Ottawa Star - Volume 1 Issue 14

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The Voice of New Canadians www.OttawaStar.com • February 1, 2014 • Volume 1, Issue 14

Crown: Older phones shouldn’t get same protection from searches as smartphones

US Latinos optimistic about future Face discrimination, economic challenges

By Stacy A. Anderson, The Associated Press

W

ASHINGTON—Latinos in America are generally optimistic about the future, despite still facing challenges such as discrimination and concerns over job security and personal finances, according to a report released Tuesday.

National Public Radio, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health polled nearly 1,500 Latino Americans on topics including education, finances, religion, health and jobs. More than half, or 52 per cent, stated no preference on being called “Latino’’ or “Hispanic.’’

By James Keller, The Canadian Press

V

ANCOUVER—Recent changes in the law requiring police to obtain search warrants before examining the contents of smartphones shouldn’t apply to older, less-advanced cellphones, a Crown lawyer told British Columbia’s highest court Tuesday.

The B.C. Court of Appeal is examining whether it was legal for the RCMP to search two BlackBerry phones seized from a suspect following a 2006 kidnapping in Richmond, near Vancouver.

Investigators didn’t get a warrant before sending the phones, which were protected by passwords, to a technical lab in Ottawa. Text messages recovered from the phones contributed to the conviction of Rajan Singh Mann, who is now appealing.

Several recent decisions, including one last year from the Supreme Court of Canada, have concluded police must treat today’s smartphones—which can hold immense amounts of emails, photos and other documents—in the same way as a computer. That would mean investigators would require a search warrant before sifting through the contents of the cellphones.

But Crown counsel Gail Banning argued those previous decisions didn’t create a blanket rule for all cellphones. In the kidnapping case, the phones were 2004- and 2005-model BlackBerry phones with lim-

Continued on page 12

Ontario: ‘Irresponsible’ of Ottawa to leave refugees without health care Sairah Amuthan at the Tamil Heritage Month event. Story Page 2 Photo: Smiles Photography

By Keith Leslie, The Canadian Press

Continued on page 10

Ottawa defends spy agency, says collection of Canadians’ data ‘incidental’

By James Keller, The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER—The federal government is defending its secretive eavesdropping agency in a lawsuit filed by a British Columbia-based civil liberties group, insisting its spying activities are legal and essential to protecting Canadians.

The government filed a statement of defence in January in a lawsuit launched by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which maintains much of the intelligencegathering activity of Communications Se-

curity Establishment Canada, or CSEC, violates the rights of Canadians.

The lawsuit comes amid heightened scrutiny of the clandestine world of international spying, particularly in the United States, where a massive leak by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden has offered an unprecedented look inside the National Security Agency.

Specifically, the association’s lawsuit objects to instances in which foreign spying sweeps up Canadians’ communications, as well as the collection of

electronic metadata. Both activities, the group claims, violate the charter rights of Canadians.

CSEC is forbidden from intentionally collecting or analyzing information from Canadian citizens, whether they are in Canada or abroad.

However, the National Defence Act allows the defence minister to give CSEC written authorization to unintentionally intercept private communications while collecting foreign intelligence.

Continued on page 9

TORONTO—Ontario is providing health care coverage for refugee claimants because the federal government abdicated its responsibility, Premier Kathleen Wynne said Jan 24, earning a quick rebuke from Ottawa.

“The reality is our health providers are going to help people anyway,’’ said Wynne.

Defending Ontario’s decision to extend health care benefits to newcomers Continued on page 9

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Community

Ottawa Star • February 1, 2014

Shiv Chopra: scientist, whistleblower, writer and food safety activist S

hiv Chopra’s name has become synonymous with food safety. He and fellow scientists have waged many battles over 4 decades against a succession of Canadian federal ministries of health and helped to protect the food supply worldwide. With support of his union, Dr Chopra and his colleagues refused to approve various harmful drugs intended for meat and milk production. He endured disciplinary actions, spoke out publicly, testified at Senate committees, and won federal court cases against Health Canada. Due to Dr. Chopra’s work, Bovine Growth Hormone was barred in Canada in 1999 and in the EU. He has spoken out on BGH, dangerous antibiotics like Revalor-H Baytril, and the true causes of mad cow disease.

Originally from India, he has lived in Canada since 1960. He is the author of numerous publications on science, society and religion. His academic qualifications include graduation in veterinary medicine and M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Micro-

biology. He is the recipient of numerous academic awards, including a Fellowship of the World Health Organization.

As a scientist Dr. Chopra’s career is checkered with numerous eminent posts in India, England and Canada. Apart from his work in science, he is a highly acclaimed leader and spokesman on a variety of social and cultural issues in Canada, and around the world. He is the recipient of many community service awards.

On the literary scene, Chopra is the author of a book of poetry, “Wondrous Virgin”; a dance drama, “In Praise of Women”; and an essay series, titled “The Hindus”. The most striking thread in all these writings is due to his unique interpretations of ancient scriptures into modern science. He is frequently described as a renaissance man for the 21st Century.

His earlier book, “FOUR.FIVE: Flood and Modern Science”, contains a comparative analysis of the Biblical book of Genesis with Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. It was published by Nova Science

Publishers, New York, in 1995. A new publication along these lines which he is currently working upon is titled: “From Bethlehem to Banaras: In the Footsteps of Jesus”.

His latest release is “Corrupt to the Core” which details a full account of how govern-

ment corruption endagers the public food supply. This book contains a blueprint for the establishment of food safety and security: Dr. Chopra’s “Five Pillars of Food Safety,” which was presented in April 2008 to the Canadian Parliament by MP (NDP) Paul Dewar.

Celebrating Tamil Heritage Month

Archanah Tharmakularajah. Photo: Smiles Photography Ellen O’Connor

T

o celebrate the end of Tamil Heritage Month, Ottawans gathered at the Walter Baker Sports Centre on January 18 to showcase their rich culture of the Tamil community and educate the public about their traditions.

Adults and children attended the event wearing traditional Thamizh

Kajanth Karendran, Yasmika Rasakumar, Shivani Seelan, Vignesh Markandu. Photo: Smiles Photography

clothing to enjoy the live music, browse literature, clothing and art, and taste some authentic dishes.

The event was organized by the Ottawa Muthathamizh Kala Mandranm, National Capital Region Tamil Association, Ottawa Tamil Sangam, Ottawa Tamil Seniors Assocation, University of Ottawa Tamil Students Union, and the Carleton University Tamil Association.

Tamil Heritage Month began in 2010 and is celebrated in many cities across Canada to honour the history and contributions of Tamils. The Tamil community in Ottawa has grown over the past decades and includes a great number of entrepreneurs, professionals and students.

January was chosen as Tamil Heritage Month because the first month of the Tamil calendar falls in the middle

of January, and it coincides with Thai Pongal, a widely-celebrated festival amongst Tamils around the world.

Held on January 14, Thai Pongal Day gives thanks for the blessings of the past year and look forward to the start of a new year. Both the Ottawa Tamil Seniors Association and the Ottawa Tamil School held Pongal celebrations.

Ottawa Star • February 1, 2014

Community

Divya Dushyanthan (vocal), Amirthan Sothivannan (harmonium), Mithun Jothiravi (Miruthangam) Photo: Ellen O’Connor

Ottawa Tamil Sangam’s Got Talent Ellen O’Connor

I

t was an afternoon of song and dance for the Ottawa Tamil Sangam as they gathered together in their finest attire on Sunday, Jan. 12 to showcase the talents of their community.

Held in the intimate Richcraft Theatre at the Shenkman Arts Centre, the Talent Show featured 30 different acts including solo and group vocal performances, short plays, instrumentalists, and modern and traditional dances all choreographed by the performers and members of the community.

Two dance troupes that performed the Bharathanatyam, a classical dance popular in the Indian province of Tamil Nadu, were the Umashivam Nruthya Academy and the Ottawa Tamil Academy of Culture and Technology Dance School.

The show was organized by the Ottawa Tamil Sangam. The association was formed in the early 1990s as a way to bring together the Tamil speaking community in the nation’s capital and keep their language and culture alive.

All of the afternoon’s performances were done in Tamil, a language spoken primarily in Tamil Nadu, India, and regions of Sri Lanka.

Many of the children learn their native tongue through a heritage language program created in 1989 by the Ottawa Board of Education, said Mythili Kalyanasundaram. Tamil language classes are run at Greenbank Public School on Saturday mornings from September to June. There are currently 155 students registered in the classes taught by ten different teachers.

The talent show is one of three large events hosted by the non-profit association; in the summer there is a community picnic and the fall program varies each year.

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 3

Community

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Ottawa Star • February 1, 2014

Carleton University’s Striving In Keeping Humanity (SIKH) holds K(no)wing Female Infanticide event Ellen O’Connor

“I

t’s a girl!” An exclamation often met with smiles, cheers and messages of congratulations. But in some parts of the world, having a baby girl is not so warmly received—in fact, it can be deadly.

Female infanticide is the deliberate killing of infant girls that occurs in patriarchal societies due to engrained cultural traditions and family strains. The unlawful practice is still happening today worldwide in countries such as India and China, and even more close to home.

On Saturday, Jan. 11, Striving In Keeping Humanity (SIKH), a non-profit student group based out of Carleton University, held K(no)w Female Infanticide. The event’s purpose was to inform the public of the different factors that lead to female infanticide incidences, such as cultural traditions, dowry and family legacy.

