Canadians Remember - September 11, 2001
CANADA
MILITARY NEWS: Remember United Nations
was formed on the ashes of the Jewish Holocaust/SYRIA-MIDDLE EAST cares so
little 4 Muslim Women and children- Canada must step away and fix ourselves and
walk away from United Nations- they are NOT saviours of the world's women,
children and poor - they just feed $$$killing and terror it seems- why should
one nation follow UN and heretic muslims wipe their arses on the Geneva
Convention... let's fix our selves- our Nato troops- our Canada/CANADA NEEDS 2
STEP AWAY FROM COUNTRIES DRAWING NEW BOUNDARIES ie... EU –RUSSIA/NEWS
UNESCO Cancels Jewish Exhibit Under Arab
Pressure
UNESCO at 2013 General Conference in
Paris, France. (Photo credit: AP/Benjamin Girette)
By Hillel Neuer
By Hillel Neuer
Days
before the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was
to launch a landmark exhibit at its Paris
headquarters this Monday on “The 3,500 Year Relationship of the Jewish People
and the Land of Israel,” curated together with the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the
world body reneged. (See invitation below.)
The
surprise here isn’t that UNESCO chief Irina Bokova surrendered to the Arab
League’s protest, rudely cancelling an event for which invitations were already
sent out, and which involved painstaking work over two years by renowned
Hebrew University scholar Robert Wistrich.
Rather, the only surprises here — for an
organization that up until several weeks ago grotesquely featured Bashar
al-Assad’s Syria on its human rights committee — are that Bokova ever gave her
approval in the first place; and that it took this long for the Arab states to
wake up, given that the Wiesenthal Center for over two years had been loud and clear
that the exhibit was designed to counteract “malicious lies being spread,
particularly in the Arab world,” and would be shown “not in a synagogue or
Jewish community center, but rather at UNESCO headquarters in Paris and the
United Nations where this historic truth [the Jewish connection to Israel] is
too often buried under an avalanche of lies.”
For
anyone who knows anything about UNESCO — the first UN body, in November 2011,
to deem “Palestine” a state — surrender to Arab
pressure on this matter was inevitable.
Despite the repeated claims of the Obama Administration that UNESCO is God’s gift to the Jews, and to humanity, the opposite is true: it is arguably the most anti-Jewish body in the entire United Nations.
If
the notorious UN Human Rights Council dedicates a full 50 percent of its
resolutions to demonizing the Jewish state, at UNESCO the numbers are 100
percent.
That’s
right: all of UNESCO's condemnatory resolutions are against Israel.
First,
consider the facts:
·
In
2009, the UNESCO Executive Board adopted eight resolutions against the Jewish
state at its 181st session and 182nd session, and then another two resolutions
against Israel at the 35th session of the General Conference.
·
In
2010, the UNESCO Executive Board adopted 10 decisions against Israel at its 184th session and 185th session.
·
In
2011, the UNESCO Executive Board again adopted 10 decisions against Israel at
its 186th session and 187th session, and another two resolutions
against Israel at the 36th session of the General Conference.
Astonishingly,
during this same time period, an examination of all UNESCO decisions and
resolutions — just click on the links above — shows that not a single other
country was censured even once.
Exceptionally,
in 2012, UNESCO condemned Syria for its bloody crackdown, in one resolution.
Yet this took place only after Western countries were pressured by UN Watch’s protest against UNESCO’s shameful
election of Syria to its committee that judges human rights petitions, as well
as to its committee that oversees non-governmental organizations.
This
condemnation of Syria was a one-off; it failed to reappear in 2013. Instead,
Israel returned once again to being the only country singled out by UNESCO.
Second,
consider the audacity: Bokova justified her cancellation of Monday’s Jewish
exhibit by invoking UNESCO’s alleged concern not to endanger the fragile
Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Yet somehow this noble principle of
caution for peace never stopped UNESCO from excoriating Israel incessantly.
Finally,
consider the tragedy: founded after World War II with the express purpose of
combating the doctrine of the inequality of men and races,
UNESCO today has sadly become a serial perpetrator of inequality.
