EU-DIGEST

Prime Minister suspends parliament to avoid censure

The Canadian Parliament was shut down Thursday after an unprecedented request by Prime Minister Stephen Harper allowed him to avoid a vote that would have surely toppled his government.Harper had scheduled a confidence vote on several budget proposals for next Monday, but once the opposition Liberal and New Democratic Party (NDP) released a public agreement to bring the government down and form a coalition to replace it, Harper asked the Governor General, Michaëlle Jean, to prorogue Parliament until January. Opposition leaders cried foul, saying the Prime Minister’s request was an overt attempt to save his own job. "We must realize the enormity of what has happened here today. For the first time in the history of Canada, the Prime Minister of Canada is running away from the Parliament of Canada," said Liberal leader Stéphane Dion after the suspension was made official.

Note EU-Digest: Suspending parliament is something only dictators do. Mr. Harper's 44 % popularity with the Canadian voters does not sound like an overwhelming vote of confidence to do so? All we need now is that President Bush and his confidants find this an appealing idea and declare Martial Law in the US before the inauguration of President elect Barack Obama, giving the economic meltdown there as the excuse to do so. If he does, he should realize the US population will not be as passive as the Canadians have been so far.

Labels: Canada, George Bush, Martial Law, Revolution, Stephen Harper, USA

Now, America is everyone’s promised land - by Jim Meek

A century ago, most of the summer people traveled here ( Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia) from south of the border. This week, all eyes were looking southward. How could any nation, even a wildly unpredictable one like the United States, produce a Sarah Palin and a Barack Obama in the same election campaign? In response to the crisis, Obama may well attempt to emulate one of his heroes, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who regulated the financial and banking industries during the Depression. With Roosevelt and Lincoln as his presidential ancestors, Obama has steep monuments to climb. And as if that doesn’t make his job tough enough, he also has to carry the legacies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali. At least that’s my crackpot theory.

Labels: Barack Obama, Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia

No change for Canada

IT IS an emphatic victory, even if the ruling party has failed, again, to secure a majority in parliament. Results from the general election held on Tuesday October 14th suggest that the Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, have secured 143 of the 308 seats in the House of Commons, a gain of 16 seats. The Liberal Party, led by Stéphane Dion, has suffered a serious defeat, picking up just 76 seats. Not everything has gone to plan for Mr Harper. Conventional wisdom in Canada suggests that no party can form a majority government without a strong showing in the French-speaking province of Quebec. His assiduous courting of Quebeckers since he took office in January 2006 produced no results. He learned to speak French passably, declared them a nation and gave the province a special seat at international gatherings. Despite those efforts, the big gains he envisaged did not materialize.

Some pundits are predicting that the new government will not last long. For weary Canadians, who have now voted three times in less than five years, the prospect of another election would be unwelcome. The only consolation is that tight restrictions on both political contributions and spending mean that general elections cost a pittance compared with those next door USA.

Labels: Canada, Elections

World Economic Woes: Canadian PM blames US financial woes on 'irresponsible' policies

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Thursday blamed the current US financial crisis and its worldwide fallout on "irresponsible" policies. "The economic and financial mess in the US is disastrous and the policies have been irresponsible," Harper said during a televised political debate ahead of an October 14 vote. "In the US right now, let's be clear, they are bailing out the banking system because of misregulation. We are not doing that in Canada," he said, dismissing accusations his Conservative government has not done enough to bolster Canada's slowing economy.

Labels: Canada, US Economic Meltdown

Iceland: Icelandair cuts winter flights to Halifax

“In order to secure future growth in Nova Scotia and despite our intended goal of year-round service, Icelandair regretfully announces it has become necessary to suspend winter service from Halifax, Canada. This adjustment is a reflection of broader strategies within the entire company; departments, employee numbers and schedules are being decreased in an attempt to streamline work processes and reduce costs. These actions are the result of external economic factors that could not be foreseen when the service was launched. As scheduled, Icelandair will operate three flights weekly through August 30, 2008, with two flights weekly until October 20, 2008, when service will be suspended. Service will then resume with two flights weekly beginning May 14, 2009, and with three flights weekly beginning June 13, 2009, until August 31, 2009. Flights will then return to two flights weekly September 1, 2009".

