No magic bullet for smart RRSP investing in 2013

As Canadians prepare to set aside some of their hard-earned cash this RRSP season, many will be looking for the next hot investment trend, but few financial experts believe there will be one magic bullet when it comes to choosing how to investment your tax-sheltered retirement savings in 2013 — or at any other time, for that matter, given that everyone's financial situation is different.

People looking to invest their RRSPs have many options — from newer, more hands-on products like exchange-traded funds and real estate investment trusts to traditional investment vehicles such as guaranteed investment certificates and mutual funds. The relative popularity of these products fluctuates from year to year, but given the current economic climate, most advisers are urging their clients to diversify their portfolio and to expect market volatility at worst and stagnation at best from the market in 2013.

Consider the big picture: in 2012, the S&P/TSX composite index finished at 12,433.53, gaining just four per cent from a year earlier. Over the previous 10 years, annual gains have averaged close to eight per cent.

It never did better than the 12,788 level it reached at the end of February, making it among the developed world's worst-performing stock markets for the year.

Some sectors of the economy did well. The financial industry, which includes banks, insurance companies and mutual fund companies, was up almost 13 per cent in 2012. Industrials (including CN, CP and Bombardier) were also up by about 13 per cent.

Gold, on the other hand, was down almost 20 per cent, and the energy sector (including oil and gas companies) had a downward year, losing about 7.8 per cent. The mining sector was down as well, dropping around 10.2 per cent.

Volatile market fouling investors' mood

"It has been a very volatile year, and I don't see any signs of that changing," said David Phipps, a senior financial adviser with Assante Capital Management in Ottawa.

'I would describe the new normal as low return with high volatility, which is extremely unpleasant.'— David Phipps, Assante Capital Management

"It makes people unhappy that they are starting to get used to it, but they are. I would describe the new normal as low return with high volatility, which is extremely unpleasant."

Investment advisers working in such a low-return environment have to be prudent with the choices they make on behalf of their clients.

"There is not a lot of wiggle room for errors," Phipps said.

David Stronach, a fee-only financial planner in Toronto, agrees that the investment mood in 2012 was grim, and 2013 is not looking any brighter.

"I don't think anyone is feeling good," he said.

"I think everyone is extremely cautious right now, and there is not a great deal of optimism."

For that reason, most people are taking what Stronach describes as "an ultraconservative stance."

Adrian Mastracci, president of KCM Wealth Management in Vancouver, says investors should expect "a lot of bumpiness" in 2013, while on the other side of the country, in Charlottetown, financial planner Blair Corkum says what investors need to ride out those bumps is patience.

"Volatility hasn't been dramatic this year. It's just been flat," he said.

Diversify, think twice

Whatever the economic climate in any given year, people should be clear about what they are doing when they set money aside in an RRSP — and not equate it with investing, warned Jamie Golombek, managing director of tax and estate planning with CIBC in Toronto.

"People confuse making an RSP contribution with the stock market," he said.

"Making an RSP contribution is just setting aside some of your current year's income to spend later on. It has nothing to do with the stock market per se."

Still, the question lingers, if they do decide to invest the money in their RRSPs, is there any hot trend or investment of choice for the coming year?

The real risk in even asking the question is that what was hot last year might not be as good a bet this year.

"Any time you see something that did really well last year, a red flag should go up," said Phipps.

The best thing to do is think twice, he says.

"You should pause and say, 'If it had a good rate of return now, I should be nervous'."

Mastracci also advises against jumping on any investment bandwagon.

"We like to stay away from the popular stuff, because popular things tend to cool off quickly," he said.

"Most people miss the exit."

For Stronach, the key survival tactic for the current economic environment is to be broadly diversified — and that means diversifying stocks as well as asset classes.

Golombek says most of his clients are choosing just such a strategy, taking a balanced approach and considering a combination of equities, fixed-income investments and "even some cash."

Phipps also sees diversification as the smartest investment approach in 2013.

"In this period and time of uncertainty, as boring and unpleasant as it sounds, diversification is your friend," he said.

ETFs 'more popular than ever'

In terms of trends, exchange traded funds, or ETFs, an asset class whose popularity and size has skyrocketed in the past two years, remain a popular and useful way to invest, experts say.

"ETFs are probably more popular than ever," Mastracci said.

As of the end of November 2012, there were 282 ETFs listed on the TSX, including 49 launched since the start of the year. All together, they were worth $65.5 billion

'Forget everyone else. What is it you need to do?"'— Adrian Mastracci, president of KCM Wealth Management

"ETFs are a very useful tool and should be incorporated in most people's portfolios," advises Phipps.

"My impression is that ETFs are more popular today than they were a year ago. They continue to gain ground as a valid tool to be included in the tool box.

"Where I would disagree is with people who see them as the only way to invest — or as a complete solution."

Stronach says ETFs can be useful but they're not for everyone.

"I like them," he said. "But I find most people don't have the temperament for them. It's a smart investment for those who would like to use passive management for the core of their portfolios."

Mastracci also cautions that having ETFs may make sense but only as part of a complete plan worked out with a financial adviser.

He says it's important to ask what is in them and what you are trying to use them for.

"Forget everyone else. What is it you need to do?" he said.

Avoid last-minute scramble

A key strategy this year, as in every year, should be careful planning. That includes having a plan for when you will invest and for how long.

'I find it ironic that people call it RSP season. That's because you don't think about it the rest of the year.'— David Stronach, financial planner

A good starting point is avoiding the last-minute scramble to invest at the end of RRSP season.

"I find it ironic that people call it RSP season," says Stronach. "That's because you don't think about it the rest of the year."

A better approach, he says, is to set up your saving and investing "so there is no thinking to do when RSP season comes — and goes."

In other words, forget the concept of an RRSP "deadline," which, says Stronach, is designed for the "last-minute shopper."

He instead recommends that investors practice steady, disciplined saving all year long.

"The ones who are committed to be successful financially are the ones who are habitual savers," he said.

Stronach encourages his clients to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, especially if, historically, they have not been good savers.

"Some people know they are not good at money and should be contributing on a monthly basis," he said.

"If you know yourself, it's a good idea to get into the habit to have it taken directly from your bank account."

Corkum agrees that having a disciplined savings strategy is more important than the rate of return on your investments.

He sees more and more of his clients making monthly RRSP contributions, meaning there's a lot less pressure when the February or March deadline arrives.

Don't react

Following the ups and downs of the stock market — not to mention the economic and political news around the world — can be distracting and discouraging, financial advisers say.

"The worst thing you can do is react," said Stronach.

Phipps agrees, saying educating yourself will help you understand and weather economic storms.

"Most investors would be well served by putting down their daily newspaper and by picking up an economic text book," he said.

Corkum agrees that it's never too early to begin educating yourself about finances.

"Financial literacy should be taught in schools," he said. "It is critical at every age."

Review and rebalance

This year, like every year, should see investors reviewing their RRSP holdings. That always includes rebalancing your portfolio and can also include getting a second opinion.

"Rebalancing is just one in a long list of annual chores that every investor should be doing and that every investment adviser should be proactively suggesting to their client," said Phipps.

Portfolio rebalancing is a realistic target for most people and should be done at least annually, he says.

Stronach suggest investors have a face to face with their adviser at least twice a year to assess where their portfolio is at — and where is should be.

"If you don't have a lot of money, you're not typically going to get a lot of motivation from the adviser to pay attention to it, so you have to drive it," he said.

Corkum, however, warns that people should use discretion when it comes to rebalancing, particularly if an account is set up to automatically rebalance holdings when the market is low.

"I do not think automatic rebalancing is necessarily the smartest thing to do," he said.

There are real risks in trying to "time the market," Corkum said.

If you are not sure your investments are on the right track, get a second opinion.

"I would suggest that a second opinion be worthwhile to everyone, particularly since second opinions are free from most financial planning organizations," Corkum said.

"If you really want the comfort that you are not being oversold, then deal with a fee-only financial planner that sells no product."

Stop stalling and save

Whatever your income level, there is always room to set some money aside for retirement, say many financial advisers.

"I have seen people making $25,000-$30,000 a year setting money aside for retirement and/or for their children's education, and I have seen people making in excess of $100,000 somehow unable to set any money aside," said Corkum.

Investing those savings is easy enough to do yourself, with the right preparation, he says.

"My most successful investors are people who have done it themselves," said Corkum, who also runs retirement seminars for the P.E.I. Public Service Commission.

"They are people who are very interested in the market, read the financial articles, watch the TV channels with business shows."

Golombek agrees that the most important message to get out to Canadians is not about a particular investment product or strategy but about saving itself.

"Save for the rainy day. Save for retirement," he said. "Just do it."

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Widespread price-fixing alleged in Toronto home construction

A construction-industry conspiracy to inflate the price of building foundations for houses has been operating for nearly 15 years in the Toronto area, Canada's Competition Bureau maintains in a 120-page search-warrant application obtained by CBC News.

