Ottawa Star Volume 1 Issue 2

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Ottawa Star www.OttawaStar.com • July 18, 2013 • Volume 1, Issue 2

For Canada & World News visit Ottawa Star.com

Oh Sandra! honored with Key to Ottawa

By Staff Reporter

“I

am deliriously excited right now, it’s such an honour and I’m so happy,” said Sandra Oh in a press conference prior to the awards ceremony where she was presented with the key to the city by Mayor Jim Watson in recognition of her significant contributions and accomplishments nationally and internationally in the field of the performing arts, at Ottawa City Hall on July 8, 2013.

The proud Ottawa actress said, “I’m happy and excited to be back in my hometown and to be a part of such a celebratory event. I’m looking forward to seeing all my friends and all those who I haven’t seen in many years and to figure out what this key to the city opens.”

“I have shamelessly brought my parents to almost every award show I have ever been to. My parents have been a big part of my awards life, but this is very different. It’s different because my entire family is here and the entire community that I grew up with, including friends, are here. These are people who watched me grow up,” said an emotional Oh. The Key to the City, is an prestigious award presented by city’s municipal government to esteemed residents or visitors for their outstanding contributions. The award, usually an ornamental key, is generally presented by the mayor or some other public figure at an award ceremony. Ottawa’s Key to the City, which was first awarded in 1935, has been given to figures including author Margaret Atwood and photographer Yousuf Karsh Sandra Oh, has been an great inspiration and as the Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson rightly said, “a role model to aspiring performing artists in Ottawa and around the world,” Oh is best known for her role as Dr. Cristina Yang in the award-winning television series Grey’s Anatomy, which earned her a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and five Emmy nominations.

Born to Korean parents in the Ottawa suburb of Nepean, Sandra Oh started as a ballet dancer starCanadian actress Sandra Oh. Photo: Featureflash

Continued on page 3

Lac Megantic Ottawa plans to surrender Canadian terror suspect to US could be worst train disaster in Canadian history

By John Cotter, The Canadian Press

EDMONTON—The federal government plans to extradite a Canadian citizen to the United States to face terrorism charges, says his lawyer.

Sayfildin Tahir Sharif is accused of conspiracy to kill Americans and of supporting a terror group that took part in a 2009 suicide bombing in his native Iraq.

Five U.S. soldiers were killed when a truck filled with explosives was detonated at a military checkpoint.

Bob Aloneissi, Sharif ’s lawyer, says he has received a letter from Justice Minister Rob Nicholson

that indicates the federal government intends to hand over Sharif to stand trial in the United States.

He also faces a new charge there of aiding and abetting the murder of U.S. nationals abroad.

“Mr. Nicholson has decided to surrender my client to the United States, which is very disappointing,’’ Aloneissi said Wednesday.

“But he has made that decision conditional on the United States not seeking the death penalty in relation to this new charge.’’

The federal Extradition Act says the minister can refuse to make a surrender order if the person to be extradited could face the

death penalty under the laws of the extradition partner.

Sharif, who also goes by Faruq Khalil Muhammad Isa as well as another name, has been in custody in Edmonton since his arrest Jan. 19, 2011.

Carole Saindon, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said Nicholson made the surrender order decision on “Isa’’ June 25.

“He has 30 days to file a judicial review of this decision,’’ she said in an email from Ottawa.

Aloneissi said he will be consulting with his client and suggested he would file a challenge of the federal

The toll of the rail disaster that devastated much of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, stood at 37 people confirmed dead and many still missing. Here is a list of some past accidents–including air crashes, shipwrecks, mining disasters and derailments–with a high cost in lives:

Continued on page 5

Continued on page 3

By The Canadian Press

PAGE 2 • www.OttawaStar.com

Community

Ottawa Star • July 18, 2013

The Ottawa Zaffeh group perform their traditional folkloric dance routine at a previous Ottawa Lebanese Festival. Photo: Ottawa Zaffeh group

Preview of Upcoming Festivals in Ottawa Ellen O’Connor

Fill your belly with delicious food, groove to live music, and experience the culture of the Lebanese, Haitian, and Egyptian communities at three different festivals taking place from July 17 to 21 all across the city.

Ottawa Lebanese Festival The 23rd anniversary of the Ottawa Lebanese Festival begins July 17 and runs to July 21. The five-day festival draws thousands of people every year to take part in the sights, sounds and tastes of the Lebanese community. Indulge your appetite with Middle Eastern dishes of shawarma, falafel, saj bread, and sweets. The midway is open every day with games and rides for children and 24 Middle Eastern artists will perform traditional Lebanese dances and music with international recording artist Karl Wolf kicking off the show Wednesday night . The festival is held on the grounds of the St. Elias Cathedral and Banquet Centre located at 700 Ridgewood Avenue across from Mooney’s Bay. For more information visit ottawalebanesefestival.com

Ottawans browse books, paintings and art for sale at a bazaar and get a tour of St. Mary Coptic Church at a past Egyptian Festival.

Photo: St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church

Festival Haiti en Fete This music-filled Caribbean beach party kicks off July 19 and runs to July 21 and is organized by Kombite Outaouasi, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the artistic and cultural heritage of the Haitian community. The festival showcases local talent as well as various international performers such as Haitian-American rapper and singer-songwriter Wyclef Jean, who will be performing on Saturday. The festival is held at Petrie Island in Orleans. For more information visit haitienfete.ca.

Mayor Jim Watson (5th L), Admiral Nirmal Verma (1st R), Indian High Commissioner and Mr. Paul Dewar, MP (5th R) along with some of the organizers of Festival of India. Photo: FOI

Ottawa Egyptian Festival The Ottawa Egyptian Festival runs July 19 to 21 and offers everything from traditional homemade Egyptian food served in the basement of the church to an outdoor bazaar selling Egyptian goods including clothing, jewellry, art and more.

Children can enjoy games, face painting and hair braiding in the Kids Corner.

The festival will also include tours of St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church and youth members of the church will display posters they made detailing the holy traditions, history, fathers and popes of the Coptic Church. The festival is held

at the church located at 1 Canfield Rd in Nepean. For more information visit ottawaegyptianfest.com.

Make sure to keep your eyes open for upcoming festivals in August as well with the Festival of India August 9 to 11 and the South Asian Fest August 16 and 17.

Festival of India Formally launched by the Mayor of Ottawa and the Indian High Commissioner recently, the Festival of India will start on August 9. For more information visit festivalofindiaottawa.org

Syrian Arab Association Picnic Ellen O’Connor

Rain didn’t deter picnickers from packing their baskets full of goodies and settling in for a day of food and fun at a picnic event hosted by the Syrian Arab Association of Canada.

Almost 200 members of the Syrian community attended the all-day picnic held at Leamy Lake Park in Gatineau on July 7.

Food was not in short supply as friends and family crowded around tables and set up barbeques to share an afternoon lunch.

The Syrian Arab Association of Canada is a social organization based in Ottawa for Canadian citizens of Syrian origin and their relatives. The organization has been active for about 30 years.

“Despite the ongoing war in Syria now, we continue to collect the largest possible number of Syrians in solidarity with our homeland,” said Mounir Louis, president of Syrian Arab Association of Canada.

Members of the Syrian Arab Association of Canada enjoy a picnic lunch with family and friends at Leamy Lake Park in Gatineau on July 7. Photo: SAAC

Sunday’s picnic was one of the many events organized by association.

They have organized events for Moth-

er’s Day and Father’s Day, as well as for the National Independence Day of Syria in March, which saw almost 300

people demonstrate on Parliament Hill against the closing of their embassy in Ottawa.

Community

Ottawa Star • July 18, 2013

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 3

Ottawa is a great place to start and grow your business.

Sandra Oh with Mayor Jim Watson, her mother Young-Nam Oh, and her father John Joon-Soo Oh. Photo: Roger Lalonde

Sandra Oh receives Key to the City Continued from page 1

ring in her first play The Canada Goose at the age of 10, and was extensively involved in drama courses and school productions at Sir Robert Borden High School. During a city-wide competition of the high school Improv Games, she caught the attention of the organizers and was invited to join the improv troupe Skit Row High, which created and wrote original works performed by the National Arts Centre.

Working professionally at the age of 15 in theatre and commercials, she eventually attended the prestigious National Theatre School of Canada to study drama, where after three years, she beat out 1,000 other hopefuls for the coveted title role in the CBC television film The Diary of Evelyn Lau earning her a Gemini Award, a nomination

for Best Actress, and the 1994 Cannes FIPA d’Or for Best Actress. She is also the recipient of two Best Actress Genie Awards for her leading role in Double Happiness and Last Night.

After moving to Los Angeles in 1996, Oh has appeared in several major movies, including Under the Tuscan Sun and the Oscar-winning Sideways for Best Adapted Screenplay and in 2001 was honoured with a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Oh once said, “I work very hard, sometimes too much, at my job because I love it so much. It is more than wonderful when all your hard work is noticed and honored by your peers and the industry” Oh said young people interested in pursuing a career in show business “should not be swayed by the trappings of fame and just being a celebrity,”

Lac Megantic could be worst train disaster in Canadian history Continued from page 1

1864 St-Hilaire train disaster, Richelieu River, Beloeil, Quebec: 99 deaths.

1910 Spanish River derailment, Northern Ontario: 44 deaths.

1970 Air Canada Flight 621, near Toronto: 109 deaths.

1914

1982 Ocean Ranger oil platform sinking, off Newfoundland coast: 84 deaths.

1914 Empress of Ireland shipwreck in the St Lawrence River: 1,012 deaths.

1917 Explosion of munitions ship in Halifax, N.S.: 2,000 estimated deaths, 1,950 recorded names.

1918 SS Florizel shipwreck, Cappahayden, NL: 173 deaths.

1927 Laurier Palace Theatre Fire, Montreal: 77 deaths.

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1958 Springhill mining disaster, Springhill, N.S.: 74 deaths.

