EnviroNewsandIssues Newsletter - Edition 15 <--- The Real One

KAOS Blues Festival - Calgary - June 25 ad 26, 2005 - http://www.kaosblues.com/
This Editor will be there - come find me - Beer helps
Policy Convention
The Green Party of Alberta will be holding a policy convention on
June 11th and 12th from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM at 1111 Memorial Dr. NW
Calgary.
Everyone is welcome but only members will be allowed to vote on policy.
If you are not currently a member you can obtain a membership through
the website www.albertagreens.ca or from membership@albertagreens.ca

June 9, 2005
Grits on the rise - Toronto Sun <---- Why I think there will be an election in September or October. OTTAWA -- Giddy Grits and downcast Conservatives were assessing a stunning reversal of fortune in public opinion yesterday that suggests the Martin Liberals have surged to a 14-point lead over the Tories. More embarrassing for the Tories, the Decima poll shows they have dropped to third place in Ontario, two percentage points behind Jack Layton's New Democrats and a whopping 26 points behind the Liberals. The survey of 1,000 Canadians was conducted between June 2-5. The results are accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Identity theft a rising menace - Edmonton Sun
Identity theft has become the break and enter of the 21st century, says an Edmonton police detective.
"Instead of your home being violated, it's your personal being, your name," said Det. Al Vonkeman.
And increasingly, the preferred method for getting hold of someone's personal information is simply by stealing their mail.
Mail theft, particularly from apartment buildings, is growing at an alarming rate, say the cops, Canada Post and the Edmonton Apartment Association.
While there are no hard statistics on the numbers of mail thefts in the city, the three organizations are alarmed enough to get together to warn the public about it.
Tendering must be open to review - Edmonton Journal
As a huge landowner around Fort McMurray, the provincial government is in the ideal position to help fill one of the region's most pressing needs -- more new housing.
But it seems the Alberta Seniors Department (which overseas the Alberta Social Housing Corporation) fumbled the ball on two fronts; first, by not drafting policy that ensures the land it sells to developers is used to build homes as soon as possible and second, by failing to sell it through a competitive, public process.
In an apparent effort to address the first shortfall, the province recently sold a 141-hectare parcel of land in Fort McMurray's suburbs to a consortium of developers with the proviso that 100 of its planned 2,1000 residential lots are ready for sale by the end of the year.
Found by - Ron Ayotte
Student-Debt Activist - Georgia Straight <--- my old alma mater for journalism training A Vancouver man has asked the federal privacy commissioner to investigate the outsourcing of Canada student loans to a U.S.-owned company. Mark O'Meara, founder of the www.canadastudentdebt.ca/> Web site, claimed that as a result of a recent corporate takeover, Nebraska-based Nelnet has access to all federal student debtors' personal information and financial data.

On December 6, Nelnet announced that its wholly owned Canadian subsidiary had completed its purchase of a CIBC subsidiary, Edulinx Canada Corp., which administers the Canada Student Loans Program on behalf of the federal government. According to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, more than 1.8 million students have borrowed approximately $15.6 billion through the Canada Student Loans Program since 1993.

In an e-mail to the Straight, O'Meara stated that the federal privacy commissioner should examine whether student-loan data is now subject to the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism). Under Section 215 of the act, the FBI is permitted to obtain secret court orders to obtain "any tangible things".

On October 29, provincial Inform-ation and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis released a report concluding that there is a "reasonable possibility" of unauthorized disclosure of personal information under the USA PATRIOT Act. He issued numerous recommendations to mitigate this risk.
U.S. Patriot Act's reach is a concern for Canadians< href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/09/international/middleeast/09saudi.html?hp&ex=1118376000&amp;amp;en=2d11a3828b63d1ff&ei=5094&partner=homepage">New York Times
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The Saudi writer Turki al-Hamad wants to shake the younger generation attracted by militant Islam. His new novel, a thinly disguised sketch of four Sept. 11 hijackers, seeks to warn those weighing suicide missions.
"Put your luggage aside and think," reads the opening page to the book, called "The Winds of Paradise" and just released in Arabic.
The Scramble to Protect Personal Information - New York Times
Perhaps more than most corporations, Citigroup knows the perils of moving personal data.
In February last year, a magnetic tape with information on about 120,000 Japanese customers of its Citibank division disappeared while being shipped by truck from a data management center in Singapore. The tape held names, addresses, account numbers and balances. It has never turned up.
And this week the company revealed that it had happened again - this time the loss of an entire box of tapes in the care of the United Parcel Service, with personal information on nearly four million American customers.
Medicare a safety net, not a cage - National Post
Right about the time you're reading this, the Supreme Court will be issuing its ruling on the joint complaint of Jacques Chaoulli, physician, and Georges Zeliotis, patient, against the governments of Quebec and Canada.
The Chaoulli decision is the most eagerly awaited piece of jurisprudence in the court's hands, and the justices have taken an awfully long time with it: It will come out exactly one year and one day after oral arguments. That long wait has compounded the tension that always exists when the inscrutable court tries to balance individual and collective rights. I am willing to bet that the court will agree with Quebec's lesser tribunals in rejecting the pair's attack on monopoly medicare. But I wouldn't be willing to bet an arm and a leg on it. Or even a hip.
Win or lose, Chaoulli and Zeliotis have altered Canada's endless debate over medicare for good. In arguing for their right to make a doctor-patient arrangement outside Quebec's medicare system, and their right to have a private insurer join in the arrangement, the pair is turning the premises of medicare against medicare itself.
First Kazakh Woman Graduates from West Point

