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Canadian General Election – October 14, 2008 Seats to be won or lost ! Standings in last (2007) Election

The Federal Elections –Meet the Leaders CBC News Conservative Party Stephen Harper, a cerebral partisan Stephen Harper gives a thumbs-up to supporters at a campaign rally in Victoria, B.C., on Jan. 22, 2006. (CP file photo) Stephen Harper himself would tell you he's a prime example of policy over pizzazz. And after Canadians handed his Conservatives a minority government on Jan. 23, 2006, he set out to prove that equation. "My strengths are not spin or passion, you know that," Harper said repeatedly in the closing weeks of the 2005-06 general election. "I believe it's better to light one candle than to promise a million light bulbs." He has also, however, proved to be something of a control freak and a keen partisan, taking every opportunity as prime minister to marshal his message and slam the Liberals. And though he has chosen to move methodically through his agenda — one policy, one candle, at a time — when it comes to Canada's future, Harper has often spoken of the need to redesign the political equivalent of the entire electrical grid. For complete article go to: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/leadersparties/leaders-harper.html Liberal Party Stéphane Dion, inconspicuous achiever Shortly after he became Liberal Party leader on Dec. 2, 2006 — a feat that shocked nearly every political pundit in the land — Stéphane Dion allowed that he has a "personal weakness." Liberal leader Stephane Dion speaks to his caucus at the Hotel Fort Garry in Winnipeg, September 3, 2008. (John Woods/Canadian Press)  That personal weakness, he said, "is to be underestimated. But at the same time, it is my strength." Being underestimated was certainly part of his ascension to the Liberal leadership: He finished third with less than 18 per cent of the vote on the first ballot and then methodically vaulted his way past the two star candidates ahead of him, former Ontario premier Bob Rae, an NDP convert, and Michael Ignatieff, an MP and international human rights expert, both of whom had considerably more backing from the party establishment. For complete article go to: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/leadersparties/leaders-dion.html Green Party Elizabeth May The new leader of the Green Party of Canada, Elizabeth May, says she has been an environmental activist since she was 13. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press) On Aug. 26, 2006, the Green Party of Canada selected a new leader — Elizabeth May, then 52, the longtime executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada. The Greens have garnered the support of more than half a million Canadian voters in each of the past two general elections but have never elected a member of Parliament. They do, however, have an MP, after Blair Wilson, a Vancouver-area Independent who quit the Liberal party last year, joined the Greens in late August 2008. With global warming becoming a more prominent issue, and now with an MP, the Greens are hoping for a breakthrough in this election — or at least a spot in the national TV debates. Recent polls have them hovering in the nine per cent range, which is up from the 6.6 per cent support they won in the 2006 election. Before she became leader of the Green party, May had run for office only once, in 1980 for a start-up party called the Small party, a precursor of the Greens, but she has never been elected. For complete article go to: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/leadersparties/leaders-may.html

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper says 2011 'end date' for Afghanistan mission 'September 10, 2008 CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/09/10/harper-afghanistan.html The mission, as we've known it, we intend to end,' PM tells reporters .A decade at war is enough, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said on Wednesday. (Tom Hanson/Canadian Press) Canada will withdraw the bulk of its military forces in Afghanistan as scheduled in 2011, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper pledged on Wednesday, saying the Afghan government "at some point has to be able to be primarily responsible" for the country's security. Speaking to reporters at a breakfast briefing in Toronto, Harper said the Canadian public has no appetite to keep soldiers in the war-torn country any longer than the pullout date agreed on by Parliament. "You have to put an end date on these things," Harper said. He added that while Canada's military leaders have not acknowledged it publicly, a decade of war is enough. "By 2011, we will have been in Kandahar, which is probably the toughest province in the country, for six years," Harper said. "Not only have we done our bit at that point, I think our goal has to be after six years to see the government of Afghanistan able to carry the lion's share of responsibility for its own security. "At that point, the mission, as we've known it, we intend to end." The unusually candid remarks from Harper included the Tory leader acknowledging he cried the first time he had to call the family of a soldier killed in Afghanistan. Troops would stay 'in some technical capacities' The Tory government, supported by the Liberals, extended the military mission in Kandahar province to 2011 earlier this year, with a shift to emphasize the mission's priorities to reconstruction and development in the region. Harper has made past statements in support of a shift in Canada's priorities in Afghanistan, but the prime minister's latest comments appear to show for the first time his acceptance of a troop pullout by the date. "It's fair to say he was clearer and perhaps more forceful than before on what is going to happen in 2011," the CBC's Paul Hunter reported from the Harper campaign. While there may be a few Canadian soldiers who stay on after 2011 as advisers, the bulk of the troops will be home by then, Harper said. "I don't want to say we won't have a single troop there, because obviously we would aid in some technical capacities," he said.