1963 Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 air crash: 118 deaths.

1914 Hillcrest mine disaster, Hillcrest, Alberta: 189 deaths.

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1947 Dugald train disaster, Dugald, Manitoba: 31 deaths.

1907 Quebec bridge collapse: 76 deaths.

SS Southern Cross shipwreck off Newfoundland: 174 deaths.

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1985 Crash of Arrow Air flight in Gander, NL.: 256 deaths.

1986 Hinton train collision, Hinton, Alberta: 23 deaths.

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1992 Westray mine explosion, Plymouth, N.S.: 26 deaths.

1997 Thanksgiving Day bus crash near Les Eboulements in Quebec’s Charlevoix region: 44 deaths.

1998

Crash of Swissair Flight 111 into Atlantic Ocean off Peggy’s Cove, N.S., N.S.: 229 deaths.

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Community

PAGE 4 • www.OttawaStar.com

Ottawa Star • July 18, 2013 and St. Patrick Street, and have even extended to other parts of the city as well. Sakahàn, meaning “to light a fire,” brings together more than 150 works of Indigenous art by more than 80 artists from 16 countries and explores all mediums, including video installations, sculptures, prints, mural art and more.

Farmer’s Life

Families enjoy a beautiful July evening on Dow’s Lake in paddle boats and canoes that can be rented at the Dow’s Lake pavilion. Photo: Ellen O’Connor

Summer in the City Ellen O’Connor

The nation’s capital is a beautiful place to explore in the summer, from the spacious green areas perfect for hiking and biking, to the bustling ByWard Market full of shops, restaurants and music. With summer at its peak, here are some great ways to spend the day with your family.

lake. Your family can rent a paddle boat, kayak or canoe and spend the afternoon paddling across the calm water. Prices range from $15 to $20 for the first hour and $8 for every additional hour. Afterwards, you can lay down a blanket and have a picnic under the shade of the trees or enjoy a patio lunch overlooking the lake.

Afternoon on the Lake

Theatre in the Park

Dow’s Lake is a beautiful open spot situated right in the middle of the city near Little Italy and in the summer it’s the perfect place to bask in the sunny rays and explore the

Step out of the theatre and into one of Ottawa’s many parks for a performance you’re not soon to forget. A Company of Fools, Ottawa’s longest-running professional Shake-

speare company is touring the city’s parks again this summer with their performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor. The highly physical comedy circulates throughout parks from Monday to Saturday with a show time of 7pm until August 17. Bring a blanket, lawn chair and bug spray and enjoy a theatrical performance set against Ottawa’s backdrop.

Check out the Fool’s park touring schedule at fools.ca.

Indigenous Art

The Sakahàn: International Indigenous Art exhibit at the National Art Gallery is a must-see this summer.

The ambitious art installations fill the special exhibition spaces inside of the gallery, located in the ByWard market at the corner of Sussex Drive

From butter churning to cow milking, get a taste of the farm life right in the middle of the city at the Agricultural Museum located at 861 Prince of Wales Drive. Visit the animal barns to see the different breeds of dairy and beef cattle, chicken, sheep, pigs, goats and rabbits, then take a horse-drawn wagon ride through the experimental farm. Daily demonstrations happen throughout the day and include bread and butter making, cow wash and care, artifacts in action, afternoon milking, and more. Celebrate National Ice Cream Day on July 21 with the Ice Cream Festival at the museum. Learn about the journey from cow to cone, and then enjoy your own yummy creation of ice cream, gelato or frozen yogurt.

Everyday Activities

From physical fitness to artisan markets, City Hall’s Marion Dewar Plaza offers free regular weekly programs throughout the summer for all to enjoy. On Tuesday’s get pumped up for the day with an outdoor boot camp or browse the summer art market and discover goods made my local artisans. Relieve your stress with Tai Chi on Wednesdays or put on your dancing shoes with some outdoor salsa dancing. Try your hand at tennis on Thursdays and let your creative juices flow with a breakfast lecture on Friday. Visit ottawa.ca for more details.

Candidates for Ottawa South byelection John Fraser, Liberal candidate.

Bronwyn Funiciello, NDP candidate.

Ellen O’Connor

Bronwyn Funiciello has held the position of vice-chair of the Ottawa Carleton District School Board and a trustee for zone 6 for the past 10 years. As vice-chair, Funiciello has helped to balance the Board’s $800 million budget. In her previous position as an education advocate and co-chair of Our Schools, Our Communities, the mother-of-four worked to oppose school closures and program cuts.

“Unlike the other two candidates, I have had my name on a ballot,” said Funiciello, when asked what sets her apart. “People in Ottawa South have voted for me to represent them on the school board three times. People know they can trust me to get the job done.”

What does your party platform have for New Canadians in Ottawa?

Bronwyn said the cuts to homecare wait times delivered by the NDP in the 2012 budget will benefit families immigrating to Canada with their loved ones who need the support to live comfortably. She added that the NDP also delivered a Youth Jobs plan that will create 25,000 jobs for youths.

“For young people coming to Canada we want to ensure that, with training, they’ll be able to get into the

John Fraser has served alongside Dalton McGuinty for the past 14 years with a focus on helping community organizations in the areas of health and education. Previous to entering public service, he spent 18 years managing local businesses. Fraser is a life-long resident of Ottawa South and currently lives there with his wife Linda and three children.

When asked what sets him apart from the other candidates, Fraser said he believes it is his grounding in the community and his desire to help people.

“I have 14 years of experience working in the community and building partnerships, knowing and understanding the people, and wanting to help,” said Fraser. “I think my value is the work I can do in the community and being able to bring people together.”

What does your party platform have for New Canadians in Ottawa?

“Every third door someone said, ‘I’m not a citizen yet,’” said Fraser in regards to his canvassing in Heatherington, a community in Ottawa South. “My platform is

that I’m here to serve everybody. I realize the challenges of being in a new place and understanding what resources are available to you. In schools, people need to see their values reflected.”

Fraser said the demographic of his community is quite diverse with about 145 languages spoken. “When you go into a community where there’s a high prevalence of new Canadians, they accept you in such a welcoming way,” said Fraser.

workforce, and more importantly, stay in the workforce,” said Funiciello.

Funiciello said she will draw on her experience working on the school board to represent the diverse concerns of Ottawa South, adding the important role that small businesses play in creating job opportunities and building intergenerational ties within communities.

An interview request sent to Progressive Conservative Matt Young’s campaign could not be accommodated by press time.

Ottawa Star • July 18, 2013

Canada

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 5

Would be Canadian citizens fight oath to Queen today as discriminatory Former Prime Minister Jean Chretien withdrew planned change

By Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press

T

ORONTO—Three permanent residents are in court in Toronto today arguing they should not be forced to take an oath to the Queen as a condition of citizenship. They say the requirement is discriminatory and violates their constitutional rights.

The three oppose the oath on religious or conscientious grounds, saying pledging allegiance to Canada should be enough. They also note that those who

are citizens because they were born in Canada don’t need to take any oaths.

For its part, the federal government argues the oath to the Queen has been around since Confederation. It also says the three are in Canada voluntarily and are free to follow their political or religious dictates as permanent residents and that not having the benefits of citizenship is a reasonable cost of their personal beliefs.

New citizens would be swearing an oath to Canada rather than to the

Queen had former Prime Minister Jean Chretien not gotten cold feet at the last minute according to his former citizenship minister Sergio Marchi.

As three permanent residents and the federal government argued the issue in court, Sergio Marchi said he had been poised to scrap the pledge of allegiance to the Queen two decades ago.

With Chretien’s blessing, Marchi said he produced oaths to Canada and prepared a document for a cabi-

net committee reflecting the changes and believed the oath to Her Majesty would soon become a relic of Canadian history.

Until the phone rang. “I’m not sure I want to take on the separatists and the monarchists at the same time,’’ Marchi said Chretien told him. The Liberal PM asked his minister to “park’’ the measure and Marchi did, knowing it might never resurface. Marchi said he still regrets the change was never made.

Ottawa plans to surrender terror suspect to US Continued from page 1

Canadian visitor visa. Source: Wikipedia

Super Visa keeps getting more popular More than 1,000 issued every month Ottawa—More than 20,000 Parent and Grandparent Super Visas have been issued since the program’s launch in December 2011, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced recently.

With over 1,000 Super Visas being issued monthly, this has become one of Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s most popular programs. The approval rate remains high at 85 percent.

The Super Visa is a multiple entry visa that is valid for up to ten years, while offering holders the option of staying in Canada for up to two years at a time. This reduces the need for frequent visitors to renew their status during an extended family visit.

The process for getting a Parent and Grandparent Super Visa is simple and straightforward. Applicants for the Super Visa must provide proof that the host child or grandchild meets a minimum income level, demonstrate that they have purchased comprehensive Canadian medical insurance and undergo the immigration medical examination. To date, almost 99 percent of Super Visa applicants who met these requirements were approved.