Elena Milyuk, a 24 year old cadet from Almaty, entered the history books at the end of May, becoming the first woman from Kazakhstan to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
In a June 8 interview with Argumenty i Fakty Kazakhstan, a weekly newspaper, Milyuk recounted how challenges of studying at the Point known for its toughness turned a young and unassuming girl of five-feet-four weighing only 100 pounds into a confident and tough officer.
She said: “My studies at West Point have given me a huge life experience. My worldview has changed. I gained military endurance, a sense of discipline and leadership qualities.” Milyuk was a third year math student at the Kazakh National University in Almaty when she decided to try attending West Point under a joint Kazakhstan-U.S. program.
Milyuk, who upon graduation rose to the rank of Lieutenant in Kazakhstan’s army, thanked her country’s Defense Ministry “for all the help they provided,” saying she was eager to serve wherever needed.
Col. Assylbek Mendygaliyev, Kazakhstan’s defense attaché in Washington said an interesting military service awaits Elena Milyuk when she comes home.
Lt. Milyuk was the first woman from Kazakhstan to graduate from West Point, but not the first Kazakh cadet. Last year, Daniyar Uteulin became the first Kazakh graduate from the Point. Another cadet, Diaz Asanov, has two more years to go before graduation. Earlier this year, two more cadets from Kazakhstan were admitted to the Academy.
Their studies are part of the U.S. Defense Department’s International Military Education and Training (IMET) program which seeks to promote stronger ties through training of foreign officers in the United States.
Kazakhstan was the first in the former Soviet Union to sign a five year defense cooperation program with the U.S. in 2003. The program provides for a greater number of trainees and supply of some military equipment, including Hummer vehicles. The program’s goals are in line with the more active role Kazakhstan seeks in international peacekeeping operations.
At the graduation ceremony, Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, congratulated Elena Milyuk on her graduation, a sign of importance of continuing such cooperation in military education.
Kanat Saudabayev, Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to the United States, received the new officer at the Embassy in Washington, wishing her “a good start in the armed forces of an independent Kazakhstan.” He told Lt. Milyuk “your studies [in the U.S.] are a demonstration that Kazakhstan is a confident and dynamically developing nation where all have the opportunity to reach high. Kazakhstan’s future is in the hands of such young and strong people as you.”

Top court strikes down Quebec private health-care law - CBC.ca

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Thursday that the Quebec government cannot prevent people from paying for private insurance for health-care procedures covered under medicare.

The plaintiffs in the case – a Montreal patient and a doctor – wanted Canada's top court to strike down sections of the Quebec Hospital Insurance Act that prevent people from buying health insurance for medical procedures covered by the public health plan.

Province delays electricity deregulation - CBC.ca

EDMONTON – Consumers will have another five years before they have to shop around for electricity rates, after the province pushed back the deregulation of the residential market.
Government Services Minister Ty Lund said they are extending the regulated rate option – which sees the Energy and Utilities Board set electricity rates – for up to five years after July 2006, when it was supposed to end.
The move has critics of energy deregulation declaring victory, saying the government is acknowledging that deregulation doesn't work in a residential market.
"I would suspect that we've seen one of the knives in the back of deregulation here, and they're not admitting it, but I think that the deregulated market has clearly been a failure," NDP MLA David Eggen said, adding he thinks the regulated rate will remain indefinitely.

Ontario wants Green Power, not Nuclear Power, says poll - 'Disconnect between public opinion & McGuinty government's direction'

TORONTO, June 9 - Greenpeace released a poll today onOntario's electricity use from the steps of the provincial legislature. Theactivists were flanked by mock barrels of radioactive waste and a banner saying "Ontario wants Green Power not Nuclear Power" while a plane circledoverhead trailing a banner reading "McGuinty - No Nukes!"

The poll by Strategic Communications shows an overwhelming majority ofOntarians want the province to meet its electricity needs with green power andconservation programmes, 91% of Ontarians support the increased use of solarand wind power to meet the province's needs, and 92% support the use of energyconservation and efficiency programmes.

