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Whitby teacher Jeffrey Boucher's body believed to be found

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 30 Maret 2014 | 21.48

Police believe a body discovered on the shoreline of Lake Ontario today is that of Jeffrey Boucher, the Whitby, Ont., teacher who went missing in January.

A passerby discovered a body while walking near Thickson Road South and Crystal Beach Boulevard at around 2:20 p.m. Saturday.

Police said they believe the body is that of 52-year-old Boucher, who went missing on Jan. 13, after going for his regular morning run.

A post mortem is scheduled to confirm his identity and cause of death, Durham Regional Police Det. Jeff Kennedy told reporters Saturday evening.

"We're awaiting the result from the coroner's investigation, but I feel fairly comfortable in saying this possibly may come to an end now from this discovery," he said.

"We investigated many different scenarios, we don't suspect any foul play at this point. There is no reason for anybody to be concerned about anything suspicious here."

On March 14 a woman walking near Heydenshore Pavilion, along the shore of Lake Ontario, found a shoe and contacted police. 

Durham Regional Police believed the shoe could have belonged to Boucher. 

'There is no reason for anybody to be concerned about anything suspicious here.'- Durham Regional Police Det. Jeff Kennedy

A second shoe, also believed to belong to Boucher, was found at around 11 a.m. Saturday on the shoreline near the Heydenshore Pavilion.

Durham Regional Police had previously used a robotic underwater camera on loan from the Toronto police to search the water along the Whitby waterfront but found no sign of Boucher

In the days after Boucher's disappearance, police conducted an exhaustive search of the trails and wooded areas near his home, but air and ground searches also turned up nothing. 

On Jan. 20, police said they were "truly stumped" about what had happened to him.


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Chinese families arrive in Malaysia, demand 'truth' about missing Malaysian jet

Dozens of Chinese relatives of passengers on Flight MH370 arrived in Malaysia early today, telling reporters they wanted proof from Malaysian authorities that the aircraft — missing for more than three weeks — crashed in the Indian Ocean.

A spokesman for the 35-person group also demanded the Malaysian government apologize for "giving out confusing information," which he said caused a delay in the search and rescue effort.

Members of the group, gathered at The Holiday Villa in the city of Subang Jaya, 20 kilometres from the capital Kuala Lumpur, held banners that read, "We want evidence, truth, dignity" in Chinese, and "Hand us the murderer. Tell us the truth." A slogan in English read, " You must return relatives."

Two-thirds of the 227 passengers aboard the plane, which disappeared en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, were Chinese, and China has urged Malaysia to be more open about the investigation.

One of the relatives, who gave only his surname, Xu, said they want to meet officials "at the very highest levels."

But a representative of the group said they have no desire to head to Australia just yet, although the search operation is centred there.

"I have not heard of any families wanting to head to Australia — because we, the families, based on our feelings and the actual evidence, without any direct evidence we will not want to head there," said Jiang Hui.

"I think everyone is more rational now, more rational," he added when reporters asked what is the emotion state with the families now.

The search continued on Sunday, with 10 ships and as many aircraft combing the new search area, 1,850 kilometres  west of Perth.

Tune in Sunday, March 30 at 10 p.m. ET/PT to The Passionate Eye on CBC News Network for a documentary that unravels the theories and probes the mysterious disappearance of Flight MH370.

Numerous objects have been spotted in the two days since Australian authorities moved the search 1,100 kilometres northeast after new analysis of radar and satellite data concluded the Boeing 777 travelled faster and for a shorter distance after vanishing from civilian radar screens.

However, none has been confirmed as coming from Flight MH370.

An Australian warship with an aircraft black box detector was set to depart Sunday to join the search. The equipment can detect transmissions from the plane's black box, even at a depth of 6,000 metres, but it could take three to four days for the ship, the Ocean Shield, to reach the search zone, an area roughly the size of Poland.

The batteries on the recorders allow transmission for about 30 days.

Much of the sea floor in the search area is about 2,000 metres below the surface, but depths may reach a maximum of up to 6,000 metres.


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Washington mudslide death toll at 18, missing drops to 30

The number of those believed missing following a deadly Washington state landslide has plummeted to 30 after many people were found safe, authorities said late Saturday.

Officials previously set the number of missing people at 90, but said they expected that figure to drop dramatically as they worked to find people and cross-referenced a list that included partial reports and duplicates.

The confirmed death toll rose by one, to 18, Jason Biermann, program manager at the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management, said at a Saturday evening briefing.

The search by heavy equipment, dogs and bare hands for victims from the slide was going "all the way to the dirt" as crews looked for anything to provide answers for family and friends a week after a small mountainside community was destroyed.

All work on the debris field halted briefly Saturday for a moment of silence to honour those lost. Gov. Jay Inslee had asked people across Washington to pause at 10:37 a.m., the time the huge slide struck on March 22, destroying a neighbourhood in the community of Oso north of Seattle. Authorities say they have found at least 25 bodies.

"People all over stopped work — all searchers — in honour of that moment, so people we are searching for know we are serious," Snohomish County Fire District 1 battalion chief Steve Mason said.

An American flag had been run up a tree and then down to half-staff at the debris site, he said.

Dan Rankin, mayor of the nearby logging town of Darrington, said the community had been "changed forevermore."

"It's going to take a long time to heal, and the likelihood is we will probably never be whole," he said.

Missing remembered

Among the dozens of missing are a man in his early 20s, Adam Farnes, and his mother, Julie.

"He was a giant man with a giant laugh," Kellie Howe said of Farnes. Howe became friends with him when he moved to the area from Alaska. She said Adam Farnes was the kind of guy who would come into your house and help you do the dishes.

Adam Farnes also played the banjo, drums and bass guitar, she said, and had worked as a telephone lineman and a 911 dispatcher.

"He loved his music loud," she said.

Finding and identifying all the victims could stretch on for a very long time, and authorities have warned that not everyone may ultimately be accounted for after one of the deadliest landslides in U.S. history.

Rescuers have given a cursory look at the entire debris field 88 kilometres northeast of Seattle, said Steve Harris, division supervisor for the eastern incident management team. They are now sifting through the rest of the fragments, looking for places where dogs should give extra attention. Only "a very small percentage" has received the more thorough examination, he said.

