orleans daycare centre. Photo: Michael Power
“We’re really independent,” said Sam. “We have not taken a penny from the government in terms of equipment and building, so we are very proud of that.” Having grown from just 40 children to over 100 at each location, the Bhargava’s, with the help of their 22 dedicated staff members, have made it their mission to provide quality childcare with flexible hours and the deep-seated desire to ensure their well-being. At the ceremony, Sam and Uttra presented appreciation awards to their friends Ram and Indira Gogia, who helped them
get on their feet and purchase the first centre; Collet David, the centre’s cook who has been there for 25 years; and Francine Bradt, who has taught there for 20 years. The Bhargava’s success has been recognized city-wide as the centre was the recipient of the Centre of the Year Award in 1998, and the Orleans Chamber of Commerce People’s Choice Business Award in 2003. They also lobbied to have November 20 named National Child’s Day in 1994 and it is now celebrated in thousands of communities across Canada. “We have heart and compassion for the children,” said Uttra, the mother of four children and five grandchildren. “We see the needs of the children; it’s not just about watching them 9 to 5 and then saying, ‘Go!’” Orleans resident Kirsten Hewson was in attendance at Saturday’s ceremony and said that she has been taking her daughter Olivia, two-and-a-half, to the centre since she was one. “When we came to the interview I was really impressed with the staff, some of whom have been here almost since the beginning,” said Hewson, who added that the allergy protocols in place and the chef ’s long-time commitment to the centre were equally impressive.
“There are great activities for the kids and [Olivia] comes home speaking new words everyday – words that I know she didn’t learn at home.” The centre also provides care for five children with special needs and disabilities, with help from Child Integration Support Services. “We love to serve them because my own daughter was a victim of a car accident,” said Sam. In 1989, their eldest daughter Suruchi was hit by a drunk driver and left paralyzed from the neck down. Although she fought for many years, she died of complications in 2004. “We know that a mother and father have a lot on their plates when you have a disabled child. We feel for them, and luckily many teachers feel for them too and provide great care.” The Bhargava’s turned this family tragedy into a way to give back to the community and donated $1 million to the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute toward research for brain disease and Parkinson’s in 2012. The Bhargava Neurosciences Clinic was named in their honour and Sam currently holds the position of director of the Ottawa Hospital Foundation.
Asian night market comes to Ottawa By Ellen O’Connor
Audience join a local dance group for at the Festival of India. Photo: Gautam Subra
Splashes of Colour Festival of India a Grand Success By Staff Reporter
Ottawa—This years’ Festival of India wrapped up at Ottawa’s City Hall in high spirits with close to two thousand happy people dancing to a rousing performance by Delhi to Dublin, the popular Vancouver Bhangra Celtic fusion group. Festival president, Bala Madaparthi, declared the three day event, opened by Ottawa Major Jim Watson, a great success—thanks to diverse programming, perfect weather, and wonderful performances by various dance and music troupes. Some of the local dancers who thrilled the crowd were as young as eight. The food, a massive hit with the crowds who loved the tasty treats, from many regions of India, was freshly prepared onsite by dedicated and clearly very talented local cooks. Workshop choices included classical, folk and Bollywood dance lessons, henna, yoga, ayurveda, cricket, travel photography and much more. A highlight for many were presentations on the Globalization of India Culture by renowned author Philip Goldberg and an Ottawa premiere of Reena Kukreja’s
new documentary film Tied in a Knot. Festival goers thoroughly enjoyed Fridays’ classical dance performance by the Menaka Thakkar dance group, and the sublime music by Autorickshaw on Saturday. As promised, the audience became guests at a Fabulous Indian Wedding, a dazzling array of colour, traditional rituals, music and some very impressive dance performances! Kids were treated to Prince Rama in the Wilderness—a retelling of the Indian epic poem—The Ramayana. The festival would not have been complete without Holi—participants caught on quickly, exuberantly covering each other with coloured paint powder. One of the festivals goals was to introduce Indian culture to the mainstream Canadian audience and these events certainly accomplished that and left people wanting more. The new site was ideal—Marion Dewar Plaza at City Hall was central, accessible and quite beautiful as the sun set over the downtown skyline. Ottawa Centre MPP and Ontario Minister for Labour, Yasir Naqvi, noted the remarkable support from volunteers who worked in every area of the festival.
T&T Supermarket transformed their parking lot into a traditional night market like those found in the streets of Asia for the inaugural Ottawa Summer Carnival held August 9 and 10. Hundreds of Ottawans and members of the Chinese community flooded to the large supermarket, located at Hunt Club Road and Riverside Drive, to celebrate Asian culture through traditional musical performances and food booths serving up Asian delicacies that aren’t often found in the nation’s capital. “In Ottawa there are not many big outdoor events in the summer for the Chinese Community,” said Winnie Wang, president of the Federation of Ottawa Chinese Community Organizations, a non-profit umbrella organization that includes 39 groups from across the city. FOCCO and T&T Supermarket began organizing the first-ever summer carnival almost a year ago, taking their cues from previous successful carnivals in Toronto, where they recently had a turnout of 60,000 people. While their expectations for the Ottawa carnival were a little more modest, Tina Lee, chief strategy officer and head of eastern region for T&T Supermarket, said they are hoping to get 25,000 people at the carnival. “It’s all about the food and trying different things,” said Lee. “It’s very nostalgic for a lot of Chinese people because they only do this in Taiwan, Hong Kong, or China, so for this to come to Ottawa is really special.” One of the dishes that could be smelled across the parking lot was the stinky tofu, a traditional dish from Hong Kong.. “You either run far away or you line up for more,”
Khanh Truong, left, Muoi Lam, and Lam Ghet, serve up spring rolls, noodles and rice to raise money for the building of Fo Guang Shan Temple in Ottawa. Photos: Mike Power
said Lee, who added the tempura shrimp tornado, a prawn wrapped in potato shavings, and shaved ice topped with fresh fruit, red bean and condensed milk, were also favourite street foods unique to Asia. A line-up of local performances, including a traditional lion dance, kicked off Friday evening following the opening ceremony, which was attended by Winnie Wang, Tina Lee, Jack Lee, founder of T&T Supermarket, Senator Victor Oh, and local politicians including Mayor Jim Watson, City Councillor Allan Hubley, and Kanata MP Gordon O’Connor. Zhang Junsai, the Ambassador of China, and Fientje M. Suebu, counsellor for information and social cultural affairs, Indonesian Embassy, were also in attendance. Music and dance performances from Ottawa and Toronto provided entertainment Saturday with Teresa Carpio, Hong Kong English pop and Cantopop singer, headlining the festivities, along with guest performers Tianshi Wang and Shuhei Nagasawa, winners of New Talent Singing Awards Toronto.
Canada
Ottawa Star • August 15, 2013
www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 5
“It seems to be like Groundhog Day. Inquest after inquest. Police shooting after police shooting.” Ontario’s ombudsman Andre Marin said he’s even had death threats in the last few months. By Maria Babbage - The Canadian Press
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ORONTO—Ontario’s ombudsman will probe what kind of direction the provincial government provides to police for defusing conflict situations in the wake of the fatal shooting of a Toronto teen. The police shooting of Sammy Yatim, 18, raises the question of whether it’s time for Ontario to have consistent and uniform guidelines on how police should de-escalate situations before they lead to the use of force, watchdog Andre Marin said Thursday. “Are we going to look at improving the police response to this?’’ he said. “It seems to be like Groundhog Day. Inquest after inquest. Police shooting after police shooting.’’ The province has the power to set standards for police training or procedures, he said, which was done in British Columbia following the death of Robert Dziekanski after he was stunned with a Taser by police. Many coroner’s inquests into similar deaths over the past 20 years have made recommendations that are almost “carbon copied from each other,’’ he said, such as increasing police training. “What’s happened to all these recommendations in 20 years? Have they been gathering dust in some bin somewhere?’’ he said. “When you look closer, these police shootings bear remarkable similarity to each other.’’ A coroner’s inquest into similar police-related deaths will also get underway this fall. Two men and one woman died of gunshot wounds between 2010 and 2012 after approaching police with edged weapons, the deputy coroner said Thursday. All three may have been suffering from the effects of a mental disorder at the time. Marin said the investigation will look at how police are trained to deal with mentally ill people. Community Safety and Correc-
tional Services Minister Madeleine Marin called the tweets “deplorable’’ and said the tweeter was a DurMeilleur said all police officers in Ontario receive use of force training as reham regional police officer. But that cruits and on a yearly basis as part of claim couldn’t be immediately verified. The ombudsman wouldn’t reveal their in-service training. how he’d identified the Twitter user, “The ministry is conducting an ongoing use of force review that is examinbut said he would co-operate with a ing officer training, the equipment they police investigation. use and how use of force incidents are “Emotions run high when you talk reported, and we will about police oversight,’’ he said. “Now be looking at this very in this case, it’s a little closely when working with the ombudshigher than the norman’s office,’’ she said mal temperature.’’ in a statement. Durham police Marin said he’s deputy chief Paul received more than Martin said on Twitter that investigators 60 complaints, inquiries and submiswould like any inforsions relating to the mation Marin has Yatim case. The inon the origin of the vestigation will take Ontario’s sixth Ombudsman, André tweets. between six months Marin. Photo: Ombudsman Ontario “We are investigating the disturbing to a year to complete. allegations made by the Ombudsman Yatim was killed on an empty streetcar on July 27 in an incident that was regarding a DRPS officer,’’ he tweeted. captured on surveillance and cellphone Marin said he didn’t believe the videos, and sparked public outrage. attack was related to his office’s decision to launch an investigation. They show officers surrounding the “I’ve got thick skin,’’ he said. streetcar and three shots being fired before Yatim is seen dropping to the floor. “Like I said, it’s part of the turf to Seconds later six more shots can be deal with people who are upset. In this heard, followed by the sound of a Taser. case, it’s beyond that.’’ Witnesses have told various meMarin said he’s even had death dia outlets that Yatim exposed himthreats in the last few months. “I’ve dealt self and waved a knife around before with a lot of types of situations, so nothing really surprises me at this stage.’’ the other streetcar passengers fled. The Special Investigations His death prompted hundreds Unit—Ontario’s police watchdog— of people to take to the streets calling is looking into the Yatim shooting for justice. More than 30,000 people and will decide if the officer who have signed an online petition calling fired the shots should face any crimifor criminal charges to be filed against nal charges. Marin said his investigathe officer who fired the shots. tion won’t interfere in that work. Shortly before announcing his Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair investigation, Marin came under attack on Twitter, where he was called has also said his office is reviewing a “carded member of Al Qaida’’ the incident. among other insults. The same user Const. James Forcillo has been also told Marin not to stick his nose suspended and the Toronto Police in “business it doesn’t belong.’’ The Association president has urged the Twitter account was later deleted. public not to jump to conclusions.
