China cracks down on jaywalkers

By Mika Rekai - Friday, January 11, 2013 at 3:07 PM - 0 Comments

In China’s densely populated cities, it’s not uncommon to see cars driving on the wrong side of the street, barrelling down bike lanes or even parked on the sidewalks. In the last two decades, as the number of motorists has grown astronomically, Chinese roads have become a Wild West of traffic violations. In 2011, nearly 70,000 people were killed in traffic accidents, and tens of thousands more were injured. But last month, traffic wardens began fining some of China’s most prevalent lawbreakers: pedestrians.

While some have lauded the government for enforcing any traffic laws at all—speed limits and red lights are routinely ignored—critics say targeting pedestrians is ineffective and unfair.

“Chinese drivers don’t stop at traffic lights, so either you jaywalk or you don’t cross the street,” says Tyler Ehler, a Canadian student living in Nanjing. The problem, says Ehler, is the driving class has simply grown too large, too fast—“teenagers are learning to drive at the same time as their parents.” A country full of new drivers, he says, is bound to have its share of traffic accidents.

While some dismiss traffic accidents as mere growing pains, others question whether China’s thousands of road fatalities are an inevitable consequence of its rise.

99 stupid things the government did with your money: Part III

By Jason Kirby, Tamsin McMahon, Rosemary Westwood, Nick Taylor-Vaisey, and Mika Rekai - Wednesday, January 9, 2013 at 10:52 AM - 0 Comments

For taxpayers concerned with out-of-control government spending, 2012 started on a bright enough note. Last January, the Department of National Defence announced it wanted to buy 20,000 custom-printed stress balls for its staff. Once Defence Minister Peter MacKay caught wind of the plan, he quickly cancelled the contract, calling it an “unnecessary expense of taxpayer money.” Noble words, but it was a brief reprieve. As Maclean’s found once again when researching this project, whether it was Ottawa, the provinces, municipalities or the organizations they oversee, governments couldn’t help themselves when it came to doling out cash. What follows is but a fraction of the foolish, wasteful and blatantly stupid ways governments found to spend taxpayers’ money. To uncover this year’s 99 items we pored over press releases and auditor generals’ reports, sifted through proactive disclosure statements and delved into media databases across the country, ferreting out examples of spending that occurred in 2012 or came to light last year. There will be those who take issue with some items on this list, arguing, for instance, that funding rock concerts boosts the economy. But the reality is that at every level of government, we’re in far worse fiscal shape than we were even a year ago, despite all the talk of cutbacks and austerity. And as this list makes clear, those who control the public purse have yet to really change their ways.

Here are the last 33 of the 99 ways the government spent your tax dollars in 2012. (Here’s Part I and Part II)

Continue…

99 stupid things the government did with your money: Part II

By Jason Kirby, Tamsin McMahon, Rosemary Westwood, Nick Taylor-Vaisey, and Mika Rekai - Tuesday, January 8, 2013 at 10:38 AM - 0 Comments

For taxpayers concerned with out-of-control government spending, 2012 started on a bright enough note. Last January, the Department of National Defence announced it wanted to buy 20,000 custom-printed stress balls for its staff. Once Defence Minister Peter MacKay caught wind of the plan, he quickly cancelled the contract, calling it an “unnecessary expense of taxpayer money.” Noble words, but it was a brief reprieve. As Maclean’s found once again when researching this project, whether it was Ottawa, the provinces, municipalities or the organizations they oversee, governments couldn’t help themselves when it came to doling out cash. What follows is but a fraction of the foolish, wasteful and blatantly stupid ways governments found to spend taxpayers’ money. To uncover this year’s 99 items we pored over press releases and auditor generals’ reports, sifted through proactive disclosure statements and delved into media databases across the country, ferreting out examples of spending that occurred in 2012 or came to light last year. There will be those who take issue with some items on this list, arguing, for instance, that funding rock concerts boosts the economy. But the reality is that at every level of government, we’re in far worse fiscal shape than we were even a year ago, despite all the talk of cutbacks and austerity. And as this list makes clear, those who control the public purse have yet to really change their ways.