Held at Rooster’s Cafe at Carleton University, the group used Punjab, India as their example of a location where infanticide occurs. They shed light on the practice through skits, documentary clips, an open discussion, as well as performances by spoken word poets, Bavleen Kaur Saini and Rupi Kaur, both of whom travelled from Toronto to support the cause.

One of the largest factors discussed throughout the night was dowry. Paying a dowry before marriage is a large financial burden for impoverished families in India.

The fear of financial strain leads to acts of infanticide, as well as prenatal sex determination through ultrasound which leads to feticide - the killing of a fetus.

“Infanticide is coming [to Canada] because it’s stuck in the cultural mindset,” said Arjan Sethi, an executive member of SIKH. “In one situation you have a poor family that would maybe love to have a daughter, but they can’t financially afford it. Then if you come to places like Canada, it’s in their mind to have a son, so they screen for a son using the technology available.”

SIKH showed the crowd an online “No Dowry” campaign and encouraged people to sign it. Similar campaigns are popping up in other cities, and signatures are going to be presented to the United Nations.

Near the end of the evening, a silent auction took place during which artist Anoop-Caur, a second-year student at OCAD University, auctioned off four pieces of her artwork that reflected the theme of the night—infanticide and the need for female empowerment.

“This cause runs in my community and I’ve known about it for a long time,” she said. “It’s unfortunate that it’s seeped through to the Western world because of immigration and those same traditional

Toronto-based artist Anoop-Caur shows off her piece “My Womb Is Not A Tomb” one of four pieces auctioned off at the event with all proceeds going toward the Dr. Harsh Charitable Trust. Photo: Ellen O’Connor

notions and ideas that a boy is better than a girl has transferred here as well.”

One piece called “Harvesting Daughters” depicted a woman carrying a bundle of wheat on her head to symbolize how the Indian culture perceives girls as burdens, but instead girls often carry their family’s burdens. Another was a watercolour painting of a fetus with the statement, “My womb is not a tomb.”

The executive members of Striving In Keeping Humanity (SIKH), artist Anoop-Caur and spoken word poets Bavleen Kaur Saini and Rupi Kaur. Photo: Ellen O’Connor

All funds raised from the silent auction, as well as from purchased dinner plates, were donated to the Dr. Harsh Charitable Trust. Dr. Harshinder Kaur, president of the trust and a medical officer at the Rajindra Hospital in Patiala, Punjab, started the charity with the objective to provide education for local girls who come from broken homes, impoverished families, or are unwanted by their families.

When Kaur began she used money out of her own pocket to pay for the full tuition for 52 underprivileged girls. Since officially opening the charity in 2008, the trust has paid for the tuition of 329 girls to date.

By providing girls with a proper education, they will become aware of their rights and the laws in place to protect them from early marriage, the threat of violence and female feticide, said Sethi.

Ottawa businessman debuts motivational documentary

By Siva Ruban Sivalingam

H

ow do you know if you’re doing your ideal job? Do you look forward to going to work every morning, excited to tackle the projects and duties ahead, or is your heart pulling you in a different direction?

Ottawa businessman Satheesh Gopalan felt this pull as he left behind his career as a management consultant with the federal government to follow his calling and fulfill his childhood dreams of filmmaking.

On Sunday, Jan. 19 Gopalan introduced the world premiere of his motivational documentary, Innovation – Where Creativity and Technology Meet. A crowd of more than 300 people assembled at the Kailash Mittal Theatre at Carleton University to watch the fruits of his labour.

Gopalan has had a passion for filmmaking ever since he was a teenager in India. At 17, he and his friends tried to make a film, but it didn’t work out. In the summer of 2010, he joined with his friend Kris and decided to make a movie in the following six months. Circumstances and a turn of events were not bound to that timetable, and Kris has to be away for an extended period of time leaving Gopalan in the driver’s seat.

With no experience in filmmaking and a newfound title as documentary director, he invested over three years of work, and more than $100,000 straight from his own pocket, to produce this notable documentary.

Satheesh Gopalan followed his dream of filmmaking and premiered his debut documentary Innovation – Where Creativity and Technology Meet at Carleton University.

Photo: By Siva Ruban Sivalingam

Ms. Supriya Sharma was the guide for the debut evening and she introduced Dr. Roseann O’Reilly Runte, president of Carleton University as the first speaker. Runte noted that it was only appropriate that a documentary about innovation was set to premiere in the very university that was recently awarded first, second and third place in the Idea context for the most creative idea using technology.

Gopalan went on to show his magic box —a carved wooden box where he seemed to keep everything he wants to make into reality. Inside were the pictures of people he wanted to interview for the documentary,

which included Bill Gates and Prof. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi from Claremont University. Overcoming impossible situations, he did make these interviews a reality through his persistence and planning.

The hour-long documentary is well made and well presented. It features several notable personalities that talk about their own journeys and success strategies that have gotten them to where they are today. One theme that runs through the documentary is that you need to have dogged perseverance and the need to execute your dream project if they are important to you—no matter whether the world sees it that way or not.

The screening was followed by a short talk by Sofia Leong, director of the Executive MBA program at Telfer School of Business in Ottawa. She suggested that innovations, technology and above all, action, go well with what this universe stands for and encouraged the audience to be the master of their own domain. She ended by challenging the audience with the question: What is your innovation and how are you going to make it a reality?

The DVD of this documentary will be available through Amazon and iTunes shortly. Also Sat Education plans to develop training modules suitable to meet the unique needs of entrepreneurs, schools, and organizations. If you are interested in these courses, contact Sat Education through www.innovationmovie.com.

Ottawa Star • February 1, 2014

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Panelists Dan Maki, Nadia Abu Zahra, Bonnie McCutcheon, Adam Moscoe, and moderator Waubgeshig Rice. Photo: Mike Power

World Religion Day puts beliefs into action Ellen O’Connor

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 5

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T

o lead a sacred life means putting your beliefs into action every day, anyway you can.

This was the theme of this year’s World Religion Day ceremony held on Sunday, Jan. 19 where over 250 people representing various religious groups gathered to engage in interfaith discussion at Jean Piggott Hall in Ottawa City Hall “World Religion Day is an event that celebrates the religious diversity of the city and it is also a good forum to help people to come together and talk about a common theme,” said Natalia Rodriguez, a member of the Bahá’í community in Ottawa.

Although World Religion Day has been going on in the United States since the 1950s, The Bahá’í community has organized World Religion Day since its inception in Ottawa 14 years ago.

“It started as a need to bring different religious groups together because sometimes it was seen that they were mutually exclusive as opposed to focusing more on what they have in common,” said Rodriguez. It is now recognized in 250 locations around the world and is celebrated on the third Sunday of January.

Ottawa’s ceremony began with an Aboriginal welcome and blessing Bahá’í prayer for unity, and featured musical performances by the First Unitarian Church Chamber Choir led by Jacob Caines, the Sikh Children’s Kirtan Group, and the Tamir Choir, led by Cantor Daniel Benlolo.

New to this year’s celebration was a panel of speakers from four different faith groups in the city. The panel was moderated by CBC broadcast journalist and writer, Waubgeshig Rice and featured Dan Maki, a Christian; Nadia Abu Zahra, a Muslim; Bonnie McCutcheon, a Buddhist; and Adam Moscoe, a Jew. “The whole idea of getting these four prominent individuals together is to talk about how their faith defines them on a day-to-day level and how it helps them

The Sikh Children’s Kirtan Group participated in the World Religion Day ceremony held at Ottawa City Hall Photo: Mike Power

through their various experiences,” explained Rice to the audience.

The panelists had the opportunity to interact with each other and share their faith-based perspectives so they, and the audience, could gain insight into their everyday religious practices—some that differ and some that overlap.

One question asked by Rice was how their faith influences their daily behaviour.

“It’s about infusing every minute with spiritual values—sometimes its subconscious and sometimes it’s very conscious, but it’s acknowledging that every minute is sacred,” said Moscoe, adding whether it’s going to the gym or visiting his grandmother.

McCutcheon echoed his answer, saying that whatever experiences arise, happiness or suffering, she tries to transform it into the spiritual path.

Abu Zahra jokingly said one thing she does to put her faith into action is feed people, carrying enough food for 20 - a 10 portion for her, and a 10 portion for other people.

“What I do now, is I do less,” she added.

“I used to run around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to do so much. Now I try a little bit less, but with a stronger focus.”

Maki said he starts his day by reading three chapters of the Bible, then asking how God can direct his day. “God loves people and my job is to love people in his place, so when I meet people every day I ask what I can do to show that God loves them.”

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Opinion

PAGE 6 • www.OttawaStar.com

Ottawa Star • February 1, 2014

Editorial

Stay married. Stay healthy, happy and long!

H

appy marriage, happy life: A good marriage is good for your health, wealth and longevity.

Sure enough everyone who gets married wants to live happily ever after. Now research is showing that a happy marriage really brings additional advantages that add further to a happy life.

Marriage makes people happier than religious beliefs, earning six-figure salaries and having children, a study for the Office of National Statistics has found for the first time. “Patients who were married tended to live 20 per cent longer than those who were single, divorced, or widowed,” says senior author and radiation oncologist Paul Nguyen, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. Study after study conducted over a long period of time shows that a happy marriage reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke; triples a patient’s survival after bypass surgery; lowers production of stress hormones and boosts immune response How exactly do happy marriages make us happy, healthy and live long?