Ottawa to charge firms fee on temporary foreign worker applications By Julian Beltrame - The Canadian Press
OTTAWA—The Harper government says it has further tightened the rules governing its controversial temporary foreign worker program, confirming it will charge employers $275 for each application they make. The rules do not affect the seasonal agricultural worker program. Last year, 60 per cent of processed applications were never actually filled by employers, costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars, the release says. The government expects the fee to cut applications by about 30 per cent. The $275 fee
ensures that taxpayers no longer pay the cost of processing employer applications. The latest restrictions follow a decision in April to jettison perhaps the most controversial aspect of the program, which allowed employers to pay foreign workers as much as 15 per cent less than the average wages for a job. Critics complained the provision created an incentive for employers to bring in foreign workers rather than hire Canadians. Some figures indicate the number of temporary workers in Canada doubled in seven years to about 340,000 as of December 2012. The program became a political hot
potato for the government in the spring, however, after it was revealed that the Royal Bank of Canada contracted with a supplier to provide IT assistance, which resulted in the bank cutting Canadian jobs while the new supplier brought in foreign workers to fill them. A mining firm also came under scrutiny last year after it received the green light to bring in foreign workers who could speak Mandarin. The new rules would still allow firms to request language proficiency other than English or French, but they would be required to show why it was essential to the work.
Louis Zuniga, left, and Alex Carr are two of the 11 members of JustChange, a group of young Ottawans who pool their funds to support great ideas that have a social, economic or environmental impact on the city.
Small change big difference By Ellen O’Connor
One can easily spend $50 a month on beers with friends, coffee dates or a dinner on the town. But a group of young Ottawans have decided to set that chunk of change aside and instead invest it into the future of the community through their initiative, JustChange. The 11 member group came together last September with the plan to pool together funds every month and donate it to a person, group or organization in Ottawa with a good idea that will have a positive social, economic or environmental impact on the city. “There are so many amazing ideas in Ottawa,” said 27-year-old Alex Carr, co-founder and board member of JustChange, which is housed out of the University of Ottawa. “We knew they were out there, but you don’t really realize how incredible the community is until you start looking through the applications.” The grant cycle last two months, with the first month open for proposals, and the second spent reviewing the applications and choosing a grant winner. The JustChange members donate $50 out of their own pockets a month, and at the end of the cycle a cheque for $1000 is donated to the deserving recipient. The grant winner and the two runner-ups for each cycle are also given a three month membership to HUB Ottawa, an incubation workspace for social entrepreneurs with access to office space and meeting rooms. “By day I’m a bureaucrat,” said Carr, who was born and raised in Ottawa and works as a transit planner. “It’s great, but it’s nice to swim in this other social, entrepreneurial, non-profit circle. It’s a way to give back to the city that I love.” About 15 to 20 proposals are submitted a month through the simple seven question application form available on their website, justchange.ca. The first call for ideas was launched last November, and so far four grants have been given out. The most recent grant winner was Ottawa Sustainability Tour, a self-guided tour between ten diverse sites in Ottawa that each address a key aspect of sustainability. “The money from JustChange is going to be used to print poster-sized signs for each of the ten sites, in English and French, with the name and picture of the site and how it relates to the theme of sustainability,” said Jim Birtch, a volunteer and leader in the sustainability tour initiative. JustChange doesn’t micromanage any of the money given out, nor is it required that the recipients report back, however all have stayed in contact. “As well, we invite them to JustDrinks events,” said co-founder and board member Louis Zuniga. JustDrinks is held a week after the grant is awarded so the JustChange members, the recipient, past recipients, and members of the social and entrepreneurial community can gather at a local cafe or restaurant to meet, share ideas and support the budding initiatives. Zuniga said they are looking to possibly expand their chapters and increase their board members in the future, as well as helping those who submitted proposals to make connections and spread their ideas. “It’s a matter of giving back to the community and that’s all it is,” said Zuniga.
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Opinion
Ottawa Star • August 15, 2013
Europe a greenenergy basket case
By Stephen Murgatroyd
When justice is seen to be delayed and the punishment to the offender is only a slap on the wrist, there will be irreversible mistrust between the public and the police. The incident needs to be explored in an objective, transparent public inquiry where justice is served and not seemed to be covered up. The public needs complete disclosure as to why a single man, holding a knife, alone in a streetcar surrounded by numerous officers, was killed by those who are entrusted with the legislative powers to protect public. Offenders must be held to strict account as to why such disproportionate force was used when holding off or calming down or engagement could have deescalated the situation. The whole country expectantly awaits the results of the investigation. Sammy Yatim’s death would seem doubly tragic if no lesson are drawn from it and if carrying a gun and taser by the police means shoot first and think later.
EDMONTON, AB, Aug 10, 2013, Troy Media—EU member states have spent about €600 billion ($882 billion) on renewable energy projects since 2005, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. This funding was intended to help green energy achieve commercially-competitive status and make a significant contribution to lowering carbon emissions and reducing the “threat” of climate change. But now, most European governments are backing off this strategy. The most recent shift came from the Czech government, which has decided to end all subsidies for new renewable energy projects at the end of this year. Almost all EU member states also have begun the process of rolling back and cutting green subsidies. There are many reasons for the change in strategy. Take the case of Spain. Because it failed to control the cost of guaranteed subsidies, the country is now saddled with €126 billion of obligations to renewable-energy investors. Now that the Spanish government has dramatically curtailed these subsidies, even retrospectively, more than 50,000 solar entrepreneurs face financial disaster and bankruptcy. Germany is another interesting case. During the past year, the wave of bankruptcies in solar has devastated the entire industry, while solar investors have lost almost €25 billion on the stock market. And now that Germany plans to phase out subsidies altogether so as to stabilize energy costs, its solar industry is likely to disappear by the end of the decade. More than half of the world’s solar panels are installed in Germany. Yet for many weeks in December 2012 and January 2013, Germany’s 1.1 million solar power systems generated almost no electricity. To prevent blackouts, grid operators had to import nuclear energy from France and the Czech Republic – Germany closed its own
nuclear plants in favour of solar—and power up an old oilfired power plant in Austria. It gets worse. Almost 20 per cent of gas power plants in Germany have become unprofitable and face shutdown as massively subsidized renewables flood the electricity grid with preferential energy. To avoid blackouts, the government has had to subsidize uneconomic gas and coal power stations so that they can be used as back-up when the sun is not shining, the wind does not blow and renewables fail to generate sufficient electricity. The EU is also quietly rolling back its renewable agenda, which EU leaders now accept has been raising energy prices across the Continent. At a summit in Brussels in May, European leaders indicated that they intended to prioritize the issue of affordable energy over cutting greenhouse gas emissions with the focus on stabilizing (and possibly lowering) energy costs. The EU summit signaled that Europe intended to restore its declining competitiveness by supporting the development of cheap energy, including shale gas, while cutting green energy subsidies. Europe, The Washington Post recently suggested, “has become a green-energy basket case. Instead of a model for the world to emulate, Europe has become a model of what not to do.” Given that the link between CO2 emissions and climate is weakening in the light of actual evidence (as opposed to models of these relationships) and that the global economy continues to struggle, economics is trumping ideology as many always said it would. Rather than seeing peak oil or peak coal, we are in fact witnessing the decline of the commitment to supporting renewable energy and for good reason. Stephen Murgatroyd is a columnist at Troy Media www. troymedia.com
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Editorial
Quick action needed to prevent loss of public trust in police “W
e are heart-broken, confused and still in a state of shock, we are living a nightmare we can’t seem to wake up from.” Sammy Yatim was shot dead by a Toronto police officer while he was alone, wielding a knife, near the front doors of the almost empty Streetcar. The entire incident transpired in about 10 minutes. Video footage captured the sickening pop-pop-pop of police gunfire as nine shots (not one or two but nine!) were discharged, followed by the buzz of a taser. In fatal shootings like this where a police officers have killed civilians, the lives of everyone are forever altered. The damage is irreparable. The impact is deep and heartbreaking and as Sahar Bahadi, Yatim’s mother said,” no feeling, just sadness”. It is an incident where what shouldn’t have happened happens, “and people’s lives are going to fall apart and they are never going to be put back together.”
The video made it impossible to dismiss Yatim’s death as another sad but understandable case of an officer forced to use deadly force. It makes it obvious that the 18-year-old didn’t need to die as he did, in a blaze of police bulletsalone, confused, disturbed, afraid, and cornered in an empty Toronto streetcar. With Sammy’s death his family joined a rare club whose members’ sudden, violent loss is enhanced and intensified by a profound and deep sense of injustice and loss of trust. We all know nothing will bring back a dead loved one, but legal resolution can certainly bring some comfort and closure to a grieving family. It is not so much that misfortunes like this have happened. They have and will in the future but what they leave behind is a deep sadness and lives changed for ever. They gradually erode and chip away the faith of the people in the police and the justice system.
