EnviroNewsandIssues Newsletter - Edition 16

Jim Harris - Leader of The Green Party of Canada in
Edmonton June 22,and 23, 2005 or Calgary on June 19, 20, and 21st.
Come meet him in Calgary at the Oolong Tea House June 19 - 5:00 to 7:00PM

June 17, 2005

Senate Makes Environment the Focus of Energy Bill - New York Times

WASHINGTON, June 16 - Heading toward a collision with the House and White House, the Senate sought Thursday to put an environmentally friendly stamp on its energy legislation as lawmakers and President Bush struggle to agree on an elusive national power policy.

In an effort to strengthen their hand in looming negotiations with the House, senators voted 52 to 48 to require power companies to use more renewable fuels like wind and solar power to generate electricity. At the same time, the Finance Committee approved a $14 billion tax incentive package that rewards alternative fuels and energy efficiency.

U.S. Pressure Weakens G-8 Climate Plan - Washington Post
Global-Warming Science Assailed
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer

Bush administration officials working behind the scenes have succeeded in weakening key sections of a proposal for joint action by the eight major industrialized nations to curb climate change.

Under U.S. pressure, negotiators in the past month have agreed to delete language that would detail how rising temperatures are affecting the globe, set ambitious targets to cut carbon dioxide emissions and set stricter environmental standards for World Bank-funded power projects, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. Negotiators met this week in London to work out details of the document, which is slated to be adopted next month at the Group of Eight's annual meeting in Scotland.

On-line news gaining ground - Globe and Mail

New York — One in five Web users who rely on newspapers for news primarily go to their on-line editions, rather than read articles in print, a new study has found.

The majority, 72 per cent, still primarily use the print editions, while 7 per cent split their time evenly, said a survey released Thursday by Nielsen/NetRatings.

“It's great news for the on-line entities,” said Gerry Davidson, senior media analyst with Nielsen/Net Ratings.

“It shows people are going to those sites and they are responding.”

Men are more likely to read news primarily on-line.

The survey excluded people who obtain their news from other sources, such as television, and people without Internet access.

The random survey of 9,000 individuals was conducted from January through March. It has a margin of sampling error of one percentage point.

June 16, 2005

West can lead battle on smog - Saskatoon StarPhoenix

National news reports that show week-long smog alerts in Toronto and doctors reciting mortality statistics attributed to bad air, along with video images of the haze that covers much of the Golden Horseshoe area of Ontario, shouldn't cause smugness among western Canadians.

If you live in a Prairie city, the notion that a good west wind will come along and move along the ground-level ozone, particulate matter and harmful oxides that form smog is false comfort. It's not always that windy; besides, the solution isn't that simple.

One only has to stand on the Meewasin trail on the east side of the riverbank some warm summer morning and watch the cars streaming into the downtown on the 25th Street Bridge.

You notice the haze at ground level even in our modest city, especially on days where the weather pattern produces thermal inversions.

First Nations talks on Mackenzie pipeline put hearings in doubt - Edmonton Journal

CALGARY - Imperial Oil Ltd. says it is encouraged by the progress made on resolving the complaints which led to the suspension of work on the $7-billion Mackenzie Valley pipeline project in April. However, it isn't ready to say whether regulatory hearings for the line will go ahead in the fall.

Speaking to reporters at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers investment symposium, Michael Yeager, Imperial's senior vice-president, said Wednesday the company was satisfied with the response it has received from the federal government since it halted pre-construction work.

"We have every bit of what we need to have addressed being worked on," Yeager said. "We did not have that prior to our announcement."

Right to counsel 'not absolute,' Supreme Court rules - Globe and Mail

Ottawa — Canada's highest court says the right to seek legal counsel is “not absolute” for drivers pulled over on suspicion of driving drunk.

The Supreme Court of Canada says two Manitoba men should be retried on charges of impaired driving.

Both were acquitted because police officers did not fully inform them of their rights before they

agreed to – and failed – roadside sobriety tests.

The court says such rights are reasonably limited in cases where police are trying to keep drunks off the road.

