Why a billionaire couldn't buy victory in California

By Colby Cosh - Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 9:00 AM - 3 Comments

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images/ Paul Sakuma/AP/ Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

At around lunchtime on Oct. 28, California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown releases his itinerary for the home stretch of the campaign. With the vote set for Nov. 2, Brown and his Republican rival, billionaire businesswoman Meg Whitman, have been playing chess with the map, snaking through sun-drenched valleys as they vie for undecideds in the land of high technology and fiscal catastrophe. After a good month, Brown, governor of the state from 1975 to 1983 and its current attorney-general, has a double-digit lead in the polls. His early disclosure seems like a display of contempt, a warning of inevitable checkmate.

Brown’s plan includes a Nov. 1 get-out-the-vote rally on the steps of L.A.’s giant Central Library, an Egyptian-influenced 1920s bizarro-Deco edifice. The library is a natural choice. It signifies all the virtues Democrats, and Brown in particular, see themselves as standing for: intelligence and learning as opposed to instinct and faith; harmony between the civilizations of East and West; the power of public works to beautify the city and elevate the soul.

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The hardest sell

By Chris Sorensen - Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 8:40 AM - 7 Comments

SUV sales in Canada are now up 20 per cent | GM; Mark Elias/Bloomberg/Getty Images

On a windswept airfield near Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., dozens of automotive scribes spent last week putting a new crop of 2011 vehicles through their paces as part of a consumer-oriented annual testing event. And, for the first time in years, the excitement wasn’t limited to pricey “prestige” vehicles with nameplates like Porsche, BMW and Jaguar. Instead, it was in the unassuming compact and subcompact categories—the so-called “econobox” segment that has been historically associated with puny engines, bland styling and hard plastic interiors.

After soaring gas prices and the recession exposed Detroit’s penchant for focusing on big gas guzzlers as an epic folly, the North American auto industry has been forced to get serious about the small car market and heed government demands for better fuel economy. That’s particularly the case at General Motors and Chrysler, which were bailed out with billions of taxpayer dollars.

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Goodbye to Sherwood?

By Stephanie Findlay - Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 8:00 AM - 1 Comment

SIMON DAWSON/AP

In an attempt to raise billions in funds for Britain’s “Big Society,” David Cameron’s government is allegedly planning to sell half of Britain’s government-owned forests–including the stomping grounds of Robin Hood and Maid Marian: Sherwood Forest. The land will be sold to private companies that will build holiday villages, golf courses, and begin commercial logging operations: legislation that governs protection of the forests, some of which dates back to the Magna Carta of 1215, will likely be changed to grant private firms the right to log.

The Telegraph reports that a third of the land would be transferred to private ownership between 2011 and 2015, and the rest would be sold by 2020. The revenue from the forest sales will be directed toward government departments that were worst hit by Britain’s new austerity program, under which government spending is to be cut by 19 per cent. Opposition to a forest sell-off is mounting: “If this means vast swathes of valuable forest being sold to private developers, it will be an unforgiveable act of environmental vandalism,” said Green MP Caroline Lucas.

'The morale has sunk to new lows'

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 5:20 PM - 44 Comments

Though he won’t officially depart until an election is called, Keith Martin offers a few parting words.

“The morale has sunk to new lows,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “If you want to drive innovation forward Parliament is not the place to do that any more …

“I got into this as a physician, basically to carry a larger stethoscope,” he said. “I was treating individual patients and I thought ‘I’ve got solutions that will help a lot more people.’ And I got into Parliament to implement those solutions … and unfortunately those innovations will not be able to be advanced under the current political climate.”

Promises, promises

By Paul Wells - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:40 PM - 180 Comments

What then are we to do with the entire notion of a campaign promise? I was there in September of 2008, the first week of that year’s election campaign, when Stephen Harper strolled into a fake media “breakfast” (he ate no food and drank only water) to announce that Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan should end in 2011. Coyne went ballistic. But at least he noticed that since the it-all-ends-in-2011 thing constituted a 180-degree turnabout from Harper, maybe another 180 was still possible. “You just never know.”

