Ottawa Star - Volume 2 Issue 7

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Ottawa Star The Voice of New Canadians www.OttawaStar.com • January 1, 2015 • Volume 2, Issue 7

Going to pot

Five things to know about New ‘Express Entry’ Immigration System

As attitudes to marijuana mellow, could legalization be next?

By Sheryl Ubelacker, The Canadian Press

By Stephanie Levitz, The Canadian Press

O

TTAWA—The Conservative government’s overhaul of Canada’s immigration system hit a milestone Jan. 1 with the launch of a new system for selecting economic immigrants.

The Express Entry program is a mostly-computerized process which uses a set of criteria to assign a ranking to those interested in immigrating to Canada under the skilled worker program, skilled trades program and Canadian Experience Class program.

Though the government has long used a points system to determine who gets to immigrate, the new program is different in that it automates the process—and it also gives a big points boost those who already have a job lined up.

People with the highest rankings will then be formally invited by the government to apply for the programs.

The long-term goal is for the system to be used as a match-making service of sorts, connecting Canadian employers with people who can fill open jobs for which no Canadians are qualified.

“Express Entry promises to be a game-changer for Canadian immigration and Canada’s economy,’’ Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said earlier this year.

Katherine Clarke-Nolan, Executive Director, Dress for Success Ottawa—an organization helping unemployed/underemployed women and women that are new to Canada with all facets of the job interview cycle. Story Page 2 Photo: Ellen O’Connor

Hundreds take Immigrant smugglers political plunge, now putting ships on despite cynicism, autopilot in what is seen politicians’ bad as dangerous new tactic reputation

By Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press

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TORONTO—Smoke it, toke it, vape it, eat it—marijuana, it seems, is going mainstream.

Once widely reviled by society at large as the demon weed, medical-grade cannabis is now available through federally licensed growers with a doctor’s prescription and even some highly respected health organizations are calling for the herb to be legalized and sold as a taxable commodity like alcohol, in government-regulated outlets.

At the same time, Canadians also appear to be softening their attitudes towards the drug.

“They see it as more normal,’’ says Lorne Bozinoff, president and CEO of Forum Research, which found in an August poll that 66 per cent of almost 1,800 respondents across the country supported either Continued on page 8

By Frances D’Emilio, The Associated Press

Continued on page 5

For Canada & World News visit Ottawa Star.com

OTTAWA—How many people would fight tooth and nail to get into a profession almost guaranteed to earn them a reputation as selfserving liars and cheats, if not outright crooks?

Lots, it turns out.

Hundreds of Canadians are fighting for the opportunity to dive into what the majority Continued on page 9

ROME—Smugglers who bring migrants to Europe by sea appear to have adopted a new, more dangerous tactic: cramming hundreds of them onto a large cargo ship, setting it on an automated course to crash into the coast, and then abandoning the helm.

It happened twice this week in the span of three days, and both

episodes could have ended in tragedy if the vessels had not been intercepted at sea.

In the latest such incident, the cargo ship Ezadeen was stopped with about 450 migrants aboard after smugglers sent it speeding toward the coast in rough seas with no one in command. Italian authorities lowered engineers and electricians onto the wave-tossed ship by Continued on page 15

PAGE 2 • www.OttawaStar.com

Community

Ottawa Star • January 1, 2015

Dress for Success Serves 1,000th Client

By Ellen O’Connor

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even seconds. It’s a miniscule amount of time, but it’s just long enough to make a first impression.

Sitting across the table from your future boss, it is how you spend those seven seconds that will determine if you make your impression a good one—will you waste it away on self-doubt or focus on putting your best self forward?

Diminishing those insecurities and enabling women to successfully enter or re-enter the workforce is what Dress for Success Ottawa has set out to accomplish through their volunteer-run programs and beautifully-organized boutique.

The non-profit organization has been helping unemployed/underemployed women and women that are new to Canada with all facets of the job interview cycle, from providing professional business attire to interview preparation and networking.

This January, they will be celebrating their fourth anniversary and 1,000th client.

“It goes beyond the clothes,” said Executive Director Katherine Clarke-Nolan.

“When we look at the clothes we see so much more—we see self-esteem, we see confidence, we see empowerment.”

Nolan, who became executive director in September, said that being able to take away those seven seconds by providing women with a wardrobe that they look and feel good in, will give them the confidence to walk in and say, ‘I can get this job. I can do well in this interview.’

Dress for Success is an international organization with more than 125 affiliates in 16 countries across the world, including 11 in Canada. Each non-profit affiliate is committed to fulfilling the overarching mission to promote financial independence through career development and job retention for economically disadvantaged women.

The Ottawa affiliate was formed by a group of seven volunteers—aptly named the Group of Seven—and has since grown to a 12-member board, three staff members and over 100 volunteers, as well as a welcoming Wellington West boutique with a full-fledged fitting room area, jewelry wall, shelves of shoes and neatly organized racks of skirts, blazers, blouses, trousers and dresses.

They serve job-ready women of all ages and walks of life that have been referred by one of the more than 50 Ottawa employment service agencies that partner with them.

The women are scheduled a one-on-one, hour-and-a-half session with a wardrobe specialist and are outfitted from top to bottom with everything from heels and pantyhose to jewellry or a complementary scarf.

All of the clothing and accessories are donated by members of the community.

Gently-used clothing and unopened items (toiletries) are always needed and can be dropped off the first Monday of the month

Heading into their fourth year, Dress for Success will serve their 1,000th client. Photo: Ellen O’Connor

The cozy Wellington West boutique outfits women from head to toe with workplace appropriate attire.

from 1 -7 p.m. Cash donations are also accepted and go toward operating costs.

“Ottawa is incredibly generous and stylish,” said Clarke-Nolan, adding that they often update their website and Facebook to notify the public of current clothing needs, such as smallest and largest sizes, sleeveless blouses and appropriate seasonal attire.

Unique to the Ottawa chapter, women can also participate in a Dress Rehearsal Program that provides clients with the opportunity to participate in mock interviews conducted by a volunteer HR professional.

If they successfully land the job, the boutique provides them with a week’s worth of business attire along with a $200

gift card from their national partner Le Chateau. Women can also participate in the Professional Women’s Group, which provides a chance for them to network during workshops on topics like financial empowerment and healthy living.

Clarke-Nolan said the clothing is just the hook. The suiting sessions at the boutique are truly an experience—and often an emotional for everyone involved—as women share stories of their struggles adjusting to life in Canada and even break down in the fitting room after being told how beautiful they look.

“My first day here was the best first day on a job ever,” said Clarke-Nolan who recounted helping a client who had just

Photo: Ellen O’Connor

emigrated from Africa and landed a job at Peoples Jewellers. “When she walked out she had all these bags in her hands and looked at me and said, ‘I feel like those women in New York!’”

To celebrate their fourth-anniversary success, they will be holding an event in early February for clients, volunteers, funders and community members with details to come in early January. Also launching in January is a 6-week program called Young Women on the Move for women aged 1830 whom are recent graduates or in their final post-secondary semester and looking to get on the right track for a successful career.

For more information on Dress for Success Ottawa visit www.dressforsuccess.org

Community

Ottawa Star • January 1, 2015

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 3

A moment of silence was held for the victims. Photo: Anaïs Lynn Voski

The book of condolences was signed by many at the vigil.

A vigil attendee holds a flag in solidarity. Photo: Anaïs Lynn Voski

Photo: Anaïs Lynn Voski

Candles burn in front of Ottawa City Hall for victims of the Peshawar school attack. Photo: Anaïs Lynn Voski

Candlelight vigil held for Peshawar victims By: Anaïs Lynn Voski

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espite the icy wind that swept through the city on the night of Thursday, Dec. 18, many gathered together at City Hall to commemorate victims of the Peshawar school attack and to show solidarity with the victims’ families.

The candlelight vigil was organized by the Pakistan High Commission and hosted dozens of families who, bundled up against the cold chill, held high flickering candles that dotted the night sky. Also in attendance was MPP Yasir Naqvi and speakers from the Canada Pakistan Association.

The Taliban-led massacre, which killed more than 130 children and nine staff at a military school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar on December 16, has horrified people around the world.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced three days of mourning, while fellow Pakistani child education activist and Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai said she was “heartbroken” by the news.

“A lot of Pakistanis living in Ottawa asked for this vigil,” said Dr. Anis-ur-

Rehman, president of the Canada Pakistan Association, adding that more than 10,000 Pakistanis live in the city and many of them wanted to show their support.

Also an area high school teacher, as well as a former student in the Pakistani district where the attacks took place, Anisur-Rehman said a lot of families came with their children despite the short notice.

“We were able to get so many people. That’s a big achievement for us.”

Along with the burning candles, some carried Pakistani flags, flowers and posters displaying prayers, photos of the victims and quotes such as “We are with you” and “Our hearts bleed for Peshawar.”

Mustafa Khalid, a vigil attendee and student at Algonquin College, moved to Ottawa from Pakistan around two years ago, and came to show his support. He said he thought the vigil was important because it showed that everyone condemns the attacks.

“The attack made me feel something I’ve never felt before,” he said with watering eyes.

“We hear news about bombs and people being killed almost every single

week, but what happened on Tuesday was just totally different. It just affected all of us so much and so differently.

When it’s about children, it’s different. I can’t explain how I felt yesterday, but it’s great to see politicians unite against these terrorists.”

Anis-ur-Rehman believes the vigil was the kind of support that the local

Pakistani community was looking for. He added that more prayers may take place in mosques around Ottawa.

The signed book of condolences, in which many wrote during the vigil on Thursday night, will be uploaded to the Canada Pakistan Association’s website.

Further updates can be found on the association’s Facebook page.

IMMIGRATION LAWYER Ayesha Kumararatne is a member in good standing of the Law Society of Upper Canada. She handles all types of immigration matters, including visitor visas, study and work permits, permanent residence and citizenship applications, and refugee claims.