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Ottawa Star • August 15, 2013
Opinion
www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 7
Are the RCMP’s best days behind it? The RCMP has grown so big that it can do nothing but fail By Paul Kennedy
OTTAWA, Troy Media—The famous American cowboy philosopher Will Rogers once said, “Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” The iconic RCMP in the recent past has manifested all the signs of an institution whose best days are behind it. The calls that bubble up, with increasing frequency, to replace the RCMP with another police service either on a reserve, a municipality or at the provincial level will not die down. The sheer size of the RCMP, with over 20,000 police officers as well as some 10,000 civilian members and public servants dwarfs all other police services in Canada. In addition to being the national police force with responsibility for enforcing all federal laws it also has, through a series of federally subsidized service contracts, a presence on 200 First Nation reserves, 200 municipalities, 10 provinces (eight for which it acts as the provincial police force) and three territories. In the post-2008 world it has been said in respect of some major banks that their financial health is so important to the nation’s economy that we cannot let them fail. We have let the RCMP grow so big that, with its diffused mandates and myriad masters, it can do nothing but fail. I would raise two simple questions at this time. First, what is the proper role of a national police service? Second, would a change to the RCMP’s current duties negatively impact the public’s safety? Unlawful activity is manifested in many ways but it does fall into the three basic categories of local, regional and nation-
al. Although each is distinct, there are, on occasion, interconnections between all three. A Hells Angels’ motorcycle club in a small town may also be the headquarters for central Canada and its president may be the group’s representative at the A row of RCMP uniforms. Photo: Vince Alongi international level. Such a group’s activities will attract attention from and require the Canada. This type of criminal activity is often interprovincial, national and co-operation amongst all levels of policing, international in scope. Such criminal actors including at the international level. employ the latest technology and are supThere is a clear class of minor and ported by lawyers and accountants. They relativity uncomplicated unlawful activity are international players for whom the that occurs at the local level running the world is their oyster. The type of criminal gamut from driving offences to bar brawls activity they engage in includes the producand minor property offenses. These types tion and trafficking of drugs, the smuggling of visible public disturbances are very and trafficking of people, mass marketing important to residents as they have a direct fraud, payment card and debit fraud, veand immediate impact upon their sense of hicle theft (tens of thousands of cars stolen personal safety. People expect immediate in Canada yearly and shipped abroad) police action to address these challenges. counterfeit food and medical products. The second class captures more Policing in Canada has the personnel serious and complex unlawful activity. and skill sets required to address the first Examples would include serious crimes two classes of criminal activity. It is the third such as murder, robbery and significant class, which poses the greatest challenge. frauds carried out by organized groups Proper investigations of these activior which involve the use of sophisticated ties entail national and international cotechniques to commit the crime. Such operation, are long-term in nature, require activity typically would cover a larger significant financial commitment, access to geographic area than local crime. sophisticated interception and decryption There is a third class of criminal techniques and recourse to non-traditional activity that has existed for some time but investigative skill sets. The RCMP does which has undergone significant changes some work in these areas especially as it in relation to its nature, scope, complexity relates to drugs and migrant smuggling. and the degree of threat that it poses to
The RCMP’s excessive commitment to providing policing at the municipal and provincial level has been at a cost to its recruitment of an appropriate investigative force with the skill sets required to undertake investigations on the new frontiers of criminality. As is evident by the presence of numerous competent police services in Canada at the municipal and provincial levels, others can ably undertake the role fulfilled by the RCMP as a contract police service. The public demand, however, for such police services to immediately deal with serious local crime in all its manifestations, coupled with serious financial constraints at the municipal and provincial levels, weakens their ability to commit to the substantial effort required to address this third class of criminal activity. The federal government currently subsidizes the RCMP’s role as a contract police service. The amount of that support has traditionally amounted to some 30 per cent of the contract value. That money should be reallocated to the budget of a national police service to permit it to recruit, train and develop a revitalized RCMP: one dedicated to being the primary lead within Canada in respect to the interprovincial, national and international investigation of this most serious type of crime. Paul Kennedy served as the Senior Assistant Deputy Minister at Public Safety responsible for national security activities. He also spent five years as Senior Chief Counsel to CSIS and four years as chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP. The complete essay originally appeared in Inside Policy, published by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. Article courtesy www.troymedia.com
Doctor workloads falling but incomes keep rising Canada sees increase in number of doctors, but at a cost
By Livio Di Matteo THUNDER BAY, ON, Troy Media— Physicians are the second largest component of provincial government health spending in Canada, averaging about 20 per cent of overall healthcare budgets – and constituting one of the fastest growing public health sector costs of recent years. This is despite the fact that Canada has relatively few physicians compared to many other developed countries. According to 2013 OECD health statistics, at 2.4 practicing doctors per 1,000 people, Canada ranks 28th out of 34 OECD countries. These countries range from a high of Greece—with 6.1 practicing doctors per 1,000 people to Chile’s low of 1.6. Canada is just behind the United States at 2.5 and ahead of Japan, Mexico and Poland—all tied at 2.2. Recent Canadian growth in physician ranks has some pundits alarmed. However, in a new study for Health Policy, I demonstrate that it is not growing physician numbers that we need to
worry so much about. The greater strain on our health budgets will come not from more doctors, but from more doctors earning more while working less. Estimated determinants of provincial government health spending show physician numbers alone are indeed a positive driver of healthcare spending after controlling for other factors. From 1975 to 2009, the increases in physician numbers accounted for a range of about 3 to 13 per cent of the increase in average real per capita total provincial government health expenditures, ranging from a low of 2 to 8 per cent for Manitoba to a high of 5e to 18 per cent for Quebec. These results support the conventional wisdom that expansion in the number of billing physicians is itself a driver of health system spending. Yet, physician numbers contribute less to spending increases than do increasing fees and service volumes. Indeed, a Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) study on health cost drivers found new technology, utilization and price inflation to be at the top of the list, along with population growth and aging. We also need to recognize that many of our doctors are working fewer hours than generations past. One study found that 27.7 per cent of Canadian family doctors (FP/GPs) reduced their work
hours between 2005 and 2007, and that 33.9 per cent of them planned further reductions in their weekly work hours between 2007 and 2009. Only 8.1 per cent planned to increase their weekly working hours. Another study found that younger and middle-aged family physicians carried smaller workloads than their same age peers a decade earlier. Older physicians—many of whom are approaching retirement—are carrying a heavier workload relative to younger physicians. These payments to physicians for their services, according to CIHI, continue to grow—rising six per cent in 2010-11, after increases of 9.7 per cent in 2008-09 and 7.9 per cent in 2009-10. While total physician numbers are growing, the workloads for many physicians appear to have declined but their compensation has not. Doctors do work long hours and it is understandable they may desire a better work-life balance. However, in an era of tight public budgets, having more physicians doing less and costing more may be seen as a luxury. This sentiment was undoubtedly a driver behind Ontario’s recent decision to tackle physician fees, especially given that physicians in Ontario account for about one-quarter of the government’s health spending—the highest share in the country.
The recent increases in physician numbers from ramped up medical school enrollment may not be the biggest cause for concern when it comes to future health care spending. Rather, the drivers of public healthcare spending are a complex interaction between physician numbers, physician decision-making, physician work-load, diagnostic and drug technologies, population growth, aging, the cost and deployment of human resources, provincial health system institutions and the role of demand side economic variables such as incomes and patient preferences. So what can be done? Future cost control in health spending will either need to restrain growth in service volumes and utilization—an unpopular move with the public—or it will need to tackle fees much more directly—an unpopular move with healthcare providers. One thing is certain: the recent trend toward doing less for more is not a sustainable option. Livio Di Matteo is an expert advisor with EvidenceNetwork.ca and Professor of Economics at Lakehead University. His recent study, “Physician Numbers As a Driver of Provincial Government Health Spending in Canadian Health Policy” appeared in Health Policy. Article courtesy www.troymedia.com
PAGE 8 • www.OttawaStar.com
Entertainment
Ottawa Star • August 15, 2013
Entertainment news in brief The Canadian Press
Hollywood to explore Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks
Matt Damon and Alice Braga in Elysium Photo: Sony Pictures
‘Elysium’ tantalizing, Vancouver film but ultimately falls community basks short of its promise in glow of ‘Elysium’ By Jocelyn Noveck The Associated Press
N
eill Blomkamp’s “Elysium’’ —that space station in the sky, looking a lot like present-day Easthampton—is an enormous wheel, on the rim of which its wealthy residents, having left the teeming and polluted Earth, inhabit pristine white homes with bright green manicured lawns. Brilliant sunlight dapples the blue waters of their swimming pools. Classical music and clinking glasses echo in the background. Most importantly, Elysium’s inhabitants are eternally healthy, because each home holds a “healing bay,’’ which looks like a tanning machine, except it cures all illness. Down on Earth, things are different. Los Angeles in 2154 is grimy, gritty and poor, with minimal medical care. Children look longingly to the sky, dreaming of Elysium. In a flashback, Max, a young boy in an orphanage, promises a young girl named Frey that one day, they’ll go there together. Frey grows up to be a nurse; Max, a car thief. But Max - por-
trayed by an earnest, committed and perhaps overly grim Matt Damon - has reformed himself when, one day, at the hands of a heartless boss, he’s exposed to a lethal dose of radiation in the factory where he works. Within five days, he will die. To get to Elysium and save his life, Max makes a deal with an underground revolutionary (Wagner Moura) who runs a fleet of illegal shuttles. All Max needs to do is kidnap the evil billionaire who runs the factory (a creepy William Fichtner) and, oh yes, export data from his brain. He gets the data, but up in the sky, Delacourt, desperate for the information now in Max’s brain, has activated an agent on the ground. Suddenly Max is being hunted by the vicious Kruger, a character so over-the-top, he takes over the film. Eventually, Max will make it to Elysium, and so will the beautiful Frey (Alice Braga), with the critically ill daughter she’s desperate to save. There, despite the alwayssmart and crafted action scenes, the movie lets us down a bit with a reliance on action-hero formula and some pretty lame dialogue.