Dogs working four-hour shifts have been the most useful tool, Harris said, but they're getting hypothermic in the rain and muck.

Commanders are making sure people have the right gear to stay safe in the rain and potentially hazardous materials, and they're keeping a close eye on the level of the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River to be sure nobody is trapped by rising water.

Personal belongings collected

At the debris site Saturday, Mason, the battalion chief, said teams first do a hasty search of any wreckage of homes they find. If nothing is immediately discovered, they do a more detailed, forensic search.

"We go all the way to the dirt," he said.

Crews are also collecting bags of personal belongings that would later be cleaned, sorted and hopefully returned to families.

"What we found out here is everything from pictures to gun safes," Mason said. "Anything you would have at your house."

Mudslide search silence

Workers and community members observe the one-week anniversary of the Oso landslide with a prayer and moment of silence at a fire station in Darrington, Washington. (Jason Redmond/Reuters)

The huge wall of earth that crashed into the collection of homes followed weeks of heavy rain.

Previous slides triggered by storms included one that killed 150 people in Virginia in the wake of Hurricane Camille in 1969 and another that killed 129 when rain from Tropical Storm Isabel loosened tons of mud that buried the Puerto Rican community of Mameyes in 1985.

A dam in San Francisquito Canyon, Calif., collapsed in 1928, causing an abutment to give way and killing 500 people, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Crews pleaded with the public not to show up and try to help. Only local volunteers are being allowed to help rescuers.

Joe Wright of Darrington set up his tool-sharpening operation near the firehouse. He's been busy. In a little more than a day, he estimated he had sharpened more than 150 chainsaw chains dulled by rocks and dirt.

"There were people using their own saws," Wright said. "They're just trying to get down there to get the job done."


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Newcomers join veterans like Arcade Fire with Juno wins

Arcade Fire, Drake, Serena Ryder and Tegan and Sara were among the early winners Saturday in a Juno Awards race that appears as wide open as a Prairie vista.

Juno Gala 20140329

Brett Kissel celebrates his Juno win for Breakthrough Artist of the Year during the Juno Gala in Winnipeg on Saturday. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Only violin maestro James Ehnes was a double Juno winner — bringing the Brandon, Man., native's career tally up to nine — at an annual dinner gala where the bulk of trophies were handed out. But many of the presumed front-runners did claim a category.

Arcade Fire took album of the year, Drake won rap recording of the year, Tegan and Sara won pop album of the year and Sunday's co-host Ryder triumphed in a stacked artist of the year category. All four acts still hold multiple nominations during Sunday night's telecast on CTV.

Major categories to be determined then included album, group, single and songwriter of the year, but Saturday's winners weren't waiting to celebrate.

"Wow, thank you ... this is great — I wanted to hug so many people and I was like, 'I gotta run,"' said visibly flustered Millbrook, Ont., native Ryder, who swore repeatedly as she tried to compose herself. "This is an amazing, amazing award. My mind is going blank. Look at all the amazing artists I was with.

"Stand up mom and dad," she said, pointing to her parents as they rose. "They've been so supportive of me for so long and they had the real jobs in the family ... and they let me stay at home while I wrote and recorded in my bedroom."

And Tegan and Sara actually sprinted to the stage together after finally winning their first Juno, following five previous losses.

"Oh my God — we haven't won anything since 1996," Sara Quin said. "We want to start with our piano teacher, which was the last time we were awarded something, in 1996."

"I'm so nervous," added sister Tegan. "It would literally take all the rest of tonight to say thank you to all the people who have supported us. In our case, it didn't take a village — it took an entire country. Thank you to everyone in Canada."

1st Junos for Brody, Rutledge

Tegan and Sara wasn't the only veteran act to secure a long-awaited first Juno. Toronto institution Downchild finally won for blues album of the year — their fifth nomination dating back to 1989 — while Dean Brody (country album of the year) and Justin Rutledge (roots & traditional album of the year: solo) both won their first Junos out of three career nominations apiece.

Matt Mays took his first Juno out of five nominations, for rock album of the year. Afterward, he paid tribute to his late guitarist Jay Smith, who died last year while the band was on tour in Edmonton.

Johnny Reid, Serena Ryder

Juno co-hosts Johnny Reid and Serena Ryder ham it up with reporters at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg Friday. (Karen Pauls/CBC)

"We lost a good friend and a brother this year," said the Cole Harbour, N.S., native. "It's been a really tough year for a lot of his friends and family so this goes out to his family, the Smith family. It goes out to my band, who played through a really tough time.

"I've never been more proud of anybody in my life than this bunch of guys right here."

Other first-time winners included fast-rising Halifax-reared producer Ryan Hemsworth for electronic album of the year, Whitby, Ont., prog-metal outfit Protest the Hero for metal/hard music album of the year and fresh-faced country crooner Brett Kissel for breakthrough artist of the year, seeming downright shocked as he wrapped his fingers around the heavy trophy.

"Oh my gosh, this is incredible," said the Flat Lake, Alta., native. "I'm very, very privileged. I look around at everybody here and I just feel very blessed to be a breakthrough artist.

"Thank you to my parents ... who took a little time off of calving season back on the farm to be here at the Junos.

"Thank you so much. I'll never forget this night."

Sexsmith 'proud' of album

On the other end of the experience spectrum, much-lauded singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith picked up his third Juno for his deeply bittersweet "Forever Endeavour" — winning for adult alternative album of the year. If there was an award for most honest speech, he might've claimed that one too.

"I was really proud of this record. It didn't do very well, truth be told, but I was really proud of the album," said the Toronto native. "I really didn't expect this. I love you all. This is just great to be invited to the ball."

'I was really proud of this record. It didn't do very well, truth be told, but I was really proud of the album.'- Ron Sexsmith

Meanwhile, Johnny Reid's win for adult alternative album of the year gave him a four-Juno lifetime haul, Ryder and Drake have five apiece and the widely decorated Arcade Fire can lay claim to seven career Junos.

Of course, those numbers are almost certain to change Sunday. Arcade Fire will compete in five more categories after going 1-for-1 on Saturday while Ryder will have a shot at four more awards, Michael Buble — a loser in two categories contested Saturday — and Tegan and Sara have shots at three more and Drake, Hedley and Celine Dion are also still double nominees.