And indeed it was so. Though the prime minister has a hard time finding his voice on the issue this week, armies of leakers are suggesting on his behalf that the military mission won’t end in 2011, but that hundreds, even as many as 1,000, will remain to do training in Kabul. (Harper apologists, who are constantly having to figure out why his latest zig-zag was coming all along, will patiently explain that this will become a training mission, which is different from a combat mission. But it was precisely the notion of a training mission that Peter Kent ruled out in June when he said “there’s no wiggle room at all.” Now there’s room for a mambo parade.

We are left wondering, not for the first time, why we put the Conservative leader to the trouble of making election promises since he is only going to ignore them. Remember the $900 million diesel tax cut? Neither does he. Remember the promise never to go into deficit? Now you don’t have to. Remember six or eight carbon cap-and-trade schemes the Conservatives ginned up to block Stéphane Dion? Never mind.

Of course the laments on this can be multi-partisan. Chrétien’s vow to scrap, kill and abolish the GST. Gordon Campbell, RIP, on the HST. Some people are so livid over all this promise-breaking that they try to concoct schemes to hold politicians to their electoral vows with various penalties for infringement.

But what if the problem isn’t promise-breaking but promise-making itself?

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Conservative intramurals

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:39 PM - 10 Comments

The current president of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, and a former aide to Reform leader Preston Manning, laments the use of taxpayer dollars to promote the candidacy of the former president of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, who was a former aide to Stephen Harper, who was formerly the chief policy officer of Preston Manning’s Reform party.

In Conversation with Linda Frum (audio)

By Cathrin Bradbury - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:35 PM - 5 Comments

Photography by Yvonne Berg

In 1987, McGill student Linda Frum upset the establishment by writing the first honest guide to Canadian universities. Twenty-three years later, Frum is a Canadian Senator and a mother whose teenagers are about to pick  schools. She spoke to Maclean’s editor Cathrin Bradbury from her home about what’s changed on campus since 1987, what hasn’t, and what should. To read the entire interview, pick up a copy of Maclean’s 2010 University Rankings issue.

On why kids need to grow up:

On why teaching kids “how to learn” is the wrong approach:

On why students should pay attention to the aesthetics of potential campuses:

On why she no longer believes universities need “less money”:

On why she loves the idea of liberal arts foundations, but fears it’s a lost cause:

On what she thinks still holds true about Western and Queen’s:

On which schools are undervalued and the ignorance of Canadians about each other:

Protests against tuition hike turn violent in London

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:05 PM - 4 Comments

Upwards of 50,000 people gathered in London Wednesday to protest tuition hikes. As of nightfall, at least 14 people, including both police and protesters, had been taken to hospital after violence broke out. Protests were centered on the 30 Millbank building where the Conservative party is headquartered. In the early afternoon, protesters smashed the building’s windows and stood on the roof waving anarchist flags. Riot police now have the building under control. The protests are ongoing, with hundreds gathered around at least two different fires, chanting slogans like “Tory scum.” The day of action was organized by the National Union of Students, who are opposed to a proposed U.K. austerity measure which would allow universities to charge as much as $20,000 per year. The House of Commons will vote on the bill in December.

Telegraph

The Memory Project – David Dickson, How tobacco saved a life

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 1 Comment

David Dickson at Courseulles-sur-Mer, FranceGerman newspaper article about David Dickson| Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear David Dickson’s complete audio story

David Dickson, of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, recalls how a tin of tobacco may have saved his life in March 1945

My company, D Company, was given the task of following a dyke along the west side of Bienen, Germany, and getting into the town. Unfortunately, Bienen was very stoutly defended by a large number of machine guns and we suffered great casualties there. I suffered a wound while crossing the dyke, trying to get into the buildings of the town. I got a bullet through me that penetrated my right side and came out the middle of my back, and went through my lung, liver and kidneys. [The bullet] broke several ribs and went through my diaphragm.

My wife used to send me John Cotton pipe tobacco from England and I never could keep a tobacco pouch. I used to keep the tin of tobacco down inside my battledress blouse. I was pulled off the dyke, ultimately, by another artillery signals corporal, after one of my sergeants had been killed almost on top of me by a mortar shell. The corporal got my jacket off and the tin of tobacco fell out. He said, “My God, look.” He said the bullet went right through the tin of tobacco. The bullet missed my spine by only half an inch where it came out the back and made a big hole. I always felt that perhaps that tin of tobacco saved me from being incapacitated for the rest of my life. Or being dead for the rest of my life, I guess.