Here are 34 to 66 stupid things on our second annual list of waste that shows spending by all levels of government is still way out of control. Check us out tomorrow to see the last 33 stupid things your government did with your money. (And find 1 to 33 right here.) Continue…

99 stupid things the government did with your money: Part I

By Jason Kirby, Tamsin McMahon, Rosemary Westwood, Nick Taylor-Vaisey, and Mika Rekai - Monday, January 7, 2013 at 12:38 PM - 0 Comments

For taxpayers concerned with out-of-control government spending, 2012 started on a bright enough note. Last January, the Department of National Defence announced it wanted to buy 20,000 custom-printed stress balls for its staff. Once Defence Minister Peter MacKay caught wind of the plan, he quickly cancelled the contract, calling it an “unnecessary expense of taxpayer money.” Noble words, but it was a brief reprieve. As Maclean’s found once again when researching this project, whether it was Ottawa, the provinces, municipalities or the organizations they oversee, governments couldn’t help themselves when it came to doling out cash. What follows is but a fraction of the foolish, wasteful and blatantly stupid ways governments found to spend taxpayers’ money. To uncover this year’s 99 items we pored over press releases and auditor generals’ reports, sifted through proactive disclosure statements and delved into media databases across the country, ferreting out examples of spending that occurred in 2012 or came to light last year. There will be those who take issue with some items on this list, arguing, for instance, that funding rock concerts boosts the economy. But the reality is that at every level of government, we’re in far worse fiscal shape than we were even a year ago, despite all the talk of cutbacks and austerity. And as this list makes clear, those who control the public purse have yet to really change their ways.

Luxury hotels, hemp body cream and subsidized hip-hop concerts: our second annual list of waste shows spending by all levels of government is still out of control. Find 33 of those stupid things below. And check us out tomorrow to see 33 more stupid things your government did with your money. Continue…

Read Darwin’s owner’s plaintiff statement online

By Mika Rekai - Thursday, January 3, 2013 at 2:47 PM - 0 Comments

The case of the Ikea Monkey will be heard in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice this month.

The story of a sharply dressed rhesus macaque named Darwin, who was caught exploring a north Toronto Ikea in December, captured imaginations and inspired art – largely of the “meme” variety – around the world. But when the 10-month-old monkey was later taken into the custody of an animal shelter, his owner took legal action against the primate sanctuary, and Darwin became the centre of controversy.

Here is the factum of the plaintiff, former Darwin owner and wardrobe co-coordinator, Yasmin Nakhuda. The defendant’s statements were not available at this time.

FactumofPlaintiff Nakhuda.dec.17.12 (1)

Thousands call for the resignation of leader Leung Chun-ying

By Mika Rekai - Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at 1:05 PM - 0 Comments

To mark the coming of a new year, Hong Kong residents took to the streets in protest against the Chinese government. On Jan. 1, between 26, 000 and 130, 000 protestors called for the resignation of Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying, who is accused of illegally renovating his mansion. While the protests widely focused on the alleged corruption of Leung, who took office last year after being chosen by a small, elite committee, many came to protest a general lack of democracy in the semi-autonomous region.

The Associated Press reports that many protestors chanted anti-Beijing slogans, and many used anti-Beijing iconography in their calls for greater democracy. During the march, one man depicted Leung as a wolf in a Maoist uniform and many protestors waved the British colonial flag that was used in Hong Kong before it became part of China in 1997. A smaller, pro-Beijing protest was also held in the city, with between 8, 000 and 60, 000 in attendance.

This is not the first time that Hong Kong has pushed back against the Chinese government. In the summer of 2012, tens of thousands marched against compulsory “Chinese patriotism classes” for all Hong Kong students, which the government eventually eliminated after students started skipping the classes en masse. On June 4th, record numbers attended a vigil in Hong Kong to mark the 23rd anniversary of the Tienanmen Square massacre, a practice which is largely forbidden on the mainland.

The pop star expresses ‘shock and sadness’ and calls for ‘meaningful legislation’

By Mika Rekai - Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at 11:48 AM - 0 Comments

The ruthless world of tabloid photography has taken another victim. TMZ reports that Hollywood paparazzo Chris Guerra was killed yesterday in Los Angeles, while tailing Justin Bieber’s Ferrari. The 29-year-old photographer was hit by oncoming traffic when, after seeing Bieber’s car get pulled over by police, he walked onto the street hoping to get a shot of the Canadian pop-superstar. Guerra had been tailing Bieber all day when he saw the singer’s car leave the Beverly Hills Four Seasons.

While Bieber was not present at the accident – his car was being driven by friends – the 18-year old released a statement today expressing his “shock and sadness” and calling for “meaningful legislation” to protect tabloid photographers and their subjects. No charges have been issued against the driver of the vehicle which struck and killed the photographer.

3-D printing. No glasses required.

