Air Canada Rapped For Ending India Service
http://washingtontimes.com/upi/20070216-113522-8985r.htm
Feb. 16, 2007

Air Canada's decision to end flights to India so it can boost service to China was criticized by Indo-Canadian business leaders in Toronto Friday.

"It's a lousy decision," Canada-India Business Council President Kam Rathee told The Toronto Star, noting India's economy is growing at a rate second only to that of China.

Rathee sent a letter of protest to Air Canada President Montie Brewer urging him to reconsider.

Air Canada will discontinue daily service to New Delhi May 1 because the route "didn't meet our financial performance objectives," spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said.

He said traffic to New Delhi was high in winter but low in summer, making flights hard to fill year-round.

By contrast, China "is a very lucrative market for us," Fitzpatrick said. "There's a lot of demand there. There's a lot of business that gets conducted with China."

Air Canada will offer five daily Boeing 767 non-stops to Shanghai and Beijing from Toronto, up from three, starting this summer.

Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce spokesman Atul Ahuja said Canada would now be the only Group of Seven nation without a national airline serving India.

See our Announcements Section for impact on travel to Goa

Wife of Eminent Business School Professor Missing After Gas Explosion Demolishes Home

TORONTO (CP) - One of the owners of a midtown Toronto home that exploded, erupted in flames and collapsed is missing and presumed inside the debris, police said Thursday.

"At this stage we're going to start moving forward to a recovery situation," said Det. Murray Barnes. "We do believe at this point she may well be still inside the house." Sridhar Moorthy, a Professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, has now allowed police to confirm that his wife, Jyoti, is missing.

Neighbours said the couple have two young children who were at school when the house blew up on Wednesday.

All that's left of the home is a pile of blackened timber and rubble.

"The house is in total devastation," Barnes said. "The roof collapsed and sandwiched down through the building, (which) obviously caught fire."

The flames from the explosion scorched the side of one of the neighbouring homes and caused the paint on another to bubble.

An Enbridge gas worker, who was working in the basement of the home, was taken to hospital with second-degree burns after being rescued by a passerby.

"At this point it's just a terrible, terrible accident with devastating consequences," said Barnes.

The Ontario Fire Marshal will now take over the investigation with an eye to pinpointing exactly what happened.

Canadian Social Trends, Found That On Average Workers Spent 45 Minutes Less With Their Family
Study: Time with the family
2005 http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/070213/d070213b.htm

Spending more time at work and less time with the family? You're not alone, according to a new study that examines the time Canadian workers spend with family members during a typical workday.

The study, published today in Canadian Social Trends, found that on average workers spent 45 minutes less with their family during workdays in 2005 than they did two decades earlier.
Based on a 260-day work year, that amounts to 195 hours less, or the equivalent of about five 40-hour work weeks.

The study was based on data from four cycles of the General Social Surveys on Time Use (1986, 1992, 1998 and 2005). Using a time journal, participants aged 15 and over provided detailed information on the amount of time they spent on various activities on a given day. For each activity, they indicated if they had been alone, or in the company of family members or other people.

For the purposes of this study, respondents had to have worked at least three hours on the "diary day", not including commuting time, and had to have lived with a spouse or at least one child.

The study showed that time spent with family members declined between 1986 and 2005 for most groups of workers. For example, in 1986 women spent an average of 248 minutes with their family members, while in 2005 they spent 209 minutes, a difference of 39 minutes during a typical working day.

For men, the average time fell by 45 minutes, from 250 minutes in 1986 to 205 in 2005.
The study said the main factor associated with the decline was an appreciable increase in time devoted to paid employment on a typical working day.

More time at work, less time with the family
Not surprisingly, the more time people spent at work, the less they spent with their family, according to the study. For example, workers who devoted between 9 and 10 hours a day to paid employment spent 52 minutes less with their families than those who devoted 7 to 8 hours.

Between 1986 and 2005, the average time devoted to paid employment during the typical workday, including lunch and coffee breaks, increased considerably. On average, Canadians worked 536 minutes, or 8.9 hours, during a typical workday in 2005, up from 506, or 8.4 hours, two decades earlier.

The proportion of workers who devoted long hours to their paid activities also increased. For example, in 1986, about 17% of workers devoted 10 hours or more to their work; by 2005, this had jumped to 25%.

This increase in the average length of the workday had major implications for the overall trends in average time spent with family.