Devils Lake not on hold, N. Dakota says - Globe and Mail

Winnipeg — Weather, not diplomacy, will be the only reason to delay the startup of the Devils Lake water diversion project next month, a spokesman for a North Dakota senator said Thursday.

Don Canton denied a published report that Governor John Hoeven has promised not to operate the outlet until either an agreement has been reached with Canadian officials or talks break off.

The comment was made by Treasury Board President Reg Alcock, Manitoba's only cabinet representative.

Labour Force Survey: Western Canada's off-reserve Aboriginal population - Statistics Canada
April 2004 to March 2005

Labour market conditions have improved for off-reserve Aboriginal people in western Canada.

However, gaps still persist between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal population, according to new data from the Labour Force Survey.

Balance sheet of the agricultural sector at December 31, 2004 - Statistics Canada

Farm liabilities at the end of 2004 were up 4.9% to $44.9 billion from 2003. This represented the 11th consecutive annual increase. Current liabilities increased 8.1% while long-term liabilities were 4.0% higher compared with a year earlier.

Farm sector equity in Canada edged up to $183.4 billion in 2004, as both assets and liabilities increased. The value of farm real estate continued the steady growth started in 1988 with a 1.8% advance in 2004, and was the main contributor to the increase in assets.

The debt-to-asset ratio increased for the ninth consecutive year to 19.7% in 2004. This ratio, which measures the dependence of farm businesses on debt, reached a new record for the 1981 to 2004 period, edging up from 19.0% in 2003. The lowest ratio (12.4%) occurred in 1981.

After reaching its lowest level since 1981 in 2003, the current assets-to-current liabilities ratio edged up to 1.981 in 2004. The lower levels recorded in the past two years mean that operators within the agriculture sector had a lower ability to pay short-term debts compared to the 1981 to 2002 period.

The interest coverage ratio, which indicates the ability to pay interest charges and to protect creditors from interest payment default, reached 3.176 — the highest level since 1996 and well above the previous 10-year average (1994 to 2003).

Don't believe the hype: What's really behind the Fraser Institute's "Tax Freedom Day"

OTTAWA, June 16 - Each summer the Fraser Institute announces the arrival of "tax freedom day:" the day when Canadians allegedly stop "working for the government" and start "working for themselves." A study by Neil Brooks, released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, takes a closer look at Tax Freedom Day and finds that to arrive at this politically loaded and heavily-reported date the Fraser Institute's calculations understate the income of Canadians, overstate their taxes andmisuse the concept of averages.

"The concept of Tax Freedom Day is a gimmick designed to suggest thatCanadians derive no benefit from the taxes they pay when nothing could be further from the truth," explains Brooks.

"With their taxes, Canadian citizens buy their most valued goods and services: high-quality public schools, world-class universities, excellent medical services, public parks and libraries, safe streets, and livable cities."

In addition to reinforcing the suggestion that the goods and services Canadians provide to themselves through their taxes do not enlarge their freedoms or enrich their lives, the methods used by the Fraser Institute tocalculate Tax Freedom Day are also deeply flawed.

To determine family income, the Fraser Institute uses a family's cash income-a much more limited definition of income-rather than a family's totalincome before taxes. This gives the impression that Canadian families pay muchmore of their income in taxes than they actually do, and also ensures that tax freedom day falls much later in the year than it would if a more accurate method of calculating tax burden had been used. In 2004, according to theInstitute, the average family paid over 48% of its total income in taxes andtax freedom day fell on June 28. However, if the Institute had based its calculations on an average family's total income, only about 31% of thatfamily's income would have gone to taxes and tax freedom day would have fallen on April 30-58 days earlier.

In addition, the Fraser Institute bases its calculations on the "average" family as opposed to the "median" family. Because income is distributed sounequally in Canada, the average income of families is much higher than the income of the median family-- the family in the middle of the income distribution scale. The majority of families earn much less than the average income and their effective tax rates are lower than that of the statisticalaverage family.

"Even if it were useful to inform Canadians how many days they had towork in order to earn enough to pay their taxes, the information the Fraser Institute presents about the tax system is flawed, misleading, seriouslydistorts public knowledge, and hinders rational debate about the tax system," concludes Brooks.

