Which cruise is right for you?

By Bruce Parkinson, Takeoffeh.com - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 12:52 PM - 3 Comments

So many cruise lines, so many ships, so many ports…and this year, so many deals! How is the first-time cruiser supposed to choose? It’s a question worth pondering, and doing some research, because you’ll have a much better experience if you take the time to match your needs and expectations with the right cruise for you. Each line, indeed, each ship, has its own personality and attracts a certain type of cruiser. There’s a lot to look at, so TakeOffeh.com is presenting this Guide to Cruising in three parts: Contemporary/Mainstream, Premium and Luxury & Specialty Cruising.

Part 1: Mainstream Cruising

Overview
Mainstream or ‘mass market’ cruising is the starting point for many first-time cruisers. Within mainstream cruising there’s a huge range of choice, but some generalizations can be made.

Contemporary/mainstream cruise lines tend to feature larger ships, carrying literally thousands of passengers and crew. The numbers help keep fares low, but there’s a vast diversity of accommodation choices depending on your budget, from compact inside cabins to roomy suites with balconies. The big ships tend to head to the busiest and most popular ports – in some cases because they’re the only ones that can handle these floating resorts. In recent years, mainstream cruise lines have increased their geographic spread, and now offer cruising opportunities in Europe, Asia, Mexico and the South Pacific, as well as traditional hotspots like the Caribbean and Mexico.

While fares may be low, there’s nothing ‘cheap’ about the mainstream cruise experience. Today’s ships offer a bewildering array of choice in dining, entertainment, sports and spa facilities. Some ships put the focus on families, with extensive children’s and teen programs and lots of planned activities for the whole family. Others offer more of a party scene, mostly geared to 3-, 4- and 5-night jaunts.

On a mainstream cruise you can expect all meals and most onboard activities to be included in the cruise fare. You’ll pay extra for drinks, shore excursions, tipping and some specialty dining. Some ships charge for coffee, snacks and other beverages outside of meal times. For the most part, mainstream cruises provide an active, high-energy environment with high-quality cuisine and excellent service. Aficionados consider mainstream cruising to offer the best value of any travel product. Continue…

Wedding bells ring in Ottawa as Liberal MP Mark Holland ties the knot

By Mitchel Raphael - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 12:44 PM - 19 Comments

Ontario Liberal MP Mark Holland recently tied the knot in Ottawa with Cindy Fournier.

Continue…

Three days

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 12:26 PM - 5 Comments

Three days ago, Blair Robertson posted a video to YouTube with his predictions for the next few months of political events in Canada. Among his prognostications: that a fall election would be disastrous for the Liberals and that the number two would somehow factor into the fortunes of Michael Ignatieff and Stephen Harper, possibly in the form of floor-crossing MPs.

What’s happened since then? Well, the Liberals dispatched Senator David Smith to cast doubt on the conventional wisdom that his party would force a fall election. And two Conservative MPs broke with the government’s position on asbestos mining, putting themselves in line with Mr. Ignatieff’s stated position.

My bold prediction: by end of business today, Blair Robertson will be the newest member of the Globe and Mail’s Ottawa bureau or Evan Soloman’s first hire for CBC’s new evening politics show.

And one day, twelve years from now, I will send one of these monsters to Washington to represent my government

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 12:06 PM - 43 Comments

Of course, astute readers of yesterday’s minor collection of Stephen Harper’s writings, will have noticed that the Prime Minister clearly foretold today’s appointment of Gary Doer more than 12 years ago, when he spoke to the Council for National Policy, an influential collection of American conservatives.

Let’s take the New Democratic Party, the NDP, which won 21 seats. The NDP could be described as basically a party of liberal Democrats, but it’s actually worse than that, I have to say. And forgive me jesting again, but the NDP is kind of proof that the Devil lives and interferes in the affairs of men.

This party believes not just in large government and in massive redistributive programs, it’s explicitly socialist. On social value issues, it believes the opposite on just about everything that anybody in this room believes. I think that’s a pretty safe bet on all social-value kinds of questions.

Some people point out that there is a small element of clergy in the NDP. Yes, this is true. But these are clergy who, while very committed to the church, believe that it made a historic error in adopting Christian theology.

