Getting Over Our Fear of Religion will Enrich City's Diversity 

Posted by aWONG ,

Sarah Evans

City Hall came close to the divine a couple of times last week. Last Monday, the Toronto Area Interfaith Council hosted a mayoral debate, where the candidates proposed ways to increase faith in the life of our city.

A few days later, we were debating whether to allow shopping on statuary holidays. Someone suggested we keep Christian holidays sacred, and controversy seemed to break out immediately. We have to stop panicking every time we talk about faith, especially Christianity, and start embracing it as part of our diversity.

We can start with George Smitherman's suggestion of calling a Christmas tree a Christmas tree. We are supposed to now call it a holiday tree so we don't offend anybody or make them feel left out, but it has the opposite effect on me! As a Christian who enjoys celebrating Christmas, I don't feel welcome to publicly acknowledge and celebrate my beliefs in this culture of political correctness. I (and I'm sure many others) would enjoy seeing other symbols like menorahs in public spaces as well.

There was also a suggestion of having an interfaith day or week. Rob Ford and Joe Pantalone said they wouldn't know how to be fair in acknowledging all belief systems, but I think this misses the spirit of the idea. Our faith is an important part of who we are as individuals, and we should use it as an opportunity to learn about and celebrate with each other.

This sounds so elementary, and yet we won't do this because we're too afraid to offend someone. We talk about tolerance, but that has a connotation of reluctance. We really need to start talking (and thinking) in terms of acceptance - maybe even enjoyment!

At the mayoral debate, Smitherman proposed bringing together faith groups to help the city's less fortunate, such as the homeless and those struggling with addiction. I think this is an excellent idea that brings out the best of what many beliefs have to offer. Many faith groups (and their smaller study groups) volunteer to help others.

A great example of what can be done when people work together is the Out of the Cold program. For this program, different venues, including places of worship, take turns offering homeless people safe shelter and a warm meal.

If the city were to develop and co-ordinate more of these initiatives, our help could be spread around and it would cut down on administrative issues for organizations. We would also be creating services for the countless individuals who currently fall between the cracks.

Many people acknowledge a spiritual side of themselves, and the sooner we stop being afraid to talk about it, the sooner we will be able to see the best in each other and enrich our diversity.

Link: http://thestar.blogs.com/yourcitymycity/2010/05/getting-over-our-fear-of-religion-will-enrich-citys-diversity-.html

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Government Employees Big Buyers of Illegal Cigarettes

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Researchers tally butts outside federal buildings, including Supreme Court

Richard J. Brennan
Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA—Federal government workers and Supreme Court of Canada employees have joined the ranks of high school students as purchasers of illegal smokes, a study by the Canadian Convenience Stores Association says.

Researchers counted cigarette butts outside government buildings and schools in Ottawa to determine how many were contraband. The results show how widespread the problem is and the adverse affect it is having on corner store owners, say the study's sponsors.

“It's everywhere,” Michel Gadbois, senior vice-president of the CCSA, told reporters in the nation's capital, where the association launched its 25-city tour.

It is lobbying the federal government to tackle a seven-year-old problem and whittle illegal sales down.

“Morally, these are places that should be zero per cent because they are government buildings,” Gadbois said.

The butt study results ranged from a high of 39 per cent contraband outside an Ottawa high school to 22 per cent outside the Supreme Court building. Outside the Department of Finance building, the researchers found 32 per cent contraband butts.

Gadbois said the association wants federal and provincial governments to reduce the rate of cigarette smuggling to 10 per cent, from a high of 50 per cent.

“If not, it means we have accepted criminality,” he said.

Chris Wilcox, vice-president of Ottawa-based Quickie Convenience Stores, said the sale of contraband smokes is not a victimless crime or a trivial matter.

Approximately 1,500 corner stores of all types have gone out of business in Ontario in the past couple of years “because of the loss of sales to contraband tobacco,” Wilcox said, adding that Ontario alone is losing $200 million a year in tobacco taxes.

“These are people who are stuck in their stores 17 hours a day and . . . they are disappearing. And they are going away quietly . . . into the dark,” he told the Toronto Star.

Wilcox called for the federal government to create the position of tobacco czar to coordinate the attack on the illegal cigarette industry.

“Right now it is a disorganized mess,” he said. “We all know that the (federal) government is scared to intervene.”

Wilcox noted the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) in Ontario, which comes into effect July 1, will hike a carton of legally produced cigarettes to $88 from $82, driving even more cigarette smokers into the arms of the smugglers.

Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society, said cheap, illegal smokes are undermining progress in reducing smoking.

But he offered some solutions, including urging Public Safety Minister Vic Toews to persuade U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to shut down illegal factories on the U.S. side of Akwesasne First Nations reserve, where 90 per cent of the contraband smokes originate.