To learn more about your best options for work, study and life in Canada, call now:

613-262-7415

kumararatne-law.com

Community

PAGE 4 • www.OttawaStar.com

SAW Gallery to hold exhibit on Congolese women activists

By Anaïs Lynn Voski

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hile the Democratic Republic of Congo is widely known as the so-called ‘rape capital’ of the world, the lesser known story is the effort of local grassroots women’s organizations that work on the ground to address the needs of survivors of sexual violence.

This bittersweet story is soon arriving to Ottawa first-hand, as the highly anticipated exhibit “Beauty in the Middle: Women of Congo Speak Out” is coming to SAW Gallery between January 22 – February 5, 2015.

The photo exhibit will kick off with a fundraiser for the Congolese Women’s Fund/Fonds pour les Femmes Congolaises on its opening night, in the presence of the fund’s creator, Julienne Lusenge.

In February 2014, the Nobel Women’s Initiative’s (NWI) campaign the “International Campaign to Stop Rape and Gender Violence in Conflict” trav-

elled to Congo, alongside award-winning photographer Pete Muller, to capture the story of the work that women grassroots organizations are doing on the ground.

The end result is the exhibit, which has received positive reviews since its launch in June earlier this year in London, UK. The NWI will mount the exhibit in conjunction with Ottawa-based women’s rights fund Match International and the School of Photographic Arts in Ottawa.

“We wanted the world to know the story. When survivors described conflict and suffering, they often also described a

moment when women would arrive on the scene to help and provide support.

And that’s the beauty in the middle,” said Rachel Vincent, Director of Media and Communications at NWI. The problem, however, is that resources are scarce for women who are still actively dealing with conflict and sexual violence.

The Orientale province in Eastern Congo—an area the size of Spain—currently only has one clinic that provides reproductive health care services in its provincial capital of Bunia. Some women walk up to two full days to get to the clinic.

The exhibit and the fundraiser aim to raise awareness of the grassroots women’s organizations on the ground that do a lot of work with very few resources, and who, as Vincent reminds, are there before, during, as well as after conflict.

“That’s the message of the exhibit: let’s not forget who is really meeting the daily needs of the people on the ground

Ottawa Star • January 1, 2015 and let’s ensure that those people have our support,” said Vincent.

The entry for the evening fundraiser will be $45 for people with jobs and $15 for unwaged students. All money will go to the Congolese Women’s Fund, which is a grassroots national organization that provides small amounts of funding to smaller local organizations in Congo.

“The Fund’s creator, Julienne Lusenge, will be present. She is incredible.

Without her work, a lot of women would not be getting help in the DRC,” said Vincent. Attendees will also have the opportunity to enjoy some refreshments and converse with like-minded people.

The exhibit also aims to show that women are not victims, but rather agents of change—many of whom are literally getting up from the ground to help other women.

Vincent says what struck her most during her trip to Congo in February 2014 was that women did not cry when they told own stories, however, they did cry when the others told their own stories.

“Despite all, there’s still such empathy and support for other women around them, and it’s unbelievably humbling. In these remarkably difficult circumstances, these women are strong. That stays with you.”

OCCSC holds fundraising gala

By Staff Reporter

The Ottawa Chinese Community Service Centre (OCCSC) held its annual fundraising gala at Chinatown’s Oriental Chu Shing Restaurant on Tuesday, Dec. 2. The soldout event was attended by over 300 people and featured a ten-course Chinese banquet as well as live entertainment of local and Chinese performers, a silent auction, lucky draw and a raffle all in support of the programs and services offered by OCCSC. One of Ottawa’s longest serving immigrant settlement agencies, the OCCSC will be celebrating its 40th anniversary this coming year. Originally serving only Chinese clients, the centre now serves all cultures and communities in the National Capital Region.

The gala was hosted by Lucy van Oldenbarneveld, co-anchor of CBC Ottawa news and host of Our Ottawa. Van Oldenbarneveld was joined by Shaw Quan, business development officer for In-TAC’s Employment Services division.

A number of dignitaries were present including Senator Victor Oh and Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar who gave congratulatory speeches to celebrate the successes of OCCSC, while Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi sent along official greetings as did Mayor Jim Watson, read by newly minted councillor for Somerset Ward, Catherine McKenney. McKenney

was attending her first community event since her inauguration ceremony the day before. Board of Directors President Vivian Chan and Executive Director Sharon Kan welcomed everyone and thanked them for their support.

Also in attendance were representatives from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Canada and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada, both of whom donated significant cultural items for the silent auction, as well as the full Chinatown BIA board and 18 major corporate sponsors including Scotiabank, the Bank of Montreal, Otto’s BMW/Subaru and Eastern Star Financial. The grand prize for the evening’s lucky draw was a $10,000 interlock driveway and pathway donated by Lionscape Paving.

The highlight of the gala was once again the evening’s entertainment which included a performance by OCCSC Language (LINC) Coordinator Amy Yi who sang a traditional Chinese song called Mayila and renowned Tai Chi Master Rongbing Zhang’s riveting Tai Chi presentation.

Visiting from China were musicians Jin Wang and Wei Dai who entertained the crowd with traditional Chinese instruments, the pipa and erhu.

Next up was Shiyu Zhang, artistic director of the Xinhua Chinese Dance

Seated left to right is board member Irene Zhou, OCCSC Board President Vivian Chan and Executive Director Sharon Kan. Standing left to right Senator Victor Oh, First Secretary Cao Weiguo from the Chinese Embassy, Counsellor Gao Ping from the Chinese Embassy and supporter Ren Ren Bai. Photo: Dingchang Xu

CBC news anchor Lucy van Oldenbarneveld draws the winning ticket from the Lucky Draw as Queeny Liang and co-host Shaw Quan look on. Photo: Dingchang Xu

Group of Ottawa, who performed a lovely “Rose of Xinjiang.” The final performer of the evening, Sheng Qin, had the house rocking and begging for more with his medley of popular songs. Sheng, an OCCSC volunteer, placed second in the “Ottawa Star Voice” singing competition.

The evening was a wonderful success for all who attended and for the OCCSC, providing much-needed funding to help the agency continue offering its quality Employment, Settlement, Counselling and Language Programs to immigrants and newcomers to Ottawa.

Ottawa Star • January 1, 2015

Canada

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 5

Imam wants radical recruiters of Muslim youth in Canada identified and dealt with

By Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press

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ALGARY—Reaching out to talk with Muslim youth who are at risk of being radicalized isn’t enough to stop it from happening, say parents, clerics and police.

Those leading the charge against radicalization say more has to be done to find and deal with the recruiters who convince vulnerable young people to give up their personal belongings, follow the teachings of the Islamic State and even travel overseas to fight and die on its behalf.

“There is something going on behind the scenes which is hidden. Unless we know the hand that is behind this recruitment it will be almost impossible to stop this recruitment and this radicalization,’’ says Calgary Imam Syed Soharwardy, the founder of Muslims Against Terrorism and the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada.

“I have no doubt that there are people in this country who are facilitating and funding the travel to Syria and Iraq.

Those people need to be exposed. We just blame the Internet and social media, but I think that is very shortsighted.’’

A handful of Calgary youth have already reportedly gone to the Middle East to fight for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The federal government’s annu-

al national security report said at the start of 2014, it knew of more than 130 individuals who were abroad and suspected of terror-related activities. About 30 people with Canadian connections were suspected of terror activities in Syria.

Calgary’s deputy police chief says his department has had success working with Muslim groups to find young people who are “vulnerable.’’ But Trevor Daroux agrees it is essential to find the people who are influencing those most at risk.

“There has to be concerted efforts to find and identify those who are ... trying to exploit others through radicalization.

The partnerships within the law enforcement community are really the answer to that,’’ Daroux says.

“Calgary, as well as every other city in this country and around the world, has to be very much aware that there are those individuals who will actively, face-to-face, try and radicalize those individuals.’’

Chris Boudreau, whose 22-year-old son was killed while fighting with Islamic extremists in Syria, says there has been little sharing of information by law enforcement officials with those working in the community.

Her son, Damian Clairmont, converted to Islam as a teen and reportedly died in heavy fighting in the city of

Aleppo last winter as a member of the militant group Islamic State.

Boudreau says her son was actively recruited by individuals in Calgary, so she knows they exist.

“You can be guaranteed they’re getting paid to do what they do. They’re not going to put themselves at risk— they’re just getting paid to go out and get more people and introduce them to these ideologies.’’

Both Boudreau and Soharwardy want a national inquiry to shine a light on those who are working as puppeteers behind the scenes.

Soharwardy says he was contacted by the parents of a 17-year-old boy who was prevented from going to Syria. They discovered that $5,000 had been transferred into his bank account to pay for his trip. The matter was turned over to police and that’s where it ended.

“Our very young children have gone. They are children and they have been recruited in this country to be soldiers for terrorists. This is a serious thing and the public has the right to know and the politicians have a right to know,’’ says Soharwardy.

“I’m looking for a national inquiry into the radicalization and the recruit-

ment of all Canadians—the 130 more Canadians—and we want to know who radicalized, who funded.’’

Boudreau says she understands it is difficult for police to find recruiters and to make criminal charges stick. She says a public inquiry would encourage members of the public to come forward and help with the investigation.

“I believe they should be putting a lot more resources toward that. I think they should do what they’ve done in France—relax the laws so they can hold them even if it’s on suspicion. Here they can’t even do that,’’ she says.

“They need to make it feasible and comfortable and provide the right environment for people to come forward if they have any inkling or suspicion and be allowed to go and investigate and question those people.’’

While community groups and those within the Mulsim community are reaching out to youth, the ones they are reaching are already engaged and less likely to be led astray.

Boudreau says they need to reach people like her son.

“It’s basically anybody who’s going through any transition in their lives— they’re open, they’re weak, they’re seeking purpose,’’ she says.

Five things to know about New ‘Express Entry’ Immigration System Continued from page 1

“It will revolutionize the way we attract skilled immigrants, and get them working here faster.’’

Here are five things to know about Express Entry: WHY THE CHANGE The Conservatives have sought to retool the immigration system over the last eight years to focus more on economic immigrants.

