Search

This is an article that focuses on the lives of rich Canadians and what it means to be rich in 2004.One of the most popular attractions at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto during the '60s and early '70s was a display of a million dollars in cold hard cash. Silver dollars and paper bills, all in mint condition, were assembled each summer into a new diorama: there was a Million Dollar Money Tree, a Million Dollar Merry-Go-Round, and, one year, the risque Million Dollar Bubble Bath, featuring svelte models who'd slowly strip behind a screen and appear to slip into a tub. The 36-year-old married father of two has been making money the hard way ever since his first job pumping gas at his father's Petro-Canada station. if it were, the ranks of millionaires would at least double, given today's real estate prices, says Keith Sjogren, a principal with Taddingstone Consulting Group Inc., which surveys Canada's wealthiest citizens. Traditionally, Canada's millionaires have made their money in one of two ways: by inheriting it or by making a good income and investing it well. Still, most Canadians in the very top bracket resist flaunting their wealth. Discretion, even downright frugality, tends to be admired.

This article focuses on the study of astronomy in Canada. Canadians are masters of the universe. Sure, the U.S. leads the world in spending on space research, laying out roughly US $7 per American each year, while Britain, France and Germany budget between US $4 and US $5 for every citizen. Canada spends just US$1 per capita, less even than Australia. Yet by one important measure -- the confidence of their peers -- Canadian astronomers produce some of the best astrophysical science on the planet. Thomson Scientific, a Philadelphia-based information clearing house, reported Canadian scientists published 4,836 research papers on space in the past decade. Those studies in turn were referenced 76,921 times in other scientific papers, for an average citation rate of 15.91. If one were to list Canada's 150 most cited scientists from the many different fields of study, about 15 would be astronomers, say Jaymie Matthews, associate professor of astronomy at the University of British Columbia. William Harris, a frequently cited astronomer at McMaster University in Hamilton, likens the Canadian success to a talented student making a movie with next to no money. The young director is forced to be innovative. Lack of funding has forced scientists to pick their projects wisely, observes Ray Carlberg, an astrophysics professor at the University of Toronto. Last year's most quoted paper -- cited 1,058 times -- mapped the radiological afterglow of the big bang, in the process helping confirm theories of how the universe came to be. What Canada lacked until only recently was the ability to make observations from space. That changed with MOST, a suitcase-sized, $10-million rocket-borne telescope that was blasted into space in 2003. Backed by the Canadian Space Agency, MOST has already outlived its life expectancy and has another two, maybe three years to go, says Matthews, the project's mission scientist.

Chronicles several Canadian achievements. Claim of ferry operator Bobby Clarke that Sasquatch is alive and well and living in Norway House, Manitoba; Popularity of Canadian comedian Tony Law at the 2005 Melbourne International Comedy Festival; Prize awarded to Lee Rammage of Burlington, Ontario for winning the Rock Paper Scissors World Championships in Toronto; Prize awarded to Raphaël Fréchette for winning the Wild West Arts Club's Gun Spinning Masters Championship in Claremont, Oklahoma; Comments from lesbian Muslim journalist Irshad Manji regarding the reaction her book "The Trouble with Islam: a Wake-up Call for Honesty and Change"; Others.

Profiles Canadian cartoonist George Feyer. Biographical information, including his work as a forger of papers and passports during the Second World War; Cartoons that he sold to 'Maclean's'; Description of the cartoons he drew for Imperial Oil television commercials; Thoughts from his peers; Description of his work; His appearances on television in the U.S.; His suicide in 1967; Publication of his book 'The Man in the Red Flannel Suit,;

The article focuses on the environmental hazards of plastic bags. The author reports that according to environmentalists, because plastic bags are made from oil, they choke both landfills and wildlife. Jacques Lalonde, a Montreal translator who started an online petition and collected 50,000 signatures, urged the government to consider a tax on each of the plastic bags used by Canadians every year. Liberal Environment Minister Line Beauchamp is weighing the idea.

This is an article commenting on provinces in Canada and questioning why there is a need for them. A thought occurred to me as I crossed the border into Manitoba from Ontario at about the 20-hour mark of a solo drive that took me from just outside Owen Sound, Ont., to Beaverlodge, Alta. My intention here is not to pick on either Ontario or Manitoba. That frustration, combined with the anticlimactic border crossing, made me realize something: I was tired of the whole concept of provinces. What purpose do the provinces serve anyhow, especially now that they've shorn themselves of valuable institutions, cut social services or downloaded them onto the cities, and streamlined their civil services? So here's what I propose: dissolve the provincial governmental system and free us to roam this country unburdened by a paper trail. Imagine though, the joy you would feel if you could phone your cousin in New Brunswick at tax time, or your sister in Manitoba when registering a new vehicle, and complain about exactly the same forms.

This article focuses on the political endorsement of the National Post newspaper in the recent elections in Canada. Given its strong aversion to anything Liberal, it was hard to imagine the National Post newspaper giving its election endorsement to anyone but Stephen Harper. Still, the paper is owned by Winnipeg's Asper family, long-time Liberals, and some high-placed Grits felt they might at least get a bit of a break on the editorial page. And now, with the electoral dust clearing, it looks as if a promised federal gift of $100 million for a Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg--a special Asper project--is very much up in the air. Shurely not, as editors are wont to write.

Presents news briefs relating to Canada. Criticism of the Canadian government for giving belated recognition to a contingent of Canadian soldiers, training with U.S. and British military forces, for dangerous war-zone service; Fall in the share value of Air Canada following its efforts to seek bankruptcy protection; Use of paper face masks to prevent infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS); Orders from Major League Baseball to sing "God Bless America" during the seventh inning stretch at baseball games; Criticism of a music video made by Madonna which condemns the war in Iraq.

There is an element of myth to how Canadians see their armed forces, says Alain Pellerin, executive director of the Conference of Defence Associations. That myth has dogged Defence Minister John McCallum since he was catapulted into his position last May from a junior finance portfolio. True, in increasing numbers, Canadians want an able military: in late November, 56 per cent told Liberal pollster Pollara Inc. that Canada should spend more on defense, the highest portion since the firm started tracking in the mid-1980s. ut there has not yet been a full debate on the hard choices and expensive changes that lie ahead. When even peacekeeping in the 21st century is a dangerous task requiring combat-ready troops, when armed forces have been steadily edging into closer co-operation with the U.S., the ministry could charitably be called a public relations challenge. More money is only part of the solution: Canada's military must be restructured to deal with a world of high-tech threats and low-tech terrorism. To his credit, McCallum has started this process in his quest to find annual savings of $200 million. Outside experts will examine how to streamline administration and procurement. Almost $4 billion goes to non-military expenditures such as environmental cleanups. And savings will likely come from the elimination of outdated equipment such as tanks. That is a solid start. But the greatest challenge lies ahead: the updating of the 1994 White Paper on defence. Its basic aims will surely remain: homeland, continental and international defence. But Canada needs new master plans for both defence and foreign affairs.