Canadian Federal Elections
Excerpt from: The Catholic Register
Paul Martin was returned to the prime minister's chair with a minority government in the June 28 national vote. His Liberal party took 135 of t308 seats. A majority would have required the Liberals to win 155 seats.The Conservatives will form the Official Opposition after winning 99 seats, while the Bloc Quebecois to 54 seats, the New Democrats 19 with one independent.
Catholic observers say that a minority government is a major step forward for social justice agendas of faith communities.
Excerpts from:
http://news.mantraonline.com/forafptopstory.jsp?id=81893
10 South Asians make it to Canadian Parliament
The general elections, which concluded Monday, returned a Liberal Party minority government at the Federal level saw 10 South Asian candidates winning seats around the country.
The biggest number of South Asians - five -- has come from Ontario, which sends the largest numbers of MPs to the Canadian parliament. Alberta and British Columbia have contributed two and three South Asian candidates respectively, reports South Asian Observer.
The old guard Gurbux Singh Malhi, Navdeep Bains, Ruby Dhalla, Wajid Khan and Yasmin Ratansi are new MPs from this province and Deepak Obhrai and Rahim Jaffer retained their seats in Alberta. Ujall Dosanjh, Nina Grewal and Gurmant Grewal won their seats in British Columbia.
Ujjal Dosanjh, the former premier of British Columbia who joined the Liberal Party just before the elections, has won from Vancouver South with a comfortable margin.
It is first time that three women of South Asian origin have been elected to parliament. Nina Grewal has been elected Fleetwood-Port Kells riding in BC and Ruby Dhalla and Yasmin Ratansi had respectively won from Brampton-Springdale, a new riding and from Don Valley east. By any yardstick this is a notable achievement since before this South Asian women were not that visible in the Canadian politics.
Notably, this is first time a husband-wife will be seen in the upper house as Nina Grewal is the wife of Gurmant Grewal, an old guard who has retained his seat in British Columbia.

Monte De Guirim Ex-Students celebrate feast of St. Anthony
By: Felix Coalco
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of their reunion the Toronto chapter of the ex-students of St. Anthony's High School, Monte-De-Guirim, Goa celebrated the feast of their patron St. Anthony on June 19, 2004.
The function was held at the International Banquet hall in Mississauga. There was a celebration of the Eucharist followed by a dinner and dance. Over 400 people consisting of ex-students, their families and friends attended the grand gala, which was a huge success. A live band and a DJ provided dance music.
The alumni of St. Anthony's Guirim have been celebrating the feast of their patron since their first reunion in 1995. It is one of the few active Goan ex-students associations here in North America. Each year an ex-student is appointed to lead the celebrations. This year was the 10th anniversary and the event coordination was under the guidance of the founder president Auggie Pereira (class of 1951-52). The president elect for 2005 is Mario Botelho. Mario hails from the island of Divar and is from the class of 1974-75.
All proceeds from the annual reunions are directed to the Capuchin Friars at Monte De Guirim for the benefit of deserving poor students and the Alma Mater.
To visit the Monte De Guirim ex-students group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MonteDeGuirimSchool/ Or you may email them at montedeguirim@yahoo.com

Canadian housing market demonstrates continued strength in second quarter
Average prices rise in all major markets
TORONTO, July 6 /CNW/ - Canadian real estate gathered strong momentum in the spring market buoyed by an influx of inventory that helped drive exceptional sales activity and higher average prices, year-over-year, according to a second quarter report released today by Royal LePage Real Estate Services.
Of the national markets examined, 94 per cent of those with detached bungalows increased in value; 91 per cent with standard two-storeys increased in price and 80 per cent with standard condominiums increased, year-over-year.
The average price of a detached bungalow rose to $249,200 (+6.8%), a standard two-storey home increased to $311,509 (+8.5%), and a standard condominium appreciated to $176,013 (+6.5%).
Best-ever sales activity occurred in many of the major markets in the quarter, including Toronto, Edmonton and Regina.

Konkani Troupe flies from UK to stage "Chukh" in Toronto
The A-Team and the whole team of over 20 members financed their own travel to Canada - all for the love of Konkani.!!!
Article by Pamela Vasandani ..... Click to read more