The Canadian medical insurance must be valid for a minimum period of one year from the date of entry to Canada.

It should provide a minimum of $100,000 in coverage and covers for health care, hospitalization and repatriation.

For a family with 3 persons, the minimum necessary income is $27,674 (3 persons and 4 persons family it is $34,022 and $41,307 respectively).

“The government is committed to family reunification and the Super Visa provides families with the flexibility to spend longer periods of time with loved ones,” said Minister Kenney. “It’s an innovative way of giving parents and grandparents the freedom to travel back and forth between Canada and their home country, helping them stay connected with families and friends both in Canada and at home, without the hassle of having to reapply every time.”

Ontario woman trained neighbour, 11, to chauffeur her on errands

By The Canadian Press

HAMILTON, Ont.—Police have charged an Ontario woman they say taught her 11-year-old neighbour to drive so he could chauffeur her around town on errands.

A police patrol spotted a “very

young looking male’’ behind the wheel Monday night (near Albright and Quigley roads) in Hamilton, with an older woman tagging along in the passenger seat.

They say the woman was the boy’s 68-year-old neighbour, who gave the preteen an early start on driving les-

sons so he could take her around for short trips.

The woman has been charged under the provincial Highway Traffic Act. Her name has not been released.

Police say the boy, who cannot legally learn to drive until he’s 16, was taken home to his parents.

justice minister’s order. “We will be looking at appealing Mr. Nicholson’s decision to the Alberta Court of Appeal,’’ he said.

A separate appeal has already been filed over last October’s Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench ruling that found there was enough evidence for an extradition. The lawyer expects both appeals would be heard together.

During hearings last year on the U.S. extradition request, the Crown argued that intercepted telephone and Internet conversations showed Sharif helped jihadists contact members of a terror network as they made their way from Tunisia to Iraq to make the attack on the soldiers.

Alberta Queen’s Bench Justice Adam Germain ruled that the recorded phone calls and emails went far beyond “religious enthusiasm’’ on Sharif ’s part. Germain said all of the evidence leads to an inescapable conclusion that the legal extradition test is established on the original two charges, which carry a possible life sentence in the U.S. Aloneissi has argued that there is no clear evidence that proves Sharif helped support a terrorist group or that he agreed to help kill anyone. He said the Crown’s case was based on police interpretations of vague statements by Sharif that have been translated to English from Arabic.

Sharif, an ethnic Kurd, was born in Iraq but moved to Toronto as a refugee in 1993. He became a Canadian citizen in 1997. When Sharif was arrested, he was living in an Edmonton apartment with his girlfriend and her children. Sharif has said the terrorist allegations against him came from people who were tortured by American investigators.

He acknowledges that his real name is Isa, but said he changed it to escape a Turkish refugee camp when he was a young man. Sharif said he feared that using his real name again would have made it difficult for him to immigrate to Canada.

Opinion

PAGE 6 • www.OttawaStar.com

Oath of allegiance O

ne of the key requirements to obtain Canadian citizenship—that vaunted goal of so many—is being contested by three immigrants.

This is the oath pledging allegiance to the Queen and her heirs. Resolute in their stance, these individuals have now taken the federal government to court in a bid to deem the process unconstitutional.

In response, the government has strongly espoused the stance that immigrants who fundamentally disagree with the notion of a monarchical head of state and who on that account refuse to pledge the oath of loyalty, simply do not have the right to be citizens. It contends that while these individuals are justified to stand by their political and religious convictions – the price to be paid is not having the privilege and benefits of Canadian citizenship. However, this was not always the government’s stance.

According to the former Immigration Minister Sergio Marchi, the government under Prime Minister Jean Chretien nearly instituted reforms that would have had new citizens swearing an oath to Canada rather than the Queen. Last minute

political considerations regarding the perceived pressure from monarchists on top of the separatist movement led Chretien to “park” the measure.

The issue here is not about monarchy. The debate over the monarchy and its place in Canada is not in question here. Also, the issue is not about a change to oath pledging allegiance is required or not. The issue is can a change to Canadian citizenship requirements be demanded by a non-citizen.

All political considerations aside, immigrants to this country have to realize that while Canada is an accepting country— proud of its heritage in welcoming a wide spectre of religious and personal viewpoints—the rules and conduct of this land have to be respected and accepted before they apply for the privilege to become a Canadian citizen. above all else. The swearing-in ceremony has largely remained the same ever since Confederation, mandating the pledging of loyalty to the monarch—a largely symbolic gesture. Any changes to this - pledging allegiance to Canada instead of the Queen—can and should originate only from the citizens

of this country. Non-citizens, even if they are permanent residents, have no right to dictate the terms or demand changes to the requirements on which they want to become citizens.

The argument made by the individuals that this is a violation of their freedom of expression, and that it bars them from agitating for the abolition of the monarchy is far-fetched and groundless. The further argument that the oath is discriminatory simply because citizens born in this country are not required to swear allegiance to the Queen is again based on a flawed premise.

These individuals, who are not citizens of Canada, do not possess the constitutional and moral authority to mandate changes to this traditional Canadian hallmark—a pledge made by millions of Canadians. It is important to reiterate this point.

The citizenship process cannot be relegated to a status where it can be altered and tampered with to appease all personal sensibilities and perceived offences. Citizenship above all, is an honour and privilege – and the process to obtain it is to be respected in full measure by all those who seek it.

Letters to the Editor Welcome, Ottawa Star: Reader I am writing to thank you for starting a newspaper in Ottawa geared towards new Canadians. Ottawa is a vibrant community with its citizens coming from various backgrounds and culture. Their interests straddle activities and events in Ottawa as well as those at places they left behind. Your newspaper provides a link between these two.

I was also quite impressed by your online edition, www.OttawaStar.com. In today’s world of instant updates, I hope that your online edition becomes a central portal of information dissemination and exchange for young and old alike.

Looking forward to reading your future editions both in print and online.

Sincerely, B.R. Ravishankar Ottawa

Ottawa Star 128 Oakfield Cres., Ottawa, ON K2J 5H8

Every effort is made by the Ottawa Star to ensure that information published is accurate. The Ottawa Star reserves the right to report unsolicited material being sent through to the publication. Reproduction in whole or in part of this publication is strictly prohibited without prior consent of the publisher.

Publisher: Chandra Arya Chief Editor: Sangeetha Arya Editor: Ellen O’Connor Distribution COMET 2000

Ottawa Star • July 18, 2013

The Egyptian Struggle

By Tony Blair LONDON—The events that led Egypt’s military to remove President Mohamed Morsi confronted the army with a simple choice: intervention or chaos.

Seventeen million people in the street is not the same thing as an election. But it is an awesome manifestation of people power.

Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood was unable to shift from being an opposition movement to being a governing party. Of course, governments govern badly or well or averagely. But this is different. Egypt’s economy is tanking. Ordinary law and order has virtually disappeared. Services are not functioning properly.

Now the army is faced with the delicate and arduous task of steering the country back onto a path toward elections and a rapid return to democratic rule.

We must hope that they can do this without further bloodshed.

Meanwhile, however, someone will have to run things and govern. This will mean making some tough, even unpopular decisions. It will not be easy.

What is happening in Egypt is the latest example of the interplay, visible the world over, between democracy, protest, and government efficacy.

Democracy is a way to decide who the decision-makers will be, not a substitute for making decisions. I am a strong supporter of democracy. But democratic government alone does not guarantee effective government. Today, efficacy is the challenge. When governments do not deliver, people protest. They don’t want to wait for an election. In fact, as Turkey and Brazil show, people may protest even when, by any objective measure, their countries have made huge progress.

As countries move from lowto middle-income status, people’s expectations rise. They want higher-quality services, better housing, and good infrastructure. And they resent–to the point of mobilizing in the streets–any hint that a clique at the top is barring their way.

This is a sort of free democratic spirit that operates outside the convention that elections decide the government. It

is fueled enormously by social media. And it moves very fast in precipitating crisis.

A protest is not a policy; and a placard is not a program for government. But, if governments lack clear arguments with which to rebut protesters, they are in trouble.

In Egypt, the government’s problems were compounded by resentment of the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideology and intolerance. People came to believe that the Brotherhood was steadily imposing its own doctrines on everyday life.

Across the Middle East, for the first time, there is open debate about the role of religion in politics. Despite the Muslim Brotherhood’s superior organization, those who support an intrinsically secular approach to government—and this is true in most of the region—are probably in the majority.

Society can be deeply imbued with religious observance; but people are starting to recognize that democracy works only as a pluralistic concept, requiring equal respect for different faiths and allowing a voice, but not a veto, for religion. For a country like Egypt, with its immense and varied civilization, which includes around eight million Christians and a young population that needs to be connected to the world, there is no future as an Islamic state that aspires to be part of a regional caliphate.

So what should the West do?

Egypt is the latest reminder that the region is in turmoil and won’t leave us alone, however much we may wish it would. Disengagement is not an option, because the status quo is not an option.

Any decision not to act is itself a decision of vast consequence.

At its crudest, the West cannot afford Egypt’s collapse. So it should engage with the new de facto power and help the new government make the changes necessary so that it can deliver adequate performance for Egypt’s citizens.