Remembrance Day special

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 1 Comment

Below is a sampling of testimonials by WWII veterans collected by The Memory Project. Some 1100 such interviews are available here. Canadian veterans interested in sharing their WWII stories should call 1-866-701-1867 or visit the thememoryproject.com

Aiming to save history How the Memory Project keeps alive the stories of Canada’s war veterans	Maurice White – On the front line Why Maurice White, an infantryman with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, will never forget the Christmas of 1943	Burton Harper – Battle of the Bulge Burton Harper was on loan to the British army when he was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge
Paul Dumaine – Love Between getting engaged and his marriage, Paul Dumaine survived on the beach in Dieppe	Elizabeth (Betty) Dimock – Treating the wounded Betty Dimock first saw service in 1942 treating the wounded in North Africa	Allan Smith – Survival Allan Smith, a bomb aimer, found himself drifting toward occupied France in 1944
Donald Stewart – Homecoming Donald Stewart, a naval gunner from Kelowna, B.C., on coming home after the war	Glenn Price – In battle In 1945, Glenn Price joined the Canadian Army’s Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment in the Netherlands	Bob Farquharson – Supplying the front Bob Farquharson, a Canadian Air Force pilot, contended with the Japanese military, monsoons, and heavy cumulonimbus clouds
David Dickson – How tobacco saved a life David Dickson recalls how a tin of tobacco may have saved his life

The Memory Project — Aiming to save history

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 1 Comment

Getty Images

The average age of a Canadian veteran who served in the Second World War is 87. So while more than 140,000 are still with us, the sad truth is that preserving their rich legacy is quite literally a race against time.

It’s one being led by the Historica-Dominion Institute. Since June 2009, its staff has gathered about 2,000 veteran testimonials—1,100 of the interviews are available at thememoryproject.com—and has digitized 8,000 wartime mementoes, including letters, photos and diaries. And now, just in time for Remembrance Day, comes We Were Freedom, a book featuring 65 of the most gripping war stories that have been collected, including tales of battle, bravery and loyalty. Some, including Allan Smith’s riveting story of life inside a German labour camp, and that of Betty Dimock, a nurse who tended to the wounded during the North Africa campaign.

These oral histories personalize the war and provide a first-hand account that would otherwise be lost. Many of the stories are dramatic and hair-raising. Others are charming, touching, even funny. All are compelling. And now, thanks to the site, unforgettable.

The Memory Project – Donald Stewart, Homecoming

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 0 Comments

Donald Stewart is pictured top 2nd from the left, On leave after VE day (1st from the left)| Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Donald Stewart’s complete audio story

Donald Stewart, a naval gunner from Kelowna, B.C., on coming home.

Apparently, some fellow with the same name as mine, his ship was torpedoed, and so my parents were notified I was lost at sea. When I got home, I didn’t tell them I was coming, I caught the bus and went to Copper Mountain. My father, being the policeman there, had to meet the buses. The old man looked at me and said, ‘you’re dead.’ I said, ‘what the hell do you mean, I’m dead?’ He says, ‘we’ve had your memorial service.’ I said, ‘how is mom taking it?’ I went home. She grabbed a hold of me, I thought she was never going to let loose. I can still feel this today.

The Memory Project – Burton Edwin Harper, Battle of the Bulge

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 0 Comments

First annual reunion of CANLOAN officers. Lieutenant Burton Harper served with The East Lancashire Regiment. | Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Burton Harper’s complete audio story

Burton Harper, a Canadian officer from Miramichi, N.B., was on loan to the British army when he was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945.

We were to attack a little village of Grimbiémont [Belgium]. We attacked two of the houses. I had half my platoon on the houses on one side, half on the other and we went down house by house, being very careful not to throw grenades first because there were civilians in there. But we rousted them out right to the bottom. Near the bottom of the hill, there was an explosion on the road and an explosion inside my head at the same time. I found myself on my hands and knees, looking down at the snow and blood and teeth. I’d been hit in the face. You can’t stop for anyone in an attack when there’s artillery coming down because you’d lose everything. So my chaps pulled me to the door of a house and kept on going. In the house, there were some Belgian people. They grabbed me, took me down into the cellar and wrapped up my face [with] scarves. Another one of my chaps was hit in the leg and they got him down too.