By Mika Rekai - Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 5:00 AM - 0 Comments

Shoppers at Staples in Europe will soon be picking up a different kind of printed product. The office supply giant plans to bring 3D printers to selected stores in Belgium and the Netherlands. Starting next year, customers can upload files online and collect in-store their finished three-dimensional objects—from architectural and medical models to product prototypes. The move may be the first step in making 3D printing widely available to the masses. Three-dimensional printing, which allows people to produce small objects (typically made of plastic or paper material) from computer code, has been hailed by many as the next great technological leap, but prohibitive costs have stalled its widespread adoption so far. The printers range in price from $3,000 to $20,000. Staples, which has partnered with a 3D printer maker called Mcor Technologies, says it plans to quickly expand its “Easy 3D” program to other countries.

Police blotter: A warlock scam and an unlucky ride

By Mika Rekai - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 11:08 AM - 0 Comments

British Columbia: A manager at the Red Lion Inn in Saanich faces five charges of aggravated assault after allegedly stabbing five employees with a pair of closed scissors at the hotel’s Jade Fountain Restaurant. Police say the manager, 52-year-old Zhi Wei Meng, who goes by the name Wally, then locked himself in an office, where they arrested him. There were no fatalities.

Alberta: A 32-year-old truck driver from Stettler was driving with a loaded rifle leaning against the passenger seat with the muzzle pointed at the roof. While making a U-turn, the rifle tipped over and went off. The bullet passed through the man’s stomach and out the door. He is in stable condition, but faces charges for reckless use of a firearm.

Saskatchewan: In late November police in northern Saskatchewan were called to investigate reports of a man driving a snowmobile while impaired, but the man went off-road and eluded them. The next day a 43-year-old snowmobiler, who police believe was the same man they were searching for, was found dead by his brother after his snowmobile crashed through the ice at Deschambault Lake.

Ontario: A Mississauga man who self-publishes a Spanish-language newspaper has been charged with fraud after a woman accused him of falsely posing as a spiritual healer and bilking her out of $14,000 for various spells. Gustavo Valencia Gomez, 40, a self-described warlock, allegedly convinced the 56-year-old woman her family was cursed and needed his services.

Newfoundland: The Mounties always get their man . . . eventually. An off-duty RCMP officer from Corner Brook was driving near Deer Lake when he picked up a hitchhiker. When the hitchhiker introduced himself as Ken Colson, the officer realized the man was a fraud suspect he had been pursuing for six years. The officer, Const. Des Burridge, quietly pulled over, identified himself and arrested Colson.

Maritime union an unwelcome proposal

By Mika Rekai - Sunday, December 9, 2012 at 6:20 AM - 0 Comments

Photographs by Mitchel Raphael; Christinne Muschi/Reuters

Stop us if you’ve heard this one: by forming a Maritime union, the provinces of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia will finally have the clout necessary to fix what ails them. When three Tory senators from the region suggested such a merger last week, it was the latest in a long line of failed attempts at provincial matrimony. With a backlash already under way, it’s hard to see this proposal ending any differently.

There’s no question the provinces face huge problems. Unemployment is well above the national average, their populations are aging rapidly, and the region is increasingly dependent on federal support even as Ottawa grows stingy. Proponents of a union say a consolidated bureaucracy would be more cost-effective, and the provinces would not have to compete against each other for investment.

Similar arguments were made back in 1864, when politicians from the Maritime colonies met in Charlottetown to talk about forming a union, but their plans were derailed when Sir John A. Macdonald arrived with a plentiful supply of champagne and a rather larger proposal—the Dominion of Canada. A century later New Brunswick premier Louis Robichaud proposed an Atlantic Canada union (including Newfoundland). Observers thought he was joking. Then in the 1970s, with Quebec separatist sentiment rising, a union was eyed in case the struggling region found itself cut off. Continue…

More than a mouthful

By Mika Rekai - Thursday, December 6, 2012 at 1:20 PM - 0 Comments

Daniel Acker/Bloomberg/Getty Images

A mite shy

New Zealanders went into deep withdrawal after the nation’s Marmite producer, Sanitarium, suspended production at their Christchurch plant in the wake of an earthquake that damaged the factory in 2011. Repairs were supposed to be finished by summer, then October, but the shelves are still empty of the popular yeast-based spread. Sanitarium officials warned New Zealanders to use it sparingly, but 500-g jars were being hoarded and sold for more than $50 online. While some Kiwis have withstood the shortage bravely, loyalties were sorely tested. In the spring, supermarkets reported that sales of Australian rival Vegemite rose significantly.

