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01 February 2008
31 August 2007
Faiths unite to back Tory plan to fund their schools
Election battle expected over controversial issueAug 29, 2007 04:30 AM
Daniel Girard
EDUCTION REPORTER
Far from segregating young people and dividing Ontario society, extending public funding to all faith-based schools would be a unifying move, say proponents.
An alliance of five religious communities yesterday acknowledged the key requirements for obtaining funding would be that schools used accredited teachers and the Ontario curriculum while subjecting all of its students to province-wide testing.
Conservative Leader John Tory set those terms when he endorsed public funding for faith-based schools serving 53,000 students.
Premier Dalton McGuinty has opposed the idea, citing the expense and the possible harm to Ontario's "social cohesion."
However "if (schools) are left on their own, that will encourage uncontrolled conditions and we will not know what's being taught," Hindu spokesperson Pandit Roopnauth Sharma told a Toronto news conference yesterday.
He said adding the schools to the fold means "there can be guidelines instituted, and inspection and review."
The lobby group – called Public Education Fairness Network – includes advocates for Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Armenian communities.
The advocates said they hope to counter the "climate of fear" characterizing the public debate so far.
The group will promote funding of faith-based schools prior to the Oct. 10 election by placing ads and opening their schools to public scrutiny.
The Toronto Star
07 August 2007
20 March 2007
Budget has votes in mind
With an eye on a possible election, federal finance minister promises a little something for everyone today
Mar 19, 2007 04:30 AM
Les Whittington
Ottawa Bureau
OTTAWA–Today's federal budget is a Conservative pre-election battle plan that will show Canadians "the money" to back up Prime Minister Stephen Harper's bid to lay claim to middle-class voters.
Hot on the heels of Harper's gung-ho political rally in Toronto on the weekend, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will set the stage for a possible early trip to the polls by Canadians with a budget packed with spending, tax cuts and billions of dollars to fatten provincial government coffers.
Flaherty all but dared the federal opposition parties to try to bring down the government and force an election over his economic and fiscal package.
"If it turns out to be acceptable to the opposition, terrific," Flaherty said in Whitby yesterday. "If they decide they don't like it, the Canadian people will decide they like it, so I am feeling good about it.
"I think Canadian families would vote for it."
Harper and Flaherty – both of whom came to prominence as right-wing political figures – are engaged in a conscious strategy of shifting the Conservative party to the centre of the political spectrum in hopes of enlisting enough middle-of-the-road voters to win a majority in an election that some expect within months.
"I think all Canadians will find that in the budget they can see that their own direct needs" are taken into account, Flaherty told CTV yesterday.
"The middle-class families in Canada – the people that play by the rules and bear the brunt of the tax obligations in this country – will see that they're being represented."
Flaherty is scheduled to deliver the budget at 4 p.m. today in the House of Commons.
Insiders say Flaherty's policies have been designed with the possibility of an election foremost in mind. The budget's mix of social and environmental spending, plus middle-class tax cuts, is intended to break through the resistance to the Harper government shown in opinion polls, where Conservative support seems stuck around the 36 per cent level that only provided a minority win on Jan. 23, 2006.
In a speech to an upbeat Conservative gathering in Toronto on Saturday night, Harper outlined a new tactic: playing down the right-wing approach and positioning the party as the friend of the millions of uncommitted voters.
Despite the fact that the Conservatives maintain they are in no hurry to face the voters, Harper's political sabre-rattling on the weekend raised to new heights already intense speculation about an early election.
A defeat of the budget in the Commons would bring down the government and force an election.
But Harper's government, which holds 125 of the Commons' 308 seats, needs the support of only one of the three opposition parties to avoid a defeat on the budget. Observers doubt that the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois are keen to go to the people just now.
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said Harper seems intent on an early election but the Liberals will only topple the government if the budget fails Canadians.
"If it's a budget that is not as good as we would like but, let's say, acceptable, not detrimental for the Canadian people, we may vote for it," Dion told CTV yesterday.
But if this year's budget, like the 2006 package, cuts environmental spending and money for scientific research while raising taxes for low-income Canadians, the Liberals will oppose it, Dion said.
NDP Leader Jack Layton has also detailed criteria for winning his party's support.
"We want a budget that begins to invest in the things that the average family needs, and we've laid those out," Layton said.
The NDP has called for more funds for post-secondary education, a new federal minimum wage, increased child-care spaces, support for affordable housing, a national transit strategy, more money for cities and other priorities.