The NDP is also explicitly a branch of the Canadian Labour Congress, which is by far our largest labour group, and explicitly radical. There are some moderate and conservative labour organizations. They don’t belong to that particular organization.

Venezuela wants to ban fake shootings to prevent real ones

By macleans.ca - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 11:53 AM - 0 Comments

The Venezuelan capital of Caracas is one of the most violent places on Earth. Its murder rate is thought to be the highest in the world, and the country as a whole suffers from sky-high levels of gun violence. But after presiding over a steep increase in violent crime over the past 10 years, the Chavez government is now planning to do something to stem the tide—it will ban violent video games. A bill that would ban the sale of violent games and toys passed its first legislative hurdle on Wednesday, gaining the provisional support of the country’s lawmakers. It is now set to be put to a second and decisive vote, after which it will become law.

Reuters

Nixon hoped to catch Kennedy cheating on his wife

By macleans.ca - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 11:13 AM - 3 Comments

The warm and fuzzy bi-partisan tributes to the late “Lion of the Senate,” Ted Kennedy, tend to obscure the fact that he was the bête noire for many Republicans. Certainly Richard Nixon had no love for the man, or his deceased brothers. Oval office tapes from the early 1970s caught Nixon ordering spy operations on Kennedy, hoping to catch him cheating on his then wife, Joan. And the President despairing over her plans to wear hot pants to a White House function.

The Guardian

At last, something to hope for

By Paul Wells - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 11:12 AM - 9 Comments

I’ve heard nothing about this, but on the face of it, it may just turn out to be the greatest movie of the last thirty years.

Jeremy Piven wins poisoned fish case

By macleans.ca - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 11:10 AM - 1 Comment

Jeremy Piven has won the case of the poisoned fish. Earlier this year, the Entourage star made headlines when he quit a Broadway play, claiming that he’d gotten mercury poisoning from eating too much fish for the last 20 years. The producers filed a grievance with the actors’ union, and the case went to arbitration. Now the arbitrator has ruled that Piven’s withdrawal from David Mamet’s “Speed-the-Plow” was not a violation of his contract, because there is sufficient evidence that he had a reasonable basis for his belief that he was too sick to continue with the show. Piven says that he has been “vindicated” by this decision: “The truth prevailed. It’s a beautiful thing.”

The New York Times

And now, from the Dept. of Really Hard Press Releases to Write…

By Paul Wells - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 11:02 AM - 39 Comments

From the Inkless emailbox….

Statement by New Democrat leader Jack Layton the appointment of Premier Gary Doer of Manitoba to position as U.S. Ambassador

Premier Gary Doer is a statesman, respected by people across the political spectrum. He is principled, pragmatic, open-minded and has been an effective and highly regarded spokesman and advocate for NDP policies.

His appointment as U.S. ambassador will help Canada establish a healthy working relationship with the Obama administration. We have a number of troubling issues that need immediate attention: climate change, buy-U.S. protectionist policies and border security just to name three. Premier Doer is adept at threading his way through thickets of competing interests, at bringing all sides together and making everyone feel that they contributed to the final decision. I am delighted with his appointment.

Premier Gary Doer spent 11 years in opposition before winning the first of three majority governments in 1999.  He drove Manitoba’s economic growth with prudent fiscal management and balanced budgets – each and every year.  He made his province a world leader in renewable energy, supported education and skills training, and invested in stronger public health care.  He is, and will always be, an inspiration to our party.

Just a few weeks ago, Premier Doer spoke at our National Convention in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  He spoke of the balance between principle and power, saying that winning government and enacting good, progressive policies was the right thing to do. Premier Doer and his government stayed true to their principles and made lives better in every corner of Manitoba.

New Democrats feel honoured to have one of our most effective leaders chosen to play this significant role on behalf all Canadians. On behalf of our caucus in Ottawa and New Democrats across Canada, I wish my friend Gary and his wife Ginny well in this new opportunity to serve Canada.