The bureau says some of the biggest companies that pour concrete basement foundations for new homes have:

• Agreed to fix prices.
• Established agreements not to compete.
• Attempted to stifle smaller competitors.

With more than 330,000 new houses built in the Greater Toronto Area since 1997, the alleged price-fixing could have added hundreds of millions of dollars to the total tab for home construction — or several thousand dollars per house.

McGill University competition-law expert Richard Janda says the case has some similarities to the Quebec construction industry, where a public inquiry has unearthed pervasive collusion. (CBC)

"It's pretty striking," McGill University law professor Richard Janda, an expert in competition law, said after reviewing the documents obtained by CBC News. "It's fairly weighty evidence."

Those documents allege that up to 10 companies in the concrete-forming business — those who assemble the moulds for basement foundation walls, pour concrete into them, then dismantle the frames — either orchestrated or abided by the price-fixing scheme. They supposedly crafted their arrangements through the Residential Low Rise Forming Contractors Association of Metropolitan Toronto and Vicinity and pressured rivals who tried to undercut their fees.

"The alleged co-conspirators allegedly participated in, and may be continuing to participate in, meetings, telephone conversations and other forms of communication among themselves and/or with their competitors for the purpose of exchanging competitively sensitive information, fixing prices and allocating customers," the warrant application reads.

An Ontario Superior Court judge granted the application last March, allowing Competition Bureau officers to raid the offices of three of the companies and the industry association and to cart away financial records and thousands of paper and computer files.

So far, no charges have been laid and none of the allegations in the search warrant application has been tested in court.

CBC News contacted the companies named in the warrants, and all refused to comment. Their association would only answer questions by email, saying "we expect to be exonerated once the facts are known."

'The way business is done'

Several industry insiders told CBC News it's "common" that concrete forming companies discuss their prices with each other.

"It's the way business is done. This is very common," said a veteran construction manager at a Toronto-area homebuilder, who asked to remain anonymous, citing concerns about compromising his business relationships. "They have a coffee … they talk about suppliers — and eventually there's a typical consensus of where prices should be."

He also said that in cases where a contractor has an established relationship with a homebuilder, rival formwork companies will rarely try to snatch away that work. "They'll say, 'Either you're going to get the contract or I'm going to get the contract, but at the end of the day, you know, we have to help each other out and we shouldn't price below this level.' "

But the construction manager said he doesn't believe that the consumer suffers. "I don't think that it has enough of a bearing on the end price," he said, adding that he would rather companies talk among themselves about their prices than have one bid so low that it ends up losing money.

Competition-law expert Janda, however, said the whole idea of a free market that yields better service and prices "disappears" when companies collude.

"Who loses is the public," he said. "It's pretty similar to theft, in the sense that rather than having prices that are set according to who can offer the best service and who can do so most cheaply, prices are set according to, basically, a monopolist.

"When allegations of this kind started to emerge in Quebec in the construction industry, people started paying attention to the possibility that the entire structure of the industry was problematic."

Decade-old concerns

Concerns about concrete formwork in the Toronto area first surfaced more than a decade ago, according to the Competition Bureau warrants and other documents obtained by CBC News. In 2000, the warrant application shows, the owner of a concrete-forming company wrote to the industry association worried about measures he thought were "illegally restricting competition." Two years later, a letter from another concrete-forming contractor cited "what I seen and heard at the meetings … fixing prices to $32/foot."

In both instances, the documentation shows the Low-Rise Forming Association replied rejecting the accusations.

The two contractors finally took their complaints to the Competition Bureau in 2010, it says in its warrant application, sparking the current investigation. The bureau's application says one of them — Lou Rocca, also a Toronto restaurateur — became its main informant, providing years of documents from Low-Rise Forming Association meetings.

The most explicit of those is a "standard contract" form that, Rocca is quoted telling bureau officers, the conspiring companies would use to set their prices. A copy of the boilerplate contract submitted as part of the Competition Bureau's court filing has prices already printed in it for certain types of concrete-forming work, and Rocca told officers the companies would circulate it at the association's spring meetings and agree on what to charge for that year.

Another document, minutes from an association meeting, contains a reference to an investigation into "underpricing." Rocca told the Competition Bureau that was an instance when rivals wanted to challenge him because he refused to go along with their scheme.

Yet another file, notes supposedly taken by Rocca's lawyer at an association meeting, quotes a frustrated forming-company owner sarcastically saying, "I have to go back to the cartel and ask permission" before signing any new contracts with home builders.

The bureau's court filing says Rocca told officers that his competitors also repeatedly spoke at those meetings of "an agreement between all of us," of having to "stick to the LRFA prices as we asked you to" and of a need "to control this."

Further documents detail trips that executives from different companies took together to Las Vegas and the Bahamas, trips that Rocca says were pitched as occasions for ostensible business rivals to sow the camaraderie required for them to collude.

Industry infighting

Others in the construction industry say Rocca's accusations are just the latest salvo in a still-simmering spat between him, his competitors and the labour union representing all their workers.

"Allegations by Halton Forming should be taken with a large grain of salt," the Low-Rise Forming Association's lawyers wrote last June in a letter to Toronto-area homebuilders.

The Competition Bureau investigation is still underway. Once complete, the bureau will decide whether to forward the file to federal prosecutors, who would in turn weigh whether to lay criminal charges under the Competition Act. The maximum penalty for price-fixing is 14 years in prison and a $25-million fine.

With files from CBC's Joseph Loiero

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nahlah Ayed: Who are Egypt's mysterious Black Bloc?

There was a pause in the voice of the young man over the telephone when he explained how he and so many like him now suddenly find themselves in the role of Egypt's most wanted public enemy.

He says some of his friends were killed over the past two years in some of the violence that has accompanied Egypt's revolution. And that he desperately wants those responsible — from the old regime and the current regime — to be punished.

"People died in front of me," he said. "I want justice, this is their right."

It is why, he says, a group of like-minded youth, who participated in many of these protests, started the group known as Black Bloc, now labelled a terrorist organization by the public prosecutor.

That is where the police come in: anyone associated with the group is to be arrested. It's why this young man — whom I will call "Mustapha" — said he didn't want his name or whereabouts revealed.

Egyptian riot police take up position near Tahrir Square on Wednesday. (Khalil Hamra / Associated Press)

At this point it is difficult to verify much about Egypt's most talked about post-revolution phenomenon, which borrows its name and protest tactics from the anarchist Western version that sprang up in Europe during the anti-globalization protests in the 1980s and '90s.

All we really know is that it exists, in some form, that its members wear masks and generally dress in black, and that they played a role in some recent acts of defiance.

Those who claim membership insist their target is the regime of President Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, and that violence is a last resort.

"The way to get the message across is to start stopping traffic, striking in sensitive places," says Mustapha. Tactics might even go as far as breaking a window, but not hurting or terrorizing people, he said.

"We want punishment [meted out] but not civil war. So it's now a big problem," he acknowledged, referring to the terror label. "We need the people to be with us."

He also says, though, that "if we want violence, we can do it. If we get justice, we will all just go home."

Media focus

Mustapha says Egypt's Black Bloc is not a huge group, perhaps numbering 100, apparently mostly educated students with means. They named themselves Black Bloc, he added, to scare the regime.

The tactic seems to be working — and has everyone here talking.

The media's intense focus on the group has alarmed many here, who, depending on their political affiliation, suggest the group is either the result of the oppositions' rhetoric (or active encouragement), or the general lawlessness under the current regime.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi was in Germany, giving a speech and press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Clearly anxious to get back to Cairo. (Reuters)

It can also be seen as reflecting the disappointment to date in Egypt's revolution, including the fact that under the Morsi regime, protests have been ineffectual in bringing about change.

A YouTube video posted last week and purporting to be Black Bloc's "first statement" drives home that point.

In white type on a black background, it says that the group is emerging to face the "fascist, tyrannical regime [of the Muslim Brotherhood.] with its military wing."

A group of masked, black-clad youth are then shown walking in a nighttime video that's been slowed down, pumping their fists downward to angry music.

The comments that accompany the video reflect a sharp exchange between supporters and detractors, rife with expletives, and similar to many real-life conversations here in Egypt.

The Black Bloc has been described as a militia, blamed for anti-Brotherhood vandalism — they've been accused of having a hand in attacks against Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated offices last week — but also as revolutionary heroes.

According to another self-described member, who gave his name as "Junior," they're speaking to the media, apparently despite a group rule against it, to correct some of what's been said.

"We are a group who love Egypt and who are against terrorism," Junior said. "We don't have weapons … we are not cutting off roads," he added, which contradicts others who have admitted to doing so.

Yesterday's announcement by public prosecutor Talaat Abdullah was lauded in some quarters, and derided in others — mainly because of how swiftly the designation came at a time when so many other dire security matters seem to receive no official attention. In a scathing online piece, activist and writer Mahmoud Salem (he blogs and tweets as @Sandmonkey) predicted the regime's reaction a couple of days earlier.