After a couple of hours, I was still conscious, not too uncomfortable, but the other chap, he was in pain. I was afraid that the attack would have failed and there might be a counterattack and I didn’t want to be taken prisoner and I couldn’t leave him there either. So I made one of the worst decisions one could make. I couldn’t see, he couldn’t walk, they got me to the door of the house and with arms around the shoulders and waist, and with his eyes and my legs, I made a decision: we’re going to get out on the road and go up to where the stretcher bearers were or where the medical people were. So we got out on the road with our backs to the enemy, not very far away—they could hit us with a pistol. The war continued on both sides of the road and there wasn’t a shot fired at us. I considered that an honourable enemy. From there, it was back to the hospital. In the hospital, I met a nurse who took good care of me. We just celebrated our 63rd wedding anniversary in September [2009].

Gone, but not forgotten

By Julia Belluz - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 2 Comments

Ceremony for Justin Boyes in Kandahar | Sgt. Tim Jordan/Combat Camera

When Justin Boyes of Saskatoon announced to his mother Angela that he was going to join the Reserves, she did not approve. “This wasn’t in our plan of what we wanted for our kids,” she says. That was in January 2001, and after Sept. 11, Angela was begging her boy to quit. “Please, please, please,” she said to him. “Quit today. Go down there and quit today.”

But Justin was committed. As a teenager, he’d read about genocide and human rights violations in places like Rwanda and Afghanistan, and he wasn’t going to sit idle. So Angela resolved to support him. Still, she says, “I had a foreboding in my heart. I knew our lives were going to be affected by this.”

On Oct. 18, 2009, Justin arrived in Kandahar for his second tour of duty. The 26-year-old was leading a platoon focused on mentoring Afghan National Police officers. Ten days later, Angela’s phone rang. It was Justin’s younger brother, also a soldier, calling to say that Justin had been killed by an IED blast. “That can’t be,” she recalls saying to her son. “I had researched what would happen if the boys were hurt or killed—what the process would be—and I read that it would always involve someone coming to the door.” Within minutes, her doorbell rang.

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The Memory Project – Elizabeth (Betty) Dimock, Treating the wounded

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 0 Comments

Betty Dimock in Nursing Sister dress uniform | Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Betty Dimock’s complete audio story

On loan from the Canadian Army to the South African military for a year, Betty Dimock first saw service in 1942 treating the wounded in North Africa. The nurse from Saint John, N.B., later joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps and worked at a hospital in England.

We had no antibiotics. And we had very few dressings. We had to wash out the dirty, old, soiled, infected dressings and hang them on the line in the sun. Native boys fanned flies off the wounds in the daytime to try to prevent the maggots. And we had unfamiliar medication and treatment. One unforgettable case, a young English lad from the North African campaign with numerous injuries, arrived in a complete body cast. Removal of the cast exposed unexpectedly severe shoulder injuries. The area was filled with a foul-smelling purulent substance, crawling with maggots. This patient begged me to get someone else to perform the procedure. He was aware of what I would find. I needed a soup ladle to remove the pus and maggots. For a young nurse, it was a little bit rough.

When we first went to England, it was the first time we’d been associated with antibiotics—penicillin. It wasn’t too well-purified. Some of the needles were not too sharp when we had to shoot them into the boys. They just screamed, it was terrible. And they’d hide.

The Memory Project – Glenn Price, In battle

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 2 Comments

Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment's Pin (left), Glenn Price's Medals | Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Glenn Price’s complete audio story

In 1945, Glenn Price, from Middleville, Ont., joined the Canadian Army’s Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment in the Netherlands.

Our responsibility was to clear the Germans out of the Reichswald Forest. They were up in the trees with high-powered rifles. We went through with Jeeps and shot a flame-thrower up in the trees—they came down with their shirts on fire. It was pretty gruesome, but we took a lot of prisoners and had to disarm them. They had no ammunition . . . no gasoline. All the German officers had big Mercedes that they had stolen from wealthy Dutch people. So Canadian officers took those cars and ran them until the higher-ups said no more gas. I had one for three days [before] they took it away. They were only for officers.

The Memory Project – Allan Smith, Stories of survival WWII

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 1 Comment

Telegram to Allan Smith's Father, Allan Smith after his arrival at Stalag Luft III | Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Allan Smiths’ complete audio story

Forced to bail out after his aircraft was “shot up quite badly,” Allan Smith, a bomb aimer with the Royal Canadian Air Force, found himself drifting toward occupied France in 1944.