Employers have complained it takes far too long to bring in people to fill vacant jobs, while those seeking to start a new life in Canada have also complained their files languished, sometimes for years.

In part, the government has said, that’s because under the old system, applications were processed in the order they were received.

That created massive backlogs and in 2012, the government decided to wipe the slate clean, returning 280,000 applications and $130 million in fees associated with the federal skilled worker pro-

gram in order to pave the way for a new method of selecting immigrants.

HOW WILL IT WORK NOW Under the new system, the government will decide who can submit a formal application to immigrate.

As of Jan. 1, anyone with an interest in coming to Canada under an economic immigration program will have to create an online profile and register with the federal job bank, unless they already have a job offer or invitation from a provincial or territorial immigration program.

Periodically, the government will hold a draw from the available pool of profiles and invite people who meet a certain threshold to apply for permanent residency.

HOW TO GET AN INVITATION Upon completing a profile, every applicant will be assigned a score via a computer program.

The Comprehensive Ranking System formula assigns a score of out 1,200 based on four elements: core factors such

as age and education, spousal factors, skills transferability and whether or not a person already has a job offer or an invite from a provincial or territorial immigration program.

That final factor gets an applicant an additional 600 points, which automatically leads to an invitation to apply.

THE DRAWS Beginning at the end of January and somewhere between 15 and 25 times a year, the government will hold draws to select candidates for permanent residency.

The timing and number of people selected will vary so the government can take into account factors such as fluctuations in the labour market or the number of actual profiles in the pool.

Over the course of 2015 the government is aiming to admit between 172,100 and 186,700 people in the economic class of immigrants, so draws will work towards that goal.

The government will publish the date and time of each draw, the number

of candidates who will get an invitation and, if applicable, which specific immigration program will be included.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT After each draw, the government will indicate how many invitations were issued and also the lowest-ranked score it accepted.

Those who receive an invitation will have 60 days to file a formal immigration application.

Until this point, all of the selection process will have been done by computer but now a real person takes over in order to review the documentation and screen the applicant.

The government says from the moment at which a complete application is received to a final decision being made will be six months or less in 80 per cent of cases.

Later in 2015, the government plans to tweak the system further, allowing employers access to the pool of applicants to proactively search for people who might be a good fit for open jobs, provided no Canadians can be found for the position.

PAGE 6 • www.OttawaStar.com

Opinion

Ottawa Star • January 1, 2015

Being grateful for all Welcoming 2015: the blessings! a fresh start. A Editorial

new beginning!

“N

ew Year’s Day. A fresh start. A new chapter in life waiting to be written. New questions to be asked, embraced, and loved. Answers to be discovered and then lived in this transformative year of delight and self-discovery.”

—Sarah Ban Breathnach 2014 - what a great year it was!

They say, you always have two options –you can step back and live with regrets or you can step forward and grow. We choose the latter and what a difference it has made.

2014 brought us new vistas to explore, new topics to learn about, new friends to share, new events to attend, new mistakes to learn from, new challenges to overcome, new setbacks to bounce back from and new success to celebrate.

We are constantly doing something through all this; doing things we have never done before, making mistakes, falling, failing, learning, living, pushing ourselves, changing and changing our world.

Now, we have bid adieu to 2014 and have welcomed 2015the New Year that will be.

“As the year comes to an end, don’t look back at yesterday’s disappointment. Look ahead to God’s promises yet to unfold.”Buky Ojelabi.

When we say “new year,” a sense of newness, of renewal, a festive feeling, celebratory is created in us. The New Year is an opportunity to refresh our mind, reflect on our choices. Strangely it is an ending and also a beginning. Most of us spend January 1st walking down the memory lane of our lives, room by room, making up a list of work to be

done, things we need to get fixed, cracks to be patched. For a change this year, let us walk through the “rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential.” Let us see it as an opportunity to pause, relax, reflect, and start again rejuvenated with renewed energy. A dawning of a brand new chapter in our lives that shows us that it’s okay to let go of the past and start again. It is a reset button. It is an opportunity to reinvent ourselves and have the strength to keep moving forward.

This is the New Year and the birth of the new you. We can let this year pass by “coasting on cruise control”. Or we can take charge, “step out of our comfort zone, trying things we have never done before,” and make it the year that you “elevate from where you are and soar high.”

We take vows to improve, to achieve, and we set goals during this time. For me, celebrating the New Year is filled with hope, with potential, and with a child-like anticipatory excitement. It is a time of reflection-honouring what has been, what is currently happening, and what is yet to come.

As we embark on the New Year, let us remind ourselves that it is okay to take risk, make mistakes than to play it safe. Let us see it as a chance to forgive, to do better, to do more, to give more, to love more and to stop worrying about ‘what if ’ and start embracing what would be.

From all of us here at The Ottawa Star we wish you and your family a very Happy New Year and a wonderful year ahead!

Editorial by Sangeetha Arya

Ottawa Star 303 Moodie Dr, Suite 400, Ottawa, ON K2H 9R4 • 613.627.3869

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

By Sangeetha Arya

“F

or today and its blessings, I owe the world an attitude of gratitude.”

—Clarence E. Hodges

Gratitude unleashes the fullness of our life and turns what little we have into bountiful. It transforms a meal into a feast, a house into a home, the mundane into the extraordinary, a stranger into a close friend, and a dull and drab living into a vibrant and colourful existence.

Being grateful is to be thankful; to count one’s blessings by being positive, appreciating even the little delights, acknowledging the gifts bestowed on us, savouring the beauty of nature that surrounds us.

It is inculcating an attitude whereby every day is a blessing.

It is learning to live as if our life were a miracle, of seeing the good in all the things, of not whining and complaining, instead, being aware every step of the way of how much we have been given.

Gratitude is transformative in how it shifts our focus from seeing what we do not have to what we have and what we can do and achieve with it. Gratitude as a feeling enables us to relish, enjoy, savor and relive our happy experiences again and again.

Thus enabling us to effectively combat and cope with stress and traumatic situations.

Research has shown time and again that being thankful rewards us with host of health benefits: improved immune systems, feeling of connectedness and belonging, higher self-

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

confidence and self-worth and greater success as a team player. Happy and optimistic people live up to 10 years longer and have a 77% lower risk of heart disease than people who are unhappy and pessimistic.

Grateful people are “happier, more energetic, more hopeful, more helpful, more empathic, more spiritual, more forgiving, and less materialistic.

They are also less likely to be depressed, anxious, lonely, envious, neurotic, or sick.”

We need to learn to express and articulate our feelings of gratitude directly to people. We take saying thank you for granted. We need to make it a habit to tell people ‘thank you.’ A habit of truly appreciating those around us, to express our appreciation sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return.

When we partake in caring acts we build social bonds, strengthen existing relationships, and nurture new relationships. Everyone loves a

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

good and honest appreciation: a hug, a pat, and thumbs up to acknowledge their work.

I truly believe that people who are grateful not only seek out more success; they draw success into their lives. Being grateful is contagious. When you are grateful, others like to be around you because you create a very positive vibe. Your appreciation includes and supports them. You help them feel good about themselves and see the positive elements inherent in daily life, and to feel more hopeful about the possibility of future success.

Gratitude feels wonderful, too. It is like a warm, soothing, emotional light, shining within you which banishes and drives away greed, bitterness, selfishness, jealousy, envy, meanness —all the most limiting and corrosive emotions.

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

—Marcel Proust

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

Ottawa Star • January 1, 2015

Opinion

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 7

New hospital funding model a leap of faith

By Karen Palmer and Gordon Guyatt

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URNABY, BC, and HAMILTON, ON, Troy Media—Most Canadians probably don’t realize that healthcare in Canada is quietly undergoing a major transformation in funding that could significantly impact patients.

Three provinces—Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia—are implementing a new funding model for hospitals and other provinces are watching with interest.

Canadian hospitals have been traditionally funded through annual lump sum payments—global budgets—meant to pay for all care each institution delivers. The good thing about global budgets is that they are predictable, stable and administratively simple. The problem with global budgets, critics argue, is they lack incentives to boost efficiency, are not transparent and funding is not targeted to priority areas.

Enter activity-based funding (ABF).

Under ABF, hospitals receive a pre-determined fee for each episode of care, intended to fund the bundle of services provided to each patient with a particular diagnosis, regardless of the actual costs for any particular patient. The fee is expected to account for the anticipated complexity, type, volume and intensity of care ordinarily provided to clinically similar patients.

ABF has captured the imagination of some policy-makers as an alternative to global budgets. But is ABF the best way to fund hospitals in Canada? And how will it affect patients?

We recently published a systematic review summarizing the global evidence on ABF from the last 30 years. We found that, despite its long history, the impact of ABF remains uncertain. Canada should tread cautiously.

High quality systematic reviews are the gold standard in appraising benefits and harms of health interventions. We screened 16,565 studies looking for those that assessed how ABF affected patients and healthcare systems compared to other funding mechanisms. Results of our review suggest that ABF is associated with a 24 per cent relative increase in patients discharged from hospital to post-acute care services. We also saw possible increases in readmission to hospital.

Shortening hospital stays is a worthwhile policy objective and may promote patient well-being. After all, most people prefer being home to being in hospital. But patients might require readmission to hospital if discharged too soon. Almost certainly, many will need some level of post-acute care after being discharged from hospital “sicker and quicker.”

There’s the rub. Although Canada has publicly-funded hospital and physician

care, funding for home care, rehabilitation care or other forms of post-acute care in the community is a mixed public-private enterprise. Increased pressure on postacute care capacity in communities could seriously undermine equitable access in Canada, unless accompanied by substantial increases in public funding.

Our study results also found a possible increase in severity of illness among patients admitted to hospital using ABF. Does this mean that patients were sicker going into hospital? Maybe or maybe not.

Since ABF tends to adjust hospital compensation for severity of illness, there is a financial incentive to code patients so that they appear as sick as possible—a practice known as ‘upcoding.’ Upcoding may be appropriate if it legitimately represents more accurate patient classification, but it may also be inappropriate if the intent is only to maximize hospital reimbursement. Either way, upcoding is likely to undermine at least one ABF policy objective: controlling costs.