Marriage means love, intimacy, friendship and sharing. People happy in their marriage typically support each other. Being married is to have someone who provides emotional support on a regular basis,

consequently decreasing depression, anxiety and improving overall mental health.

Married people bring together two groups of friends thus creating a larger social network for support to rely upon which could mean lower rates of depression. Staying married encourages people to develop good health habits, gives a strong social network and a sense of purpose in life.

Married couple feel a sense of stability and a positive feeling that their life is worth living. There is more money in a married household because people pool their incomes and they are able to save and build more resources. Financial stability is one of the important factors effecting people’s mental and physical health.

So what’s the bottom line? A healthy marriage is more than marrying the right person as it involves taking the time to create positive moments, making time to talk to each other and staying committed during the tough times. Happy marriages are based on friendship, mutual respect for and enjoyment of each other’s company.

So treasure the precious moments in your marriage, sustain the friendship, remember always to cherish each other and enjoy a healthy, positive and vibrant life!

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.

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

Power and telephone lines sagging after heavy ice storm. Historic NWS Collection Photo: NOAA/Wikipedia

Bring it on polar vortex We are the winter!

By Sangeetha Arya

“Y

ou can’t get too much winter in the winter,” said the great poet Robert Frost and William Blake felt winter was the time “to enjoy”.

Canadians this year had to grapple with the frostiest winter in recent memory. The latest onslaught of polar vortex, a glacial atmospheric whirlpool causing temperatures to plunge as low as 40 below, with the wind chill has the entire country experiencing brutal, treacherous and vicious spate of blustery, cold weather. Ice storms, freezing rain, blizzards, and blackouts---you name it and we have had them!

Suffering through the cold grasp of winter is not new for Canadians. Canada has been built on very tough, inhospitable and wild grounds. Its severe weather has claimed thousands of lives, tested the mettle of the strongest, and spurred the settlers to be ingenious and inventive. Our national anthem sings of the, “True North strong and free” and our latest Canadian Olympic Committee campaign boasts “We Are Winter.”

Winter is embedded deeply into Canada’s identity as a nation. As Canada’s best-known weatherman Mr. Phillips aptly pointed out, “We curse it” but we use it when we like to show off that we “aren’t any wimps or sissies in this country—that the pioneer spirit still

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burns.” Although, “we scoff at blizzards and sneer at frostbite”, we like to feel that we are in control and that “nature can’t beat us up.” The cold and the snow are also a matter of pride, comparison and a proof of our resilience. Alan Stewart, a weather and climate psychologist at the University of Georgia says, “Weather is yet another arena in which you can size up your competition and see how well you can do—how well you stack up.”

Canada’s weather, specifically the winters, has brought out the best in some of the country’s more inventive minds. A combination of experience with winter and improved technology has helped us to get better at dealing with the practical aspects of snow and ice. For instance, Canadians invented the snow blower, the snowmobile and snow garments such as polar fleece. Not surprisingly Canadians also invented insulation and perfected the art of making ice wine.

Besides finding ways to cope, we can also find ways to enjoy. Winter is frequently gorgeous. A snowfall can magically transform a dull landscape of leafless trees and dormant lawns. An ice storm turns trees into shining sculptures. A walk outdoors can be magical when sunshine illuminated by sunshine streaming through the ice crystals suspended in the air.

The most important thing to remember is that eventually, winter will come to an end and soon there will be spring.

It’s the ability to survive winter that has always been one of the defining and distinguishing characteristics of a Canadian. Even if this proves to be the most brutal winter in 20 years, we’ve seen much worse, and survived and grown stronger. So will we, this time.

Sales: Michael Power mpower@OttawaStar.com 613.627.3869 Distribution COMET 2000 Printed by: Winchester Print & Stationery www.winchesterprint.com

Ottawa Star • February 1, 2014

Opinion

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 7

Comparing U.S., Canadian healthcare systems America was getting universal health coverage like their country has.

When I explained the law was simply another patch on a patchwork quilt of coverage, and the Congressional Budget Office had estimated last year there would still be some 30 million people without insurance, the reaction was “the news media didn’t tell us that.”

Separating fact from opinion as the Canadian ambassador long ago urged was something I tried to do as I made my way across Canada while visiting there recently. In some ways, the Canadian system is very different from U.S. healthcare.

In other ways, it’s very much the same and faces similar challenges in the years ahead.

Although the Affordable Care Act in the U.S. calls for more people to have health insurance by offering subsidies and mandating all Americans have it or face penalties, the concept of universality is still a far distant goal. The Canada Health Act, on the other hand, calls for universality—all residents must be covered by the public insurance plan run by their province on uniform terms and conditions.

They have coverage wherever they are treated in their home province, and there’s none of this stuff about limiting the doctors and hospitals that patients can use as a condition of getting full benefits. In Canada, there are no financial barriers to care at the point of service as there are and will continue to be in the U.S. Canadians don’t pay coinsurance of

30 per cent or 50 per cent if they have an outpatient procedure or go to an urgent care clinic, charges that are becoming increasingly common in the U.S. They don’t worry about paying a gigantic bill if they happen to use an out-of-network doctor or hospital. The publicly-funded system north of the border bases patients’ access to medical services on need, not on the ability to pay. To use the word “ration,” Canadians ration by need; Americans ration by price and will continue to do so as the ACA is implemented.

Because it’s publicly funded, Canadian healthcare is more equitable. There’s no such thing as buying a platinum plan and getting first-rate coverage or a cheapo bronze policy and paying 60 per cent of the bill yourself. The tiered policies available in the state exchanges further bake inequality into the U.S. system. People have wildly varying benefits depending on where they live, how old they are, where they work, and how much they can afford to spend on health insurance.

That’s not the case in Canada, except when it comes to prescription drug coverage. Drug benefits are quite unequal in Canada, and the lack of them is a pretty big hole for about 10 per cent of the population. There is no universal drug benefit, although two provinces have mandatory drug insurance—you can get it from an employer or buy it from a public plan.

About 40 per cent of the population gets coverage from their employers. If you can’t

afford the premium, there are subsidies.

In that sense, Canadian drug coverage in those provinces resembles Obamacare.

Still, having drug benefits does not necessarily mean adequate coverage, says Globe and Mail health columnist, André Picard: “The big difference from the rest of Canada’s system is there is very little first-dollar coverage of prescription drugs.”

On this trip I heard much more about the social determinants of health than I hear in the U.S. Almost everyone I interviewed mentioned the dismal health stats for aboriginal populations and the need to improve access and quality of care. I tried to remember the last time I heard anyone discuss the medical problems of Native Americans or quality of care provided by the Indian Health Service.

I asked Michael Decter, a health policy expert and a former deputy health minister in Ontario, what his wish list for Canadian healthcare was. Topping his list was not more money for the health system; it was more for education aimed at improving the lives of aboriginal peoples.

Better education correlates with better health. The second was drug coverage.

Canada’s infamous waiting times were not high on his list of priorities. In fact, he didn’t even mention them as a problem.

Trudy Lieberman, a former president of AHCJ, is a contributing editor to the Columbia Journalism Review. She is a fellow at the Center for Advancing Health where she blogs about paying for healthcare. Article courtesy: www.troymedia.com

Rail versus pipeline debate irrelevant

has burned through $15 billion of its sustainability fund,” according to an article on the Tyee website. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says Alberta’s debt is now $7 billion and growing by $11 million daily.

As for jobs, a 2012 report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives shows less than 1 per cent of Canadian workers are employed in extraction and production of oil, coal and natural gas.

Pipelines and fossil fuel development are not great long-term job creators, and pale in comparison to employment generated by the renewable energy sector.

Beyond the danger to the environment and human health, the worst risk from rapid expansion of oil sands, coal mines and gas fields and the infrastructure needed to transport the fuels is the carbon emissions from burning their products—regardless of whether that happens here, in China or elsewhere. Many climate scientists and energy experts, including the International Energy Agency, agree that to have any chance of avoiding catastrophic climate change, we must leave at least two-thirds of our remaining fossil fuels in the ground.

The question isn’t about whether to use rail or pipelines. It’s about how to reduce our need for both.

Dr. David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author, and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Article courtesy www.troymedia.com

By Trudy Lieberman

W

ASHINGTON, DC, Troy Media—One thing Americans and Canadians can agree on is that we don’t want each other’s healthcare systems. In truth, most Americans don’t know how Canada’s system works and Canadians don’t know much about the U.S. system.

What Americans know has come mainly from the negative talking points of politicians and others who have argued for years against national health insurance.

Two decades ago, The New York Times reported that Canadian women had to wait for Pap smears, a point vigorously refuted by the Canadian ambassador who shot back in a letter to the Times editor: “You, and Americans generally, are free to decide whatever healthcare system to choose, avoid or adapt, but the choice is not assisted by opinions unrelated to fact.”

Yes, there are waiting lists for some services—but, no, Canadians are not coming across the border in droves to get American care. There’s misinformation among Canadians, too. Wherever I went, Canadians told me they thought, mostly based on what they said they heard on CNN and Fox, that Obamacare meant

By David Suzuki

V

ANCOUVER, BC, Troy Media— Debating the best way to do something we shouldn’t be doing in the first place is a sure way to end up in the wrong place. That’s what’s happening with the “rail versus pipeline” discussion. Some say recent rail accidents mean we should build more pipelines to transport fossil fuels. Others argue that leaks, high construction costs, opposition and red tape surrounding pipelines are arguments in favour of using trains.