By Cassandra Szklarski The Canadian Press
“E
lysium’’ puts a muchneeded spotlight on Vancouver talent, say members of a cast and crew drawn heavily from the West Coast city. Co-star Josh Blacker gushes over Blomkamp’s intricate cinematic vision, crediting the Vancouver-based writer-director with injecting fresh excitement into a tight-knit film community hit hard by a recent downturn in work “Most of the films that we film in Vancouver were oftentimes sort of the second cousin (to other productions), or we’re doing work after-the-fact where it’s not a local filmmaker making a blockbuster in Vancouver,’’ says Blacker, noting that’s quite different with “Elysium.’’ “There’s this real sense of ownership and people were really proud of the work that was being done and the fact that it was homegrown, essentially.’’ Blacker notes much of the supporting cast was drawn locally, while visual effects executive producer Shawn Walsh says most
of the film’s eye-popping visuals were done at the Vancouverbased company Image Engine. 40-year-old Blacker, who is also originally from South Africa, as are Copley and Blomkamp, credits Blomkamp, who studied at the Vancouver Film School, with bringing global attention to the Canadian film industry and showcasing its ability to make big and bold features. “Elysium’’ is stacked with Canuck actors in the background, including Adrian Holmes of “Continuum,’’ Jared Keeso of “The Don Cherry Story,’’ and “Saving Hope’’ star Michael Shanks. “Elysium’’ hits theatres as the Vancouver film community wrestles with an especially competitive industry that cost the city the “Fantastic Four’’ reboot. Earlier this year, the big-budget super-hero flick moved to Louisiana, lured by lucrative tax incentives. Blacker says several more productions have chosen Toronto over Vancouver because of more favourable Ontario tax credits, taking even more revenue out of the West Coast movie hub.
From fake robbery to police standoff, California student movie takes real life twist By Greg Risling The Associated Press
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OS ANGELES—College filmmakers were using fake guns to shoot a robbery scene at a suburban Los Angeles coffee shop when the movie took a scary twist that wasn’t in the script. Eight police officers were descending on the masked actors. The police were real, with very real guns drawn, and had no idea this was a movie. “Drop the gun! Drop it! Drop it!’’ one officer yells on an audio recording police were carrying. One of the actors immediately let go of his fake assault
rifle. But another held onto his replica handgun, forcing officers to make a life-or-death choice. An officer knocked the gun from the actor’s hand and handcuffed him, drawing a peaceful climax to what could have been something far worse. “One of the officers made the decision that had the man moved, he would have been killed,’’ said Glendora police Capt. Tim Staab. “It was just milliseconds from a tragedy.’’ Police said it showed the dangers of movie-making for amateur film crews who don’t get permits and follow proper steps before taking to the streets.
“I can’t think of a situation more dangerous than having a gun in your hand with cops responding,’’ Staab said. “It was much closer than we ever want to get close to.’’ The officers responded to the shop after receiving a 911 call from a woman who reported seeing an armed, masked gunman inside Classic Coffee in Glendora, a suburb east of Los Angeles that rarely sees Hollywood film crews. Police said there was nothing to indicate a short movie was being shot. No one was outside to warn customers, there were no signs, and no permit had been pulled. When officers arrived, there was no question in their mind that
a robbery was occurring, Staab said. It’s rare “to go into a coffee shop and see someone carrying an AR-15 rifle and wearing a mask,’’ he said. Under normal filming protocols, weapons carried by the actors have orange markings to indicate they are replicas. But the markings on the guns used by the students had been covered by a black pen, presumably to make the weapons look more realistic. The students were allowed to keep the fake weapons and weren’t facing any charges. They were given a lecture by officers about the dangers they created and went on their way.
LOS ANGELES - The story of WikiLeaks is the kind of real-life drama Hollywood loves, so expect to see multiple interpretations of it on the big screen. Several projects chronicle the organization’s enigmatic leader Julian Assange and recently convicted leaker Bradley Manning.
Rush raise half a million for flood relief CALGARY—It’s turning out to be a big week for Canadian rock legends Rush, with news that they’ve raised more than half a million dollars for flood relief in southern Alberta and are set to release a remixed version of their 2002 album, “Vapor Trails.’’ The power trio say their benefit concert in Red Deer, Alta., last week raised $575,000 - $400,000 of which will go to the Canadian Red Cross to support Alberta Flood Relief.
‘Whose Line is it Anyway?’ returns, again BEVERLY HILLS—Most TV shows have their time on the schedule, get cancelled and then the cast scatters in all directions, never to reunite again. Then there’s “Whose Line Is It Anyway?’’ The improv comedy series began 25 years ago as a radio show in the U.K. A British TV series soon followed, and the format—with some of the same theatre sports players—migrated to America in 1998.
Keanu Reeves in TIFF’s Asian Film Summit
Keanu Reeves Photo: Siebbi
TORONTO—Actor Keanu Reeves will be among the guests at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Organizers say the Torontoraised star will appear at the festival’s Asian Film Summit on Sept. 10 to discuss his latest project, “Man of Tai Chi.’’
Ottawa Star • August 15, 2013
Entertainment
www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 9
Google’s Chromecast Ottawa is a great streams movies for less place to start and grow your business. A By Ron Harris, The Associated Press
TLANTA—A new device from Google makes it easy to stream video from several popular services to a highdefinition TV. Chromecast is tiny enough to dangle from a keychain when not in use, but it packs a big punch for a low price. At $35, Chromecast is cheaper than other streaming devices, which run about $100 each. Using your home Wi-Fi network, it streams some of your favourite shows from some of your favourite services, including Netflix and Google’s YouTube. It takes only a few minutes to set up, and the device worked flawlessly. Chromecast joins Roku, Apple TV and several other devices meant to project Internet content onto TVs. In the early days of online video, people were content watching movies and shows on their desktop or laptop computers. But as these services become more popular and even replace cable TV in some households, there’s a greater desire to get them playing on television sets, which tend to be the largest screens in living rooms. That’s especially true when your computer is a phone or tablet and has a smaller screen. Chromecast, which is about the size of a thumb drive, plugs directly into the HDMI port of an HDTV. A USB cable must be in-
The Google Chromecast digital media streaming adapter Photo: EricaJoy
serted at the other end of the Chromecast and connected to a power source, either a wall outlet or a USB port on the TV. It was easy to sync Chromecast with my Android phone, and it was an even nicer experience with Google’s new Nexus 7 tablet. I watched an episode of Netflix’s original series “House of Cards’’ in high definition without a glitch. Chromecast is merely a physical conduit to the services I’d already signed up and paid for. I was never able to successfully connect a desktop or a laptop computer, each running the latest version of the Chrome browser, to the Chromecast device. Plenty of devices allow much easier local content streaming. Chromecast isn’t one of them. Unlike many of the other streaming devices, you still need a phone, tablet or regular computer to control your viewing with Chromecast.
International Investment Attraction Ottawa is a world-class city whose highly creative and educated workforce has attracted companies like IBM, Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, Ericsson, and Huawei, as well as hundreds of startups.
Booker prize and Canadian writers
By Sangeetha Arya
T
here has always been so much hype, anticipation and prestige around the announcement of Man Booker Prize awards every year. The prize originally known as the Booker-McConnell Prize became commonly known as the “Booker Prize” or simply “the Booker” in 1969. In 2002, when the investment company Man Group became the title sponsor they retained the “Booker” and the official title became Man Booker prize. The prize money awarded with the Booker Prize was originally £21,000, and was eventually raised to £50,000 in 2002, making it one of the world’s richest literary prizes. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is catapulted to international fame, renown and success; the prize therefore is of extraordinary significance in the publishing industry. Man Booker and Man Booker International …. The Man Booker International Prize launched in 2005 is greatly different from the annual Man Booker Prize for Fiction in that it is worth £60,000 awarded every two years to a living writer from any-
where in the world and focusses on the writer’s overall contribution to fiction. As journalist Anderson rightly put it, “is fast becoming the more significant award, appearing an ever more competent alternative to the Nobel” Previous winners include Albanian novelist and poet Ismail Kadare in 2005, Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe in 2007, Canadian Alice Munro in 2009, American Philip Roth in 2011, and Lydia Davis in 2013. In the forty-four year history of this coveted Booker prize there have only been three Canadian winners: Yann Martel ( Life of Pi in 2002), Margaret Atwood (The Blind Assassin in 2000) and Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient co-winner in 1992). This year three Canadian authors are on the exclusive longlist for the Man Booker Prize, which is, undoubtedly, a very proud moment for Canada. British Columbia-based Ruth Ozeki and two Canadian-born expats Alison MacLeod and Eleanor Catton have been nominated for the prestigious Booker Prize. Ruth Ozeki, 57, who splits her time between New York and Whaletown, B.C., is in the running for A Tale for the Time Being. The 28-year-old Eleanor Catton who is nominated for her sophomore novel, The Luminaries was born in London, Ontario, but raised in New Zealand. Alison MacLeod nominated for Unexploded, her third novel, was raised in Canada and has lived in Britain since the late 80’s, says she is proud to be recognized as a Canadian writer. “I am completely Canadian, even if I don’t sound it ...Canadian literature, it’s been something that fed me, really.”
