Ottawa Star - Volume 2 Issue 9

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Ottawa Star The Voice of New Canadians www.OttawaStar.com • March 1, 2015 • Volume 2, Issue 9

For Canada & World News visit Ottawa Star.com

Global gang stole $1-billion directly from the banks Instead of ripping off their customers

By Josh Boak, The Associated Press

WA S H I N G T O N — T h e hacker gang that looted as much as $1 billion worldwide from banks was unusual: It stole directly from the banks, instead of ripping off their customers.

It appears as though the hacker gang accessed computers by having bank employees click on email attachments.

The hackers relied on a technique known as “spear phishing,’’ in which they sent emails from a fake account Continued on page 15

Citizenship oath to Queen stays law of land Supreme Court won’t hear challenge

By Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press

Would-be Canadians will have to keep taking an oath to the Queen after the Supreme Court of Canada on Feb 26 refused to hear a challenge to the citizenship requirement.

The decision by the top court leaves intact an Ontario Queen Elizabeth II

Continued on page 11

Average total income of farm families is Racism persistent despite progress: projected to reach Ontario’s outgoing human rights chief $134,931 in 2015 Malika Welsh, curator-in-residence at the Fritzi Gallery. Story on Page 4 Photo: Kate Tenenhouse

By Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press The Canadian Press

OT TAWA — A g r i c u l t u re Canada says 2014 was a bumper year for the country’s farmers, with aggregate net cash income projected to total a record $14 billion.

The department’s 2015 Canadian Agricultural Outlook

says incomes will be off from that this year, but will remain strong.

Preliminary forecasts for 2015 suggest farm incomes will slip to $13 billion due to lower grain and oilseeds receipts because of a U.S. bumper crop in 2014 and higher world stocks.

Continued on page 11

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ORONTO—Ontario has made progress in combating the scourge of racism and other forms of discrimination but the fight is far from over, the outgoing head of the province’s human rights commission says.

In an interview at commission headquarters, Barbara Hall said she strongly believes the very success of our society depends on ensuring the disadvantaged or marginalized are able to contribute fully.

Continued on page 12

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PAGE 2 • www.OttawaStar.com

India Canada Friendship Circle hosts talk on Maternal Newborn Care

Ottawa Star • March 1, 2015

childbirth—related complications around the world every day, despite medical advances of the modern age.

According to the World Health Organization, two-thirds of neonatal deaths (first 28 days of life) occur in just ten countries, with India accounting for more than a quarter. More specifically, Dr. Merchant illustrated that with 1.8 million deaths among children under 5 years, and 68,000 deaths among mothers every year, and 52 million children who are stunted, India’s burden of reproductive health, and child health and nutrition is greater than that in any other country.

As outlined by Dr. Merchant, the major causes of maternal deaths include hemorrhage, obstructed labour, hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, complications of unsafe abortion, infection and unhygienic conditions at birth (major cause of both infant and maternal deaths). Birth-related disabilities, such as injuries to pelvic muscles, organs or the spinal cord, affect many more women and continue to go untreated.

Prematurity, neonatal asphyxia, sepsis and low birth weights are the main causes of neonatal mortality. Malaria, measles, diarrhea and HIV infection pose additional risks to mother and newborn.

UNICEF reports at least 20 per cent of the burden of disease in children below the age of five is related to poor maternal health and nutrition, as well as quality of care at delivery.

According to Dr. Merchant, newborn action plans depend on better data collection, use, and their link to accountability. Nearly six million births, stillbirths and neonatal deaths each year are never recorded and there is no standard metrics for counting these.

In looking to the future, Dr. Merchant suggested that almost all maternal deaths are preventable and neonatal deaths can be minimized with the right policy choices, distribution of resources and commitment.

In support of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), maternal newborn care is a Government of Canada priority. In May 2014, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Canada’s commitment of $3.5 billion to improve the health of mothers and children and supporting global efforts to end the preventable deaths of mothers, newborn and children under five.

India is failing to meet its national and MDG targets in maternal and newborn care due to social inequities and inadequate planning, financing, human resources, infrastructure, supply systems, governance, information and monitoring and lack of attention to rural health care. Dr. Merchant stressed that this needs political commitment of the highest order and the development of a people’s movement.

The ICFC will host its next lecture

by Mrs. Jayshree Thakar on “Habitat for Humanity” on March 29, 2015 at Palki Cuisine of India on Ogilvie Road.

Palestinian Canadian Chamber of Commerce (Pal-Can) hosts CONNECT in Ottawa

Bashir continually pointed to retention of talent being one of Ottawa’s largest challenges. He hopes that the Bayview Innovation Centre, scheduled to open in 2016, will make an impact in that deficit.

“This is a project that is going to convert 45,000 square feet of old, industrial, very ugly looking buildings, into an entrepreneurial complex.”

The complex will represent a hub for Ottawa’s entrepreneurial spirit and while it won’t solve all of the city’s problems, it is a definite step in the right direction.

Bashir said the last and most positive challenge facing Ottawa’s economy is “competing with global markets and large cities around the world.” Ottawa is now within the realm of the world’s most elite economies and remaining there will be an exciting venture.

What is Pal-Can’s role in this last step?

It is simply to keep doing what it is doing.

The corporation continues to innovate and grow with a very specific, yet proud, group of professionals. Their goals remain the same—to keep the Canadian-Palestinian partnership flourishing and to eventually “develop a foundation of all Canadian businesses,” added Alghosen.

The night’s speeches left much room for discussion, which began almost immediately. The loud, spirited chatter that lasted throughout the rest of the evening meant one thing—Ottawa and Canada’s continual economic innovation are in good hands here.

By Ms. Roohi Ahmed

A

life-threatening pregnancy? A newborn with a 50-50 chance of survival?

In first-world countries like Canada, these questions are far less frequent as the joy of pregnancy and childbirth are the norm. However, in developing countries, pregnancy and child-birth are instead fraught with risk and loss of life.

Attributing these concerns to the lack of advanced medical equipment and techniques in developing countries would be a gross over-simplification; rather, infant mortality rates can be easily reduced with basic medical training and supplies.

The issue of newborn care and infant mortality was brought into focus by the India Canada Friendship Circle (ICFC) at their last event—fireside chat with Dr. Pradeep Merchant, site chief, Division of Neonatology with the Ottawa Hospital-Civic Campus and assistant professor with the Department of Pediatrics. The discussion centred on the compassion and dedication of medical professionals who make life-altering decisions

Dr. Pradeep Merchant. Photo: ICFC

every minute of every day when delivering a newborn into this world.

The chair of the ICFC meeting recounted the story of a beautiful empress Mumtaz Mahal who died while giving birth to her 14th child. Stricken with grief, her husband constructed a monument in her memory so majestic that no one would ever guess it was a tomb – the Taj Mahal.

While the Taj Mahal is world famous, there is far less global awareness of the tragedy that led to its creation. Nearly four centuries after this tragic incident, about 800 women die from pregnancy—or

By Brandon Rushton

T

he Palestinian Canadian Chamber of Commerce (Pal-Can), a nonprofit Canadian corporation registered and founded in Ottawa, hosted its second annual CONNECT event at Ottawa City Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 3.

The aim of CONNECT is to unite members of the national PalestinianCanadian community and provide a networking opportunity for them to develop mutually beneficial relationships.

CONNECT also highlights the city’s economic opportunities while strengthening Palestinian-Canadian community roots.

CONNECT is all about “putting great brains together to make good for the city,” said Marwan Abdallah, a founding member of Pal-Can and organizer of the event. “Networking opportunities such as CONNECT are important for all levels of the economy. It not only gives the Palestinian community a face in Ottawa, but lets them share ideas on how to improve the landscape.”

The event was attended by a wide variety of political members, small and large business owners, and resolute entrepreneurs. Most notably, among the 150 guests, was NDP MP Paul Dewar as well as members of the Palestinian General Delegation in Canada.

Co-founders of Pal-Can from left to right: Marwan Abdallah, Wadah Alghosen, Nahed Farah, Ahmed Bochr, Lawrence Saleh, Kamal Shaath and Hussein Elastal. Photo: Brandon Rushton

The global economic landscape has changed immensely since the inaugural Pal-Can event that took place in July 2014.

Wadah Alghosen, a successful real estate agent, entrepreneur, and one of seven founding members of Pal-Can, updated the audience on the group’s initiatives in the evening’s introductory speech.

Much of his focus was on climbing out of Canada’s current market, stating, “We must work to strengthen the public trust of the financial system in order to secure longterm sustainability in our businesses and community. Canada’s economy deserves our attention.”

Saad Bashir, director of Economic Development and Innovation with the City of Ottawa and new Canadian

himself, mirrored Alghosen’s statement, as well as brought up other challenges that face Ottawa specifically.

“We are still quite heavily dependent on the federal government to provide jobs,” said Bashir, noting one such challenge that has lingered within the city.

Economic diversity has always been Ottawa’s largest economic issue, and rather than sweep it under the rug again and again, our city’s governance is taking strides forward.

Ottawa plans to nurture the city’s need for private sector growth by allowing the more than 1,400 small businesses (businesses with 50 employees or less) that have sprouted since 2000 to remain in the place where they began.