Labels: Airline Industry, Canada, Fuel Costs, Iceland

Canadian PM Harper heads to Europe for busy trip

Prime Minister Stephen Harper leaves Monday night for a whirlwind tour of Europe, where he'll meet the Queen and talk about being green. Harper will touch down in France, Germany, Italy and Great Britain during his three-day sojourn and will meet the leaders of each of those countries. "This trip is a short, tightly focused journey and it is definitely a working visit," said Sandra Buckler, the prime minister's director of communications.

Labels: Canada, EU

When free speech offends Muslims

"Everybody favours free speech in the slack moments when no axes are being ground," 20th-century American journalist Heywood Broun once wrote. The real test of mettle is allowing free speech to thrive while axes aggressively grind. Just ask Canadian publisher Ezra Levant and author Mark Steyn.

"For a government bureaucrat to call any publisher or anyone else to an interrogation to be quizzed about his political or religious expression is a violation of 800 years of common law, a Universal Declaration of Rights, a Bill of Rights, and a Charter of Rights. This commission is applying Saudi values, not Canadian values."

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation recently did something it was too craven to do two years ago. During a news segment regarding the HRC, Canada's public broadcaster aired – briefly, fleetingly – the Danish cartoons. This is heartening. Much of the Canadian – and Western – left has seemed far too eager in recent years to buckle in the face of, and even sympathize with, Islamist extremism. Let's hope these cases bring about an understanding of what's at stake.

Labels: Canada, EU, Islam, Muslims

Charest wants to increase European trade - by Kevin Dougherty

Quebec has to seek a "new economic space," Premier Jean Charest said yesterday before flying to Paris for a mission that will also take him to London, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and Vancouver, where he will pitch his ideas to the other Canadian premiers. "I see it as significant for the future, the next 20 years in Quebec," he said of his goal to negotiate manpower mobility agreements with France, Ontario and through the Council of the Federation, the rest of Canada. Charest also wants "a nucleus" of the other provinces to buy into his plan for Canada-European free trade.

"The federal government has the power to sign treaties, but the issues that will be negotiated will fall in good part within areas of provincial jurisdiction," he told reporters after a two-day meeting with his Quebec Liberal caucus. "The European partners need to know that the provinces are part and parcel of this negotiation and that they are committed to making it happen," he said. "It is in our long-term interest to diversify towards other places," he added. "And that starts with Europe." In Paris today, Charest will meet French Prime Minister François Fillon to discuss progress toward an agreement he wants signed this year on the mobility of people between France and Quebec, which involves mutual recognition of diplomas and professional qualifications. "The future depends on our ability to attract the best minds in the world to our economy," the premier said. "If we're able to sign this agreement with France, we'll be the first in the world to conclude an agreement of this type."

Labels: Canada, EU, France, Quebec

U.S. and Canada's 'marriage' on the rocks - by Jennifer Wells

As the United States became mired in the sepulchral quagmire known as the sub-prime mortgage debacle and as the Canadian economy revelled, more or less, in a commodities boom, economists were seized by the notion that Canada might "decouple" from its American neighbour.

Labels: Canada, US

Utherverse and Amsterdam's popular Red Light Centre Website now offering virtual sex and drugs hits Canada - by Suzanne Fournier

Police are concerned about a website being set up in B.C. that combines Facebook-like social interaction with virtual drug deals and naked characters having sex. Bruce Shuster, owner of Utherverse Inc. and Amsterdam's popular Red Light Centre site, claims he's already had 40,000 free hits, and found 1,200 people willing to pay $20 per month for an avatar - computerized persona - that can get naked, have sex, get into the "passion club," and buy virtual alcohol and drugs.Shuster claims his site is restricted to "18 and over"and he insists "it's an incredibly self-policing community. "Any time a minor pops onto one of our sites we boot them out."