But the recent spate of rail accidents and pipeline leaks and spills doesn’t provide arguments for one or the other; instead, it indicates that rapidly increasing oil and gas development and shipping ever greater amounts, by any method, will mean more accidents, spills, environmental damage—even death. The answer is to step back from

this reckless plunder and consider ways to reduce our fossil fuel use.

If we were to slow down oil sands development, encourage conservation and invest in clean energy technology, we could save money, ecosystems and lives—and we’d still have valuable fossil fuel resources long into the future, perhaps until we’ve figured out ways to use them that aren’t so wasteful. We wouldn’t need to build more pipelines just to sell oil and gas as quickly as possible, mostly to foreign markets. We wouldn’t have to send so many unsafe rail tankers through wilderness areas and places people live.

We may forgo some of the shortterm jobs and economic opportunities the fossil fuel industry provides, but surely we can find better ways to keep people employed and the economy humming.

Gambling, selling guns and drugs and encouraging people to smoke all create jobs and economic benefits, too—but we rightly try to limit those activities when the harms outweigh the benefits.

Both transportation methods come with significant risks. Shipping by rail leads to more accidents and spills, but pipeline leaks usually involve much larger volumes.

One of the reasons we’re seeing more train accidents involving fossil fuels is the incredible boom in moving these products by rail. According to the American Association of Railroads, train shipment of crude oil in the U.S. grew from 9,500 carloads in 2008 to 234,000 in 2012—almost 25 times as many in only four years! That’s expected to rise to 400,000 this year.

As with pipelines, risks are increased because many rail cars are older and not built to standards that would reduce the chances of leaks and explosions when accidents occur. Some in the rail industry argue it would cost too much to replace all the tank cars as quickly as is needed to move the ever-increasing volumes of oil.

We must improve rail safety and pipeline infrastructure for the oil and gas that we’ll continue to ship for the foreseeable future, but we must also find ways to transport less.

The economic arguments for massive oil sands and liquefied natural gas development and expansion aren’t great to begin with—at least with the way our federal and provincial governments are going about it.

Despite a boom in oil sands growth and production, “Alberta has run consecutive budget deficits since 2008 and since then

Canada

PAGE 8 • www.OttawaStar.com

ers have been working on for their new spring and summer collections.

Gifts were placed on all of the attendees’ seats and the organizers successfully brought together several big name sponsors such as Revlon, Nine West and Versailles Academy of Makeup Arts, Hair and Esthetics.

The event was the fruit of a sixmonth long project by HerCampus U Ottawa magazine, an online magazine that reaches over 3,000 readers a week and covers everything that has to do with beauty, style, health and lifestyle.

“All of our talent is local. All of our models are Ottawa U students and volunteers,” said Jessica Mastronardi, head of events and marketing with Her Campus.

“We really believe that charity starts at home and we chose the Breast Cancer Research Foundation knowing that it is an issue that impacts many women, keeping our fundraiser in the women supporting realm.”

From a silent auction featuring cosmetic goodies and Sens tickets, to henna booths and delicious little snacks, this fashion show offered young and old an evening filled with laughter and a chance to connect with some very young entrepreneurs.

Social media played a fun role throughout the evening, as local comedian and host Jenn Hayward continued to announce door prize winners to those who were hash-tagging #catwalkforthecure on their Twitter.

During intermission, attendees had an hour to meet with the designers and purchase or order what they loved on the models. A percentage of the designers’ profit was also entered into the pool of funds going towards the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

The catwalk for the cure was a special evening for Joanie Benoit, founder of Beach Beauty Essentials and a marketing student at the University of Ottawa. Her clothing made the catwalk for the very first time after being approached by Her Campus in early November.

Having only launched her handcrafted beachwear line last summer with a grant of $3,000 from the program Start a Summer Company in Ontario, Benoit is already thinking about getting her clothes in stores in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto.

From bright chiffon dresses to black mesh rompers, Benoit showcased a variety of her fun, playful beachwear pieces.

“Seriously, I don’t know how this beach line started,” she added. “I’m from a small town in New Brunswick and I was just looking at the demand and what people are looking for in clothing. We have a lot of nice beaches in my town and I thought, ‘Why not beachwear?’ It’s different, and it’s not something everyone else is doing.”

Although the room was mostly filled with young fashionistas, family and friends were also present to support the organizers.

“This year is much better. You can feel that this place is much fancier…You know when you start something, it’s always on a small scale and every year it just gets better,” said Maria Chababi, a second year student at the University of Ottawa and friend of the organizing team.

lives,” said Carl Karamaoun, co-founder of The International.

They hope to accomplish this by reuniting a disabled man named Bashir, and his wife Miriam, who have been separated from one another due to the uprising and conflict in Syria.

The violence and destruction in Syria has been the cause of loss and suffering for many Syrians. Among those are Bashir and Miriam, who were a newlywed couple struggling through the hardship they were living in Syria. In hopes of seeking a brighter future for himself and his wife, Bashir, who suffers from a physical disability, fled to Greece, where he currently resides as a refugee.

He was unable to return to Syria to find his wife, and quickly learned that Miriam

was severely injured by a bomb attack and forced to flee to a refugee camp in Turkey.

The International seeks to raise awareness of Bashir and Miriam’s unfortunate story with the hope of raising as much money as possible to cover the transportation costs for Miriam to reunite with Bashir.

“All extra funds will go directly towards Bashir and Miriam’s medical bills,” said Karamaoun, who is also a dear friend of Bashir’s.

International love cards will be sold to raise money for this cause, and with the help of the Ottawa community, every dollar raised will bring Bashir and Miriam one step closer to re-uniting and sharing the love they have for one another, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

The Her Campus U Ottawa organizing group Photo: Samantha Ammoun

Catwalk for the cure brings in over $10,000 for breast cancer research

by Samantha Ammoun

W

ho says Ottawa can’t do fashion?

And no, this is not Ottawa Fashion

A model showcases clothing from Alfred Marcel’s line at the HerCampus U Ottawa second annual fashion show Photo: Samantha Ammoun

Week.

Her Campus U Ottawa, an online magazine and campus chapter, proudly hosted their second annual fashion show on Saturday, Jan. 25, raising over $10,000 in funds for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation Ontario.

The work of six different clothing lines were showcased including Alfred Marcel, Babes & Gents, Beach Beauty Essentials, King of Arts, Stella & Dot and Chobi as well as Bernice & Barclay between 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. at the National Arts Centre.

From the concept of transporting art on to clothes, chic bohemian styles, student casual wear and even summer beachwear, some 300 attendees had the opportunity to see what local design-

Spreading love across borders, just in time for Valentine’s Day! Layla Piedra Abu Sharar

T

he International, an Ottawa-based company that plans and hosts multicultural events, is holding their first fundraiser, which will be taking place the week of Feb. 3, to Feb. 14, at Carleton University.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, The International is hoping to

bring the Ottawa community together to raise funds in order to rekindle an international love between a married couple that has been severed through violence and civil war.

“We want the Ottawa community to come to together in a simple way to spread love across borders and directly make a difference in these individual’s

Ottawa Star • February 1, 2014

Ottawa Star • February 1, 2014

Canada

'Irresponsible' of Ottawa to leave some refugees without health care: Ontario Continued from page 1

who were cut off by the federal government 18 months ago, Wynne said it would be wrong to leave some refugee claimants without access to care.

“We have, as a province, said this is unacceptable,’’ she said. “The people who have been getting the services through the federal program will now be eligible to get services through a provincial program, because it is irresponsible of us ... as a society not to provide these services.’’

Federal Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander issued a release calling Ontario’s move “reckless’’ policy.

“Ontario’s decision threatens to undermine the remarkable success of reforms we made last year to a refugee determination system that was widely acknowledged to be broken,’’ he said.

“Genuine refugees are getting the protection they need much sooner and failed asylum seekers are being removed much faster ... and Canada’s generosity is no longer being abused.’’

Health Minister Deb Matthews took aim at Alexander for calling Ontario’s move a waste of money, and lashed out at the federal minister for saying the province was funding “bogus’’ refugee claimants.

“If they are so-called bogus, then it’s his department that is responsible for that refugee policy and system,’’ she said.

Most newcomers without health coverage don’t have family doctors, so they often end up in hospital emergency rooms, a much more expensive place to treat people, added Matthews.

“In the end we were paying anyway,’’ she said, “but we were paying more than we would have had we provided better early care.’’

Ottawa trimmed medical benefits for newcomers to the bare bones in 2012 and cut some refugee claimants off completely, save for threats to public health.

Ontario reinstated the benefits Jan. 1.

The premier said the federal move caused a lot of confusion about who is eligible for care, and noted there is still a three-month waiting list for coverage except in some emergencies.

The federal cuts left most immigrants with basic, essential health care, but trimmed supplementals such as vision and dental care.

However, rejected refugee claimants—and refugee claimants from countries the government considers safe—will be eligible for care only when they pose a threat to public health.

Alexander has accused the province of intruding into an area of federal responsibility.

“This will force Ontario taxpayers and their families to line up for care behind failed asylum seekers, and it will make Canada—and Ontario in particular—a bigger magnet for bogus asylum seekers.’’

Ontario is on its own to foot the bill, warned Alexander.

“The sooner the Ontario government gets serious about protecting Ontario taxpayers and stops undermining the success of our national refugee reforms, the better and fairer it will be for all Canadians, including legal immigrants and genuine refugees,’’ he said.