Hillel Neuer is the
executive director of UN Watch
--------------
O
Canada – First Nation's Version French version by the First Nations Children’s
Choir
BLOGGED:
O CANADA- a little good news, globally Canada is doing $$$ well, global news
God bless our troops- God bless r Canada – so many great things globally-
heartbreak, goodness all mixed in
and.//
---------------------
Canada's
terrible storms.... horrible accidents in our beloved Quebec... floods...
poverty...homeless... troops coming home weary of war 2 no game plans by any
political party 4 their future... schools on strike whilst students try 2 write
exams... and on and on and on... with sprinkles of good news...like
Giving
the homeless a shot
LAURA
FRASER STAFF REPORTER
Last
Updated January 27, 2014 - 9:02am
---------------
I f Muslim nations care nought 4 their women and children and progress... how can we??? We are weary and tired and want our men and women serving our nation working with achieveable goals that all Nato and what ever is left of UN and power politicians stick 2- our troops on the ground deserve the best of us... and so do the children of this world- kids matter
CHILD
OF THE UNIVERSE (Lyrics) Desiderata by Max Ehrmann - all kids matter
-----------------------
Good
Old Hockey Game (The Hockey Song) Stompin'
Tom Connors
The
Hockey Song is a Canadian anthem, written and sung originally by Stompin' Tom
Connors. It is now routinely played at hockey arenas where the crowds sing
along.
The song first appeared on Connors' 1973 album, Stompin' Tom and the Hockey Song. However, the song did not reach its tremendous popularity until 1992. It was at this time, that the song was played at Ottawa Senators games. Pat Burns, then coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs wanted to have it played in Toronto. Fans took a liking to the song, and it spread throughout both Canadian and American NHL arenas. Today, it is a well known song, celebrating Canada's love for one of its national games, hockey.
The song is well known for its chorus,
Oh! The good old hockey game,
Is the best game you can name;
And the best game you can name,
Is the good old Hockey game!
The verses of the song are split up, so that each one describes a period of play in a typical hockey game. In the first verse, Connors sings "Someone roars, Bobby scores!" This was probably done because many popular players in the NHL at the time who were named Bobby, namely Bobby Orr, Bobby Clarke and Bobby Hull. In the last verse, Connors sings that it is the last game of the playoffs, and the "Stanley Cup is all filled up for the champs that win the drink". He later also sings "The puck is in, the home team wins!" which in concert, he may change "home team" to an actual team based on where he is playing.
The song has been covered by many bands, including Corb Lund Band and The Hanson Brothers. One such cover version was used as the theme song for the 1990s CTV series, Power Play, while another was used to open NHL broadcasts on CTV Sportsnet in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In 2004, the American comedy-talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien taped a week's worth of shows in Canada. During one of these telecasts, Connors, making one of the first American TV appearances of his entire career, was brought on to perform "The Hockey Song".
With the expiration of CBC Television's license of "The Hockey Theme" for Hockey Night in Canada, Connors has let it be known that he would be open to an appropriate licensing offer for his song as a replacement theme song.
GOOD OLD HOCKEY GAME
Stompin' Tom Connors
Hello out there, were on the air
it's hockey night tonight!
The tension grows,
the whistle blows,
and the puck goes down the ice.
The golie jumps,
and and the players bump,
and the fans all go insane.
Someone roars:
"Bobby Scores!"
At the good old hockey game!
(chours)
Oh!
The good old hockey game!
Its the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!
Second Period.
Where players dash,
with skates a-flash,
the home team trails behind.
But they grab the puck,
and go bursting up,
and their down across the line.
They storm the crease,
like bumblebees,
and they travel like a burning flame.
We see them slide the puck inside,
its a one one hockey game!
(chours)
Oh!
The good old hockey game!
Its the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!
Third Period.
Last game in the play-offs too.
Oh take me where, the hockey players,
face off down the rink,
And the Stanley Cup,
is all filled up,
for the champs who win the drink!
Now the final flick,
of a hockey stick,
and a one gigantic scream:
"THE PUCK IS IN! THE HOME TEAM WINS!"
At the good ol hockey game
(chorus repeat 3 times)
OH!
The good old hockey game!
Its the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!
The song first appeared on Connors' 1973 album, Stompin' Tom and the Hockey Song. However, the song did not reach its tremendous popularity until 1992. It was at this time, that the song was played at Ottawa Senators games. Pat Burns, then coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs wanted to have it played in Toronto. Fans took a liking to the song, and it spread throughout both Canadian and American NHL arenas. Today, it is a well known song, celebrating Canada's love for one of its national games, hockey.
The song is well known for its chorus,
Oh! The good old hockey game,
Is the best game you can name;
And the best game you can name,
Is the good old Hockey game!