-30-

Acting vs. Personality

By Jaime Weinman - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 10:51 AM - 1 Comment

Just a quick follow-up to my Joss Whedon post, below: one commenter understandably finds it weird for me to say that Alexis Denisof projects a “limited personality” when he played a character who changes drastically over the course of the series, and portrayed that change convincingly (like I said, he can act). It’s hard to explain why I think someone can simultaneously have range as an actor and be limited as a personality, but it comes down to the idea that most performers have a personality that is separate from, or at least complementary to, their ability to become the character they’re playing. A star actor like, say, Christopher Plummer plays many different types of characters, and adjusts his acting approach for each of them, but he also has a persona of his own — one that’s associated with his voice, manner, appearance — otherwise he wouldn’t be a star. An actor who completely disappears into every character he plays, so that he has no personality of his own, is not an actor that anyone will come to see. And this applies even more to TV, where we keep coming back week after week to see particular actors because we like them.

So some TV actors can be limited in terms of their acting ability, yet have a rich and interesting personality that they convey. I’ll just take Ed O’Neill as a random example because I’ve been thinking about Modern Family: O’Neill has played a number of different characters, and nobody thinks that every character he plays has to be exactly like Al Bundy. But he is also Ed O’Neill, a guy whose distinctive (unconventional) looks and style make him an instantly-recognizable personality. This is one reason why producers often fight to cast unconventional-looking people on their shows instead of the conventionally pretty people networks usually want: not because the pretty people can’t handle acting challenges (there are lots of pretty people who can act good), but because they don’t have a lot to set them apart from the pack in terms of personality, while unconventional looks can help an actor stand out, and make him or her more appealing to the public — or at least more identifiable.

And it’s also quite possible for a limited actor to be an interesting personality, like — I’ll pick this at random again — David Duchovny, a man with one facial expression who nevertheless projects a sense of being an interesting, funny, edgy type of guy. Another actor could play his parts with more range, but not as interestingly.

To move it away from making unfairly negative comments about Joss Whedon shows (for which you will no doubt be grateful), Josh Radnor on How I Met Your Mother is a pretty good actor in a technical sense. If they gave him a Very Special Episode where Ted becomes an alcoholic, I’m sure he could pull it off convincingly. But he’d still be bland, because while he can act, he has no personality. Whereas his other colleagues on the show have individual personalities that are useful for the characters they play, but not necessarily part of their characters. Jason Segel and NPH and Alyson Hannigan are all what they are, in terms of mannerisms and style, even when they play other types of characters.

A "heartwarming tale"

By macleans.ca - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 10:49 AM - 2 Comments

According to police, Phillip Garrido and his wife kept Jaycee Lee Dugard in tents and sheds in a confined backyard for 18 years after the 11-year-old was kidnapped in 1991. There, it is reported, she gave birth to two children, both now in their teens. None of them went to school, saw a doctor or had any real contact with the outside world. Yet Garrido says the story is sugar and spice: “In the end, this is going to be a powerful, heartwarming story. Wait till you hear the story of what took place at this house. You’re going to be absolutely impressed.”

San Francisco Chronicle (“Police: Kidnap suspect fathered victim’s kids”)

San Francisco Chronicle (“Kidnap suspect had criminal past, brother says”)

San Francisco Chronicle (“Cops searched home, but didn’t see compound”)

His what now?

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 10:47 AM - 5 Comments

Conservative MP Patrick Brown reacts to Gary Doer’s appointment, discloses previously hidden nature of the Prime Minister.

doer is great pick for washington too. it shows non partisan nature of PM Harper. Doer always seemed reasonable in office

Land feud turns violent on the Rock

By macleans.ca - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 10:30 AM - 3 Comments

Shelley Jesso may wish she never came back to Sheaves Cove. The 33-year-old woman had returned to the community in western Newfoundland to live on land she recently inherited. But it turns out the property is part of a long-running dispute that is currently before the courts. Newspaper accounts are sketchy on the details, but Jesso says there had been a number of “incidents” related to the dispute that culminated, to her surprise, in full-on violence. Three days ago, while out jogging, she says, a man pulled up behind her in a pickup truck got out and began punching her in the face. Certainly someone battered her face—just look at the photos. The attack appears to have touched off a full-on war. Two men have been arrested and charged following an alleged assault, a death threat and an arson attack on a shed. Police believe both stem from the attack on Jesso.