Trudeau Foundation Awards Canada's Largest Social Sciences and Humanities Scholarships to 14 Students.

Inspirational students awarded up to $200,000 each; 9/11 hero, Arctic traveller and third world development worker among honoured scholars

MONTREAL, June 16 - The balance between making a difference throughresearch and making ends meet got a little easier for 14 doctoral students today, who were awarded a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation DoctoralScholarship worth up to $200,000 each. The new crop of Trudeau Scholars includes a 9/11 hero, a Canadian Arctic traveller and a third world medic,among others from fascinating backgrounds and fields of study.

"We strive to find the students who show the greatest potential toinfluence and promote public policy debate at home and on a global scale, andthis year's Trudeau Scholars are poised for astonishing success," said Roy L. Heenan, Chairman of the Board of the Trudeau Foundation.

"Trudeau Scholarships are about more than money; they're about supporting and fosteringCanada's future leaders."

This year's recipients are:
Emma J. Stewart (Human Geography, University of Calgary)

Health Minister Broadens Representativeness of Pest Management Advisory Council

OTTAWA, June 16 - Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh today announced the appointment of 14 new members to Health Canada's Pest Management Advisory Council (PMAC), including stakeholders from several organizationsnever before represented on the Council.

"We have a wide range of expertise represented here, and a good balance of interests. We have members from the research sector, health and environmental organizations, manufacturers and users," said Minister Dosanjh."I am particularly pleased to see representation from the Council of ChiefMedical Officers of Health and the Ontario College of Family Physicians. PMAC input is essential to meeting my commitment to openness and transparency in all aspects of the work we do at Health Canada and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency."

Minister Dosanjh went on to say that the expansion of views on pesticides is especially important with the coming into force of the new Pest ControlProducts Act (PCPA). "PMAC continues to play a key role as we move toward this goal," he said.

Established in 1998, PMAC is a multi-stakeholder group that fosters communication and dialogue among stakeholders and with the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA). The Council provides advice directly to the Ministerof Health on policies and issues relating to the federal pest management regulatory system. With approximately 25 members, PMAC has a balanced representation ofinterests, drawing members from the pesticide manufacturing industry, user organizations, the research/academic community and environmental and healthgroups. PMAC also includes the past provincial co-chair of theFederal/Provincial/Territorial Committee on Pest Management and Pesticides.

Those named to PMAC from organizations new to the Council are:

- Dr. Eric Young, Deputy Provincial Health Officer in British Columbia and a member of the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health, who brings extensive experience in environmental health, West Nile Virus response and community health;

- Dr. Neil Arya, family physician in Waterloo, Ontario who brings recognized expertise in environmental health, and who is a member of the Ontario College of Family Physicians and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment;

- Alain Renaud from Druide, a Quebec-based manufacturer of organic body care products including citronella oil used as an insect repellent;

- Chris Andrews of the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association, an organization that links eight provincial member associations and provides education, information, research and certification services.

- Dr. Claire Infante-Rivard, Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at McGill University, a noted health researcher currently studying genetic and environmental risk factors;

- Dr. Richard Belanger, Professor of Plant Pathology at Laval University and an expert in biocontrols in agriculture and forestry;

- Dr. Jeremy McNeil, Visiting Professor of Chemical Ecology at the University of Western Ontario, and an international expert in integrated pest management with a special interest in public awareness of science;

- Glen Sampson, Associate Professor of Weed Science, Plant Pathology and Pest Management in the Nova Scotia Agricultural College and a specialist in integrated pest management with current research in herbicide use patterns, environmental technologies and weed populations;

- Dr. Mark Winston, Professor of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University, an international researcher and author of numerous books including the award-winning Nature Wars: People versus Pests.

There are also new members of PMAC from organizations previously represented on the Council: - Dr. Irena Buka from the Canadian Pediatric Society - Drew Franklin from the Canadian Consumer Speciality Products Association - Rick Smith from Croplife Canada and - Gary Brown of the Canadian Horticultural Council.

June 15, 2005

The Community of Democracies May Reshape The UN: Canada Should Take a More Decisive Role

TORONTO, June 15 - Prime Minister Paul Martin should throw Canada's support behind the fledgling Community of Democracies in an effort to reform the problem-plagued United Nations, says a new C.D. Howe Institute Commentary.