Saturday's gala did little to clarify who might emerge from this year's show with the longest haul. Still, the Junos proved willing to veer slightly from the script on several occasions.

Tegan and Sara's "Heartthrob," for instance, was a widely praised turn toward the sleek and polished for the Calgary-reared twins, but beating out perennial Juno favourite Buble — an 11-time winner who has thrice claimed the Junos' top overall category, album of the year — had to be considered at least a mild surprise. Similarly, Deadmau5 ceded dance recording of the year (a category he's won four times) to Dutch producer Armin van Buuren and former SoulDecision singer Trevor Guthrie while Ryder's win for artist of the year, over the likes of Dion, Drake and Buble, also looked like a coup.

BTO to be inducted

Walk Off the Earth, Robin Thicke and Tegan and Sara are among the performers expected Sunday, when locally reared rock heroes Bachman-Turner Overdrive will be ushered into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

Also Saturday, married pair Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida shared the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award after a video introduction that included a testimonial from Liberal leader Justin Trudeau. They also confirmed backstage that they were working on their first collaborative album, while also fielding questions about how they get along so well ("we fought right before we went onstage," Maida admitted with a laugh).

During an eloquent jointly delivered speech, the pair was far more circumspect.

"I think when we stand here tonight," said Maida, "it's really important to note or to make that distinction that we accept this award really on behalf on all of the people that actually wake up every day and try to do worthwhile and virtuous things."


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Ukraine crisis: Russia downplays sanctions ahead of Paris talks

Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its intervention in Ukraine have caused some disruption but not been too painful, Moscow's foreign minister said hours before talks on Sunday with his U.S. counterpart on a way out of the East-West standoff.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will seek to agree the outlines of a deal to reduce tensions over Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region at their meeting in Paris.

They will address a proposal crafted by Kerry and Lavrov in earlier meetings as the West considers broader sanctions against Russia that would target vital sectors of its economy including its mainstay oil and gas industry.

Ideas on the table included a deployment of international monitors in Ukraine, the withdrawal of Russian forces from Crimea and the border zone around Ukraine, and the launch of direct talks between Moscow and the government in Kiev.

"Today, we expect Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Lavrov to continue the discussion they've been having in the interest of finding concrete ways to de-escalate the conflict," a senior U.S. State Department official said.

Kerry and Lavrov hoped to build on a phone call on Friday between presidents Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama, according to senior U.S. officials, to defuse the worst East-West confrontation since the Cold War ended two decades ago.

A spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the EU strongly favoured "meaningful dialogue" between Ukraine and its old Soviet-era master Russia.

"Russian officials have been stating that Moscow has no intentions beyond Crimea. We expect to see words translated into deeds, including with regard to the military build-up at the regions bordering Ukraine," Ashton's spokeswoman said.

'No painful sensations'

The U.S. and EU have meted out two rounds of sanctions on Russia, including visa bans and asset freezes for some of Putin's inner circle, to punish Moscow over its seizure of Crimea, a Russian-majority Black Sea peninsula, after mass protests ousted Kiev's pro-Russian president in February.

"I don't want to say that sanctions are ridiculous and that we couldn't care less, these are not pleasant things," Lavrov told Russia's Channel One.

Ukraine Crisis

Washington is increasingly concerned about an estimated 40,000 Russian troops currently amassing on the Ukrainian border, despite reassurances from Moscow that Russia has 'no intention' on invading eastern Ukraine. (Baz Ratner/Reuters)

"We find little joy in that, but there are no painful sensations. We have lived through tougher times."

Lavrov said Western powers had put unofficial restrictions in place, urging their diplomats in Moscow to boycott meetings attended by Russian officials and lawmakers on the sanctions list.

He said Russian diplomats stationed in EU capitals had also been refused meetings with officials from EU foreign ministries.

"Diplomacy is the art of talking and making agreements," Lavrov said. "If diplomats are motivated to become instruments of the sanctions policy, then it's a totally different story."

Warning Moscow

Crimeans voted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia in a March 16 referendum dismissed as a sham by Western governments that say it violated Ukraine's constitution and was held only after Russian forces seized control of the Black Sea peninsula.

The West has threatened the tougher sanctions against Russia's stuttering economy if Moscow invades eastern Ukraine.

The West has refused to recognize Crimea's absorption into Russia although U.S. officials acknowledge that the takeover of the predominantly Russian-speaking region is not likely to be resolved soon. Instead, talks have honed in on warnings to Moscow not to go further into Ukraine.

'I don't want to say that sanctions are ridiculous and that we couldn't care less ... We find little joy in that, but there are no painful sensations. We have lived through tougher times.'- Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister

U.S. officials are deeply worried about the massing of what they estimate are up to 40,000 Russian troops on Ukraine's border, which is stoking concerns in Washington and elsewhere that Russia is preparing a wider incursion into Ukraine.

While Moscow has said the buildup is part of normal Russian exercises only, Obama has described it as out of the ordinary that could be a precursor to other actions.

The meeting in Paris comes days before a gathering of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday that is likely to focus on Ukraine and Russia's actions.

'No intention' of invading eastern Ukraine

Lavrov, speaking on Russian television on Saturday, said Moscow had "no intention" of invading eastern Ukraine and reinforced a message from Putin that Moscow would settle - at least for now - for control over Crimea.

Lavrov, added, however that Russia was ready to protect the rights of Russian speakers, referring to what Moscow sees as threats to the lives of compatriots in eastern Ukraine.

Kerry will meet French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius before his talks with Lavrov at 6.30 p.m. Paris time.

The phone conversation between Putin and Obama on Friday was the first known direct contact between the estranged leaders since Washington and its European allies approved sanctions.

Russia has drafted counter-sanctions, barring senior U.S. officials from entering Russia. On Friday Moscow said it had retaliated against expanded Western sanctions but did not name any U.S. or EU officials affected.


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Do you have the right ID to cast a ballot in a federal election?

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 29 Maret 2014 | 21.48

Much of the debate over the government's proposed changes to Canadian election laws has focused on its plan to eliminate vouching, a process that lets those without proper identification have someone else in the same polling division swear to their name and address.