In an attempt to dispel fears that the Harper-led Conservatives are too right-wing, the budget will confirm the $13 billion in fresh spending that Harper and his ministers have spread across the country in recent weeks. The promised cash covers a wide range of commitments from the environment to crime prevention to public transit.
Another highlight will be a huge commitment of extra federal cash – probably about $3 billion – to the provinces, which have long complained that Ottawa takes too much of the national revenue pie and leaves provincial governments struggling to make ends meet. The money will give the provinces more to spend on post-secondary education, public transit and infrastructure such as bridges, sewers and roads.
It is expected to play a big factor in the March 26 Quebec election, where Liberal Leader Jean Charest has promised Quebecers that staying within Canada's federation will be more beneficial than going it alone as advocated by Parti Québécois rivals.
In today's package, Flaherty will commit to pay down at least $3 billion a year on the $480 billion national debt. And he has promised tax cuts across the income spectrum. In addition to an expected personal income tax break that will help all taxpayers, he has said he will give those at the lowest income levels a tax break intended to help them stay off social assistance. For upper-income Canadians, the Conservatives have promised to ease taxes on capital gains.
All this is possible because the Conservatives, like Liberal governments in recent years, find themselves with a lot more cash on hand than expected. The federal budget surplus for this fiscal year, forecast in the last budget to reach $3.6 billion, is expected to be in the $7 billion to $10 billion range.
The budget is also expected to contain:
$1.5 billion for an environmental trust to tackle climate change.
Pension income splitting for couples to reduce personal income taxes at a cost of $750 million to the federal government.
Legislation to entrench the so-called tax-back guarantee, worth about $800 million this year, that helps taxpayers share in the savings in interest payments achieved when Ottawa pays down the national debt.
Financial support for advanced scientific research and development.
Tax incentives to encourage business and homeowners to renovate to save energy, as well as incentives for buying energy-efficient vehicles.
More money for the provinces to create daycare spaces as the Conservatives adjust their child allowance program.
An increase in the age tax credit to provide savings for low- and middle-income seniors.
The tone of the budget is expected to echo the theme that was laid out by Harper in a recent speech in which he envisioned a "stronger, safer and better" Canada.
The Conservatives will also talk about the need to keep a lid on government spending. Last fall, on the same day that it was announced that the budget surplus in 2005-06 hit $13 billion, the government revealed plans to chop $1 billion in spending on social and cultural programs.
with files from Canadian Press
Mar 19, 2007 04:30 AM
Les Whittington
Ottawa Bureau
OTTAWA–Today's federal budget is a Conservative pre-election battle plan that will show Canadians "the money" to back up Prime Minister Stephen Harper's bid to lay claim to middle-class voters.
Hot on the heels of Harper's gung-ho political rally in Toronto on the weekend, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will set the stage for a possible early trip to the polls by Canadians with a budget packed with spending, tax cuts and billions of dollars to fatten provincial government coffers.
Flaherty all but dared the federal opposition parties to try to bring down the government and force an election over his economic and fiscal package.
"If it turns out to be acceptable to the opposition, terrific," Flaherty said in Whitby yesterday. "If they decide they don't like it, the Canadian people will decide they like it, so I am feeling good about it.
"I think Canadian families would vote for it."
Harper and Flaherty – both of whom came to prominence as right-wing political figures – are engaged in a conscious strategy of shifting the Conservative party to the centre of the political spectrum in hopes of enlisting enough middle-of-the-road voters to win a majority in an election that some expect within months.
"I think all Canadians will find that in the budget they can see that their own direct needs" are taken into account, Flaherty told CTV yesterday.
"The middle-class families in Canada – the people that play by the rules and bear the brunt of the tax obligations in this country – will see that they're being represented."
Flaherty is scheduled to deliver the budget at 4 p.m. today in the House of Commons.
Insiders say Flaherty's policies have been designed with the possibility of an election foremost in mind. The budget's mix of social and environmental spending, plus middle-class tax cuts, is intended to break through the resistance to the Harper government shown in opinion polls, where Conservative support seems stuck around the 36 per cent level that only provided a minority win on Jan. 23, 2006.
In a speech to an upbeat Conservative gathering in Toronto on Saturday night, Harper outlined a new tactic: playing down the right-wing approach and positioning the party as the friend of the millions of uncommitted voters.
Despite the fact that the Conservatives maintain they are in no hurry to face the voters, Harper's political sabre-rattling on the weekend raised to new heights already intense speculation about an early election.
A defeat of the budget in the Commons would bring down the government and force an election.
But Harper's government, which holds 125 of the Commons' 308 seats, needs the support of only one of the three opposition parties to avoid a defeat on the budget. Observers doubt that the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois are keen to go to the people just now.