Ottawa Star • March 1, 2015

Community

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 3

Winterlude: A final hurrah for long-time Japanese ice carver

By Kate Tenenhouse

A

fter nearly 30 years creating frozen works of art, this year’s Winterlude ice carving competition may be the last for long-time sculptor, Takashi Ito. “The physical part is not supporting me as much,” he said, “I will keep carving ice… but competition with the time involved makes it very difficult, so this could be my last one.”

Ito said the 28th Crystal Garden International Ice Carving Competition was particularly special to him because it meant the opportunity to partner with fellow ice carver, Ikuo Kanbayashi.

“We’re getting older now, so I’m not sure how much I can go for competition anymore, so I called him up and said, ‘Ikuo, do you want to team up with me at Winterlude?’”

Every year, carvers come to Ottawa from across the globe to turn lifeless blocks of ice into animated works of art. This year, about 30 sculptors travelled to the Nation’s Capital to create pieces that will live on for the remainder of the Winterlude festival. The artists draw inspiration from a general theme; “Art of Play” was the subject for this year.

Families, friends, visitors and locals come to watch the process unfold in Confederation Park as hour by hour the giant frozen cubes

come to life. Bundled from head to toe to brave the city’s winter weather, artists either compete in pairs or as individuals to complete their glacial statues. First, second and third place winners are selected for both categories by a panel of international judges.

This pair first met when Kanbayashi called Ito to invite him to see Japanese carvers in Ottawa.

“We were both working at different hotels in Ottawa and he said, ‘Some Japanese carvers are coming to do some demos, would you like to join?’ And that’s how we met, 30 years ago, right here in Ottawa,” said Ito. Ito says he has participated in the Winterlude competition “about a half dozen times,” but Kanbayashi has never competed in this particular event, as he used to be one of the organizers.

Together, Ito and Kanbayashi came up with the design for “Splash,” currently on display in the Crystal Garden. Using more than 16 blocks of ice and working over three days, the partners created a lifelike Canadian scene of an otter frolicking in water with salmon.

Ito said there are two reasons why he loves to carve icy creations like “Splash.”

“One is the freedom of the design, coming up with something… When I was

Long-time ice carver Takashi Ito says this year’s Crystal Garden competition may be his last.

Takashi Ito and Ikuo Kanbayashi carve out their creation, Splash. Photos: Kate Tenenhouse

carving a lot, my mind was always on ice carving. Whenever I looked, when I was shopping or biking, I would look at things and say can I use this? Can I do that?

And the second thing is teaming up with somebody [and] the process of getting to know the people and working with them.”

Ito currently lives in Victoria, BC, and said he wanted to represent the west coast in his piece with the otter, but there is a secondary influence for the ice sculptor.

“In the ‘80s and ‘90s, Japan was advanced in ice carving because they had winter festivals every year. We learned a lot of techniques…not necessarily the design was influenced by Japan, but definitely the techniques and also the people. I have met many of the good Japanese art carvers.”

Growing up in Japan, Ito attended law school, but then decided to come to Canada and work as a chef.

“My father influenced me,” he said.

“He’s the one who told me: grow up, go out, go see the world. So, when I finished university that’s what I did.”

Although Ito lives on the west coast now, he says Ottawa has a special place in his heart.

“Ottawa, I feel, was the beginning of my journey. Not just with ice carving, but both of my kids were born here. Ottawa is a special place.”

Looking to the future, Ito said he plans on slowing down when it comes to ice carving competitions.

“As far as ice carving this is it, this year,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll do some travelling. I love travel. Ice carving took me to many places that I never thought I would go. I’ve been to Russia, China, Alaska, Germany, Switzerland, so I can’t ask more than that.”

Standing in front of what might be his last icy masterpiece for competition, Ito beams with pride.

“I’m quite happy. Looking at it here, I’m happy. I’m happy that we came up with this design.”

Nasreen Shoshi’s Solo Live Concert Sunday april 5, 2015 @ 6pm Kailash Mital Theater, Carleton University.

Arranged by “Ashram” Nasreen Shoshi will be singing in 4 languages: Bengali, Hindi, Urdu & Panjabi.

Door will open at 5:30pm Ticket price: $5 (Free under 12 years)

For ticket please contract:

Kabir Chowdhury, 613 282 3638 Shah Bahauddin, 613 291 3340

PAGE 4 • www.OttawaStar.com

Community

Ottawa Star • March 1, 2015

Black History Month DJs dig into our musical roots

By Jeff Clifford

D

espite the chilling cold that swept through Ottawa on February 7 by way of a blizzard and steadily dropping temperatures, the bitter winter weather didn’t stop people from coming out to Maxwell’s on Elgin Street to enjoy some music and dancing.

In fact, what better way to warm up than to bust some moves on the dance floor and get in touch with a bit of Canada’s musical history?

That’s what the night’s event Origin of Beat was all about. One of many musical and cultural events held across the city for Black History Month, Origin of Beat was organized by Tribal Threat Music in partnership with House of PainT: Urban Art Fest in collaboration with Black Artists’ Networks in Dialogue.

The evening featured an Ottawa DJ Duo called Tribal Threat along with Toronto’s DJ TK Smoothe.

Upon first walking into Maxwell’s, one may have simply dismissed the event

DJs at the Origin of Beat event. Photo: Jeff Clifford

as a typical club night with DJ’s playing the familiar dance jams. However, after a closer look – and listen – at the performers and music filling the pub, it quickly became apparent that there was far more going on.

Rather than the familiar Top 40 pop and dance songs we all know by heart, the mix of music was far more

eclectic. The DJs spun a wide range of musical genres from Jazz to Soul and Blues, along with various other styles of music from all over the world including the Caribbean and South America. The music we listen to today is influenced by the past and these performers wanted to connect us to that history.

While the event was part of this month’s celebration of black history and culture in our country, it was also very much about our human history as it relates to music - how humans are connected around the world by music, and that this music has a story to it.

All genres of music are connected in some way, often by beat and by a long line of influences. Across the world, despite what style of music is created, performed or enjoyed, there is some form of drums used. By showcasing a mix of so many different styles, the Origin of Beat DJs demonstrated this connection.

Furthermore all styles of music are a development of something that came before.

Artists draw inspiration from music they have heard in the past, take musical ideas they have been exposed to, copy a particular rhythm or drum style or may literally incorporate recorded samples into their own music.

By fusing together these different musical genres, the performers showcase the connection between the music we listen to today and our musical roots.

Black History Month: Ottawa artists “flock together” for Fritzi Gallery exhibit

By Kate Tenenhouse

“W

hat does it mean to be a minority?”

This thought-provoking question inspired Malika Welsh, Fritzi Gallery curator-in-residence, to create the ‘Birds of a Feather’ exhibit in celebration of Black History Month.

“I feel like especially with Black History Month, we have a tendency to categorize ourselves in these little boxes,” Welsh said. “And we don’t always have the chance to break out of those spaces and see that everybody is doing similar things.

I thought that with this month being a month of learning and looking back on history… it would be a great time to start talking about these things that we don’t always feel the need to talk about.”

Welsh approached ten artists in the Ottawa area and each artist responded in a unique and personal way, creating a diverse array of paintings, photographs, even a sculpture to be displayed in the Fritzi Gallery located within the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre, home of the Great Canadian Theatre Company.

“What I tried to do here is bring artists together that might not have

collaborated in such a fashion and be as inclusive as possible,” Welsh said.

Kalkidan Assefa, painter of ‘Unseen’ and ‘Refuge,’ said that is part of what makes the show special.

“I think it’s important because a lot of these artists, we wouldn’t all be in the same place at the same time,” he said. “We deal with different mediums and genres and on top of that it is a visibility thing. It lets people know that there are a lot of socalled ‘minority artists’ in Ottawa.”

Assefa said ‘Unseen’ is about “feeling like an invisible person,” but his paintings are impossible to overlook, using vibrant colours and bold lines.

“I just want to connect with people who have similar experiences while sharing my own,” he said.

Photographer Saleena Wedderburn said this theme was personal for her as well.

“For me, it was answering to people who call me ‘White Wash.’ I created this persona I called ‘Sally’ and it was the ‘White Wash’ version of myself. I wanted to present that in a way so people could see how ridiculous it sounds when you say someone’s ‘White Wash’ because clearly that’s not who I am. I’m myself.

I’m Saleena. That’s who I am.”

Left: Ottawa artist Kalkidan Assefa with his painting, ‘Unseen.’ Above: KomiCaption: Komi Olaf with ‘The Band of story tellers’ from his series, ‘Chikis.’ Photos: Kate Tenenhouse

Artist Komi Olaf interpreted the theme of minority in a completely different way. His collection, titled ‘Chikis,’ plays with imagery of aliens and outer space.

“I wanted to show the idea of being an alien in a foreign land as well as how we are all aliens in a foreign land but also drawing influences from my African background,” he explained.

Olaf said this exhibit is important because it sparks a new kind of dialogue.

“There are a lot of stereotypes about what is considered black art or what is considered minority art and this particular exhibition breaks that mold in so many different ways,” he said. “You don’t see any photos of Malcolm X. You don’t see any photos of Martin Luther King (Jr.), which are the generic images that come out during February and it means that the conversation is changing to something more. We’ve now understood our past and now we are moving into our present and our future.”

Welsh said the exhibit turned out to be everything she’d hoped for, and more.

“Separately, the pieces are all so strong on their own, but once you put it all together in one space, it gives the space a new life completely,” she said.

“I feel like it’s more than I anticipated, which is amazing.”