Sweet!

It was a heist made for headlines. In late August, thieves broke into a Quebec warehouse and stole barrels full of Canada’s original sweetener, part of a 23,500-barrel reserve of maple syrup. The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers keeps the stockpile against shortages. Representing more than one-tenth of Quebec’s 2012 harvest, the syrup was said to be worth more than $30 million. In October, the RCMP tracked down the stolen syrup in New Brunswick, extricating maple-syrup producers from a sticky mess.

Joke’s on him

While filming an episode of The Mind of a Chef in Montreal, U.S. comedian Aziz Ansari was mistaken for local comic Sugar Sammy at Wilensky’s sandwich shop. Ansari, who accompanied New York chef David Chang and two local chefs to the shop for one of its famous fried bologna and salami sandwiches, impersonated the Canadian comedian for as long as he could. When someone revealed his name, the Parks and Recreation star said, “Different Indian comedian.” Sugar Sammy is a broad-shouldered, athletic and fashionable comic best known for his bilingual stage shows and reputation as a hard partier. Aziz Ansari is a short, slight comedian with a beard and moustache. After leaving, Ansari asked the chefs if they ever get mistaken for other chefs, then pointed to Chang, who is Chinese-American, and said with a grin, “Morimoto?”

Betel juice

This year, 10 Indian states banned the sale of gutka, a popular chewing tobacco made of crushed betel nut, nicotine, spices and chemical additives, in an effort to curb oral cancers, which make up almost a third of all cancer diagnoses in India. There are an estimated 65 million gutka users in the country, and the tobacco is popular as a cheap pick-me-up for everyone from rickshaw drivers to university students. With 80,000 new cases of oral cancer a year, the health ministry says the treatment of tobacco-related diseases costs more than $5 billion annually, almost five times more than the government earns from taxing gutka. The ban came as a shock to the manufacturers, who have banded together to challenge the legislation in court.

Classy with a C

At home, the diet-busting cinnamon buns sold at Cinnabon are found at subway stations and busy malls, where the irresistible smell of the pastry baking tempts passersby. This year it became the first U.S. franchise to open in Libya after the fall of Moammar Gadhafi. The Tripoli location, which made its debut in August to a flurry of excitement on Libyan social media, is the largest Cinnabon in the world. While the original recipe remains untouched, the restaurant is modelled after a European-style café, offering a cosmopolitan array of Italian coffees and pastries. A three-storey affair in a fashionable neighbourhood, it offers private dining rooms for meetings, dates and special occasions, as well as a playroom for children. A trip to Cinnabon here is a status symbol for the city’s wealthiest residents.

XL not sold here

The Big Apple is no friend to the Big Gulp. In September, the New York City health department banned the sale of sugared beverages larger than 16 oz. at restaurants, food carts, sports arenas and movie theatres to curb obesity. The ban is another bold step from Mayor Michael Bloomberg to improve the health of New Yorkers, but the rest of the United States is unlikely to follow his lead; in November citizens of two California cities rejected a fat tax on pop. New Yorkers thirsting for supersized pop can still get their fix. Fruit juices that are more than 70 per cent juice, diet pop and alcoholic beverages are exempt, as is 7-Eleven’s infamous Slurpees, because they are sold in a convenience store.

XL not sold here either

This September, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency suspended operations at an XL Foods plant in Brooks, Alta., after E. coli was detected in meat products. Then CFIA documents showed the bacteria was discovered two weeks before the suspension, during which time uninformed retailers continued to sell XL meat to Canadian and American customers; 18 people got sick, but there have been no known fatalities. The Alberta beef industry took a licking, but the processing plant was running again in October with more inspectors and stricter testing in place.

All bets are on for royal baby names

By Mika Rekai - Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at 3:38 PM - 0 Comments

Jamie Grill/Getty

Because the baby growing inside the duchess of Cambridge will, presumably, become Canada’s Head of State, it is the job of every Canadian citizen to celebrate the news, congratulate the happy couple (open a window, shout towards the east) and speculate wildly about the future monarch currently taking up its in utero residence.

Will it be boy or a girl? Will it have shiny hair like its mother? Will it have rosy cheeks like its father? Will there actually be two babies? The question on most people’s minds, however, is what will the baby be called? Betting agencies all over the world are handicapping the possibilities: here’s an alternative summary of baby name prospects.