In that way, it can also help shape a path back to the ballot box that is designed by and for Egyptians.

Tony Blair was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007.

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Ottawa Star • July 18, 2013

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 7

Toronto college students victims of misleading course blurb, court rules

By Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press

T

ORONTO - A group of students from around the world who enrolled in an expensive college graduate program in hopes of obtaining three industry certifications were victims of a misleading course description, Ontario’s top court has ruled.

In upholding a lower court ruling, the Appeal Court agreed with the trial judge that George Brown College negligently misrepresented the benefits of its graduate international business management program.

“It is reasonable for students to rely on statements contained in course calendars, because these calendars are published with the intention that students read them and rely on the information contained therein,’’ the Appeal Court said.

At issue was a statement in the 2007 course calendar that said the program provided students “with the opportunity to complete three industry designations/ certifications in addition to the George Brown college graduate certificate.’’

US immigration reform on brink of death

By Lee-Anne Goodman, The Canadian Press

WASHINGTON—A sweeping, bipartisan Senate immigration bill is on the brink of death this week in the more conservative House of Representatives.

“We are not going to do the Senate bill,’’ John Boehner, Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, told a news conference.

The biggest stumbling block for House Republicans is providing a path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants currently living illegally in the United States. The lawmakers consider it amnesty, something vehemently opposed by the most conservative Republicans, and they want to see far tougher border security and employment verification measures than called for in the Senate bill.

Boehner and Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s running mate in last year’s election, reportedly urged their colleagues to pass immigration reform legislation during the tense closeddoor meeting. Boehner told them the party would be “in a much weaker position’’ if it failed to act.

Yet House Republicans emerged from the meeting with a bleak reality check for those hoping for a sweeping overhaul of the country’s immigration system, saying they rejected the Senate approach and would attempt to take slower, piece-by-piece steps.

Caught DUI while driving to court for drunk driving charge

By The Canadian Press

TORONTO—A 54-year-old man was heading to court to face a drunk driving charge when he was pulled over by police for impaired driving.

Aurora resident Kin-Ping Ma now faces multiple new charges.

He was on his way to a Chatham court last week to face charges laid by the Ontario Provincial Police in April.

He had been charged with impaired driving and exceeding the legal limit of alcohol. Ma had also been suspended from driving.

When police pulled him over for erratic driving last Friday, he was charged with impaired driving, operating a motor vehicle over 80 and driving while under suspension.

He will appear in a St. Thomas court on July 23.

The students, however, discovered that graduation did not give them the designations they sought in international trade, customs services and international freight forwarding.

Nor were they automatically eligible to write the industry exams - some with hefty fees - necessary for the designations, which also required additional courses in some cases.

Almost 120 students had enrolled in the eight-month program - about two-thirds from countries such as India,

China, Turkey, Brazil, Russia and Syria - and discovered just before final exams the college had no ability to confer the coveted designations.

While George Brown later clarified its course description, the foreign students were still out their nearly $11,000 tuition, prompting a class action against the Toronto college. The class action was certified in April 2010.

The Appeal Court ruling now clears the way for an assessment of the damages George Brown must pay the students.

CN Rail sues Ontario mother over crossing collision that killed her son

By The Canadian Press

GLENCOE, Ont. - An Ontario mother says she’s being sued by CN Rail for what the company alleges was her son’s poor driving in a railcrossing collision that killed him and injured six train passengers.

Sharon Jobson says she is being sued for $500,000 for the July 29, 2011 crash that saw her 22-yearold son’s pickup truck collide with a westbound Via Rail train in Glencoe, Ont. John Jobson died from his injuries six days later in hospital while six of the 116 passengers aboard the train were hurt.

Track owner CN claims in its lawsuit that Jobson was “wholly responsible’’ for the rail crossing collision, alleging he was an incompetent driver who was speeding at the time. The company claims it paid a substantial amount to repair tracks which were damaged by the collision that derailed the train.

The claims contained in the lawsuit have not been tested in court.

Sharon Jobson says she is stunned by the lawsuit, which comes weeks before the two-year anniversary of her son’s death. She says the crossing is marked only by a stop sign but is now having safety equipment installed. “I really just couldn’t believe it, I was in shock. I couldn’t believe that after everything we’ve been through,’’ she said.

CN spokesman Mark Hallman declined comment as the matter is before the courts. A Transportation Safety Board report on the collision said buildings along the road and

track vegetation prevented John Jobson and the train from seeing each other before the truck reached the crossing. It also said the train’s horn was due to be upgraded

Vernon, B.C., woman’s phone dials up arrest and drug charges

By The Canadian Press

VERNON, B.C.—Some arrests take diligent police work and hours of painstaking investigation, but an RCMP officer in Vernon, B.C., is boasting about a collar that was practically phoned in.

The Mountie was watching as a 48-year-old woman walked into the detachment in the North Okanagan city to pick up some paperwork related to a prior drug charge.

A closer look determined she was carrying a cellphone in her back pocket, which is a breach of her court-ordered conditions.

Not surprisingly, she was arrested.

That's when a further search turned up five pre-packed bags of cocaine.

The confiscated phone rang several times as customers tried to place orders for the drugs, but there's no word if officers were taking messages.

Entertainment

PAGE 8 • www.OttawaStar.com

12 year wait for Samurai story

Ottawa Star • July 18, 2013

Appendicitishit Elton John ‘grateful to be alive’ The Canadian Press

LONDON – Elton John says he is grateful to be alive after learning he had been playing European tour dates while suffering from undiagnosed appendicitis. The 66-year-old musician is quoted in The Sun newspaper Wednesday as saying he had struggled through the shows in pain, thinking he had food poisoning.

Indo Asian News Service

Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman says he has been waiting for the Samurai story, “The Wolverine”, since the first day he came on board with the “X-Men” franchise.

The superhero film is the follow-up of “XMen: The Last Stand”. Jackman will reprise his role of Logan or Wolverine, the lead character in the franchise.

“I waited for 12 years for this chapter in this saga, for this Samurai story. From the very first week I had on, the first, ‘X-Men’, I was reading this comic and producer Lauren Shuler Donner and I were saying, one day, hopefully we get to do this story. We really went for something new and different,” Jackman said in a statement.

“The moment the studio agreed to call it ‘The Wolverine’, I was just thrilled. Rather than saying ‘Wolverine 2’, this is a standalone different movie. This is set in a different time, it’s a fair way after ‘X-Men Origins’,” he added.

“The Wolverine” is based on Marvel Comics series “Wolverine”. Jackman, also producer of the film, admits he did not foresee himself as Wolverine for so many years in the running.

“I never thought my run would last this long.

Particularly for a guy who can’t age, obviously there is a shelf life to playing this role, so I love it and I’ve always found it fascinating and slightly, I’ll admit, frustrating that I feel we’ve never really delivered what I would say is the core of the character. And I think in this story, I know you get to see the ultimate Wolverine,” said the 44-year-old actor.

Photo: Wikipedia

Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan undergoes surgery for blood clot

John Travolta loved playing woman Photo: IANS

Indo Asian News Service

Los Angeles - Actor-singer John Travolta says he felt comfortable playing a woman in big screen musical “Hairspray”, and that he didn’t even have to practice walking like a girl for the role. The 59-year-old has always been inspired by “erotic” screen sirens and this inspired him to take the role of a voluptuous comedy character Edna Turnblad in the 2007 film.

“Women have been so important in my life. I didn’t need to ask my wife how to play a woman for my film ‘Hairspray’. I’d grown up surrounded by women and had a lot of great memories,” the

sun.co.uk quoted Travolta as saying. “The women I liked growing up were Sophia Loren, Anita Ekberg, Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor.

They were erotic to me. I have the ability to move in a curvaceous way. If you give me breasts and an ass – as I had in ‘Hairspray’, with the prosthetics – I can move,” he added.

The Associated Press

NEW DELHI – Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan has undergone surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain.

The actor wrote on his Facebook page before going into surgery that he was suffering from a subdural hematoma.

The 39-year-old actor has acted

Photo: Wikipedia

Director says Jackson’s condition frightened him The Canadian Press

Photo: Wikipedia

LOS ANGELES – The director of Michael Jackson’s illfated comeback concerts told a jury on Wednesday that he was frightened when Jackson

was shivering and seemed lost at one of his final rehearsals.

The rehearsal occurred six days before Jackson died in June 2009, Kenny Ortega testified during a lawsuit filed by Jackson’s mother.

in more than 20 films since rising to stardom with debut film “Kaho Naa … Pyaar Hai” or “Say … You Love Me” in 2000.

Roshan comes from a wellknown Bollywood family. His father, Rakesh Roshan, is a film producer and director, and he is married to his childhood sweetheart Suzanne Khan, daughter of actor Sanjay Khan.

Chuck Hughes’ new cookbook celebrates people in his life The Canadian Press

TORONTO – “Chuck’s Day Off,” the second cookbook by Chuck Hughes, is the Montreal chef ’s thank-you note to everybody who has been involved in

the show of the same name, the book and the restaurant Garde Manger. During a recent visit to Toronto, Hughes also talked about other projects he’s working on, his health and where his next restaurant might be.

Ottawa Star • July 18, 2013

Entertainment

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 9

Life turns upside “Glee” star Cory Monteith found dead down for ‘four fat guys in a pawn shop’

By James Keller, The Canadian Press

V

ANCOUVER—Canadian actor Cory Monteith, who rose to stardom playing the reluctant quarterback-turnedsinger Finn Hudson in the hit television series “Glee,'' was found dead Saturday in a Vancouver hotel room. He was 31.