Approved ID for federal votes

  • Driver's licence
  • Ontario health card
  • Provincial/territorial ID card in some provinces/territories 
  • Canadian passport
  • Certificate of Canadian citizenship (citizenship card)
  • Birth certificate
  • Certificate of Indian status (status card)
  • Social insurance number card
  • Old age security card
  • Student ID card
  • Liquor ID card
  • Hospital/medical clinic card
  • Credit/debit card
  • Employee card
  • Public transportation card
  • Library card
  • Canadian Forces ID card
  • Veterans Affairs Canada health card
  • Canadian Blood Services/Héma-Québec card
  • CNIB ID card
  • Firearm possession and acquisition licence or possession only licence
  • Fishing, trapping or hunting licence
  • Outdoors or wildlife card/licence
  • Hospital bracelet worn by residents of long-term care facilities
  • Parolee ID card
  • Utility bill (telephone, TV, PUC, hydro, gas or water)
  • Bank/credit card statement
  • Vehicle ownership/insurance
  • Correspondence issued by a school, college or university
  • Statement of government benefits (employment insurance, old age security, social assistance, disability support or child tax benefit)
  • Attestation of residence issued by the responsible authority of a First Nations band or reserve
  • Government cheque or cheque stub
  • Pension plan statement of benefits, contributions or participation
  • Residential lease/mortgage statement
  • Income/property tax assessment notice
  • Insurance policy
  • Letter from a public curator, public guardian or public trustee
  • One of the following, issued by the responsible authority of a shelter, soup kitchen, student/senior residence, or long-term care facility: attestation of residence, letter of stay, admission form or statement of benefits

A less-discussed change proposed in Bill C-23 would also roll back a pilot program that allowed 400,000 people to use their voter information card as proof of address in the 2011 election.

Those who work to promote democracy — the current and former heads of Elections Canada, along with other experts — say removing those options would essentially deny the vote to tens of thousands of people. Harry Neufeld, who studied problems in the 2011 campaign, says 520,000 people could lose their right to vote.

The Conservatives say there are 39 forms of ID that let people prove their name and address when they vote in a federal election, arguing that's enough to get rid of vouching and the use of the voter information cards as proof of address.

But how easy is it to prove you are who you say you are when you cast a ballot?

The experts who so far have appeared before the procedure and House affairs committee have raised concerns about the list provided by Elections Canada, and defended by Pierre Poilievre, minister of state for democratic reform.

The biggest catch seems to be the need for voters to prove where they live. Take away the driver's licence, and it gets complicated.

Here are three things to know about the way Bill C-23 would change how Canadians could identify themselves to cast ballots in federal elections.

1. Few pieces of ID list address

Voters don't just prove their identity to cast a ballot: they have to prove where they live too. And while Elections Canada says 85 per cent of Canadians have a driver's licence — based on the numbers they get from provincial licensing offices — that penetration drops in urban areas like Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, where better public transit systems mean fewer people require cars to get around. 

One of the democracy experts appearing before the committee Thursday made that point. Student Vote's Taylor Gunn, who lives in Toronto, told the committee that he doesn't have a driver's licence.

"My health card, embarrassingly enough, is my only piece of official ID and it doesn't have my address on it. My wife couldn't vouch for me right now [under Bill C-23]," Gunn said.

Government issued ID like social insurance number cards and birth certificates do not show an address. Canadian passports allow people to write in their own address, so can't be used as proof of residence.

2. Originals required

No driver's licence? No problem. Poilievre told MPs in question period Friday that photo ID and government-issued ID aren't required. His critics, however, say it's not that easy.

The list of accepted identification includes "things like utility bills, [Old Age Security] or Employment Insurance cheques, statement of attestation from aboriginal reserve, Indian status card, a student card, the list goes on and on. It's 39 different options. We just think it's reasonable that people bring some form of ID when they show up to vote," Poilievre said.

The list also includes bank statements and insurance policies. Unless, that is, the documents are delivered by email. A printed version of emailed documents won't suffice. Instead, voters would have to go to the bank or the hydro or insurance company — or dig through their paper files at home — to find an original copy. And they'll have to know that before they head to the polling station to cast a ballot on the advance polling day or election day.

3. Other options

For those who don't have a driver's licence, they could present a lease or have a letter of attestation from a shelter, soup kitchen, student or senior residence, or long-term care facility. But that requires more planning than simply heading to the polling station on election day.

Neufeld, the former chief electoral officer in British Columbia and now a consultant, says if the government is worried about vouching, there are ways to make it more secure.

There are problems, he says, including rushed poll clerks not keeping detailed records of who is vouching, or for whom they are vouching.

He said he likes a method used in Manitoba elections.

"If they have two pieces of ID but neither of them definitively proves their residential address, then they have to sign a declaration that the address they're claiming to live at is indeed their address," Neufeld said Thursday after speaking to MPs.


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Why 'the skeptical environmentalist' won’t switch off during Earth Hour

If you're curious why the lights have dimmed in your neighbourhood around 8:30 Saturday night, don't fret. Earth Hour is upon us again — the annual event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature ​that asks individuals to "take accountabiilty for their ecological footprint" by turning off the lights for an hour.

But not everyone is convinced of its effectiveness. Environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg, the director of Copenhagen Consensus Center and adjunct professor at Copenhagen Business School believes Earth Hour is an "ineffective feel-good event" that sends the wrong message about electricity and ignores the plight of millions living in darkness.

The author of the best-selling book The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World spoke to CBC's Mark Gollom about the annual event.

CBCNews.ca: You wrote a column about this last year and again this year. Earth Hour really seems to get your goat.

Lomborg: I think it's a good way to get attention to the main problem of global warming. Namely that, yes it is a real problem but we're not fixing it. I think we have no sense of the scale involved.

We don't burn fossil fuels to annoy Al Gore. Because fundamentally it underpins pretty much everything we like about civilization. Really changing our emissions of CO2 is not going to be about switching off lights for an hour, it's going to be about something much much more.

I sympathize with the organizers, they've got something that really caught on, and they got everybody excited about this, and everybody says 'I care about global warming.' But I think in some fundamental way it sends the wrong message. 