"Every regime's purpose is to find a segment of its population to vilify, and thus appear to be fighting the good fight for the good and decent majority," he wrote, pointing out that under the previous regime, that target was the Brotherhood itself.

"The genius of turning the Black Bloc into the new enemy is how perfect they are for it. An anarchist group that targets the police, public structures and roads, juxtaposed against the Brotherhood who are always calling for stability.

"It doesn't hurt that the Black Bloc has no real structure, charter, spokespeople or leadership."

Also, as Salem predicted, there appear to be several groups calling themselves Black Bloc, with different Twitter accounts and Facebook pages (the video mentioned above maintains the group has no such social media sites).

That opens the door to anyone who can don a mask and wear black to shape — or distort — the group's message. But also makes it tough for authorities to know who to arrest.

It was a point made clear by those supporters of Black Bloc who appeared in front of the public prosecutor's office late Wednesday to protest his decision — by wearing black.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syria, Iran threaten retaliation against Israel

The U.S. said the target was a truck convoy carrying weapons bound for Hezbollah (Baz Ratner/REUTERS)

Syria and Iran have threatened to retaliate for an Israeli air raid near the capital Damascus.

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul-Karim Ali said Damascus has "the option and the surprise to retaliate." He said he cannot predict when the retaliation will be, saying it is up to relevant authorities to prepare for it.

In Iran, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Thursday as saying the raid on Syria will have significant implications for the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

U.S. officials said Israel launched a rare airstrike inside Syria on Wednesday, targeting a convoy believed to contain anti-aircraft weapons bound for Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon. The Syrian military denied the existence of any such shipment and said a scientific research facility outside Damascus was hit.

Hezbollah condemned Israel's airstrike on Syria as "barbaric aggression".

International condemnation

Russia, Syria's strongest international ally, said Moscow is taking "urgent measures to clarify the situation in all its details."

"If this information is confirmed, we have a case of unprovoked attacks on targets in the territory of a sovereign state, which grossly violates the U.N. Charter and is unacceptable," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement. "Whatever the motives, this is not justified."

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi condemned the airstrike on state television, calling it a clear violation of Syria's sovereignty.

Hezbollah, closely allied with Syria and Iran, said it "expresses full solidarity with Syria's command, army and people."

Hezbollah did not mention any convoy in the statement but said the strike aimed to prevent Arab and Muslim forces from developing their military capabilities.

'Well-known' centre

Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal, who became in December one of the most senior Syrian army officers to defect, said from Turkey that the targeted site is a "major and well-known" centre to develop weapons known as the Scientific Research Center.

Al-Shallal, who until his defection was the commander of the Military Police, said no chemical or unconventional weapons are at the site.

Israeli regional security officials said Wednesday the shipment included sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, which if acquired by Hezbollah would be "game-changing," enabling the militants to shoot down Israeli jets, helicopters and surveillance drones. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Possibility of future strikes

In Israel, lawmaker Tzachi Hanegbi who is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stopped short of confirming Israel's involvement in the strike.

But he hinted that Israel could carry out similar missions in the future. He said pinpoint strikes are not enough to counter the threat of Hezbollah obtaining sophisticated weaponry from Syria.

"Israel's preference would be if a Western entity would control these weapons systems," Hanegbi said. "But because it appears the world is not prepared to do what was done in Libya or other places, then Israel finds itself like it has many times in the past facing a dilemma that only it knows how to respond to," he added.

He was referring to NATO's 2011 military intervention in Libya that helped oust dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

"Even if there are reports about pinpoint operations, these are not significant solutions to the threat itself because we are talking about very substantial capabilities that could reach Hezbollah," he added.

Syria's civil war has sapped President Bashar Assad's power and threatens to deprive Hezbollah of a key supporter, in addition to its land corridor to Iran. The two countries provide Hezbollah with the bulk of its funding and arms.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Navy spy sentencing begins in Halifax

The sentencing of the naval officer at the centre of an international espionage embarrassment is underway in Halifax.

Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Paul Delisle, 41, is in a Nova Scotia provincial court for a two-day hearing after pleading guilty in October to breach of trust and passing information to a foreign entity that could harm Canada's interests.

The case of a Canadian in uniform selling a vast horde of secrets to the Russians is unprecedented.

Delisle is the first Canadian charged under the Security of Information Act. That means the judge has no prior cases to help him sentence the former threat assessment officer with a top secret clearance.

Delisle's stint as spy will be scrutinized by security experts in court.

At stake for Delisle is the possibility of a life sentence for attempting to sell Canadian and allied secrets over a four year period.

The wild card at the hearing could be Delisle himself. It's possible that he could take the stand and speak in his own defence.

Since he was arrested in January 2012, he has remained silent and in jail.

Approached Russians

The story began when Delisle walked into the Russian Embassy in Ottawa wearing a red ball cap and civilian clothes. He flashed his Canadian military identification and asked to meet with someone from GRU, the Russian military intelligence.

Delisle was posted to the security unit HMCS Trinity, an intelligence facility at the naval dockyard in Halifax. It tracks vessels entering and exiting Canadian waters via satellites, drones and underwater devices.

There he had access to Stone Ghost, an allied system.

On Thursday, the Crown revealed that Delisle also had access to a Department of National Defence secret system and a computer system dealing with message traffic, a NATO system and Mandrake, a government of Canada secret system.

Delisle had to sign a confidentiality agreement to get access to all these secret data bases, according to the Crown.

In court, Delisle sat quietly, hands in his lap, staring straight ahead, reported CBC's Blair Rhodes.

Delisle is still officially in the navy and drawing pay. The Department of National Defence says that will change once the judge renders his sentence.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nahlah Ayed: Crackdown or coup, what is Egypt's army up to?

Why would the chief of the Egyptian army wade into the latest political crisis, with calamitous warnings that the country is in danger of falling apart?

"The continuing conflict between political forces and their differences concerning the management of the country could lead to a collapse of the state, and threaten future generations," said Gen. Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who also acts as defence minister.

Many in Egypt immediately suspected that, with the army's long history of direct involvement in the political affairs of this country, the reason for the statement is obvious: It is either threatening a crackdown — or a takeover.

But neither is likely, in the short term at least, given it's only been months since Egypt narrowly elected Mohammed Morsi to be its first post-revolution president, ending a messy period of military rule that assumed power after a discredited Hosni Mubarak stepped down.

Still bruised by the ugly experiences of that period, the army is loath to get involved at street level again.

As much as anything, the message from al-Sisi — who was appointed by Morsi but is apparently not a fan — seems more aimed at keeping one of the country's most powerful institutions in the game.

And part of the conversation, such as it is.

The problem is that, as al-Sisi points out, there seems to be little in the way of substantive conversation happening here between those who should be talking.

For weeks and months, both the liberal opposition and the Islamist camps have called for dialogue with each other, but on their own terms.

Morsi's latest invitation, within minutes of slapping a curfew and emergency law (reminiscent of the Mubarak years) on three Suez Canal cities, came on Sunday.

Less than 24 hours later, the largest coalition of opposition politicians rejected it, calling the invitation cosmetic.

Instability and violence, meanwhile, have often gone pretty much unchecked for the past few days, mostly in Port Said, and sporadically in Alexandria and Cairo.

In the process, an increasingly irate Egyptian populace has been seeking reassurance, but has been given little.

None of the parties to this messy transition to democracy has been able to provide the public even the smallest glimmer of light at the end of the revolutionary tunnel.

"Millions of Egyptians were really hopeful after (the revolution), and thought this was a totally new stage in Egypt," says political analyst Amina Khairy. "Of course events turned out another way. People are really shocked with what is happening."

Where are the police?

Many people, of all political stripes, are shocked at the violence of the past few days, but also at the lack of police presence, the ability of protesters to stop traffic or the underground metro virtually at will.

Former Egyptian presidential candidates Hamdeen Sabahi and Mohamed El Baradei, members of the newly formed National Salvation Front, reject President Morsi's offer of dialogue on Monday. (Amr Nabil / Associated Press)

They are also increasingly shocked at the reportedly skyrocketing number of weapons available on the streets (just last night, a throng of gunmen tried to rob the Intercontinental Hotel, in front of which police and teenage protesters have clashed for days).

There's a lot of talking about all that — on television and in the newspapers, which is also where most of the public political debate happens here.

Yet it's amazing how little official information Egyptians have about the crisis that threatens their country. And how much of it is based on "sources" at best, or rumour and conspiracy theories, at worst.

For example, many Egyptians had expected that on Sunday Morsi might speak in more detail about the crisis and how he intends to solve it. Instead, he angrily lectured Egyptians on peaceful protest, and threatened to go further than imposing states of emergency.

