Goan Voice, Canada : Newsletter. Issue 2006-17. August 19, 2006

Alexyz's Wishes for World Goa Day & "Gone Away From Goa Goans"

(Click on Thumbnails for larger view)

Newsline Canada

2006 XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Needs Hard Dose Of Reality
Prime Minister should make life-and-death decisions based on evidence, not ideology, says Legal Network…"The Canadian government's head is in the sand on the problem of HIVamong people who use drugs and prisoners," said Joanne Csete. Click for full article (a)

The ABCs of Kenya's war on AIDS.. The HIV/AIDS strategy of the government of Kenya emphasizes an evidence-based approach rooted in "ABC": abstain, be faithful, and the correct and consistent use of condoms. Americans, through President George W. Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, support Kenya's prevention strategy. Click for full article (b)

Why is Uganda Interesting Uganda is one of the few African countries where rates of HIV infection have declined, and it is seen as a rare example of success in a continent facing a severe AIDS crisis. Uganda's policies are credited with helping to bring adult HIV prevalence (the proportion of adults living with HIV) down from around 15% in the early 1990s to around 5% in 2001. At the end of 2005, UNAIDS estimates that 6.7% of adults had the virus. The country is seen as having implemented a well-timed and successful public education campaign. Click for full article (c)

Dr. Alex Coutinho, a Ugandan-born public health physician, has been working with HIV since 1983. From 1989–2001, he worked in various capacities in Swaziland and was involved in setting up the early responses to the HIV epidemic there. From 2001 to present, he has served as the Executive Director of The AIDS Support Organization (TASO), the largest HIV care and treatment organization in Africa. Click for interview (d)

What exactly is the ABC approach?
     "Avoiding AIDS as easy as...                       A bstain
                                                                      B e faithful
                                                                      C ondomise"

Canadian Internet Use Survey
Excerpts from Stats Canada Survey ~2005

Two-thirds of adult Canadians surfed the Internet in 2005, and those living in larger cities were much more likely to have done so than those in rural areas and small towns, according to the new Canadian Internet Use Survey.

An estimated 16.8 million adult Canadians, or 68%, used the Internet for personal non-business reasons during the 12 months prior to the survey.

Only 58% of residents living in small towns or rural areas accessed the World Wide Web, well below the national average. In contrast, rates in Canada's largest census metropolitan areas ranged from 68% in Montréal to 77% in both Ottawa–Gatineau and Calgary.

Read more...

Canada not doing enough to help poor: study
From: http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/

Canada is not doing enough to help the world's poor -- thanks in part to its miserly foreign aid -- a new study released Sunday says.

Canada ranks 10th among the world's 21 richest countries, thanks in part to its weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and miserly foreign aid, said the study, published in Centre for Global Development and Foreign Policy magazine.

The Netherlands came out top, but even that country wasn't doing a particularly good job of improving life for the 2.7 billion people who subsist on less than $2 a day, said David Roodman, lead author of the third annual Commitment to Development Index.

"Indeed, the main reason the Netherlands came out on top is because others stumbled," Roodman states in the report.

Japan, which came bottom in the ranking, is described as the most inward-looking nation in the group.

It offers the least aid for its size, imposes high tariffs on imports, does little peacekeeping and welcomes few immigrants, the report says.

Housing Starts Will Slow in 2007
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/corp/nero/nere/2006/2006-08-14-0815.cfm

OTTAWA, August 14, 2006 — Housing starts will register another strong year in 2006, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) third quarter Housing Market Outlook, Canada Edition report. Starts will reach 227,900 units in 2006, before decreasing to 209,100 units next year. Although residential construction will ease, 2007 will mark the sixth consecutive year in which housing starts exceed 200,000 units.

“Housing starts this year will be stronger than previously forecast, mainly due to persistent strong demand in Alberta where starts will increase by 20 per cent in 2006,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC.“Higher mortgage carrying costs, due to modest increases in mortgage rates and rising house prices, will temper housing demand in Canada in the latter part of this year and next.”

Existing home sales, as measured by the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®), will register their second best year on record with 481,700 units in 2006, a slight decrease compared to the previous year. A rising supply of listings will give home buyers more choice thereby reducing the spillover effect into the new home market. The level of MLS® sales will remain high in 2007 at 462,200 units, their third highest level on record.However, marginally higher mortgage carrying costs will ease demand for existing homes in many centres across Canada.

Strong MLS® price growth in the western provinces will push the Canadian average price increase to a 17-year high of 12.0 per cent in 2006. In 2007, higher listings and lower MLS® sales will move the resale market toward more balanced conditions, and growth in average MLS® prices will slow to 6.4 per cent.

On Pope Benedict’s visit to his homeland in September
Excerpts from pre-visit interview

In an exclusive interview with German media conducted last week, Pope Benedict XVI addressed issues of marriage and family, world peace and intercultural dialogue as well as the future of the Catholic Church.

Pope Benedict XVI: "We Have a Positive Idea to Offer"
See full text at : http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2129951,00.html

Excerpts:
The purpose of the visit is precisely because I want to see again the places where I grew up, the people who touched and shaped my life. I want to thank these people. Naturally I also want to express a message that goes beyond my country, just as my ministry calls me to do. I simply let the liturgical recurrences suggest the themes to me. The basic theme is that we have to rediscover God, not just any God, but the God that has a human face, because when we see Jesus Christ we see God. Starting from this point we must find the way to meet each other in the family, among generations, and then among cultures and peoples as well. We must find the way to reconciliation and to peaceful coexistence in this world, the ways that lead to the future.

Today there are Indian and African priests in Europe, even in Canada, where many African priests work in a very interesting way. There's this reciprocal give and take.

It's become more difficult to believe because the world in which we find ourselves is completely made up of ourselves and God, so to speak, doesn't appear directly anymore. We don't drink from the source anymore, but from the vessel which is offered to us already full, and so on. Humanity has rebuilt the world by itself and finding God inside this world has become more difficult.