In Cleaning Up the UN in an Age of U.S. Hegemony, author Radek Sikorskisays that as a more active member of the Community, a UN caucus of 100democracies founded in 2000, Canada could exercise considerable influence inrebuilding the United Nations as an effective multilateral forum where smallercountries could more actively engage the U.S. superpower.

Sikorski, Executive Director of the New Atlantic Initiative at the American Enterprise Institute and a former deputy minister of defence and offoreign affairs in Poland, says that although Martin is "an ardent advocate ofthe L-20 - a group of leading nations from both the developed and thedeveloping world - he has had trouble drumming up support for it, particularlyin the United States."

"An even deeper problem is that the proposed members of the L-20 havelittle in common," he says.

The author adds: "Martin's basic instinct is correct, though. Because theU.S. is so strong, smaller powers naturally try to contain it withinmultilateral institutions. In normal times, the UN might serve that purpose.However, the UN is in crisis."

The Community of Democracies, which has Washington's tentative support, gives representation to a diverse group of countries under an ideologicalumbrella, Sikorski says, "potentially generating trust and a sense of purposewhich has been so sorely missing at the UN".
"Inaction in the face of genocide, the antics of its Human Rights Commission and the oil-for-food scandal, have all sapped the UN's authority; forthcoming arguments over increasing the membership of the UN SecurityCouncil and the election of the next Secretary will do little to restore itsreputation," the author says.

"The Community should make itself heard on all these issues and Canada should be a far stronger voice.'

The Commentary is available at www.cdhowe.org.

The C.D. Howe Institute is Canada's leading independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit economic policy research institution. Its individual and corporatemembers are drawn from business, universities and the professions.

TORONTO - Premier Dalton McGuinty's bid to shed his reputation as a promise-breaker has suffered another blow with confirmation his Liberal government can't shut down all of Ontario's coal-fired generators by 2007.

Energy Minister Dwight Duncan has released a schedule for closing three of the four remaining coal-burning plants by the promised date.

But he admits the huge Nanticoke generating station - Ontario's worst polluter - will have to remain open until 2009.

Nanticoke, which generates nearly four-thousand megawatts of electricity, will start shutting some units in 2008.

But Duncan says the last unit at the Lake Erie facility won't close until the following year.

Duncan recently warned Ontario would not be able to close all the coal plants if it could not find enough new generating capacity to replace them.

June 14, 2005

Government hurries up and waits - Ottawa Sun

Despite promises to move on the Agent Orange file, the federal bureaucracy seems unenthusiastic about providing aid

One morning last month, Defence Minister Bill Graham called us from his car phone with some encouraging news for potentially thousands of Canadian veterans poisoned by toxic "Agent Orange" herbicides in the 1960s.

After 45 years of denial and coverups, the federal government was finally coming to the aid of victims and their families.

Or so Graham promised.

Is globalization losing élan? - Halifax Herald

CANADIANS have been told for years by politicians and business leaders that we have no choice but to adjust to the dictates of economic globalization.

In Canada, this has been used to push for closer integration with the U.S., a less active government, and the abandonment of a social agenda. But it appears that in other parts of the world, citizens are rejecting the notion that they have no choice when it comes to globalization.

The most recent example is the rejection by Dutch and French voters of the version of European integration being pushed by political and economic elites.

In spite of politicians claiming that a No vote would mean chaos and the collapse of the European project, 62 per cent of voters rejected the proposed EU constitution in the Netherlands while 55 per cent rejected it in France.

International Symposium on Local E-Democracy
July 26-27, 2005 - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
http://dowire.org/localedem

The International Symposium on Local E-Democracy is a dynamic conference exploring leading e-democracy trends around the world. The next day, a field trip to the "wired" chambers of the Minnesota State Legislature and Northfield, Minnesota's community blogging efforts along with traveling color commentary will bring one of birthplaces of "e-democracy" to life.

This is the world's first international conference focused specifically on local e-democracy. We expect representatives of a number of government, non-profit, research, and civic organisations to attend. If you are interested in improving governance and citizen participation in the information age, this conference is for you.