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said Harper seems intent on an early election but the Liberals will only topple the government if the budget fails Canadians.
"If it's a budget that is not as good as we would like but, let's say, acceptable, not detrimental for the Canadian people, we may vote for it," Dion told CTV yesterday.
But if this year's budget, like the 2006 package, cuts environmental spending and money for scientific research while raising taxes for low-income Canadians, the Liberals will oppose it, Dion said.
NDP Leader Jack Layton has also detailed criteria for winning his party's support.
"We want a budget that begins to invest in the things that the average family needs, and we've laid those out," Layton said.
The NDP has called for more funds for post-secondary education, a new federal minimum wage, increased child-care spaces, support for affordable housing, a national transit strategy, more money for cities and other priorities.
In an attempt to dispel fears that the Harper-led Conservatives are too right-wing, the budget will confirm the $13 billion in fresh spending that Harper and his ministers have spread across the country in recent weeks. The promised cash covers a wide range of commitments from the environment to crime prevention to public transit.
Another highlight will be a huge commitment of extra federal cash – probably about $3 billion – to the provinces, which have long complained that Ottawa takes too much of the national revenue pie and leaves provincial governments struggling to make ends meet. The money will give the provinces more to spend on post-secondary education, public transit and infrastructure such as bridges, sewers and roads.
It is expected to play a big factor in the March 26 Quebec election, where Liberal Leader Jean Charest has promised Quebecers that staying within Canada's federation will be more beneficial than going it alone as advocated by Parti Québécois rivals.
In today's package, Flaherty will commit to pay down at least $3 billion a year on the $480 billion national debt. And he has promised tax cuts across the income spectrum. In addition to an expected personal income tax break that will help all taxpayers, he has said he will give those at the lowest income levels a tax break intended to help them stay off social assistance. For upper-income Canadians, the Conservatives have promised to ease taxes on capital gains.
All this is possible because the Conservatives, like Liberal governments in recent years, find themselves with a lot more cash on hand than expected. The federal budget surplus for this fiscal year, forecast in the last budget to reach $3.6 billion, is expected to be in the $7 billion to $10 billion range.
The budget is also expected to contain:
$1.5 billion for an environmental trust to tackle climate change.
Pension income splitting for couples to reduce personal income taxes at a cost of $750 million to the federal government.
Legislation to entrench the so-called tax-back guarantee, worth about $800 million this year, that helps taxpayers share in the savings in interest payments achieved when Ottawa pays down the national debt.
Financial support for advanced scientific research and development.
Tax incentives to encourage business and homeowners to renovate to save energy, as well as incentives for buying energy-efficient vehicles.
More money for the provinces to create daycare spaces as the Conservatives adjust their child allowance program.
An increase in the age tax credit to provide savings for low- and middle-income seniors.
The tone of the budget is expected to echo the theme that was laid out by Harper in a recent speech in which he envisioned a "stronger, safer and better" Canada.
The Conservatives will also talk about the need to keep a lid on government spending. Last fall, on the same day that it was announced that the budget surplus in 2005-06 hit $13 billion, the government revealed plans to chop $1 billion in spending on social and cultural programs.
with files from Canadian Press
15 March 2007
T.O.E.I.C. — Test Of English for Idiots and Cretins
Here are two sample questions from the TOEIC test.
Easy:
Which statement is not true about the following picture:
1. The customers are eating a meal.
2. The dishes are on the table.
3. The waiter is pouring wine.
4. The chef is emulsifying the despot for the woman.
Hard:
Which word does not belong in the following sentence:
The social construction of acceptability is cyclical; prone to periods of torsion and nadir.
24 February 2007
PM dismisses election talk despite polls
Feb 20, 2007 01:34 PM
Canadian Press
.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper dismissed speculation he might be eager to force an election after new polls today suggested his Conservatives had taken a lead in public opinion.
A new Decima survey indicated the Tories had made modest gains for two straight weeks and held a two-percentage-point lead over the Liberals, who had been ahead for months.
While those results fall within the 3.1 per cent margin of error, they reflect a pro-Tory trend detected in several recent surveys.
At a news conference, the prime minister was invited to name any issue – like the environment, or changes to anti-terror legislation – so important to his government that he would label it a confidence matter.
He declined to name any and simply noted that the coming federal budget is obviously a life-and-death matter for the government.
"My view is that we should keep governing, keep getting things done for Canadians," Harper told a news conference alongside Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
"I don't think Canadians want an election, I'm in no hurry to have an election. I simply want to see us move forward."