I fear … that we very easily end up saying that 'I switched off my light, so now it's OK to go on a vacation or something else that's going to blow a lot more CO2s.'

So [Earth Hour] tells us that it's about these little things and it's an easy fix, neither of which are right. And it possibly provides us with cover to feel good about whatever else we're doing.

CBCNews.ca: But you've called Earth Hour a colossal waste of time. How could doing anything for an hour be a colossal waste of time. Especially when they're saying that this is mostly symbolic and not meant to be a carbon reduction exercise.

Lomborg: I think they've certainly changed their rhetoric over the last couple of years on this — I'm hopeful in some way because of my argument. But if what we want to do is to get people's attention to global warming, I think we've succeeded enormously.

The Earth Hour guys are having the easy conversation once again. Instead of engaging in the hard conversation which is to say: 'We're not going to fix this with current solar and wind [power], and throwing more money at solar and wind is essentially wasting lots of money to achieve virtually nothing.' 

Earth Hour 20130323

The lights on the Lions Gate bridge in West Vancouver go off during Earth Hour last year. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

We will need much better technology. We need to invest a lot more in research and development into green technology, which is not yet ready but should be ready so that everyone, and the Chinese and Indians, will buy it.

And that's the conversation that we're avoiding by just having this other showcase of how good a person you are by switching off the lights for an hour.

CBCNews.ca: You suggest that Earth Hour seems to be celebrating darkness. But organizers themselves say that they don't want to banish electricity and that they in fact actually embrace technology and that it's through technology you'll develop sustainable resources.

Lomborg: 1.3 billion people still don't have access to modern forms of electricity. About three billion people use fuels like dung and cardboard and twigs to keep warm and cook.

This is the world's biggest environmental problem. Not global warming, not even outdoor air pollution, it's indoor air pollution that kills 4.3 million people.

I appreciate that the [Earth Hour] organizers will say 'but 'we're all for electricity, we're all for technology' and that's all good and sound.

But it is a celebration of darkness. We turn off the lights for an hour and it sends the signal that's what we need to do in order to tackle global warming. And that's simply not what we need to do, especially not for the three billion people in the world that need more light.

CBCNEWS.ca: Well if Earth Hour is giving the wrong signal by celebrating darkness, should we have an hour celebrating the use of electricity?

Lomborg: (Laughs) I tend to be one of these boring people that think it's important to get the all signals right and that means I won't be able to do it as catchy as Earth Hour. But we definitely need to recognize that electricity has been a phenomenal achievement.

We have to face up to the fact that we use and we get most of our energy from fossil fuels.

This does not mean we shouldn't also try to fix global warming but it means right now more people in Third World countries need to get light. And we need to make sure that that light in the next two to four decades is a green light. Not now, but in the next couple decades.

CBCNews.ca: So what will Bjorn Lomborg be doing at 8:30 p.m on Saturday?

Lomborg: I'm not going to switch off my lights but I'm not going to make a demonstration out of it. I think they have good intentions but my problem with this is that I think it leads to all the wrong conclusions and that's what I'm challenging. 

This interview has been edited and condensed.


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Give geoengineering a chance to fix climate change: David Keith

There may indeed be broad agreement among scientists that climate change is happening, that humans are causing it and that urgent action is needed to prevent a global disaster. New reports from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change only add to the weight of science's verdict on the subject. Just what to do about climate change, however - and how quickly - is still a matter of intense political and policy debate.

And if you really want to see the sparks fly, try suggesting geoengineering as a solution to global warming.

David Keith

David Keith took first prize in Canada's national physics prize exam, won MIT's prize for excellence in experimental physics, and was listed as one of TIME magazine's Heroes of the Environment for 2009. A proponent of geoengineering to address climate change, he's now a professor of applied physics and of public policy at Harvard University. (Courtesy Harvard)

As the term implies, geoengineering is engineering on a planetary scale.

Geoengineering is an attempt to arrest the course of climate change through a number of different schemes, such as seeding the atmosphere with reflective particles. Or putting gigantic mirrors in orbit around the Earth to reflect sunlight back to space. Or fertilizing the ocean with iron to stimulate the growth of carbon-absorbing plankton.

For a lot of people, it sounds like mad science.

And geoengineering has been a magnet for controversy and criticism. Its opponents include some of the world's most prominent environmentalists, including David Suzuki and Al Gore.

Earlier this year, in fact, the former U.S. Vice President said that the very idea of geoengineering is "insane, utterly mad and delusional in the extreme." He added that "the fact that some scientists who should know better are actually engaged in serious discussion of those alternatives is a mark of how desperate some of them are feeling due to the paralysis in the global political system."

March 30 on The Sunday Edition on CBC radio, starting at 9 a.m.​:

  • Quebec votes: Three astute Quebec observers - Bernie St-Laurent, Francine Pelletier and André Pratte - explain how the early optimism of Premier Pauline Marois has dissipated.
  • Jonathan Schell tribute: The expert on the politics and morality of nuclear weapons died this week.
  • Spare Change: For many of us, panhandlers provide a daily prick to the conscience. 
  • The Centenary of the Newfoundland Sealing Disaster: Poet and novelist Michael Crummey and author Jenny Higgins, on the 1914 tragedy in which 79 sealers froze to death on the ice floes off Newfoundland.

But Canadian environmental engineer David Keith is taken seriously by policymakers and scientists when he speaks about the possibilities of geoengineering.

Keith was a long-time professor at the University of Calgary and is now a Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Gordon McKay Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. He's particularly interested in solar geoengineering, or solar radiation management, which would involve putting tiny sulphur particles into the stratosphere, where they would reflect solar energy back to space.

In his new book, A Case for Climate Engineering, Keith says that geoengineering is a "brutally ugly technical fix." He cheerfully admits that he has a lot of qualms about it as a technology that could have dangerous and unintended consequences, and that it doesn't address the root cause of climate change: the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

But, as Keith told The Sunday Edition's Michael Enright in an interview, that doesn't mean we should ignore the fact that it could rapidly lower the Earth's temperature and counteract some of the effects of climate change.

It's technically feasible and relatively inexpensive to do, he adds.

And given how the global community has dragged its heels on reducing emissions, he argues, a crude, quick fix for climate change may become necessary in the decades ahead.