Acting Vancouver Police Chief Doug LePard confirmed his death Saturday night, telling a hastily called news conference that the cause of death had yet to be determined, but foul play was not suspected. He added that investigators believed Monteith died alone.

The actor’s death comes more than three months after he told People magazine he had voluntarily admitted himself into rehab, though police declined to speculate whether there was any connection. He was also treated when he was 19 and had talked openly about his addiction struggles, saying he had a serious problem and took just “anything and everything.''

Before becoming an actor, Monteith worked in Nanaimo, B.C., as a Wal-Mart people greeter, taxicab driver, school bus driver, and roofer.

Monteith had minor roles in “Final Destination 3,'' “Whisper'' and “Deck the

Pran

Legendary Indian actor Pran dies at 93

By The Associated Press

NEW DELHI—Bollywood’s legendary actor Pran, who played both heroes and villains in several Hindi film classics over six decades, died of pneumonia at Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital on Friday, his doctor said. He was 93.

Pran acted in more than 350 Hindi movies in a long, prolific career dating back to the 1940s. He played a vast range of roles—a hero, villain and character actor—but was best known for his villains. He was presented the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the Indian government’s highest honour for cinema, in May The son of a civil engineer, Pran wanted to become a professional photographer.

However, a chance meeting with writer Wali Mohammad Wali in Lahore, now in Pakistan, led to his first role opposite actress Ranjhana in a Punjabi film “Yamla Jat” in 1940.

He acted in several films produced in Lahore before shifting to Mumbai after the partition of India in 1947 by British colonialists.

Halls,'' and had a recurring role in “Kyle X.'' His fellow “Glee'' cast members took to Twitter shortly after the news broke.

“I am so saddened to hear about Cory. He was such a great guy/Superkind &warm,'' wrote Josh Sussman, who plays Jacob on the show. “A tragic loss. My heart goes out to all his friends & family.''

Nolan Gerard Funk, an actor from Vancouver who joined the “Glee'' cast last year, tweeted: “Thanks for always being kind Cory. You came a long way from hanging on the beaches in Vancouver with the gang pre Glee. Sending you love bud.''

And Mark Salling, who plays Puck, wrote simply, “No,'' in a tweet that later appeared to have been deleted.

By Bill Brioux, The Canadian Press

LAS VEGAS—What happens when four fat guys who run a pawn shop become worldwide TV stars?

“It gets a little weird sometimes,’’ says Corey Harrison, one of the “Pawn Stars.’’

Immortalized as a bobble head, his mug emblazoned on everything from golf balls to T-shirts, Harrison’s life has been completely turned upside down. Together with his dad Rick Harrison, Rick’s father Richard (Old Man) Harrison, and Corey’s lifelong pal Austin (Chumlee) Russell, he finds walking around his city impossible.

Rick Harrison, 48, the show’s resident expert on just about everything, points out that pawn shops were, “until around the 1950s, the No. 1 form of consumer credit in the United States and most likely Canada too. What did a person do when they needed money for the weekend before ATM cards? They went to a pawn shop.’’

Adds Corey: “It’s the second oldest profession and paid for the first.’’

It’s not easy getting into the Harrisons’ Gold & Silver Pawn Shop. Between three and five thousand people line up every day in the hot Nevada sun just to walk through the doors.

PAGE 10 • www.OttawaStar.com

Canada

Ottawa Star • July 18, 2013

Child porn charges laid against former deputy education minister

By Diana Mehta, The Canadian Press

T

ORONTO—A University of Toronto professor who once held the post of deputy education minister in Ontario and Manitoba was slapped with two new charges in an ongoing child pornography investigation.

Benjamin Levin—who was also on Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s transition team as she took office earlier this year—now faces a total of seven charges.

Levin was arrested on Monday and initially charged with two counts of distributing child pornography and one count each of making child pornography, counselling to commit an indictable offence and arrangement of a sexual offence against a child under 16.

The charge against Levin which deals with the making of child pornography is in relation to alleged “written texts,’’ Det. Const. Janelle Blackadar told The Canadian Press.

“Written texts so to speak that is a graphic depiction of a sexual encounter between an adult and children,’’ she explained. “The graphic depiction of that is consistent with the criminal code definition of child pornography.’’

The investigation which led to Levin’s arrest began in the middle of last year.

Officials in Toronto were then contacted by authorities in New Zealand and later police in London, Ont., Blackadar said.”We decided we would link our evidence together,’’ she said. “We’re still gathering some intelligence.’’

The Ontario government has confirmed that Levin was a former adviser to the premier. “I was shocked to hear about these charges through the news on Monday.

Insidious crimes like these are absolutely terrifying,’’ Wynne said in a statement.

“The safety and well-being of our children has always been my absolute priority and at no time did I have any suspicion of criminal behaviour. I am confi-

dent that the police and judicial system will address these serious allegations.’’

Levin was also recently involved with the Ontario government through contract research projects and guest speaking roles in his capacity as a professor - work that has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.

From late 2004 to early 2007, Levin served under former Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty as deputy minister of education. He also served as Manitoba’s deputy minister of advanced education and deputy minister of education, training and youth between 1999 and 2002.

Most recently, he had been working as a professor and research chair in education and leadership at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.

Levin’s position as an academic involved in international projects raised concerns for police. “Mr. Levin’s ability to travel and his frequency of travel,

Police used Mr. Big operation as part of alleged BC terror plot arrest: lawyer

By Vivian Luk, The Canadian Press

SURREY, B.C.—Mounties used an undercover operation known as the Mr. Big sting to ensnare two people accused of a terror plot on British Columbia’s legislature, said a lawyer for one of the accused.

John Nuttall and Amanda Korody, who are alleged to have planned the bombing to coincide with Canada Day celebrations, appeared briefly in Surrey Provincial Court last week. Nuttall and Korody are each charged with knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity, making or possessing an explosive device and conspiracy to place an explosive device with the intent to cause death or injury.

After the court appearance, lawyer Tom Morino told reporters outside that while he knows few details about the investigation that led to Nuttall and Korody’s arrest last week, he knows that police used certain undercover tactics.

“While it’s very premature, it is my understanding that there was, as we’ve all come to know what is a Mr. Big operation,’’ he said. “There was that component to this investigation.’’

A Mr. Big police sting is an investigative technique that requires officers to go undercover in order to gain the trust of suspects and ultimately obtain confessions used later in court.

After news of arrests broke last week, neighbours of the pair said they recalled seeing the couple interact with someone who came by in a pick-up truck. While Morino said he has yet to read the Crown’s evidence, he suspects whoever was in that truck was not just any person. “I think it’s safe to assume certainly (some) of those people who were seen by the neighbours were likely undercover operatives,’’ he said.

When asked by a reporter, Morino also said he suspects certain elements of entrapment—where a law enforcement agent induces a person to commit a crime that the person would otherwise have been unlikely to commit - may also have been part of the investigation.

None of Morino’s speculations have been confirmed by the police.

When announcing the arrests last week, RCMP admitted that they used “a variety of complex investigative and covert techniques’’ to foil what they said was a bomb plot inspired by al-Qaeda ideology, but would not provide specifics.

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Wayne Rideout said only that a tip from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service prompted the investigation that started in February. He maintained the public was never endangered by the pres-

sure cooker bombs that Nuttall and Korody were allegedly planning to detonate.

In court, both Nuttall and Korody appeared dishevelled, but happy to see each other after they were lead into separate prisoners’ boxes. Nuttall, a tall 38-year-old from Victoria with messy dark hair and a beard, walked into the courtroom wearing a red T-shirt and clutching a copy of the Qur’an.

His partner Korody, who is from St. Catharines, Ont., appeared in a green Tshirt. She seemed slightly wary at first, but smiled happily at Nuttall when she saw him.

Benjamin Levin. Photo University of Toronto

that always causes some concern for us,’’ said Blackadar. “Being associated to education and so forth, one of the bigger priorities was did he have access to children? At this time it doesn’t appear that that is the case.’’

Morino said the two are “devoted to each other’’ and are being kept in segregation while detained in different institutions. “My understanding is that the correctional system has made that decision for their own security,’’ he said.

“You can appreciate someone locked in a cell for 23 hours a day, it’s difficult.’’

Nuttall is also suffering from withdrawal, as he has stopped taking methadone to treat his drug addiction, Morino said. However, the lawyer said he spoke with his client for a few hours the night before, and Nuttall appeared in good spirits and animated.

While the RCMP have described the couple as “self-radicalized,’’ home-grown terror suspects, details have emerged indicating Nuttall and Korody are impoverished, troubled individuals who converted to Islam and enjoy paintball.

Portrait emerges of train engineer linked to Quebec derailment disaster

By Andy Blatchford, The Canadian Press

LAC-MEGANTIC, Que.—His face gripped with terror, the train driver sprang out of bed at the inn where he’d retired for the night and raced to the scene of an impending catastrophe in the town that served as his second home.

Several people in Lac-Megantic painted a portrait Thursday of the friendly Anglo railman who enjoyed chatting with locals in his accented French during his regular stopovers in the community.

The train driver, Tom Harding, now finds himself at the centre of the investigation into a Quebec derailment disaster feared to have killed 50 people. His boss has said police have talked about the possibility of criminal charges.