Harper made the announcement after he and Gates announced money for HIV initiatives. The government will invest up to $111 million and Gates's foundation will pump in up to $28 million more into vaccine research.
The latest public-opinion polls place the Tories well shy of the 40 per cent required for a majority government, but also suggest they have momentum on their side and have overtaken the Liberals.
Decima's results, provided exclusively to The Canadian Press, place the Conservatives at 32 per cent and the Liberals at 30 per cent. The NDP was at 15 per cent, the Green party was at 11 per cent and the Bloc Quebecois was at nine per cent nationally.
Other polls released in recent days suggest the Conservatives have a bigger lead over the Liberals and that Harper has a significant lead in personal popularity over new Liberald leader Stéphane Dion.
In Ontario, the Decima poll suggested the Liberals held a 10 percentage point lead – 40 per cent to 30 per cent for the Tories, while the NDP was at 17 per cent and the Greens were at 12 per cent.
In Quebec, the Bloc Quebecois were at 37 per cent, the Liberals were at 25 per cent and the Tories were at 17 per cent. The Greens were at eight per cent and the NDP was at seven.
Decima CEO Bruce Anderson said the Bloc's support is significantly lower than it was before the last election.
"So far, the Liberals appear to be the most likely beneficiaries of softening BQ support," Anderson said.
"But there is the prospect of some three-way splits (with the Tories) developing (in some Quebec ridings) that are impossible to predict at this stage."
The Decima survey of 1,000 Canadians was conducted between Feb. 15 to 18, and has a 3.1 percentage point margin of error 19 times in 20.
.
.
14 January 2007
La Hanau a'u Ki'i
Here's some photos from my hulariffic birthday. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed myself! A big 'mahalo' to everyone for making it so great! Mwah!
Some people don't like their photo on the internet
Here's a good way to get around that. Seriously though, if anyone else on here is cyber-shy, just let me know.
Memories of Chinatown birthday dinners past
Birthday Hula Triptych
Let's all join in a rousing game of Pin-the-Fire-Torch-on-the-Tiki-Dancer.
Next stop; Beautiful Guam! With the world's biggest Kmart and the highest per capital ratio of Louis Vuitton outlet stores and shooting ranges, it's a shoe-in for next global vacation hotspot.
Birthday Hula Triptych II, ft. hot upstairs neighbour
Best garnish ever!
China rapped over rights
Writers, lawyers came under attack as conditions worsened significantly in 2006, report says
January 12, 2007
Maureen Fan
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
BEIJING–Human rights conditions in China deteriorated significantly in 2006, with about 100 activists, lawyers, writers and academics subjected to police custody, house arrest, incommunicado confinement, pressure in their jobs and surveillance by plainclothes police, Human Rights Watch says.
Several widely publicized cases involving journalists and rights lawyers were cited in the report as evidence of a severe crackdown, prompted in large part by fears that individual cases of unrest might lead to regional instability. There were 39,000 cases of "public order disruptions," or large protests, in the first half of 2006, four times as many as 10 years ago, according to data from the Public Security Ministry.
Authorities fired and jailed journalists, shut down more than 700 online forums and ordered eight Internet search engines to filter "subversive and sensitive content" based on 10,000 key words, according to the report, which was released yesterday by the New York-based watchdog group. Lawyers who represented peasants protesting mistreatment were badly beaten, detained and arrested. In March, new restrictions were announced requiring protestors' lawyers to report to judges in cases involving 10 or more plaintiffs.
In an indication of official attention being paid to perceived agitators, China's top security chief last weekend toured Shandong province, where a blind activist was jailed after revealing abuses stemming from China's one-child-only policy. Luo Gan, a member of the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, ordered judicial departments to deal with "discordant elements" at their source.
"Last year, the environment for rights defenders worsened,'' said Liu Shaobo, a leading intellectual and writer. "The government increased its crackdown on lawyers and also its controls on the Internet and the media. I saw more wronged cases last year than in previous years under President Hu Jintao's governance. And dissidents were under closer surveillance.''
Contributing factors include China's growing economic power and Washington's diminished clout with regard to human rights, Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said in an introduction to the report.
Liu said there were examples of increased openness last year. Newspapers in China's south were allowed to push the envelope more often than the mainstream state-run media. Analysts have noted that as preparations for the 2008 Olympics continue, officials appear eager to demonstrate China is modernizing. The government recently said journalists can travel without obtaining permission from local officials, although they stressed officials might not be aware of the new rules.
"On the one hand, they consider rights defenders a challenge to authority and a threat to stability, but on the other hand, they want to build up a good international image for the Olympics," Liu said.
WASHINGTON POST
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