Critics say that's part of the problem: Morsi has yet to be able to speak for and to all Egyptians in a transparent manner.

In parallel, critics of the main opposition alliance — the National Salvation Front, only weeks old — say that they have not yet learned how to at least appear publicly united.

They, too, need to find novel ways of showing discontent beyond protests.

And of course none of the main opponents have yet learned how to speak to each other — beyond the barbs in the media, on social media, and occasionally, violently on the streets.

"We're going to go over and over again with this indirect war between Muslim Brotherhood, and the opposition on the other side," says Khair. "We're going to live with this for some time."

So any Egyptians hoping for answers on what to expect next is simply getting this: That the opposition is planning more protests, and is considering boycotting the coming parliamentary elections if their conditions aren't met.

That the president is willing to crack down if necessary.

And that the army is there, watching it all, disapprovingly.

In other words, get used to stalemate, and talk among yourselves.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Toyota Canada recalls 157,000 cars over airbags, wipers

Toyota Canada is recalling more than 157,000 vehicles to fix airbags and window wipers.

They include more than 140,000 Corolla and Matrix cars from 2003 and 2004 and almost 17,000 Lexus IS models from 2006 through 2012.

The Corolla and Matrix cars are being recalled because of concerns their airbags could be deployed inadvertently due to a possible short circuit in the control module.

The automaker also says the wiper arms of the Lexus vehicles may not be sufficiently tight and may stop working if their movement is restricted, by a buildup of snow for example.

The company says owners of the vehicles covered by these voluntary recalls will receive a letter via mail starting next month.

It is part of a global recall of more than 1.3 million vehicles, including 752,000 in the United States.

In Tokyo, Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman Naoto Fuse said Wednesday there have been no accidents or injuries related to the defects.

But he said the company had received 46 reports of problems involving the airbags from North America, and one from Japan.

There were 25 reports of problems related to the windshield wipers.

With files from The Associated Press

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

RIM's BlackBerry 10 ready to launch

The eyes of the technology world will be focused squarely on Research In Motion today as the company launches BlackBerry 10, the hotly anticipated line of smartphones with the potential to make or break the company.

RIM is hosting simultaneous live events in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Dubai, Johannesburg, Jakarta and Delhi, unveiling a line of new smartphones the company hopes can help it win back market share in the competitive mobile space. CBCNews.ca will be livestreaming the launch starting at 10 a.m. ET.

After pioneering the smartphone concept in the early 2000s, RIM has seen its grasp on the sector slowly erode ever since Apple released the iPhone in 2007 and several manufacturers followed quickly to market with Android-powered devices tailored to the consumer market.

"They're not really perceived as being hip or cool," Queen's University business professor Barry Cross says of the company's recent woes.

From a high of over $150 in the summer of 2008, RIM shares fell steadily to the $6 range on the TSX as recently as September before a round of analyst optimism over RIM's chances with BB10 pushed the stock into the teens.

Recent data suggests RIM has less than five per cent of the North American market share, and the company has pinned its hopes on BlackBerry 10 to halt that slide and take back the dominance it once had.

Two phone versions

RIM is set to launch two versions of the phone on Wednesday, but has promised more will follow in quick succession — including at least one with a physical keyboard.

Among the rumoured features on the devices are something the company is calling BlackBerry Balance, which will allow one machine to be switched between work and personal user accounts.

The company is pitching the technology as a way for consumers to be able to have only one device with multiple personas — a personal one full of apps and tools for personal use, and a corporate one that can safely house sensitive corporate material.

"You can just switch from work to personal mode," Scotiabank analyst Gus Papageorgiou said. "I think that is something that will attract a lot of people," he said.

Another feature is BlackBerry Hub, a technology that will allow the user to swipe between multiple apps with the touch of a finger. That's something the current round of BlackBerry phones haven't been able to do, but it's seen as key in the multitasking environment.

Analysts and reviewers who've seen the device suggest the company has revamped its web browser to the point where it competes and might surpass those available on iPhones, Android or Windows phones. It also boasts the BlackBerry Messenger instant messaging technology that helped make BlackBerrys so popular in the first place.

The company has already promised a revamped app store, called BlackBerry World, which will have more than 70,000 applications at launch. That's barely a tenth of what's available in Apple's App Store, or on Google Play, but it's a step toward bridging the gap.

"If they launch this well, it's got the ability to start to create some buzz around RIM again," Cross says.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Quebec quarry search resumes for 2 missing workers

Search efforts are continuing today for two workers presumed to be buried under rubble following a landslide at a quarry near l'Épiphanie, Que., 50 kilometres north of Montreal.

Repentigny Police Sgt. Bruno Marier said a rescue team from the Quebec provincial police was to be on the scene beginning at about 7 a.m. ET to search for a missing man and woman.

Rescue workers are dealing with many obstacles, especially the unstable, muddy ground, which Marier said could jeopardize the safety of rescue workers.

Officials have still been unable to make contact with the two missing individuals. On Tuesday, despite the use of police dogs and thermal cameras, rescuers came out empty handed.

Marier said it's possible the two people managed to jump out of their trucks when the landslide occurred.

"That's the problem, we don't have any information if the two occupants of both vehicles were able to get out of the vehicles when the landslide happened," he said.

Marier said experts believe the landslide was followed by an avalanche of mud, which has made rescue efforts especially challenging.

On Tuesday, a team of experts along with police officers decided conditions were too dangerous to risk continuing the search overnight.

Prior to that, crews were able to uncover and peer into one of the trucks buried under the rubble, but officials said that it was empty.

Rescuers have been unable to reach the second truck's cabin.

One worker was successfully airlifted Tuesday from the pit by a helicopter.

Marier said the man is doing fine, although he suffered quite a shock.

"He is doing great ... he is healthy and he is happy to get out alive."

Investigators will be looking into the cause of the landslide, which remains unknown.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Harper speech rallies Conservative caucus

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is speaking to his Conservative caucus on Parliament Hill this morning, articulating the government's agenda as Tory MPs and senators return from their six-week winter break.

On Monday, Government House Leader Peter Van Loan said that the government's main focus remains the economy, leading up to an anticipated federal budget from Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in March. Van Loan also identified several justice and public safety initiatives the government is keen to pass.

Aboriginal issues dominated the spotlight during Parliament's winter break, but it's not clear the Conservatives intend to spend very much time in the House of Commons dealing with the issues raised in recent First Nations protests. The opposition, however, has made these concerns a focus during this week's first two question periods.

The House of Commons resumed sitting on Monday. The Senate resumes next week.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Canadian special forces on ground in Mali, sources say

Canadian special forces are on the ground inside the troubled West African country of Mali to protect Canadian assets there, CBC News has learned.

The special forces are not there to train Malian troops — and they are not involved in any combat role, as the government has repeatedly stressed and Prime Minister Stephen Harper repeated again Monday in the House of Commons.

The Department of National Defence would not confirm or deny the special forces are in Mali due to issues of security of personnel.

But a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs told CBC News, "Steps have been taken to ensure our mission and Canadian personnel are protected."

Evan Solomon, host of CBC News Network's Power & Politics, reports the special forces on the ground are protecting Canadian assets such as the Canadian Embassy in the capital Bamako, according to sources.

The forces are not related to Canadian Forces crews who have been piloting and supporting Canadian C-17 transport planes in support of French troops since Jan. 18. That mission was extended last week until Feb. 15.

It is not known how many special forces are on the ground in Mali, what are their rules of engagements and what assets they are protecting.

During their training mission in Niger, Canadian special forces learned from their training partners about fighting in a specific region of Niger close to the border with Mali.

Canadian special forces are in Mali to protect Canadian assets, in a mission separate from the Canadian Forces C-17 delivery of French military equipment, seen here and above in Bamako, Mali, on Jan. 17. (DND/Canadian Press)

Maj. Doug MacNair, a spokesman for Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, said that "this information was reported to Canadian Special Operations Forces Command headquarters, and since the passage of such information can serve to minimize both civilian and allied force casualties, the information was relayed to France."

The Canadians were worried apparently that if the fighting spread they might be mistaken as targets — a source said passing the information to the French was simply "prudent."

Opposition NDP Leader Tom Mulcair told Solomon that if the special forces are protecting Canadians, the embassy and embassy staff, that is "simply normal protection" and not military involvement.

Mulcair pointed to the need to avoid a situation such as that in Benghazi, Libya, last summer, when the American ambassador and others were killed during an attack on the U.S. Consulate there.

"We would never want to see something like that — we'd want to have proper protection for Canadian personnel at the embassy.

"We're simply talking about protecting people in the embassy," Mulcair said.

But Mulcair repeated his position that Parliament be consulted before Canada makes any military or combat commitment beyond the C-17 missions.

Children cheer foreign visitors arriving in the streets of Gao, Northern Mali on Monday. French and Malian troops are moving through areas in Mali's north previously controlled by al-Qaeda-linked insurgents. (Jerome Delay/Associated Press)

In response to a question from Mulcair earlier Monday, Harper confirmed Parliament will be consulted on Canada's next steps, but didn't provide any additional details about either military assistance or humanitarian funding Canada may be considering.