The Telegram

Ambassador Doer

By macleans.ca - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 10:03 AM - 10 Comments

Gary Doer will be Canada’s next ambassador to the United States. The 61-year-old, who stepped down as Manitoba’s Premier yesterday, will replace Michael Wilson, who has been in the post since 2006. Despite Doer’s popularity among those on the left—he has been premier since 1999—he is said to have a good relationship with the prime minister.

CBC News

This Week: Good news/Bad news

By macleans.ca - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 9:30 AM - 0 Comments

Face of the week
Space guy: Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté trains for his trip to the International Space Station in September

A week in the life of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi
The Libyan intelligence agent, convicted of the December 1998 bombing of Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270, retuned home to Tripoli after his release from jail on compassionate grounds. Al-Megrahi, who is near death from cancer, was greeted by a jubilant crowd at the airport, including Moammar Gadhafi’s son Saif. But international protests have rocked governments in Edinburgh and London. And a planned Libyan visit by Prince Andrew has been scrapped. Continue…

The cold truth

By Paul Wells - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 9:00 AM - 47 Comments

If you’re going to defend Canada’s sovereignty in the High Arctic it is almost always a good idea to do it in the summer, and not to aim too high. Even then there are no guarantees. It’s a tricky business.

Earlier this month I sat in a briefing room in Iqaluit while an assortment of Canadian navy officers explained some last-minute amendments to Operation Nanook ’09. Every summer, Op Nanook is the Forces’ premier Arctic exercise. Every summer it has more moving parts and tackles more ambitious goals. Prime Minister Stephen Harper takes this Arctic business very seriously. He has personally gone up north every summer since he was elected in 2006. He likes to say that in the quest to protect Canada’s North against various foreign marauders, the guiding principle should be “use it or lose it.” This year Op Nanook would use Canadian Forces soldiers, sailors and pilots; the Canadian Coast Guard; more than a dozen civilian ministries of the federal government; the entire federal cabinet, flown to Iqaluit for a cabinet meeting fuelled with fresh seal meat; and bewildering numbers of civilian and military public relations specialists, the better to orchestrate the Prime Minister’s assorted photo opportunities.

And it would have gone off without a hitch if it hadn’t been for the ice. Continue…

Econowatch

By Duncan Hood - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 8:30 AM - 5 Comments

So how about that recovery? You missed it? Too bad, because the last few months might be as good as it gets for a while.

According to our Graph of the Week (see right), compared to other nasty recessions of the past, the S&P 500 has already enjoyed one of the best rebounds ever. The bad news is, that may be all the rebounding you’re going to see for some time. Because if this recession is anything like the previous ones, we’re either just on the cusp of a plunge into the next Great Depression, or (more likely) we’re in for a few years of going sideways, as we did after the oil crisis of 1973 and the tech crunch of 2001-02.

It’s certainly possible that we could embark on a new bull market and pick up where we left off in 2007, but the smart money seems to be on a recovery of the excruciatingly slow variety. Why? As Warren Buffett wrote in the New York Times last week, mainly because “enormous dosages of monetary medicine continue to be administered” by the government, and “before long, we will need to deal with their side effects.” In short, the U.S. has taken on its largest non-wartime deficit since 1920 to get us this far, and it’s still racking up debt at a frightening rate. Eventually that money will need to be paid back, and even the U.S. will be strained by the effort. Continue…

Margaret Atwood goes on tour, Anna Wintour thaws, and the director of fun

By Lianne George - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 8:00 AM - 0 Comments

Atwood nuts, rejoice
Canadian novelist and soothsayer Margaret Atwood has embarked on an international tour to promote her latest book, The Year of the Flood. As part of her campaign, she will be writing a blog to keep fans up to date on her toing and froing. In her inaugural posting, she welcomes her visitors with a photo: “Here is a picture of me in the garden with giant phlox, before starting out. Will I shrink during the tour? Will I survive it?” She also lays out some ground rules for making her tour as green as possible—for instance, placing special emphasis on train travel, local foods and organic, fair-trade coffees. She plans to pack light: “think pink, pack black. It dirts less.” Finally, she says she will take “the VegiVows” for the duration of her tour, “with the exception of non-avian and non-mammalian bioforms once a week.” She will, however, permit eggs, “viewed as a sort of nut.”