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Soft Landings Invest Ottawa can help you make the right decision on your North American investment and make it easier for you to establish a presence in Ottawa. If you are growing internationally, take the next step and contact internationaloutreach@investottawa.ca @iointernational @invest_ottawa investottawa.ca
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Canada
Declassified British files show speech drafted for queen in case of nuclear war
Ottawa Star • August 15, 2013
Welcome to Internment Camp B70 A little known piece of New Brunswick’s history By Kevin Bissett, The Canadian Press
By Cassandra Vinograd, The Associated Press
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ONDON—British officials drafted an emotional rallying cry for Queen Elizabeth II as part of an exercise simulating the outbreak of nuclear war, records released show—though the monarch never uttered the words and likely never saw them. The text of a dummy speech—prepared as part of a war game exercise in the spring of 1983 to spell out possible Cold War scenarios—was released by Britain’s National Archives in a tranche of declassified documents. Invoking family, God and patriotism in moving tones, it shows the queen trying to rally the country amid the threat of annihilation from a nuclear-armed Soviet Union. “We all know that the dangers facing us today are greater by far than at any time in our long history,’’ the text reads. “But whatever terrors lie in wait for us all the qualities that have helped to keep our free-
dom intact twice already during this sad century will once more be our strength.’’ The documents, which show the imaginary address from the queen dated as March 4, 1983, underscore the seriousness with which U.K. officials contemplated the nuclear threat. That same year, President Ronald Reagan denounced the Soviet Union as an “evil empire’’ and the U.S. deployed cruise missiles to Europe, including in Britain. The text also recalls the strength and struggles of the first two World Wars. “Now this madness of war is once more spreading through the world and our brave country must again prepare itself to survive against great odds,’’ the speech reads. It has Elizabeth—who last year marked 60 years on the throne—saying she had “never forgotten the sorrow and pride’’ she felt as she and her sister huddled around the radio listening to her father, George VI, address the nation as World War II broke out.
Queen Elizabeth II Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls
“Not for a single moment did I imagine that this solemn and awful duty would one day fall to me,’’ the text says. Aligning herself with British families throughout the country, she refers to her “beloved son’’ Andrew, a helicopter pilot, fighting with his Royal Navy unit and stresses that “if families remain united and resolute ... our country’s will to survive cannot be broken.’’ In the war game exercise, the Orange bloc forces—representing the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies—launch a devastating attack on Britain with chemical weapons. The Blue forces, representing NATO, retaliate with a “limited yield’’ nuclear strike, forcing the Orange bloc to sue for peace.
Canada news in brief The Canadian Press
RCMP charge pair with conspiring to kill their spouses MELFORT—Saskatchewan farmer Jim Taylor says he knew his marriage was in trouble, but he didn’t at first believe Mounties when they told him that his wife was planning to kill him. He was even more stunned when officers alleged that a man she was having an affair with was in on the scheme - and that the pair were also plotting to kill that man’s wife. Taylor admits he and his wife, married almost 25 years, have had a rocky relationship for a while. She left the family farm about three years ago and moved into a small house in town. He thought she was seeing other men, but had no idea she was apparently having an affair with Vey - another farmer who was also acting as a financial consultant for Taylor’s farm operation. From police, Taylor said he has learned that Vey and Vey’s wife, Brigitte, were still living together in nearby Wakaw and that Brigitte Vey suspected her husband was seeing another woman. Police told Taylor that Brigitte Vey tipped them to an alleged murder plot in which Vey’s wife was going to die in a house fire and Taylor would die of an overdose on Halloween.
New moms living in large cities most at risk for post partum depression TORONTO—A new study has found that women living in large urban centres in Canada have a higher risk of post-partum depression than women in less populated areas. Post-partum depression can occur after a woman has given birth and is a serious health risk for both women and their babies. The study was based on a 2006 national survey of almost 6,500 new mothers. It found that almost 10 per cent of those
living in cities with a population of at least 500,000 reported experiencing post-partum depression. That compares with six per cent of new mothers in rural areas, almost seven per cent in semi-rural areas and about five per cent in semi-urban areas. The study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says risk factors for post-partum depression include lack of social support and a history of depression. Large urban centres have higher numbers of immigrant populations, and more women in these areas reported lower levels of social support during and after pregnancy.
Ontario wants College of Pharmacists to inspect, license hospital pharmacies TORONTO—Ontario will introduce legislation that would authorize the province’s College of Pharmacists to inspect and license hospital pharmacies. An expert study recommended that Health Canada regulate all drug preparation entities, such as Marchese Hospital Solutions. The company came under fire after it was discovered that about 1,200 patients in Ontario and New Brunswick received diluted chemotherapy drugs. Marchese provided the drug-and-saline mixtures that supplied four hospitals in Ontario and one in New Brunswick. The company fell in a jurisdictional grey area, with the federal government and the college of pharmacists unable to agree on who was responsible for the facility. Marchese said it prepared the drugs the way it was asked under its contract.
Canada facing ‘concerning’ blood shortage due to lack of donations OTTAWA—Canadian Blood Services says the country is facing a “concerning’’ shortage of blood due to fewer donations this summer and a constant demand
from hospitals. It says more than 50,000 donations are needed between now and Labour Day to keep blood inventories at “an acceptable level.’’ Susan Matsumoto, the executive director of Donor and Clinic Services, says every summer is a challenge, but the trend is especially concerning this year. Due to the blood shortage, she says the group is currently drawing on its national reserves. Canadian Blood Services—which manages the national supply of blood and blood products—operates 42 permanent collection sites and more than 20,000 donor clinics across the country.
Ontario youth jail shouldn’t investigate complaints against staff: report TORONTO—When teens at an Ontario youth detention centre complain about use of excessive force by staff or intrusive searches, the people investigating those claims should not be workers at that same facility, a new report recommends. The provincial advocate for children and youth has received more than 200 complaints about the Roy McMurtry Youth Centre in Brampton since the advocate’s office began research for the report. “When young people allege assault, abuse or excessive use of force they, and all of us, must be assured that an effective, transparent and fair investigation process will take place,’’ Elman said in a statement. The facility currently conducts its own internal investigations into abuse allegations, and the youth advocate would like to see an outside body, such as the Ministry of Children and Youth Service’s Independent Security Unit, look into all allegations. The report found that 43 per cent of youth who were interviewed reported being physically restrained by staff and more than 40 per cent of those who were restrained reported being injured in the process.
RIPPLES, N.B.—Fred Kaufman could barely imagine as a 15-year-old facing the threat of Nazi Germany in Austria that he would soon find himself separated from his family, peering through the barbed wire fence of an internment camp deep in the woods of New Brunswick. Internment Camp B70, located in the community of Ripples, N.B., housed more than 700 Jews in the early months of the Second World War. More than 70 years later, it is a piece of New Brunswick history rarely spoken of and little known by many. As the situation for Jewish families in Austria worsened in the months leading up to the war, Kaufman’s father decided to send his son to England—one of 10,000 Jewish boys taken to the United Kingdom as part of a relief effort known as the Kindertransport. But former British prime minister Winston Churchill was worried there could be spies among the Jews, and he asked Canada and Australia to house them as internees. Kaufman was one of 711 men and boys who found themselves stepping off a train on Aug. 12, 1940, and led on foot to an internment camp in Ripples, an isolated community about 30 kilometres east of Fredericton. “The camp was in the middle of the woods and we spent our days chopping down trees into heating-sized cords of wood,’’ Kaufman said. “It was cold.’’ Kaufman said at 16, he was the second youngest boy at the camp, with another boy just a day younger. The 22-hectare site had been a relief camp during the Depression before it opened in 1940 as an internment camp, one of 26 in Canada and the only one in the Maritimes. The internees were housed in army barracks and spent their days cutting the 2,500 cords of wood required each year to keep the 100 wood stoves in the camp burning. They wore denim pants with a red stripe on the leg, and denim jackets with a large red circle on the back. “That’s in case you ran away and you could be identified as an internee,’’ Kaufman said. After a year, Britain realized that many of the internees could contribute to the war effort and were given the choice to return to England and join the military or obtain a sponsor and stay in Canada. The camp was closed in 1941 for three weeks to prepare for prisoners of war. Over the next four years, the camp would house 1,200 captured prisoners including German and Italian merchant marines as well as Canadians who spoke out against the war. When the camp closed in 1945, the 52 buildings at the site were sold and moved as far away as Fredericton. The area sat idle until 1997, when teacher Ed Caissie enlisted a group of students in a project to learn about the camp and unearth some artifacts to create a display in nearby Minto. Soon the New Brunswick Internment Camp Museum had 600 artifacts and a permanent home in the basement of the Minto Town Hall.In 2006, Caissie said volunteers who were running the museum decided to develop an historic trail at the site of the former camp. Caissie said his dream is to further develop the site.
Canada
Ottawa Star • August 15, 2013
Via Rail eyes more baggage checks, sniffer dogs and background traces By Jim Bronskill - The Canadian Press
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TTAWA—Taking a train in Canada could soon become more like boarding an airplane as Via Rail considers greater scrutiny of checked baggage, more inspections by sniffer dogs and security checks on passengers. The measures—outlined in documents released under the Access to Information Act—are being considered in direct response to the alleged terrorist plot to derail a train that led to arrests in April, said Jacques Gagnon, a Via Rail spokesman. “We were already doing a lot, we are doing more now, and we could do even more,’’ Gagnon said in an interview. Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto, and Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, face terrorism-related charges for allegedly plotting to derail a Via passenger train. A third man, Ahmed Abassi, was arrested in the United States in connection with the purported scheme. Jaser’s lawyer has denied the allegations against his client. Essighaier has refused to recognize the Criminal Code and has said he wants a lawyer who will use the Qur’an to judge him instead. He has not been successful, but has qualified for legal aid. The case is scheduled to return to court later this month.
system is the developed world’s most expensive universal access healthcare program after adjusting for the age of the population (older people require more care). Canadians aren’t suffering from healthcare underfunding; they’re suffering from healthcare underperformance. And it gets worse. Changing demographics mean Canada’s healthcare system has a funding gap of $537 billion. While healthcare is costly and underperforming today, in the absence of reform the future will either hold large increases in taxes, further reductions in the availability of medical services, further erosion of nonhealthcare government services, or all of the above. But the worst part is that things don’t have to be this way. While Canadians are getting a raw deal for their healthcare dollars, patients in Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland receive universal access to healthcare without lengthy queues. Patients in Australia, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, and France enjoy better outcomes from the healthcare process than Canadians from their universal access healthcare systems. And vitally, payers in these countries all face a smaller bill for healthcare than Canadians.