The symposium is sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in the United Kingdom and the UK Local e-Democracy National Project along with other partners.
* Register Today - Full Conference Details http://dowire.org/localedem
Or sign-up for future conference e-mail updates: localedem-subscribe@dowire.org
* Plenary Themes
The following panels are being developed:
- Informed Elections - From e-voting to voter education online
- E-Government and Democracy - Leading e-democracy practices in governance and civic education
- Local Citizens and Community Online - Citizen e-activism, local blogging, and media online
We promise short presentations with an emphasis on interactive discussion.

June 13, 2005

Inspired England romp to victory - Telegraph

England (179-8) beat Australia (79) by 100 runs

In a summer where bloody imagery and emotive language is bound for copious use, it was first corpuscle to England after they won the inaugural Twenty20 match between them and Australia.

Some will claim it as a humiliation, after Australia made the second lowest score in a Twenty20 match in England, though with the visitors' rustiness palpable that judgment cannot safely be made for at least another month. But with disarray such as this, oh for the first Ashes Test to be starting on Thursday instead of in five weeks' time.

The official margin of victory, after Australia were dismissed for 79 in the 15th over, was exactly 100 runs, but the match was rendered a non-event once Australia lost seven wickets in 20 balls before they had faced six overs. Four of those fell to Jon Lewis in the seam bowler's first official outing in an England shirt, with Darren Gough taking three wickets at the other end.

Below the Belt - The Moscow Times

"The Vagina Monologues" is about to have its Russian debut. But will the sexually explicit, pro-feminist work by U.S. playwright Eve Ensler be lost in translation?

By Anna MalpasPublished: June 10, 2005

It was only a matter of time before the "The Vagina Monologues" came to Russia, and just as in the original English version of the hit play, there are 128 mentions of female genitalia in the translated script. But translating feminist chutzpah into Russian could be trickier, so the director has prepared an escape plan in case audiences refuse to shout out a certain word beginning with "p."Opening Sunday at the Hermitage Theater, the first local staging of Eve Ensler's play has attracted plenty of attention in the Russian media, and tickets have sold out for the only two confirmed dates, director Joel Lehtonen said Monday. Yet box-office success is not guaranteed, with the production playing in a venue that has only 100 seats, and with its premiere coming right at the end of the Moscow theater season.

What's causing cancer? - Toronto Star

Chemicals fingered as rates reach epidemic proportions, by Mitchell Anderson

Cancer in Canada is now projected to afflict one in every 2.2 men and one in every 2.6 women in their lifetime. In the 1930s, those numbers were less that one in 10. What's happening? Why are we now seeing what many are calling a "cancer epidemic"?

Some would suggest we are simply an aging population and cancer is a disease of the old. Not true. Recent statistics show that the net incidence rate of cancer has increased 25 per cent for males and 20 per cent for females from 1974 to 2005 — after correcting for the effects of aging.

Children are increasingly the victims. Researchers in Britain have shown that certain childhood cancers such as leukemia and brain cancer have increased by more than a third since the 1950s.

Debt relief only a start, UN official says - Toronto Star

Food program short of fundsChildren will die, U.N. official warns

JOHANNESBURG—Debt relief is a fine thing, and it may well bring hope to millions of the world's most desperate souls — but Michael Huggins isn't cheering just yet.

After all, he has more than 7 million mouths to feed, or he soon will have — a daunting number that could easily rise to 10 million by early next year.

What's worse, Huggins does not have enough food to do the job. Not even close.

"Right now, we have only 20 per cent of what we need," he says, "and we're halfway through the year."

June 11, 2005

Residents walk, run, cycle nude to raise $150,000, awareness - Vancouver Sun

On Saturday, about 100 nude cyclists biked from Sunset Beach to the downtown core as part of World Naked Bike Ride 2005, an international event aimed at discouraging people from using their cars.

Volpe moves against Nazi war-crimes suspects, sources say - Globe and Mail

Immigration Minister Joe Volpe has asked his department to begin building cases to revoke the citizenship of five men in Canada who are suspected Nazi war criminals.