The verses of the song are split up, so that each one describes a period of play in a typical hockey game. In the first verse, Connors sings "Someone roars, Bobby scores!" This was probably done because many popular players in the NHL at the time who were named Bobby, namely Bobby Orr, Bobby Clarke and Bobby Hull. In the last verse, Connors sings that it is the last game of the playoffs, and the "Stanley Cup is all filled up for the champs that win the drink". He later also sings "The puck is in, the home team wins!" which in concert, he may change "home team" to an actual team based on where he is playing.
The song has been covered by many bands, including Corb Lund Band and The Hanson Brothers. One such cover version was used as the theme song for the 1990s CTV series, Power Play, while another was used to open NHL broadcasts on CTV Sportsnet in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In 2004, the American comedy-talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien taped a week's worth of shows in Canada. During one of these telecasts, Connors, making one of the first American TV appearances of his entire career, was brought on to perform "The Hockey Song".
With the expiration of CBC Television's license of "The Hockey Theme" for Hockey Night in Canada, Connors has let it be known that he would be open to an appropriate licensing offer for his song as a replacement theme song.
GOOD OLD HOCKEY GAME
Stompin' Tom Connors
Hello out there, were on the air
it's hockey night tonight!
The tension grows,
the whistle blows,
and the puck goes down the ice.
The golie jumps,
and and the players bump,
and the fans all go insane.
Someone roars:
"Bobby Scores!"
At the good old hockey game!
(chours)
Oh!
The good old hockey game!
Its the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!
Second Period.
Where players dash,
with skates a-flash,
the home team trails behind.
But they grab the puck,
and go bursting up,
and their down across the line.
They storm the crease,
like bumblebees,
and they travel like a burning flame.
We see them slide the puck inside,
its a one one hockey game!
(chours)
Oh!
The good old hockey game!
Its the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!
Third Period.
Last game in the play-offs too.
Oh take me where, the hockey players,
face off down the rink,
And the Stanley Cup,
is all filled up,
for the champs who win the drink!
Now the final flick,
of a hockey stick,
and a one gigantic scream:
"THE PUCK IS IN! THE HOME TEAM WINS!"
At the good ol hockey game
(chorus repeat 3 times)
OH!
The good old hockey game!
Its the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!
Ice-makers
battle weather to ready rink for Long Pond tournament
GLEN
PARKER
Published
January 27, 2014 - 7:24am
enny
Rippey, left, and Terry McCulloch clear the snow off the ice in preparation for
the Birthplace of Hockey Long Pond Heritage Classic tournament Feb. 8 and 9.
(GLEN PARKER)
WINDSOR
— Volunteers are doing their best to have the outdoor ice ready for the
Birthplace of Hockey Long Pond Heritage Classic tournament Feb. 8-9.
With
the weather conditions this winter, it is not an easy task.
“It’s
a battle,” Kenny Rippey said Saturday.
He
and his crew were anticipating a weekend of wind, rain and mild conditions
before a drop in temperatures Sunday evening. Those conditions are not ideal if
you are trying to provide hockey players with a smooth sheet of ice.
It
is a typical Nova Scotia winter weekend. Like the saying goes, if you don’t
like the weather, wait 10 minutes and it will change.
“We’ve
been trying to get the snow off the ice,” Rippey said. “It’s been acting like
insulation creating a layer of water between the ice and snow.”
The
ice was about 20 centimetres thick Friday.
“Hopefully,
the rain will level (the ice) off. If not, we’ll flood the pond.”
A
January thaw didn’t help either, but the ice crew is banking on a long-range
weather forecast that looks promising.
“We’ll
be able to play some games on the pond,” Rippey said.
Former
National Hockey League players Rick Middleton, Forbes Kennedy, Gilbert Dionne
and Peter Mahovlich are scheduled to take part in the tournament. They will be
among the 80 players on eight teams. Games will also be played at the Windsor
Exhibition Arena.
“Everything
is a go for the tournament,” said Dave Hunter, president of the Windsor Hockey
Heritage Society.
“We
are in the weather watch-mode right now. When the temperature drops, we should
be able to flood the pond, and it will freeze from the top and bottom of the
ice.”
The
annual tournament gives people the opportunity to play on Long Pond, believed
to be where hockey originated. Proceeds support the society museum.
The
games will be played using pond hockey rules, no goaltenders and no
bodychecking.
Games
will consist of two 20-minute periods of straight-time hockey.
-------------
HONOUR-
COMMEMORATING WWI- THE GREAT WAR.... defined Canada- Vimy Ridge
Thomas
Kienzler and Tyler Dickerson visit the Calgary Military Museums new exhibit,
Forging a Nation: Canada Goes to War at the Founders' Gallery on January 24,
2014. This is the first exhibition to open in Canada on the 100th year
anniversary of the start of the First World War and the kickoff to a series of
events planned across the country.