The analysis showed that the increased time workers devoted to paid employment accounted for about 39% of the decline in time spent with family between 1986 and 2005.

This proportion was higher than for all other factors considered in the study. (These results provide no information about time spent with family during workers' leave days.)

Television watching and meal habits both factors in the decline in family time.
The study pinpointed several other factors that had an impact on the decline in time spent with family members, the main ones being the fact that workers tend increasingly to watch television alone, eat alone, and spend less time on meals.

Both in 1986 and 2005, the more time workers spent watching television on a given day, the more time they spent with family (likely because they were in the company of family members).

However, workers' television viewing habits have changed considerably in the past two decades.

First, the average time they spent watching television declined from 95 minutes in 1986 to 79 minutes in 2005.

Secondly, when workers do watch television, they are more likely to watch it alone than in the past.

According to the study, almost one-quarter (24%) of the decline in the time spent with family can be explained by the fact that workers were more likely to have watched television alone during the day rather than with other family members.

The study also found that workers tend increasingly to eat alone when not at work. In 2005, 42% of workers had taken at least one meal alone, compared to 28% in 1986. This was the third most important factor accounting for the decline in average time spent with family between 1986 and 2005.

Other factors which accounted for the decline in time with family include more time occupied with personal care (including sleep), a decrease in the time devoted to having meals at home, and less time spent on social activities outside the home.

Family structure: Young female workers with children spend more time with family
The study identified other elements correlated with the time workers spend with their family.
Holding all other factors constant, the estimated time spent with family by workers with a child less than age five is significantly greater than that of workers living with a spouse but no children.

Lone parent workers with a young child spent the most time with family, about one hour more than workers living with a spouse only.

In contrast, lone parent workers with older children spent the least time with family. There is little surprise in this, since they have no spouse with whom to share their activities outside of work and their children probably have their own activities that they want to pursue alone or with friends.

Women's time with family is more affected than men's by the presence of young children in their household.

In fact, when young children are present, women spend significantly more time with family than do men (about three-quarters of an hour more).

Glad to be Canadian, Muslims say
.....................Environics Survey of Muslims in Canada
February 13, 2007
CBC News

More than 80 per cent of Canada's roughly 700,000 Muslims are broadly satisfied with their lives here and only a very small percentage — 17 per cent — feel that many or most Canadians are hostile toward their religion.

According to a new Environics poll conducted in association with the CBC, a much larger proportion of Canadian Muslims is satisfied with the way things are going today than is the case in Europe. The proportion is greater even than the 61 per cent of Canadians who generally feel their lives are on the right track.


Cold weather topped the list of things about Canada that Muslims polled like the least.
(CBC)

At the same time, there are clearly different perceptions between the Muslim community and other Canadians over such flashpoint issues as integration, the role of women and the wearing of headscarves.

And despite intensive efforts by the Stephen Harper government to reach out and recruit prominent Muslims to its cause — witness the recent floor-crossing of former Liberal MP Wajid Khan — there is little sense that this is yet taking hold.

Asked whom they intend to vote for in the next federal election, 54 per cent of Muslim respondents said the Liberals, 13 per cent said NDP, and only seven per cent said the Conservatives, which is virtually the same way they voted in the last election.

These are some of the key findings of a wide-ranging new survey of Muslim attitudes in Canada as well as attitudes toward them.

The survey — conducted by Environics Research Group in conjunction with the CBC and other clients — interviewed 500 Canadian Muslims and 2,045 members of the general population between Nov. 30, 2006 and Jan. 5, 2007 and is said to be accurate within 4.4 percentage points and 2.2 percentage points respectively, 19 times out of a 20.

In general terms, the poll found that 73 per cent of Canadian Muslims describe themselves as "very proud" to be called Canadians, even if many of them see their religion as coming first in certain instances. As well, they have very little sympathy for extremists or terrorist groups and they aren't crazy about the northern climate — it tops the list of things they like least.

Asked about the arrests last summer of the 18 Muslim men and boys who were allegedly plotting terrorist attacks in southern Ontario, 73 per cent of the Muslim respondents said these attacks were not at all justified and 82 per cent said they had no sympathy for those who wanted to carry them out.

"The good news," says Environics vice-president Keith Neuman, is that despite everything that's gone on over the past few years, "these numbers do not suggest a minority that is feeling isolated and resentful."

Canada's Muslims have different priorities, the poll suggests. Unemployment and immigration issues are more important to them than the health care and environmental concerns that are driving other Canadians.