"We will not undertake a Canadian combat mission in Mali," Harper told the Commons, reiterating his government's message over the past two weeks.

"We will through this chamber and through committees … be consulting with Parliament on any further steps that need to be taken," the prime minister told MPs in the first Commons sitting after MPs' winter break.

Fantino to attend Mali talks

International Co-operation Minister Julian Fantino is heading to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a high-level international meeting on the conflict in Mali.

African Union chair and Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi, left, met with International Co-operation Minister Julian Fantino earlier this month on Parliament Hill. Fantino is headed to Ethiopia Tuesday for high-level international talks on the conflict in Mali. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

A release from Fantino's office Monday billed the talks as addressing "the financial, logistical and capacity building needs of both the Malian forces and the African-led International Support Mission in Mali."

Asked what he wanted to see from Fantino's attendance at the conference, Mulcair told Solomon that Mali is one of the countries where Canada had been engaged historically, and lamented what he said was the Conservatives' decision to withdraw from Africa recently. He called the government's decision to support French forces in Mali "the right thing to do."

Canada suspended its international development assistance to Mali following a coup in the country last spring, but it has provided humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations affected by the conflict.

Insurgents affiliated with al-Qaeda now control the country's north. The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution in December authorizing an African-led mission to attempt to restore order in the country and prevent the country's capital, Bamako, from falling to the rebel groups.

The French military intervened earlier this month, with first an aerial bombing campaign and then ground troops in support of the African troops now mobilizing in Mali.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Egypt army chief warns of 'collapse of the state'

Egypt's army chief warned Tuesday that the state could collapse if the latest political crisis roiling the nation drags on but also defended the right of people to protest.

Troops deployed in the two riot-torn Suez Canal cities of Port Said and Suez stood by and watched Monday night as thousands took to the streets in direct defiance of a night curfew and a state of emergency declared by the president a day earlier. Residents of those two cities and Ismailiya, a third city covered by the restrictions, marched through the streets just as the curfew came into force at 9 p.m.

The display of contempt for the president's decision was tantamount to an outright rebellion that many worried could spread to other parts of the country. Already, protesters across much of Egypt are battling police, cutting off roads and railway lines, and besieging government offices and police stations as part of a growing revolt against the rule of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood group.

At least 60 people have been killed since Friday.

An Egyptian protester displays used ordinance after the capture of an armoured vehicle that demonstrators commandeered during clashes with security forces in Cairo. (Amr Nabil/Associated Press)

Morsi's opponents protest that Islamists have monopolized power and not lived up to the ideals of the pro-democracy uprising that ousted authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak two years ago.

"The continuation of the conflict between the different political forces and their differences over how the country should be run could lead to the collapse of the state and threaten future generations," said the army chief, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who is both head of the military and defence minister.

The warning was the military's first public comment since the latest crisis erupted last week around the second anniversary of the uprising. El-Sissi was speaking to military academy cadets and the comments were posted on the armed forces' official Facebook page.

On Sunday night, Morsi ordered the army to restore order in the Suez Canal cities of Port Said and Suez and slapped a 30-day state of emergency and night curfew on the two cities as well as Ismailiya. The army has not deployed in Ismailiya, however, which has seen little of the deadly violence flaring in the other two cities.

On Tuesday, tanks were fanned out on the streets of Port Said, a strategic city of some 600,000 located 225 kilometres northeast of Cairo on the Mediterranean coast and at the tip of the Suez Canal. New funerals were held for six more of those killed in clashes, with thousands marching and chanting against Morsi.

"Erhal! Erhal!" or "Leave, leave!" the mourners chanted.

Morsi first freely elected, civilian president

The military is Egypt's most powerful institution and was the de facto ruler since a 1952 coup by army officers seized power and later toppled the monarchy. Generals forced Mubarak from power at the end of the 2011 uprising and then a ruling military council took over from him.

Their nearly 17 months in power that followed tainted the military's reputation, with critics charging the ruling generals of mismanaging the transition to democratic rule, human rights violations and hauling thousands of civilians before military tribunals.

Suez, Port Said and Ismailiya, Egypt

Morsi became the first freely elected and civilian president in June and was immediately plunged into a power struggle with the military when it tried to curtail his powers. Two months after he took office, he ordered the retirement of the country's top two generals, regained powers the generals had taken away from him and handpicked el-Sissi as defence minister and army chief.

The timing of el-Sissi's warning is particularly significant because it came as Morsi appears to have failed to stem the latest bout of political violence as the country sinks deeper into chaos and lawlessness and opposition to Morsi grows.

Some of the demonstrators in Port Said on Monday night waved white-and-green flags they said were the colours of a new and independent state. Such secession would be unthinkable in Egypt, but the move underlined the depth of frustration in the city.

El-Sissi acknowledged the difficult challenges facing his troops in Port Said and Suez, and spoke of the "realistic threat" facing the nation as a result of what he called the political, economic and social challenges.

"The deployment of the armed forces poses a grave predicament for us insofar as how we balance avoiding confrontations with Egyptian citizens, their right to protest and the protection and security of vital facilities that impact Egypt's national security," he said.

Economy in free fall, surging crime

Since coming to office nearly seven months ago, Morsi has failed to tackle the country's massive problems, which range from an economy in free fall to surging crime, chaos on the streets and lack of political consensus. His woes deepened when the main opposition coalition turned down his offer for a dialogue to resolve the crisis, insisting that he meets their conditions first.

The wave of unrest has touched cities across much of the country since Thursday, including Cairo, the three Suez Canal cities, Alexandria on the Mediterranean in the north and a string of cities in the Nile Delta.

A protester hold the Egyptian national flag during clashes with riot police near Tahrir Square in Cairo on Monday, one of several demonstrations across the country. (Khalil Hamra/Associated Press)

The violence accelerated Friday, the second anniversary of the start of the uprising, with protests to mark the event turned to clashes around the country that left 11 dead, most of them in Suez.

The next day, riots exploded in Port Said after a court convicted and sentenced to death 21 defendants -- mostly locals -- for a mass soccer riot in the city's main stadium a year ago. Rioters attacked police stations, clashed with security forces in the streets and shots and tear gas were fired at protester funerals in mayhem that left 44 people dead over the weekend.

El-Sissi also warned of what he described as attempts to influence the "stability" of state institutions.

"It is a grave matter that hurts national security and the nation's future."

He did not elaborate, but critics of the Morsi government have been complaining that he has been trying to bring state institutions under the Brotherhood control in what they see as an attempt to perpetuate their grip on power.

Protesters and activists, meanwhile, are complaining about what they say is the excessive force used by the police in dealing with demonstrators. Morsi, in their view, endorsed their tactics when he commended them in his Sunday night address.

The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, took note of the relatively high death toll resulting from the latest wave of unrest.

She urged Morsi's government "to take urgent measures to ensure that law enforcement personnel never again use disproportionate or excessive force against protesters" because it is both illegal and likely to make the situation more explosive. Pillay called for immediate investigations into the wave of violence and a review of police tactics used to clamp down on demonstrations.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Wireless fee, contract guidelines proposed by CRTC

A public hearing on the draft code will take place Feb. 11 to 15. (Canadian Press)

Wireless providers would face limits on early termination fees and must unlock phones under "reasonable terms" under new draft guidelines released Monday by Canada's telecommunications regulator.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is asking the public for feedback on its draft "wireless code" via an online discussion that will remain open until 5 p.m. Feb. 15, the last day of a public hearing in Gatineau, Que., on the code. The hearing begins on Feb. 11.

Some of the proposals in the draft code, based partly on 3,500 comments submitted by Canadians to the commission in writing and 600 posted in an online discussion forum, include requiring that:

• Customers receive a personalized summary of key terms and conditions in their contract, such as how much they would pay in cancellation charges at different times during their contract and what tools are available to help them monitor their usage of different services.
• Wireless providers be required to unlock customers' wireless devices under "reasonable terms." Options for those terms include fees and time frames.
• Customers be given tools to monitor their usage compared to the limits of their plan in order to be aware of extra fees they might incur if they go above the limits.
• Customers be allowed to restrict features that could incur additional fees, and the ability to specify a cap to their monthly bill. Once the user hits the cap, the service provider would suspend services that could result in extra fees.
• Early termination fees can only include subsidies on the price of phone or other mobile device and discounts the customer received for signing on to a contract of a specific length.

Under advertising guidelines in the draft code, wireless providers would still be able to advertise plans with some limits as "unlimited," but would have to explain "whether there are limits to the 'unlimited' plan and whether the service provider retains the discretion to move the consumer to a 'limited ' plan if usage limits are exceeded."

'Good first draft'

Consumer groups and wireless providers alike gave the plan an initial thumbs up.