We found no consistent increase or decrease in patient death rates with ABF nor in the volume of care provided to patients, such as how much care they received in hospital or the number of patients treated, though results varied widely across studies.

The inconsistency of results across studies for most outcomes suggests there

How to create an affordable prescription drug plan

By Steve Morgan

V

ANCOUVER, BC, Troy Media— The Liberal government of New Brunswick appears to be stepping back from the brink of mandatory prescription drug insurance. And so they should.

The Conservatives had pitched the drug plan as a better model than “catastrophic” drug coverage under which people would only receive public subsidies for prescription drug costs exceeding a given percentage of their household income. In a report published this month by the Institute for Research on Public Policy, my colleagues and I explain why such income-based drug benefits programs are not good for seniors or for the economy. That part the Conservatives got right.

But the drug plan chosen by the Conservatives was designed on a false premise: that the private sector can better manage things than government can.

In many sectors, that might be true, but not in healthcare, and certainly not with

respect to purchasing prescription drugs on the world market.

The Conservatives designed their drug plan to maximize the number of New Brunswickers covered by private insurers. To do this, they required employers to offer such coverage to employees or face penalties if they didn’t. Perhaps to remove the temptation of using a more efficient government program, they also and made the premiums for the public drug plan staggeringly expensive.

To participate in this program, most New Brunswick households would have faced monthly premiums representing about 3 per cent or more of household incomes. And that is on top of taxes they would still have to pay to subsidize the cost of medicines for lower-income families – not to mention taxes paid for private drug coverage for public sector employees.

Couples with a gross income of $50,000, for example, would pay $2,800 per year in premiums under the compulsory program. That’s more than 5 per cent of household income! And they

would still have to pay up to $30 per prescription under the program – which for many would still represent a barrier to filling prescriptions.

The problem with this is not that people shouldn’t contribute in proportion to their incomes toward prescription drug needs in the province. The problem is that a well-run, single-payer government program could cover all New Brunswickers at much lower cost.

In our report, we make the case that any system having multiple payers involved in drug coverage will unnecessarily increase administrative costs and reduce the purchasing power of government drug plans. This costs everybody more than the system ought to cost.

Currently, the government of New Brunswick pays for $208 million of the $746 million in prescription drugs that New Brunswickers use outside of hospitals every year. The government’s 28 per cent share of the market gives them very little power to influences prices, prescribing patterns, and the use of cost-saving generic drugs.

may be contexts in which ABF is more— or les—likely to harm. The question arises: under what circumstances does ABF lead to better or worse outcomes? Does it have to do with specific attributes of how ABF is implemented? Or particular features of a healthcare system? Unfortunately, no credible explanations for the differences emerged from the evidence.

So, is ABF a good idea for Canadian hospitals? It depends partly on what we hope to achieve, but also on what risks we are willing to take. Governments may not get the benefits they expect with ABF (though they might), and there may be adverse consequences for which they are unprepared (though there might not be).

A few things seem likely: Governments considering ABF should plan for a probable increase in demand for post-acute care services following hospitalization, be aware of the large uncertainty around impacts on other critical outcomes, and be prepared to monitor and evaluate the impact of ABF. Implementing ABF in Canadian hospitals remains a leap of faith.

Karen Palmer is an expert advisor with EvidenceNetwork.ca and Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University. Gordon Guyatt is a Distinguished Professor at McMaster University.

Article courtesy www.troymedia.com

But if the government of New Brunswick became a single-payer for pharmaceuticals by financing all medicallynecessary prescription drugs through a universal drug plan, it could use its bulk purchasing power to lower costs quite dramatically. Experience in other comparable countries suggests it could lower drug costs by 25 per cent to 40 per cent.

This means that a well-run government program could cover the entire province at costs to taxpayers that are far lower than the premiums under the Conservative’s drug plan. Moreover, employers would no longer be on the hook for the cost of coverage to their employees.

The private sector can do many things exceptionally well. Managing prescription drug benefits in the context of Canada’s otherwise public healthcare system is not one of them.

New Brunswickers deserve better.

With government acting as the single payer and system manager, taxpayers and companies would save hundreds of millions of dollars every year while New Brunswick patients would be assured access to the medicines they need.

Steve Morgan is an expert advisor with EvidenceNetwork.ca and professor and Director of the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research at the University of British Columbia.

Article courtesy www.troymedia.com

PAGE 8 • www.OttawaStar.com

Canada

Ottawa Star • January 1, 2015

Going to pot: As attitudes to marijuana mellow, could legalization be next?

Continued from page 1

complete legalization or decriminalization for possession of small amounts.

Just 16 per cent wanted the laws left unchanged, while 14 per cent champion the notion of stiffer penalties.

“We don’t get numbers like that in polling, where two-thirds of Canadians agree on the same thing,’’ says Bozinoff.

“In any event, a huge, huge majority of people—excluding the prime minister—are OK with either the legalization with taxation or decriminalization of marijuana,’’ he says, referring to the Harper government’s tough-on-drugs stance.

“So that’s where the country’s moved to, and this is a good social barometer of where the country’s at.’’

Some health groups have also shifted their attitude towards cannabis, although their reasons are more about protecting Canadians’ health.

Early this year, the chief medical officers of health for B.C., Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia called on Ottawa to rethink its marijuana control strategy, including considering regulation and taxation.

“There is clear evidence to demonstrate that the so-called war on drugs has not achieved its stated objectives of reducing rates of drug use or drug availability,’’ said B.C.’s Dr. Perry Kendall.

“There are alternative approaches that have proved more effective in protecting public heath while not enriching organized crime and driving gang violence.’’

The Canadian Public Health Association echoed that sentiment in its own policy statement, saying “Canada needs a public health approach to managing illegal psychoactive substances that de-emphasizes criminalization and stigma in favour of evidence-based strategies to reduce harm.’’

In October, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) threw its support behind legalization, saying a few select strains of marijuana should be sold like beer, wine and spirits in outlets like the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, with strict age limits to prevent its purchase by minors.

A canabis plant. Early this year, the chief medical officers of health for B.C., Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia called on Ottawa to rethink its marijuana control strategy, including considering regulation and taxation. Photo: Wikiepedia

“We are actually not favourable to what has been happening in Colorado and Washington,’’ said Jurgen Rehm, director of social and epidemiological research at CAMH, referring to the first two U.S. states to legalize weed (Alaska, Oregon and Washington, D.C., recently followed suit.)

In Colorado, for instance, pot is sold in stores with few restrictions and even advertised on TV, said Rehm, likening the state’s wide-open legalization to the Wild West.

CAMH wants to see only a few varieties sold in regulated outlets, and only those that contain moderate levels of THC, the main psychoactive substance in grass, said Rehm, noting that the drug carries a number of dangers, including fatalities when stoned drivers get behind the wheel and the risk of developing dependence.

“Let’s do it correct from the beginning. Let’s not say this is a harmless drug, nothing will ever happen. No, it is a drug, it has consequences. They may be less than with alcohol, but it’s still a pretty severe consequence.’’

Marc Emery, the self-styled “Prince of Pot’’ who returned to Canada in August after more than four years serving a U.S. prison sentence for selling cannabis seeds to

Americans, says the city he calls home offers a good model for the rest of the country.

“Vancouver right now is closest to how legalization would look in many ways than any of the legal jurisdictions like Washington State or Colorado or even Alaska and Oregon,’’ he says.

“The reason I say that is because we have very little crime related to marijuana use, and yet we have over 60 dispensaries now selling marijuana and most of them sell 10 to 20 different varieties, and it’s priced cheaper in Vancouver than any other place in the western hemisphere.’’

In Vancouver, a gram of weed sells for $5 on average; next-door in Washington state, the same quantity goes for $28 in government licensed stores, says Emery, whose Cannabis Culture store sells potrelated products but not cannabis itself.

While marijuana remains illegal, he says there seems to be a detente with Vancouver police, who tend to look the other way when it comes to simple possession.

“The results are in - there’s very little social negative byproduct as a rule of this proliferating marijuana market. It attracts nice tourists, it attracts people from the rest of the province, it provides a lot of cash to the neighbourhoods and ev-

erybody’s very well-behaved because no one wants to rock that boat.’’

Politically, the normalization of marijuana was also given a boost last year when federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau came out in favour of legalization, a position met with a flurry of attacks by the Harper government, which has remained steadfast in its opposition to softening the law.

While the New Democrats want to see decriminalization, Justice Minister Peter MacKay has said his Conservative government is considering stricter enforcement of marijuana laws, including possibly making possession of small quantities of dope a ticketing offence.

The pollster Bozinoff believes the Tories are out of step on the issue.

“I think they thought they had caught Justin Trudeau in a gotcha moment. They made a big deal over the whole marijuana thing, and no one cared, as the numbers showed.’’

Indeed, the government’s change in medical marijuana regulations, which designates licensed producers to supply the drug via a doctor’s prescription, has also bolstered the argument for legalization because proponents can point to a specific example of Canadians who’ve been given legal access, he says.

“When something is allowed for one small group, the taboo is broken. It’s allowed and it’s no big deal. The world didn’t end.’’

Rehm also believes the change in how medicinal pot is supplied has opened a “sort of side door’’ to legalization, which he predicts could occur as early as next year if the Liberals win the federal election slated for October.

“If you legalize it or you don’t legalize it, it will be even wider used,’’ he says. “Right now, we already have 42 per cent of all Ontarians below 30 using it. If you look at lifetime prevalence, it’s in the 70s (per cent).

“This is a normalized behaviour. It may be officially prohibited, but it is what most young people at some point in their lives have experienced and this is to some point irreversible.’’

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

6594 Fourth Line, North Gower

613-489-2278

Ottawa Star • January 1, 2015

Canada

Hundreds take political plunge, despite cynicism, politicians’ bad reputation Continued from page 1

of their fellow citizens appear to consider a cess pool: politics.