"The McGuinty government is spending a billion dollars to restart onereactor at the Pickering nuclear station. That same money could have createdtwice as much capacity in conservation and renewable energy - the solutionsthat Ontarians want" said Dave Martin, Greenpeace Energy Coordinator.

A majority of Ontarians (51%) think that nuclear power is dangerous, areconcerned about radioactive waste and believe that it should be phased out.Even Liberal Party supporters reflect this anti-nuclear trend amongstOntarians.

Meanwhile, the McGuinty government is pushing ahead with the restart of the scandal-ridden Pickering A reactors and continues secret negotiations with Bruce Power to restart two mothballed reactors at the Bruce A nuclear station. In May, Energy Minister Dwight Duncan announced that the province will also consider building new nuclear plants in Ontario.
"There's a disconnect between public opinion and the government'sdirection. The McGuinty government is going nuclear while giving lip serviceto green energy. It's time for the Liberals to go green before voters getmean" said Martin. To date the McGuinty government has done almost nothing on conservation,and has contracted for only 395 MW of green energy (including 355 MW of windcapacity), with tenders announced for a further 1200 MW. The McGuintygovernment's much touted targets for green energy are also minimal compared toOntario's green power potential and other jurisdictions in the world.
Germany, which is phasing out nuclear power, has installed at least 2,000megawatts of wind power a year since 2000, making it the world's leader inwind power with 17,000 megawatts of wind turbines. Ontario currently has only15 megawatts of wind power.

Bush aide altered climate reports - World Press
Philip Cooney, a White House official who had no scientific training, doctored official warnings on climate change, inserting words to qualify evidence, and deleting paragraphs which he considered to be speculative.

FRESH evidence of White House unwillingness to accept a link between greenhouse gases and global warming emerged yesterday with leaked memos showing that a senior Bush aide consistently watered down official scientific warnings.
Philip Cooney, chief of staff for the White House council on environmental quality, intervened to blur the conclusions of government scientists before they were published.
Mr Cooney not only lacks any scientific training but was a former lobbyist with the oil industry’s largest trade group before he entered the White House in 2001.
Sometimes his editing consisted of inserting words such as “significant and fundamental” before the word “uncertainties” to sow doubt about the assertions of scientists.
June 8, 2005
A taste of fixed-date elections - PEI Guardian
The good luck of the Martin government enabled it to survive last month’s confidence vote. But it also meant Canadians now have an opportunity to experiment with something new — the rough concept of fixed-date elections.
The pledge early last month of Prime Minister Paul Martin to call an election 30 days after the report of the Gomery inquiry assures voters that they’ll be going to the polls by January or February of next year — that is, if the government doesn’t fall before then. The actual date may not be fixed, but the time frame is, and that’s better than what we’ve got right now.
Although the law requires that governments not exceed the five-year maximum length of a term, there’s nothing requiring them to abide by a minimum term length or to comply with fixed-date elections. Because of this, we typically see governments calling elections when it best suits them, often after only three or three and a half years.
Prescription heroin? It just might work - Montreal Gazette
If there is a way to eliminate or even reduce the crime, ill health, misery, degradation and social-nuisance factor associated with heroin use, Canadian health and justice officials should give it an honest try. But they must bear in mind public safety, too, is a priority.
An $8.1-million plan for a year-long clinical trial prescribing heroin to addicts, here and in Vancouver and Toronto, should be greeted in a spirit of hopefulness.
The idea of such a project will startle many people - free heroin? - but such efforts in other countries have had promising results. Keep in mind the alternatives are the status quo, in which addicts routinely turn to crime to get drugs, or more arrests and prosecutions, which do not seem to be working anywhere.
June 7, 2005
Africa's other hellhole - National Post
Woe is Africa -- a continent with not one but two nations reeling from large-scale slaughter. Most Westerners are aware of the violence in Sudan's Darfur region, where several hundred thousand people have been killed as a result of genocidal raids staged by government-backed militias. Fewer know of the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Millions have died in that country since the outbreak of an almost pan-African war in 1998, and the Congolese people continue to suffer from a lack of adequate medical care and food supplies, as well as ongoing militia attacks.
Canada releasing toxins into Great Lakes - Ottawa Citizen
Despite government claims that pollution is decreasing, a new study says Canada released a billion kilograms of toxic chemicals annually in the Great Lakes basin from 1998-2002 with no significant decline.
Most of the chemicals were released into the air, now recognized as the biggest source of pollution affecting the lakes, by industry and public utilities.
The load in 2002 included three million kilograms of carcinogens and almost 2,000 kilograms of mercury, which can harm child development.
B.C. biologist launches private prosecution over fish farm sea lice - Vancouver Sun
A B.C. biologist has started a private prosecution against a Central Coast fish farm and the federal and provincial governments alleging they're allowing sea lice to infect wild salmon.
In legal action filed on Tuesday, Alexandra Morton claims the Heritage Salmon company is illegally discharging sea lice from its farm in the Broughton Archipelago.
Morton said both governments need to be included in her legal action.
Canada's welfare policy "disaster," many incomes at modern-day lows: report - Canadian Press
OTTAWA (CP) - A new report says welfare incomes in many provinces and territories are at modern-day lows.
Even with federal benefits added, the report from the National Council of Welfare says welfare incomes remained far below the poverty line in 2004, and much lower than what most Canadians might consider reasonable.
The report concludes that Canada's welfare policy during the last decade and a half has been an utter disaster.
Roughly 1.7 million men, women and children lived on welfare benefits last year.
Same-sex bill straining Liberals - Globe and Mail
Talk of election, plots and defections swirl amid open opposition within the ranks
Election talk is increasing again on Parliament Hill as one Liberal MP quit the party caucus and another said "three or four" of his colleagues could vote to topple their own government to stop same-sex marriage from becoming law.
London, Ont., MP Pat O'Brien, who announced yesterday he will sit as an independent to protest against the government's plan to fast-track the gay-marriage bill, said Liberals who oppose same-sex marriage have discussed defeating the government.
Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health Applauds Call for National Strategy on Mental Illness and Mental Health
OTTAWA, June 7 - The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness andMental Health (CAMIMH) called on all parties to support Conservative HealthCritic Steven Fletcher's proposed resolution for Canada to adopt a nationalstrategy to help reduce the human and economic costs of cancer, heart diseaseand mental illness.
"CAMIMH was established in 1998 to advocate for a national strategy on mental illness and mental health. This resolution is a very important step in recognizing the significant personal costs and economic burden of mentalillness in this country" stated Phil Upshall, National Executive Director ofCAMIMH. "Nearly 6 million, or 1 in 5 Canadians today are likely to experience a diagnosable mental illness; 3 per cent of Canadians are likely to have to live with a serious mental illness. This is a growing problem in need ofconcerted action on the part of governments and Canadians."
"By 2020 it is estimated that depressive illnesses will become the second leading cause of disease burden worldwide and the leading cause in developed countries like Canada" according to Dr. John Service, CAMIMH President. "For Canada, the time to act is now. We need a national strategy that will reduce stigma through public education and awareness-raising, that will support a national research agenda, and that will ensure national collection and preservation of information and data to support research."