"This draft code is a good start to work from," said Shawn Hall, a spokesman for Telus.

He added that the company will provide input once it's had a chance to review the draft in more detail and it thinks a national wireless code of conduct is "the right thing to do."

Lindsey Pinto, as spokeswoman for Open Media, a Vancouver-based public advocacy group that has campaigned for better treatment of wireless consumers by their mobile service providers, called the document a "good first draft."

The group, which will testify at the upcoming hearing, was particularly happy that the guidelines specify that they won't prevent customers from benefiting from provincial laws concerning wireless contracts that benefit the consumer. Pinto noted that some provinces, such as Quebec and Manitoba, have existing rules that are good for consumers.

One of the group's only concerns, she added, is that it would like the code to specify that termination fees can be made as monthly payments rather than a lump sum. The draft code allows wireless providers to charge a customer for the amount their mobile device was subsidized by the service provider when they signed a term contract – such as an iPhone that is "free" with a three-year contract. Pinto wants assurances that consumers don't get "slapped with the $700 cost of a phone" all at once.

"The more specific the code is … the less room big telecom companies have to basically go around it and apply what is a defacto termination fee."

However, not everyone was impressed with the draft code.

Technology journalist and blogger, Pete Nowak, tweeted that it "does little that isn't already happening."

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Will Michelle Obama get political in U.S. president's 2nd term?

U.S. President Barack Obama's inaugural address last week signaled the arrival of a newly emboldened second-term president who will no longer shy away from some of the thorny issues he avoided in his first term.

It's less clear whether the first lady, Michelle Obama, will undergo a similar transformation.

"She may feel some greater freedom moving forward, but I don't know that there are any indications that she'll do anything terribly substantively different," said Kathleen Dolan, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, who has written about women and gender stereotypes in American politics.

U.S. President Barack Obama takes the oath of office as Michelle Obama holds a bible during the official swearing-in ceremony at the White House on Jan. 20, 2013. The president seems newly emboldened, but it's not clear whether the first lady will do anything differently in her husband's second term in office. (Doug Mills//Reuters)

Thriving in her own career as a high-level administrator in charge of community outreach at a Chicago hospital and raising two young children, Michelle Obama was not thrilled when Barack Obama decided to make the leap from the U.S. Senate to the White House in 2007.

She stepped into the role of first lady reluctantly and, for the most part, has not let it define her, said Ruth B. Mandel, director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University in New Jersey, who writes frequently about women's political history in the U.S.

"Michelle Obama is very much her own person," Mandel said. "One does not get the impression that she is putty willing to be shaped by the pressures or the people who might tell her how to be herself."

Apolitical take on potentially political issue

Much has been been made of Michelle Obama's wardrobe and fashion sense, and although these may seem like superficial, condescending concerns hyped up by a celebrity-obsessed media, to a certain extent they fit in with her image as a confident, highly educated woman who knows herself — inside and out, says Mandel.

"She did not show up in Washington waiting to be dressed, waiting for somebody else to create her image," Mandel said. "She created her own image, her own distinctive style, and seems very comfortable with that and has made a very strong impression as someone who's self-defined and clear about who she is."

She was equally assertive about finding a public role for herself after the Obamas moved into the White House. She settled on two main causes: advocating on behalf of military families and fighting childhood obesity with her Let's Move! campaign.

Michelle Obama runs a 40-yard sprint with a boy in New Orleans as part of her Let's Move! campaign to promote exercise and fight childhood obesity on Sept. 8, 2010. (Gerald Herbert/Associated Press)

The nation's obesity epidemic encompasses a breadth of societal and economic ills that could potentially be a political minefield, but Michelle Obama has approached the issue apolitically. She has appealed primarily to parents, schools and children, and although she has at times engaged corporations in her campaign, she has avoided directly challenging the food industry in any substantive way beyond appealing for greater responsibility and voluntary compliance with stricter nutritional labelling guidelines.

She has had some high-profile victories — for example, Walmart agreed to reduce salt and fat in some of its products and lower prices on healthy food and Congress passed new calorie limits on school lunches that she championed. But Obama has generally kept the issue within the sphere of motherly concern, inviting children to tend the White House vegetable garden and speaking publicly about her own exercise regimen and her struggles to get her daughters to eat healthy.

"She's used the first lady role and platform in a non-policy way to advocate for something that she sees as a healthy and useful change for her children and the children and families of the country," Mandel said.

"From Day 1, she has made it clear that she doesn't want to be in the political arena or the policy arena and that she will find her own way to promote issues that are important and, in her case, very obviously extend from issues close to home — her own family out into the larger family."

'Mom in chief'

Her promotion of physical fitness and healthy eating has not been without controversy. Her school lunch initiative and fitness challenges have been mocked by conservative commentators like Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh and, in one widely ciruclated video, even by some of the very children the campaigns are targetting. The entire Let's Move! campaign has been criticized by some Republicans and libertarians as yet another intrusion of the nanny state into the lives of individuals.

But the first lady has remained unapologetic and steadfast in promoting her causes, just as she has about prioritizing her family and maintaining a normal home life for her children, dubbing herself "mom in chief" in the days following the 2008 election.

Michelle Obama has said that ensuring that her daughters, Malia, right, and Sasha, have a stable, normal and nurturing home life is her main priority. (Gerald Herbert/Associated Press)

"She's been very clear and unashamed about her values and choices," Mandel said.

Those choices sparked a debate early on in Barack Obama's first term about whether this Princeton- and Harvard-educated lawyer, who had a varied and distinguished career and for much of their life together was the higher-earning spouse in the Obama household, was deliberately playing down her professional credentials and ambitions.

Some observers accused Michelle Obama of "momifying" herself in a way that squandered the rare opportunity she had to affect change as a highly educated black woman in the White House.

"Michelle Obama will come to stand in more prominently than anyone could have imagined for the shortcomings of feminism," wrote Rebecca Traister in "The momification of Michelle Obama," a November 2008 article on the Salon website about the sacrifices Michelle Obama had made in helping her husband win the presidency.

An Ivy League education and a series of high-paying jobs did not spare Michelle Obama from the dilemma facing most ambitious working women, whose chances at professional and economic success, writes Traister, are handicapped by the skewed apportioning of domestic responsibilities and their husband's own ambitions, which generally take precedence over their own.

"She is in the unenviable yet deeply happy position of being a history-maker whose own balancing act allowed her husband the space to make his political career zip forward, his books sing, his daughters healthy and beautiful, and his campaign succeed," Traister wrote. "In having done all this, Michelle Obama wrought for herself a life (temporarily, at least) of playing second fiddle."

Role model or failed feminist?

Michelle Obama's reluctance to politicize the issues she has chosen to publicize is perhaps partly the result of pressure to remain the positive, popular face of her husband's administration. Her approval ratings have routinely exceeded those of Barack Obama, which is not unusual for first ladies — Laura Bush's were an average 18 points higher than those of George W. Bush, versus a nine per cent difference for the Obamas, according to an analysis by the Gallup polling firm.

Like many women, Michelle Obama, pictured with Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign, has had to set aside her own career goals to help her husband achieve his. (Jim Young/Reuters)

She is also likely still a little gun shy given that the one time that she was overtly political — on the campaign trail in February 2008, when she said "for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country" — she was pilloried and painted as a stereotypical "angry black woman."

"That really generated so much negativity, and it took her a while to come back form that, and I think that made her exceptionally cautious as first lady," said Myra Gutin, a historian at Rider University and author of The President's Partner: The First Lady in the Twentieth Century as well as a biography of Barbara Bush.

On the campaign trail in 2008, Michelle Obama spoke eloquently about the need for strong pay-equity and parental leave polices that would enable a better work-life balance for all Americans. In October 2008, she spoke with Geraldine Brooks of More magazine about women's tendency to take on an unreasonable share of domestic and family responsibilities while continuing to work full time in jobs that make few accommodations for family life.

"What I found myself — and most of my friends — doing is, we just cope. We're taught that as women: Just handle it. Just adjust. We accommodate things that aren't healthy instead of turning around and going, 'This has got to change'," she said at the time, vowing to raise the profile of the issue once the Obamas were in the White House.

But when she got to the White House, where those issues could actually be addressed, she grew relatively quiet on the subject.

The first lady gets her hands dirty with some visiting elementary school children in the White House vegetable garden she started on June 16, 2009. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Neither has she been as outspoken about the social and political issues related to race in the U.S. as many had hoped she might be.

"Both the Obamas had to tread very lightly and carefully on and around that subject [of race] for a host of reasons," said Barbara A. Perry, a senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center who has written a book on Jacqueline Kennedy.

Still, she has made a point of mentoring young women, drawing on her experience with the Public Allies youth leadership program she ran in Chicago. She has reached out to young women of colour especially, bringing them to the White House and visiting schools in poor neighbourhoods not just at home but on trips abroad as well.