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The alleged plot is said to have targeted a train that travels from New York City to Ontario, operated by U.S. rail service Amtrak south of the border and Via Rail staff in Canada. Gagnon says the idea—including regular checks of passenger names against security databases—is still being studied, but could be a “fairly expensive proposition’’ given that Via serves 450 communities spanning 12,500 kilometres of track. Via Rail currently does random searches and X-rays of baggage, uses sniffer dogs at stations and observes passengers for tell-tale signs of suspicious behaviour, Gagnon said. “Our employees are trained to detect body language.’’ Via Rail briefing notes indicate the passenger train service is looking at: • Ensuring all checked baggage can be linked to an on-board passenger, a standard practice for airlines; • More frequent patrols by sniffer dogs to scrutinize baggage and conduct walkabouts in Montreal, Toronto, Quebec City, Ottawa and Vancouver; • Additional security measures for the Via-Amtrak train during the Canadian leg of its journey, including mandatory identification checks on all passengers.
Canada’s healthcare system anything but ‘free’ Continued from page 1
www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 11
That combination of superior performance for less cost comes from more pragmatic approaches to healthcare policy. All of these nations’ universal access healthcare systems—every one of them—have a larger role for the private sector in financing and delivery than Canada with cost sharing, private competition in the delivery of healthcare services, and private parallel healthcare and healthcare insurance. Contrary to claims made by Canadian fear-mongers, none of these nations has abandoned universality or suffered poorer health system performance and higher cost as a result. Rather, these nations all manage to deliver on the noble goal of universal access to high quality care in a time frame that provides comfort and peace of mind. That’s something Canada’s provinces, with their government-dominated monopolistic approach, fail to accomplish. Canadians pay a substantial amount of money for their universal healthcare system each year through the tax system but get a fairly poor deal in return. Reforming Canadian healthcare based on lessons from other, more successful, universal access healthcare systems is the key to solving that problem. Nadeem Esmail is director of health policy research at the Fraser Institute. Milagros Palacios is a Fraser Institute economist. Article courtesy www.troymedia.com
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UN reliance on private military security companies growing By Alexandra Olson, The Associated Press
The Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries, an independent panel mandated by the U.N. Human Rights Council called for more transparency surrounding the deepening reliance of the United Nations on private security companies for services from armed guards to police training. The U.N. hired some of the same companies whose contractors drew outrage for violent or insensitive behaviour while working for the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some academics and U.N. member countries worry that the U.N is compromising its legitimacy by involving such firms in its peacekeeping and peace building operations. “We should not and do not want to wait until an atrocity occurs before we have in place a conversation and system of determining accountability,’’ said Working Group member Gabor Rona, a human rights advocate. “Because violations will occur.’’ Complicating the situation, security companies are sometimes hired not by the United Nations but by member states participating in its missions. Most recently, military contractor DynCorp announced in April that it won a State Department contract for up to $48.6 million to help support a U.S. contingent to the peacekeeping mission in Haiti. DynCorp’s involvement in U.N. operations has been controversial in part because the company secretly co-ordinated flights for the rendition terrorism suspects to CIA-operated overseas prisons. U.N. officials said the world body needs private security firms because its growing peacekeeping operations and other missions increasingly operate in regions where conflicts are no longer between government armies that respect U.N. personnel, but between insurgents who do not. “Twenty years ago, the protection of a blue U.N. flag was paramount and respected more or less by all,’’ said Rick Cottam, who deals with security issues for the U.N. Staff Federation. “Unfortunately, we’ve seen over the years more and more direct, targeted attacks on U.N. staff. A lot of the staff that we lose unfortunately are locally recruited staff and there are organizations and insurgents who are directly targeting U.N. staff.’’
World
Ottawa Star • August 15, 2013
Glaxo accused of bribing Chinese doctors By Joe McDonald, The Associated Press
BEIJING—Huang Dongliang says his uncle was being ignored by his low-paid cancer physician at a Chinese government hospital. So the family gave the doctor a “hongbao,’’ the traditional red envelope used for gifts, with 3,000 yuan ($480). “We could feel an obvious difference’’ after that, said Huang, who lives in the southeastern city of Quanzhou. “The doctor started to do more checkups, to give suggestions and advice and offered a detailed chemotherapy plan.’’ Such informal payments are pervasive in China’s dysfunctional health system. Low salaries and skimpy budgets drive doctors, nurses and administrators to make ends meet by accepting money from patients, drug suppliers and others. Accusations this month that GlaxoSmithKline employees bribed Chinese doctors to prescribe its drugs brought international attention to the flow
of illicit money. But to China’s public, the practice has long been common knowledge. Many blame a system in which the country’s hospitals nearly all are state-run but get too little money from Beijing. Most of China’s 2.3 million doctors are hospital employees and are barred from adding to their income by taking on second jobs. Under the current system, the state-set price to see an oncologist or other specialist is as little as 8 yuan ($1.25)—less than the cost of a hamburger and too little to cover a hospital’s expenses. An experienced physician might earn 6,000 yuan ($980) a month. That top level is about average for an urban Chinese worker at a time when a 100-square-meter (1,000-square-foot) apartment in Beijing can cost more than 6 million yuan ($1 million). To fill the gap, hospitals add surcharges to drug prices and assign employees sales quotas. Doctors and other employees accept money to move patients up waiting
lists for surgery or to let them see the physician they prefer. Doctors, administrators and others take kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies to use more expensive drugs or use them more often. Bribes can also distort treatment by encouraging overuse of expensive drugs or procedures. Last year, New York City-based Pfizer Inc. agreed to pay the U.S. government $60 million to settle charges its salespeople made improper payments to health care workers in China and other countries. Despite the scrutiny directed at foreign drug suppliers, their Chinese rivals probably are more active at spreading around such payments, said Peking University’s Gordon Liu, a health care economist. “In general, people would say domestic companies actually practice this informal payment approach almost as a common marketing strategy,’’ he said. “For multinationals, this is not a common marketing tool.’’
Pope Francis’ revolutionary comments about gays don’t please everyone By Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press
VATICAN CITY—The Francis Revolution is underway. Not everyone is pleased. Four months into his papacy, Francis has called on young Catholics in the trenches to take up spiritual arms to shake up a dusty, doctrinaire church that is losing faithful and relevance. He has said women must have a greater role—not as priests, but a place in the church that recognizes that Mary is more important than any of the apostles. And he has turned the Vatican upside down, quite possibly knocking the wind out of a poisonously homophobic culture by merely uttering the word “gay’’ and saying: so what? In between, he has charmed millions of faithful and the mainstream news media, drawing the second-largest crowd ever to a papal Mass. That should provide some insurance as he goes about doing what he was elected to do: reform not just the dysfunctional Vatican bureaucracy but the church itself, using his own persona and personal history as a model. “He is restoring credibility to Catholicism,’’ said church historian Alberto Melloni. Such enthusiasm isn’t shared across the board. Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI, had coddled traditionalist Catholics at-
and priorities can themselves constitute change, especially when considering issues that aren’t being emphasized, such as church doctrine on abortion, gay marriage and other issues frequently referenced by Benedict and Pope John Paul II. The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, used the word “gay’’ for perhaps the first time in its 150-year history on Wednesday, in an article marveling at the change Francis has brought. “In just a few words, the novelty has been expressed clearly and without threatening the church’s tradition,’’ the Pope Francis Photo: Evandro Inetti/ZUMAPRESS.com newspaper said about Francis’ comments on gays and womtached to the old Latin Mass and opposed en. “You can change everything without to the modernizing reforms of the Secchanging the basic rules, those on which ond Vatican Council. That group greeted Catholic tradition are based.’’ Francis’ election with concern - and now is The biggest headline came in Francis’ inflight news conference on the way watching its worst fears come true. Francis home from Brazil this week, when he was has spoken out both publicly and privately asked about a trusted monsignor who reagainst such “restoratist groups,’’ which portedly once had a gay lover. he accuses of being navel-gazing retrogrades out of touch with the evangelizing “Who am I to judge?’’ he asked, mission of the church in the 21st century. when it comes to the sexual orientation To be sure, Francis has not changed of priests, as long as they are searching anything about church teaching. But tone for God and have good will.
Couple welcomes 12th child into family fold and, yes, it’s a boy again! Continued from page X
The Schwandts, who live north of Grand Rapids, consider themselves devout Roman Catholics who don’t believe in using birth control and put the size of their family in God’s hands. Teri comes from a family of 14 kids. But she’s not the only member of her own family committed to the cause.
She has a sister in the Detroit area, Kate Osberger, who has 10 children of her own. Yep, all sons. A large brood brings many challenges, regardless of gender. School lunches can mean going through an entire loaf of bread each day. The Schwandts have a 15-passenger van—“the big bus’’—that carries the clan to family gatherings and
Sunday Mass. It helps that some boys are old enough to drive. At home, half of the 12 sleep in two bedrooms with bunk beds. Teri has a rule of no more than one pair of shoes for each kid in the entryway. Once the boys hit sixth grade, they do their own laundry. Teri said she’s only known the gender of two babies before they were born.
Believing a girl might arrive this time, the family settled on Jaynie for a name, a play on Jay’s name. It wasn’t needed, of course. “He would love a little girl,’’ Teri said. “He’s never done a daddy-daughter dance.’’ Maybe he’ll still get the chance. “Possibly,’’ Teri said of more children. “We never close that door.’’