Many are giving up successful careers to carry the flags of their preferred political parties in 338 ridings across the country in next year’s federal election.

Some fought long, hard nomination battles for the right to have their names on the ballot; hundreds more are still in the process of nomination contests.

And that’s the easy part. Once nominated, they’ll spend the next 10 months fending off attacks from their political rivals and slogging door to door in their ridings, where they’ll have to defend their choice of party and profession to cynical voters.

Do they need their heads examined?

Good question, laughs Jane Philpott, a family doctor who is running for the Liberals in the Toronto-area riding of Markham-Stouffville.

Polls suggest “family doctors are usually almost at the very top’’ of the most respected professions in Canada, she notes. So, “to go from that to being a politician as the least respected might make one think I’m crazy.’’

A recent poll by The Gandalf Group for Ryerson University suggests only 13 per cent of Canadians trusted politicians to behave ethically, slightly ahead of lobbyists. By contrast, 78 per cent deemed doctors to be trustworthy.

The online survey of 1039 people painted a grim picture of how Canadians view politicians: self-serving individuals in politics for personal gain, who use taxpayers’ money to help their friends and who routinely lie, break promises and cheat on their expense claims.

Almost 30 per cent of respondents said politicians frequently take bribes. And 63 per cent felt politics corrupts honest people.

The survey was conducted between Oct. 17 and 22; the polling industry’s professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error as they are not a random sample and therefore are not necessarily representative of the whole population.

Far from dissuading good people from running, cynicism about politics seems to be a motivating factor for some of the freshly-minted candidates interviewed recently by The Canadian Press.

“It’s quite frankly part of the reason why I decided to go into politics,’’ says Rachel Bendayan, a 34-year-old lawyer running for the Liberals in Montreal’s Outremont, where she’s taking on the daunting task of trying to defeat NDP Leader Tom Mulcair.

“I would like to change that. I think we need to rebuild our confidence in our representatives at all levels of government. I think we need to give back some of the respect, esteem, importance to public service.’’

Erin Weir, a labour economist running for the NDP in Regina-Lewvan, says “the onus is really on those of us who are seeking elected office to change that (cynical) perception and to demonstrate that these democratic institutions can actually serve good purposes.’’

While Canadians profess cynicism and suspicion about politicians generally, some candidates have found they don’t seem to see individual politicians in the same light.

“Once I meet them face to face, they’re quite supportive. It’s quite encouraging,’’ says Tim Laidler, a 29-year-old military veteran running for the Conservatives in British Columbia’s Port Moody-Coquitlam.

As a social studies teacher, Janis Irwin, who is running for the NDP in the newly-created Edmonton-Griesbach riding,

says it’s “a dagger through the heart’’ when constituents tell her they can’t be bothered to vote because all politicians are the same.

But like Laidler, she’s finding she can “counter that, at least at the local level, by proving that I am there for the right reasons.’’

The reasons candidates offer for taking the plunge into politics would likely strike even the most cynical voters as “the right reasons:’’ giving back to the community, pursuing particular policy objectives, making life better for Canadians, making their city or town’s voice heard at the national level.

At 60, Richard Cannings is at an age when most are thinking about retirement or, at least, slowing down. But the biologist, ecologist and bird expert is running for the NDP in B.C.’s South Okanagan-West Kootenay because he’s worried about the environment and what he sees as the Harper government’s muzzling of federal scientists.

“I would really like to play a role in turning that around,’’ he says.

Arif Virani, a 43-year-old lawyer, former United Nations war crimes prosecutor and human rights activist, arrived in Canada as an infant refugee when his parents fled the brutal regime of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. He’s running for the Liberals in Toronto’s Parkdale-High Park in part because he wants to “give back to the country’’ that took his family in.

For Laidler, his military experience in war-torn, poverty-stricken Afghanistan convinced him that economic prosperity is crucial to a country’s success. He chose to run for the Conservatives because of their economic track record and what he saw as their traditional support for the military.

Harjit Singh Sajjan was similarly motivated to run by his military experience, albeit for the Liberals in Vancouver South.

An estimated 176 people turned away from Canada after Ebola related travel ban

By Stephanie Levitz, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA—Newly-released figures show an estimated 176 people were turned away from Canada after the imposition of a partial travel ban from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa.

The federal government put the controversial measures in place at the end of October, barring people from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone from receiving visas to come to Canada.

At the same time, the government announced it would also stop processing visa and visitor applications in the queue.

In newly-published information, the

immigration department says an estimated 176 applications have been affected, resulting in a return of approximately $20,000 in fees.

The World Health Organization had asked countries not to close their borders due to the Ebola outbreak and Canada’s move drew widespread condemnation.

But the government said the ban was only partial as it did not apply to Canadians coming from the affected region nor people who already had visas, and thus did not contravene international health regulations.

According to the most-recently available data from Statistics Canada, 904 people

from the three countries came to Canada between January and October of this year.

The applications returned were for temporary resident visas and work and study permits, with the majority coming from Guinea.

The latest data from the WHO says there have been nearly 20,000 reported cases of the virus since the outbreak began last year and 7,588 reported deaths.

There are currently 37 Canadian Armed Forces doctors, medics, nurses and support staff working at a British-run Ebola treatment clinic in Sierra Leone.

Canada is also running two mobile laboratories in that country.

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 9 He’s a former Vancouver cop who worked in the organized crime and gangs unit, a much-decorated military veteran and first Canadian Sikh to command a regiment.

One of his medals was awarded for his work reducing the influence of the Taliban in Afghanistan. That experience, combined with his police work, convinced him of the need to figure out the root causes of crime and extremism so that a focus can be put on prevention, particularly among kids.

It also persuaded him that Stephen Harper’s aversion to “committing sociology,’’ as the prime minister has dismissively referred to interest in root causes, is “not only simplistic nonsense, it’s dangerous.’’

Whether or not one agrees with their views, it’s hard to deny the strong strain of idealism running through the 2015 crop of candidates.

“I think the drivers that made me want to be a family doctor are the same drivers that made me want to be a politician,’’ says the Liberals’ Philpott. “You know, it’s about helping improve people’s lives.’’

Small minority of Canada’s condos for rent are foreign owned, CMHC survey finds

By The Canadian Press

OTTAWA—Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says only a small minority of the condos for rent in most major urban areas have foreign owners, although some neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal are higher.

The CMHC says its first survey of foreign ownership of condos for rent found a wide range within the 11 major markets that were tracked, from a high of 2.4 per cent in Toronto and 2.3 per cent in Vancouver to a low of only one-tenth of a percentage point in several cities.

The survey suggests, however, that certain areas of Montreal had Canada’s highest concentration of rental condos under foreign ownership—at 6.9 per cent.

Parts of Vancouver had about 5.8 per cent of rental condos under foreign ownership while in Toronto’s centre core the rate was about 4.3 per cent.

CMHC cautioned that some of the survey’s findings for very specific areas were based on small sample sizes that reduced the reliability of the information.

Foreign ownership of real estate in Canada and the Vancouver market in particular has been widely speculated about, however there has been little data.

Continued on page 10

PAGE 10 • www.OttawaStar.com

Canada

Ottawa Star • January 1, 2015

Halifax wants to extend municipal voting rights to permanent residents

By Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press

H

ALIFAX—The mayor of Halifax says he wants his city to become one of the first in Canada to grant permanent residents the right to vote in municipal elections.

Mike Savage says the proposal, which requires provincial approval, is aimed at making the region more welcoming for immigrants.

“We need more immigrants because they come to our country and they create wealth, they create jobs for themselves and for others as well,’’ says Savage, a former Liberal MP whose father John was premier of Nova Scotia between 1993 and 1997.

“From what we’ve heard from immigrants, it’s indisputable that they would consider this something of value and part or being welcomed here.’’

Permanent residents are immigrants who are not Canadian citizens, but they have been given permission to stay and work in Canada for as long as they want.

They have all of the rights of citizens and can take advantage of social programs, but they can’t vote, seek public office, obtain a Canadian passport or hold jobs that require a security clearance.

A permanent resident must also live in Canada for two out of every five years and they have the option of applying for citizenship, though that process can take several years to complete.

Savage says the 14,000 permanent residents in the Halifax region should not be kept from voting while they’re waiting for their citizenship to come through.

“At the municipal level, these folks are doing everything to build a community that Canadians who have been here for generations are doing,’’ he says.

“These people are here for years and years and can’t participate in the democratic process, yet they can serve in the armed forces and pay taxes.’’

Other Canadian cities, including Toronto, Saint John, N.B., and Kitchener, Ont., have expressed an interest in extending voting rights, and a study presented to Halifax’s regional council says the practice is allowed in a number of places in New Zealand, Chile, Japan and the United States.

However, some municipal politicians have said they have reservations about a move that they say could devalue citizenship.

Stephen Adams was the only member of Halifax regional council to vote against Savage’s proposal earlier this month.

He says some of his constituents have said it’s only fair that they, as immigrants, had to wait for their citizenship before they could vote.

“I think citizenship is something not to be taken lightly,’’ says Adams. “It’s a privilege to live in this country. You have to go that extra step and become a citizen to illustrate your commitment.’’

As well, Adams says he doesn’t buy Savage’s suggestion that extending municipal voting rights will encourage immigrants to settle in Halifax.

“The fact that they could vote in a municipal election in Halifax once every four years will not make or break their decision to come here,’’ he says. “That argument is weak at the very best.’’

Besides, permanent residents can always get involved in the decision-making process by attending council meetings and public hearings, Adams says.

Caroline Andrew, director of the Centre on Governance at the University of Ottawa, says banning permanent residents from voting in municipal elections is a bad idea.

“It makes people non-involved and therefore apathetic,’’ she says.

More importantly, Andrews says permanent residents are doubly penalized because politicians tend to avoid areas where there is low voter turnout.

“So, you can express your opinions, but if nobody comes and hears your opinion, you are denied that possibility,’’ she says. “What we’re doing is making people passive for a certain period of time, when they could be involved.’’

