Newsline Canada

President Obama, in Canada OTTAWA — The first black president of the United States and Canada's first black Governor General appeared to hit it off the moment they met each other. Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean was the first of a handful of Canadian dignitaries to greet Barack Obama as he stepped off Air Force One onto Canadian soil for the first time as U.S. president. The two held an animated conversation on the tarmac that seemed to go beyond the formal dictates of protocol before the president was introduced to the other dignitaries, including Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and Canada's ambassador to the United States, Michael Wilson. An Obama quip had Jean leaning back, laughing and throwing an arm around the president's back as they strode side-by-side into the reception centre for a private chat. During a media photo opportunity inside prior to their scheduled 20-minute private session, Obama and Jean sat in armchairs smiling and leaning toward one another while keeping their voices low to prevent their discussion from being picked up by microphones. The two apparently discussed Jean's recent visit to the land of her birth, Haiti, and its new prime minister, Michele Pierre-Louis. Obama listened intently as Jean was heard to utter the word "hope," a key element of the president's successful "Yes We Can" campaign leading to his historic election victory Nov. 4. On inauguration day, Jean proclaimed Obama's election as the first African-American president a "joyful" occasion "filled with symbolic meaning on a global scale." "A new page in the history of civilizations is being written before our very eyes," she said, "fulfilling the wishes of so many youths, women and men, from every background and every creed, to see our world become more just and more human."

Job losses expected to hit 15,000 as Alberta forecasts recession this year By Jim Macdonald, The Canadian Press http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090219/business/alta_recession EDMONTON - Alberta's energy-rich economy is tumbling into a recession after leading the country for years and the province is now projecting 15,000 lost jobs in the months ahead. "Many Albertans will have a tough year ahead," Finance Minister Iris Evans predicted Thursday, noting that when the numbers are broken down, the province is shedding roughly 50 jobs a day. "We've always said that we were not immune to the global recession. But we are better positioned than almost anybody else on the planet." Plunging oil prices have taken a huge bite out of revenues and Alberta is now expecting a deficit of more than $1 billion this year - the first sign of red ink in 15 years. This is a huge turnaround for a province that just a few months ago was projecting a near-record budget surplus of $8.5 billion. Alberta outlawed budget deficits more than a decade ago, but the government says the fine print in this legislation allows a deficit in this type of situation. "The deficit is absolutely there. I think it's pretty obvious," said Evans. Years of economic growth have come to a crashing halt and the province's gross domestic product is expected to shrink by two per cent. Market meltdowns have also reduced Alberta's rainy-day Heritage Savings Trust Fund by nearly $3 billion to roughly $14 billion. Evans blames the 2008-09 deficit on losses in the heritage fund, which usually contributes about $1 billion to general revenues. Premier Ed Stelmach said Alberta's savings will cushion any major blow to the province's economy. "This is very good planning," Stelmach told reporters. He expressed empathy for the thousands of Albertans who will lose their jobs this year. "We're going to do whatever we can to minimize not only job losses, but to support families during these difficult times," he said. "We will continue to invest in infrastructure to keep some of those jobs going." Alberta led the nation in job growth for several years, but is now expecting unemployment to jump from last year's average of 3.6 per cent to 5.8 per cent in 2009. Economist Andre Plourde said it should come as no surprise that the resource-based economy is taking a hit now that oil prices have dropped from a summer high of US$147 a barrel to below US$35. "It's clear that this is a global recession that we're experiencing," said Plourde, a professor at the University of Alberta. "Alberta is not an exception to what is going on internationally." But he added that Alberta is in relatively good shape to weather a recession because it has no debt and has billions of dollars in savings. "In comparison to other jurisdictions, I think this is an enviable position." Scott Hennig with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation said he was surprised to hear that Stelmach's Progressive Conservative government has decided to declare a recession, which is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. Hennig said private projections he has seen have suggested Alberta and Saskatchewan would be able to avoid the kind of economic numbers that add up to a recession. Alberta is still in much better shape than other provinces, he said. "Well, 15,000 lost jobs is pretty small in comparison to what southern Ontario is facing," said Hennig, who added that Alberta's unemployment rate will still probably be the lowest in the country. Finance Department spokesman Bart Johnson said there are certain circumstances under which deficits are still allowed in the province. "Under the law you can run a deficit if your non-resource revenue is less than forecast in the budget, which is now the case," said Johnson. Evans said Alberta will continue to spend billions of dollars on building projects to help stimulate employment. "It is particularly critical during economic times like these," she said. "It gets people working, improves and builds needed roads, schools and hospitals, and injects capital into the economy." The finance minister said the government expects Alberta's economy to rebound, starting with modest growth in 2010. Alberta is well-positioned for recovery, with low unemployment and inflation, a competitive tax regime and billions of dollars in savings to deal with "the ups and downs of volatile resource revenues," she said. "As we emerge from these turbulent times, we will position Alberta to be the engine of the Canadian economy." The taxpayers federation has been warning for years that the province is too reliant on resource revenues. "We have a huge budget bubble that is being fuelled by oil and gas," said Hennig. "We're going to go through this boom-bust cycle when it comes to our revenues if they don't fix this." The government should be considering an economic policy shift to help soften the recession's impact, Alberta's opposition parties suggested. NDP Leader Brian Mason said Alberta needs to process more of its own resources rather than exporting raw materials to the United States. "The government could start by eliminating bitumen exports to the United States, which are simply sending our jobs down the pipeline." Liberal Opposition Leader David Swann said Stelmach's Tory government has allowed spending to get out of control. "We've virtually spent everything that's come out of the ground for the last 15 years," said Swann. "They didn't plan for the boom...and this government did not plan for the bust."