As the largest mental health advocacy group in Canada, CAMIMH representsstakeholders along the mental health continuum: practitioners includingphysicians, psychologists and psychiatric nurses; researchers; and people living with mental illness and the families that support them. Together, these organizations constitute an important and vibrant network of national, provincial and local organizations that stretch from coast to coast.
CAMIMH members are: Autism Society Canada; Canadian Association ofOccupational Therapists; Canadian Association of Social Workers; CanadianAssociation for Suicide Prevention; Canadian Coalition for Seniors MentalHealth; Canadian Healthcare Association; Canadian Medical Association; Canadian Mental Health Association; Canadian National Committee for Police/Mental Health Liaison; Canadian Psychiatric Association; CanadianPsychiatric Research Foundation; Canadian Psychological Association; MoodDisorders Society of Canada; National Network for Mental Health; Native MentalHealth Association of Canada; Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Canada; andSchizophrenia Society of Canada.
Government of Canada announces $9.2 million to help conserve species at risk and their habitat
OTTAWA, June 7 - The Honourable Stéphane Dion, Minister ofthe Environment and the Honourable Geoff Regan, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans today announced $9.2 million in funding to help protect species at risk and their habitat. The funding supports 153 Habitat Stewardship Program (HSP) projects across Canada.
The Habitat Stewardship Program for species at risk is in its sixth yearof operation. Its goal is to contribute to the recovery and protection ofspecies listed under the Species at Risk Act as endangered, threatened or ofspecial concern. Since Program inception, Canadian stewardship projects havebenefited the habitat of hundreds of species at risk.
"The Habitat Stewardship Program enables Canadians to become activelyinvolved in stewardship projects to help secure and restore healthy habitatfor species at risk," said Minister Dion, Minister. "The conservation ofspecies is critical to guide the way to a healthier environment that in turn will allow for Canada's long-term economic well-being."
Habitat stewardship projects cover a wide range of stewardshipactivities. For instance, in the Yukon stewards are protecting calvingWoodland Caribou habitat to assist in rebuilding the diminished herd. AnotherHSP project, through targeted public awareness and education programs, willmanage near-shore habitat degradation and loss to the Lake Winnipeg Physa Snail.
"What makes the Program such a success is the tremendous efforts ofdedicated Canadians who are working together across the country to protectspecies at risk," said Minister Regan. "Concerned Canadians are working inpartnership to protect aquatic species such as Leatherback Turtles, RightWhales, White Sturgeon, Wolffish and many more."
The Habitat Stewardship Program is a partnership-based conservationinitiative sponsored by the Government of Canada. The Program is managedcooperatively by Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and ParksCanada, and is administered by Environment Canada. It is one of three majorcomponents in the Government of Canada Strategy for the Protection of Speciesat Risk. The other two components are the Accord for the Protection of Speciesat Risk, endorsed by the provinces, territories and the Government of Canada,as well as the Species at Risk Act.
More information on the Species at Risk Act, the Habitat StewardshipProgram for species at risk, and on Canada's Strategy for the Protection ofSpecies at Risk, can be found on the Internet at: http://www.speciesatrisk.gc.ca/
June 6, 2005
What Are You Going To Do With That? Mojo
On reading and thinking -- in a world where listening and looking often, unfortunately, mean believing.
For the Class of September 11th, which, I'm afraid, is all of us, there probably can't be too much graduation advice. A week ago, I offered Against Discouragement, the commencement address Howard Zinn gave at Spelman College, as my way of graduating the rest of us. But -- a sign of the tough times we find ourselves in -- I can't resist bringing up more graduation artillery and offering a second barrage of observation and advice, this time from Mark Danner, who in mid-May addressed graduating English students at Berkeley.
As Danner reminds us, we inhabit a strange land, one in which worldly revelation -- revelation after revelation of the scandals, follies, and crimes of Bush administration officials -- has lead nowhere in particular. You know that we're in a startling moment when Amnesty International issues its annual report and its Secretary General, Irene Khan, refers to Guantánamo as "the gulag of our times." ("The USA, as the unrivalled political, military and economic hyperpower, sets the tone for governmental behavior worldwide. When the most powerful country in the world thumbs its nose at the rule of law and human rights, it grants a license to others to commit abuse with impunity," said Khan. She then added: "The detention facility at Guantánamo Bay has become the gulag of our times, entrenching the practice of arbitrary and indefinite detention in violation of international law… Guantánamo evokes memories of Soviet repression… To say in a 21st-century democracy that torture is acceptable is to push us back to medieval ages."