Swedish for retaliation
When the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet ran an article accusing Israeli troops of killing Palestinian youths to harvest and sell their organs, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu compared the allegations to medieval “blood libels,” which claimed that Jews used the blood of Christian babies in holy rituals. “Statements in the Swedish press were outrageous,” an official quoted Netanyahu as saying. “We are not expecting an apology—we are expecting a condemnation.” Swedish officials have so far refused to condemn the article. Until they do, Israel is prohibiting any new Swedish journalists from entering the country, which is small comfort to many angry Israelis. Concerned citizens have launched an online petition to go after the Swedes where it hurts—a nationwide boycott of Ikea. Continue…

UPDATED: Confirmed! Gary Doer heads to DC.

By kadyomalley - Friday, August 28, 2009 at 7:29 AM - 68 Comments

Pack your bags, soon-to-be-former Ambassador Wilson!

Apparently, you’re coming home:

9:30 a.m. – Prime Minister Stephen Harper will meet with the new Ambassador-designate of Canada to the United States of America.

Office of the Prime Minister

Centre Block

Eerily sharp-eyed early riser that he is, National NewsWatch has already dubbed it “DoerWatch”, which makes ITQ feel terribly out of the loop. When did we-the-media-and-assorted-Hill-gossips peg the outgoing premier as the likely next ambassador? Was it yesterday, while she was entirely preoccupied by imminent Senate appointments and Langevinian intrigue? What happened to the David Emerson theory? Or Tom Flanagan! Wouldn’t that be fun? Anyway, I’ll post an update as soon as we’ve got confirmation of his (or her) identity. Whee!

UPDATE: Well, if it turns out to be true, the Winnipeg Free Press’s Don Lett gets to feel pretty darned smug, since he predicted it — well, gave space to the rumour, which was apparently swirling amongst the “well-heeled Lake Winnipeg martini crowd” — in a column earlier this week.

So, did anyone spot the Challenger idling on the Winnipeg airport runway late last night? Or, being a fiscally conservative Dipper, would Doer have flown the proletariat skies?

AND ANOTHER UPDATE: CJOB reports, and CBC is confirming, that Doer is, in fact,  headed to DC, and the Globe’s Jeffrey Simpson gets an ITQ Prescience Only Counts When You Say It In Public Point for suggesting, as a “pure guess,” in today’s column, that Doer would do well as “consul-general in a place such as Los Angeles or Denver or Seattle.”

TWO ITQ POCWYSIIP points for Don Martin!

Quick, everyone! Wikipedia update race!

I can’t seem to track down a transcript of Doer’s speech at the NDP convention in Halifax, but the video is available via CPAC, and might be worth rewatching (y’all did watch it the first time around, right?) in light of recent developments.

The video is available on Youtube, too!

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: So, is anyone else feeling kind of bad for Rodney MacDonald today? First he loses out on that Nova Scotia senate seat, now this. What does a former PC premier have to do to get some love from Ottawa?

Okay, ITQ is ready to make a not-remotely-bold prediction that Gary Doer’s appointment is going to be universally supported — perhaps, in some cases, through slightly gritted teeth, but still supported — by the very same opposition parties who were howling with outrage over yesterday’s Senate appointment binge. I honestly don’t see a down side for anyone. Oh, and for the record, you can also make a decent case that Harper’s previous ambassadorial pick — Michael Wilson — as a crosspartisan gesture of sorts, since he was, of course, from the Progressive Conservative wing of the party, which is still – despite what some spinny types might tell you — a distinct subculture within the CPC.

FINAL UPDATE: And it’s official: we’re sending our least terrifying theoretically socialist politician to Washington. Will he bring his Tommy Douglas poster? And will he be dragged into the health care debate?

AFTERMATHDATE: Colleague Wells has the official reaction from NDP HQ.

A teaser:

Just a few weeks ago, Premier Doer spoke at our National Convention in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  He spoke of the balance between principle and power, saying that winning government and enacting good, progressive policies was the right thing to do. Premier Doer and his government stayed true to their principles and made lives better in every corner of Manitoba.

New Democrats feel honoured to have one of our most effective leaders chosen to play this significant role on behalf all Canadians. On behalf of our caucus in Ottawa and New Democrats across Canada, I wish my friend Gary and his wife Ginny well in this new opportunity to serve Canada.