We Cannot Shop Our Way to Prosperity, Says United Church Moderator http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2009/24/c2911.html?view=print TORONTO, Feb. 24 /CNW/ - In an open letter to Canadians about the world's economic situation, the Moderator of The United Church of Canada, the Right Rev. David Giuliano, delivers a message of hope tempered with resolve. "These are days of both hardship and opportunity. This crisis holds the possibility of being a historic turning point energized by renewed human creativity, adaptability, and spirit," writes Giuliano. It is a crisis that Giuliano is experiencing first-hand after he and the citizens of the small town where he lives in northern Ontario recently learned that the mill would be closing down. "Everyone here - builders to bakers, teachers to preachers - works directly or indirectly for the mill or the already vanishing mines. A spirit of dread and anxiety is settling among us. It feels like a microcosm of what is happening to the economy across the country and around the world," says Giuliano. The Moderator's letter challenges Canadians to face these tough economic times in a manner that is rooted in our history. "Times of crisis can call out the best in human nature. During periods of war and the Great Depression, our grandparents bought bonds, rationed, rolled bandages, bundled clothes, helped their neighbours, and learned to distinguish between needs and wants. They pulled together as a nation. Solving the current economic crisis will also require our best. "We have a moral responsibility to care for those most affected - here and around the world. To do otherwise would be a marked departure from our identity as Canadians." Giuliano's letter also poses the questions, "Will suffering as a result of the economic crisis spur us to question the foundational values of our economic system? Will we question a culture that has allowed profits to overtake the basic needs of so many citizens, as though stock value increases were the purpose of the economy?" Giuliano believes that Canadians have come to recognize that protecting the environment is not a barrier, but the path, to economic recovery. He writes, "In fact, it has been our stubborn refusal to acknowledge the rapid destruction of the planet that has led to our economic demise. More cars, bigger homes, and insatiable consumption are the cause of, not the solution to, our economic concerns. We cannot shop our way to prosperity. The planet will simply not allow it. That system is a crumbling pyramid scheme that rewards those at the top and is devouring everyone and everything below." The full text of the Moderator's open letter to Canadians is posted on The United Church of Canada's website (www.united-church.ca).

Slumdog Millionaire spotlights global crisis http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2009/24/c3184.html Canadian development expert congratulates film maker for unflinching look at life in the slums and says something is being done TORONTO, Feb. 24 /CNW/ - Although it's been slammed by some for "glamorizing poverty," the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire is also being praised for drawing attention to a growing global crisis. Pat Ferguson, President & CEO of Canada's Operation Eyesight, which funds community development programs in Mumbai and other Indian cities says the movie accurately depicts how hard life can be in an urban slum. "Almost a billion people live in squalid slums scattered across the globe," says Ferguson. "Although Slumdog Millionaire is set in India, similar living conditions can be found in most countries." "And it's a growing problem. The UN predicts the number of slum dwellerswill double to two billion by 2030 if no action is taken," she said. In the movie, the young hero Jamal lifts himself up out poverty in a classic rags-to-riches fairy tale. As with most fairy tales however, it rarely happens that way in real life. For the vast majority, being born in a slum almost certainly means living your whole life in a slum. But while many experts study the problem and governments are seemingly paralyzed by the enormity of it, one woman has been quietly and successfully tackling the issue on a shoe-string budget for over two decades. "Our partner, Indian pediatrician, Gopa Kothari is an eminently practical woman," explains Ferguson. "She knows it would be a herculean task to completely eliminate the slums, so she focuses instead on improving health, basic infrastructure and quality of life for the people who live there." In 1981, Dr. Kothari learned that childhood blindness was epidemic in the slums of Mumbai and decided to do something about it. She soon realized that simple interventions like vitamin A supplements were not enough and began offering classes in modern child rearing, sanitation and nutrition, basic literacy and running small businesses. "Dr. Kothari empowers the community by training volunteers from within the slum," says Ferguson. "People take charge of their own health and work together to improve their lives. Wherever her program is implemented, malnutrition, disease and infant mortality drop dramatically." "Best of all, these are not short-term interventions," explains Ferguson. "Every project is still up and running on a self-sustaining basis. A one-time investment of about $150,000 Cdn can make lasting change for a community of about 20,000 people." Dr. Kothari has transformed life for hundreds of thousands of people just like Jamal in Mumbai, Delhi and in impoverished rural villages in Gujarat. Although she has been offered positions in prestigious institutions, she chooses to continue her work in the slums.