Sources told The Globe and Mail yesterday that Mr. Volpe called for the move soon after he took over as minister late last year.

Among the men is Helmut Oberlander, stripped of his citizenship by the federal cabinet after a court found that when he emigrated to Canada with his wife in 1954, he lied about serving as a translator for a Nazi death squad. A Federal Court ruling restored his citizenship a year ago.

Liberals face more key votes - Politics Watch

OTTAWA — The government will face another confidence test in the House on Tuesday when a vote is held on the main estimates. If the Liberals lose the vote, then the government will fall and Canadians will be back at the polls.

However, what is different than the last confidence vote that was held on May 19 is that the two opposition parties who were trying to take down the government appear to be in no mood for a repeat performance.

The wind has been taken out of the Conservative party's sails after they failed to topple the government while riding high in the polls on sponsorship anger. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper toned down his rhetoric this week when meeting with reporters and said the only way the government would be taken down is if Liberal MPs who voted with the government last month change their minds.And the Bloc Quebecois is facing an uncertain future following last weekend's resignation of Parti Quebecois Leader Bernard Landry. Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe is at the top of the list to replace Landry and is scheduled to announce his plans on Monday.If Duceppe leaves, then the BQ would be without a leader and an obvious successor to Duceppe.

Not exactly the optimal situation to wage an election campaign. The government survived a confidence vote on one of two budget bills last month by the narrowest of margins. But the dynamic for Tuesday's votes will be different as the Liberals may have lost two votes they had on May 19. . Independent MP Chuck Cadman, who is undergoing cancer treatment, told the Globe and Mail this week that he will not be in Ottawa for the vote. And Ontario MP Pat O'Brien left the Liberal caucus this week to sit as an independent. O'Brien left because of his opposition to the government's same-sex marriage legislation and would not rule out toppling the government on the budget as a way to defeat the other bill. Meanwhile, two other confidence votes are working their way back into the House from the finance committee.

MPs have already begun debate on Bill C-43, the budget implementation bill, which was returned from committee on Wednesday. And finance committee chair Massimo Pacetti says he expects to have Bill C-48, the NDP budget deal with the Liberals, in the House on Wednesday.

The government is expected to deal with the following bills next week.

> Bill C-2, the child protection legislation

> Bill C-53, the bill respecting proceeds of crime

> Bill C-56, the Labrador-Inuit legislation

> Bill C-26, the border services legislation (third reading)

> Bill S-18, Census bill (Second Reading)

> Bill C-52, Fisheries Amendment Act

> Bill C-25, Radarsat bill (report stage)

> Bill C-37, the Do Not Call bill (report stage)

> Bill C-28, the food and drug bill. (report stage)

> Bill C-44, the transport legislation

> Bill C-47, the Air Canada bill.

June 10, 2005

Ruling's legal fallout tough to predict - Toronto Star

Didn't widen social rights, experts say More `security of person' cases possible
TRACEY TYLER LEGAL AFFAIRS REPORTER

This week's Supreme Court ruling, opening the door to private health care in Quebec, may bring renewed optimism to those who hoped Canada's Charter would prove a powerful weapon for ensuring access to social programs.

But while it may lead to some "creative" legal arguments on how the inability to obtain government services can violate the right to security of the person — producing psychological or physical harm — the decision doesn't translate into a free-standing right to social benefits, legal experts say.

In the short term, the ruling is likely to serve mainly as a "catalyst" for debate about the delivery of health care, said Lorne Sossin, associate dean at the University of Toronto's faculty of law.

Ottawa to Become the Home of Canada's First Carbon-Free, Climate Friendly Condo Building

OTTAWA, June 10 - Christopher Sweetnam-Holmes and Cheryl Gladu of EcoCité ( http://www.ecocite.ca/ ), a leading developer of environmentally sustainable and energy efficient urban housing, are pleased to announce the construction of Canada's first carbon-free, climate friendly condo building right in the nation's capital.

EcoCité on the Canal is a new EcoCondo(R) project to be built at 1014 Bank Street next to the Rideau Canal. The 6-storey building will house 25 condos and lofts, a ground level bookstore, and will incorporate backyard and rooftop gardens into its design.