Nova Scotia’s municipal affairs minister, Mark Furey, says the government is keenly aware it must do something to increase immigration.

In February, the province received a report that concluded Nova Scotia is doomed to endure an extended period of decline unless it reverses downward population trends and eliminates suspicious attitudes towards businesses and immigrants.

“If this (Halifax) initiative was to enhance those opportunities I think ... the need to support this kind of initiative is important,’’ Furey says.

Small minority of Fed government tightens voting Canada’s condos for rules for Canadians living abroad rent are foreign owned, CMHC survey finds

By The Canadian Press

Continued from page 9

Many have suggested wealthy foreign buyers have driven up home prices in Vancouver and critics have raised concerns about what that could mean for the market if those buyers decided to cash out and sell.

The foreign investor rate in the Montreal metropolitan area came in third after Toronto and Vancouver, with 1.5 per cent, followed by Victoria at 1.1 per cent.

The other cities tracked were below one per cent: Ottawa (0.7 per cent), Quebec (0.6 per cent), Saskatoon (0.3 per cent), Calgary (0.2 per cent), while Edmonton, Regina and Winnipeg were at 0.1 per cent.

CMHC says its semi-annual report on rental vacancy rates attempts to fill in some information gaps about Canada’s housing markets.

“To address this need CMHC has, for the first time, asked property managers to provide information on the total number of condominium apartment

units owned by people whose permanent residence is outside of Canada as part of its survey,’’ the federal agency said Tuesday.

The overall report found the rental apartment vacancy rate in Canada’s 35 larger centres increased to 2.8 per cent in October from 2.7 per cent in the same month last year, as the supply of new housing built for rent grew less than demand.

The average rent for twobedroom apartments in existing structures across Canada’s 35 larger centres increased 2.5 per cent between October 2013 and October 2014. The average rent for a two bedroom apartment in new and existing structures was $941 in October 2014.

The condo portion of the rental market had higher vacancy rates, ranging from a high of 3.4 per cent in Montreal to a low of 0.7 per cent in Vancouver. Average monthly rents for two-bedroom condominium apartments were highest in Toronto ($1,818) and lowest in Quebec City ($1,070).

OTTAWA—The Harper government is tightening the rules for Canadian expatriates who want to vote in federal elections.

Pierre Poilievre, the minister responsible for democratic reform, has tabled legislation that would require voters living abroad to provide proof of their identity, citizenship and past residence in Canada.

And it would allow them to vote only in the constituencies in which they last lived, putting an end to the possibility of “riding shopping.’’

The legislation, entitled the Citizen Voting Act, follows a court ruling last spring that struck down a law which stripped expats of their voting rights once they’d lived outside the country for more than five years.

The government is appealing that ruling.

But in the meantime, it is clamping down on the estimated 1.4 million expatriates who’ve regained their voting rights as a result of the ruling.

“The Citizen Voting Act will help ensure that only citizens vote,

that their votes only count in their home ridings and that they show ID to prove both,’’ Poilievre said in a written statement Dec 10.

Poilievre said the proposed new voting requirements for Canadians living abroad are the same as those required of citizens living in the country, who are now required to provide proof of identity and residence before being allowed to cast ballots.

The bill would also attempt to ensure that non-citizens - an estimated 40,000 of whom are on the national voters registry, according to Elections Canada - are not allowed to cast ballots.

It would authorize the minister of citizenship and immigration to provide the chief electoral officer with the names, gender, birthdates and addresses of non-citizens.

Elections Canada could then use that information to remove noncitizens from the voters’ list.

Ultimately, a spokesperson for Poilievre said, the government remains committed to reinstating the ban on voting for anyone who has lived outside the country for more than five years.

“Our government believes non-residents should have a di-

rect and ongoing connection to Canada and to their ridings in order to vote in federal elections,’’ said Gabrielle Mattey-Renaud.

“For over two decades, Canada’s policy has limited to five years the length of time someone can be abroad and still vote. That is fair and reasonable.’’

The five-year rule was struck down as unconstitutional last May

by Ontario Superior Court Justice Michael Penny. The charter of rights is clear that citizenship, not residence, is the fundamental requirement for voting, he ruled, adding that it’s not up to the government to determine which citizens are “worthy’’ to vote.

In a background document accompanying Dec 10th introduction of the Citizen Voting Act, the government argued that Canada is generally more generous to expatriates than other democracies.

For instance, Ireland does not allow non-residents to vote at all, non-resident New Zealanders can only vote if they’ve lived less than three years abroad, Australian non-residents less than six years and United Kingdom non-residents less than 15 years.

Ottawa Star • January 1, 2015

Canada

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 11

Homegrown terror attack on Parliament Hill named CP news story of year

By Bruce Cheadle, The Canadian Press

O

TTAWA—October 22 dawned as just another busy Wednesday morning on and around Parliament Hill.

Tourists wandered in the fall sunshine past the towering granite and bronze War Memorial, where two unarmed sentries stood ceremonial guard at the tomb of the unknown solder.

A few hundred metres north in parliament’s gothic Centre Block, the prime minister, his cabinet and hundreds of MPs gathered for their weekly national caucus meetings, in turn attracting the usual throng of news media and eager young staff members - all mingling in the marble-floored halls with passing tour groups and good-humoured Hill security.

In a matter of a few moments just after 10 a.m., a lone gunman brandishing an antiquated lever-action hunting rifle shattered the peace, order and good government of that bright autumn morning and riveted national and global attention on Canada’s capital.

Coming just two days after another suicidal attack by a man with known jihadist sympathies who ran down a Quebec soldier, the brazen Ottawa assault rattled the country.

The attack on Parliament Hill and killing of soldiers Nathan Cirillo and Patrice Vincent ignited a debate on home-grown terrorism and are the overwhelming choice as Canada’s 2014 News Story of the Year in the annual survey of the country’s newsrooms by The Canadian Press.

Almost 70 per cent of respondents—59 of 85 newsrooms—picked the events surrounding Oct. 22 as the year’s seminal news.

“Home-grown terrorism exposed our vulnerability and shook a nation’s faith in its safety and security,’’ wrote Frank De Palma, newsroom director of The Chronicle Herald newspaper in Halifax.

Kevin Usselman, news director at 660News CFFR in Calgary, said the story brought home “the realization that

the attack has yet to be made public and may never be, despite initial RCMP assurances it would be put in the public domain.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in a year-end interview with CBC, was adamant the attacks are not a result of his government’s decision to join air strikes against ISIL in Iran.

“Look, let’s be very clear on this,’’ said Harper.

“We’re not at risk from ISIL because we’re fighting them. We’re fighting them because we are at risk from them.

“This is an orgaParliament Hill’s Centre Block, scene of the attack by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau. W. Lloyd MacKenzie, via Flickr nization, along with the entire global jihadist movement they represent, that has Canada is no longer immune to events conversation. I believe we will be talking repeatedly made threats on this country.’’ taking place outside of our borders ... a about it for a long, long time.’’

That cause-and-effect argument apcoming of age kind of story.’’

Others wrestled with the choice between two very different but disturbing pears to be still a matter of live debate in the Two other deeply troubling events acts of violence. newsrooms of the country, judging by some tied for second in the annual newsroom “It really was a toss-up between the comments to The Canadian Press survey. survey: The murder of three RCMP officers by a gunman in Moncton, N.B.; and Ottawa terrorism and the Moncton RCMP “The slayings of two Canadian soldiers and ‘Canada joins combat mission the national debate over sexual harassshootings,’’ said Darryl Mills of the Prince ment sparked by allegations against radio in Iraq’ are inextricably linked, in my Albert Daily Herald in Saskatchewan. host Jian Ghomeshi and the suspension opinion,’’ wrote Margo Goodhand, edi“Both so massively un-Canadian tor of the Edmonton Journal. of two Liberal MPs by Justin Trudeau. and attacks on who we are.’’

“We cannot make a decision to go to Both those stories garnered 10 The issue of home-grown terrorist attacks appears destined to continue war without accepting there may be convotes each. sequences, both short and long-term.’’ dominating news into 2015.

Julie Carl, the deputy editor of the Added Brad Works, the managing Self-styled Canadian jihadists continWinnipeg Free Press, elected to choose ue making public threats, while the motieditor of the Journal Pioneer in Sumthe sexual harassment story for reasons vations of Ottawa gunman Michael Zehaf merside, P.E.I.: also cited by several others.

Bibeau remain a matter of some debate.

“It’s fair to say that Micheal Ze“I was torn between this and the haf Bibeau’s actions forced Canadians RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson shooting at Parliament and the Mounties’ deaths,’’ Carl wrote. to reconsider our security at home and has described Zehaf Bibeau’s “distorted “But the conversation about sexual question our place and actions in world world view’’ and said he was “driven by harassment and why women don’t report affairs. Few Canadians were not touched ideological and political motives.’’ seems to indicate a tipping point in that in some way by this story.’’

A video made by Zehaf Bibeau before

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World

Ottawa Star • January 1, 2015

Amid growing anti Islam protests, Merkel warns Germans not to be duped for far right rhetoric

By Frank Jordans, The Associated Press

B

ERLIN—Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Germans on Dec 15 not to be duped by far-right rhetoric, amid concern about the growing number of people flocking to anti-Islam demonstrations in the country.

A group calling itself Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West, or PEGIDA, has staged weekly rallies in the eastern city of Dresden that have attracted growing numbers of supporters. Some 10,000 protested in early Dec, and police said about the same number were on hand again Dec 15 night, according to a preliminary count.

Some 9,000 anti-PEGIDA activists protested early Dec march, and another 5,650 turned out at two counter-demonstrations in Dresden on Dec 15, police said.

Although PEGIDA’S organizers insist that they are protesting only against extremism and not against immigrants or Islam itself, the demonstrations have received open support from neo-Nazi groups and far-right parties, prompting concerns that antiforeigner sentiment might be on the rise again in Germany.