(Chris Bolin For The Globe and Mail)
(Chris Bolin For The Globe and Mail)
------------
Fortney: Former soldier finds peace helping others
heal wounds of war
By
Val Fortney, Calgary Herald January 27, 2014 9:07 AM
Scott
Guillon, a Canadian Forces veteran of the peacekeeping mission to the former
Yugoslavia, chugs his way up The Junkyard ice fall near Canmore’s Grassi Lakes
while out with the Outward Bound Veterans Program. The program is made possible
through donations from the True Patriot Love Foundation.
Photograph
by: Ted Rhodes , Calgary Herald
Whether
it’s skiing, ice climbing, camping or canoeing, Scott Guillon rarely misses an
opportunity to be active in the great outdoors.
“In
nature, you can be real and raw,” says the 45-year-old Calgarian. “It has
incredible healing powers.”
After
a decade-long career as a Canadian soldier where he found himself in some of
the world’s hot spots, Guillon knows that healing is a vital component of
successful post-military life. “Truth is stranger than fiction,” he says of
things he witnessed, like the aftermath of ethnic cleansing in the former
Yugoslavia, along with a 1994 plane crash at CFB Wainwright that killed five.
After
years of struggle following his release from the Canadian Forces in 1995,
Guillon has found new life in the outdoors. Working with Outward Bound
Veterans’ Programs, he leads fellow soldiers into the wilderness, their time in
nature and being among those who understand their experiences helping them to
recover from the psychological wounds of war.
“Out
there it’s safe for them to talk about anything,” he says of his fellow
expedition members, many who came to see death up close in Afghanistan. “You
see someone who’s bottled things up for so long, suddenly being able to express
themselves. You take them through a process, help them let go of past events.”
The
Outward Bound Veterans’ program is made possible thanks to the True Patriot
Love Foundation (truepatriolove.com), a national organization founded in 2009
by corporate and community leaders. Since its inception it has raised more than
$14 million for Canadian Forces members, veterans and their families.
The
foundation’s vision is to “permanently bridge the military and civilian worlds,
to ensure always that our Canadian Forces men and women have private dollars at
their disposal to address the various gaps inevitably left unfunded by
government.” To fulfil that mandate, it incorporates a wide variety of programs
that address practical, health and emotional needs. Working with local military
families resource centres, it provides assistance for families with special needs,
emergency child care and travel expenses when soldiers are injured as well a
camp for kids of soldiers.
In
2012, The True Patriot Love Expedition saw a doctor, 10 civilians and 12
soldiers, many of them injured in Afghanistan, reach the summit of Island Peak,
a sister mountain to Everest in Nepal. That journey, along with a documentary
commissioned by the CBC called March to the Top, raised $400,000 for the
foundation as well as awareness of its many programs across the country.
On
April 3, the foundation will hold its first ever fund raising dinner in
Calgary, with Laureen Harper, wife of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as the
event’s chair. The proceeds of the event will go directly to helping those
military people in our community. With a goal of raising $1 million, the
organizers of the event are well on their way to reaching that goal with more
than $750,000 already donated by some of Calgary’s biggest corporations.
“We
saw what they were able to do in cities like Toronto and Vancouver and knew we
had to bring this to Calgary,” says co-chair Andy McCreath, who with tinePublic
Inc. business partner Christian Darbyshire is working with TPL to stage the
massive event at Calgary’s BMO Centre. “Seeing how this charity gives back to
soldiers and their families, it was just a no-brainer that Calgary got
involved.”
Local
powerhouse Lois Mitchell, who in 2012 was appointed a Member of the Order of
Canada for her decades of philanthropic work in the city, said an immediate yes
when McCreath and Darbyshire asked her to sign on as a co-chair of the event.
“Our country’s soldiers and their families give so much and ask for so little,”
says Mitchell, whose husband Doug is honorary colonel for the King’s Own
Calgary Regiment. “We need to give back to them, because they need us now.”
Harper,
who hails from the Turner Valley area, says she’s especially pleased to be part
of the city’s first TPL fundraiser. “We don’t have a military presence in
Calgary, so it just slips your mind,” she says. “This is something that helps
remind people — it’s a wonderful group of people that wants to help support the
military.”
Canada’s
decade-long engagement in the Afghan war indeed created a new generation of
returning military with some of the great post-military challenges. Of the more
than 30,000 soldiers deployed to that restive country, 158 never made it home.