Most of the heating and cooling for the building will come from geothermal energy and will meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) requirements, the most demanding standard for green construction in North America.

"This means that the building's heating and energy needs will have zero impact on the environment and zero impact on global warming," says Christopher Holmes, EcoCité's founder.

EcoCité has also reached an understanding with a local pioneer in renewable power generation, Energy Ottawa ( http://www.energyottawa.com/ ), to generate the equivalent of 407,000 kWh of electricity annually from its Eco-logo certified run-of-the-river generating stations on the Ottawa River. Theelectricity is considered to be "green" because of the low impact that run-of-the-river generating stations have on the environment when compared to other forms of generation (i.e. coal).

"We are very pleased to have been able to work with the developers of the EcoCité Condominium," said Marc Brulé, Chief Operating Officer of Energy Ottawa. "The green features of the condo, combined with the LEED standards that will be put in place, signify a significant step forward in the waybuildings are constructed in Canada."

The anticipated five-year contract will see electricity flowing into Hydro Ottawa's distribution system or Ontario's electricity grid once the EcoCité Condo Board has approved the contract.

Construction on the EcoCité on the Canal will begin in the summer of 2005 for occupancy in the spring of 2006.

Homolka hopes for pardon - Globe and Mail

Schoolgirl killer Karla Homolka hopes she can prove to be a solid enough citizen that she can one day win a pardon for her crimes, Correctional Services Canada documents say.

Ms. Homolka expressed the wish during a psychiatric evaluation done in 2001, Dr. Lucinda Presse wrote in the report which was released at a hearing to decide the extent of Ms. Homolka's freedom after she is released from prison.

Protect marine life from 'bioprospectors,' UN report urges - CBC.ca

Lowly underwater life with medicinal potential deserves regulatory protection, according to a UN report to be released on Thursday.

Researchers working for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are increasingly interested in the billion-dollar prospect of using underwater life in products ranging from anti-malaria drugs to suntan creams.

At this week's International Marine Biotechnology Conference in St. John's, Nfld., scientists are excitedly talking about coaxing cancer drugs from the insides of creatures such as sea sponges.

The UN report, titled "Bioprospecting of genetic resources in the deep sea bed," warns that harvesting those creatures for bio-tech purposes could put some species at risk.

Effects of cod collapse trickle down food chain - CBC.ca

The collapse of the East Coast cod fishery appears to have caused the region's marine ecosystem to restructure itself, researchers say.

Kenneth Frank of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Dartmouth, N.S., and his colleagues studied more than 40 years of data on the food chain.

The study focused on the northwest Atlantic ecosystem off Nova Scotia, an area that was dominated by cod for centuries.

Starting in the mid-1980s, several commercially exploited bottom-dwelling species including cod, haddock and pollock declined.

Green groups lodge fish farm complaint - Vancouver Sun

VANCOUVER (CP) -- A coalition of environmental groups and the fisherman's union has joined forces in a complaint against the federal Department of Fisheries over the potential spread of disease from fish farms.

The formal complaint to the federal auditor general accuses the federal government of neglecting its mandate to protect the province's wild salmon stocks.

"It's really just a matter of time before we see diseases spreading from farmed to the wild fish," said Suzanne Connell, of the Georgia Strait Alliance, one of four groups in the coalition.

Connel said Canada should be learning from the mistakes of other countries where fish farms have transferred disease to wild stock.

"This is a disaster waiting to happen," she said.

'Spills bill' tough on Ontario polluters - Toronto Star

Tough new legislation that threatens the province's largest industrial polluters with hefty fines of up to $100,000 a day even without a conviction was passed into law today over the protests of industry leaders who say it goes too far.

The Liberal government's so-called "spills bill" allows ministry officials to penalize companies almost immediately without a conviction or even having to lay charges. Those come later, along with additional fines up to $10,000,000 for severe and repeat violations.

Money from the fines, which are expected to kick in within a year, will go towards cleanup efforts in those communities affected by the spills, said Environment Minister Leona Dombrowsky.

Blues Festival - Calgary
June 25 and 26, 2005
http://www.kaosblues.com/
Writer there all weekend - come find me - Beer helps