Matthews said other provinces are also trying to deal with the federal health care cuts to some refugees.

“Ontario of course attracts the bulk, 55 per cent of refugees are in Ontario, so the problem is biggest for us.’’

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 9

Collection of Canadians’ data ‘incidental’ Continued from page 1

In those cases, CSEC can retain and use such communications “if they are essential to international affairs, defence or security,’’ the government’s statement of defence notes.

Such authorizations have been issued dozens of times in the past decade.

The federal government says it is impossible to know, in advance, whether foreign spying will inadvertently capture Canadians’ private communications.

“Despite the fact that CSEC is directing its activities at non-Canadians outside Canada ... the complexity of the global information infrastructure is such that it is not possible for CSEC to know ahead of time if a foreign target will communicate with a Canadian or person in Canada, or convey information about a Canadian,’’ says the government’s statement of defence.

“There may be circumstances in which incidental interception of private communications or information about Canadians will occur.’’

The document said such activity is conducted within the law and with the rigorous oversight of the independent CSEC commissioner.

The statement of defence notes the minister issued 78 authorizations between 2002 and 2012, all of which were valid for a year and have expired. In 2013, four were issued, and they remain active.

As an example, the government says there were six authorizations issued in 2011.

Of those, five did not result in the interception of Canadians’ private communications, the document says. The sixth authorization did capture a “small’’ number of private communications, according to the statement, though it doesn’t offer specific details.

The collection of metadata is taking place under a ministerial directive, which, unlike a formal authorization, does not give CSEC any additional powers, the government says.

“The acquisition and use of metadata is critical to the fulfillment of CSEC’s mandate,’’ says the statement of defence.

The government says CSEC’s foreign communications spying and its collection of metadata have prevented attacks against Canadians, both in the country and abroad, though it does not offer any specifics to back up that claim.

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PAGE 10 • www.OttawaStar.com

Canada

Trudeau wary of proposal to legalize, regulate, tax prostitution

By Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press

O

TTAWA—Justin Trudeau is keeping a wary distance from a Liberal proposal to legalize, regulate and tax prostitution just like any other commercial enterprise.

A resolution to legalize the sex trade is being pushed by the Liberal party’s youth wing and is to be debated at the party’s national policy convention next month in Montreal.

But the Liberal leader, who has enthusiastically embraced a resolution passed at the last convention to legalize marijuana, signalled Thursday that he doesn’t favour taking the same approach to prostitution.

He played down the importance of the resolution and indicated that he views prostitution as a more complicated issue than pot.

“The priority of the Liberal party ... around our policy convention in February in Montreal is on economic success for the middle class. That is the centre of our focus,’’ he said during a campaign stop with a provincial Liberal byelection candidate in Thornhill, Ont. He noted that the prostitution resolution is just one of many to be debated at the convention and said he looks forward to hearing what Liberals have to say on the subject.

The debate is timely given that the Supreme Court has thrust the prostitution issue back onto the federal political agenda.

The top court last month struck down the country’s prostitution laws as unconstitutional and gave Parliament a year in

which to come up with a new legal regime to govern the sex trade. The court ruled that the current prohibitions on brothels, street solicitation and living off the avails of prostitution create life- Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, left, spars with Boxing Canada threatening condi- President Pat Fiacco at the Regina Boxing Club in Regina on tions for prostitutes, Friday, July 5, 2013. The Canadian Press/Roy Antal violating their right ter Julian Fantino, a former Ontario poto life, liberty and security of the person. lice chief, waded into the fray Thursday.

“For now, I’m just very, very mindful “Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have been that the Supreme Court came down very clear: making prostitution and illegal drugs clearly that the current approach is not protecting extremely vulnerable women and more accessible to Canadians are their priorities,’’ Fantino said in a written statement. sex workers and we need to make sure that “Under the leadership of Prime Minwe are finding a way to keep vulnerable ister (Stephen) Harper, our government Canadians protected from violence that is focused on protecting our communities surrounds prostitution but also is intrinsic to from the effects of illegal drugs and vulnerprostitution,’’ Trudeau said. able women from the harmful effects of In French, Trudeau went further, legalized prostitution.’’ saying it’s important to recognize that NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, attending “prostitution itself is a form of violence a caucus strategy session in Ottawa, did against women.’’ He called for a “responsible, informed debate’’ on the issue. not directly respond when asked if he’d Trudeau also said Liberals are “cerconsider legalizing prostitution. He said tainly going to look at’’ the so-called the issue is complex and needs to be studied by a parliamentary committee, hearing Nordic model, which penalizes those from police, health experts, community who purchase sex, not those who sell it. groups and sex trade workers.

Conservatives have used the mere Mulcair chastised Harper for failing existence of the resolution to attack to immediately launch such a study folTrudeau for wanting to legalize both pot lowing the Supreme Court ruling. and prostitution. Veterans Affairs Minis-

Older phones shouldn’t get same protection from searches as smartphones: Crown Continued from page 1

ited storage capacity, no cameras, and only rudimentary Internet connectivity.

“Given their age and limitations, these devices didn’t give rise to heightened privacy interests,’’ Banning told a three-judge panel.

Banning argued such a phone should be treated like a briefcase, which police would be permitted to search if it’s seized during an arrest, rather than a computer.

She noted the two BlackBerrys seized from Mann had storage capacities of 32 megabytes and 64 megabytes. Nearly a decade later, smartphone capacity is measured in gigabytes—a measurement that’s roughly a thousand times greater than a megabyte.

Chief Justice Robert Bauman suggested it would be difficult to carve out a distinction to determine which phones require a warrant to search and which do not.

“I have a real difficulty defining a line by the storage capacity of the thing,’’ said Bauman. Banning said it should come down to how similar a phone’s capabilities are to a computer.

“They simply did not contain vast amounts of personal information,’’ said Banning. “It’s not simply a matter of numbers ... but it’s also a distinction in functional capacity.’’

Banning said her arguments dealt with the specifics of the kidnapping case,

and she stressed she wasn’t calling for set of rules to guide future cases.

A day earlier, Mann’s lawyer, Peter Wilson, argued even the older BlackBerrys seized from his client were essentially computers, capable of storing considerable amounts of personal data. Wilson said police had no right to search them without a warrant.

Mann was convicted two years ago for his role in a kidnapping that saw Gary Kwong taken by gunpoint and held for a $100,000 ransom. Kwong was released, unharmed, the next day and no ransom was paid.

Charges were originally laid against Mann, William Joshua Scott and Terry James Richardson. Scott pleaded guilty and Richardson died before the case was finished.

The Appeal Court’s ruling will be the latest in a string of cases to deal with warrantless searches of cellphones and computers.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled last year that police executing a search warrant at a home or other location must have special authorization to search the contents of computers or phones they come across.

The high court will hear another case in April dealing with phones that are found on suspects when they are arrested.

Ottawa Star • February 1, 2014

Justin Trudeau: experiences of legalized pot in U.S. important to watch

By Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press

O

KOTOKS, Alta.—Federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau thinks there are lessons to be learned from the legalization of marijuana in some U.S. states.

Sales of marijuana to adults over 21 began Jan. 1 in Colorado as the state legalized pot for recreational purposes.

Washington’s stores are expected to open in late spring.

Last summer, Trudeau admitted to smoking pot after becoming an MP and has maintained that legalization in Canada is a good idea.

He said Canada would benefit from keeping a close eye on the experiences in Colorado and Washington state.

He said there are all sorts of questions to be asked about how it actually works in practice.

“It’s just how they balance the need to protect people and control a substance and respect people’s freedoms,’’ Trudeau told reporters Jan 22 after a 90 minute meet-and-greet with 200 supporters in Okotoks, south of Calgary.

“I’m very interested in drawing on best practices and not repeating mistakes that other people might make.’’

What matters now, Trudeau said, is ending a marijuana prohibition policy that he says costs law enforcement $500 million a year and has left 475,000 people with criminal records since the Conservatives took office in 2006.

“The fact of the matter is our current approach on marijuana—the prohibition that Stephen Harper continues to defend—is failing in two primary ways.

The first one is it is not protecting our kids from the negative impacts of marijuana on the developing brain,’’ said Trudeau.

“Secondly, we are funnelling millions upon millions of dollars each year into organized crime and criminal gangs. We do not need to be funding those organizations.’’

Trudeau said he has smoked pot five or six times in his life and never really liked it much.

Ottawa Star • February 1, 2014

Canada

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 11

Letter writers express anger, shame towards Harper, Baird on Palestine

By Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press

O

TTAWA - The Harper government was flooded with angry letters from Canadians after it opposed the Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations, newly disclosed documents show.

More than 1,000 letters arrived over several weeks in late 2012 and early 2013 at the offices of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and several other Conservative MPs, the vast majority of them complaining that the government was not representing the balanced and fair-minded views of Canadian citizens on the divisive Middle East issue.

More than 80 per cent of the correspondence expressed clear opposition to the Conservative government’s own vocal attempts to block the Palestinian bid for greater recognition at the UN. Some of the writers—their identities were excised before the documents were released—expressed shame and anger, while others described themselves as Tory voters who would be voting differently in 2015 because of their stand.

Many expressed embarrassment for their country on the world stage because of the Conservatives’ stance—notably Baird’s November 2012 speech to the UN General Assembly that passionately opposed the Palestinian bid.

In one January 2013 letter, a writer expressed dismay at “the unconditional support given to Israel by the prime minister and his party. I believe this stance contradicts the opinions of the vast majority of Canadians.’’