Of those who did, more than 2,000 suffered physical injuries that ranged from
minor to life threatening. The recent suicides of four former Canadian Forces
members is testament to war’s invisible but all-too-real danger, that of Post
Traumatic Stress Syndrome.
A
2012 military study found that about eight per cent of those returning from
Afghanistan suffer from symptoms of PTSD, while a 2011 Statistics Canada study
found the percentage of deaths attributable to suicide is 45 per cent higher
among veterans than for the general population.
Like
many others familiar with the military mindset, Scott Guillon suspects the
number of those with PTSD, both from Afghanistan and earlier conflicts, could
be much higher. “You never let anyone know if something’s wrong,” he says.
“That’s your surest way out of the military.”
Combine
the fear of career loss with the macho culture long associated with soldiering,
says Guillon, and you have a recipe for under-reporting of the less obvious but
just as dangerous psychological impacts of the profession.
That’s
something Guillon knows only too well. In addition to dodging bullets, his
1990s soldier experience also came at a time when the Canadian military was
going through a drumming of its reputation thanks to such events as the Somalia
affair, in which two Canadian soldiers brutally beat a Somali teen to death.
“Towards
the end of my career, people pretty much weren’t wearing uniforms off base,” he
says. “Even Remembrance Day was an iffy thing.” After he got out in 1995,
Guillon says he spent the next few years trying to function in civilian life
with only middling success. “Life just sucked,” he says of his attempt to mask
on the outside his inner turmoil. “I lost my sense of purpose and didn’t know
what I was even qualified to do in the civilian world.”
Around
2000, Guillon got involved in the field of personal development after stints as
a renovator, landscaper and real estate salesman. That led him to the TPL
Foundation’s Outward Bound program. “I couldn’t believe someone would set
something up for veterans that had nothing to do with government programs,” he
says of the experience he describes as life changing.
“It
became a validation of who I am — I served my country and here are Canadians
who have put money into a pool to let me reconnect with other soldiers and put
some closure to it.”
Today,
Guillon is thrilled to spend time with other soldiers, helping them to heal by
confronting their pasts in a safe environment. “To try to share your stories
with someone who has no idea what it’s like just makes you feel even more
isolated,” he says. “Bringing veterans together to share their experiences
helps to provide the closure needed to go forward in life.”
Twitter.com/ValFortney
----------
Statement
by the Prime Minister of Canada on the International Day of Commemoration to
Honour the Victims of the Holocaust
January 27, 2014
Ottawa, Ontario
Prime
Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement marking the
International Day of Commemoration to Honour the Victims of the Holocaust:
“Today, let us pause to remember one of the darkest moments in human history, when the Nazis reached a new nadir of inhumanity, intolerance and anti-Semitism, massacring nearly six million Jews and others during the Holocaust.
“Today, let us pause to remember one of the darkest moments in human history, when the Nazis reached a new nadir of inhumanity, intolerance and anti-Semitism, massacring nearly six million Jews and others during the Holocaust.
“This
deliberate, systematic and industrial slaughter of innocent men, women, and
children will forever be a stain on human history. Let us join with the
families and friends in remembering and honouring those who perished during
this senseless horror.
“Last
week I had the privilege of laying a wreath at Yad Vashem in Israel to honour
the victims of the Holocaust. It was a deeply moving experience.
“On
this day, we also remember those individuals of remarkable conviction and
fortitude who stood up for what was right during those dark days, risking
everything to protect those who were being victimized during the Holocaust.
“We
have a duty to honour and continue their inspirational work. That is why our
Government will remain steadfast in its commitment to fight anti-Semitism in
all its forms, and will continue to stand up for the existence of a free and
democratic Jewish State of Israel.”
--------------
Let
banks fail: Iceland’s plan looks to be working
Iceland
let its banks fail in 2008 because they proved too big to save.
Now,
the island is finding crisis-management decisions made half a decade ago have
put it on a trajectory that’s turned 2 percent unemployment into a realistic
goal.
While
the euro area grapples with record joblessness, led by more than 25 percent in
Greece and Spain, only about 4 percent of Iceland’s labor force is without
work. Prime Minister Sigmundur D. Gunnlaugsson says even that’s too high.
“Politicians
always have something to worry about,” the 38-year-old said in an interview
last week. “We’d like to see unemployment going from where it’s now — around 4
percent — to under 2 percent, which may sound strange to most other western
countries, but Icelanders aren’t accustomed to unemployment.”