GIRLS

Favourite: Elizabeth

Elizabeth is the odds-on favourite worldwide, and the choice is really a no-brainer. The Queen has carried the name very successfully for the last 86 years and her mother pulled it off for 101 years, so you can hardly accuse the couple of being “faddish” with this one. Another nice thing about the name “Elizabeth” is that it lends itself easily to nicknames, so Kate and Wills will still have a dozen choices for what to actually call the child, when they’re yelling at it to stop running in the palace, or to put down that jewel-encrusted scepter! Personally, I hope they pick “Beth”. “Beth Wales” sounds like the kind of girl you want to play detectives with at when you’re eight. “Beth Wales” is the type of girl who gets caught smoking in the washroom with you at 17. “Beth Wales” is the type of Queen you want to grab late night pizza with after you’ve had too much Champagne at a State Dinner.

Continue…

Three technophobes join forces to battle the rise of the machines

By Mika Rekai - Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 4:59 PM - 0 Comments

Eduardo Parra/Getty Images

Technophobes, rest easy. When the machines rise, humans will be prepared.

A philosopher, an astrophysicist and a software engineer have joined forces at Cambridge University with hopes of creating a laboratory that will analyze the dangers that technology poses to the future of humankind. The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER), will study the potential dangers posed by rogue bio- and nanotechnology, extreme climate change, nuclear war and artificial intelligence.

“The seriousness of these risks is difficult to assess,” the founders write on the centre’s website. “But that in itself seems a cause for concern, given how much is at stake.”

The three founders, Cambridge philosophy professor Huw Price, cosmology and astrophysics professor Martin Rees and Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, say that the centre is necessary to avoid opening a “Pandora’s box” where super-intelligent machines would be beyond human control. Reese, in particular, has long been a technology alarmist and is the author of the ominously titled Our Final Century. The book, published in 2003, is a detailed account of the threats posed by the unbridled rise of technology and rapidly improving artificial intelligence. While critics have dismissed the idea as a science fiction, the founders insist that just because a threat can be readily cited in pop culture, it does not mean it is not a present danger to the human race.

While CSER does not have an official opening date, the founders insist it will open sometime next year. Cambridge University, which in its 800 year history has withstood everything from the Blitz to the Bubonic plague, clearly does not intend to let the apocalyptic threat go unstudied.

Your e-reader is watching

By Mika Rekai - Monday, November 26, 2012 at 11:50 AM - 0 Comments

Sarah Lee/eyevine/Redux; Photo illustration by sarah mackinnon; GETTY IMAGES

For Catherine Henderson, curling up with a good book has always been an escape from reality. What the retired teacher doesn’t know, however, is that while she is lost in her Kindle, someone is reading over her shoulder.

Before ebook readers became popular in 2010—when e-reader sales quadrupled within months—publishers had only one way of measuring a book’s success: sales. Back then, it was almost impossible to do detailed market research that didn’t involve direct feedback, either through letters to the publishers or reader surveys. But the information didn’t tell the whole story about what readers wanted to read, and they said nothing about how they read. Did they read the whole book, or lose interest after a few pages? Did they skip certain chapters? Did they highlight and revisit favourite passages? Now the makers of the Kobo, Kindle and Nook are collecting hard data about exactly how their customers read.

When Henderson bought her Kindle a year and a half ago, she admits she may not have looked through the terms of use agreement, which does mention that the e-readers include software to track user habits. “Honestly, I’m a little bit lax with my personal information,” she says. “I guess I expect a certain amount of Big Brotherness.” Continue…

Gareth Aled Coombes, 1989-2012

By Mika Rekai - Monday, November 12, 2012 at 2:11 PM - 0 Comments

Illustration by team macho

Gareth Aled Coombes was born in Winnipeg on May 18, 1989, to Vanessa Coombes, an administrative assistant with the provincial government and a single mom. The night he was born, Jan Wiebe, one of Vanessa’s best friends, remembers sneaking into the hospital after visiting hours to meet the baby. She and Vanessa spent the whole night grinning, giving Gareth kisses and counting his toes.

When Gareth was two, he and his mother moved to Victoria, so Vanessa could care for her elderly mother, whom Gareth called “Nainey.” Vanessa loved taking Gareth to nearby beaches, where they searched for curly moon shells or, after nightfall, watched the stars. When Gareth started kindergarten, Vanessa would take his classmates to beaches too, forging friendships with the other moms as Gareth and his pals climbed up on rocks and splashed in the water.