Angela Merkel who is the Chancellor of Germany. Photo: Wikipedia user Denniss

“There’s freedom of assembly in Germany, but there’s no place for incitement and lies about people who come to us from other countries,’’ Merkel told reporters in Berlin. “Everyone (who attends) needs to be careful that they’re not taken advantage of by the people who organize such events.’’

Opposition parties have accused Merkel’s conservative Union bloc of being too timid in its criticism of the protests up to now, suggesting that she fears losing voters to the far right.

Immigration has emerged as a contentious topic again in Germany, partly due to the recent sharp rise in asylum applications, particularly from Syrians. More than

150,000 people sought refuge in Germany during the first 11 months of the year, an increase of 40,000 compared with 2013.

Early Dec fires broke out at three empty buildings earmarked to house asylum seekers, and anti-foreigner slogans and swastikas were painted at one site in Vorra, near Nuremberg. Police said they were treating the fires as arson.

Lithuania welcomes euro but wave of emigration a painful side effect of closer ties with West

By Liudas Dapkus, The Associated Press

V

ILNIUS, Lithuania—When Antanas Zubavicius turns the light on in his run-down house, it’s the only light for miles. He is the last man in Dumbliuneliai, a once busy farmers’ village in Lithuania that has gradually been abandoned as its residents emigrated in search of better jobs.

“I’m not going anywhere. This is my land,’’ the 60-year-old says, waving at the abandoned, shuttered houses around him. “When I am gone this village is gone too.’’

Lithuania became the 19th country to adopt the euro on Thursday, hoping that membership in the European Union’s official currency will bring a rise in investment and trade. But the Baltic country’s increasing integration with richer European countries has also a pernicious side-effect: a wave of emigration that is emptying towns and causing worker shortages.

Emigration has been on the rise since 2004, when this country of 3 million people joined the EU, whose membership guarantees freedom of movement.

During the 2008-2011 financial crisis, more than 80,000 people—almost 3 per cent of the population—left every year, mainly to Germany, Britain and other richer economies to earn salaries many times higher. Experts forecast that trend to continue, or even increase.

In the field of construction, business owners complain it is impossible to keep hold of workers, even with massive annual wage increases of 10 to 20 per cent.

The problem is not confined to rural villages. Most shopping malls, restaurants and businesses in once busy urban areas are increasingly short of labour.

“There’s simply no more skilled people left here,’’ says Arvydas Avulis, CEO of Hanner, a leading real estate investor and developer that specializes in highrise construction.

A quick look at wage figures shows why. A manual worker in Lithuania can expect to earn 1.80 euros ($2.20) an hour compared with 4.30 euros ($5.24) in Spain and 8.60 euros ($10.50) in Ireland, according to the EU statistics agency.

In the more skilled sectors like computing, medicine or the services industry, where Lithuania’s educational system

produces highly qualified graduates, wage differences are even greater.

In her New Year’s speech, President Dalia Grybauskaite said accession to the euro area is “our opportunity to grow and develop as a modern European state, to set ourselves new goals and look firmly to the future.’’

Euro membership is expected to help Lithuania’s economy, even though the currency bloc is struggling to grow. Having the same currency as 18 other richer economies will facilitate commerce and reduce investment risks for foreigners. Government borrowing rates are forecast to drop by almost 1 percentage point, which would filter down to the private sector.

The problem is that Lithuania is the bloc’s poorest member and even though its economy is growing at a stronger pace than most EU countries, it has a long way to develop before it can hope to offer wages on a par with other EU states.

Unsurprisingly, most Lithuanians favour joining the euro, as it will cement the country’s ties with the West and keep those richer labour markets open to them.

In a Nov. 26 survey by Berent Research Baltic, 53 per cent of respondents

said they back euro membership, up from 47 per cent in September. Some 39 were opposed, down from 49 per cent. A total of 1,002 people were interviewed for the poll, which had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

Skeptics worry about the euro’s recent problems with government debt and economic stagnation.

Pranciskus Sliuzas, a journalist and anti-euro activist, describes joining the euro as “one of the most stupid things of all time.’’ He laments the fact that Lithuania is giving up some national powers, such as the ability to determine its interest rates or budget deficit.

For others, such economic arguments are of secondary concern to issues like national security - in particular the fear of an increasingly aggressive Russia.

Along with neighbours Latvia and Estonia, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union for almost five decades.

“I think it would be a good thing to get closer to the rest of Europe as the only other option is to become friends with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,’’ said Janina Gailiene, a retired primary school teacher in Vilnius.

Ottawa Star • January 1, 2015

World

Palestinians join International Criminal Court to press war crimes case against Israel

By Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press

T

he Palestinians took the last formal step to join the International Criminal Court, seeking to pursue war-crimes charges against Israel over the recent conflict in Gaza and Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories.

The high-stakes move has drawn threats of retaliation from Israel and is vehemently opposed by the U.S. as an obstacle to reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

After submitting the documents to join the ICC, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said the Palestinians are seeking to raise alleged crimes committed by Israel, including during last summer’s war in Gaza.

He said the Palestinians will also seek justice for Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory, which he said constitute “a war crime’’ under the Rome statute that established the court.

“This is a very significant step,’’ Mansour told reporters. “It is an option that we are seeking in order to seek justice for all the victims that have been killed by Israel, the occupying power.’’

Saudi Arabia’s energy gamble

By Livio Di Matteo

T

HUNDER BAY, ON, Troy Media—The new era of U.S. energy self-sufficiency and its impact on Middle Eastern oil producers as their market position erodes is a major international development. Yet any assumption that Saudi Arabia and its Gulf oil-producing allies would simply take America’s new energy position sitting down is misplaced.

What is Saudi Arabia up to? Economic analysis suggests that Saudi Arabia is using its dominant market share and price leadership role to reduce oil prices and take out the competition, thereby preparing the way for steep prices increase

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 13

The Palestinians moved quickly to join the court after suffering a defeat in the U.N. Security Council, which rejected a resolution Dec 28 that would have set a three-year deadline for the establishment of a Palestinian state on lands occupied by Israel.

Joining the ICC is part of a broader strategy to pressure Israel into withdrawing from the territories and agreeing to Palestinian statehood.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been under heavy domestic pressure to take stronger action against Israel after a 50day war between the Jewish state and militants in Gaza over the summer, tensions over holy sites in Jerusalem and the failure of the last round of U.S.-led peace talks. He signed the documents to join the ICC a day after the Security Council rejected the resolution.

Mansour said Palestinian leaders are studying “all options’’ including going back to the Security Council, whose incoming members are viewed as more favourable or to the General Assembly where there are no vetoes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately vowed to take unspecified “retaliatory steps.’’ The U.S. State

Department said the Palestinian decision would only set back the aspirations of the Palestinian people for an independent state.

Mansour delivered the paperwork to Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Stephen Mathias, who said the U.N. will examine them to ensure that they are in proper form.

Mansour said it will take about 60 days under ICC rules for “the state of Palestine’’ to become the 123rd member of the court.

Mansour said the Palestinians delivered a letter Jan 1 night to the registrar of the ICC in The Hague requesting that the court consider alleged crimes committed during the Gaza war “and reserving our right for other retroactive crimes committed by Israel.’’ He said he would be meeting with an official from the registrar’s office in New York later Friday to discuss the issue.

Former ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo said in an AP interview in August that the Palestinians have the right to decide that the court has jurisdiction dating back to November 2012, when the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to upgrade the Palestinians’ status from a U.N. observer to a non-voting observer state. Ocampo said there should be “no discussion’’ on that.

The General Assembly’s recognition of Palestine as an observer state made it possible for the Palestinians to join the International Criminal Court and other U.N. bodies.

Once it becomes a member, Palestine could seek to have Israeli military or political figures prosecuted for alleged crimes involving settlement construction on occupied lands or actions by the military that cause heavy civilian casualties.

“Palestine’s move to join the ICC means that individuals implicated in war crimes committed in or from Palestinian territory could be held to account,’’ said Balkees Jarrah, international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch. “Giving the court a mandate may deter the abuses that fuel animosity and make returning to peace talks more difficult - whether settlement expansion, Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza, or unlawful Hamas rocket strikes.’’

But joining the court also exposes the Palestinians themselves to charges of war crimes over rocket attacks by the extremist group Hamas on Israeli population centres and other violence against Jewish targets.

Mansour said the Palestinians aren’t afraid.

“We uphold the law so high, and we are not afraid of the judgment of the law, especially international law,’’ he said.

Mansour also delivered documents to the U.N. for Palestine to join 15 other U.N. conventions, treaties and agreements.

These include the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the Law of the Sea convention, and the convention lifting the statute of limitations for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Palestinians also seek to join conventions against transnational organized crime, and on the political rights of women, biological diversity, movement of hazardous waste and the safety of U.N. personnel.

A U.S. official warned of consequences.

“It should come as no surprise that there will be implications for this step, but we continue to review,’’ said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

down the road. If anything, taking steps now to curtail production to keep prices high would only encourage even more investment in alternate oil sources.

OPEC’s inability to reach agreement on output shares is often a traditional economics lesson on the failure of cartels to maintain long-run price stability, but such a conclusion is myopic. The reality is that Saudi Arabia, because of its large share of global oil production, can influence prices on its own in the absence of cartel action.

Saudi Arabia has again demonstrated a key characteristic of an energy superpower – the ability to use its superior market share and competitive energy producing cost structure to set prices. Contrast this with Canada, which is a price taker in international energy markets and is seeing the price of oil fall below what it needs for profitable development of its energy resources.

While the United States now imports much less oil because of its greater production, Saudi Arabia has decided not to reduce output to maintain price level but to continue their current production levels and let the excess supply bring down prices. From a price of $115 a barrel in June (all prices in U.S. dollars), prices

have dropped about 50 per cent and now sit below $60 a barrel. Even at such low prices, Saudi Arabia can still compete, as it is a low cost producer with its cost of production estimated as low as $5 to $6 a barrel. It can tolerate even lower prices than what oil is currently at.