Another noted, “I know that courting the Jewish vote is important to you.

But the Palestinians have had a tough time in the last half-century. Couldn’t you be a little nicer to them?’’

Many criticized the Harper government for refusing to publicly denounce Israel for building illegal settlements on Palestinian territory—something the prime minister pointedly told reporters travelling to Israel with him this January that he had no intention of doing.

Indeed, the settlement issue was mentioned repeatedly in the more than 1,360 pages of correspondence that was reviewed by The Canadian Press.

In all, the pages contained more than 1,030 letters, with more than 830 expressing condemnation of the government’s Middle East policy. More than 180 wrote in support of the government.

This flurry of letter writing mainly took place in the days leading up to and the weeks following the UN General Assembly vote on Nov. 29, 2012, in which the Palestinian Authority overwhelmingly won greater recognition.

Only a handful of countries—Canada, the United States, Israel, and six smaller nations—voted against the Palestinians. Baird’s

speech to the General Assembly that day was a lightning rod for letter writers.

Baird was flooded with letters in the days leading up to his speech—his opposition to the Palestinian bid was publicly known—urging him to change his position, or deriding him for a stance and rhetoric that many realized could not be swayed.

Some letters writers hurled angry, personal insults. Others wrote to Harper; one demanded to know whether the prime minister knew what his foreign minister was up to and whether he had “spoken up against John Baird’s dreadful stance.’’

All of the letters eventually passed through Baird’s office; the PMO appeared to copy him on everything sent to Harper.

“Shameful—shameful—shameful.

What a disgusting Canadian you are, making us all ashamed of your biased and hypocritical position,’’ one writer told Baird the day before his UN speech.

Another urged him to “stop spitting your venom at the United Nations.’’

One writer, having voted for Baird in the past, pledged never to do so again. “The current Conservative view will be on the wrong

side of history and does not reflect the views of the majority of Canadians,’’ the letter read.

Another added: “Canada is becoming a joke to the rest of the world.’’

Several Conservative MPs who received critical letters forwarded them to Baird, asking for an answer they could provide their angry constituents.

On the day of Baird’s speech, thenAlberta Conservative MP Ted Menzies, who retired late last year, forwarded a series of letters from an angry constituent that he had been corresponding with.

“I no longer consider myself a PC voter at the federal level,’’ the writer told Menzies.

“I will not be voting PC next election!!!’’

At various times, the writers said they were “mortified’’ or “ashamed’’ or “disappointed’’ at a government that was “out of touch’’ on the issue. Baird was called a “spoiled child’’ by one, while another called the government a “Zionist lapdog.’’

“Your government sickens me,’’ said another.

Despite a preponderance of negative sentiment, there is nonetheless a trickle of support for the Conservatives.

“It is to Canada’s credit, yourself, and your government that you took a moral position at the United Nations, a body that sadly lacks any integrity when it comes to dealing with Israel, and is challenged in many other areas too,’’ one writer told Harper and Baird four days after the UN vote.

Several others, some of whom described themselves as Jewish, offered sincere thanks to the prime minister for siding with Israel. “God bless Canada and Israel forever!!’’ said one.

Some correspondents offered thoughtful anecdotes, and a small number of others offered no position, but asked Harper or Baird for more information on theirs.

In a handwritten note, Harper was asked if he had ever travelled without a delegation “to the Palestine occupied area of Israel?’’ The woman, who said she travelled there with husband in 2010, found “deplorable’’ living conditions. She Canada should be standing up for the “underprivileged.’’

“Our Parliament and you, Mr. prime minister, have shirked your humanitarian duty by voting with the United States. I am ashamed of this action.’’

PAGE 12 • www.OttawaStar.com

World

Another super hot year US agency says 2013 tied for 4th warmest on record for globe

By Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press

W

ASHINGTON—Last year tied for the fourth hottest year on record around the globe. The average world temperature was 58.12 degrees (14.52 Celsius) tying with 2003 for the fourth warmest since 1880, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday.

At the same time, NASA, which calculates records in a different manner, ranked last year as the seventh warmest on record, with an average temperature of 58.3 degrees (14.6 Celsius). The difference is related to how the two agencies calculate temperatures in the Arctic and other remote places and is based on differences that are in the hundredths of a degree, scientists said.

Both agencies said nine of the 10th warmest years on record have happened in the 21st century. The hottest year was 2010, according to NOAA. The reports were released as a big snowstorm was hitting the U.S. East Coast.

“There are times such as today when we can have snow even in a globally warmed world,’’ said Gavin Schmidt, deputy director of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies in New York. “But the long term trends are not going to disappear ... Quite frankly people have a very short memory when it comes to climate and weather.’’

Those longer trends show the world has seen “fairly dramatic warming’’ since the 1960s with “a smaller rate of warming over the last decade or so,’’ said Thomas Karl, director of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center. In the past 50 years, the world annual temperature has increased by nearly 1.4 degrees (0.8 degrees Celsius), according to NOAA data. Unlike 2012, much of the

worst heat and biggest climate disasters last year were outside the U.S. Parts of central Asia, central Africa and Australia were record warm. Only a few places, including the central U.S., were cooler than normal last year.

Temperatures that were only the 37th warmest for the nation last year.

That followed the warmest year on record for the U.S. Usually the weather event called El Nino, a warming of the central Pacific, is responsible for boosting already warm years into the world’s hottest years. But in 2013, there was no El Nino.

Ottawa Star • February 1, 2014 The fact that a year with no El Nino “was so hot tells me that the climate really is shifting,’’ said Andrew Dessler, a Texas A&M University climate scientist, who was not part of either the NOAA or NASA teams.

For many people, global warming first hit the headlines in 1988 when NASA climate scientist James Hansen testified before Congress on a hot summer day. That year ended up the warmest on record at the time. But on Tuesday, it was knocked out of the 20 top hottest years by 2013.

Bill and Melinda Gates pitch optimistic future for world’s poor India, Brazil and even Botswana that were once considered poor now have growing economies.

And in Africa, a place the Microsoft co-founder says is all too often dismissed as hopeless, life expectancy has risen since the 1960s despite the HIV epidemic. Also, more children are going to school and fewer people are hungry.

“I am optimistic enough about this that I am willing to make a prediction,’’ he said. “By 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world.’’

Gates also argues against claims that foreign aid is wasteful because it is too expensive, because it is stolen by corrupt officials receiving it or because countries who receive it become dependent on it.

He says that in Norway, the world’s most generous donor of foreign aid, the amount of its budget that goes to foreign aid is only 3 per cent. In the U.S., it’s less than 1 per cent, or about $30 billion per year, of which $11 billion goes to vaccines, bed nets and other health causes.

Measles vaccinations, eradicating smallpox, controlling tuberculosis in

China and a plan to eliminate polio in Latin America are all public health efforts achieved with aid funding.

“Health aid is a phenomenal investment,’’ he writes. “When I look at how many fewer children are dying than 30 years ago, and how many people are living longer and healthier lives, I get quite optimistic about the future.’’

His wife, Melinda, wrote a section of the letter dispelling the myth that saving lives worldwide will lead to overpopulation. She points to countries such as Brazil where both child mortality and birth rates have declined.

When more children survive, she says, parents have smaller families.

“The planet does not thrive when the sickest are allowed to die off, but rather when they are able to improve their lives,’’ she says.

“Human beings are not machines. We don’t reproduce mindlessly. We make decisions based on the circumstances we face.’’

The Seattle, Wash.-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the world’s largest charitable foundation and has made $28.3 billion in grant payments since its inception 13 years ago.

US Latinos optimistic about future

twice as likely as employed native-born Latinos to say they were concerned about themselves or someone in their household losing their job within the next year. They were also twice as likely to say they were not confident they had enough money or health insurance to pay for a major illness, with 67 per cent compared to 34 per cent.

The study also examined Latinos by dividing them according to heritage. It found that Cubans were ahead of most other Latinos in many social economic indicators, including education and home ownership.

Puerto Ricans were more likely to speak English than Spanish at home. Central Americans were the least educated among poll participants, with more than half having less than a high school education.

The study was compiled from interviews conducted in English and Spanish via telephone, landline and cellphone, by SSRS of Media from June 11 to July 14, 2013, among a nationally representative sample of 1,478 Latinos age 18 and older.

The margin of error for total respondents is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

By Jake Pearson, The Associated Press

NEW YORK—Philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates pitched an optimistic future for the world’s poor and sick in their annual letter Jan 21, arguing passionately against three myths they say hurt efforts to bring people out of poverty, save lives and improve living conditions.

In their sixth yearly letter, which in the past has focused exclusively on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s annual activities, the co-chairmen of the world’s largest charitable foundation seek to dispel false notions that poor countries are doomed to stay poor, that foreign aid is wasteful and that saving lives will cause overpopulation.

“All three reflect a dim view of the future, one that says the world isn’t improving but staying poor and sick, and getting overcrowded,’’ Bill Gates writes in the 16-page letter. “We’re going to make the opposite case, that the world is getting better, and that in two decades it will be better still.’’

Gates says GDP per capita figures, adjusted for inflation to 2005 dollars, show that many countries such as China,

Still face discrimination and economic challenges Continued from page 1

About 44 per cent of Latinos live in predominantly Hispanic communities, the report found. Latinos reported facing several challenges in their communities, with 16 per cent experiencing crime and violence, and 10 per cent reporting economic issues.

