World Peace News: Top Stories

Good news report from Canada

Global Country of World Peace Translate This Article
2 December 2008

19 November 2008 was the 19th day of the fifth month of the 3rd year of Canadian national consciousness rising to invincibility, as indicated by the following press reports:

19 November 2008

The Globe and Mail - Facing a crisis, Harper instructs MPs to be less confrontational (19 November 2008) Stephen Harper is telling his MPs that it's time they take the high road. MPs and officials across government were given marching orders by the Prime Minister recently and told to shelve the aggressive ways of the first term in favour of a kinder, gentler attitude. Others have noted a more personable PM. One Tory official was taken aback recently when Mr. Harper hailed him from a stairwell and asked how he was doing.

From a Vancouver Sun report on this: A contagion of niceness appears to be sweeping the political landscape, with a once-bellicose Prime Minister Stephen Harper leading the way.

Canwest News Service - Throne speech promises economic aid (19 November 2008) As expected, the Throne Speech, which lays out the government's priorities for the new Parliament, was dominated by economic matters. Included in the list, the government promised to remove internal trade barriers by 2010.

From a Canadian Press report on this: The speech overflowed with admonitions that Canadians need to pull together. 'Canadians have faced times of uncertainty and renewal before and have always emerged a stronger and more united people.' There were conciliatory overtures to opposition parties and provincial governments, as the administration promised to 'rededicate itself to working in partnership with others' to bolster the economy.

From a Canadian Economic Press report on this: Among promises in the throne speech, the government said it will work on new trade agreements with Asia, the European Union, and the Americas and proceed with legislation to ratify the results of deals already worked out with the European Free Trade Association, Peru, Colombia, and Jordan. The government also pledged to work with the provinces to speed recognition of the credentials of foreign-trained workers.

The Financial Post - Ottawa forging ahead with national securities regulator plan (19 November 2008) Following the Throne Speech, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Ottawa is forging ahead with 'willing' provinces to create a national securities regulator. Sources told the National Post the scheme Ottawa envisages would allow Quebec to maintain a separate and independent stock market watchdog. 'Nothing will be imposed on any province—in any way, shape, or form,' Federal Minister of Public Works Christian Paradis said.

From another Financial Post report on this: This means Canadian businesses would no longer have to file securities filings with 13 different provincial and territorial regulators. Instead, stock and bond-issuing institutions would have to file prospectuses and other regulatory documents with only two regulators—a national body and its Quebec counterpart. Aside from Quebec, British Columbia was seen as the most opposed to a single securities regulator. But in a broadcast interview last week, BC Premier Gordon Campbell appeared to be open to a national stock market watchdog. 'We have to recognize we are in unprecedented times that require us all to take off our old thinking caps and put on the new thinking caps for the new world. So we are willing to look at that,' he said. 'We want to absolutely make sure we have a strong foundation for our financial institutions across the country.'

The Toronto Star - Sector's dark cloud may have a green lining (19 November 2008) Governments are within their right to set conditions on vehicle fuel efficiency as part of any multibillion-dollar support deal with the auto industry, says the head of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union. CAW president Ken Lewenza said such a 'strategic investment' must be tied to Canada's long-term economic security. Increasingly, labour unions and trade associations have been tying that future to green-collar job creation. 'Electric vehicles are coming,' said Al Cormier, executive director of Electric Mobility Canada, which promotes the development of battery-powered vehicles. His association is working with Natural Resources Canada and Transport Canada on a roadmap for electric vehicles, to be published in January. 'CAW has been very supportive of our efforts,' Cormier said.

The Financial Post - New funds cater to investors' consciences (19 November 2008) Investors want to put their money where their conscience is and, accordingly, there has been a proliferation of funds that facilitate the development of clean technologies. The trend indicates the focus on global warming and protecting the environment is emerging as a mainstream concern that will prevail beyond the current credit crunch, lawyers say. 'What the funds are focusing on are trends that aren't found in the business section of the newspaper any more; we're moving from the business section to the front section,' says Jeff Glass, a partner with the securities group at Blake, Cassels & Graydon. He cites funds with a focus ranging from clean energy alternatives to water that have emerged onto the market inside roughly the last 18 months. There's been limited fund activity recently aside from the emergence of clean-tech funds, he says. Kyle Pohanka, a partner at Borden Ladner Gervais, says clean technologies are a subset of the growing trend toward 'socially responsible' investing. He points to several of the major banks that have established funds that include the terms 'global sustainability' or 'climate' in their names. 'The underlying issues of what these funds are doing is focused on climate change and alternative energy or social responsibility, which are all front-page news right now, and there's a segment of investors in Canada who think those issues are very important to them,' Mr Pohanka said. Jeffrey Elliott, a lawyer at Stikeman Elliott, predicts significant growth in the sector in the years to come. 'We're just on the front end of the wave,' he says.