When people walk up the stairs to the second floor of the Great Canadian Theatre Company and see all of these interpretations, Welsh hopes they will take a moment to self-reflect.

“I want people to be able to come into the space and wonder and ask questions of the work and of themselves, to bring about that discussion about whether or not they’ve ever felt like the minority or if they know someone who has.”

‘Birds of a Feather’ is on display at 1233 Wellington Street W., on the second floor of the Great Canadian Theatre Company (the Lorraine Fritzi Yale Gallery) until March 8, 2015.

For more information about the gallery visit www.gctc.ca/your-visit/ lorraine-fritzi-gallery

Ottawa Star • March 1, 2015

Community

Ottawa Art Gallery Holds Winter Celebration of Hokkaido

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 5

Musical performances entertained guests at the Chinese New Year festivities.

A model showcasing traditional Japanese dress. Photos: Zoe Chong

Ryoko Itabashi opens the night’s entertainment playing the shamisen.

entertainment, while others took advantage of the venue’s open space and waist-high n Friday, Feb. 6, red-cheeked tables for drink and conversation.

Winterluders descended on City The night’s entertainment began with Hall for an evening of Japanese food, Ryoko Itabashi playing the shamisen, a threemusic, and room temperature sake. stringed instrument of jutting, plucky tones, On the Rocks: Winter in Hokkaido followed by a band of Taiko drummers, was this year’s iteration of an annual practitioners of that famous Japanese event held by the Ottawa Art Gallery, in drumming style that is both booming and conjunction with the Winterlude festival, dramatic. In between musical acts DJ celebrating countries that, like Canada, Anonimo provided his own medley of have a unique winter culture.

Japanese tunes.

Each year, the event organizers seek The night concluded around 10:30 partnership with a different host country’s p.m. with a raffle for Japanese whiskey embassy to see provided by the if the embassy embassy, and a is interested in round of folk promoting its dancing.

Many culture to Ottawa. observers were On the Rocks coaxed into joining is in its fourth year, the dance, and starting in 2012 soon a large circle with a celebration formed in front of of Russia in the stage, following partnership with intently the the Avant-Garde movements of the Bar. Due to the Decorative ice sculptures allude to the more experienced success of that first event’s link to Winterlude. Photos: Stephen Koster dancers, limbs attempt, the gallery light from the flow decided to make the party an annual event. of Sapporo beer and sake.

In 2013, the event featured Norway, then Taline Bedrossian, the Ottawa Art Switzerland in 2014, and Japan this year.

Gallery’s communications manager, said The Hokkaido region of Japan is the event was the largest Winterlude the northern-most tip of the country, the party the OAG has done and that it second largest island in Japan, and home turned out incredibly well. to the city of Sapporo. The city hosts the “I mean, there were 350 people annual Sapporo Snow Festival, an event, who were here throughout the course of like Winterlude, that celebrates winter the night and right now there’s about a and features snow sculpting. hundred people who are doing Japanese Upon entry to the curtain-walled folk dancing,” said Bedrossian. “It’s really event, the OAG gave each event-goer a beautiful to watch, actually. Everyone “passport” with which they gained access dancing together and just having a really to the three food booths and three servings good time.” of sake. After enjoying their pick of salmon The event OAG has planned for sashimi, onigiri rice with a miso glaze, or a 2016 will surely be an equally fun curry-kombucha squash soup, event-goers evening, with yet another wintry host took seats to enjoy the evening’s musical nation taking the stage.

By Stephen Koster

O

Ottawa Asian Fest’s Inaugural Chinese New Year lights up EY Centre

By Zoe Chong

C

hinese New Year celebrations kicked off with food, music and performances on Sunday, Feb. 8 at the Ernst and Young Centre.

The public event was hosted by the Ottawa Asian Fest, a brand new non-profit organization with the mission to promote Asian culture and heritage in Ottawa.

Simon Huang, the project coordinator at the Ottawa Asian Fest, said this was the organization’s debut event so they wanted it to be entertaining as well as educational.

“We wanted to have a public event that was inclusive. We want people to have a good time and learn something about Chinese heritage and traditions,” Huang said.

People of all cultures came together to celebrate the near end of the Year of the Horse with traditional, as well as fusion, food and entertainment.

Carol Boeira, an attendee at the event, said she enjoyed the music best.

“For not knowing a single word of Chinese, the musical performances were surprisingly really catchy,” she said.

“Celebrating events like these is really the only way to experience different cultures without actually having to travel, while still getting something really authentic.”

Vince Gobuyan had a booth set up serving food from his Thai restaurant, Green Papaya, and was excited to participate in the event and promote his food as an Asian cuisine.

“We get a lot of Asian customers at our restaurant so it’s nice to support this community,” said Gobuyan, adding, “It’s great because there’s no such festival right now in Ottawa. In other cities, it’s quite big.”

Food was one of the main highlights of the event. Vendors served traditional Asian food from dumplings to pho, a Vietnamese soup noodle dish. There were also non-Asian foods like churros.

“The people are very gracious and generous and welcoming. The food is great. The entertainment is terrific and our employees and myself are just delighted to be here,” said Guy Milne, general manager at CIBC, the main corporate sponsor of the event.

“We’re very proud of the fact that CIBC, year after year, has been recognized as top employers for its diversified sales force and welcoming new immigrants to Canada,” he said. “There’s a changing face of this nation and we’re happy to be a leader in this area.”

Ottawa resident Mei-Lan Sim said since moving to Canada from Singapore she hasn’t been able to participate in Chinese New Year festivities for a long time until this year and that the event was a great way to bring people together.

The Chinese New Year, which follows a mixture between the lunar and solar calendar, starts February 19, but the celebrations often start in advance.

Many Chinese people usually take this time to gather with their family and honour their ancestors. This upcoming Chinese New Year will celebrate the Year of the Sheep.

One of the big performances at the event was the lion dance, a symbolic ritual to usher in the New Year and drive out evil spirits.

Mayor Jim Watson was also at the event to mark the start of the celebrations by cutting the ribbon.

PAGE 6 • www.OttawaStar.com

Editorial

2015 Oscar passionate and very political!

The 87th Academy Awards which took place this year although a lackluster event hit a more serious note and drew vibrancy and energy from the Oscar winners who used their acceptance speeches to highlight and address a gamut of issues.

There were few surprises among the winners, but one common thing was how political and passionate their speeches were.

Politics played a significant role at the Academy Awards in 2015. Some commentators have even said the Oscars this year could be the most politicallycharged Oscars since its inception.

This year, political speeches were the rule, not the exception. And the surprise: most of them were rousing and on point.

If there was one theme that ran through most of the Oscar speeches, it was causes-a variety of them. Wage inequality, A.L.S., immigration, mental health, civil rights, gay rights, and crisis hotlines: they all got their moments of glory.

Host Neil Patrick Harris set the ball rolling when he used his opening line to refer to all White Oscar debate.

“Tonight we honor Hollywood’s best and whitest sorry, brightest,” he quipped.

Graham Moore who won Best Adapted Screenplay for “The Imitation Game,” moving acceptance speech related his own story to that of Turing’s when he revealed his attempted suicide when he was just 16 years old. His message of love and hope earned a standing ovation from the audience.

In past years, artists from Vanessa Redgrave to Richard Gere to Michael Moore have been criticized for using their

time at the Oscar podium to raise controversial issues before a worldwide audience.

This year also saw the Academy severely criticized for lack of diversity among the nominees. So it is natural and understandable that winners felt all the more the need to be more vocal and passionate about their politics.

In an evening of glitz, glamour, and celebration of the tinsel world, talking about the harsh realities of life outside the make believe world of Hollywood Boulevard makes winners seem like party poppers. Thanking God, your cast and crew, your spouse and kids, is fine, but making a plea for gay rights or highlighting the problem of racial divide that still plagues America – that was a little too much reality coming from the dream factory.

How politically effective was Patricia Arquette’s address on wage equality , or Common and Legend on the issue of rates of incarceration among black men on the whitest Oscar night in recent history, it is not clear.

It has led to cynical dismissive shrug from people who tell us that movies are just movies, you should not take their versions of truth to heart, or that they are just Hollywood actors who cannot be taken seriously, or just enjoy the show.

However they certainly are signs of the changing times. This year’s Oscar may not have made a deep impact politically or transformed the world. But they surely did create an awareness and even if it is with just 1% of the total 37 million who watched it-it is a fair amount.

—Editorial by Sangeetha Arya

Ottawa Star

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Opinion

Ottawa Star • March 1, 2015

The Joys of Cooking and Sharing

By Sangeetha Arya “Until I discovered cooking, I was never really interested in anything.”

—Julia Child

W

e all know that cooking at home helps us live a longer and healthier life. But surprisingly, a recent study found that cooking can be very stressful.

The greatest stumbling block that makes cooking a very intimidating experience is our gnawing fear of failure. In cooking we have got to develop thick skin, take risks and have a “what-the-hell attitude.”

As someone who has regularly cooked—with a true love for it—I am here to let you know that not only is cooking one of the most natural things you can do, it can also be incredibly relaxing, exhilarating and yes even fun.

I have loved cooking and found it immensely relaxing and therapeutic. Cooking nourishes not only my body but also emotionally—my spirits.

Cooking for me is feeling good about myself and also going beyond it: transcending my pettiness. On a mundane level I cook to feed myself but on a sublime level I am expressing my love to people I care for.

