The darkness drops again; but now I knowW.B. Yeats The Second Coming
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
In an interview Friday, Service Alberta Minister Lloyd Snelgrove said rent controls are a no-go."It just discourages landlords from building any new (units)," Snelgrove said. "It might seem a good thing for the person in that apartment at the time, but for the 2,000 people that are moving to town next month, there will be no buildings.
Commenting on the Trust's Q3 2006 results, Sam Kolias, President and
C.E.O., said
"We are pleased to report a strong third quarter for our Trust. Excellent
market fundamentals aligned to produce positive effects on the Alberta rental
market. After the strong summer we just enjoyed, our Trust is positioned to
end 2006 on a high note. We anticipate a solid winter and remain confident in
meeting or exceeding the majority of objectives detailed in our 2005 Annual
Report.
"The rental market remains robust in Alberta, as substantial net
provincial in-migration, high home prices, exceptional industry growth and
record low unemployment combine to generate solid demand. Our Alberta market,
which makes up in excess of 50% of our total portfolio, saw its already low
vacancy decrease still further through the third quarter."
"Current average monthly market rents in Alberta increased by
approximately $328 in the first nine months of 2006, from $817 as at
December 31, 2005, to $1,145 at September 30, 2006. Even as rents increase,
however, the gap between home and condominium ownership costs versus the cost
of renting continues to widen still further, pricing many would-be homeowners
out of the market. Given the 45% gains in house purchase prices seen across
Alberta in the past year, rental rate increases prove to be substantially more
affordable than home purchase. In fact, increasing home purchase prices make
renting the best value in accommodation available in Alberta today. These
market fundamentals continue to bode well for Boardwalk's future."
See:
"I understand that last week Canada's Minister of the Environment, Minister John Baird, mischaracterized comments I made last summer as praise for the Harper government's actions on global warming," Mr. Gore, who has become one of the world's best-known environmental activists, said in a statement yesterday.
"The comments I made were designed to encourage the Harper government not to abandon Canada's tradition of fighting above its weight class on the world stage as part of the Kyoto process."
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Environment
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Cuba booms thanks to Canada. Speaking Friday at a congress of leftist economists, Rodriguez said Cuba had transformed its economy since the collapse of the Soviet Union, once its chief supporter and trade partner.
An economy whose exports were 90 percent goods and only 10 percent services in 1989 now leans toward services, he said. Services now account for 76 percent of Cuba’s overall economy while primary goods, such as crops, amount to only 4 percent.
Rodriguez said growth in Cuba’s GDP "should reach more than 10 percent this 2007" despite high prices for imported food and fuel. Cuba has been aided by steadily rising domestic oil production as well as by significant fuel aid from Venezuela.
He said that if social services and commerce were dropped from the count, Cuba still would have shown 9.5 percent growth last year.
Cuba was aided last year by high prices for nickel and cobalt and by a continuing flow of tourists.
Rodriguez put the number of tourists for 2006 at 2.22 million – a slight drop from the 2.3 million Cuba reported for 2005 to the Caribbean Tourism Organization.
Air Canada launches seasonal Cuba link
Cuba ranks among Canadians' top three holiday destinations, Smith noted, adding that Air Canada flies to the Caribbean island 27 times per week.
The U.S. government also appears to be stepping up its enforcement of the best known of its extra-territorial measures - laws enforcing its 45-year-old Cuban embargo.
One law prevents foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies from having virtually any dealings with or in Cuba, while another allows U.S. entry to be refused to executives and directors of any company found to be "trafficking" assets confiscated by Cuba after the 1959 revolution.
Under the latter legislation, executives and directors of the Toronto resource company Sherritt International have been barred from the U.S. because the company has interests in a nickel mine and oil-and-gas ventures in Cuba.
Canada's silence on Washington's Cuba policy speaks volumes
Canadians continue to visit Cuba by the millions each year. Canadian businesses pursue mining, tourism and other interests on the island. And the Canadian government maintains normal diplomatic relations with Havana, normal being the operative word, says longtime Cuba observer John Kirk.
Both Kirk and Ritter, who visit the island regularly, emphasize that nothing is likely to shift in Cuba for many years, with or without Castro. They note that Cuba's economy has been getting progressively stronger over the past decade, with higher nickel prices, cheap oil from Venezuelan ally Hugo Chavez and more tourists - all developments that point away from civil unrest in the country.
That cheap oil from Chavez is payment for one of the service industry exchanges that Cuba is exporting; Docs-for-oil trade shows Cuba's flairThe OAS is now looking at its position on Cuba, and Canada as a member of the OAS is in the position of offsetting the United States, which opposes any rapprochement with Cuba.
US-based Episcopal Church names woman bishop in Cuba
Cuba was a diocese of the U.S. church until 1967, when it was forced to break away because hostility between the U.S. and Cuban governments made contacts difficult. Cuba's communist leaders were embracing official atheism at the time, a stance abandoned in the early 1990s.
It has operated under a Metropolitan Council now chaired by the archbishop of Canada, Andrew Hutchison. It also includes Jefferts Schori and the archbishop of the West Indies.
And Cuba's export Rum; Havana Club is number two in world sales, which included Canada and Europe but not the United States. Their loss.