Gareth, a mischievous boy with a “big, toothy grin,” made friends easily, says Jan. From a young age, he was passionate about space. He knew the names of dozens of stars and dreamed of becoming an astronaut. As a boy, he’d have his mother measure him often to make sure he didn’t exceed NASA’s maximum allowable height for astronaut candidates: six foot four. When he hit six foot five, he was forced to work out a new plan: he would become a successful businessman and travel to space as a tourist. Continue…

French newspapers v. Google

By Mika Rekai - Monday, November 12, 2012 at 2:10 PM - 0 Comments

REMY DE LA MAUVINIERE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

For media agencies, producing good content is expensive, and giving it away online has never made much sense as a sustainable business model. As readers have dropped print subscriptions and migrated to the web, newspapers have suffered years of plunging revenue. Many hoped the losses would be temporary as advertisers also moved online, but news sites still aren’t reaping the benefits. According to the Newspaper Association of America, in 2011, for every $25 lost in print revenue, newspapers made only $1 online.

While many news organizations, including the Globe and Mail and the Postmedia chain in Canada, have put in place online paywalls, a more radical solution is unfolding in France that could put an end, once and for all, to the industry’s crisis. French newspapers, with the help of the socialist government of François Hollande, are going after Google.

Many companies spend millions to advertise on the Internet, but instead of doing so on sites that produce content, the money largely goes to search engines (i.e. Google) and web aggregators (widely used sites that provide links to news content). Last month, leading French newspaper publishers called on the government to adopt a law that would require Google to make payments to news sites for displaying links to their content. Google, which earns $3 billion every month in ad revenue, said in a statement that it “could not accept” the move and “would be required to no longer reference French sites” as a consequence of such a law. Forcing Google to pay for linking to news content, a spokesperson says, would threaten Google’s “very existence.” Continue…

Waiting for Target: Canadian retailers retrench

By Mika Rekai - Tuesday, October 30, 2012 at 10:23 AM - 0 Comments

(Bill Sikes/AP Photo)

A dark cloud has been forming over the Canadian retail landscape this month. Hudson’s Bay Co., Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaw Companies Ltd. have all announced major job cuts. HBC said it will be laying off 210 employees as it moves its information-services department from Toronto to Missouri. Shoppers Drug Mart cut 80 jobs from its head and regional offices. Last week, Loblaw said it is cutting 700 head-office jobs as it looks to streamline operations.

One of the causes: the U.S. retail juggernaut Target Corp., which is opening 189 locations across Canada and which will offer stiff competition in the pharmacy, clothing and grocery businesses. With more retailers looking to expand their offerings and lower prices (Loblaw has already been struggling with Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s expansion into groceries), it’s getting harder for companies to distinguish themselves, says Kenneth Wong, a marketing professor at Queen’s University. But Wong suggests that the magnitude of the layoffs “suggests there is also something larger at play” than just bracing for Target, or the rising costs associated with drug reforms that Shoppers cited as the reason for its cuts. He says a slowing economy is the main culprit. And that’s bad news for Canadian retailers and U.S. invaders alike.

Newsmakers of the week

By Jaime Weinman, Emily Senger, Jonathon Gatehouse, Patricia Treble, Aaron Wherry, and Mika Rekai - Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 5:30 AM - 0 Comments

Johnny Nunez/GETTY IMAGES

Let them eat steak

The Alberta Wildrose Party Leader Danielle Smith took a grilling this week when she suggested this week that recalled meat from Alberta’s XL food plant be fed to “the hungry.” Millions of kilograms of recalled XL meat is being destroyed due to an E. coli outbreak. “What a waste,” Smith tweeted. “We all know thorough cooking kills E. coli,” she added, endorsing another tweet suggesting that the meat instead be fed to those in need. When her comments sparked outrage, Smith was forced to backtrack: she did not mean that poor people should eat tainted meat, but if the meat could actually be salvaged, even she would buy it. Twitter had little sympathy—some suggested she feed it to members of Wildrose instead.

Trading places?

As the NHL lockout drags on into its second month, all hockey fans are hurting. But there might be some good news for the longest-suffering among them—the members of “Leafs Nation.” Reports surfaced last week that Toronto and the Vancouver Canucks have worked out a deal that will see mercurial goalie Roberto Luongo and his massive contract land in Hogtown when play finally resumes. Both sides deny that any agreement has been finalized (technically they can’t make a trade during the labour dispute), but there’s plenty of smoke. And at the very least it gives Leafs fans something else to obsess over: whether they’re getting the guy who backstopped Team Canada to gold in 2010, or the one who couldn’t stop a beach ball last season.