Cooking, strangely, is a science as well as an art. It is a multi-layered experience. It is playful, laborious, solitary and tactile experience on one level yet subtle, immensely satisfying and joyous on the other end.

The cook is never alone while cooking. Even in the kitchen, as Laurie Colwin beautifully

Publisher: Chandrakanth Arya Chief Editor: Sangeetha Arya Editor: Ellen O’Connor

put it, she is surrounded by “generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.”

Cooking is also a chance to go on a new journey or share a new experience with someone who shares the same passion and joy of food as you. I remember preparing a simple dish for my parents and my mother-in law and sharing a beautiful talk with them. I will relish cooking for my friends, or my son who loved something that I made.

These are beautiful memories created because of our love of cooking. I will cherish them and they are forever with me.

It feels great to know that you provided that experience.

But its not just the experience of the event I enjoy.

It is the fragrance, the sound

Production: Benoit Deneault Joey Sabourin Editorial Contact Editor@OttawaStar.com

of laughter and the sight of happy faces and perfectly made food. Cooking speaks to all of my senses. It is a joy I am so proud to know even if it is a mess around me and just my husband to share it.

Cooking a meal is one of the most wonderful, intimate and personal gifts you can give someone. There is something maternal about feeding someone. You are nourishing, nurturing and creating something with your hands. Love of food and love of sharing our food is a common bond that connects all human beings irrespective of their race, language, color or race. There is something about it that melts away all barriers, encourages us to let our guards down, relax, have fun and be happy. Now, what can beat that!

Sales: Michael Power mpower@OttawaStar.com 613.627.3869 Distribution COMET 2000 Printed by: St. Lawrence Printing Company Ltd www.slpprint.ca

Ottawa Star • March 1, 2015

Opinion

5 things every Canadian should know about obesity Successful obesity management requires realistic and sustainable treatment strategies

By Carolyn Shimmin

W

INNIPEG, MB, Troy Media, There has been a dramatic increase in the number of Canadians living with obesity over the past few decades and it is often cited as a risk factor for other chronic health conditions including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and some forms of cancer. This means that obesity is frequently a hot topic in the news.

But media stories often miss the mark when it comes to informing Canadians about the complex factors that lead to obesity.

What we know is that obesity is both a chronic and often progressive condition.

Research has identified a number of factors associated with obesity including: physical activity, diet, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, immigration and environmental factors, which all interconnect in complex ways and patterns. This means that while the root cause of weight gain may be a reduction in metabolic rate, overeating or a reduction in physical activity, secondary factors such as biological (e.g., genetics), psychological (e.g., depression) and/or socioeconomic (e.g., poverty) may also pose significant barriers to weight management.

So the short term, ‘quick-fix’ solutions o f t e n espoused by shows like The Biggest Loser— focusing on maximum weight loss in a minimum amount of time—are generally unsustainable in the long term and associated with high rates of weight regain. Experts point to the fact that successful obesity management requires realistic and sustainable treatment strategies.

Here’s what everyone should know: The prevalence and severity of obesity in Canada has increased dramatically in the past three decades while fitness levels are decreasing. Research shows that one in four Canadian adults and one in 10 children are clinically obese. Obesity rates have roughly doubled in the past 30 years among both males and females in most age groups in both adult and youth

categories. Since the late 1970s, increases in the prevalence of obesity have been proportionately greater for the heaviest weight classes. On top of this, evidence demonstrates a trend toward decreased fitness for children, youth and adults.

Obesity is a costly epidemic. It has been estimated that obesity costs the Canadian economy approximately $4.6 billion in 2008, up $735 million or 19 per cent from $3.9 billion in 2000.

Measurement of obesity is not straightforward. The Body Mass Index (BMI) should be considered a rough guide for predicting health risk in individuals. The distribution and amount of body fat are also crucial determinants of some obesity-related

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 7 health risks. For example, fat around the abdominal region has a stronger association with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease than BMI. Hence measuring waist circumference alone provides a more complete picture of overall obesity-related health risk than BMI. Experts are looking to government regulations and food industry. Similar to smoking and problems with alcohol use, obesity is not simply the result of individuals making bad decisions, but is strongly influenced by the social and commercial environments that puts some individuals at higher risk for certain behaviours. Some risk factors include: the promotion and availability of high-calorie food, limited access to healthy foods, lack of time for meal preparation and barriers to physical activity.

Experts point to promising government regulatory approaches such as: discouraging higher calorie consumption by enforcing serving sizes, banning food and beverage advertisements targeting children, zoning laws prohibiting fast food sales near schools, regulating nutrition claim packaging, tax credits for fitness activities, more affordable recreational activities and better walking paths.

Weight bias is associated with significant discrimination against people living with obesity in employment, health, healthcare and education and is often caused by widespread untrue negative stereotypes that persons with obesity are lazy, unmotivated and lacking willpower and self-discipline.

Carolyn Shimmin is a Knowledge Translation Coordinator with EvidenceNetwork.ca and the George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation. Article courtesy www.troymedia.com

It’s time to talk about end of life Most of us do not have the means of providing palliative care for our loved ones

By Ray Pennings

HAMILTON, ON, Troy Media—Choice now trumps life as Canada’s political preference of, well, choice. For the first 149 years of our country’s existence, life had dignity and deserved the fullest protection of the law. But by this time next year, Parliament must codify the principle that the choice to take one’s life is a greater good than life itself.

Politics still has work to do in defining how broadly or narrowly the terms of that choice will be. Still, the Supreme Court has spoken and a fundamental shift is the inevitable outcome.

Given that 2015 is an election year, any solution will be presented as a compromising middle ground, although it’s hard to imagine there won’t be alienation on either side of the unbridgeable divide between the choice for life and the choice for death.

The paradox is that death is the commonality we all share. While we argue over the timing and manner of its inevitable arrival, days and months and

years are being squandered in preparing for, and ultimately accepting, the finitude of life on Earth.

Statistics show only 5 per cent of Canadians have had an end-of-life conversation with their doctor. Maybe that’s at least in part why 70 per cent of seniors don’t wish to have life-preserving treatments, yet 54 per cent will be admitted to an intensive care unit at some point. It may also be key to the Canadian Medical Association’s reminders that only 16 per cent of Canadians have access to best-practice medical care. Palliative care is often the tug-of-love orphan in the life-versus-choice argument. Both sides claim to want more of it. Both use its recognized benefits to pursue very different rhetorical outcomes. Could a source of the discrepancy be the very hypermedicalized approach to dealing with end-of-life issues? I’m starting to think so.

I’m becoming increasingly convinced that, in addition to palliative care, the gamut of enmeshed family, community and spiritual supports necessary for best-

practice end-of-life care are being ignored to the detriment of all Canadians. It’s not an abstract or philosophical concern. Death not only claims us all, it touches those we love and know in a wide circle around us.

That, surely, should make it a fit subject for public policy discussion well beyond the moment and the means.

For example, employment insurance benefits provide for six weeks of compassionate care support when a family member is diagnosed with a terminal illness where the prognosis is death within six months. Six weeks.

Pause for a moment or six and think about that. You just received word that your spouse has six months to live, and society offers you six weeks of support as a gesture of compassion. So, do you take it now while you come to grips with the prognosis? During the six months, when care needs will spike? At the end so you have time together? Six weeks of compassion?

Surely Canadians need a robust political and policy discussion about doing better.

An all-party Commons committee tried to start just such a discussion in 2011 with a 180-page report called Not to be Forgotten: Care for Vulnerable Canadians.

It is filled with practical recommendations for acting on palliative care, elder abuse, suicide prevention and effective ways to lessen the need for assisted suicide. Sadly, like so much fine work done in Parliament, it was largely filed and forgotten.

Perhaps instead of the next 12 months being entirely heat and light over life and choice, that conversation-starter should be made available for community care, hospice, palliative care and bereavement support groups as well as in doctors’ offices, where seniors and vulnerable Canadians are known to go. We will have a historic political debate over wide versus narrow lawmaking.

We can also have a mature conversation about becoming a country that prepares itself well for the end that awaits us all.

Ray Pennings is co-founder and executive vice-president of Cardus, an independent policy institute. Article courtesy www.troymedia.com

Community

PAGE 8 • www.OttawaStar.com

Flute Siva. Photo by Mohan Ariyath

East India meets North America in Flute Siva’s fusion album, video

By Ellen O’Connor

F

lute Siva’s newest album and hit single may have been more than a decade in the making, but for the Ottawa-based classical flutist, the final product perfectly embodies the growing movement toward East Indian and Western fusion – with an Ottawa touch.

His album Kadhal Glitz, released in May 2014, features the signature sound of Siva’s bamboo flute, which is then brought to life by Western musical influences. Hip-hop and R&B beats, cello and the complementary mix of traditional Indian singing and rap result in a contemporary work that appeals to listeners in India, Canada and across the globe.

“My whole idea was to create something global, an Indian fusion, so that anybody could listen to it,” said Siva, who is classically trained in Indian Carnatic style.

He began studying music at eight-yearsold after moving to India from Montreal at the age of five. In 1993, he settled in Ottawa to pursue an Engineering Degree at Carleton University.

His concept of “global fusion” shines through in the January 30 release of the video single, Love’s Excellence. Composed, recorded and filmed in Ottawa, the upbeat track is featured three times on his album, each recorded in a different South Asian language: Siva’s native tongue of Tamil (Love’s Excellence – Oh Vennila); Hindi (Love’s Excellence – Hey Zindagi); and Telugu (Love’s Excellence – Ee Punnami).