The RCMP's Cornwall Regional Task Force has seized 105,078 cartons of contraband cigarettes and 5,530.52 kilograms of fine cut tobacco this calendar year, and it acknowledges that it probably only intercepts one to five per cent of the illegal traffic from manufacturers from the U.S. side of Akwesasne reserve, which straddles Ontario, Quebec and New York state.

The Mounties report that as many as 100 organized crime groups operate on the controversial first nations community.

Seizures in Valleyfield, Que., where the smugglers have concentrated because of the crackdown in and around Cornwall, have topped 100,000 cartons and 12,968 kilograms of fine cut tobacco in the period from Jan 1 to Monday.

Conservative Senator Hugh Segal had led the charge in the upper chamber against organized cigarette smuggling.

“When laws come into disrepute or when laws are corrupted or intimidated into impotence and have no effect, none among us are safe,” he said.

Segal has called for the government and opposition parties to establish a special committee inquiry into illegal contraband tobacco to gauge its costs and potential remedies.

Link: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/810462--government-employees-big-buyers-of-illegal-cigarettes?bn=1

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Ontario Families to Pay $232 More at the Pump Under HST: NDP

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The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Ontario families will end up paying hundreds of dollars more at the pump once the new harmonized sales tax kicks in July 1, the NDP warned Monday.

The average family with at least two children will pay $232 more a year to fill up their car, according to figures calculated by the party using a Statistics Canada economic model.

The government will collect $895 million through new taxes on gasoline when it merges its sales tax with the federal GST, said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.

"That's on top of the new taxes just to turn on the lights," she told the legislature. "That's on top of the new taxes just to turn on the heat and keep the house warm."

Taxpayers have plenty of information from the government about how the HST will affect them, including the 600,000 new jobs it's expected to create, said Premier Dalton McGuinty.

"Fortunately, there will come a time very, very shortly when the rage associated with the rhetoric will abate and our new tax reforms will become the reality," he told the legislature.

"Then people will have an opportunity for themselves to imagine and to experience exactly what is happening as a result of our changes."

The HST isn't the only money grab, said Opposition Leader Tim Hudak.

The average family has been paying $2,700 more a year in new taxes and fees on everything from tuition to electricity bills since 2007, when the Liberals won a second majority government, he said.

"This simple basket of goods and services we all use every day is becoming unaffordable under the McGuinty government," he said outside the house.

Revenue Minister John Wilkinson said drivers will see an eight per cent hike at the pump when the HST takes effect, because taxes are built into the price per litre.

"When we harmonize our sales tax, it means that about 17 per cent of the things that we buy every day are going to see an increase in the sales tax," he said.

But the new revenue will be used to cut income and business taxes by $10 billion over the next three years, Wilkinson added.

The NDP released figures last week that suggest families will pay hundreds, if not thousands of dollars more in taxes once the single sales tax takes effect.

The party calculates that the average Ontario family will pay $794 more in taxes every year if businesses don't pass on their savings to consumers, and $638 a year more if businesses do lower prices to reflect lower input costs.

The governing Liberals are offering one-time payments of up to $1,000 for families and $300 for singles to offset the initial impact of the HST.

McGuinty pointed out that the HST has received the support of both the NDP government in Nova Scotia -- which is hiking the tax to 15 per cent from 13 per cent -- and such prominent Conservatives as former premier Mike Harris and federal cabinet ministers Tony Clement and Jim Flaherty.

Link: http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100510/100510_gas?hub=CP24Home

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Why Diversity Matters

Posted by aWONG ,

In the Toronto region, where visible minorities will soon constitute the majority of the population, embracing diversity is not just about creating vibrant communities and ensuring social harmony.

Diversity, particularly in management and leadership roles, is also a vital component to building a strong corporate sector that can succeed in our increasingly global economy.

In a speech to business leaders in Toronto this week, Governor General Michaëlle Jean made a strong case for ensuring that ethnically and racially diverse Canadians can get a foot in the door — and have a fair shot at the corner office.

“Saying yes to diversity is saying yes to modernity, to opportunity, and to the very future of our country,” said Jean. “But saying no carries a huge price. For each time social exclusion closes a door, another door is opened to desolation, frustration, and despair.”

We already know those conditions lead to neighbourhoods full of poverty and criminal activity that drive up public costs and, ultimately, scare away business investment.

Politicians, community leaders and increasingly business executives themselves routinely state that Greater Toronto’s incredible diversity is one of the region’s greatest assets. And yet, visible minorities are still woefully under-represented in the upper rungs of corporations.

Studies have linked diversity in leadership to better corporate performance and more creative thinking. As we struggle to recover from the economic crisis, we ought to be more conscious than ever of these benefits of diversity.