"I think the important point is that it's not hard to do, that all the hard questions are about whether we should do it, who controls it, how well it works."

Keith also acknowledges the danger that if geoengineering were to become seen as a proven solution to rising global temperatures, there would be a strong temptation to forego costly emissions reductions and simply press ahead with geoengineering to counteract the results of rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere instead.

"You [need to] do geoengineering during the time that you slow down emissions. In the long run, you have to bring emissions to zero," he says.

According to Keith, if we want a stable climate, we must eventually stop putting more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. "Carbon dioxide is like filling a bathtub. The climate risk comes from the historical sum of all emissions. The only way to stop adding to that risk is to stop putting more carbon dioxide in."

"But let's say you're going to stop carbon dioxide emissions over 100 years. If you do this solar geoengineering, you could spread out the climate change over 200 years, slowing down the amount of climate change, and I would say most climate risks have to do with the rate of change."

Keith is not calling for an immediate adoption of geoengineering. What he wants to see is scientific and political energy poured into research into geoengineering's possibilities and risks, and a robust public debate so that informed policy decisions can be made about whether it's a viable tool to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

[You can hear Michael Enright's entire conversation with David Keith this weekend in Hour 2 of The Sunday Edition, which begins at 10:05 a.m. on CBC Radio One, or in the audio-player link at the top-left of this page.]


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Peter MacKay wishes Canada's Afghan troops had been better prepared

With Canada's mission in Afghanistan finally in the past, former defence minister Peter MacKay has acknowledged the government could have done more for its soldiers.

In a sober interview on CBC Radio's The House, MacKay said a mission as complex as Afghanistan "always causes pause for reflection."

MacKay said he wished, in some ways, that Canada had "provided more equipment, helicopters, mine-clearing equipment in the early days."

Looking back at Afghanistan

CBC News Network's Power & Politics and CBC Radio's The House will look back at Canada's mission in Afghanistan and whether it was a success.

Listen to The House's special edition on Afghanistan March 29 at 9 a.m. on CBC Radio One and SiriusXM channel 169.

Watch and take part in Power & Politics' special town hall edition on Canada's mission in Afghanistan on March 31, starting at 5 p.m. ET on CBC News Network.

"I don't think the ferocity of the mission perhaps dawned on even military leaders, let alone political leaders of two different governments," he said.

"In retrospect, we could have perhaps prepared our soldiers better through both equipment and training."

For Canada, the war in Afghanistan cost the lives of 158 soldiers, one diplomat, one journalist and two civilian contractors.

But the losses weren't confined to the borders of Afghanistan.

Soldiers returning home faced harrowing personal battles. The recent spate of suicides of Afghan vets created a national sense of urgency about post-traumatic stress disorder and many Canadians, including federal opposition parties, are demanding better care for Canada's military personnel.

Former chief of defence staff Rick Hillier is among them.

In December, he said the suicides were a tragic and needless loss of life, saying "young men and women have lost confidence in our country to support them" and called for a public board of inquiry into the Canadian Forces' handling of mental health issues.

It's also something that weighs on MacKay's mind. 

"I wish we could have, perhaps, been able to reach out into our country's mental health providers to enlist their support that's needed now," MacKay said.

Creating a 'security umbrella'

But the cabinet minister also noted the government has made ambitious efforts to do that, including doubling the complement of mental health professionals and setting up joint personnel support units.

"We have 20-year-old veterans in this country that are battle-hardened, that are combat veterans, this is something we haven't seen in a generation. And that has been a shock to the country's collective system."

More than 40,000 Canadian Forces members have been deployed to Afghanistan since October 2001. 

Military operations wrapped up in 2011 and Canadian efforts were dedicated to training Afghan soldiers, along with peace-building and humanitarian development. 

Creating that security umbrella, MacKay said, is the root of Canada's participation in Afghanistan.

"That's perhaps the biggest challenge … the lack of governance and the undeniable corruption," he said, adding that Canada will continue to support front-line agencies and government departments in the country. 

The last group of Canadian soldiers involved in the NATO training mission were welcomed home on March 18, at a ceremony where Prime Minister Stephen Harper designated May 9 as a national day of honour to commemorate Canada's mission in Afghanistan.


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No sign of Malaysian jet after 2nd day in new search area

A Chinese military plane scanning part of a search zone the size of Poland for signs of debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 spotted several objects floating in the sea on Saturday, including two bearing colours of the missing jet.

But it was not immediately clear whether the objects were related to the three-week-old investigation, and the second day of searching in the area ended with no evidence found of the jet, officials said.

The Chinese Ilyushin IL-76 spotted three floating objects, China's official Xinhua News Agency said, a day after several planes and ships combing the newly targeted area closer to Australia saw several other objects.

Ships from China and Australia scooped up items described only as "objects from the ocean," but none was "confirmed to be related" to Flight 370, said a statement from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is overseeing the search.

Mystery of Malaysia Flight 370

Tune in Sunday, March 30 at 10 p.m. ET/PT to The Passionate Eye on CBC News Network for a documentary that unravels the theories and probes the mysterious disappearance of Flight MH370.

Relatives and friends of the passengers said they were tortured by the uncertainty over the fate of their loved ones, as they wait for hard evidence that the plane crashed.

"This is the trauma of maybe he's dead, maybe he's not. Maybe he's still alive and we need to find him. Maybe he died within the first hour of the flight, and we don't know," Sarah Bajc, the American girlfriend of U.S. passenger Philip Wood, said in Beijing.

"I mean, there's absolutely no way for me to reconcile that in my heart," she said.

2 colours match plane's exterior: Chinese medi

The three objects spotted by the Chinese plane Saturday were white, red and orange in colour, the Xinhua report said. The missing Boeing 777's exterior was red, white, blue and grey.

An Australian PC3 Orion search plane also sighted objects in a different part of the search area, but the maritime safety authority did not describe those objects in greater detail.

An image captured a day earlier by a New Zealand plane showed a white rectangular object floating in the sea, but it was not clear whether it was related to the missing jet or was just sea trash.

Flight 370 disappeared March 8 while bound from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and investigators have been puzzled over what happened aboard the plane, with speculation ranging from equipment failure and a botched hijacking to terrorism or an act by one of the pilots.