There are also differences over how much and to what extent minority communities should "blend in" with the Canadian norm.

Almost half (49 per cent) of the general Canadian population feel new immigrants should blend in with the rest of the country, while 40 per cent feel they should be encouraged to maintain their religious and cultural practices. For Canadian Muslims, these numbers are 15 and 65 per cent respectively.

The differences are more pronounced when it comes to women: 81 per cent of non-Muslim Canadians feel ethnic minorities should adapt to mainstream Canadian beliefs about the rights and roles of women, whereas only 36 per cent of Canadian Muslims feel that way, the poll suggests.

A majority of the Muslim respondents (53 per cent) would also like to see Islamic Sharia law adopted for divorce and other family disputes, and a much larger number, 86 per cent, of Canadian Muslims do not feel governments should ban the wearing of headscarves by Muslim women in public, including public schools.

Many of these concerns are more strongly backed by young Muslims under 30, the survey suggests, and Haideh Moghissi, a York University sociologist who has worked extensively in this area, says these should probably be seen as more of a "political gesture than a religious one" by those who have felt their community "bearing the brunt of this suspicion and fear" since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

In fact, almost 60 per cent of Muslim women do not wear any kind of covering on a regular basis, the survey found. And 72 per cent of the respondents said they were not too worried or not worried at all about Muslim women taking on more modern roles in Canadian society.

By BILL GLEN
WCR Staff Writer
Edmonton

St. Augustine Parish was once part of a thriving Kenyan mission until it was decimated by tribal warfare.

When it opened in 1982 by Mill Hill missionaries from England, more than 30,000 people belonged. For 10 years, the local people enjoyed marked progress in housing and social amenities.

Then war broke out in 1992, killing more than 20,000 men, women and children. Utility infrastructures were destroyed. Homes were razed to the point that the village of Enoosupukia looked as if it had been wiped away by a tornado.

Church unharmed

The parish itself collapsed, as the locals fled the war. Yet, the church in Enoosupukia was left unharmed because the pastor at the time refused to abandon his beloved home.

A Catholic priest from England reopened the mission in 1998. It is known as the Enoosupukia Catholic Mission, one of 28 Catholic communities in the Diocese of Ngong.

However, the few who remain - some 3,500 - live without permanent schooling, a hospital or transportation. They live in shanty huts without power or running water.

Two members of Good Shepherd Parish in Edmonton heard of their struggles while visiting a relative in Kenya in early 2001 and decided to help.

Rebuild the community

John and Helma van den Bijgaart have formed the Father Francis Educational Aid Society to raise funds to assist the local Catholic Kenyan priest - Father Francis Ng'ang'a - with rebuilding the community.

The van den Bijgaarts met Ng'ang'a while on a trek through a Kenyan rain forest. Helma was moved by the man's commitment to his parish. "He was so humble. He never asked us for anything," Helma said.

"The whole village relies on him," John said. "Because Kenyans have little money to begin with, the priest is basically on his own. We thought about what we could do. We formed the society to help."

Helma and John van den Bijgaart have formed the Father Francis Educational Aid Society.

Collection = $2

Ng'ang'a has the only vehicle in the village where he serves as parish priest, local commodities purchaser and ambulance driver. Yet his entire income consists of Sunday collection, or some $2 a week.

He works with 16 trained volunteer catechists who lead prayers for the community when he is in other areas of the mission.

Following their visit, the http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2007/0212/kenya021207.shtml

Last Updated: Wednesday - 02/07/2007

Week of February 12, 2007

http://www.wcr.ab.ca/columns/editorials/2007/editorial021207.shtml

A Chinese proverb says that a journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step. The Alberta government is proposing to take one tiny baby step in the battle against global warming by setting mandatory targets for the province's greenhouse gas producers.

It wants to set "intensity-based targets" for reducing greenhouse gases - an approach that could see greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions actually increase even if polluters meet their targets. This is a long way from the decisive action that is needed if Alberta - which produces 40 per cent of Canada's GHG - is to make the drastic reductions agreed to under the Kyoto Accord. But it is at least a first step in the Alberta government's 1,000-year journey towards meaningful action.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers says the government is only being realistic by expecting total emissions to increase during the current boom. "Unrealistic targets" will only drive industry away, it claims.
 