I particularly like the Havana Club seven year old amber, which is has a smoky chocolate flavour and is so smooth you can drink straight or on the rocks, no mix. It is like a fine brandy or cognac.
The number one brand is Bacardi which continues to use its wealth to fund anti-Cuban Terrorists in Florida.
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The Canadian government issues travel advisories, which are warnings used to alert travelling Canadians to stay clear of certain countries and areas when their personal safety cannot be guaranteed. Do you think the government should issue a travel advisory for Mexico?
All
Ont.
Yes
40%
51%
No
36%
33%
"I don't think that it's necessary to have an emergency debate on this because millions of Canadians have travelled to Mexico without incident," Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Helena Guergis told the Toronto Star yesterday.
Yeah and millions of Canadians have traveled to Israel and Lebanon and live there but they are on the travel warning list. The difference is the Middle East is a war zone, while Mexico just suffers from drug wars and graft ridden police and justice bureaucracy.
As Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay arrived Wednesday in Mexico for high-level meetings on the deaths and mishaps that have befallen Canadian tourists there in the last year, Amnesty International released a scathing report on Mexico's justice system.
The report raises questions about the level of trust Canadians should have in the assurances they have received from Mexican authorities that they can investigate these cases, said Amnesty and Liberal opposition critic's. The human rights group and Grit MPs also argued the report should give MacKay ammunition to push Mexican authorities to allow greater intervention from Canada.
The report documents serious flaws in Mexico's judicial system, such as: arbitrary detention, torture, the flouting of the presumption of innocence, fabrication of evidence and the targeting of human rights defenders.
And what did Pete do? Ignore the Amnesty Report and blithely accept assurances from corrupt incompetent officials
Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said yesterday he was assured by Mexican officials they will follow investigations into a string of violence involving Canadian tourists.
Meanwhile I wonder how he missed this; which is worthy of a Travel Warning
Acapulco's rising drug violence imperils Mexican tourist industry
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The Liberal shift surprised national-security experts, who were expecting an extension to sail through Parliament. "I'm shocked," said Craig Forcese, an expert in national-security law at the University of Ottawa. "They were pretty enthused about it while in government."
Polling Data
In your view, which of these individuals cares the most about the environment and global warming?
| All | Men | Women | Age 18-34 | Age 35-54 | Age 55+ | |
| Stéphane Dion (Lib.) | 31% | 37% | 26% | 33% | 28% | 34% |
| Stephen Harper (Con.) | 13% | 16% | 10% | 9% | 12% | 20% |
| Neither | 28% | 25% | 32% | 30% | 30% | 25% |
| Not sure | 27% | 23% | 32% | 28% | 31% | 21% |
Source: Angus Reid Strategies
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,122 Canadian adults, conducted on Feb. 6 and Feb. 7, 2007. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.
From todays Angus Reid poll showing the majority of Albertans are concerned about climate change global warming. And though this is a Conservative stronghold in the NDP provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba the numbers are the same.
Views on Climate Change Q1. We are interested in your views on the debate currently underway in | ||||||||||||
| All | BC | Alta. | | Ont. | Que. | Atl. | ||||||
| A serious threat | 73% | 72% | 63% | 61% | 74% | 77% | 81% | |||||
| Overplayed | 20% | 26% | 33% | 31% | 19% | 13% | 10% | |||||
| Not sure | 7% | 2% | 5% | 8% | 7% | 9% | 9% | |||||
Provincial Breakdown
| BC | Alta. | Man. / | Ont. | Que. | Atl. | |
| Conservative | 40% | 59% | 41% | 40% | 24% | 43% |
| Liberal | 29% | 20% | 25% | 35% | 32% | 39% |
| New Democratic Party | 20% | 12% | 26% | 16% | 6% | 9% |
| Bloc Québécois | -- | -- | -- | -- | 31% | -- |
| Green | 11% | 7% | 8% | 8% | 5% | 6% |
Mario Dumont is resorting to "demagoguery" when he says old-stock Quebecers are "on their knees" before minority groups, Premier Jean Charest said yesterday.The premier was referring to an open letter by Dumont, leader of the right-of-centre Action democratique du Quebec. In it, he referred to Quebecers' "European stock" and "our values inspired firstly by our religious tradition."
The ADQ leader noted recent incidents involving minority groups, in which Quebecers "chose to put aside our common values" to satisfy minorities. He also criticized Charest for showing a lack of leadership and blaming "our old minority reflex, which persists despite the Quiet Revolution, Bill 101 and the success of Quebec Inc."
The premier said Dumont's view that Quebecers are always giving in to minorities is "a total, total fabrication."
Once again Quebec Nationalism, regardless of political ideology of its demagogues, reveals itself to be Pure Laine. Quebec does not need national sovereignty it needs working class sovereignty; socialism.
And the ADQ like its federal counterparts now running Ottawa appeals to the lowest common denominator, tax cuts, reduction in government services, privatization of the public sector, and anti-dual citizenship, aka anti-immigrant racism.
Ironically the ADQ's attitude is similar to the old Reform Party base out West which is not only anti-non-European-immigrant but also Anti-Francophone. Expressing the same beliefs that the ADQ does towards minorities, that is the Rest of Canada always gives in to Quebec.
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Quebec