TV is so déclassé

“Stop this bourgeois priggishness!” cried Conrad Black, baron of Crossharbour and scourge of the bourgeoisie. The man who brought on Black’s outburst was BBC host Jeremy Paxman, who sat down with him for a TV interview. After Paxman called him a “criminal,” Black angrily dismissed his fraud conviction and prison sentence as a product of the U.S. justice system—“The whole system is a fraudulent, fascistic conveyor belt”—and commended himself for not “smashing your face in.” During the same round of interviews, Black appeared with Sky News host Adam Boulton, derided his questions and asked at one point, “What’s your name again?” Black has no time to learn the names of bourgeois prigs.

Meet Betty Moore, mayor of Canada’s most dysfunctional municipality

By Mika Rekai - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 10:12 AM - 0 Comments

Photograph by Greg Locke

Toronto’s city council is polarized. Montreal’s is engulfed in corruption allegations. But neither metropolis can call itself the most dysfunctional municipal government in Canada. Not compared to the tiny town of Clarke’s Beach, Nfld., population 1,300.

Located on Conception Bay, about an hour west of St. John’s, the seaside village is described by residents and tourists alike as tranquil and scenic. The town’s official website promotes Clarke’s Beach as a favourite destination for artists and retirees. This serene picture, however, belies a rancorous feud within the municipal government that has put the community’s popular mayor, Betty Moore, on a collision course with the majority of the town’s councillors. With wild accusations flying from both sides—that the mayor is a dictator, or that councillors are staging a coup—the council recently took the extraordinary step of stripping Clarke’s Beach residents of the power to directly pick their own mayor in future elections.

Since being elected as the town’s first female mayor in 2005, and then re-elected in 2009, Moore’s relations with most of her six long-time councillors have grown increasingly strained. She says she ran for office because she felt the direction of the town had stagnated. “We didn’t seem to have much activity, we didn’t seem to have much progress,” she says. On the other hand, Deputy Mayor Kevin Hussey accuses the mayor of running roughshod over council’s wishes. “Betty Moore is operating a dictatorship,” he says. “She doesn’t take direction.” Things came to a head in August when Hussey called an emergency meeting to approve a large land purchase on a civic holiday. The councillors voted to buy a stretch of waterfront property for $40,000. Mayor Moore, who was at a scheduled community event at the time, says she was not told of the meeting and that the deal was hastily done. Hussey, meanwhile, says the mayor was told of the meeting and chose not to come. Whatever the case, at a public meeting several days later Hussey brought forward a motion to scrap the town’s two-ballot system, under which residents are given the chance to vote directly for the position of mayor. Instead, they voted to go back to a system used prior to 2005, which gives councillors the power to choose the mayor from their own ranks. According to Robert Keenan, an official with Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador, an umbrella organization representing cities and towns, communities that use this type of electoral system have traditionally given the role of mayor to the councillor who garners the most votes. But, perhaps ominously for Moore, Clarke’s Beach councillor Roland Andrews says that rule is “not cast in stone.”

A municipal election is scheduled for next year. The ongoing rift between the mayor and her councillors has sparked an outcry from Clarke’s Beach citizens, most of whom describe their council as “totally dysfunctional.” Whereas most small towns on Conception Bay generally attract just a couple of citizens to town council meetings, residents of Clarke’s Beach have been showing up to meetings by the dozens and have peppered the local newspaper with angry letters. “I am of the opinion that the town council of Clarke’s Beach couldn’t organize a Sunday school picnic,” says long-time resident and RV-park owner Ernie Mugford. The mayor, he says, “is just being buffaloed.” Adds Wallace Reid, a retired businessman, “three or four people have got together and they want to run the whole show.” For his part, Hussey says comments posted on the newspaper’s website criticizing the council’s move were written by the mayor’s “plants.”

Moore remains guarded in her choice of words regarding her battle with her fellow councillors. “I’ve felt for a long time that [council] doesn’t want me to be the leader and be mayor, but I’m just getting that from council, not the community,” she says. Even so, she’s in the process of rounding up supporters to run as new candidates next year. And that, she believes, could finally give her the edge over her political foes.

Backstage at McGuinty’s announcement: ‘Would you like the hug shot?’

By Mika Rekai - Monday, October 15, 2012 at 11:33 PM - 0 Comments

Leaning over the Queen’s Park security desk at 7:30 on Monday night, a reporter is rifling through his pockets.

“I have my credentials in here somewhere,” he says as he puts on reading glasses. “I’m just here to help my colleague. I had to run over.”