I hit the ground very gently and hid my chute under some underbrush and got rid of my sidearm, a Smith & Wesson pistol. I took off into the unknown. I knew I was in the neighbourhood of Chartres. During the second day of wandering around, I made contact with the French resistance. The resistance hid me out in the small village of Berchères-la-Maingot, and I stayed with a French family.

I spent my nights in a cupboard, along with a huge spider. After almost two weeks with the French family—their name was LeGrande—it was starting to heat up in the area and people were coming to their door and inquiring if a British officer was staying with them. So they decided I’d better move and made arrangements that I would go to Spain, over the Pyrenees [mountains].

Continue…

The Memory Project – Bob Farquharson, Supplying the front

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 0 Comments

Bob Farquharson (left) and Corporal White, with a Japanese fighter | Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Bob Farquharson’s complete audio story

Bob Farquharson, a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot born in Gleichen, Alta., dropped supplies into mountain-locked Burma, where he contended with the Japanese military, monsoons, and heavy cumulonimbus clouds.

There was no way to get supplies to the Allied army except to fly them to them. To make a drop, you have to fly around, the aircraft “low and slow,” maybe 300 feet above the ground. The kickers in the back piled the doorway with as many sacks of rice, or whatever we were dropping. And we dropped absolutely everything. I even dropped a crate of eggs packed in straw in a wicker basket, a big wicker basket. Now mind you, we always dropped eggs with a parachute. And the gasoline we dropped with a parachute. But rice was free-dropped, called “slack packed-double sacked.” It was packed slack, in a big hessian sack, and another sack over that, so that it didn’t burst immediately when it hit. In fact it bounced and skipped along quite a ways before it came to rest. We flew in everything: ammunition, clothing, rations. If somebody at the front lost his eyeglasses or false teeth, we flew in false teeth and eyeglasses.

The Memory Project – Paul Dumaine, Love during WWII

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 0 Comments

Paul and Joan Dumaine on their wedding day in England on July 4, 1945 | Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Paul Dumaine’s complete audio story

Between getting engaged and his marriage in July 1945, Paul Dumaine, an infantryman with the Fusiliers Mont-Royal, survived serious wounds on the beach in Dieppe, and three years as a prisoner of war.

I met a young woman, Joan, who I became engaged to. We didn’t want to get married because the war was going strong and I could have been hurt or killed. So we said that we would wait. On Aug. 19, 1942, I arrived in Dieppe. My fiancée had no idea where I was. The battle was poorly organized. We landed in broad daylight. We got there and the beach was ablaze. The battle was full-on. Everyone was getting killed and falling down all over the place. It was terrible.

I collapsed after an hour. My head was injured. I couldn’t walk. It was like I was paralyzed. I was bleeding. I wanted to go wash myself off in the ocean. My legs were paralyzed from the shock. I had to drag myself on my elbows to the ocean. I washed my head. There was a great big boat called a tank landing craft; a boat that carried tanks. The doors opened and the tanks came out. One of them had foundered on the beach. We used it as a shelter to hide from the Germans.

After three years as a prisoner of war, I was released. I was ill. When I got to England, I stayed in hospital for a month. Joan was still in the army. The colonel called her to his office and said, “Joan, I have some good news.” She thought it was news from her parents. “Your fiancé is in England, at Aldershot. I know that you would like to see him.” She said, “Yes, yes, yes.” “I am giving you a pass. Get dressed in civilian clothes and go see him.” I was lying in my bed. They said to me, “Dumaine, you have a visitor.” She was there. It had been three years. When I saw her, she was so beautiful. I took her in my arms.

The Memory Project – Maurice White, On the front line

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 0 Comments

Maurice in England at the end of the war and after he transferred to the Canadian Provost Corps | Courtesy of The Memory Project

Click play to hear Maurice White’s complete audio story

Why Maurice White, an infantryman with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, will never forget the Christmas of 1943.

We went into Ortona under a creeping barrage on Dec. 20. We entered the southern part of the village at night. I think we spent the night in a soap factory. The next morning is when things really started to happen. It took eight days to take the town. We had to go from one room to the other—we’d blow a hole in the side of the house and go in through there because the streets were filled with rubble and machine guns.