The song and music video features Siva on vocals and flute, as well as rapper and R&B singer Rishi Sood, and cellist and composer Raphael WeinrothBrowne, both from Ottawa. Siva teamed up with Andrew Robillard of Stuffed Motion to produce the music video.

“It’s very tough to release an independent album, but since I worked

with local musicians like Raphael, I got more exposure. The music itself, without them, was sounding different.

The moment Raphael and the rap artists came in, it took it to the next level,” said Siva.

A week after the video was released it had more than 12,000 views and 250 shares on Facebook. The video was also released on India Glitz, a popular website dedicated to India cinema with a reach of over 500,000 viewers, as well as on Kreative Kkonnect, an Indian media and music production company.

Siva’s first steps toward creating Kadhal Glitz began back in 2001 and over the past 13 years his concept for the album had done a complete 180.

Ottawa Star • March 1, 2015 His first album, Cine Jewels on Flute, featured instrumental covers of songs from popular Indian films and was released in Ottawa in 2000 and later in 2002 in India by HMV. Siva then began working on Kadhal Glitz, recording tracks 10 to 13 of the album. The four tracks boasted a purely traditional Indian sound, featuring female artists, such as Sujatha Mohan and the late Swarnalatha, best known for their work as Indian playback singers in Tamil films.

Without YouTube or other webbased media platforms that independent artists use today to release music, Siva sat on his tracks for several years until he travelled to India in 2010, where he played them to producers.

“The style was so different then.

When I went, a lot of the companies said, ‘If I were you, I wouldn’t release this.’ It’s very hard to break into the industry as an independent musician. I didn’t think of global or fusion music at that time, so I was very discouraged,” said Siva.

“Since 2001, there was a lot of Western influence—hip hop and rap —and if you listen to Indian songs, you hardly hear Indian instruments, so they said it’s very tough to release.”

Knowing he had to do something to revamp his sound, he returned home and began meeting with the Ottawa artists to re-create his old tracks and compose new ones with a fusion feel. The resulting compilation pays respect to Indian music and Siva’s mastery of the bamboo flute, but also appeals to a wider audience of listeners that crave a strong dance beat.

Along with composing and performing, Siva is taking advanced flute lessons from Grammy nominated flutist Shashank Subramanyam from India, as well as vocal training in Hindustani style under the direction of Ottawa’s Dr. Vinay Bhide.

Irish Film Fest Coming to Ottawa

By Donal O’Connor

O

ttawa is a city built by the Irish. The Irish carved the canals, the streets have Irish names, Irish immigrants and their children are one of the largest ethnic populations in the National Capital, but it’s about time they got their own film festival.

The Ottawa Irish Film Festival is the brainchild of Patrick Murray, whose parents moved from Ireland to Canada during the 1950s. After seeing the turnout at another Irish film festival a few years ago, he was inspired to produce his own.

Work on the festival began in November 2013, and with the invaluable help of the Irish Embassy in Ottawa and the Irish Film Institute, it is set to run at Arts Court from March 27 to 29.

Unfortunately, even in the 21st century, stereotypes continue to exist; however, Murray was determined to avoid them. Irish culture is not just

A screenshot from the Oscar nominated film Song of the Sea. Photo Courtesy: Ottawa Irish Film Festival

diddly-eye Catholicism and Peig Sayers; rather, Ireland gave the world Oscar Wilde, Seamus Heaney, Colin Farrell, Bram Stoker, U2 and many others, and Murry wanted the festival to represent those artists.

He sat down and went through every source he could to find movies that best represent a broad spectrum, finally settling on seven. Each movie best represents a particular genre, from the

animated kids film Song of the Sea to the melodrama Pilgrim Hill, the dramedy of Gold and the historical Good Vibrations. He hopes to bring even more genres next year, including horror, as well as Q and A sessions with cast and crews both in person at the festival and over Skype.

Doors open on March 27 at 7pm with Gold, introduced by Robert Fountaine.

Check out our selection of the best of the fest online at www.ottawastar.com.

Ottawa Star • March 1, 2015

Community

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 9

Ottawa charity dinner raises funds for Iraqi refugees

By Jennifer Halsall

I

t was a night of music, passion, and education on Friday, Feb. 27, as students, businesses and concerned citizens joined together in solidarity to raise money for displaced Iraqis.

Several Ottawa-based IraqiCanadians worked in collaboration with Human Concern International to organize a charity dinner, with the goal of raising money for Iraqi citizens living in refugee camps.

Overseas, the situation is dire – the International Organization for Migration estimates that 1.8 million Iraqis have been displaced as a result of ongoing conflict within the country.

“All of us are completely horrified by what’s happening,” said Wisam Salih, one of the organizers. “It’s a very serious situation, and it’s heartbreaking what’s happening.”

Like many in attendance, the displacement is close to Salih’s heart. “I call Canada and Saskatchewan home first and foremost, but my roots are in Iraq,” he said. “My cousins are both in Bagdad; my parents are both IraqiCanadians.”

The fundraiser attracted a sold-out crowd of over 200 concerned citizens.

A host of speakers and performers, including deputy mayor Bob Monette and Mathaband, an Ottawa-based musical group, made appearances. It also captured the attention of several local businesses and artists, who donated gifts and artwork for sale in the silent auction.

“It’s really an opportunity to give back,” said Sarah Hassan, one of the dinner’s organizers. “We don’t necessarily give to charity that often, so this is a great time to give to people in need, but at the same time have fun while you’re at it.”

All told, the fundraiser raised over $10,000 for Iraqi refugees. Though organizers have yet to decide where exactly the funds will be allocated, Lebanon and Jordan are the likely picks because of their high refugee populations and relative security.

But the evening’s agenda wasn’t exclusive to food, fundraising, and entertainment. Guests were treated to a panel of religious leaders from Iraq’s major faiths, who spoke about religion’s role in the Iraqi conflict.

“You can’t really ignore the religious component to the conflict or what’s going on,” said Salih. “It’s got serious religious undertones. So we need to address that as Canadians and as organizers.”

“No religion spreads hate, nor promotes violence,” said Mumtaz Ali, Sheikh at Ottawa’s Al Ghafari Mosque.

“Iraqis are being massacred and driven out of their homes as we speak. It is our duty to provide them with relief –not as Muslims, but as humans.”

Though panelists differed in their faith, their message was clear: unity and humanity are essential to ending the conflict.

“At the end of it all, beneath the turbans and the hats, beneath the hair and the skin colour, beneath the titles and the degrees and the pieces of paper; beneath it all, we are all one,” said Mohammed Jebra, Chief Imam at the Cordova Spiritual Education Center.

“Call yourself what you may, at the end of the day, when you put all the titles and all the skirmishes away; that we all share one thing: that is our humanity.”

A sold-out crowd of more than 200 people attended to fundraising dinner. Photo: Jennifer Halsall

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PAGE 10 • www.OttawaStar.com

Canada

Ottawa Star • March 1, 2015

Six Quebecers left country in January and may have joined jihad groups The Canadian Press

M

ONTREAL—Reports claiming six young Quebecers left the country in mid-January and may have joined jihadist groups in the Middle East prompted a call from public safety officials urging families to contact authorities if they suspect relatives have been radicalized.

Montreal police and other authorities are offering little information about the reports—which first appeared in Montreal La Presse on Feb 26—that four men and two women from the Montreal area fled Canada to fight with jihadists in Syria.

Federal Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney would not discuss the case specifically, adding only that the reports highlight the need for the Conservatives’ controversial anti-terror legislation to be passed.

Blaney says the bill would provide police more tools to stop radicalization and help tackle the issue of high-risk travellers.

A well-placed source confirmed that six young men and women between 18 and 20 years old from the Montreal

area all left around mid-January and landed in Turkey, which is a well-known gateway to the battlefield of Syria and Iraq where jihadist groups are involved in a civil war.

Montreal Police would only confirm the force is investigating several cases of missing adults.

The source added that four of the missing people lived in Montreal and that the parents or relatives of all four individuals contacted police independently to alert them about the disappearances.

The source said it is still unclear if the six missing knew each other and all left together.

Two of the missing lived in Laval, just north of Montreal. Laval police confirmed they received a report for one of the missing people, but the case has been handed off to the RCMP. Brigitte Desjardins, spokeswoman for College Maisonneuve, a junior college in the city’s east end, said three of the six went to the school.

She said she cannot know for sure if the students are in Syria, but confirmed after learning their names that they were enrolled for the fall semester.

Desjardins also said the school has suspended its contract with a Muslim organization run by Adil Charkaoui, a man well-known to police and the country’s security establishment. Later Thursday, a second junior college, College de Rosemont, also suspended its ties with the group.

Charkaoui’s association rented space from the school for weekend courses.

Charkaoui was arrested under Canada’s security certificate system in 2003. Canada’s police and security departments alleged he was a terrorist and had trained at a militant camp in Afghanistan.

For nine years Charkaoui’s movements were monitored by the state but he was never charged.

A court lifted the restrictions on Charkaoui in 2009.

Desjardins said that her research on Charkaoui had revealed information “that gives us doubt to the compatibility of the activities of this organization with our college’s values.’’

Desjardins did not elaborate and calls to Charkaoui and to the Islamic

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The source confirmed that one of the six missing young people attended those weekend courses for a period of time.

