CANADA – Ontario faces “chronic” youth unemployment

High levels of unemployment among province’s youth more than just by-product of economic cycle, report says

By: Peter Lozinski

Ontario is suffering from “chronic” youth unemployment, according to a new report released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives on Friday.

The rate of unemployment for Ontarians between the ages of 15-24 is hovering between 16 and 17 per cent, double that of the normal provincial rate and higher than the national youth unemployment rate of 13.5-14.5 per cent.

“Ontario is competing with the Maritime provinces for being the toughest place in Canada for youth to land a job,” the report says

Read more » http://o.canada.com/business/ontario-facing-chronic-youth-unemployment/

Canada – Train derails in bridge collapse over Calgary’s Bow River

Train derails on bridge over Calgary’s Bow River

By CBC News

Train could be carrying diesel fuel, official says, with bridge ‘continuing to drop’

A train carrying what emergency officials say could be diesel fuel has derailed on Calgary’s Bonnybrook Bridge over the Bow River.

“The bridge is continuing to drop as we speak,” said Bruce Burrell, Calgary Emergency Management Agency director, adding that it has dropped at least two feet since emergency crews came on scene.

Burrell said that the contents of the train cars could be diesel fuel, or something similar to it.

Some nearby areas have been evacuated.

“Being a flammable product, we wanted to make sure we had people out of the area in case something happened,” said Calgary’s deputy fire chief Cam Uzeloc.

Read more » CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2013/06/27/calgary-flood-train-derailment-bonnybrook-bridge.html

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Train derails in bridge collapse near Sudbury, Ont.

CP says no risk to public after several cars topple into Wahnapitae River

By The Canadian Press

Canadian Pacific says there is no indication that a freight train derailment east of Sudbury on Sunday poses a danger to the public or the environment.

CP spokesman Ed Greenberg says one of the rail cars derailed and as a result struck a trestle bridge near the community of Wanup.

Images of the scene showed the bridge collapsed and a number of cars carrying containers fell into the Wahnapitae River.

Read more » CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/06/02/ontario-sudbury-train-derailment-wanup.html

BlackBerry inventor starts quantum technology fund aiming to turn “Star Trek” devices into reality

BlackBerry Inventor Starts Fund to Make Star Trek Device Reality

By Hugo Miller & Jon Erlichman

Mike Lazaridis, inventor of the BlackBerry smartphone, is starting a C$100 million ($97 million) quantum technology fund that’s aiming to turn devices like the medical tricorder from “Star Trek” into reality.

The fund, called Quantum Valley Investments, is being financed exclusively by Lazaridis and Doug Fregin, an old friend and co-founder of Research In Motion Ltd. (BB), the company behind the BlackBerry. The goal is to commercialize technologies from a cluster of research labs that have been bankrolled by Lazaridis. At least one startup has signed up with the fund and the first products may emerge in the next two to three years, he said.

“What we’re excited about is these little gems coming out,” Lazaridis said in an interview in Toronto. “The medical tricorder would be astounding, the whole idea of blood tests, MRIs — imagine if you could do that with a single device. That may be possible and possible only because of the sensitivity, selectivity and resolution we can get from quantum sensors made with these quantum breakthroughs.”

Lazaridis, who stepped down as RIM’s co-chief executive officer 14 months ago, is putting his time and fortune into quantum computing and nanotechnology — sometimes referred to as the “science of the small” — which uses atomic-sized technology in fields ranging from medicine to cryptography.

Quantum Computing

He opened the Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre in his hometown of Waterloo, Ontario, last September, financing the effort with a $100 million donation. That lab complements the Institute for Quantum Computing and the more-than-decade-old Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, both founded with more than $250 million of Lazaridis’s own money and additional funds he helped raise.

The Quantum Valley fund will probably focus on one to two dozen companies, he said. It may take a few years to make the investments, said Lazaridis, who declined to name the startups that are under consideration.