Older Workers and their Retirement Plans and Preparations From Stats Canada - The Daily http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/080909/d080909a.htm Tuesday, September 9, 2008 About two-thirds of "near-retirees" anticipate that their retirement income will be adequate or more than adequate to maintain their standard of living once they have left the workforce. Individuals who receive advice are more likely than others to express confidence in the adequacy of their retirement savings to maintain their standard of living in retirement. While most Canadians approaching retirement receive financial advice, including advice about retirement planning and programs, almost 3 in 10 do not. Individuals who do not receive financial advice are less likely to expect their retirement income to be adequate than those who do receive advice. This relationship remains even when other characteristics such as income, pension coverage and registered retirement savings plan assets are taken into account. Of the 7.2 million Canadians aged 45 to 59 in 2007, about 80% or 5.7 million were actively or recently employed and had not previously retired. Of these 5.7 million near-retirees, 71% received financial advice from at least one source, and 50% received advice from at least one source in the financial industry. Almost 3 in 10 (29%) did not receive financial advice from any source. While most individuals approaching retirement said they understood Canada's public retirement income programs, such as the Canada Pension Plan, Quebec Pension Plan and Old Age Security, one-quarter said they did not understand these programs at all. Factors associated with seeking information A number of factors are associated with the likelihood of receiving financial advice and understanding public programs related to retirement preparations. These factors include an individual's proximity to retirement, financial resources, and demographic characteristics. Individuals who are further from their planned age of retirement are less likely to receive retirement-related information. In 2007, for example, 83% of individuals who planned to retire within five years typically received financial advice, compared with 67% of those for whom retirement was 15 or more years away. Near-retirees with lower incomes and fewer assets are less likely to receive retirement-related information. For example, 52% of near-retirees with household incomes under $40,000 received financial advice compared with 82% of near-retirees with household incomes of $100,000 or more. Individuals with lower household incomes were also less likely to say they understood Canada's public retirement income programs. Immigrants who arrived in Canada since 1990 were less likely to receive financial advice than individuals born in Canada.

THE 'STICKY FLOOR' Unlike the 'glass ceiling,' where employees can see the top, but are blocked by an invisible barrier, immigrants are often held back from advancing in their career by a 'sticky floor,' says the University of Ottawa's Linda Manning. Once inside a company, they are unable to gain the experience they need to move up the corporate ladder. She says they often can't even reach the first step. "Their feet are stuck to the floor," says Ms. Manning. Cleaning up the 'sticky floor' By Peter Kovessy, Ottawa Business Journal Staff Wed, Aug 20, 2008 3:00 PM EST http://www.ottawabusinessjournal.com/301284845159089.php U of O professor leads program to leverage immigrant skills Two employees work at their desks when a company-wide e-mail arrives in their inboxes, advertising a management-level job opening. The first employee, a Canadian, reads the posting and decides he's got nothing to lose by applying, and fires off his resume. But the second employee, a recent immigrant, notices the job posting was sent to the entire company and doesn't immediately see it as relevant. Besides, in his experience at companies with a top-down management style, employees often don't see themselves as individuals seeking their own rewards. "We take it for granted that once the opportunity is there, just take it. But many cultures don't see it that way," says Linda Manning, a social sciences professor at the University of Ottawa. "The organization might be missing some really top-quality people who don't even apply." But Ms. Manning is trying to change that. She's leading a three-year project to develop a set of electronic training modules to help employers in small and medium-sized companies ensure the best people, regardless of cultural background, advance into management and leadership positions. Within the project, learners work their way through different scenarios such as conducting an interview, and then see the results of the decisions they've made. In the above scenario, for example, the employer might have had better luck if she'd approached the immigrant employee directly, Ms. Manning says, to tell him he qualifies for the position and would help the company by applying for the job. Ms. Manning emphasizes, however, that the project isn't about forcing employers to change their practices; instead it takes into account the cultural differences amongst employees. Put another way, employers should consider the starting point and mindset of individual employees, focusing on articulating the values they hold important, suggests Alice Kubicek. She's managing director of the Ottawa-based management consultant firm akpsGlobal. "If they are making the commitment to hire the individual, they have to follow up ... by understanding what the individual needs to become part of the mainstream (at the organization)," she says. "It is more than just a tour of the facilities." In the project's first year-and-a-half, Ms. Manning has facilitated a series of focus groups with human resource professionals, including Ms. Kubicek, and immigrant groups to discuss the challenges faced by employers and immigrant employees. The next stage of the project, titled 'Leveraging Immigrant Skills to Strengthen Canadian Business,' is to develop the content for the learning scenarios. The online 'experiential simulation' program will include between 12 and 18 learning 'capsules' that will take no more than a half-hour to complete, says Kristina Schneider, director of blended learning strategies at Documedia Inc. and manager of the training module's production. Ms. Schneider says the aim is to have learners understand the implications of their decisions without being told that a particular action is right or wrong. While the goal of the project may be to help employers identify employees with the most potential, Bruce Switzer, president of Integration Resources Canada, says its implications could be much more far-reaching. "When I first read about the project, I got goosebumps. It is a shift in management style ... that has the potential to make the Canadian workplace a positive, healthy environment. "It's a shift in the perception of ourselves."