Shuster wouldn't disclose if he has a way to verify age.He also insists "pedophiles are not going to be trawling our site because none of our avatars are children." Far from hiding or encouraging stalkers or predators, Shuster says his site promotes sexual liberation. "Users feel liberated. Women e-mail me saying they appreciate another aspect of their sexuality by using an avatar."

Labels: Amsterdam, Canada, Ottawa, Sex

Overseas Travel to US plunged 20% since 9/11 : Europe and Canada picking up the slack- by Doreen Hemlock

Overseas travel to the United States has plunged 20 percent since Sept. 11, 2001, but a new U.S. law could help stem the slide, especially for South American visitors vital to South Florida, participants said at a travel industry conference in Hollywood.

Travelers requiring visas are forgoing the United States, partly because Washington now requires personal interviews to apply for visas but lacks staff to handle them. In Brazil, for example, wait times for visa interviews now top 60 days. Foreign visitors also rate U.S. border entry as the world's most unfriendly, worse than the Middle East, surveys show.

Europe is picking up some of the Latin American business that used to go to the US, as the number of direct flights between Europe and Latin America expands.Travelers requiring visas are forgoing the United States, partly because Washington now requires personal interviews to apply for visas but lacks staff to handle them. In Brazil, for example, wait times for visa interviews now top 60 days. Foreign visitors also rate U.S. border entry as the world's most unfriendly, worse than the Middle East, surveys show.

Labels: Canada, EU, Tourism, USA

Immigration: More Americans heading North to Canada - by Tim Harper

An analysis of immigration statistics done by the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies showed the number of Americans who moved to Canada in 2006 hit a 30-year high, almost double the number who moved north in 2000 when Bush was elected for a first term as U.S. president. The day after Bush was re-elected president, there were 191,000 hits on Canada's immigration website, six times its average traffic, most of it from the U.S.

The analysis also showed the southward brain drain is being narrowed somewhat, and most of the American migrants are highly educated people who may be moving to Canada for quality of life and social reasons.For 34-year-old labour organizer Tom Kertes, the move last April from Seattle, Wash., to Toronto was based on human rights. "The words `human rights' are foreign words in the U.S.,'' Kertes said. "They only apply to other countries.''He also cited the war in Iraq and the torture of Iraqi prisoners by Americans – and the failure of the Bush administration to clearly disavow such practice – as contributing factors to what is a major decision.

Labels: Canada, Immigration, Liberty, US

Cruise industry cheers cash, calls for port upgrades : European tourists appear to be key to the strategy

Canada: The chairman of Cruise Newfoundland and Labrador says more than cash will be needed to promote the province as a tourist destination. The Canadian federal government has announced $300,000 to help market the province's ports to the cruise industry, with the Newfoundland and Labrador tourism department kicking in another $100,000. Stelman Flynn, who is chairman of Cruise Newfoundland and Labrador, said the money will help bring tourist business to more remote parts of the province, including communities in Labrador, where he lives.About 20,000 cruise ship passengers are expected to pass through St. John's this year. Next year, he said, the estimated intake is about 55,000 passengers.European tourists appear to be key to the strategy. Cruise Newfoundland and Labrador recently signed agreements with Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Orkney Islands to help promote cruises in the North Atlantic rim.The funds announced Monday will be used, in part, in advertising and trade shows to raise awareness of ports of call in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Labels: Canada, Cruise Industry, Europe

Poll: over 40% of Canadian teens think America is "evil" - by Arthur Weinreb

several Canadian newspapers including the National Post as well as the Global Television Network commissioned a series of polls to determine how young people feel about the issues that were facing the country’s voters.

n one telephone poll of teens between the ages of 14 and 18, over 40 per cent of the respondents described the United States as being "evil". That number rose to 64 per cent for French Canadian youth. This being Canada, the amount of anti-Americanism that was found is not surprising. What is significant is the high number of teens who used the word "evil" to describe our southern neighbor. As Misty Harris pointed out in her column in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, evil is usually associated with serial killers and "kids who tear the legs off baby spiders."