In Quebec City, Public Security Minister Lise Theriault said she’s not surprised by the reports, making a link between the case and radicalized individuals involved in terror attacks on Parliament Hill and in St-Jean-surRichelieu last year.

Theriault says the only response to suspected radicalization is to contact police.

Blaney said measures in the bill would help tackle the issue of high-risk travellers “Our studies clearly demonstrate in 80 per cent of the case when an individual is willing to travel for terrorist purposes, the people around are aware or informed of that situation,’’ Blaney told reporters.

“So it is important to report it to the authorities for the well-being of that individual for not being further radicalized and also for saving human lives.’’

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Ottawa Star • March 1, 2015

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 11

Citizenship Average total income of farm families oath to is projected to reach $134,931 in 2015 Queen stays law of land Continued from page 1

Continued from page 1

Court of Appeal ruling that upheld the “symbolic’’ oath.

At issue is a provision in the Citizenship Act that requires would-be citizens to swear to be “faithful and bear true allegiance to Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, her heirs and successors.’’

The challenge to the requirement was launched by Michael McAteer, Simone Topey and Dror Bar-Natan—longtime permanent residents who want to obtain citizenship but, for different reasons, do not want to pledge allegiance to the monarchy.

Informed of the Supreme Court decision that ends the battle, McAteer, 81, of Toronto, said he was disappointed but not surprised.

“It’s been a long haul,’’ said McAteer, a staunch republican who came to Canada from Ireland 51 years ago. “(But) I feel the same: If the oath stands, then I won’t take Canadian citizenship.’’

Topey, a Jamaican Rastafarian, said her religion forbids taking an oath to the Queen.

Bar-Natan, an Israeli, argued that the oath represents entrenched privilege he opposes.

The federal government maintained that taking the oath has been around since Confederation.

In September 2013, a lower court judge ruled that any charter violation caused by the oath requirement could be justified in a democratic society. The Ontario Court of Appeal affirmed that decision last year.

In its ruling, the Ontario Court of Appeal noted the Queen remains Canada’s head of state, calling the oath a “symbolic commitment to be governed as a democratic constitutional monarchy unless and until democratically changed.’’

Lawyer Peter Rosenthal said the high court refusal to hear the case doesn’t necessarily indicate an endorsement of the oath—but simply means the justices didn’t feel the case was worthy of their attention.

The irony, Rosenthal said, is that the courts have essentially said those who take the oath are free to disavow it after becoming citizens by adhering to the antimonarchist cause.

“People who find the monarchy repugnant to swear to might want to do that,’’ Rosenthal said.

Former Liberal citizenship minister Sergio Marchi told The Canadian Press in 2013 that former prime minister Jean Chretien had agreed to allow would-be citizens to pledge allegiance to Canada instead of the Queen, but got cold feet at the last minute.

Faced with the looming Quebec referendum in 1995, Chretien decided against making the change, Marchi said.

The forecast says a weaker loonie will make Canadian products more competitive and temper some price declines.

It says recent declines in fuel prices will also add to agriculture income, but the volatility in crude oil markets makes it hard to estimate the full impact.

Average total income of farm families, which includes the family’s share of net operating income from the farm and other income, is projected to reach $131,595 in 2014 and $134,931 in 2015.

The outlook says things are looking good for the near future.

“The medium-term prospects for agriculture and agri-food demand and trade are positive,’’ the department said.

“Rising global economic growth and increasing incomes in large, emerging countries will continue to spur demandside growth and Canada will continue to be an important supplier in many of these markets.’’

In livestock, the cattle and hog sectors enjoyed record prices in 2014 due to low

North American supplies. Weakening feed grain prices also contributed to higher incomes.

The department predicts that total livestock receipts will not change significantly in 2015, although cattle receipts will continue to benefit from tight markets and higher prices.

“Hog producers have seen high levels of price and income variability over the last decade and this variability is expected to continue over the near term.’’

PAGE 12 • www.OttawaStar.com

Canada

Court of Quebec stands by decision to refuse to hear case unless hijab removed

By Giuseppe Valiante, The Canadian Press

M

ONTREAL—The Court of Quebec is standing by the decision of one of its judges who refused to hear a woman’s case unless she removed her Islamic headscarf.

Court spokeswoman Annie-Claude Bergeron said on Feb 27 that despite widespread public criticism, Judge Eliana Marengo will not bow to public pressure and Feb 24th court ruling stands.

“There is really no question of letting (public) pressure change the decision,’’ Bergeron said in an interview.

Marengo told Rania El-Alloul inside a Montreal courtroom she had to remove her hijab before the court would hear her case against the province’s automobile insurance board, which had seized her vehicle.

The judge said her courtroom was a secular space and religious clothing of any kind is inappropriate.

Marengo cited Article 13 of the rules of provincial court, which reads that “any person appearing before the court must be suitably dressed.’’

The judge interpreted the rules to include religious headscarves.

“I will therefore not hear you if you are wearing a scarf on your head, just as I would not allow a person to appear before me wearing a hat or sunglasses on

his or her head, or any other garment not suitable for a court proceeding,’’ Marengo says in a recording of the proceedings.

El-Alloul refused and the judge adjourned the case to an undetermined date.

Bergeron repeated on Feb 27 that judges are masters of their courtroom and have the A hijab right to interpret the law and set the rules of the court as they see fit.

Federal and provincial politicians, law professors and civil rights groups and other community groups denounced the decision.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard in his government’s opinion, the only time people should be forced to remove an article of religious clothing is if the clothing is causing problems for “communication, identification or security.’’

“I will be very careful because the judge is sovereign in her decisions, in her courtroom,’’ Couillard told reporters on Feb 27. “I’m a little bit disturbed by this event, I must say.’’

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association said the judge’s decision was disrespectful, troubling, and a violation of El-Alloul’s fundamental right to freedom of religion.

“The courtroom has every right to be secular,’’ said Sukania Pillay, the association’s executive director. “But that doesn’t translate into telling people what they can and cannot wear in a manner that’s incompatible with their freedom of religion.’’

Lucie Lamarche, a lawyer and a spokeswoman for Quebec’s league for rights and freedoms, said there is “no judicial precedent’’ for Marengo’s decision.

“The judge has the right to enforce the decorum in the courtroom,’’ Lamarche said.

“But there is no definition of decorum.’’

She said Marengo’s decision was “extremely personal and discriminatory regarding what it means to be dressed properly in the courtroom.’’

Lamarche added that the chief justice of the Court of Quebec has the ability to remove a judge from a particular case and that El-Alloul can make that request.

Balpreet Singh, spokesman for the World Sikh Organization of Canada, said he was “stunned’’ when he heard of Marengo’s decision.

“This judge is ignoring both Canadian and Quebec law which clearly protects freedom of religion,’’ he said. “Turbans or other religious clothing doesn’t affect the secular nature of the courtroom.’’

Racism persistent despite progress: Ontario’s outgoing human rights chief Continued from page 1

“The most discouraging part of this work is the persistence of racism, particularly as it impacts black Ontarians and aboriginal people,’’ said Hall, whose 10 years as chief commissioner ends Friday.

“We see progress on issues but we need to—as a commission, as a society— be vigilant about these issues. It requires constant pushing.’’

Discrimination, Hall said, is something that can touch everyone. As examples, she cited women returning from maternity leave to find their jobs have “mysteriously’’ disappeared or those sexually harassed at work.

During her tenure, the former councillor and three-year mayor of Toronto has overseen a huge internal change— the splitting of the commission in 2008 into a tribunal that deals with individual complaints and the commission, which focuses on systemic and policy issues related to discrimination. The split made sense, Hall, 68, told The Canadian Press.

“If we have to change society...on the basis of one individual complaint after the

other, it would take many lifetimes,’’ she said.

“Most people who care about the kind of society we live in aren’t prepared to wait that long.’’

Looking back over her term, Hall is particularly proud of an initiative that uncovered huge issues—including the “terrifying’’ stigma—people with mentalhealth problems were facing. Until the commission started asking questions, discrimination against them was “in the closet in the human rights system,’’ she said.

The response to the initiative was overwhelming, and helped propel Ontario into the forefront of tackling the problem. The mentally ill, she said, learned they have rights.

“We see change in people’s confidence to raise the issues,’’ Hall said.

The commission, with a budget of $5 million and a staff of about 50 people, was also instrumental in sparking improvement in the way the mentally ill are treated in the province’s jails—in particular avoiding their placement in segregation.

The transgender form another group who have benefited recently from

a commission that pushed for changes in the human rights code to ensure their protection, Hall said.

They were, she said, among the most marginalized and most subject to violence— often unknown to much of society.

For now, however, Hall said she is looking forward to enjoying more travel time with her husband Max, who is retiring from his position as head of the National Easter Seals charity.

Nevertheless, the couple have always played some kind of activist role and Hall, who is keenly interested in aboriginal issues, said that won’t change.

“We’re not going away,’’ she said.

The provincial government has named another commissioner—lawyer Ruth Goba—as interim head of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Hall urged her successor not to listen only to the loudest voices but to seek out the truly marginalized.

“Unless we’re able to eliminate discrimination and create a situation where all people are respected, all our lives are diminished.’’

Ottawa Star • March 1, 2015

New voter ID rules face charter challenge Groups seek Elections Act injunction

By Bruce Cheadle, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA—Two advocacy groups are asking the courts to set aside new Conservative election rules that they say will make it more difficult for thousands of Canadians to vote in this year’s federal election.