Better we grab all the profits we can now and let our grandchildren fry in the hot wasteland that is left when the oil sands are fully mined and global warming has reached the nth degree.

Better also to ignore the Pembina Institute report that argued it is possible for the tar sands to be "carbon neutral" by 2020 for a cost of US$2.50 a barrel. That sounds like a lot, but not when compared with the $1.75 a barrel it already costs to remove lead from gasoline.
 

The better question is why does Canada so often have to be one of the last nations to take environmental issues seriously. And why, within Canada, does Alberta so regularly have to bring up the rear?

In 1979, a pair of Alberta government-sponsored reports saw the long-term viability of Alberta developing solar, wind and biomass renewable energy. The government of the day airily brushed those reports aside, saying it didn't want to create competition for the petroleum industry.

That was 28 years ago. If Alberta had begun to develop renewable energy sources at that time, by today we would be a world leader in that industry. Instead, 28 years later, the government is still finding excuses to do as little as possible. Some things never change.

But they could change. There is now a public will to take decisive action to help prevent global warming. People may not want to change their lifestyles, but they do want governments to firmly regulate industry. Governments have not yet formed the political will to do so, seemingly afraid of the potential reaction from the petroleum industry.

Catholic social teaching is clear about humanity's role as steward of the environment. In a 1997 talk, Pope John Paul II said the exploitation of natural resources threatens our planet. "The environment as 'resource' risks threatening the environment as 'home,'" the pope said.

Present generations have a responsibility to the future. The natural environment is a common good that must not be mined exclusively for private gain. "Economic activity (must) respect the environment to a greater degree," stated the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (n. 470). Governments have a special responsibility because market forces will not do the job.

Failure to act decisively to reduce GHG emissions in Alberta is not acceptable. We have a God-given responsibility to leave a habitable environment for those who come after us.

- Glen Argan

Town of Hérouxville in Quebec Drops Some Rules From Controversial Code

Last Updated: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 | 9:25 AM ET
CBC News

The town council in Hérouxville amended its provocative immigrant code of conduct Monday night to remove certain rules.

Council adopted the changes, which include removing references to "no stoning of women in public" and "no female circumcision."

Councilors said the rules were open to misinterpretation by journalists who have flocked to the Mauricie town of 1,200 since it adopted the code of conduct in January.

The town's leaders denied the amendments had anything to do with a visit from a delegation of Muslim women on Sunday as part of a mission to educate residents about their beliefs and practices.

The code itself will remain enshrined in the town's public documents. The Canadian Islamic Congress is still considering filing a human rights complaint about the rules.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest has ordered a commission to look into the debate over the reasonable accommodation of cultural and religious beliefs.

Seven out of 10 towns in the neighboring region have moved to support Hérouxville's code of conduct.

Tax Planning Is A Year-Round Activity - Not Just At April Tax Filing Time
KPMG's Tax Planning for You and Your Family 2007

TORONTO, Feb. 8 /CNW/ - Most Canadians do not give much thought to reducing their personal taxes until the early spring when the deadline to file their return is fast approaching. Unfortunately, by then, many tax saving opportunities have been lost. With some careful attention, planning ahead and developing a tax strategy for the year, Canadians can save money at tax time and all year round.

"Tax planning should be an important part of your efforts to get the most out of your financial resources," said Paul Hickey, Partner, KPMG's National Tax Centre. "Though you only have to file your tax return once a year, it's the tax planning steps you take throughout the year that will help you save money at tax time."

KPMG's Tax Planning for You and Your Family 2007 can help you make tax planning a year-round activity. Updated for 2007 by the tax and financial planning team at KPMG, this year's guide gives you the latest on:
.
- Creating a sound financial plan for your family's future and your retirement.

- Developing an investment strategy and planning for investments in tax-effective vehicles like
  stocks, bonds, mutual funds, income funds, and life insurance products.

- Managing your tax burden by splitting income among family members.

- Deferring taxes through popular savings vehicles like RRSPs and Registered Pension Plans.

- Making the most of the special tax breaks available for students, working parents, first-time
  home buyers, seniors, and people with disabilities.

- Managing taxes on your income from your job or your business by making the most of your
  claims for items like automobiles, moving costs, and home office expenses.

- Structuring your charitable donations, both during your lifetime and in your will, to help
  enhance the value of the gift to the charity and the tax benefits to you or your estate.

- Fulfilling your obligations to a deceased person's estate and beneficiaries as an executor.

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