Labels: Canada, Political, USA

Ukraine Looks to Canada for Nuclear Energy Help - by Lee Berthiaume

Ukraine is actively searching for alternative energy supplies to avoid another energy crisis, and Canadian nuclear technology and expertise could play a big role, the country's foreign minister said Monday. On Jan. 1, 2006, Russia cut natural gas to Ukraine, through which a quarter of Europe's gas is supplied–just over a year after the 'Orange Revolution' that saw pro-Western president Viktor Yushchenko take power.

While Russia said the dispute was over gas prices and Ukraine's refusal to pay, critics alleged the move was intended to keep it from leaning too far west.

Labels: Canada, Ukraine

Air Transat adds 16th wide-body jet to its fleet with new Airbus plane

Air Transat, a holiday travel airline owned by Montreal-based tour operator Transat A.T. Inc. (TSX:TRZ.B), is expanding the size of its fleet to 16 wide-body jets, with the addition of a new Airbus A310-300 plane.

Air Transat operates 12 A310s, which carry 259 passengers, as well as four Airbus A330s with up to 363 seats. The bigger fleet will be used to expand Air Transat and Transat Holidays operations from Canada to Europe, the company said.

Labels: Air Transat, Airbus, Aircraft Industry, Canada

Eurofighter Typhoon Jets Over Dartmouth Canada Last Saturday - Why? - by D.L. McCracken

The RAF fighter jets over Darthmouth flying in formation alongside a fairly large and also unrecognizable 747-like aircraft, were in fact "Eurofighter Typhoons" a delta strike fighter aircraft which was designed and built by several European aerospace manufacturers. There are at least 114 Eurofighters in current operation in the UK, Italy, Spain and Germany. In 2006 Saudi Arabia ordered 72 of them. There are no Eurofighters in North America. Eurofighter Typhoons are considered to be state-of-the-art in fighter aircraft and boast classified stealth features.

The many eyewitnesses to this event were unsettled and more than a few were fearful of this spectacle in the sky and for good reason considering the state of the world right now."

Labels: Canada, Eurofighters, Fighter Aircraft sales

Denhaan’s operation in Lawrencetown is giving a new meaning to green tomatoes. Luke Denhaan, operational manager, said a new biomass heating system installed two years ago at the Fitch Rd. greenhouse is not just paying for itself, but is paying dividends to the local economy, and the environment.

The operation employs between 25 and 50 people throughout the year, and produces nearly two million pounds of tomatoes that are sold throughout Atlantic Canada. With oil prices so unstable, it was no longer feasible to continue heating the operation using fossil fuels. Denhaan said that the new state of the art biomass system guarantees the facility’s future. "It came down to shut the doors, or invest in green energy," he said. "With the old system we were using about 65,000 to 100,000 litres of propane, it’s dropped to about 4,000."

Denhaan said before they made the move to the wood burning system, they compared several alternative energy heating systems, and looked at what was working well in Holland greenhouses. The $750,000 biomass system, shipped from Ontario, promised a cheaper and more readily available fuel alternative. "It burns about 3000 cord a year," he said. "We buy waste wood from local people, and then run the logs through a chipper." They investigated the possibility of using geothermal energy, but found that the high cost of installing the system prohibitive. Some greenhouses in Holland rely on this type of energy, which uses deep pipes to draw energy form the earth. He added that eventually they might shift to this type of energy in the future.

Labels: Alternative Energy Resources, biomass, Canada, The Netherlands