Despite the short-term benefits to consumers of lower energy prices and its stimulating effect on China and the North American and European economies, Saudi Arabia is not specifically interested in their economic welfare. If anything, keeping prices low for a year or two would be useful in derailing conservation efforts and getting consumers addicted once again to cheap oil. Consumers have short memories and six months to a year of ultra low oil prices will encourage purchases of larger and less fuelefficient vehicles.

The political destabilization of the drop in oil revenues on competing oil producers such as Iran, Iraq, Russia and Venezuela will also further disrupt oil production and supplies, making Saudi Arabia even more important as a stable and reliable source of oil.

Finally, low oil prices allow Saudi Arabia and its Gulf oil producing allies the ability to curtail future North Ameri-

can oil production from shale oil and the oil sands. As oil prices drop, oil companies will keep producing from already active wells but future exploration and investment may dry up. Many investments decisions in places like the Alberta oil sands or the North Dakota Bakken Formation assumed prices in the $60 to $80 a barrel range. With prices below $60 a barrel, some plans may be put on hold, curtailing oil production and supplies down the road.

Saudi Arabia is trying to ensure long-term security of its oil industry at the price of a short-term revenue sacrifice designed to erode the competition.

By increasing supply now, Saudi Arabia may be paving the way for more lucrative supply curtailment and price increases several years down the road. However, the one wild card is continued technological innovation in the oil sands and shale oil industry that reduces costs and allows extraction to remain profitable – even with falling oil prices. Saudi Arabia may be making a big gamble but not responding at all to the increased competition it faces is even riskier.

Livio Di Matteo is Professor of Economics at Lakehead University. Article courtesy www.troymedia.com

World

PAGE 14 • www.OttawaStar.com

Ottawa Star • January 1, 2015

Originally billed as temporary, U.S. Cuba diplomatic freeze lasted 2,815 weeks

By Alexander Panetta, The Canadian Press

W

ASHINGTON—The suspension of American relations with Cuba was announced in a late-evening statement from the White House.

It was originally billed as short-term.

The 8:30 p.m. message from Dwight Eisenhower’s office declared that enough was enough—the United States had suffered one too many indignities from the unpredictable regime that had overrun Cuba.

The final straw was Fidel Castro’s decree that he’d only allow 11 personnel at the American embassy in Havana - the rest had 48 hours to get out of his country.

“There is a limit to what the United States in self-respect can endure,’’ said the presidential statement of Jan. 3, 1961.

“That limit has now been reached.

It is my hope and my conviction that in the not-too-distant future it will be possible for the historic friendship between us once again to find its reflection in normal relations of every sort.’’

That not-too-distant future appears to have arrived—2,815 weeks and one day later.

The president who eventually announced plans to normalize relations with Cuba wasn’t John F. Kennedy, who took office a couple of weeks after the announcement, nor eight of his successors.

It was announced Dec 17 by a president who never lived in a world with normal Cuba-U.S. relations.

“These 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked. It’s time for a new approach,’’ said President Barack Obama, who was born in August 1961.

“Today America chooses to cut loose the shackles of the past, so as to reach for a better future.’’

He noted that the U.S. has had relations for 35 years with a bigger communist country, China, and also with Vietnam - where so many Americans died fighting communism.

When the U.S. announced its Cuba suspension, it wasn’t the only country to

do so that week. So did Peru—which reestablished relations in 1972.

The Americans had grown increasingly frustrated as the Castro regime was sucked into the Soviet orbit.

A New Year’s celebration a few days before the Eisenhower announcement featured Russian military equipment being paraded through the streets of Havana.

Three Americans were arrested the day of the announcement, two of them embassy staff. They’d gone to a police station to report a robbery and wound up in an argument with the officers.

Castro accused the U.S. embassy of harboring spies and planning an invasion to overthrow him.

That unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion did occur, three months later. And Castro was once said to joke: “If surviv-

Obama’s fiercest opponent Dec 17 was the son of Cuban immigrants.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio noted that he’d grown up in the Cuban expat community and understood the Castro regime better than the president ever could.

He said the Castro regime would take advantage of the new U.S. ties to cement its own grasp on power, and he accused Obama of having thrown away U.S. leverage.

Back when the suspension was announced in 1961, it enjoyed massive support.

Newspaper editorials were nearly unanimous in backing Eisenhower, and so were the opposition Democrats: “We certainly had sufficient provocation,’’ Sen. William Fulbright told United Press International.

American views appear to have changed.

Gallup polls, for many years now, have shown American majority support for reestablishing diplomatic relations with Cuba.

The same is true in Florida—the key presidential swing state that’s home to the staunchest anti-Castro expats.

ing assassination attempts were an Olympic event, I would win the gold medal.’’

By the time of the diplomatic suspension, staff at the U.S. embassy had already been chopped by nearly half amid the tension.

Economic ties had also weakened. The Jan. 3 announcement prompted a New York Times analyst to correctly speculate that a ban on imports from Cuba would be added to the recently-announced ban on exports.

The next day, the stars-and-stripes were lowered at the U.S. embassy.

Eight-seven embassy staff, their families, and other Americans in Cuba flooded out of the country. Cubans looking to escape jammed the entrances of their ship, pleading for visas. One man waved his wartime service record for the U.S. Army, according to a report from the Associated Press.

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foreigners must be stanched, lauds contribution of immigrants The Associated Press

P

ARIS - President Francois Hollande on Dec 15 praised the contributions that immigrants have made to France and criticized those generating fear of foreigners, an apparent reference to the growing voice and influence of the far-right National Front.

In his first speech about immigration since taking office in 2012, Hollande said an immigration policy is necessary to ensure both “dignity’’ for those it welcomes, and a cap on how many can be accepted.

He bemoaned the fact that acts of anti-Semitism and racism are on the rise in France and that some fear the “disappear-

which has the highest Muslim and Jewish populations in western Europe.

The conservative UMP party of former President Nicolas Sarkozy quickly criticized Hollande’s long wait to address immigration. As president, Sarkozy made reducing immigration a major policy focus. Now trying to make a political comeback, he said in a recent speech that immigration “threatens our way of life.’’

Hollande praised Europe’s large Schengen zone of passport-free travel— which the National Front wants to do away with—but said he plans to propose adjustments to make the area—26 countries— more secure. He did not elaborate on that.

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Hollande noted that one in four French have at least one foreign ancestor.

“There are those who dream of a little France ... a France turned inward,’’ Hollande said. “We must fight against these (ideas) in the name of France.’’

Hollande spoke at the inauguration of the National Museum of the History of Immigration, which opened seven years ago but without a formal inauguration by then-President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The delay is a sign of how contentious the subject of immigration is in France,

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World

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 15

Immigrant smugglers now putting ships on autopilot in what is seen as dangerous new tactic Continued from page 1

helicopter to secure it, and the Icelandic Coast Guard towed it to the Italian port of Corigliano late Friday.

Children and pregnant women were among the migrants, most of whom were believed to be from warravaged Syria, Italian Coast Guard Cmdr. Filippo Marini said. The Sierra Leone-flagged ship apparently set sail from Turkey, he said.

Some of the migrants, most of them young men, watched wearily from the railings of the ship as they waited to disembark early Saturday. Several were wrapped in blankets against the freezing temperatures.

A large tent was set up at the dock so that the migrants could stop for food and water. Sky TG24 TV said that after their documents are checked, they will be sent to shelters. Their requests for asylum will be evaluated.

An Italian Coast Guard patrol plane had spotted the 66-meter (220foot) Ezadeen on Thursday about 90 miles east of Italy’s Calabria region and contacted it to see if it needed assistance.

“There was no crew, and one migrant, a woman, took the call,’’ Marini said. “She said: ‘We are alone. Please help us. We are in danger.’’’

Two days earlier, the Blue Sky M, a Mouldovan-flagged cargo ship carrying about 800 migrants, was similarly abandoned by smugglers who locked the ship on automatic pilot and set it on a collision course for a stretch of Italy’s southern coast, authorities said.

Despite strong winds and high waves, Coast Guard officers were lowered onto the ship’s bridge and managed to regain control of the steering about a half-hour before it was due to strike the coast, Marini said.

In the past few years, there have been increasing cases of smugglers overturning motorized dinghies or fishing boats and then speeding off in motorboats, leaving many migrants to drown. In other cases, they just fled, leaving their passengers to fend for themselves.

Marini said the latest incidents appear to represent an even more dangerous tactic.

“Certainly it’s very dangerous because a ship with no one on the command bridge is like a bomb that will strike up against the reefs,’’ he said.

It was not clear in either case if the smugglers jumped ship. Italian authorities said they were questioning passengers on the Blue Sky to see if any of the smugglers tried to pass themselves off as migrants.

More than 170,000 migrants were intercepted or needed rescue by Italian navy, coast guard and air force patrols last year.

In November, Greek authorities rescued nearly 600 migrants from a 70-meter (230-foot) cargo ship that lost engine power off the Greek island of Crete. Greek authorities arrested 19 of those on board as suspected smugglers.

Most of the passengers were Syrians fleeing war in their homeland and were believed to have been charged $2,000 to $6,000 for passage to Italy.

There was no indication the vessel had been set on a collision course. But it illustrated what authorities said appears to be another recent development.

“The use of larger cargo ships is a new trend,’’ said Vincent Cochetel, the U.N. refugee agency’s Europe bureau director.

William Spindler, a spokesman for the U.N. agency, said on BBC radio that the organization is aware of four incidents in the past two months in which cargo ships full of hundreds of migrants were abandoned by their crews off the coast of Italy.

“The money involved is huge.

People are desperate and they are willing to pay huge amounts of money for the privilege of travelling in these awful conditions and reaching Europe, where they hope to find safety and a better life,’’ Spindler said.

The International Organization for Migration’s spokesman, Joel Millman, said: “We’ve never seen over 1,000 in two days before.’’ He noted that this time the migrants all seemed to be from Syria, rather than the usual mix of nationalities from countries stricken by war or poverty.

Annalisia Camilli in Rome, Elena Becatoros in Athens, Gregory Katz and Jill Lawless in London and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.

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