'I could get myself in a lot of trouble for this'

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, August 27, 2009 at 6:44 PM - 33 Comments

Two Conservative MPs call for an end to asbestos mining.

Conservative MP Dona Cadman of British Columbia told Canwest News Service Thursday she would love to see asbestos mining operations in Quebec shut down, adding “I could get myself in a lot of trouble for this.”

Ontario Conservative MP Pat Davidson told the Sarnia Observer last week — after the Canadian Medical Association called for a ban on asbestos use and exports — that “I’m definitely not supporting the mining or exporting of asbestos.”

The honourable senator

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, August 27, 2009 at 6:40 PM - 7 Comments

The 1987-1988 Detroit Red Wings included five players who finished the season with 130 or more penalty minutes (Doug Halward, Lee Norwood, Gerard Gallant, Joey Kocur and Bob Probert). Their coach was a bit intense too.

Demers explained the above to the New York Times in 2005. Continue…

Meanwhile, guess who wants to make Parliament work now?

By kadyomalley - Thursday, August 27, 2009 at 6:33 PM - 36 Comments

Senator David Smith, that’s who!

The indefatigable Joan Bryden reports on the latest attempt by the Liberals to play down the possibility of a fall election. Well, sort of. Like a Facebook relationship status, it’s complicated, you guys:

Senior Liberals are signalling they’re unlikely to use their first opportunity, in early October, to pull the plug on Stephen Harper’s minority government.

And while they may well try to force an election later in the fall, the Liberals’ national campaign co-chairman says it won’t be over the issue of employment insurance reform.

“We’re not having an election on EI,” said Senator David Smith. “I don’t hear Canadians clamouring for an election on this issue.” [...]

Smith suggested Liberals are in no rush to topple the government at the first opportunity.

“I don’t think there’s a presumption that every time there’s an opportunity to have an election that you have to do it. We still want to see Parliament work,” he said.

“You can’t push the election button every time . . . I think that is irresponsible.”

Don’t despair, however, elecspecaholics — according to Ralph Goodale, all that really means is that we’ll spend the entire fall session watching Ignatieff  play Hamlet while wondering, will he or won’t he, and when:

While a confidence vote in early October is “possible,” Goodale acknowledged the “tight timeframe” will be an issue for Ignatieff as he mulls over when and if to try to defeat the government.

“We’ll take that factor into account too because it is important for Parliament to have at least a little time to get its traction back,” he said, noting that the government has had “a pretty free ride” over the summer.

Goodale noted the government is bound to provide for a number of opposition days “at fairly regular intervals throughout the fall“ — any of which the Liberals could use to defeat the government.

This time, Georgia gets the blame

By Katie Engelhart - Thursday, August 27, 2009 at 6:00 PM - 2 Comments

It’s a classic case of whodunit. Everyone can agree that there was a war in South Ossetia a year ago, but no one can agree on who started it. Russia says that Georgia attacked the disputed area within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, while Georgia says that it was responding to invading Russians. Surprisingly, this time around it looks like global opinion will favour the Russian version of events.

A number of news sources speculate that a European Union report to be released in September will place most of the blame for the August 2008 conflict on Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. So Saakashvili has issued a pre-emptive strike: a 190-page counter-report concluding that Russia “launched a large-scale assault on Georgia,” which necessitated a response. Continue…

End-of-summer real estate special

By macleans.ca - Thursday, August 27, 2009 at 5:54 PM - 3 Comments

While home prices south of the border have yet to recover from the recession, in Canada, the economic downturn has barely made a dent in them. In fact, sales were so robust through the early months of the summer that the Canadian Real Estate Association now predicts house prices will be up 1.5 per cent this year and sales will reach 2008 levels—a sharp departure from the 14.7 per cent drop in the number of sales CREA had originally anticipated. “The difference in the resale housing market now, compared to the beginning of the year, is night and day,” says CREA President Dale Ripplinger, “and nowhere is this more evident than in the West.” Average prices are now expected to rise in all provinces except Alberta, where they are expected to fall by 4.4 per cent, and British Columbia, where they are expect to remain stable.

Click below to see what’s available in some of Canada’s largest markets.