"Even when she's not attempting to be a role model or not actively reaching out on issues of race or gender, she just does so by virtue of her being," said Perry.

The Hillary effect

On a scale measuring the political engagement of presidential spouses, historians place Michelle Obama somewhere between Hillary Clinton, the wife of Bill Clinton, and Barbara and Laura Bush, the wives of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, respectively.

While some may see Michelle Obama's healthy living campaign as a safe, uncontroversial issue comparable to Barbara and Laura Bush's promotion of literacy, Dolan and other historians see a fundamental difference between how the first ladies approached their respective causes.

Then first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington before the House Energy Committee at a hearing on health care reform on Sept. 27, 1993. Her attempt to help shape policy during her husband Bill Clinton's administration was unpopular with the American public. (John Duricka/Associated Press)

"While literacy is certainly an important issue, for Laura Bush, it flowed from her own work as a librarian, but also that it was a very safe, cozy thing — reading books to children at libraries," Dolan said. "I think what Michelle Obama is trying to do is she is trying to tackle a very real policy problem …and to try to really make a difference in people's lives and to try to shift our thinking.

"She's starting the conversation on something that's pretty important. And I don't mean to suggest that literacy's not important, but I don't think it was the same. Laura Bush never focused on literacy to the point that she was talking about working in inner-city schools with kids who are below grade-level reading."

Still, Michelle Obama is far from a Hillary Clinton, and is unlikely to become one in the second term just because her husband doesn't have to worry about getting re-elected.

It was Hillary Clinton who most visibly shook up the traditional role of first lady. She was the first presidential spouse to have an office in the West Wing of the White House and was tasked with heading up Bill Clinton's ambitious — but ultimately unsuccessful — health care reform effort. She was also the first wife of a president who came from the Baby Boomer generation, whose female members were generally well educated and had careers of their own.

'Americans are very wary of unelected, unaccountable people pulling the levers of power'— Barbara A. Perry, political scholar

A lawyer with experience working on policy matters during her husband's tenure as governor of Arkansas, Hillary Clinton did not shy away from tackling major policy issues. Bill Clinton famously boasted about her qualifications on the campaign trail when he told voters they'd be getting "two for the price of one" if they elected him president.

Still, "the acceptance of women in highly visible, influential and powerful public leadership roles was still something not that familiar," even in the 1990s when Bill Clinton was president, says Mandel, and Hillary Clinton's pro-active model of first ladyship was unpopular with the public.

Her approval ratings were lower than those of her husband in his first term, and she had to pull back from politics during the second term and retreat to a more traditional first lady role — promoting women's rights around the world.

All subsequent first ladies, including Michelle Obama, have had to deal with the blowback from that failed attempt to have the first lady take a more active role in the political affairs of the country, said Perry.

"Americans are very wary of unelected, unaccountable people pulling the levers of power, and that is the description of the first lady," Perry said. "To have them either behind the scenes or even out in public, as in Mrs. Clinton's case, pulling the levers of power, that's very unpalatable to the American people."

Eleanor Roosevelt — the activist first lady

By all accounts, Michelle Obama doesn't have the political ambitions of a Hillary Clinton, who was the first presidential spouse to be elected to political office after leaving the White House (serving in the U.S. Senate for eight years), came close to winning the Democratic nomination for president and went on to be secretary of state in Barack Obama's administration.

She's also no match for Eleanor Roosevelt, who took strong positions on contentious social and political issues and actively promoted civil, women's and labour rights during Franklin D. Roosevelt's 12 years as president. She met with coal miners, African Americans, women and other disenfranchised groups across the country, bringing their concerns to the president, and helped publicize her husband's New Deal policies, becoming the first first lady to hold a press conference and have a daily newspaper column.

Eleanor Roosevelt, seen here broadcasting on NBC radio in 1948, actively promoted social and political causes such as civil and labour rights during Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms as U.S. president and continued to be politically active after he died in 1945. (Associated Press)

After the president's death in 1945, Eleanor Roosevelt was appointed to head the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. She was instrumental in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and continued to be a powerbroker within the Democratic Party throughout the 1950s.

"In terms of a woman with an issue who fights for that issue in the political realm, I really think that starts with Eleanor Roosevelt, and she then becomes the paradigm for all first ladies after that," Perry said.

It wasn't until Jacqueline Kennedy, however, that it became a regular occurrence for first ladies to have a pet project or two that they promoted publicly on their own, Perry said. For Kennedy, it was art and the historic preservation of the White House; Lady Bird Johnson made the beautification of parks and highways her cause; Betty Ford campaigned strongly for the equal rights amendment and women's rights, and was widely admired for eliminating some of the stigma around breast cancer; both Bush wives campaigned for literacy; and Nancy Regan was the face of the Just Say No campaign against drugs.

"The first lady's position has evolved from a simple expectation of a hostess smiling at the side of her husband for state dinners and ceremonial occasions into a more visible public role," Mandel said.

That doesn't mean, however, that a first lady's input was always welcome. Rosalynn Carter irked both sides of the political aisle by sitting in on Jimmy Carter's cabinet meetings; Nancy Reagan was resented for her hand in White House staffing decisions; Eleanor Roosevelt was ridiculed for endlessly bending her husband's ear about her social causes.

More than an 'adornment'

Michelle Obama has had to take on some of the more traditional roles of a first lady, including that of the elegant White House hostess. Here, she prepares to greet Mexican President Felipe Calderon in May 2010. (Jim Bourg /Reuters)

First ladies have often shaped their role around their husband's perceived deficits, says Perry. Some, such as Dolley Madison, have had to compensate for deficits in personality, acting the cheery, pretty spouse to mitigate their husband's shyness or social awkwardness; others for physical or political handicaps — Eleanor Roosevelt became the public face of her husband after he contracted polio while Lady Bird Johnson helped ease the outrage in the South over Lyndon Johnson's passage of the Civil Rights Act.

Michelle Obama has managed to combine several of these functions in a way that appeals to the American public, says Perry. She has been the traditional "adornment" at her husband's side, reminiscent of Jacqueline Kennedy, the intellectual equal, as Hillary Clinton was, and the sociable foil to the president's sometimes aloof personality, à la Dolley Madison.

Gutin says that while Americans want their first lady to be doing more than "just sitting in the White House serving tea," they are divided on exactly what it is that a presidential spouse should be doing.

"About half of the country, maybe a little bit less than half now, would really prefer someone who was a more ceremonial first lady, someone who was really seen and not heard," said Gutin. "And then there is a larger part of the population that understands the White House podium is completely effective, and they would like the president's wife — and maybe some day, it'll be a presidential spouse who is male — to go ahead and use it."

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Montreal recovering from major flooding

City employees are working to clean up debris after a water main break Monday caused a major flood in downtown Montreal.

During peak afternoon rush hour, water gushed onto the streets, covering a large area of the downtown core near McGill University. Mayor Michael Applebaum said the cause of the flooding appeared to be a break in a 120-centimetre (48-inch) water main, located in a construction zone on Pine Avenue near Peel Street.

Water continues to flow near the McGill campus, although there is significantly less than the major flooding seen Monday.

University Street remains closed between Sherbrooke Street and Pine Avenue.

Classes are cancelled at McGill's Wilson Hall and Birks building. Classes at the Wong Building are being relocated.

The James Administration building is closed until noon Tuesday and the north entrance to the McConel Engineering Building is closed except for emergencies.

Officials are asking people to avoid the Milton Street entrance of the campus.

FACE School is also closed.

Montreal city crews worked overnight to clear the streets and re-salt streets and sidewalks. (CBC)

Workers fixed the water main break Monday evening, but crews worked overnight to clear the streets and re-salt streets and sidewalks.

As the water flooded onto the streets, Mayor Applebaum urged residents to be careful.

"We will continue to work without stop," Applebaum said Monday.

McGill expects 'extensive' damage

Officials are still trying to figure out what caused the break.

A note sent to employees at McGill warned of "severe flooding" on the campus and inside several buildings.

"We are trying to assess damage as best we can, but it will be extensive," the note stated.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Freezing rain, snow hit southern Ontario

Areas of southern Ontario are receiving snow and freezing rain as a series of low-pressure systems move in from the United States, creating a slippery morning commute for some.

However, temperatures are expected to rise this afternoon.

Environment Canada has issued freezing rain warnings for much of southern Ontario as the warm front moves along a northeasterly path. Precipitation will change from snow to freezing rain and then just rain in many areas.

Although some regions, including London and Sarnia, have already reported freezing rain, warnings were lifted in those areas around 6 a.m. ET. Other areas, stretching from Kingston to Parry Sound, are still under warnings, according to an update from Environment Canada at 8 a.m. ET.

Around midnight, Toronto began receiving snow, which changed to freezing rain just ahead of the morning commute. A total of 150 flights were delayed or cancelled at Toronto's Pearson International Airport as of 6 a.m. ET, and several traffic collisions were reported around the city.