World
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Iran’s new president says no force in the world will shake Tehran’s alliance with Syria By Bassem Mroue - The Associated Press
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EIRUT—Iran’s new president expressed his country’s support to Syria’s embattled leader Bashar Assad’s regime, saying no force in the world will be able to shake their decades-old alliance. Hasan Rouhani made the comments during a meeting in the Iranian capital of Tehran with Syrian Prime Minister Wael alHalqi, Syria’s state news agency SANA said. Syria has been Tehran’s strongest ally in the Arab world since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran has been one of Assad’s staunchest backers since Syria’s crisis began. Tehran is believed to have supplied Assad’s government with billions of dollars since the country’s crisis began in March 2011. Iran-supported Hezbollah also has sent fighters into Syria to bolster an offensive by Assad forces. “The Islamic Republic of Iran aims to strengthen its relations with Syria and
Syria is between two choices: “a state of the law or a state run by thieves and bandits.’’ Assad said “terrorism cannot be dealt with politically but should be struck with an iron fist.’’ Assad’s troops have achieved victories in the past two months Hasan Rouhani, President of Bashar Assad, President of Syria mostly near the capital Iran Photo: Rouhani.ir Photo: Fabio Rodrigues Pozzebom Damascus and in the strategic central province of Homs that links the capital Damaswill stand by it in facing all challenges,’’ cus with Assad’s stongholds on the coast. SANA quoted Rouhani as saying in a report from Tehran. “The deep, strategic Assad said his army, which was and historic relations between the people built to fight a conventional war against of Syria and Iran ... will not be shaken by its main enemy Israel, has been able to any force in the world.’’ adapt to the guerrilla warfare it is facing. Assad vowed Sunday evening to crush The Syrian leader criticized Persian the rebels trying to overthrow him, saying Gulf states that he said are demanding
democracy in Syria despite human rights abuses in their own countries. “Their political systems belong to the middle ages where there are no parliaments or elections,’’ Assad said. Saudi Arabia and Qatar that have been among the strongest backers of the Syrian opposition. Damascus and Tehran reject the idea that there is an uprising in Syria and say the country is being subjected to an Israeli-American conspiracy because of its support to militant groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Al-Halqi said the Syrian people will “not forget friends who stood by their side during times of difficulties,’’ SANA reported. More than 100,000 people have been killed since the uprising against the Assad family’s four-decade rule began in March 2011. The revolt later escalated into a civil war, which has uprooted millions of people from their homes.
US: Nearly 4 out of 10 young adults are living with mom and dad
Adopt scientific methods to determine Eid: UAE daily
World news in brief The Canadian Press
Fake officer stopped real police agents for speeding LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP)—Authorities say a man driving a truck with police lights on top made a crucial misstep during a bogus police stop in northern New Mexico. Police say the two men he pulled over for speeding were real state police agents in an unmarked vehicle. According to New Mexico State Police, 26-year-old John Shelton, of Logan, was arrested Wednesday following the sham traffic stop in San Miguel County. Investigators say Shelton had a pistol on his hip and told the agents he was a member of the New Mexico State Police Search and Rescue and a trained law enforcement officer—something officials later discovered wasn’t true. Shelton is facing charges of impersonating an officer.
Huge blob of fat and waste in suburban London sewer LONDON (AP)—It may look like an iceberg, but there’s nothing cool about it. Utility company Thames Water says it has discovered what it calls the biggest “fatberg’’ ever recorded in Britain—a 15-ton blob of congealed fat and baby wipes lodged in a sewer drain. That’s enough “wrongly flushed festering food fat mixed with wet wipes’’ to fill a double-decker bus such as the famous London Routemaster, the company said. Thames Water deals with fatbergs all the time, thanks to the widespread use of household oil and food fat. But few reach the mammoth size of the one found under a road in the London suburb of Kingston. Examination found that the mound of fat had reduced the 70-centimetre (28inch) by 48-centimetre (19-inch) sewer to just 5 per cent of its normal capacity. It damaged the sewers so badly that it will take six weeks to repair them. The company says untreated fatbergs cause flooding and backups. Mind the fat.
(AP) Nearly four of every 10 members of the millennial generation are living with their parents, according to a study of U.S. census data by the Pew Research Center. The study says a record 21.6 million young adults between 18 and 31-years old are at home with mom and dad. That’s 36 per cent of the age group, the highest share to live at home in at least 40 years, Pew says. The study points to a number of likely causes, including both rising college enrolment and falling employment for young adults. Some 32 per cent lived with their parents before the Great Recession hit in late 2007. Many of them are likely college students. The census counts students living in college dormitories as living with their parents.
Man repays ordered payment with 4 tons of quarters ST. LOUIS (AP)—An Illinois businessman outraged by a court order that he return more than $500,000 in insurance money related to a 2001 wreck that killed his teenage son wanted to pay the money back in pennies in protest, only to recognize that was unfeasible. So, Roger Herrin settled on quarters— four tons of them—packed in 150 transparent sacks each weighing about 50 pounds, the $150,000 in coins were nearly one-third of the money court required Herrin to pay back. “I’ve had 10 years to think about this a little bit, and I’m very, very bitter at this ruling,’’ he said. “It’s wrong, and everybody knows it’s wrong.’’
Ultra Orthodox Israeli Jew spies on Israel for Iran JERUSALEM (AP) - A state prosecutor has charged an Israeli man with offering to spy for Iran, Israel’s archenemy. The indictment says the suspect belongs to the fringe ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect Neturei Karta, which opposes Israel’s existence on religious grounds. Adherents of the sect have met with Iranian leaders in Iran in recent years.
Israel says the 47-year-old suspect flew to Berlin in 2011, contacted the Iranian embassy there and offered to collect intelligence about Israel. The indictment says an Iranian diplomat gave the Israeli an email account for correspondence, but did not get back in touch. Neturei Karta is against a Jewish state until the coming of the Jewish messiah.
US adds Hindus, Sikhs, Arabs to hate crime stats WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal government will begin keeping numbers on hate crimes committed against Sikhs, Hindus, Arabs, Buddhists, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Orthodox Christians. “Having accurate information allows law enforcement leaders and policymakers to make informed decisions about the allocation of resources and priorities—decisions that impact real people, and affect public safety in every neighbourhood and community,’’ Attorney General Eric Holder wrote. Holder wrote that since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Justice Department has investigated more than 800 incidents involving violence, threats, assaults, vandalism and arson targeting Arabs, Muslims, Sikhs, South Asians and those perceived to be members of these groups.
Saudi Arabia gives $100 million for global counterterrorism centre
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iyadh (IANS)—Reaffirming his country’s determination to combat terrorism, Saudi Arabian President King Abdullah has donated $100 million for supporting the international counterterrorism centre under the United Nations. In a joint Eid Al-Fitr message with Crown Prince Salman, King Abdullah, who is also the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, said: “Terrorism threatens global peace and stability.” He also called for joint international efforts to fight terrorism without any leniency toward militants and their sponsors. “We should understand that terrorism will not disappear within a limited period. So we have to be prepared for a long fight with terrorism,” the message said.
Abu Dhabi (IANS/WAM) Muslims should adopt scientific methods to determine the date of Eid in advance, as is scientifically possible in today’s world, a UAE daily has suggested. It is time for Muslims all over the world to wake up and accept the 21st century with all its magnificent human achievements, the Gulf News said in an editorial Thursday. Muslims should no longer live in a past which was defined thousands of years ago. It said at that time “there were no means to travel other than on horse or camel back.” “We can know exactly when the crescent moon will rise and we can communicate this to the whole world in an instant. This would not make us any less Muslim. It would simply stop the unnecessary disruption to our lives, which affects businesses and even holiday plans,” the daily said.
Rains destroy traditional cave homes in China Beijing (IANS) People living in cave-like homes in arid northwest China’s Loess plateau had never considered abandoning their dwellings until recently, when continuous downpour wreaked havoc across the region. Rainstorms battered the city of Yan’an in Shaanxi province and triggered landslides and floods, leaving 42 people dead and over 130 others injured by the end of July, China’s Xinhua news agency reported. About 95,000 cave houses have been destroyed in the city over the past month, leaving 100,000 people homeless. About 30 million people live in cave dwellings on the Loess plateau. The plateau’s climate is typically quite arid, but in recent weeks, it has experienced rainfall up to five times higher than that seen in previous years. The municipal government hopes to relocate cave house residents to safer places over the next five to eight years, particularly those living in areas vulnerable to landslides.
Business
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Ottawa Star • August 15, 2013
Google Glass - wearing computers on the head By Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press
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AN FRANCISCO—Google hopes to change the face of technology by persuading people to wear computers on their heads. That’s the inspiration behind Google Glass, a spectacle-like device that contains a hidden computer, a thumbnail-size transparent display screen above the right eye and other digital wizardry. This Internet-connected headgear is set up to let users receive search results, read email, scan maps for directions and engage in video chats without reaching for a smartphone. Google Glass’ grasp of voice commands even makes it possible to shoot hands-free photos and videos. Only about 10,000 people in the U.S. have been given the chance to pay $1,500 to own a test version of Glass as part of Google’s “Explorer’’ program. Glass weighs about the same as a pair of regular sunglasses. Turning on Glass is done by tapping a finger on the right side of the frame. The device can also be activated by tilting your head upward. Navigating the Glass software requires swiping a finger in a forward or backward direction or an upward or downward direction on the right side of the frame. Glass can connect to the Internet through a Wi-Fi network or by pairing with your smartphone through a Bluetooth connection. Even though the Glass screen is small, the display is in high-definition and gives the illusion that you are seeing the image on something much larger. Google likens it to watching a high-definition TV with a 25-inch screen from eight feet away. The screen is deliberately aligned slightly above the right eye so it won’t prevent users from maintaining eye contact during face-to-face conversations. That means you need to glance upward when you want to look at something on the screen. Glass’ coolest feature is its ability to almost instantly take photos or record videos that provide a startling perspective on how your own eyes see things. This is done simply by saying “OK Glass, take a picture’’ or “OK Glass, record a video’’ and the device does it. Glass has already been banned from gambling casinos, movie theatres and some bars to protect against cheating, copyright infringement and privacy intrusions.