The Council of Canadians and the Canadian Federation of Students have filed evidence to support a constitutional challenge of last year’s legislation, dubbed the Fair Elections Act by the Harper government.

“The very legitimacy of the government is at issue if these rules stand, in our submission,’’ lawyer Steven Shrybman told a news conference on Feb 23.

The groups say new voter identification rules contravene Section 3 of the charter, which states everyone has the right to vote, as well as the equality provisions in the Constitution.

The office of Democratic Reform Minister Pierre Poilievre did not respond to a request for comment on the court challenge.

The Fair Elections Act was introduced last February to near-universal condemnation from electoral experts from across Canada and abroad, and the Conservatives eventually removed a number of the most contentious aspects of the bill before rushing it through the House of Commons and the Senate.

However the new rules still forbid voters from using the Elections Canada voter identification card mailed to their home as proof of residency - although some 400,000 voters used the cards for this purpose in the 2011 federal election.

The law also now sets up a more restrictive process for attesting to the identity of voters who don’t have proper identification—a process known as vouching, which allowed 120,000 additional voters to cast a ballot in 2011.

“The most fundamental right in a democratic society is the right to vote in elections that are free and fair,’’ said Gary Neal of the left-leading Council of Canadians.

Jessica McCormick of the student federation said thousands of post-secondary students looking to vote for the first time this year will be shut out by the new rules requiring ID with a local address.

With a fixed federal election date set for mid-October, time is quickly running out for the legal challenge. A court date has yet to be set to hear the case, said Shrybman.

The groups will seek a court injunction setting aside the new election rules if the case can’t be heard before Canadians go to the polls.

Shrybman noted that fewer than 10,000 votes spread across 16 close ridings were the difference between a Conservative majority and minority in the last election.

“Remember that a few hundred votes, a few dozen votes—certainly a few thousand votes—can determine the outcome of an election in any riding,’’ said Shrybman.

World

Ottawa Star • March 1, 2015

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 13

HSBC: money laundering, foreignexchange rigging and tax evasion

By Danica Kirka, The Associated Press

L

ONDON—First there was money laundering. Then foreign-exchange rigging. Now tax evasion.

HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, has endured a string of scandals and paid billions in penalties to regulators around the world. But recent revelations that its Swiss private bank helped the wealthy evade taxes are raising new questions about whether big banks like HSBC have become too vast to manage—and who should be accountable when things go wrong.

Lawmakers on the U.K. Parliament’s Treasury Committee peppered HSBC Chairman Douglas Flint and Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver on Feb 25 with questions about personal accountability amid allegations that its Swiss private bank helped wealthy clients, including as many as 1,000 Britons, evade taxes. There were times the hearing sounded as if it should be held in a confessional, framed with words like contrition, atonement, morality and shame.

Flint and Gulliver did not quite beg for forgiveness for past wrongs. But they got close.

“We are suffering from horrible reputational damage,’’ Flint acknowledged.

“A bank lives on its reputation. No bank wants to associate itself with activities behaviours or clients that would do it damage.’’

Flint and Gulliver have publicly apologized for HSBC’s conduct before, stressing that the Swiss issue was an historical one and that the bank has taken steps to ensure proper practices. HSBC has “no appetite’’ to help tax evaders, the bank said in an open letter published in national newspapers.

The scandal broke this month when reporters mined a trove of leaked documents from 2005-07 for details of 30,000 accounts at the Swiss private bank that held almost $120 billion in investments.

The information was turned over to French authorities by a former bank employee.

HSBC isn’t the first bank to be hit with allegations it helped clients avoid taxes as governments sought to boost revenue and

balance budgets ravaged by the financial crisis.

Swiss banking giants UBS and Credit Suisse have both agreed to fines in the U.S. on allegations they conspired to help Americans evade taxes. U.S. banking behemoths JP Morgan and Citigroup are being investigated by the U.S. for manipulation of foreign exchange markets, among other things.

“If you think this is just HSBC, then you are mistaken,’’ said Louise Cooper, a former Goldman Sachs stockbroker who writes the financial blog CooperCity. “HSBC is just the bank to get caught as the French whistleblower happened to work there.’’

Taxe evasion is only the most recent scandal to hit HSBC. In 2013, the bank agreed to pay U.S. authorities $1.9 billion to settle charges that its practices enabled Latin American drug cartels to launder billions of dollars. U.S. and U.K. regulators in December fined it another $618 million for failing to prevent manipulation of foreign-exchange markets.

HSBC executives acknowledge that the bank’s sheer size and rapid growth before the financial crisis led to control issues.

HSBC acquired much of its Swiss private bank when it bought Republic National Bank of New York and Safra Republic Holdings in 2009.

“The business acquired was not fully integrated into HSBC, allowing different cultures and standards to persist,’’ the bank said in a report this month. “With hindsight, it’s clear that too many small and high risk accounts were maintained and the business was stretched over more than 150 geographical markets.’’

Founded 150 years ago as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp., HSBC now has more than 6,100 offices in 73 countries. Under Gulliver’s leadership, HSBC has simplified its organizational structure and reduced its workforce by about 17 per cent to 257,000.

Its size has raised question over whether it, like other large banks, has just became too unwieldy.

Is It Time For A Second Opinion?

Britain’s Prince Charles fears there will soon be ‘very few’ Christians in Middle East

By Jill Lawless, The Associated Press

“If they’re too big to fail, they’re too big to control,’’ said Crawford Spence, a professor of accounting at Warwick Business School. “But are they too big to bludgeon into corporate responsibility?’’

On a conference call with reporters this week, Gulliver said society now holds public companies to a higher standard than other large institutions, such as the military.

He argued essentially that top executives shouldn’t be held responsible for the actions of individual employees, just as generals aren’t expected to track the actions every solider in the trenches.

He tried to backtrack from the comments during Wednesday’s testimony, but made it clear that he was taking responsibility for making it right from now on. “I’m responsible for cleaning it up,’’ he said.

The CEO was dragged into the scandal last weekend, when the Guardian reported that Gulliver himself had an account at the Swiss private bank.

Gulliver said he opened the account through a Panamanian company to protect his privacy because other executives at HSBC’s Hong Kong offices were able to see what colleagues were earning. He insisted he’s paid all his taxes and said the Panamanian structure was closed. His salary and bonuses are now public.

But top bankers may find themselves increasingly under the focus of regulators.

Writing in the Financial Times, Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England’s deputy governor for prudential regulation, outlined legislation that would increase the power to take action against senior managers who don’t take reasonable steps to avoid problems such as tax evasion.

“We do not seek to collect scalps, or to make examples of individuals,’’ he wrote.

“Success will be well-governed companies, where senior management know what is expected and run their firms responsibly.’’

LONDON—Britain’s Prince Charles says he fears there will be “very, very few’’ Christians left in the Middle East after the turmoil wracking the region. The heir to the British throne, who is on a trip to the region, told the BBC that the plight of Christians persecuted by Islamic extremists was “a most agonizing situation,’’ though it was important to remember they were just one persecuted minority among many around the world.

“But at the same time I fear that the problems in the Middle East are not going to go away immediately,’’ the prince said in a prerecorded interview with “The Sunday Hour’’ radio program. “And so there is a danger that there is going to be very, very few left.’’

He appealed for more work to build bridges between religions.

If he succeeds his mother Queen Elizabeth II as monarch, Charles will become temporal head of the Church of England and take the title “Defender of the Faith.’’

He said that although the title refers to the Anglican faith, he believed the role involved protecting others’ freedom to worship.

“It always seems to me that while at the same time being Defender of the Faith you can also be protector of faiths,’’ he said.

On Saturday the 66-year-old prince began a six-day trip to Jordan and the Gulf states.

He met Iraqi Christian refugees in Amman and will spend time with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, days after Islamic State militants released a video showing a captured Jordanian fighter pilot being burned alive.

Hundreds of people from Britain have joined militants in Syria. Charles said the number of young Britons turning to extremism was alarming—although “some aspect of this radicalization is a search for adventure and excitement at a particular age.’’

He said “The frightening part’’ was how many people became radicalized through “the extraordinary amount of crazy stuff ’’ on the Internet.

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.

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PAGE 14 • www.OttawaStar.com

World

A Canadian grant turns into a political weapon against Hillary Clinton

By Alexander Panetta, The Canadian Press

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Ottawa Star • March 1, 2015

ASHINGTON—Hillary Clinton’s political opponents are jumping upon a grant from the Canadian government and holding it aloft as evidence of her alleged conflicts of interest. At issue is a $600,000 grant to her family’s charitable foundation.

It was a donation for youth employment programs in Colombia and it didn’t cause any controversy last year when it was announced

by Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development as a contribution to the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

But it’s found new life in an American political story. An early knock against Clinton’s still-unannounced presidential bid is the notion that she’ll be in a quasi-permanent state of conflict-of-interest thanks to the almost US$2 billion pumped into the family foundation by deep-pocketed philanthropists around the world–many of whom have business concerns before the U.S. government.

Last month, U.S. media started noting all the donations by foreign governments —which had been mostly suspended while she was secretary of state but have resumed since she left government. That’s where the Canadian donation comes in.

The Wall Street Journal pointed out cash from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Australia, Germany and a certain Canadian “government agency promoting the Keystone XL pipeline.’’ Clinton had previously worked on the Keystone file as Secretary of State, and could oversee it in the future if she becomes president. Other news reports led specifically with the Canadian angle.