“We’re being very strategic with the funds,” he said. “This is not a venture capital fund that we’re all used to.”

Noninvasive medical-testing equipment — the real-life versions of the scanning devices used by “Star Trek” medics — will probably be a focus of the fund.

Canadian PM unveils religious freedom office

Andrew Bennett named to head Office of Religious Freedom

Ambassador for religious freedom is a Catholic dean and former civil servant

By CBC News

Andrew Bennett has been named ambassador for Canada’s Office of Religious Freedom, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today. “Around the world, violations of religious freedom are widespread and they are increasing,” Harper said In a speech at the Ahmadiyya Muslim community centre and mosque in Vaughan, Ont. ….

Read more » – CBC

Link – http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/02/19/pol-ambassdor-office-religious-freedom-announced.html

SANA Toronto Chapter met with Tim Hudak

SANA Toronto Chapter met with Tim Hudak – (the opposition leader of Ontario), and other MPPs earlier this past evening at Chandni Banquet Hall, in Brampton, an adjoining city of Toronto. Mr. Hudak was briefed about SANA, Sindh, its culture and background. He was very happy to have met our delegation, and was interested in knowing more about SANA, The Sindhi Culture & Sindh etc,.

Thereon, we invited Mr.Hudak, as a Chief Guest for our next Toronto function. He thanked for such hospitality and promised that he would love to and would try his best to attend our gathering.

We also requested a follow up meeting with him in his Queens Park Office ( Provincial Legislation Assembly ), where SANA EC may present him, Sindhi Cap, Ajrak and may inform him about national issues as well.

EC Toronto, has always tried its best and has introduced SANA from Provincial level to Federal level. We hope and trust that one day, SANA will be a popular and a well-known organization in Canada at every level of Government.

Those who attended were, Rajesh Rathi, Vishnu Lohano, Ramesh Lekhwani, Kanwar Maheshwari, Khair Muhammad Kolachi, Dr, Hafiz Abro and Aijaz Kolachi.

Demands of Canadians – Raise Corporate Taxes, Create Jobs, Raise Wages and Living Standards! Curb Corporate Power!

Raise Corporate Taxes, Create Jobs, Raise Wages and Living Standards! Curb Corporate Power!

The CPC (Ontario) has condemned the Ontario Budget, delivered yesterday, as a massive attack on working people and the poor that will destroy tens of thousands of jobs, drive down wages, pensions, incomes and living standards, and which, combined with the austerity measures in Thursday’s federal budget, could push the province into another deep economic recession.

The Executive Committee of the CPC (Ontario) also warned that the threat of legislated wage controls is a dangerous attack on free collective bargaining and on civil and democratic rights.

A massive demonstration of Occupy Toronto and all its supporters will take place Saturday at 2 pm, starting from St. James Park (Jarvis and King)

We are asking everyone to come out and demonstrate Saturday, to bring friends, relatives, workmates, and everyone who cares about democracy and the objectives of the Occupy Movement, which is to oppose the gross wealth being accumulated by the rich and powerful 1% at the expense of the 99% – the rest of the population whose wages and incomes have fallen dramatically, many of whom are unemployed and under-employed, many of whom are poor and very poor, and many more who are youth and whose lives and futures have been dramatically altered by the insatiable greed of the most powerful corporations and the richest people in the world.

Join the rally at the corner of Jarvis and King at 1:30 pm, Saturday, to march & distribute People’s Voice, and our statement in support of the Occupy movement.

Please RSVP to erowley@live.ca to help, or for more info.

Comradely and in Solidarity!

Liz Rowley

Defend Occupy Toronto from Eviction!

ALL OUT TO DEFEND OCCUPY TORONTO! NO POLICE VIOLENCE! STOP THE EVICTIONS!