An employee at the inn where Harding slept one or two nights per week says she specifically remembers the horrified expression on his face when he first saw the inferno engulfing the town.

Catherine Pomerleau-Pelletier was on the hotel bar’s outdoor patio when the lights started to flicker. Moments later, a massive blast drove rattled guests from the rooms, including Harding.

Pomerleau-Pelletier saw him emerge from the inn amid the chaos, but doesn’t remember hearing him utter a word. She thinks she was looking into his eyes the instant he realized his unmanned, crude-oil-filled train had just slammed into the downtown core.

“I looked at him and I didn’t say a word or anything because he looked very, very, very shaken up,’’ said Pomerleau-

Pelletier, a barmaid and receptionist at the century-old l’Eau Berge inn. “He didn’t do anything, but his face was pretty descriptive. “It said everything.’’ She almost immediately lost track of him as people ran for their lives through the streets.

The company had initially described Harding as a hero for apparently rushing to the scene where he managed to pull some of the explosive, untouched rail cars away from the flames.

But Ed Burkhardt, the chairman of the rail company, has apparently changed his view of Harding’s actions that night. He has said his employee was suspended without pay amid concerns he might not have properly applied the brakes on the train.

A taxi driver recalled something unusual when he saw Harding earlier that night. The cabbie met Harding at the spot where he parked the train Friday night. He said his regular customer seemed fine, with nothing out of the ordinary.

However, Andre Turcotte did say that the idling engine appeared to be belching out more smoke than usual, so much so that he recalled that oil droplets from the locomotive exhaust landed on his car. He said he asked Harding, twice, whether the puffs of smoke were particularly hazardous for the environment. His client, Turcotte added, calmly responded that he had followed company directives to deal with the issue.

A short time after they left for the 10-kilometre ride to the inn, the locomotive caught fire, a blaze that was extinguished by the local fire department. The details of what happened next will be at the heart of investigations by police, the federal Transportation Safety Board, potential lawsuits, and untold insurance claims.

World

Ottawa Star • July 18, 2013

Price of surveillance murky multimillion-dollar market United States

By Anne Flaherty, The Associated Press

W

ASHINGTON—How much are your private conversations worth to the U.S. government? Turns out, it can be a lot, depending on the technology.

In the era of intense government surveillance and secret court orders, a murky multimillion-dollar market has emerged. With little public scrutiny, surveillance fees charged in secret by technology and phone companies can vary wildly.

AT&T, for example, imposes a $325 “activation fee’’ for each wiretap and $10 a day to maintain it. But snoop on a Verizon customer? That costs the government $775 for the first month and $500 each month after that, according to industry disclosures made last year to Congressman Edward Markey.

Meanwhile, email records probably were collected for free or very cheaply.

Facebook says it doesn’t charge the government for access. And while Microsoft, Yahoo and Google won’t say how much they charge, the American Civil Liberties Union found that email records can be turned over for as little as $25. “What we don’t want is surveillance to become a profit centre,’’ said Christopher Soghoian, the ACLU’s principal technologist. But “it’s always better to charge $1. It creates friction, and it cre-

ates transparency’’ because it generates a paper trail that can be tracked.

Regardless of price, the surveillance business is growing. The U.S. government long has enjoyed access to phone networks and high-speed Internet traffic under the U.S. Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act to catch suspected criminals and terrorists. More recently, the FBI has pushed technology companies like Google and Skype to guarantee access to real-time communications on their services. And, as shown by recent disclosures about the NSA’s surveillance practices, the U.S. intelligence community has an intense interest in analyzing data and content that flow through American technology companies to gather foreign intelligence.

AT&T said it devotes roughly 100 employees to review each request and hand over data. It collected $24 million between 2007 and 2011. Verizon said its team of 70 employees works around the clock, seven days a week to handle the quarter-million requests it gets each year.

It is collecting between $3 million and $5 million a year during the same period.

The ACLU’s Soghoian found in 2009 that Sprint had created a website allowing law enforcement to track the location data of its wireless customers for only $30 a month to accommodate the approximately 8 million requests it received in one year.

Keeping Ramadan fast during long, hot summer days adds to challenge for Muslims

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 11

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By Helen Branswell, The Canadian Press

Ottawa—The important annual ritual prescribed by the Qur’an has begun.

Healthy Muslims will fast during daylight hours, refraining from consuming food, drink and even oral medication from dawn until sunset.

Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan, which, because Islam uses a solar calendar, does not fall at exactly the same time every year. The fact that in recent years Ramadan has fallen during the longest and hottest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere adds to the challenge of observing the fast in a healthy manner, experts admit.

Imam Yusef Badat explains that in the Qur’an, Muslims are exhorted to fast during daylight hours to remind themselves of the plight of the poor and to develop self-discipline. “The idea or the principle is very simple, that if a person can control and curb their hunger and their thirst for a certain amount of hours ... then this is a sign that they can also curb and abstain from all sorts of sin such as lying, cheating, harming someone, etc.,’’ Badat says.

“When I feel the pain of hunger, I remember those who don’t have food.

And that motivates me. That’s a trigger for me to help those who are suffering wherever they may be across the globe.’’ Not all Muslims will fast. The Qur’an exempts pregnant women and nursing mothers and people who are sick. As well, children who haven’t reached puberty don’t fast. Adults who have temporary health problems can make up days by fasting later, when their health permits them to do so. And those who are too frail or too unwell to fast at all can compensate by paying what’s called “fidah’’ or compensation, Badat says - the equivalent of about $10 a day to help feed the poor.

Dr. Michael Finkelstein of Toronto Public Health says people who are observing the Ramadan fast need to make sure they drink enough fluids during the hours when the sun is down, and need to keep dehydration in mind. “Things like dizziness, lightheadedness, headaches, intense tiredness, dry mouths and obviously the colour of their urine can get quite dark—those are indications that their fluid balance is in trouble,’’ says Finkelstein.

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Ottawa Star • July 18, 2013

“The Madman’’ the largest cocaine distributors brought to New York to face charges United States

By Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press

N

EW YORK—A Colombian known as “The Madman’’ and described as one of the largest cocaine distributors in history was brought to New York to face charges that he led a drug organization that produced hundreds of tons of cocaine annually and funneled revenue to terrorist organizations.

Daniel Barrera Barrera, 44, faces charges that could carry a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison or a maximum of life in prison if he is convicted. He also faces charges in federal court in Miami.

Barrera was arrested in September in Venezuela and sent to Colombia, where the U.S. pursued his extradition.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has called Barrera “the last of the great capos.’’ He is known to au-

thorities in Colombia as “El Loco.’’

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a release that Barrera’s organization produced as much as 400 tons of cocaine annually and used some of the proceeds to fund terrorist groups, including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the FARC. Authorities said he purchased raw cocaine base or paste from the FARC and converted it into powder at laboratories he owned and operated in an area of Colombia once controlled by the since-demobilized terrorist group Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC. He has had several cosmetic surgeries and tried to burn off his fingerprints with acid to mask his identity, authorities said. Venezuelan officials say they confiscated houses, ranches, a yacht, apartments and 48 cars from Barrera.

Members of the Colombian National Police escort Daniel Barrera (C), alias “El Loco” (The Crazy), during his extradition process to the United States, in Bogota city, capital of Colombia (Xinhua/Jhon Paz) Source: IANS

World’s largest Lebanese pop star’s transformation building opens from idol to armed militant in China spotlights Sunni fears with an indoor ocean beach China

By The Associated Press

BEIJING—Move aside Dubai. China now has what is billed as the world’s largest building—a vast, wavy rectangular box of glass and steel that will house shops, hotels, offices and a faux ocean beach with a huge LED screen for video sunsets.

The mammoth New Century Global Center that opened last month in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu has 1.7 million square meters (19 million square feet) of floor space— or about 329 football fields—edging out the previous record-holder, the Dubai airport.

The structure is half a kilometre long, 400 metres wide and 100 metres high.

The New Century project is a sign that China’s growth has spread from the country’s more prosperous eastern and southern regions to the west, where wages are lower and the central government has encouraged development with subsidies and tax breaks. With its booming economy, China has become home to some of the largest and tallest buildings in the world.

Backed by local governments, the building in a planned urban district south of Chengdu aims to boost the global stature of the capital city of Sichuan province, known for its spicy cuisine.

Once fully completed, the centerpiece of the building will be a water park with a 400-meter coast and beaches under a gigantic glass dome. Up to 6,000 visitors at a time will be able to sunbathe, play in a wave pool, sip cocktails or feast on seafood. A 150-meter-by-40-meter LED screen will rise above a section of water with videos of an ocean horizon.

The centre will include two five-star hotels as well as high-end boutiques set in a replica of a Mediterranean town under faux blue skies.

The shopping section has been open to the public since late June, though the building’s office space has been occupied for some time.

The building also has a 14-screen movie theatre and an ice rink.

Lebanon

By Diaa Hadid, The Associated Press

BEIRUT—Lebanese pop idol Fadel Shaker shot to stardom crooning ballads that earned him the nickname “The King of Romance.’’ He disappeared as a bearded, gun-toting Sunni hard-liner in a shootout with the army in the coastal city of Sidon.

Shaker’s transformation from entertainer to militant extremist spotlights a broader phenomenon in Lebanon: the drift of its Sunni Muslim community away from its traditional moderate leadership to hard-line, sectarian preachers.