About 40 per cent of Hispanics rated that the quality of available housing in their community is fair or poor. More than a third also rated as fair or poor the public transportation system (36 per cent) and availability of recreational facilities for exercise and sports (36 per cent). Nearly the same number, 34 per cent, said safety from crime in their community was fair or poor.

Despite these concerns, the majority of Hispanics, 89 per cent, said they are satisfied with their communities.

Discrimination remains a challenge, the report indicates. About a quarter, or 26 per cent, said they have experienced discrimination in the past year and believe it was because they are Latino. About 1 in 10 Latinos said they believe they received poor health care within the past five years because of their ethnic background, or because they spoke with an accent. Among the Latinos who have received health care in the past year, 19 per cent rated health care services as fair or poor.

Like most Americans, Hispanics also worry about job security and finances.

About 45 per cent of employed Latinos feared they or someone in their household will lose a job within the next year. More than a third, or 36 per cent, say their personal finances are not so good or poor.

More than three-quarters of Hispanics, or 77 per cent, think their children will

have better educational opportunities than they did, and 83 per cent think their children will have better employment opportunities. About 80 per cent of Latinos think their children will be better off than they are when their children reach the age they are today. About 90 per cent of Hispanics are satisfied with their lives overall.

The report compares Latino immigrants to American-born Latinos. Immigrants overall were more optimistic about their future than native-born. About 91 per cent of Latino immigrants feel their children would have better educational opportunities than themselves compared to 68 per cent of native-born Latinos.

Immigrants were more likely than native-born Latinos to have only a high school education or less, 74 per cent compared to 49 per cent. Employed immigrants were

World

Ottawa Star • February 1, 2014

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 13

Stepping up enforcement, China says it is warning foreign planes entering air defence zone

By Christopher Bodeen, The Associated Press

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EIJING—China said Jan 24 it has begun issuing warnings to foreign military planes entering its self-declared air defence zone over the East China Sea amid heightened tensions with its neighbours, especially Japan.

Bitter rhetoric between the neighbours has spiked since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a late-December visit to a war shrine in Tokyo that outraged Beijing. Abe this week compared the tense relationship to the pre-World War I rivalry between Britain and Germany. Japanese officials say the comment was meant as a warning to avoid war.

Chinese state media quoted air force spokesman Shen Jinke as saying several kinds of Chinese planes recently patrolled the sweeping zone that was declared in November. He said the planes identified several foreign military aircraft, flew alongside them and issued them warnings. He didn’t identify the planes or say when the patrol was conducted.

The zone is a “purely defensive measure that conforms to international practice,’’ Shen said.

The U.S., Japan and other countries denounced the zone’s declaration in November as provocative and said they would ignore China’s demands that their military aircraft announce flight plans, identify themselves and follow Chinese instructions.

China has said it would take unspecified measures against aircraft that disobey.

In a policy address Jan 24 in Tokyo, Abe reiterated Japan’s position, saying it would “not tolerate any attempt to change the status quo by force.’’ He said Japan would beef up its defensive capabilities “in order to defend the safety in the southwestern region, as well as the vast sea and airspace around Japan.’’

The zone is seen primarily as targeting Japanese and U.S. military flights over the East China Sea. Its declaration followed more than a year of heightened

tensions between China and Japan over control of a series of tiny uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. The zone pointedly incorporates the island chain, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, which are controlled by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing.

The zone also incorporates a vast area of international airspace from Taiwan to the Korean Peninsula and overlaps in places with zones enforced by South Korea and Japan.

China and Japan have been engaged in a heightened war of words since Abe visited the Yasukuni shrine honouring war dead, including commanders executed as war criminals for committing atrocities in China and elsewhere during World War II. China has furiously protested the visit and launched a new round of invective against Japan in international media and diplomatic circles.

Abe says the visits are intended to pay homage to those who died and to show his

commitment to pacifism, not to praise war criminals.

China’s Foreign Ministry said Abe’s World War I comments made Jan 22 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switerzerland, and his visit to the shrine were signs of belligerence. “The Japanese leader, while paying lip-service to a positive peace policy, is effectively adopting a policy of military expansion and preparation for war,’’ ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Friday.

However, Japan’s Cabinet Secretary Yoshide Suga said Abe was drawing the Britain-Germany analogy as a warning for the two Asian countries not to repeat the same mistake of being drawn into a war despite their extensive trade ties.

Suga also told reporters that he is aware of reports that China had issued warnings to foreign aircraft, but declined to confirm them. “I don’t understand what China means by voice-warning,’’ Suga said. Japan’s defence ministry has

not reported any “abnormal flights’’ by Chinese military jets since Beijing declared its air zone, he said.

China’s announcement about issuing warnings shows Beijing is serious about enforcing the zone and will likely be seen as an escalation by Japan and others, said Huang Jing, a China expert at Singapore National University’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. China has consistently unnerved its neighbours since announcing the air defence zone with no advance warning and little explanation, he said.

China has rejected all such criticisms, and a government-backed scholar said a significant sector of the public believes Beijing hasn’t gone far enough in challenging Tokyo and the U.S. “Japan has its own air defence zone, so why shouldn’t China? This is something China should have done a long time ago,’’ said Qu Xing, head of the China Institute of International Studies, a thinktank affiliated with the Foreign Ministry.

France to create new Africa outposts to better fight terrorism

By Jamey Keaten, The Associated Press

PARIS—France will broaden its military presence in Africa’s turbulent Sahel region with specialized new outposts to better fight the terror threat from extremist groups such as al-Qaida, the defence minister said Jan 21.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Jean-Yves Le Drian said France is moving toward a regional counterterrorism approach in former French colonies such as Chad, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali. In a quick air and land campaign, French soldiers largely ousted al-Qaidalinked militants from northern Mali last year.

Is It Time For A Second Opinion?

The Obama administration backed France’s intervention in Mali, holding it up as an example of situations where America’s allies can take lead roles in helping less developed countries fight against al-Qaida and other extremists without the need for the U.S. to put boots on the ground.

The counterterrorism plan was presented in detail to President Francois Hollande late last month, and hasn’t been publicly announced yet. It will involve creating specialized posts such as for logistics, intelligencegathering and fighter planes, Le Drian said.

“We are reorganizing our deployment in Africa to be more reactive about potential crises,’’ he said. “We will have the same num-

ber of soldiers - 3,000 in the Sahel region— but they will be organized differently.’’

“We are going to reinforce Abidjan an as an entry point, a logistical support post,’’ he said of Ivory Coast’s commercial capital. “And then we’ll boost the intervention capacity on each of the different sites.’’

Under the plan, Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, will be a hub of French air power in the region and a base for Rafale and Mirage fighters. A site in Niamey, Niger’s capital, will be equipped with unmanned aircraft such as France’s Harfang and—as of its first official flight on Monday—a U.S.made Reaper surveillance drone that Le Drian helped authorize France to buy.

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

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

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

World

PAGE 14 • www.OttawaStar.com

Ottawa Star • February 1, 2014

Pope defrocked 400 priests in 2 years: Vatican document

By Nicole Winfield and John Heilprin, The Associated Press

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ATICAN CITY—In his last two years as pope, Benedict XVI defrocked nearly 400 priests for raping and molesting children, more than twice as many as the two years that preceded a 2010 explosion of sex abuse cases in Europe and beyond, according to a document obtained Friday by The Associated Press and an analysis of Vatican statistics.

The data—260 priests defrocked in 2011 and 124 in 2012, a total of 384—represented a dramatic increase over the 171 priests defrocked in 2008 and 2009.

It was the first compilation of the number of priests forcibly removed for sex abuse by the Vatican’s in-house procedures— and a canon lawyer said the real figure is likely far higher, since the numbers don’t include sentences meted out by diocesan courts.

The spike started a year after the Vatican decided to double the statute of limitations on

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sexually abuse children. One of the chief accusations against the Vatican from victims is that bishops put the church’s procedures ahead of civil law enforcement by suggesting that victims keep accusations quiet while they were dealt with internally.

The maximum penalty for a priest convicted by a church tribunal is essentially losing his job: being defrocked, or removed from the clerical state. There are no jail terms and nothing to prevent an offender from raping again.

The Vatican insists nothing in its church process prevented victims from going to police.

Victims groups said the spike in cases appeared to be the result of victims gaining the strength to come forward and denounce abusive priests. They demanded the Vatican start sanctioning bishops who covered up for the abuse, too.

In 2012, the last year for which statistics are available, the number of defrockings dropped to 124, with another 418 new cases reported.

Governor seeks 50,000 work visas over 5 years

By Jeff Karoub And David Eggert, The Associated Press

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the crime, enabling victims who were in their late 30s to report abuse committed against them when they were children.

The Vatican has actually made some data public year by year in its annual reports. But an internal Vatican document prepared to help the Holy See defend itself before a U.N. committee this week in Geneva compiled the statistics over the course of several years. Analysis of the raw data cited in that document, which was obtained by the AP, confirmed the figures.

Before becoming pope, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger took action after determining that bishops around the world weren’t following church policy and putting accused clerics on trial in church tribunals. Instead, bishops routinely moved problem priests from parish to parish rather than subject them to canonical trials—or turn them over to police.

For centuries, the church has had its own in-house procedures to deal with priests who

DETROIT—Gov. Rick Snyder asked the federal government Jan 23 to set aside thousands of work visas for bankrupt Detroit, a bid to revive the decaying city by attracting talented immigrants who are willing to move there and stay for five years.