June 5, 2005
Venezuela's "El" Jazeera - AlterNet.
New South American TV network competes with US version of the news.
Move over Al Jazeera, Telesur is here.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, tireless polemist and Bush nemesis, has a new pet project: a continent-wide television network slated for broadcast throughout South America in the coming weeks.
Telesur, or "Television of the South," aims to be a competitor of CNN, Univison and other global giants seen by southern neighbors as minions of American hegemony.
Described by its new director, Aram Aharonian, as South America's "first counter-hegemonic media project," Telesur reportedly has 20 employees but hopes to work its way up to at least 60. The Chavez government has coughed up $2.5 million for the project thus far and is permitting Telesur to operate as an affiliate of Venezuelan state television.
Telesur is painted in populist hues, befitting a World Social Forum keynoter. A kind of Al Jazeera of the South, the commercial-free, state-funded channel will beam news, documentaries and other programming with a uniquely Latin flavor. The network will be boosted by the presence of journalistic heavyweights -- among them, Jorge Enrique Botero, a well-known television producer known for his coverage of FARC rebels.
Problems with Radioactive Waste Plan -Straightgoods
by Shawn-Patrick Stensil, in Toronto ON, for Greenpeace
Canadian environmental groups say that a draft recommendation released today by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has ignored a primary concern of Canadians — that, as a first priority, no more high level radioactive waste should be produced.
"They refuse to consider waste reduction by shifting electricity production from nuclear power to cleaner, safer options. Nobody wants a radioactive waste dump in their backyard," said Dave Martin, Energy Coordinator for Greenpeace Canada.
In 2002 the federal government gave NWMO a three-year mandate to choose between three radioactive waste management alternatives:
· deep geological disposal in the Canadian Shield;
· storage at nuclear sites; or
· centralized storage.