After the army troops fought his supporters, radical Sunni cleric Ahmad alAssir, disappeared along with his most famous disciple—Shaker. The 44-year-old Shaker was perfect pop idol material: a pouty-lipped, gifted singer with lyrics that

made lovers swoon and people dance. He became a star throughout the Arab world with the 2002 smash hit “The Absent One,’’ incessantly blared from radios and at weddings across the region.

Shiites are Lebanon’s largest sect, forming around one-third of the country’s 4.5 million citizens, trailed by Sunnis, Christians and followers of the Druse sect.

Lebanese Sunnis range from secular to ultraconservative, but they typically anoint secular leaders from mercantile families. There is now a lack of leadership and Sunni preachers have stepped into this vacuum, using mosques and television shows to draw audiences.

Al-Assir was among the most successful, partly because of his celebrity follower, Shaker, and his inflammatory rhetoric condemning Hezbollah for fighting

alongside Syrian government troops and taking jabs at the group’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, a revered figure once considered untouchable.

Syria’s civil war has taken on growing sectarian overtones: Sunnis dominate rebel ranks, and their brethren from across the region—including Lebanon—bolster their numbers. The Assad regime, meanwhile, is dominated by the president’s Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. The government is an ally of the region’s Shiite power, Iran, and Hezbollah fighters assist regime forces.

The war has stoked tensions in Lebanon, which shares the same mosaic of sects as its larger neighbour.

Clashes frequently break out in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli between Sunnis and Alawites, while in the eastern Bekaa Valley fighting occasionally erupts between Sunnis and Shiites.

After 163 years, India’s telegram service goes silent India

By Nirmala George, The Associated Press

NEW DELHI—For 163 years, lives across the vast Indian nation have been upended by the knock of the khaki-clad postal worker armed with a telegram.

Families used them to announce births and deaths, the government used them to post job openings, young lovers sent them to tell their folks that they had eloped.

No longer.

Last week, the state-run telecommunications company will send its final telegram, closing down a service that fast became a relic in an age of

email, reliable landlines and ubiquitous cellphones.

The fact that the telegram survived this long is a testament to how deeply woven it is into the fabric of Indian society.

In much of the rest of the world, telegrams long ago were relegated to novelty services used by people who wanted to indulge in a bit of nostalgia.

Just 30 years ago the telegram was king in India. But the service has lost $250 million in just the last seven years as national cellphone subscriptions hit 867 million in April, more than double the number of just four years ago.

India owes its telegraph system to its erstwhile British rulers who brought it to the country in 1833 to establish a communication system between their capital Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Howrah. It was expanded across the country in 1853 and even after the arrival of the telephony system in India early in the 20th century, it was the principal means of communications across the vast landmass.

During 1982-83 there were some 45,000 telegraph offices across the country. Now there are only 75. The annual telegraph traffic during that period was 75.2 million, which has now fallen to 72,000.

World

Ottawa Star • July 18, 2013

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 13

Macau is the new gambling capital of the world

Leaving Las Vegas How a tiny Chinese enclave is remaking the gambling world and Sin City United States

By Hannah Dreier, The Associated Press

L

AS VEGAS—Most people still think the U.S. gambling industry is anchored in Las Vegas, with its booming Strip and 24/7 action, a place where years of alluring marketing campaigns have helped scrub away the taint of past corruption.

Yet in just a decade, the centre of gambling has migrated to the other side of the world, settling in a tiny Chinese territory an hour’s ferry ride from Hong Kong. The gambling mecca of Macau now handles more wagers than all U.S.-

based commercial casinos put together, and many of those bets end up swelling the balance sheets of U.S. corporations.

But as U.S. gambling companies have remade Macau, Macau has also remade them.

A few hours’ flight from half the world’s population, Macau is the only place in China where gambling is legal.

Each month, 2.5 million tourists flood the glitzy boomtown half the size of Manhattan to try their luck in neon-drenched casinos. Most of them are nouveau-riche Chinese who sip tea and chain-smoke as they play at baccarat.

The former Portuguese colony has long been known for its gambling but used to offer a seedier experience, with small-time gambling dens crowding up against textile factories and gangs, prostitutes and money-launderers operating openly in the cobblestone streets. That was the scene in 1999 when China assumed sovereignty of Macau and opened it to outside gambling operators.

Like early Las Vegas, Macau has a long history of ties to crime syndicates - in this case secretive brotherhoods called triads that first formed on the mainland more than a century ago. Machine-gun shootouts, bombings and even assassinations of government officials were commonplace during magnate Stanley Ho’s four-decade monopoly of gambling. (He is Patsy Ho’s father.) In the late 1990s, a police official tried to reassure visitors by remarking that Macau had “professional killers who don’t miss their targets.’’

Bodh Gaya terror bombing to ‘settle scores?’

India

Rebel-on-rebel violence Competing factions turn guns on each other in Syria Syria

Indo Asian News Service

New Delhi—The Bodh Gaya terror attack could have been aimed to “settle scores” for the targeting of Rohingya Muslims in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and the involvement of Lashkar-eTaiba and other radical Islamist groups cannot be ruled out in “brainwashing” impressionable minds to carry out the bombing, say experts.

Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal feels the Myanmar link to July 7 serial bombings, in which two monks were injured, is “quite plausible”, while former ambassador G. Parthasarathy feels that “circumstantial evidence” would seem to link the terror attack to the targeting of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

According to Sibal, the Rohingya Muslims were being persecuted and killed in the restive Rakhine province of Myanmar and “therefore some extremist elements would want to settle scores”.

He also feels that the targetting of Bodh Gaya temple complex, a World Heritage site where the Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment, is reminiscent of the Taliban destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.

Sibal also feels that reports of the LeT training the Rohingyas is “entirely possible.”

“Symbolically, Buddhist holy places or Buddhist heritage is considered a target by ex-

The history and regulations governing the enclave continue to make it tricky for modern casinos to avoid gangs, illegal money transfers and at least the appearance of bribery. One contributing factor is China’s capital controls, which restrict the amount of money that citizens take out of the country, including to Macau, which like Hong Kong, is a semi-autonomous region with its own financial system. Another is the lack of reliable credit risk information in China, which makes it hard for casinos to figure out whom they should lend to.

So-called junket agents provide an easy fix. They use their networks on the mainland to identify wealthy would-be VIP gamblers, whisk them to Macau’s tables, lend them money, then settle up when they get home.

Junket operators often assume management of a casino’s private VIP room.

Casinos provide the facilities, dealers and chips in return for a cut of the profits.

Baccarat played in VIP rooms accounts for two-thirds of Macau’s $38 billion in annual gambling revenue.

While many of the more than 200 junket operators active in Macau are lawabiding, some have documented ties to organized crime. Operating off the books, junkets pay out winnings in Hong Kong dollars, widely accepted in Macau, which players can then move to another location.

As a result, Macau is seen as a conduit for money flowing out of China, with wealthy individuals and corrupt officials suspected of transferring funds abroad.

Today, U.S. companies are tweaking their flagship Las Vegas casinos to look and operate more like Macau-style properties.

The biggest casinos have imported Asian pop sensations, Chinese delicacies and baccarat, now Nevada’s biggest moneymaker.

They’ve outfitted their hallways in red, a lucky colour in Asian culture, and set up Macau-style VIP rooms that employ junket operators catering to high-rollers.

By Barbara Surk, The Associated Press

A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team has began its probe into the serial blasts at the Mahabodhi temple complex in Bodh Gaya. (Photo: IANS)]

tremist Muslim elements, therefore in the Indian subcontinent context, I see a connection between the Bamiyan Buddhas and the attempts here,” Sibal told IANS. Parthasarathy said there are elements “stirring up the Muslim population” on the Rohingya issue.

“In Bangladesh, there has been most recently a group called the Hefazat-e-Islam which is calling for Shariat law, the blasphemy law and declaration of Bangladesh as an Islamic emirate, and they received large support in demonstrations in Kolkata strangely. The Hefazat have incidentally targeted Buddhist and Hindu minorities in Bangladesh and attacked their shrines… So, you see, there have been a series of developments in the neighbourhood.”

BEIRUT—Western-backed opposition fighters and a faction of al-Qaida-linked rebels turned their guns on each other in Syria’s largest city, battling for control of a key checkpoint in the latest eruption of infighting among the forces trying to topple President Bashar Assad’s regime, activists said.

The clashes between rebels affiliated with the Free Syrian Army and fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant throws a spotlight on the growing phenomenon rebel-on-rebel violence that has sapped strength from the broader anti-Assad movement. It also underscores the rebels’ enduring inability more than two years into the conflict to unite around a unified command, as well as the deepening rift between more secular opposition fighters and Islamic extremists in the rebel ranks.

Activists monitoring Syria’s more than 2-year-old conflict have

previously reported sporadic infighting among rebel groups over control of the territory they’ve captured in the north along the border with Turkey. Those clashes were mostly between Kurdish and Arab rebels, and have subsided since a ceasefire agreement was reached earlier this year.

The fighting between moderate and jihadi groups that have for months battled Assad’s regime together have become more frequent in recent weeks. The clashes have largely focused on border crossings with Turkey and vital installations, like bakeries, water wells, petrol stations and checkpoints in the north, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Another activist said the fighting is aimed at establishing control over the flow of food and aid to the residents. Each group is also trying to set up governing structures over the territory in the north the opposition has controlled for a year and take a cut of money from goods being smuggled into Syria over the border with Turkey.