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H&M’s drops three letters from its fashion line: PFC

By Mika Rekai - Thursday, October 4, 2012 at 7:40 PM - 0 Comments

Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images

It may be a bit early, but Swedish clothier H&M has already announced some New Year’s fashion trends. This month it announced that, starting January 1, it plans to stop selling clothes using fabrics that contain perfluorinated compounds (PFCs). PFCs are primarily used in outerwear to repel water and oil, and are part of fabrics like Gore-Tex. But they come with some nasty side-effects. PFCs do not degrade and, due to factory run off, the chemicals often enter human water sources—they’ve been found in food and blood samples all over the world. H&M’s decision follows similar PFCs bans from apparel giants Nike, Adidas and Puma. With over 2,300 stores worldwide, H&M is the second biggest clothing retailer in the world, and its decision will have a sizable impact on the environment.

But some question whether H&M can really be an ethical, sustainable company. It is a leader in what’s known as fast fashion: trendy, cheap clothes that are intended to be worn for a season or less and are essentially disposable. Under its label it sells over half a billion items of clothing a year, using materials bought from difficult-to-monitor suppliers. The use of PFCs was also largely superfluous, as water-proof, durable clothes are typically not what people expect from H&M. (In a statement the company says it will use an alternative product to create similar water repellency to PFC-treated clothes.)

Jaimie Katz, an analyst with Morningstar, says H&M’s decision does have some advantages for the company as it tries to manage its image and supply network. “Companies like H&M, they just put out such a sheer volume of products that they really have to know what they’re doing.” The company told The Observer that it now employs 75 auditors to assess conditions at factories.

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Newsmakers of the week

By Mika Rekai, Martin Patriquin, Jaime Weinman, and Patricia Treble - Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 1:00 PM - 0 Comments

Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Ours is bigger than yours

Trent Guy nearly broke a record and made the heads of his American fans explode in the process. The North Carolina-born wide receiver, who plays for the Montreal Alouettes, returned a shanked field-goal attempt for 129 yards—or nine yards longer than an NFL field, including end zones. It wasn’t the longest botched field-goal return (that was 131 yards, set in 1958—before the Super Bowl even existed), but it was enough for some of Guy’s Twitter followers to ask, “How does that even happen?” Guy patiently explained what most Canadians know: the CFL field is a total of 30 yards longer than its American cousin.

That’s how they stay rich

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told diplomats at the UN this week that she is “out of American politics”—to laughter from the room—but supports more taxes on the wealthy, a show of support for Barack Obama’s position. “It is a fact that around the world the elites of every country are making money,” she said. Why should they not pay more? On a previous occasion, she suggested that while there are wealthy people in every country, they rarely voluntarily contribute to their nation’s development.

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Spain’s matadors return

By Mika Rekai - Thursday, September 20, 2012 at 6:20 PM - 0 Comments

Felix Ordonez/Reuters

Before Mariano Rajoy was elected prime minister of Spain last year, he promised the return of fiscal prudence, economic prosperity and gut-splattering bullfights on prime-time TV. So far, the Conservative politician has kept at least one of those campaign promises.

Last week, Spain’s public broadcaster TVE aired its first bullfight in six years. Broadcast live from the northern city of Valladolid, the fight featured one of the country’s most famous matadors, a man known as “El Juli.” To many liberals, who view the fights as barbaric, it marked a huge step back. To conservatives, who consider the sport a celebration of Spanish culture, it marked a glorious return.

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s Socialist government banned bullfighting on public television in 2006. Bullfights were shown on private, pay-per-view channels, but banned from public airwaves as inappropriate for children.

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Canada by the numbers: tattooed patriots and brown baggers

By Mika Rekai - Wednesday, September 5, 2012 at 12:50 PM - 0 Comments

British Columbia: Vancouverites still haven’t forgiven the Stanley Cup rioters. A recent Angus Reid poll found 85 per cent of residents believe the police probe into riot-related offences should continue. Not only that, but 56 per cent of people there think the city’s reputation is still tarnished.

Alberta: Albertans love their cars, but an Angus Reid survey suggests they have some poor driving habits. When asked, 76 per cent of respondents have seen drivers multi-tasking (putting on makeup, texting) while driving, and 73 per cent have seen drivers run red lights—the highest rate in the country.

Manitoba: People in Manitoba are the most in love with Canada’s flag. An Ipsos Reid survey found 36 per cent of people there would consider getting a tattoo of the Maple Leaf somewhere on their body, tying only Saskatchewan in their devotion.

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