Local Green Party nominates federal candidate - Ancaster News
During its official nomination meeting held on May 2, local Green Party of Canada members nominated David Januczkowski as their candidate in the next federal election. Mr. Januczkowski , 45, is a certified management accountant and holds a bachelor of administration from Lakehead University. He represented the Green Party as its candidate in Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale during last year's federal election and obtained 4.8% of the popular vote.
"Once again, I am honoured by the privilege of being able to articulate to my fellow Canadians the forward thinking and innovative vision of the Green Party" said Mr. Januczkowski. "We want Canada to achieve its potential and become a world leader in the promotion of peace, justice and sustainability."
The Green Party of Canada is a national political party founded in 1983. Its vision promotes such key values as sustainability, social justice, ecological wisdom, community-based economics, non-violence and grassroots democracy.
The party plans to run candidates in every electoral district across Canada in the next federal election.
Atlas shows environmental damage - CBC.ca
The United Nations has unveiled a new world atlas that uses satellite imagery to show the often damaging environmental changes sweeping the planet.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) produced the atlas, called "One Planet Many People," to mark World Environment Day.
The atlas compares and contrasts satellite images of past decades with ones from the present.
It finds many of the world's precious resources have seriously deteriorated because of rapid urbanization, overfishing and the loss of forests.
UN environment expert Pascal Peduzzi warned that natural resources are being used up so rapidly that many are in danger of disappearing.
The Saturday Zeitgeist - National Post
Zeitgeist you ask? "the spirit of the times."
· Danica Patrick - "Some Guy Wins Indy 500 -- Danica Patrick Finishes Fourth."
· Powerball - We don't know who he is, but an Idaho man is now US$220.3-million richer thanks to last Saturday's American Powerball lottery.
· Preakness Stakes
· Kelly Ripa - She lost out to Ellen DeGeneres on this year's Daytime Emmy Outstanding Talk Show Host award.
Tainted salmon on market - Vancouver Sun
Eggs blamed for the anti-fungal malachite green found in farmed B.C. fish

The provincial fisheries ministry admitted Friday it is investigating the sale of fish eggs believed to be the source of malachite green found in chinook salmon raised at a B.C. fish farm.

Malachite green -- a chloride compound used to kill fungus on fish eggs and once regarded as "the holy water of the hatcheries" -- fell out of favour in Canada in 1992 and is considered a carcinogen by Health Canada.

Although it is not a banned substance, its use is not permitted on food fish.
In the, ' I wonder why Calgary can't have this in their newspapers,' department, especially when Alberta really has no game plan with the money behind it for our Mental Health Services and those who need it. How could it be the Citizen is one of this country's better newspaper in a city that is 1/4 the size of Calgary?

Special Report - Treating the Mentally Ill - Ottawa Citizen

Fearful neighbours pose roadblock to recovery - Ottawa Citizen

While studies show that stable housing is key to successfully treating the mentally ill in our community, NIMBY campaigns make securing such housing a challenging trick. The case of 208 St. Andrew St. highlights the typical struggle facing mental health care providers, and the fears of people who don't want what they view as hospitals without staff next door.

'Hospital parole system' showing early promise - Ottawa Citizen
Community Treatment Orders -- voluntary agreements signed by the patient, a doctor and community worker -- provide a shortcut to case-management services and act as a 'high-end hospital discharge plan.' Patients are told: Take treatment for your mental illness while living in the community or you will be brought back to hospital.
CTOs have reduced hospital admissions, but the jury is out on whether the centrepiece of Brian's Law has worked.
Protecting mentally ill offenders - Ottawa Citizen
With just days to go before a court-ordered deadline, the Ontario government's plan to keep mentally ill people out of jail pending psychiatric assessments is incomplete and possibly doomed to fail.
Jailing mentally ill people was ruled unconstitutional by Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Desmarais last November, and he gave the government half a year to fix the long-standing problem.
Will Canada lead effort to rid the world of polio? - Toronto Star
Susan Richardson and Raphael Saginur

Polio was almost extinct just two short years ago. But its re-emergence in Africa and Asia threatens us again. There is still the opportunity to rid our world of this scourge and Canada can take a leadership role in putting an end to polio — forever.

As late as the 1950s, polio victims on iron lungs filled Canadian hospital wards while others were left paralyzed for life.

The Salk and Sabin vaccines introduced in the '50s and '60s dramatically reduced the incidence of polio in developed countries around the globe. It proved more difficult to eradicate in Africa and parts of Asia and South America.

In 1985, Rotary International and partner agencies launched PolioPlus — a program committed to eliminating polio worldwide.