[related_links
/]
The
island’s sudden economic meltdown in October 2008 made international headlines
as a debt-fueled banking boom ended in a matter of weeks when funding markets
froze. Policy makers overseeing the $14 billion economy refused to back the
banks, which subsequently defaulted on $85 billion. The government’s decision
to protect state finances left it with the means to continue social support
programs that shielded Icelanders from penury during the worst financial crisis
in six decades.
Of
creditor claims against the banks, Gunnlaugsson says “this is not public debt
and never will be.” He says his main goal while in office is “to rebuild the
Icelandic welfare state.”
Though
bank creditors, many of them hedge funds, are still trying to recoup their
money, Iceland’s approach has won praise from the International Monetary Fund
and from numerous economists, including Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman.
Successive
Icelandic governments have forced banks to write off mortgage debts to help
households. In February 2010, 16 months after Kaupthing Bank hf, Glitnir Bank
hf and Landsbanki Islands hf failed, unemployment peaked at 9.3 percent. The
rate was 4.2 percent in December, according to Statistics Iceland. In the euro
area, unemployment held at a record 12.1 percent in November, Eurostat
estimates.
“Even
though the situation is a lot better here than in many other countries, having
over 4 percent unemployment is something we don’t want,” said Gunnlaugsson,
whose government was elected in April.
The
government’s 2014 budget sets aside about 43 percent of its spending for the
Welfare Ministry, a level that is largely unchanged since before the crisis.
According to Stefan Olafsson, a sociology professor at the University of
Iceland, the nation’s focus on welfare has been key in restoring growth.
The
economy will expand 2.7 percent this year, according to the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development. That’s better than the average for the
OECD-area as a whole, which will grow 2.3 percent, the Paris-based group
estimates.
Still,
Iceland’s efforts to resurrect its economy have been far from smooth, Olafsson
said. Inflation, which peaked at 19 percent in January 2009, has hurt Iceland
more than most other countries because most mortgages are linked to the
consumer price index. Though the set-up protects investors, households see
their debt burdens grow as prices rise. Inflation was 4.2 percent in December.
“Although
we’re spending more on welfare matters today than before, we have to keep in
mind that purchasing power has gone down since 2008,” Olafsson said in an
interview. “On top of increasing spending in the health care and education
systems, the government should place emphasis on increasing people’s purchasing
power. That’s the biggest single task.”
Most
of Iceland’s inflation has come via the exchange rate, which has been protected
by capital controls since plunging 80 percent offshore against the euro at the
end of 2008. Gunnlaugsson says any efforts to scale back existing currency
restrictions will only take place at a pace that safeguards krona stability.
“It
is a problem that can be solved, and can be solved quite fast,” Gunnlaugsson
said.
The
krona has appreciated around 10 percent against the euro over the past 12
months. Still, today’s rate of about 157 per euro compares with an average of
88 in 2007, a year before the island’s financial collapse. It slid 0.04 percent
to 157.02 as of 12:50 p.m. in Reykjavik.
To
support households, Gunnlaugsson in November unveiled a plan to provide as much
as 7 percent of gross domestic product in mortgage debt relief. The government
intends to finance the plan, which the OECD has criticized as being too blunt,
partly by raising taxes on banks.
Iceland’s
hard-line against banks and their creditors has prompted warnings that the
nation may struggle to find an investor base once capital controls are lifted.
That hasn’t stopped the government issuing two dollar bonds since 2008.
Gunnlaugsson’s
welfare pledge comes as other Nordic governments reassess their commitment to
state-funded programs. Denmark has scaled back its universal welfare program as
more citizens are means tested. In Sweden, a government that has delivered
multiple rounds of income tax cuts looks set to lose elections this year as
voters pine for a return to more state spending. Krugman this month cautioned
Scandinavian governments against pushing through further cuts. According to
Gunnlaugsson, government support and economic growth go hand in hand.
“First
and foremost we of course want to see stability,” Gunnlaugsson said. “Increased
political stability will mean more investment, more jobs, more creation of
wealth, so that we can continue to maintain the Icelandic welfare state.”