The Republican governor has routinely touted immigration as a powerful potential force for growing Detroit’s economy, saying immigrant entrepreneurs start many small businesses and file patents at twice the rate of U.S.-born citizens.

“Let’s send a message to the entire world: Detroit, Michigan, is open to the world,’’ Snyder said at a news conference.

But the governor’s ambitious plan faces significant hurdles: The visas are not currently allocated by region or state. And the number he is seeking—50,000 over five years—would be a quarter of the total EB-2 visas offered.

The program would require no federal financial bailout, the governor said, only the easing of immigration rules and visa limits to help fill jobs in automotive engineering, information technology, health care and life sciences.

Snyder, a first-term governor who made millions as a computer industry executive and venture capitalist, said it’s not clear whether the White House could act administratively or if such a change would require legislative action.

Snyder’s office has said immigrants created nearly onethird of the high-tech businesses in Michigan in the last decade, and he cited a study that found for every job that goes to an immigrant, 2.5 are created for U.S.born citizens.

Being more welcoming to immigrants would also make the city more attractive to employers.

The city, the largest in American history to file for bankruptcy, has been hollowed out by a long population de-

cline, from 1.8 million people in its heyday of the 1950s, to about 713,000 today at the time of the 2010 census. During that time, Detroit steadily lost many of its manufacturing jobs, and huge numbers of workers fled to the suburbs.

One critic of Snyder’s proposal said it appears to dismiss immigrants who have not achieved high levels of education. Even if it does not take a specific job away from native-born job-seekers, it makes immigrants “more marketable than educated current residents,’’ said the Rev. Horace Sheffield III, executive director of the Detroit Association of Black Organizations.

About 1 in 5 Detroit residents are without a high school diploma, according to Detroit Future City, a 2012 report that examined how the city can remake itself. Another 35 per cent have diplomas, but no other kind of training. And for every 100 residents, there are only 27 jobs, the study found.

Ottawa Star • February 1, 2014

World

www.OttawaStar.com • PAGE 15

How retirement systems vary among major nations, from the US to China to Germany The Associated Press

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etirement systems vary widely from country to country. In China, policymakers are just beginning to expand retirement benefits to everyone. In Australia, people have been compelled for years to save for their own retirements.

Italy and Germany are raising retirement ages and cutting benefits.

Here’s a look at retirement systems in key nations: United States: The United States is struggling to finance its promises to future retirees. Social Security is the core of its system. Social Security payments are financed by a tax on both workers and employers. The payments average $1,269 a month. Twothirds of retirees rely on Social Security for most of their income. Americans can collect as early as age 62 but don’t receive the full benefit unless they wait later to collect—until age 66 for those born from 1943 through 1959 and age 67 for those born after. Many also rely on corporate pensions. But companies have been replacing them with 401(k)style plans. These plans require employees to save and invest themselves. But many who are eligible for 401(k) or similar plans don’t enrol in them, contribute too little or raid their accounts before retirement.

China: China’s population is aging rapidly.

That has left a shortage of working-age people to pay into the pension system. For now, the retirement system remains generous for most city dwellers. Urban workers pay 8 per cent of their income toward retirement; their employers add 20 per cent. The pensions equal about half of pre-retirement income. Men are eligible for pensions at 60, women at 50 to 55. Only about half of adults are covered by the urban pensions or similar pensions that are available to government workers.

In 2009, China introduced a pension plan for rural areas. But it’s barely begun. And it pays rural retirees an average of just $12 a month. Policymakers are considering raising the retirement age for urban workers.

China tightly regulates investing, making it difficult for workers to put money in riskier investments that offer higher returns and the potential to build significant retirement savings. China is reviewing ways to ease investment restrictions.

Japan: An aging Japan is struggling to finance the retirement of its baby boom generation. It has a three-part system: Workers receive a flat-rate pen-

sion of about 66,000 yen ($657) a month from a fund partially financed by worker contributions. They also receive a second pension based on their earnings, financed entirely by their contributions. And they can contribute to additional plans that are voluntary. They can collect the flat-rate pension after contributing for 25 years; they become eligible for a full benefit after 40 years. The flat-rate and earnings-based pensions combined replace an average of only about 25 per cent of pre-retirement income. Many older Japanese, who had lifetime jobs with good benefits, have accumulated hefty savings. But younger workers, who came of age amid a sluggish economy and corporate cutbacks, are struggling to save.

Germany: Germany’s retirement system is generous for many, but getting less so. The post-World War II economic boom financed comfortable retirements. The system still provides the bulk of income for retired people—about 70 per cent as of 2010.

Germans can retire with a full pension at 65, though the age is gradually rising. People born after 1964 face a retirement age of 67.

The system replaces 58 per cent of average take-home pay. The pensions are funded by a payroll tax with no investment assets backing the government’s promises—a socalled pay-as-you-go system. Pensions are tied to earnings during a person’s working years. But the formula now reduces pension levels as the ratio of retirees to workers rises.

There’s an additional benefit that serves as a safety net for very low-income retirees.

Many people who work for major employers also have company-based pensions.

France: Older French workers who want to retire early have a good deal: The minimum age for a full pension for most of them is just 62 as long as they’ve contributed to the system for at least 41.5 years.

France has a tax-funded pension and mandatory employer programs. A worker who earned France’s median wage receives 60.8 per cent of pre-retirement take-home pay. In October, France raised the contribution period to receive a full public pension from 41.5 to 43 years—but only after 2020. By then, most of France’s baby boomers will have retired.

Britain: Britain’s government pension system is designed to protect retirees from misery, not make them comfortable. British retirees receive just 38 per cent of their income from government pensions, far less than German and Italian

retirees; British retirees get 26 per cent from company pensions. Britain has a multi-tier state pension system, funded by a payroll tax in which higher earners pay more. The first tier is a basic state pension. For someone who’s contributed for a full 30 years or more, it equals 110.15 pounds ($177.34) a week. It’s the same for all retirees regardless of how much they contributed. A so-called second state pension is supposed to reflect an employee’s earnings more closely. Complicated? Yes. Pending legislation would create a single-tier state pension.

Brazil: Brazil is ranked second-best of 20 countries evaluated by the Center for Strategic and International Studies for maintaining retirees’ incomes.

But it’s only No. 18 in its ability to pay for its retirement system over the long term.

In the 1980s, Brazil introduced a generous government pension system before it became rich enough to afford one. The system is financed with a payroll tax; higherpaid workers contribute more. Brazilians need contribute for only 15 years to receive full benefits at age 65 (for men) or 60 (or women). Men can retire at 53 if they’ve contributed to the system for 30 years, women at age 48 if they’ve contributed for 25 years. For Brazilians who earned average wages, Brazil’s pensions replace 97 per cent of their old take-home pay, well above a 69 per cent average for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Brazil will strain to pay those pensions as its population ages.

Italy: Italy’s state pension program used to offer generous benefits, but they’ve been gradually declining since 1995. Until a 2004 reform, Italians could retire with generous benefits as early as age 57. Austerity measures enacted in response to Italy’s debt crisis will raise the retirement age to 66 by 2018. Pensions, along with other programs like unemployment benefits, are funded by taxes. Despite the cutbacks that will reduce pensions for future retirees, Italians still rely mostly on the state pension. There’s been discussion of ways to prod people to save more by encouraging or requiring company-based pensions or private savings. Only about a quarter of Italians are covered by a company pension. Italians get 72 per cent of their retirement income from the government.

Australia: Australia’s system is considered a model in ensuring that people save enough for retirement. A 1993 program requires em-

ployers to contribute an amount equal to 9.25 per cent of a worker’s income into a retirement fund. (The required contributions will rise to 12 per cent by 2020.) Australians can’t withdraw money in their accounts before retirement.

Most Australians also receive a government pension financed from general tax revenue. In the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ rankings of 20 countries’ retirement systems, Australia is ranked fourth-best in ensuring comfortable incomes for its retirees. It is sixthbest in its ability to finance its system.

South Korea: South Korea’s retirement system is stingy and getting stingier. A government program pays benefits depending on average income and years of contributions. Full pensions are available at age 60; the age will rise to 65 by 2033. In 2008, the typical retiree could expect a government pension equal to half of average pre-tax earnings. But that figure is being gradually lowered to 40 per cent in 2028. Employees and employers must contribute 4.5 per cent of wages each toward retirement. The selfemployed can choose to pay up to 9 per cent. Companies also offer 401(k)-style pensions, severance packages or individual retirement accounts. Workers can receive both the government and employer plans. But many elderly South Koreans are struggling: They are living longer than they had expected and didn’t save enough for old age. Many also counted on their children to care for them in retirement—a system that’s breaking down as younger workers prefer to live on their own. The country has the developed world’s highest poverty rate among the aged: 45.1 per cent, compared with an average 13.5 per cent for 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Denmark: Denmark offers a basic government pension and a supplementary benefit in which people receive less as their income rises. Government pensions are funded on a pay-as-you-go basis from tax revenue. There’s also a government pension based on an individual’s contributions at work. Additionally, 90 per cent of full-time workers are covered by company pensions. The typical retiree receives nearly 95 per cent of average pre-retirement, take-home pay. The poorest pensioners receive an annual payment of 7,800 kroner ($1,400). The retirement age is 65, rising to 67 starting in 2024. After 2025, the retirement age will be indexed to life expectancy to account for longer lifespans.

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