The Canadian Economic Press - Average price of gas in Canada lower for 9th consecutive week (19 November 2008) The average price of gas Canadians paid at the pumps last week continued to fall for the ninth consecutive week, with prices down on average another 3.3 cents in the week ending 18 Nov. The average price of regular unleaded gasoline in Canada for the week was C$0.854, down from C$1.377 reached nine weeks ago (and the lowest average price recorded since 30 Jan. 2007). Kingston, Ont. had the lowest average price in the country, at C$0.75 a litre.

The Canadian Press - Lead levels in blood plummet after lead in gas, paints phased out (19 November 2008) The level of lead contamination in the bloodstreams of Canadians has plummeted over the past 30 years, a likely result of the phasing out of lead in gasoline, paints, and the solder used to seal food cans, Statistics Canada reported. Where 25 per cent of Canadians had blood lead concentrations above the unsafe threshold in 1978, a survey conducted in 2007-2008 showed that figure had dropped to under one per cent. The head of the occupational environmental health laboratory at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., called the numbers amazing. 'To go from 25 per cent down to about one is a pretty dramatic drop,' said Brian McCarry, who holds a research chair in environment and health at the university. 'This is a good news story for sure.' A colleague from McMaster agreed. 'Phasing lead out of gasoline is probably one of the best stories I know of regulation impacting on exposures in human health,' said Warren Foster, an expert in reproductive endocrinology and toxicology who teaches in the school of medicine. 'Because we phased it out of gasoline and lead-based paints, we've seen the levels drop in the population.'

Reuters - Politicians persuaded to save Canada boreal forest (19 November 2008) Politicians actually listened when experts told them to protect Canada's boreal forest, scientists told Reuters. Bigger than the Amazon, the boreal forest stretches across 1.4 billion acres (566.6 million hectares) from Newfoundland to Alaska. The boreal is in good condition, and the scientists' plan aims to keep it that way, Stuart Pimm, a conservation biologist at Duke University (in the United States), said in a joint interview with several environmental experts. Pimm and 13 other environmental experts are part of an international team to be formally unveiled this week, which will monitor the protection of the boreal forest. This continent-wide swath, covered mostly with fir trees and wetlands, is the world's largest carbon 'bank' on land, storing almost twice the carbon per square yard (.84 square metre) as tropical forests because of the rich composition of its soil. The area now holds the equivalent of 27 years' worth of global carbon emissions. It also has huge reserves of fresh water and habitat for healthy populations of wildlife. The plan to preserve the boreal forest picked up momentum last year when 1,500 scientists from more than 50 countries called for its protection. In July, the government of Ontario agreed to strictly protect half of its boreal lands, with no extraction of minerals or other natural resources allowed, and to sustainably manage the other half. Last week, Quebec Premier Jean Charest, now campaigning for re-election, pledged to do the same if he wins. Canadian businesses also have endorsed the plan, and there is a good chance most provincial governments will as well, Steven Kallick of the Pew Environment Group said in the interview. Jeremy Kerr, a biogeographer at the University of Ottawa, said he and other scientists were surprised and delighted that Canadian politicians have been persuaded by science.

These are a few of the news reports reflecting Canada's rising invincibility from the growing Yogic Flying groups across Canada and the Invincible America Assembly at Maharishi University of Management and Maharishi Vedic City, USA.

For further information on creating invincibility for your nation, please visit: www.globalgoodnews.com/invincibility.

© Copyright 2008 Global Good News^®

Global Good News comment:
For information about Maharishi's seven-point programme to create a healthy, happy, prosperous society, and a peaceful world, please visit: Global Financial Capital of New York.

Translation software is not perfect; however if you would like to try it, you can translate this page using:

(Google)
(Altavista babelfish)