Link: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/808037--why-diversity-matters

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Huge Anti-Abortion Rally Hails Canada’s New Foreign-Aid Stand

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Biggest-ever pro-life rally puts abortion debate on Harper’s doorstep

Susan Delacourt
Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA—Heartened and emboldened by Canada’s new anti-abortion stand on foreign aid, thousands of pro-life campaigners flooded in unprecedented numbers to Parliament Hill on Thursday, daring to hope that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government will take further steps against abortion at home as well as abroad.

The debate that Harper says he doesn’t want to reopen in Canada arrived literally on his doorstep on Thursday, with high spirits and demands for the Conservative government to do much more to discourage abortion in this country.

Around 15,000 pro-life campaigners, clearly buoyed by what they see as last month’s victory on the foreign-aid front, cheered loudly when numerous speakers talked about the next steps in what one called bringing a “culture of life” to Canada.

“We would like some more courage to do something more in Canada in defence of the unborn,” Cardinal Marc Ouellette, of Quebec City, told the crowd.

Ouellette minced no words in explaining later what he would like Harper to do next: “Reopen the discussion in Canada about this judicial void; there is absolutely no protection for the unborn,” Ouellette told reporters. “The next step should be a reopening of discussion about the legal situation of abortion in Canada.”

Some U.S. pro-life advocates were also on hand on Parliament Hill on Thursday, congratulating Canada for putting in place a foreign-aid policy against abortion that has been championed by Republican presidents, but repealed by President Barack Obama.

“These are tangible, visible threads… we are moving toward a culture of life in Canada,” said Carl Anderson, a former adviser to U.S. president Ronald Reagan as well as to the Vatican.

“Under President (George W.) Bush, we had the Mexico City policy, which prohibited exporting abortion. As you know, with President Obama, he repealed that policy,” Janet Morana, founder of a pro-life group called Silent No More, told reporters in Ottawa on Thursday morning.

“And so we’re very pleased to see that Canada is taking that pro-life stance, meaning they’re not going to export dollars overseas for abortion.”

The rally was a kickoff to what’s called the annual March of Life and organizers of this year’s effort boasted that the strength of the crowds and the cause is rapidly growing in Canada. Some long-time participants said that this year’s turnout was by far the best ever for an anti-abortion rally on Parliament Hill.

The noisy presence was heartily encouraged by the politicians who spoke at the event – a sharp contrast from the advice to “shut the f--- up” that Conservative senator Nancy Ruth gave recently to a group of aid advocates looking for ways to oppose Harper’s decision to block support for abortion in Canadian foreign aid. No one was asking for silence or patience from the massive group on Parliament Hill on Thursday.

All together, about 20 MPs from the pro-life caucus were at the event, most Conservative, but a few Liberals too, including Paul Szabo, Gurbax Malhi and Dan McTeague. All but one of the MPs on the stage – Conservative Kelly Bock – were men. No cabinet ministers, New Democrats or Bloc Quebecois MPs took part in the rally.

Among the crowd, meanwhile, were hundreds and hundreds of young students, bused in by their Catholic schools all over Ontario and Quebec to take part in the event.

Elizabeth Ducklas and Akanksha Zutshi, from the Holy Name of Mary Catholic Secondary School in Brampton, for instance, were two 16-year-olds who were happy to be among the busload who made the trek this week to Parliament Hill.

“I want abortion to be illegal,” said Ducklas, who added that she was pleased by the Harper government’s decision to withhold foreign-aid support for abortions in developing countries. “That’s a first step in the right direction.”

Bruinooge says he accepts Harper’s long-stated refusal to open up any debate over abortion legislation in Canada. Thursday’s rally was purely for information purposes, he said.

“The goal of the pro-life movement in general is to acknowledge that the unborn have value, that they’re human and we as a society need to consider their value. And I think that’s a message that’s beginning to come out,” Bruinooge said.

He would not comment, however, on whether the movement has gained strength because the increasing clout of the Christian right in Canada, as asserted in a newly released book, Armageddon, by Canadian journalist Marci MacDonald.

“In our country there’s a number of faith groups … there’s Sikhs, Hindus that have many similar philosophical viewpoints to Christians, and I think that many people, from various theological communities, suggest various ideas that I think are important to public policy,” Bruinooge said. “On the life issues, I know that not only are Christians generally supportive of pro-life politics, but I know Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists are as well.”

At the rally, Bruinooge particularly singled out the two Sikh MPs who turned out on stage: Liberal MP Gurbax Malhi and Conservative MP Tim Uppal.

Link: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/808856--huge-anti-abortion-rally-hails-canada-s-new-foreign-aid-stand?bn=1

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Welcome !

Posted by aWONG ,

The blog you see before you is an "electronic scrapbook" assignment that I am creating for a Civics project. With the creation of electronic scrapbooks rather than the traditional ones, we will save the environment in a small way! Anyway, in this blog I will include various articles that I find interesting and that pertain to Civics and the Canadian government which I will then be further explaining my opinions, concerns and questions about the articles. Enjoy reading!

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