June 4, 2005
Gun-running a problem at border, McKenna says - Globe and Mail
The risk from American guns smuggled into Canada is as legitimate a border security issue as U.S. concerns that terrorists might enter that country from Canada, says Frank McKenna, Ottawa's envoy to Washington.
The ambassador says he also constantly reminds American officials about the problem of hard drugs being smuggled into Canada from the United States.
"Every conversation I have on border security I make the point that we have big issues on the border too," he said in an interview yesterday.
Canada enabler of sex slavery: report - Winterpeg's Sun
A new U.S. report names Canada as a gateway to modern-day sexual slavery.
The Trafficking in Persons Report, released yesterday by the U.S. State Department, calls Canada a "destination and transit country" for foreigners imported for prostitution and forced labour. Most victims are women and children from Central and South America, Eastern Europe and Asia, and most of those in transit are bound for the U.S.
The report, designed to raise global awareness and encourage foreign governments to take "effective actions," summarizes activities in countries around the globe. While it lists Canada as a "Tier 1" country -- meaning laws and resources are in place to combat human trafficking -- it criticizes our ability to nab perpetrators.
"Canada needs to use its anti-trafficking law to vigorously increase investigations, arrests, prosecutions and convictions of traffickers, especially those who may be abusing visa waivers and entertainment visas," the report reads.
State court gives go-ahead to Devils Lake water plan - CBC.ca
North Dakota's highest court has ruled the controversial Devils Lake diversion project can go ahead, upsetting foes of the project in Manitoba.
What is Devil's Lake All About?
The unanimous ruling on Thursday clears the way for the Devils Lake diversion to begin operating as soon as construction is complete, and that could be as early as next month.
The project will ease flooding around Devils Lake by diverting water into the Sheyenne River,
Canadians need new attitude: McKenna - Toronto Star

HULL, QUE.—In a surprisingly undiplomatic move, Frank McKenna, Canada's new ambassador to Washington, admonished Canadians for their self-righteous approach to Americans and paid heed to Ottawa's current political troubles.

"Where Americans take offence is when Canadians attack them gratuitously, carry large chips on their shoulder, endlessly moralize about what America should be doing," McKenna told the annual Canadian Press dinner last night. "In short, a self-righteousness that isn't very flattering."
Editor's Response To Star's Editor:

Frank McKenna, Canada's new ambassador to Washington, is right.
Canadians need a new attitude towards the Americans.

First we must realize that the Americans need what Canada has, and in most cases more than we need the Americans. Our oil and natural gas are transportable to any corner of the earth. In fact we now have a growing interest in our oil and gas, by China, and Southeast Asia.

Both China and India have a population of 1,000,000,000 people, and are hungry for what Canada has to offer.

Both from our dirt and our minds.

Second, Canadians must realize that the major part of our trade with the US is connected directly with the car.

When you think of it, where else will the US relocate their automotive manufacturing industry? Maybe it is time Canada stop supporting the American automotive industry through our tax dollars.The American auto industry loves to build their cars in Canada. They save a mountain of money with our taxpayer funded health care system. In the US the largest cost to the American big three auto makers is their employee health care plans. The American auto industry also walks away from our governments with buckets of public money to support their for profit businesses.

Canada needs to tell the Americans that because of their politicians' protectionism acts, such as the soft wood, and BSE, they are paying more for their new homes, and meat in their stores.

Canada, needs to tell the Americans it was not Canada that unleashed the violence on them on 9/11.

Canada, needs to tell the Americans we will make sure our borders are secure, whether it is at the 49th parallel, or on our coast.

Canada, needs to tell the Americans it was not the Canadians that caused their last major power outage on the East coast.

Canada also needs to tell the Americans, that their creeping towards running the world through thuggocracy, is not acceptable.

To help, Canada should offer free land, and buildings to the U.N., for their new beginnings, and have them move their head offices here

Canada should put on of its efforts into moving Canada back into a Pearsonian like Canada, where we can rightfully lay claim to being an influential middle power, by example, and moral persuasion.

Darfur is the first place to start.

Canada needs to start thinking about the other 6,000,000,000 people that do not live in the US, and trade with them. The word is trade. Which denotes it is not a one way trade root.

The US has only 350,000,000 people living in it. Despite the American's thinking, they are not the biggest democracy, nor are they the largest single market to trade with.

There are others.
Let's vote again on election reform - Victoria Times/Colonist
Premier Gordon Campbell and NDP Leader Carole James are being asked to revisit the issue of election reform, based on the majority backing for the single transferable vote in last month's provincial election.
The bar for the introduction of the transferable vote was set high: It needed a majority of yes votes in 60 per cent of B.C.'s 79 ridings, and the approval of 60 per cent of voters overall.
As it turned out, the proposed system got the required majority in 77 of 79 ridings, but only(!) 58 per cent of the overall vote. In first-past-the-post terms, where majority governments can be formed with less than 40 per cent of the popular vote, the single transferable vote got a ringing endorsement. The result is pressure on Campbell and James to bring in reforms.
Chemical taints B.C. farm's fish - Times Colonist
Not deemed an acute health risk; environmental group outraged
A chemical suspected of causing cancer has contaminated at least 36,000 kilograms of chinook salmon raised at a Campbell River-area fish farm and sold from stores in Canada, the United States and Asia.
Malachite green is legally used in some parts of the world to kill fungus in fish eggs. But Health Canada does not permit it to be used for fish destined for human consumption, and has a "zero tolerance" policy on its use.
One of those back to the future stories the editor likes, when they refer to one of his favourite Canadian Rock and Roll bands of all time