Bloomberg.com
-----------
If
Syria and Syrians and Muslim world doesn't care.... and truly work 2 achieve
dignity and respect of their Muslim women and children.... how can we.... United Nations has betrayed us all....
imho.... Canada- let's look after Canada
League of Nations disbanded in disgrace- 1945- UNITED NATION'S FORMED 1945 ON ASHES OF JEWISH HOLOCAUST- 2 be the saviours of humanity, children, women, education 4 all-
The
UN treaty binds signatory nations to ensuring that their legal systems offer
victims of torture an avenue of legal redress. In June 2012, a UN committee
called on the Canadian government to take “immediate steps” to compensate
Almalki and two other citizens tortured overseas in the aftermath of 9/11.- WTF????- most nations don't observe, respect
or give a sheeet about United Nations... look at the watchdogs.....
seriously????
imho...SERIOUSLY
FOLKS... working with Canada Immigration 4 years... and the question we ask is
u come 2 Canada and claim refugee status.... get ur Citizenship..... THEN
RETURN 2 THE COUNTRY U RAN FROM....????
over and over..
and...
United Nations.... is a disgrace... United Nations was formed on the Jewish
Holocaust 2 become the saviours of our global poor and promising education,
freedoms etc.... after League of Nations betrayed the world so badly..... 2 day
we honour the Holocaust as a remembrance... and the Muslim Nations controlling
UNITED NATIONS.... refused permission 2 honour and remember..... look who is on
the Human Rights Council...... millions of women and children are being raped
and murdered daily around the world.... and UN never participates until 2
late....
...
it costs us $$$38 BILLION A YEAR 2 HARVEST UNITED NATIONS ... and the endless
spiderwebs they have created ..... and have yet 2 have their books audited....
This
man deserves nothing from Canada.... he knew Syria was in crisis and still
marched back 2 this country he claimed refugee status 2 get 2 stay in Canada
from.... ENOUGH... imho
Torture lawsuit “a matter of Canada’s honour:” judge
By
ANDREW DUFFY, OTTAWA CITIZEN
Abdullah
Almalki spent 22 months in Syrian jails after his arrest, which was based on
faulty intelligence.
Photograph
by: Wayne Cuddington , Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa’s
Abdullah Almalki is scheduled to get his day in court — in September 2016 —
more than a decade after filing suit against the federal government for its
alleged complicity in his torture overseas.
Almalki,
a Carleton University engineering grad and father of six, spent 22 months in
Syrian jails after his arrest in Damascus in May 2002. He was questioned based
on faulty Canadian intelligence and tortured.
“The
government has been trying to delay this case as much as they can, but we
finally have a court date,” Almalki, 43, said in an interview Friday. “That’s
something.”
Almalki
and his family are suing the government for $100 million in damages.
In
setting the trial date, Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul Perell declared
that “it is in the public interest and a matter of Canada’s honour” that the
case be settled or decided. The judge imposed a series of deadlines to ensure
that all of the necessary documents are produced and witnesses examined in time
to start the trial.
“These
steps are necessary in order to provide access to justice to the litigants,”
Perell said, “but also to comply with the court’s and this country’s responsibilities
to ensure compliance with the United Nations’ Convention Against Torture.”
The
UN treaty binds signatory nations to ensuring that their legal systems offer
victims of torture an avenue of legal redress. In June 2012, a UN committee
called on the Canadian government to take “immediate steps” to compensate
Almalki and two other citizens tortured overseas in the aftermath of 9/11.
Almalki’s
lawsuit has moved at glacial speed, in part, because the government has refused
to accept factual findings made by two federal inquiries. It means that many of
the facts established in secret by those judicial inquiries must be
re-established in a public courtroom.
That
has precipitated what Justice Perell described as a “profoundly complicated and
excruciatingly frustrating” process of deciding what documents, or parts of
documents, must remain secret. More than 5,000 documents are now being reviewed
in Federal Court because of government claims that their release would damage
national security, national defence or international relations.
“There
has been a protracted and seemingly interminable review process underway before
the Federal Court,” Perell said.
Legal
costs are certain to climb into the millions of dollars. Almalki’s lawyers
recently won $125,000 in court costs from the government after their
substantial success in arguing three motions related to the case. As part of
that victory, Almalki will receive vetted transcripts of in-camera testimony
heard at the Iacobucci inquiry, which examined Canada’s role in the abuse
suffered by Almalki, Ahmad El-Maati and Muayyed Nureddin, all of whom were
detained and tortured in Syria.
In
his report, former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci detailed a series of
investigatory and diplomatic failures in the three cases, which unfolded
between 2001 and 2004. He concluded the government was partially responsible
for what happened to the three men.
In
Almalki’s case, the judge found that the RCMP had inaccurately labelled him in
reports sent to Syria as someone “linked by association to al-Qaida” and an
“imminent threat.”