The latter was fuelled by reports that the pilot's home flight simulator had files deleted from it, but Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said checks, including one by the FBI, had turned up no new information.

"What I know is that there is nothing sinister from the simulators, but of course that will have to be confirmed by the chief of police," he said.

Newly analyzed satellite data shifted the search zone on Friday, raising expectations that searchers may be closer to getting physical evidence that the plane crashed in the Indian Ocean with 239 people aboard.

That would also help narrow the hunt for the wreckage and the plane's black boxes, which could contain clues to what caused the plane to be so far off-course.

The U.S. Navy has already sent equipment that can detect pings from the back boxes, and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters in Sydney that the equipment would be put on an Australian naval ship soon.

"It will be taken to the most prospective search area and if there is good reason to deploy it, it will be deployed," he said, without giving a time frame. Other officials have said it could take days for the ship — the Ocean Shield — to reach the search area.

The newly targeted zone is nearly 1,130 kilometres northeast of sites the searchers have crisscrossed for the past week. The redeployment came after analysts determined that the Boeing 777 may have been travelling faster than earlier estimates and would therefore have run out of fuel sooner.

The new search area is closer to Perth than the previous one, with a flying time of 2 1/2 hours each way, allowing for five hours of search time, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

AMSA said five P-3 Orions — three from Australia and one each from Japan and New Zealand — plus a Japanese coast guard jet, the Chinese Ilyushin IL-76, and one civilian jet acting as a communications relay took part Saturday.

CBC's Saša Petricic spoke to an Australian pilot who had just returned from a flight back to the Pearce air force base north of Perth. Lt. Russell Adams said the wind was picking up and rain was starting to fall, making it difficult to spot the difference between whitecaps and pieces of debris.

Some family members in Beijing said they want to fly to Kuala Lumpur to seek more answers from the government, but an airline representative said it may have to wait a day because of a lack of hotel space this weekend because of the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix race on Sunday.

Steve Wang, a representative of some of the Chinese families in Beijing, said about 50 relatives wanted to go to Malaysia because they were not happy with the responses given by Malaysian government representatives in China.

"Because they sent a so-called high-level group to meet us, but they have not been able to answer all our questions," he said. "It's either they are not in charge of a certain aspect of work or that it's still being investigated, or it's not convenient for them to comment."

Malaysia Airlines' commercial director, Hugh Dunleavy, said Saturday in Beijing that the airline was trying to facilitate the relatives' travel to Kuala Lumpur, but that plans had not been confirmed because of the difficulties in booking hotels this weekend.

If investigators can determine that the plane went down in the newly targeted zone — which spans about 319,000 square kilometres — recovery of its flight data and cockpit voice recorders could be complicated.

Much of the sea floor in the area is about 2,000 metres below the surface, but depths may reach a maximum of about 6,000 metres at its easternmost edge.

The hunt for the plane focused first on the Gulf of Thailand, along the plane's planned path. But when radar data showed it had veered sharply west, the search moved to the Andaman Sea, off the western coast of Malaysia, before pivoting to the southern Indian Ocean, southwest of Australia.


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Unpaid internship crackdown won't ease young jobseekers' suffering

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 28 Maret 2014 | 21.48

For labour-rights crusaders seeking to protect Canadian youth from being exploited, it was a victory. For some unpaid keeners grateful for a chance to pad their resumes in a grim job market, it was a shame.

Either way, students say they'll continue to suffer even after Thursday's crackdown against unpaid internships by the Ontario Ministry of Labour — action that led to the shuttering of two internship programs at the popular Canadian magazines Toronto Life and The Walrus.

Unpaid internships in Ontario

There are a 6 conditions that must be met in order for an unpaid internship not to be in breach of Ontario's Employment Standards Act:

  1. The training is similar to that which is given in a vocational school.
  2. The training is for the benefit of the intern. You receive some benefit from the training, such as new knowledge or skills.
  3. The employer derives little, if any, benefit from the activity of the intern while he or she is being trained.
  4. Your training doesn't take someone else's job.
  5. Your employer isn't promising you a job at the end of your training.
  6. You have been told that you will not be paid for your time.

— Source: Ontario Ministry of Labour

"At the end of the day, it's we who lose," said Alex, a retail management student at Toronto's Ryerson University who didn't want his last name published because he is still applying for jobs in the fashion industry.

"Just saying 'We have to scrap [unpaid internship programs] right away,' that's acting on emotion. It doesn't help."

The 30-year-old has interned for free as an assistant to a tailor and also worked unpaid for six months helping to run the Canadian branch of a luxury Italian fashion house.

Both were valuable learning experiences for the aspiring supply chain manager.

"But the only reason I could take them was because I had supplementary income. I live with my family, so it wasn't like I wasn't getting any financial support," he said.

That's part of the problem with the unpaid internship structure, according to Andrew Langille, a labour lawyer who runs the workplace law website YouthandWork.com.

Raise glass ceiling

Langille hailed the ministry's announcement and pledge to launch an inspection "blitz" against other industries with unpaid internship programs. He said the internships raise another "glass ceiling."

He rejected arguments from those who say that the setup is fair because the worker and the company agree to the provision of free labour.

"People ask what's the harm?" Langille said. "Well, it cuts out people who can't afford to do unpaid internships; it can [favour] people based on their socioeconomic class. It erodes any notion of meritocracy."

Second-year business student John Liu said he was encouraged to see the ministry of labour taking action on the matter. But he said he expects things to remain bleak for the current generation desperate to enter the workforce.

seaborn

Claire Seaborn, president of the Canadian Intern Association, which advocates against the exploitation of interns, poses with NDP MP Andrew Cash. Seaborn was one of six witnesses called to a House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, where she was asked about unpaid internships. (Courtesy Andrew Attfield)

In his first year at York University, Liu, 19, worked once a week for six months at a Canadian brokerage firm, shadowing a company director and helping with filing and researching client portfolios.

"I still think ultimately, work is work, and in our day and age, there are no jobs," he said at a Ryerson campus café.

"Personally, I think if the work is good, unpaid is totally justified. It can be a very fair opportunity. My resume says 'internship.' Nobody ever asks me 'was it paid?' They just want to know what did you do?"