One example was the congressional newspaper, the Hill. Its story began: “A Canadian government agency promoting the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Bill and Hillary Clinton’s nonprofit.’’

Clinton’s opponents pummeled her with conflict-of-interest attacks when she initially ran in 2008—and that’s without her even making it out of the primaries to Hillary Clinton face the Republicans.

In anticipation that she’ll become the nominee this time, the other party is already levelling the attack against her. A Republican political action committee, America Rising, called on her to return donations from foreign governments.

“The potential conflict of interest for someone in Clinton’s position requires they return the money,’’ said the anti-Clinton group. “And the ethical lapse to accept the money in the first place calls into question Hillary Clinton’s judgment.’’

A conservative columnist in the Washington Post was scathing: “How will the American people ever be satisfied we are getting her undivided loyalty?’’ wrote Jennifer Rubin.

“Hillary, give the money back. Or don’t run.

You can’t keep the money and run.’’ Energy was one of five major priorities spelled out in a 201415 planning document for Canada’a foreignaffairs department, which sets out key objectives for the department and its $245 million budget.

The priorities listed in the latest Report on Plans and Priorities were: diversifying trade, promoting democracy and human rights, maternal health, alleviating poverty, and promoting Canada as a reliable energy source. In the 67-page document, there was one specific reference to Keystone.

The Clinton donation was announced in a press release last June 30. It was touted as part of a project to help more than 20,000 youths with job and education opportunities and 700 with internships around Cartagena, Colombia.

—With file from Bruce Cheadle in Ottawa

Lighter skinned have better job prospects in Mexico, as racial discrimination endures

By Aa-Pdo/Aks, The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY—A new study says racial and ethnic discrimination continues to be an obstacle for many in the Mexican labour market.

The Project on Ethnicity and Race in Latin America reports that the study determined lighter-skinned Mexicans with a university education are 11 per cent more likely to win a higher-paying job than their darker-skinned counterparts.

The study also finds that fair-skinned

Mexicans tend to go to school longer and enjoy more socio-economic advantages.

It says that while 65 per cent of participants identified themselves as “mestizo,’’ 74 per cent were classified as such by the interviewers.

The study included 3,000 surveys in Mexico beginning in 2008 and was made public Thursday.

It was carried out by researchers from Princeton University and Mexico’s Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology.

Ottawa Star • March 1, 2015

World

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 15

‘Jihadi John’ profile no surprise to experts who say there is no average terrorist type

By Elaine Ganley, The Associated Press

P

ARIS—The profile of “Jihadi John,’’ the university-educated Londoner whose masked face is emblematic of the grisly executions by the Islamic State group, is vastly different from that of the marginalized men who carried out terror attacks in France and Denmark. That comes as no surprise to those who work with tracking such threats, who say there is no typical terrorist.

Investigators’ jobs have become tougher than ever because of the range of terrorist profiles, and the growing number of potential suspects.

Experts cite three to four types of profiles, with some variations. But they agree that the profile of Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwait-born man in his mid20s, raised and educated in Britain, is nothing new. High-profile predecessors include the terrorists from Saudi Arabia who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York and blended easily into the American scene, neither poor nor uneducated.

Emwazi, a computer science graduate with a distinct British accent, has been identified as the man seen in IS videos, knife in hand with a kneeling hostage at his side about to be beheaded.

In contrast, Cherif and Said Kouachi, who massacred cartoonists and others in January in the newsroom of the satirical French weekly Charlie Hebdo, were born in France to Algerian parents and grew up in a working class Paris neighbourhood. Amedy Coulibaly, who killed four hostages in a Kosher grocery store, also had working class immigrant roots. The three men befriended each other via prison before the two attacks that left 20 dead, themselves included.

“It is not new, but today it is more obvious than before that we are confronted with a multiplicity of profiles,’’ said former anti-terrorism judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere who once tracked hundreds of terrorists and their sometimes global networks. “We always have a tendency to seek a single profile that does not exist.’’

With multiple profiles and often “weak signals’’ that must be detected in advance, not everyone ends up on, or stays on, the radar.

“It is evident that it is very complicated for intelligence services,’’ he said. “Afterward, we say, ‘Why didn’t we see him?’’’

Emwazi had been known to the British intelligence services since at least 2009, initially in connection with investigations into terrorism in Somalia.

Bruguiere, who retired in 2007, said he arrested hundreds of people during his years investigating terrorists, many who hopped about the globe, and interrogated about 400 of them. He said perhaps 50 of them—at large today—are “more dangerous than the Kouachis.’’

“They are on the radar, but you can’t follow them all over the planet,’’ he said.

Alain Bauer, a leading criminologist who has advised French presidents, says the problem is not about gathering information but about analyzing it.

The day after a terrorist attack, investigators are often looking through “20 pounds of files’’ that they had before and that shows that in “99 per cent of cases,’’ they might have been able to prevent the attacks if they had only understood the data they had access to, he contended.

For Bauer and others, Emwazi’s profile is practically standard fare: a terrorist who is “educated, middle class, in the middle of two cultures.’’

Bauer says two other profiles are also common. One includes working-class roots and a background as a small-time criminal, a definition that describes the Kouachi brothers and Coulibaly, as well as Mohamed Merah who killed three soldiers, a rabbi and three Jewish school children in Toulouse in 2012. Another

type, that he calls “ground zero,’’ is someone who suddenly appears out of nowhere to commit a compulsive act, like the killing of a police officer, and that by definition can neither be detected in advance nor prevented.

Alain Rodier, a one-time intelligence officer now working with the French Center for Intelligence Research, says a terrorist profile is only one minor element used to ferret out suspects and put them on the radar of security services. He contends its only real interest is at a trial.

“The profile is absolutely not the determining element’’ in tracking suspected terrorists, he said. On the ground tracking, information sharing and other methods are more valuable, he said.

The Internet has added a new layer of complexity with fast-track radicalization that even escapes the notice of families.

The process is yet to be fully understood but it is having a major impact on intelligence gathering as nations strive to keep up.

France, for example, which has moved into emergency mode since the attacks, is seeking co-operation with giants like Google, Facebook and others to eliminate terrorist propaganda from the Internet.

What is clear is that the mass of suspects imposes a selection process and “some slip through the net,’’ Rodier said.

Global gang stole $1-billion directly from the banks, instead of ripping off their customers Continued from page 1

that looked familiar to the bank workers.

Those emails infected the computer with a form of malware called Carbanak and gave the gang entry into the internal network, allowing them to mimic the actions of workers responsible for the cash transfer systems.

In a plan that smacked of a Hollywood thriller, the hackers then lurked unseen in the systems of more than 100 banks in 30 countries, according to the Kaspersky Lab report. Working in stealth for months, the group would learn how each bank operated and used that knowledge to steal up to about $10 million in each raid, a sum just small enough to go nearly undetected in the daily shuffle of money.

Their intended targets were primarily in Russia, followed by the United States, Germany, China and Ukraine, Kaspersky says. One bank lost $7.3 million when its ATMs were programmed to spew cash at certain times that henchmen would then collect, while a separate firm had $10

million taken via its online platform.

The attacks remain active after about two years of thefts.

The report did not identify the banks involved and Kaspersky is partnering with law enforcement agencies to investigate the hacking that allegedly came out of Russia, Ukraine, and other parts of Europe and China.

Just as the hacking has grown more persistent, banks say their defences have improved. Johnson of the American Bankers Association said that $10 worth of fraud is stopped for every $1 that succeeds, compared to a ratio of one-toone roughly a decade ago. The banks also insure against their computer networks being compromised and set aside capital to withstand any losses from fraud.

Yet the hacking attempts continue to evolve in ways that indicate the battle may never end.

“These exploits are going to continue,’’ Doug Johnson, senior vicepresident at the American Bankers Association said.

But this was hardly a bit of Robin Hood banditry that spared innocent account holders. Security experts say consumers still need to keep a close eye on their checking and savings, as epic computer breaches such as this theft—documented in a report —are becoming all too common.

“Customers are still at risk,’’ said Sergey Golovanov, a researcher at the Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab that released the report. “Criminals had access to all banking infrastructure, so they were able to get any data about customers.’’

Doug Johnson said there’s no evidence that any U.S. bank has been a victim of this particular breach. Still, the report found that some of the proceeds were deposited with banks in China and the United States.

The hacks detailed in the report, which was presented at a security conference in Cancun, Mexico, are the latest twist on data breaches that have struck not just banks but the health insurer Anthem and major retailers such as Target and Home Depot. And just like those thefts, experts say there are simple protections that consumers can take.

More people have become vigilant about monitoring their transactions and responding to alerts from their banks if a charge or withdrawal appears to be suspicious.

“We all look at our bank statements a hell of a lot more carefully than 20 years ago,’’ said John Gunn, vice-president of communications at VASCO Data Security, which provides authentication software for financial institutions.

There are other simple moves that individuals can do to guard their financial data, said Stu Sjouwerman, founder of the data security firm KnowBe4.

Even if it appears to be from their bank, people should never open email attachments that they didn’t request. Nor should they click on links inside emails, but instead type the name of their bank into the Web browser address bar. And they should only provide a Social Security number or account information over the phone on calls that they initiated.

“Those are the normal things you would recommend consumers to use,’’ Sjouwerman said.

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