The
RCMP, Iacobucci said, also wrongly shared raw intelligence on Almalki with U.S.
agencies without imposing any rules on how that information could be used. Some
of that information made its way into the hands of Syrian officials, who used
it to interrogate Almalki.
The
report also exposed the fact that the RCMP sent questions directly to the
Syrians for Almalki, even though there were serious concerns inside the
government that such action could result in Almalki’s torture.
Officials
at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) drafted a
letter to the RCMP, which warned that sending questions to the Syrians would
offend domestic and international law, as well as Canada’s foreign policy. That
letter, however, was never sent to the RCMP because of communication errors
inside of DFAIT.
After
the Iacobucci inquiry issued its report in 2008, a Commons committee
recommended the government apologize to Almalki and compensate him.
The
Conservative government, however, has chosen to ignore that recommendation and
contest Almalki’s lawsuit. Government lawyers insist Canadian officials played
no role in Almalki’s detention or mistreatment in Syria. They blame the
Syrians.
In
2001, Almalki was an Ottawa businessman who came under intense scrutiny by the
RCMP, CSIS and FBI in the aftermath of 9/11. He was investigated for at least
six years: his home was raided, the contents of his computer analyzed, and his
friends and relatives interviewed. He has never been charged with any crime.
One
RCMP investigator’s memo, dated Oct. 4, 2001, concluded: “O Div. (Ontario
Division) task force are presently finding it difficult to establish anything
on him (Almalki) other than the fact he is an Arab running around.”
------------
IDLE
NO MORE- Canada's First Peoples 10,000 years.... we honour u... please honour
Canadians... as well... it's time....
Canada
is home to 1.4 million natives, who make up 4.3 percent of the population,
compared with the U.S.’s 2 percent, according to the most-current census data.
More than half of Canada’s First Nations peoples, as they are known, live and
work in cities; the rest are scattered across six time zones on more than 600
reserves.
------------------
If
One Million Canadian Ukrainians returned 2 support Ukraine what a difference it
would make..... this is a tug of war between EU and Russia and boundaries they
are fighting 4 supremecy..... check the maps..... same as the Africas....
Middle East.... Chinas and Asias...
...
we need 2 start paying more attention 2 Canada's children and their education,
homeless, mentally ill, physically disabled, aged, unemployed needing
retraining and helping single parents.... and elders... etc.... enough... the
spirit of helping has been so abused and overused..... and so many are just
weary of it all... come on...
More
than 1 million people of Ukrainian descent live in Canada.
Protesters call for Canadian sanctions on Ukraine
By
Maryam
Shah ,Toronto Sun
-----------------
BLOGGED
O
CANADA- a little good news, globally Canada is doing $$$ well, global news God bless our troops- God bless r Canada - so
many great things globally- heartbreak, goodness all mixed in
-------------
Canada
remembers WWII Jewish immigration
Pier
21, Canada’s Immigration Museum in Halifax unveils an MS St. Louis monument
designed by New York-based architect Daniel Libeskind.
By
The Forward | Jan. 28, 2011 |
12:14 AM | 1
The
ill-fated voyage of the MS St. Louis, the Hamburg-based ocean liner intended to
transport 907 mostly German Jewish refugees to Cuba in May 1939, has always
played a central role in early Holocaust history, and not only because it
unraveled, tragically, like a Hollywood drama. (Indeed, the story was made into
a 1976 film called “Voyage of the Damned,” based on a book of the same name.)
Rather, the episode exposed a peculiar unwillingness on the part of the United
States and Canada to accept Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany, even though
Hitler’s anti-Semitism was already well known. Turned away at Havana, the ship
unsuccessfully sought safe harbor in Florida and Nova Scotia before returning to
Europe. Many of the passengers eventually died in the Holocaust.
In
Canada, the story of the country’s anti-Jewish immigration policies has been
recorded in the seminal 1983 book “None Is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of
Europe, 1933-1948” by Irving Abella and Harold Troper. Yet the public’s
awareness of the Holocaust tends not to linger on that aspect of history. On
January 20, however, Pier 21, Canada’s Immigration Museum in Halifax, Nova
Scotia, in partnership with the Canadian Jewish Congress, unveiled an MS St.
Louis monument designed by New York-based architect Daniel Libeskind. Pier 21
was the entry point for over one million European immigrants to Canada, from
1928 to 1971.
Read
more at theforward.com
------------------
------------
Days
of Remembrance
------------
O
CANADA- a little good news, globally Canada is doing $$$ well, global news God bless our troops- God bless r Canada
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