The Toronto Police have served eviction notices to Occupy Toronto protesters at St. James Park (Jarvis St. and King St.), ordering them to vacate the park between 12 midnight tonight and 5 a.m. tomorrow and threatening to remove them. Removal in the wee hours of the night means the police want to act without witnesses, increasing the threat of violence against peaceful protestors at Occupy Toronto.

The message of the Occupy Toronto protesters, representing the views of the majority of people in Canada, is a sharp critique of the inequalities, suffering and corruption of the capitalist system and advocates a more just society.

The camp is an expression of the right to free assembly and free speech.

We call on all those who care for democracy, civil rights, and the right to dissent, to go to the Occupy Toronto site at St. James park (Jarvis and King) and to stand in solidarity with the camp and its ideals, and to prevent a government attack on peaceful protesters.

The OFL is mobilizing a mass picket, linking arms around the site, at 11 pm tonight. President Sid Ryan notes that in London last night, the cops waited until supporters went home and then moved against the Occupy site around 1 am.

Comrades and friends should start going to the park whenever they can, and those who can, should also go to the 11 pm rally ..

If you cannot go to the site, phone your city councillor and the Mayor to demand they stop the eviction, and stop security officials from forcibly removing peaceful protestors from the site. Call your MP and MPP, call the talk shows, make your voice heard.

CP24 is running a poll asking the public if they support the eviction or not. Go to http://www.cp24.com to vote.

Unity and Solidarity Can Win!

Toronto Committee and Provincial Executive, Communist Party of Canada (Ontario)

London, Ont., police remove Occupy protest tents from city park

By Tamsyn Burgmann and John Lewandowski, The Canadian Press

Tents that had been erected in a London, Ont., park as part of the city’s Occupy protest were removed by police and bylaw officers early Wednesday.

Mayor Joe Fontana had issued a 6 p.m. Tuesday deadline for protesters to remove the tents, but the tents remained in Victoria Park long past the deadline.

Police and city bylaw officers entered the park at about 1 a.m. to dismantle tents and other structures. …

Read more »  YahooNews

A place to call home: Canada helps me explore my true identity

A place to call home

Pakistani-born immigrant credits Canada for helping him explore his identity

by Tayyab Rashid

When I came to North America some 15 years ago, I thought that most of us are migratory beings, or some part of our constitution is. Living in Canada has changed or perhaps expanded my thinking — we are also sedentary souls. …

Read more : via – Siasat.pk –  Canadianimmigrant.ca

Bhagat Singh Anniversary in Brampton, Canada

Every year the Indo-Canadian Workers Association marks the anniversary of Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom at the hands of the British Raj (on March 23, 1931). This year’s commemoration will be held on Sunday, March 27 at 2 p.m. at the Lester B. Pearson Theatre, 150 Central Park Drive, Brampton, Ontario, Canada. He was quickly rose through the ranks of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) and became one of its leaders, converting it to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). Singh gained support when he underwent a 64-days fast in jail, demanding equal rights for Indian and British political prisoners. He was hanged by British Raj government on 23 March 1931.

The organizers of the event hope many of Indo-Pakistani- Bangladeshi-Canadians will be able to attend to pay the tribute and respect to this great hero of the Indian sub-continent (South Asia).

SOUTH ASIAN PERSPECTIVE ON REGIONAL STABILITY

Toronto, Canada : International Center for Peace and Democracy (ICPD) is a Toronto based think tank advocating secular democracy and peace in South Asia . Executive Director of ICPD, Muhammad Mumtaz Khan, who comes from Pakistan, administered Kashmir (PAK), has a thirty-year experience in the field of rights’ advocacy. Currently, he also represents International Kashmir Alliance (IKA) and All Parties National Alliance (APNA) in the European Parliament, North America and the United Nations.

Aiko- Female robot girlfriend

An inventor who has built a female robot called Aiko is getting standing for his creation. Le Trung, 33, insists his companion- who can speak English & Japanese, do basic maths and provide weather reports. There are some gossips that it is a start of replacement of girlfriends.