Things were kind of slowing down a little bit [by Dec. 25]. I had got a position up in the east of a house, and I had knocked out two bricks, so I could observe the square behind the house. I was eating my Christmas dinner there. They brought up hot food for us, I don’t know how they got it up there, but they did. I think it was hot pork and gravy, mashed potatoes and a bottle of beer. I had taken it up to my lookout post. I shot a German on Christmas Day. At the time, it didn’t bother me. But ever since, you know, I thought, “Why did I do that?” It was Christmas. But you don’t have a choice, you either shoot somebody or they shoot you. When I shot him, he fell, and two German soldiers came out and grabbed him and I didn’t shoot back. I thank God that I didn’t because that would have been even worse to handle.

Will Parliament decide?

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 3:11 PM - 3 Comments

Philippe Lagasse questions the potential precedent of putting the future of the Afghan mission to another vote in Parliament. Though government commitments on this subject matter are obviously theoretical in nature, there have been at least vague insinuations of responsibility made.

In October 2008, both the Defence Minister and the parliamentary secretary to the Foreign Affairs Minister indicated a role for Parliament in the discussion. In June 2010, the Defence Minister, while waving the red herring of the previous motion on the mission in Afghanistan, was rather resolute on the subject of parliamentary will: ”We have to respect Parliament and the motion is clear. We can’t be fighting for democracy in Afghanistan and ignore it at home … The expressions of interest in a role for Canada beyond 2011 from Mr. Ignatieff and Mr. Rae and others are of great interest. But until such time as that motion reads differently, we will respect that motion.”

More recently, while drawing out a loophole on training that had previously been denied to have existed, the Prime Minister’s Office put the onus almost entirely on parliament’s special committee on Afghanistan. That committee filed a report in June that called for the “Parliament and government of Canada enter into an intensive and constructive discussion as soon as possible about Canada’s work in Afghanistan and the region for the post July 2011 period.” “A final decision on this questions,” the committee suggested,” should be reached before the end of 2010.”

Royal Bank on global "too big to fail" list: Financial Times

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 2:04 PM - 4 Comments

Royal Bank of Canada is on a list of 20 world banks that have been deemed “too big to fail,” according to a Financial Times story that quotes individuals familiar with the agenda at this week’s G20 summit in South Korea. The international Financial Stability Board has been working the a list of banks that could face enhanced scrutiny and be forced to keep extra capital locked-up as insurance against an economic meltdown. JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Barclays and Credit Suisse are also on the list. Gordon Nixon, CEO of Royal Bank, says that it would be “unfair” and “illogical” that his bank be included. He says that although it’s the biggest bank it Canada, it doesn’t differ significantly in size from the other Canadian banks. He also said banks would do whatever they could to stay under the threshold of “too big to fail,” which could have a negative effect on the economy. “What I would say is we can shrink our balance sheet very quickly if we had to,” Nixon told the Financial Post. The issue of which banks are “too big to fail” may or may not be decided by the end of this week’s summit.

Financial Post

Text messages to fight HIV?

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 1:41 PM - 0 Comments

Text messages may be one key to improving treatment outcomes for HIV. A text message once a week to Kenyans with HIV who were on antiretroviral therapy asked the question “How are you?” When compared to those getting the regular standard of care, and no text messages, the findings were encouraging. According to a new study published in The Lancet, adherence to the therapy was reported in 62 per cent of patients getting the text messages versus 50 per cent of the control group. Interestingly, the patients getting the weekly text messages were more likely to have an undetectable level of the human immunodeficiency virus a year after starting their treatments. Suppressed viral loads were found in 57 per cent of the texting group after a year, compared to 48 per cent in the control group. Undetectable viral loads are associated with better health and less transmission to new partners.

Toronto Star

Spain on the eve of war, and an appeal to book publishers

By Michael Petrou - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 1:35 PM - 1 Comment

Late this summer a letter arrived at my Ottawa office from a woman living about 40 minutes away in the Quebec village of Wakefield.

Gunda Lambton had read my book about Canadians in the Spanish Civil War and wanted to get in touch. She had a personal connection to Spain and its civil war, having lived in the country as a young woman for about a year in 1934 and 1935.

I telephoned Gunda and promised to visit, but then the autumn got busy and I didn’t make the trip until yesterday. I wish I had gone sooner. Continue…