Rush guitarist, family members sue over 2003 altercation that led to arrest - Canadian Press
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) - The lead guitarist for the Canadian rock group Rush, his son and daughter-in-law are suing the Ritz-Carlton, its security director and three sheriff's deputies stemming from a New Year's Eve 2003 altercation at the Naples hotel.
Alex Zivojinovich, known on stage as Alex Lifeson, his son Justin and daughter-in-law Michelle filed suit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers seeking an unspecified amount of monetary damages for injuries, pain and suffering, mental anguish and the costs of their defence.
Japan insists on high-quality canola - Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - When the Japanese want canola, price is not an issue. But they insist it be clean, pure and of the highest quality.

And increasingly these days, it has to be virtually odourless and lower in trans fats than even the current healthy canola oils, Agricore United oilseeds buyer Glen Pownall says.

Which is why Atsuki Mizumoto, assistant manager of raw materials purchases for Japan's largest canola presser, was in Edmonton on Thursday.
Devils Lake fate in Martin, Bush's hands - Regina Leader/Post
WINNIPEG (CP) -- Manitoba and Ottawa are refusing to give up hope that diplomacy will succeed where legal efforts failed Thursday to halt the contentious Devils Lake water outlet in North Dakota.
Premier Gary Doer said he was not surprised to learn the state's Supreme Court unanimously rejected an appeal by the province and U.S. opponents to halt the diversion's startup early next month
Pesticides' Damage Lingers - Straight Goods
New research shows that farmers who used agricultural insecticides experienced increased neurological symptoms, even when they were no longer using the products. Data from18 782 North Carolina and Iowa farmers linked use of insecticides, including organophosphates and organochlorines, to reports of re-occurring headaches, fatigue, insomnia, dizziness, nausea, hand tremors, numbness and other neurological symptoms. Some of the insecticides addressed by the study are still on the market, but some, including DDT, have been banned or restricted.
These findings will be available online in April, and published in the June issue of Environmental Health Perspectives. The research is part of the ongoing Agricultural Health Study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute, two of the National Institutes of Health, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
"THE VIRTUAL STUDIO" for all creative writers
In March of 1998, filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola launched a website where writers could submit their short stories to his magazine, Zoetrope: All-Story. Response was so enthusiastic that Coppola followed up with more.
"The Virtual Studio", which launched in June 2000, brings together the original sites as departments, plus includes new departments for other creative endeavours. Membership is free of charge, and offers a chance to pitch ideas to Hollywood big-shots. In addition, there is a CONTEST for emerging screenwriters and filmmakers with an August 1, 2005, deadline. Well worth a peek.
http://www.zoetrope.com/
Private clinics offer innovation - Victoria Times/Colonist
New facility proposed for Vancouver is one example of the search for health care solutions
Horrors! A private medical clinic scheduled to open in October in Vancouver will offer better service than the public system for an annual fee of $2,300 and a sign-up fee of $1,700 (a mere $1,200 if you sign up before the end of July).
For their money, patients will get the usual publicly paid medical treatments plus house calls, diet assessments, faster service, more time with the doctor, and less of an assembly line atmosphere. Those who aren't members will be able to go to the clinic, but will have to take a number.
Already the usual suspects are crying foul, including Health Canada, which will investigate the clinic for possible violations of the Canada Health Act, and the B.C. Nurses' Union, whose president Debra McPherson has declared that "Club Medicare" is introducing two-tiered medical service.
Restoring linguistic rights for aboriginals - Toronto Star
The recently announced accord between the Assembly of First Nations and the federal government is truly a historic day.

By pledging to formally apologize to the First Nations for government complicity in the linguistic and cultural genocide of the original inhabitants of this land, and by agreeing to negotiate a global proposal leading to a path of healing and reconciliation, Ottawa has handed Frank Iacobucci, the jurist charged with crafting the details of the proposal, a task of immense proportions — but a necessary one, long overdue.

The First Nations, the Metis and the Inuit are entitled to fair and equitable treatment as part of the principle of restorative rights.

Iacobucci will want to enumerate those basic human rights, which were denied aboriginal peoples when the federal government, aided and abetted by certain Christian churches, embarked on a policy of forced linguistic and cultural assimilation, whose principal machine was the residential school system.
Thank you
Norman Greenfield
http://www.provocostatusquo.com/
http://provocostatusquo.blogspot.com/
Published Writer
Media and Government Relations
Media Monitoring - New and Old
Corporate, Marketing and Political Communications
Registered Federal Government Lobbyist
Registered B.C. Government Lobbyist
E-Learning Business Development

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