Business

PAGE 14 • www.OttawaStar.com

Ottawa Star • July 18, 2013

Acoustics pioneer Amar Bose dies at 83 Canada

By Steve Leblanc, The Associated Press

BOSTON—Acoustics pioneer Amar Bose, founder and chairman of the audio technology company Bose Corp., known for the rich sound of its small tabletop radios and its noise-cancelling headphones popular among frequent fliers, has died at age 83.

Bose began his acoustics research and was on the faculty of Massachusetts Institute of Technology for more than 40 years. Bose founded the company, based in Framingham, just outside Boston, in 1964. Maresca said the company will remain privately held.

The company’s products include elegant Wave system radios boasting “lifelike, room-filling sound,’’ cushioned QuietComfort headphones for reducing background noises such as airplane engines, home theatre accessories and computer speakers.

Canadians, Chinese and Indians among top buyers of US property United States

Amar Bose and Bose-car-Hifi

By Arun Kumar, IANS

In 2011, Bose gave MIT the majority of Bose Corp. stock in the form of non-voting shares whose dividends are used to support education and research.

MIT does not participate in management or governance of the company.

Bose, who was born and raised in Philadelphia to parents who were natives of India, received his bachelor’s

degree, master’s degree and doctorate from MIT, all in electrical engineering.

Bose was given many awards and honours during his lifetime. He was a Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar, an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

BlackBerry by the numbers Canada The Canadian Press

Here is a look at some of the highs and lows for BlackBerry (TSX:BB) and Research In Motion by the numbers: Entertainment industry awards: 2 (1994 Emmy for technical innovation, 1999 Academy Award for Technical Achievement) Lowest stock price: $6.54 (Sept. 4, 2012) Years the BlackBerry been in existence: 14 (first BlackBerry wireless handheld device in 1999, first BlackBerry smartphone in 2003) Years as a publicly traded company: 16 Years in business: 29 (founded in 1984) Countries in which the company has offices: 36 Highest stock price: $149.90 (June 8, 2008) Countries in which BlackBerrys are sold: 175 Employees: 12,700 as of March 2013 All-time high number of employees: more than 20,000 Current subscribers: 72 million All-time high number of subscribers: 80 million

Is It Time For A Second Opinion?

W

ashington—Canada along with China, Mexico, India and the United Kingdom accounted for approximately 53 percent of international transactions worth $68.2-billion, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Realtors.

The five nations have historically accounted for the bulk of purchases reported from 68 countries, but Canada (23 percent) and China (12 percent) have been the fastest growing sources over the years, it said.

Mexico (8 percent), India (5 percent) and the United Kingdom (5 percent) followed, according to the survey.

International home sales in the US declined in the past year by $14 billion, but are at their second highest level in recent years and are over six percent of total existing-home sales in value, the survey noted.

Of total international transactions, $34.8 billion (51 percent) were attributed to foreign buyers with permanent residences outside the US and $33.4 billion (49 percent) were attributed to buyers who are recent immigrants or temporary visa holders residing for more than six months in the US.

International transactions worth $68.2-billion Canada

23%

China

12%

Mexico

8%

India

5%

United Kingdom

5%

When the markets turn as volatile as they have been in recent years, even the most patient investors may come to question the wisdom of the investment plan that they’ve been following.

I would be pleased to provide you with a personal consultation and second opinion on your portfolio. Call me at 613 239-2881.

Patrick Brooks, Investment Advisor 50 O’Connor Street, Suite 800 Ottawa, ON K1P 6L2 patrick.brooks@cibc.ca

CIBC Wood Gundy is a division of CIBC World Markets Inc., a subsidiary of CIBC and a Member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund and Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. If you are currently a CIBC Wood Gundy client, please contact your Investment Advisor.

Business

Ottawa Star • July 18, 2013

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 15

Lulemon store

Lululemon says customers with see through pants could be wearing sizes too small Canada

By David Friend, The Canadian Press

R

etailer Lululemon says customers could still be sporting see-through Luon yoga pants because they’re buying sizes that are too small for them.

The Vancouver-based company said Wednesday there are still “a few negative comments’’ circulating on the Internet from shoppers who it believes are buying the wrong size. The problem may be that “guests don’t have the benefit of doing an in-store fit session with one of our educators to make sure the fit is right for them,’’ the company said in a Frequently Asked Questions section of its website.

“The majority of feedback about the return of our black luon bottoms has been positive,’’ it noted. Lululemon says it has made “big changes’’ to its product development process since the see-through pants first grabbed attention in March.

But the troubles persist, and that might begin to cause problems for Lululemon’s reputation, said Macquarie Capital analyst Liz Dunn who is a self-proclaimed “heavy user’’ of the company’s products.

“We see a narrow window of opportunity for Lululemon to really fix quality,’’ she said in a note. “Otherwise, customers may jump ship to competing brands.’’

Dunn said she’s concerned with Lululemon’s decision to tell customers to buy bigger sizes or that certain clothes aren’t made for sweating in while others aren’t made for running. She said not only does that create confusion but it also makes it inconvenient for customers who hurry from one exercise class to the next in the same pants. “We believe consumers expect to be able to both bend and sweat in Lululemon’s premiumpriced athletic product,’’ she said.

Dunn also pointed out that clothes once manufactured in Canada have

now been outsourced to Asia to boost product margins. She acknowledged that customers may be paying more attention to product quality after hearing about the recall earlier this year.

Reviews on Lululemon’s website have pointed out some of the flaws with the company’s relaunch of its Luon pants. “I was told by a sales associate that after the fabric was changed, most people had to go up a size for the sheerness to go away,’’ wrote DCRunner16.

“Confused that just one size smaller would cause so much trouble with the fabric, I tried an eight. The eight was not only too big, but still sheer when I bent over!’’

Numerous other reviews on the website outlined similar experiences with the pants. “Did some bend-over tests and you could see my underwear and the tag on the pants,’’ wrote a user called ILoveSun. However not all of the recent reviews were negative and some customers

questioned why so many others were still claiming their pants were see-through.

The quality of the Luon fabric has become a significant problem in recent months, resulting in several lawsuits accusing the company of disclosure shortcomings that artificially inflated the stock price of the company.

Lululemon pulled its black Luon pants from stores mid-March, which meant removing 17 per cent of its woman’s pants inventory. Since then, the company has said that the fabric used in the pants did not meet their standards.

In April, chief product officer Sheree Waterson left the company. Last month, Lululemon chief executive Christine Day announced her plans to leave the company once a successor was found.

The company then said it began testing and assessing all Luon products to ensure they meet “revised specifications for modulus (stretch), weight and tolerances.’’ It has also stationed employees at factories to ensure that the new standards were being met.

Judge: Apple Leon’s and the Brick’s “Buy Now, Pay Later’’ promos conspired to raise e-book prices accused to be “deceptive”

By The Associated Press

Canada

By The Canadian Press

OTTAWA—The Competition Bureau has accused Leon’s Furniture Ltd. and The Brick Ltd. of “deceptive marketing practices.’’ The regulator alleged Tuesday that the retailers’ “Buy Now, Pay Later’’ promotions, often resulted in customers paying more than advertised and should be ceased immediately.

The bureau said customers who chose the deferred-payment option often ended up paying more than those who paid for their purchases up front as a result of the additional fees, which were “buried’’ by the retailers in the “fine print.’’ The additional costs

ranged from processing or administrative fees, delivery fees and taxes.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

In a motion filed in Ontario Superior Court, the Competition Bureau also wants Leon’s and The Brick to refund all customers who paid any additional up-front fees or administrative penalties.

“Canadian consumers must receive clear and accurate information about what must be paid at the time of purchase, and what the actual cost of a particular item is if they use a deferred payment option,’’ Competition Commissioner John Pecman said in a statement. “Retail-

ers cannot hide details of additional fees in lengthy disclaimers.’’

The retailer of furniture, appliances and electronics said it stands by its promotion programs. “The deferred payment plans offered by Leon’s and The Brick benefit consumers,’’ Leon’s said in a statement Tuesday. “Leon’s and The Brick deny the commissioner’s allegations and will vigorously defend their position in the court.’’

Last March, Leon’s acquired rival, The Brick. Leon’s has 76 stores with locations in every province except British Columbia, while The Brick has 230 stores operating under the banners, The Brick, United Furniture Warehouse, The Brick Mattress Store and Urban Brick banners.

NEW YORK (AP)—Apple broke antitrust laws and conspired with publishers to raise electronic book prices significantly in spring 2010, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, citing “compelling evidence’’ from the words of the late Steve Jobs.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said Apple knew that no publisher could risk acting alone to try to eliminate Amazon.com’s $9.99 price for the most popular e-books, so it “created a mechanism and environment that enabled them to act together in a matter of weeks to eliminate all retail price competition for their e-books.’’

“Apple seized the moment and brilliantly played its hand,’’ Cote said. She wrote that Apple’s deals with publishers caused some e-book prices to rise 50 per cent or more virtually overnight.

The Manhattan jurist, who did not determine damages, said the evidence was “overwhelming that Apple knew of the unlawful aims of the conspiracy and joined the conspiracy with the specific intent to help it succeed.’’

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