Google’s augmented reality head mounted display as glass form Photo Source: Tedeytan
Business news in brief The Canadian Press
Trade barriers on food hurts Canada OTTAWA—Canada is only hurting itself by maintaining high protectionist barriers on its agriculture sector, says a report which cites Canadian tariffs on agricultural imports as among the highest among food exporting nations. The paper, from the Conference Board, notes that Canada has talked a good game about liberalized trade - particularly on launching free trade talks with major economies in Europe and Asia but has not acted when it comes to the highly-protected agricultural sector.
Look south for natural gas: Nova Scotia study HALIFAX—Natural gas consumers in Nova Scotia will likely have to look to increased exports from Pennsylvania over the next decade as supplies decline offshore, a study prepared for the provincial government says. The $85,000 study was commissioned by the NDP government after natural gas prices tripled in December - creating soaring costs for large users like hospitals and universities - due to shortages of local supply.
A case for the value menu: it’s not as fattening NEW YORK—If you’re trying to watch calories while keeping your meal under $5 at a fast-food restaurant, sticking to the value menu might not be a bad idea. Fast-food chains such as McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s are trumpeting pricier, pre-
Is It Time For A Second Opinion?
mium offerings to shed their image as purveyors of greasy junk food and convince customers to spend a few extra bucks.
US employers help immigrants becoming US citizens, earn loyalty SANTA ANA, Calif.—For immigrants working toward the American Dream, some employers are now helping them reach their dream of becoming Americans. Health clinics, hotels and a clothing factory are pairing up with immigrant advocates to offer on-site citizenship assistance as one of the perks of the job in greater Los Angeles, Miami, Washington and Silicon Valley as they aim to make naturalization more convenient for the 8.5 million legal immigrants eligible to become U.S. citizens. The effort is billed as a win-win for both employee and employers: Workers avoid legal fees and having to shuttle to and from law offices to complete applications; companies create a deeper bond with immigrant workers and there’s little cost as nonprofits pick up the tab.
Saudi national airline to start direct flights to Toronto this fall TORONTO—Canadians heading for pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia will soon be able to fly directly to the kingdom, with the country’s national airline Saudia starting service to Toronto this fall.
The direct flights will be of special interest to thousands of Canadians who travel to the kingdom each year for hajj and umrah pilgrimages. This year’s hajj will be over by the time Saudia launches its service, but the flights will be an option for those who want to perform the umrah, the minor pilgrimage that can be undertaken any time of the year. Last year an estimated 3,400 Canadians performed the hajj. Another 4,000 performed the umrah. The direct flights may also be used by Saudi students studying in Canada and thousands of Canadian expatriates working in Saudi Arabia. There were more than 14,000 Saudi students enrolled in Canadian educational institutions last year.
Could BlackBerry go private? TORONTO—The smartphone maker’s chief executive and board of directors could take the company private, but such a transition would prove wildly expensive. The Reuters news agency reported that several sources, which it didn’t identify, said a going-private idea was being considered by management, but that a deal isn’t imminent. Privatization might seem ideal for executives, as it would shield them from the persistent scrutiny of shareholders and analysts, but it’s a longshot. At its current share price, BlackBerry going private would cost somewhere between US$5 and $7 billion. Others say the value could be closer to $10 billion—or even higher.
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Business
Ottawa Star • August 15, 2013
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A $38,000 handbag? For world’s ultra rich, the cost of accessories can be astronomical By Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
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ONDON—A $38,000 handbag? For most people, it’s unthinkable. But for the richest sliver of the global population, it’s a realistic option - and buyers aren’t short of choices. In the upscale boutiques of Singapore, New York or Zurich—where Oprah Winfrey claims a sales clerk refused to show her a $38,000 bag—purses priced in the four figures are common. In fact, they’re so common that a higher level of luxury exists to set the super-rich apart from the merely affluent. A budget of about $1,000 to $2,000 will buy one of the cheaper
bags by luxe labels such as PraThe item at the centre da, Hermes, Fendi, Chanel or of the Winfrey dispute was Louis Vuitton. reportedly a Tom Ford But that’s just the starter Jennifer bag—named for step. Many labels create the Jennifer Aniston, a fan of same style of bag in a range the American designer. of fabrics, from leather to The version on sale more expensive calfskin, at Zurich’s Trois snakeskin and crocodile Pommes was one skin. Adding silver or gold of the higher-end clasps or precious stones models, priced at can increase the price 35,000 Swiss francs tag, while limited ($38,000). editions and one-off Prices for Hermes’ creations can fetch Birkin bag—a square, astronomical Model at New York Fashion Week showing a Louis sturdy tote that has Vuitton handbag Source: David Shankbone sums. become one of the
most-coveted luxury handbags since it was introduced in the 1980s—start at about $10,000, but have gone as high as $200,000, for a red crocodile skin Birkin sold at a 2011 Christie’s auction. Hermes also produced a platinum version studded with 2,000 diamonds, designed by Japanese jeweler Ginza Tanaka and valued at almost $2 million. That, however, is not the world’s most expensive handbag. According to Guinness World Records, that honour goes to a heart-shaped gold purse from jewelry house Mouawad covered in 4,500 diamonds and valued at $3.8 million.
TransCanada going ahead with Energy East line, an ‘historic opportunity’ By Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press
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ALGARY—TransCanada Corp. is moving ahead with a $12-billion plan to ship western oil to Quebec and the East Coast - the largest project in the company’s history and one it compares to the Canadian Pacific Railway in its economic impact for the country and trade benefits overseas. Energy East would deliver up to 1.1 million barrels per day to refineries and export terminals in Quebec in late 2017 and New Brunswick one year later. The project, which still faces regulatory hurdles, has the support of the Alberta and New Brunswick governments but it’s not clear yet whether Quebec has been won over. Critics have already vowed to fight the project, which they describe as unsafe and unlikely to deliver on job creation and energy security promises. That position has, in part, led to repeated delays for another high-profile TransCanada project, the Keystone XL pipeline in the United States. “This is a historic day for TransCanada and a historic day for our country,’’ CEO Russ Girling said. “Each of these enterprises demanded innovative thinking and a strong belief that building critical infrastructure ties our country together, making us stronger and more in control of our own destiny.’’ Energy East would involve converting a portion of TransCanada’s underused natural gas main line to ship oil 3,000 kilometres from Alberta to its terminus near the Quebec-Vermont border. Girling said TransCanada is confident it can continue to meet the needs of its natural gas customers once Energy East starts up. Some 1,400 kilometres of new pipe will be built to Saint John, N.B., where crude can both feed Irving Oil’s massive refinery as well as be shipped offshore. Irving announced it planned to build a $300-million marine terminal to handle the increase. New Brunswick Premier David Alward called the project a “game changer’’ for his province. “It will change the direction of our province, our economy, the fate of many of our citizens, and it will help create a stronger more prosperous future for all of us.’’
Another export terminal could be built in Quebec, although the location has not been determined. Exporting crude to energy-hungry markets such as India—where landlocked Canadian crude would command a better price—is possible from Energy East, said Girling, who confirmed international customers were among those who bid for space on the pipeline. It could also allow shipments to refineries along the U.S. eastern seaboard - an 800,000-barrel-per-day market - as well as in Europe. Both the energy industry and the Alberta government have been pushing for new ways to get Canadian crude to the coast, where it can be sold in international markets. The United States is currently Canada’s sole customer for crude exports, and proponents of greater pipeline access say it’s crucial for Canada to diversify its markets to boost its product price. TransCanada says the project will also free eastern Canadian refineries
An oil pieline. Photo: Ulrichulrich
from pricey imports from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Libya. That market currently imports some 700,000 barrels per day of crude from abroad. In a statement, Alberta Premier Alison Redford said Energy East is “truly a nation-building project that will diversify our economy and create new jobs here in Alberta and across the country.’’
Apparently stymied to the West and possibly to the South, the Harper government’s pipe dreams for turning Canada into an energy superpower got a measure of credibility with this announcement. And with its promise of Canadian oil to benefit Canadian consumers, it could bring potential political benefits for the Conservative government all along the six-province route.
Canadian telecoms ramp up lobbying efforts ahead of Verizon’s entry into Canada By Alexandra Posadzki The Canadian Press
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anada’s biggest telecoms are ramping up their lobbying against a set of rules they believe give foreign companies like Verizon Communications Inc. an unfair advantage in the wireless communications sector. The complaints come amid reports that U.S.-based Verizon Communications is exploring a move into the Canadian market by purchasing Mobilicity or Wind Mobile, two of the new wireless carriers that launched their services a few years ago. The rules allow foreign entrants to buy small Canadian wireless carriers with less than 10 per cent of the market share -
part of the federal government’s effort to increase competition in the sector. The Canadian carriers are disputing rules that would allow Verizon to use their wireless networks and to bid on more wireless spectrum—the radio waves used by mobile communications devices—than the incumbent carriers at a January auction. So far, Industry Minister James Moore has stuck by the government’s policy, despite lobbying from Canadian wireless carriers. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canadians want to see more competition in the industry and lower cellphone rates. “Our government has pursued this very consistently ... a policy of fostering greater competition in this industry for the ben-
efit of Canadian consumers over the past few years,’’ he said. The telecom giants have been stepping up their lobbying in recent weeks. Rogers registered 13 of its board members as lobbyists last month to press for changes to the spectrum auction rules, according to a federal database. Previously, Rogers Communications had only one active entry in the registry, under the name of the company’s president and chief executive Nadir Mohamed, although several dozen employees were registered to perform lobbying duties under that listing. BCE also registered its board members as lobbyists earlier last month, bringing it to 19 active listings in the registry. Telus has 17 active entries in the federal lobbyist registry.