A number of schools across Ontario cancelled bus service.

As the system moves northeast, it will bring snow to an area stretching from Georgian Bay down to Peterborough and regions along the eastern shores of Lake Ontario. This precipitation will change to freezing rain this afternoon and evening.

Temperatures in Toronto were expected to rise this afternoon to a high of 2 C as the freezing rain turns to rain. Tuesday could see highs of 8 C and thunderstorms.

Warnings for Quebec

Environment Canada also issued freezing rain warnings for southwestern Quebec for Tuesday.

Manitoba was expected to see light snowfall although four to eight centimetres were expected in the north.

Southern Alberta is expected to see colder temperatures beginning tomorrow, as the mercury drops by 15 degrees or more. Parts of the province are already experiencing the cold, and Environment Canada issued a wind chill warning for the area around Rainbow Lake in the northwest, with –40 C forecasted into Tuesday morning.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

House returns as Idle No More protesters gather

MPs are set to return to the House of Commons today as Idle No More protesters plan to march to Parliament Hill for a world day of action.

The protesters are opposed to environmental law changes adopted after the House of Commons and Senate passed Bill C-45, the second omnibus budget implementation bill.

The protesters plan to meet on Victoria Island, where Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence and Manitoba elder Raymond Robinson spent six weeks limiting their food intake to fish broth, herbal tea and water, and then march the kilometre or so to Parliament Hill for a noon ET rally.

Just days after Spence and Robinson ended their protests, New Democrat MP Romeo Saganash will hold a press conference to discuss a private member's bill he's bringing on the rights of aboriginal people.

A spokesman for the NDP said the bill "is about making sure the laws of Canada are consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people."

Saganash helped negotiate the UN declaration. Last Thursday, he called for Canada to move beyond its belated endorsement of the declaration.

"The norms that are there are minimum standards that all countries should respect that endorsed the UN declaration," Saganash said. "Canada finally came on board not too long ago. Thank you very much, but let's move forward from that."

Economy still Conservatives' focus

Government House Leader Peter Van Loan says the government plans to continue focusing on Canada's economy over the next few months.

The first piece of legislation on the order paper will be a technical tax bill, to update legislation based on changes made more than 10 years ago, he said. The next bill to be dealt with is the Fair Rail Freight Service Act, dealing with railway contracts.

As for complaints by Idle No More that the last budget implementation bill infringes on indigenous sovereignty, Van Loan says it's got Royal Assent and become law, and it won't be revisited.

MPs are set to return to the House of Commons Monday as Idle No More protesters plan to march to Parliament Hill for a world day of action. The grassroots movement has held earlier marches on Parliament Hill, including this protest in December. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)

The meeting between aboriginal leaders, including Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, was constructive, Van Loan said.

"I think that process that [Harper] got underway will continue, particularly the key commitments for a high-level process on the treaty relationship and a high-level process on comprehensive claims resolution," Van Loan said.

"That does not necessarily require legislation. The dialogue will continue, and occasionally we need legislation to move ahead particular settlements."

The government committed to have the prime minister's office and the privy council, the administrative arm of the PMO, oversee how aboriginal files are handled.

New Democrats seek civility

Van Loan also pointed to the First Nations accountability bill that made it through the House last fall and is now in front of the Senate.

"I think that in the current environment, there's obviously great interest among Canadians in seeing that complete its process," Van Loan said.

New Democrat House Leader Nathan Cullen says the Official Opposition wants to take another crack at instilling more decorum and civility in the House of Commons. Cullen says he's been consulting with some former parliamentarians from both the government and opposition sides of the aisle and in other legislatures.

"We've gone pretty broad on this to find out what works," Cullen said. "We don't think there's a need to reinvent the wheel, but we want to be more bold. I don't think this is a subtle shift that we need, I think that we need things that are more impactful on the working lives of MPs so that they know that we're working on this."

The New Democrats also have plans, he says, "around resolving some of the longstanding First Nations issues and bringing this government around to creating a path forward for Canadians.

"There's been a lot of protest, and now is the time for solutions," Cullen said.

The government is now more than four months late on its commitment to strengthen the powers of Elections Canada, following a unanimous vote in the House last March.

Cullen says he thinks the delay is due to more Conservative MPs facing alleged election scandals.

"It seems they have hit the pause button," Cullen said. "The government makes these commitments to [do things], shortly and soon, and I don't know how they define those terms.

"I don't know if their plan is to rag the puck until the next election so they can cheat and steal another few seats again, but I think Canadians will be watching."

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hong Kong behind the times on gay rights

When Hong Konger Henry Lam arrived in Vancouver in 2011, his first time in Canada, he said he breathed the "air of freedom."

The reason for his visit was to marry his husband, Guy Ho, and the couple now jokes that they should get a commission from Tourism B.C. because of how many people they've advised on tying the knot on the other side of the Pacific.

Ho, 51, moved to Canada with his parents as a teenager. He went to university in Calgary and later lived in Montreal before moving back to Hong Kong shortly before same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada in 2005. He found Canada to be an open and accepting society even before that historic event.

"Now that I'm back here it's almost like I have to go back in the closet," Ho said. "It's kind of ridiculous."

Ho and Lam say in general most Hong Kongers, especially the younger generation, are tolerant if not accepting of gays, lesbians and other sexual orientations, but that the government is behind the times.

Their marriage isn't legally recognized in Hong Kong and that prospect seems a long way off – particularly after what happened on Jan.16.

Guy Ho and Henry Lam show a photo from their wedding, held in Vancouver in June 2011. Their marriage is not legally recognized in Hong Kong. (Meagan Fitzpatrick/CBC)

Hong Kong's leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, delivered his policy address, a speech where the government's policy proposals for its five-year term are laid out, and it contained a major setback for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Leung announced that the government would not hold public consultations on bringing sexual orientation under the existing anti-discrimination legislation. The leader said it was a highly controversial issue that must be tackled cautiously. The government will continue to listen to different views, but has no intention of holding consultations, he said.

No legal recourse for discrimination based on sexual orientation

That means someone can be fired for being gay or denied an apartment, a job, or service, and there is no legal recourse.

Leung's announcement was met with disappointment from some, like human rights lawyer Michael Vidler, who pins the blame on pressure from religious groups. He says they are increasingly influencing the government, and misrepresenting the issue.

"They're shouting gay marriage when it's a consultation on an anti-discrimination law," he said.

Hong Kong's constitution is supposed to provide all citizens with equality before the law and the United Nations human rights committee has repeatedly called on Hong Kong to protect sexual minorities but the government has ignored its obligations, said Vidler.

The Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau provided a statement to CBC News that elaborated on what Leung said in his policy address.

"The society is deeply divided over this issue. While some are in support from the perspective of equal opportunity, others worry that launching a consultation exercise may cause undesirable impact on family, religion and education," it said. The department says it will do more anti-discrimination awareness campaigns and support community organizations.

The government funds a body called the Equal Opportunities Commission that is responsible for promoting equality and implementing the existing anti-discrimination law which covers gender, disability, race and marital status. It wants sexual orientation included in the law.

The EOC's head, Lam Woon-kwong, was not available for an interview but provided a statement saying Hong Kong needs to have a "serious and open dialogue on this topic."

Vidler, a Briton, is known for his representation of Billy Leung in a landmark 2005 case that overturned the age of consent for homosexuals in Hong Kong. The lawyer, who says public education campaigns have been a failure, successfully argued in court that it was discriminatory for the age of consent to be 21 when it was 16 for heterosexuals.

Canadian diversity 'beautiful'

Leung, now 28 years old, said he launched the case simply because he wanted to be treated equally. He said he's lucky he has a supportive family and wants to help make it easier for others to come out.

"In Hong Kong, despite its cosmopolitan outlook, many people are afraid still of coming out, because we do not have any laws protecting homosexuals," Leung said.

Billy Leung has been fighting for equal rights for sexual minorities since 2005 when he launched a landmark legal battle over the age of consent for homosexuals. (Meagan Fitzpatrick/CBC)

Leung, Vidler, and others say Hong Kong likes to promote itself as a modern, diverse city, yet it is failing to advance when it comes to rights for sexual minorities.

When the issue was last debated in Hong Kong's legislature in November, those in favour of consultations argued that Hong Kong wasn't living up to its claim as an advanced, open society. But those opposed said Hong Kong society and its cultural heritage are deeply rooted in traditional values, especially when it comes to family and marriage.

A Hong Kong real estate magnate offered millions of dollars last year to any man who could woo his lesbian daughter away from her partner, whom she married in Paris.

Even though Hong Kong's government isn't moving forward on anti-discrimination legislation, Guy Ho and Henry Lam are optimistic they will one day be protected by law and enjoy the same benefits, tax and otherwise, that heterosexual couples get.

"There is still hope," said Ho.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More