Lauren Chapman and Chelsea Kostrey, first-year fashion communications students at Ryerson, are required to log 400 internship hours over the course of their four-year program.  Both students have considered pursuing unpaid internships, but they worry about companies in their industry closing internship programs to avoid breaching labour rules that are now being enforced.

'It still sucks'

''Personally, I think if the work is good, unpaid is totally justified'- John Liu, second-year business student

"It still sucks. I just don't think the same amount of people will hire the same amount of people," Chapman said. "We want the experience in the industry, but now it's like it would just be a bonus if we could get paid."

That's become an accepted norm that Claire Seaborn, president of the Canadian Intern Association, is hoping will change. She's optimistic that Ontario's clampdown on violations against the province's Employment Standards Act could have a ripple effect.

"British Columbia's laws are already very strong. I'm cautiously optimistic they'll follow Ontario's lead and put some more enforcement into this," the 25-year-old University of Ottawa law student said.

john-liu-852

John Liu, a 19-year-old business student, interned unpaid once a week for six months last year. He found the experience rewarding and said unpaid opportunities are sometimes necessary, particularly in a bleak youth labour market. (Matt Kwong/CBC)

Seaborn, who completed two unpaid internships herself, understands the concerns of young people desperate for any opportunity to get a foothold in the labour market.

"I can see why somebody would choose to take an unpaid internship, which is why we don't discourage them from taking them," she said. "We discourage the companies from offering them because the burden should be on the employers…to enforce the laws."

Rather than "stomping their feet" and all-out disbanding their internship programs, Seaborn said Toronto Life and The Walrus could simply satisfy the Employment Standards Act by offering minimum wage.

"How much does it really cost to pay five interns the minimum wage? It's not an expensive endeavour, if you wanted to do the math on how much senior staff make," she said.

Josh Mandryk, the 25-year-old co-chair of a Toronto organization called Students Against Unpaid Internship Scams, agrees that "proactive enforcement" could eventually change how companies structure their internship programs. Mandryk foresees more unpaid interns becoming emboldened to file grievances with the government to recoup wages they feel they deserve.

"I imagine some of these folks will be filing complaints now that this announcement has been made, and there's some good basis for it," Mandryk said.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour said in a statement Thursday that its inspections of magazine companies are ongoing, and that "pending any appeal, the workers involved have to be paid."

Full disclosure from CBC:

  • CBC News has an unpaid internship program that runs for six weeks.
  • Our program was established with the support of the Canadian Media Guild union.​
  • Interns must be recommended by the journalism schools with which we have a relationship. Only a limited number of interns are considered and accepted.
  • Internships are closely supervised and structured as a valuable learning opportunity.

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The Russia options for a weakened NATO: Brian Stewart

We've now heard from the supreme commander of NATO in Europe, Gen. Philip Breedlove, that the 150,000 Russian combat troops on Ukraine's eastern border are "very, very sizable and very, very ready."

NATO on the other hand is "unwilling, unable and unready," at least if you go by some of its vocal military critics in recent years.

Breedlove would contest that description, and NATO remains, after all, the largest and most successful military alliance in history. The problem with history, however, is that the 28-nation alliance has seen better and certainly more coherent days.

From a military standpoint, the Ukraine crisis hits Europe at a time when its European members have slashed $45 billion from their militaries in recent years (the equivalent of the entire German defence budget).

Those cuts have left the U.S. to carry 75 per cent of the NATO burden, and they are coming at a time when Washington has been showing much less interest in European security, as it "pivots" its military strategy to the Pacific.

By contrast, Russian military spending has surged 92 per cent in just four years and will rise by 18 per cent this year, according to the authoritative Janes Defence Weekly military publications and Russian state figures.

Clearly, NATO did not expect to see this echo of the Cold War erupt, and defence analysts are wondering just how fit and flexible the alliance will be if tensions escalate further — not just along Ukraine's borders, but in other areas where NATO members abut Russia.

The immediate need is to ensure those same very ready Russian forces don't move into eastern and southern Ukraine, as they did in Crimea, to "protect" Russian speaking minorities, as Vladimir Putin would have it.

This would be a catastrophe for both Ukraine and the stability of Europe.

Stay out of Ukraine

At this point, it's clear that diplomats might have a few more tools than the generals to try and shore up Ukraine's independence.

These would include further economic sanctions against Putin's regime, more diplomatic isolation of Moscow, and urgent economic and technical assistance for Kyiv as it tries to build a democratic state free of the suffocating corruption that has crippled it almost since it became independent in 1991.

Another wrinkle here is that Europe has grown critically reliant on Russian energy supplies. And clearly a formula must be found to reduce Ukraine's and probably central Europe's dependence on Russian energy.

UKRAINE-CRISIS/DISMISSAL

Ukraine's new acting Defence Minister Mykhailo Koval, the former head of the Ukrainian border guard. His predecessor, Ihor Tenyukh, was let go over his handling of Crimea's annexation. (Reuters)

Militarily, however, the kind of help that has been discussed for Ukraine's poor-cousin armed forces is strikingly limited.

It would include some technical support, satellite intelligence and communications upgrades to counter any cyberwar. Plus real uniforms and "military meals."

Ukraine, of course, is not a member of NATO, and too much involvement by the alliance at this point would almost certainly heighten tensions dramatically.

Offering to shore up Ukraine's military, NATO believes, would be a step much too far in a country for which Russia has deep emotional ties and considers part of its, though now much reduced, sphere of influence.

Concern about provoking Russia unnecessarily was why so many in NATO were always cool to Ukrainian membership whenever it was brought up.

One of the strongest opponents of Ukrainian membership in NATO was the former Cold War-era diplomat /strategist Henry Kissinger, who continues to warn that such a move would topple Europe's delicate balance of powers.

"Far too often the Ukrainian issue is posed as a showdown: whether Ukraine joins the East or the West," he wrote last week in the Washington Post.

"But if the Ukraine is to survive and thrive, it must not be either side's outpost against the other — it should function as a bridge between the two."

One for all?

Even leaving Ukraine aside, NATO has other potential crises on its flanks, where it is obliged by treaty to protect increasingly nervous NATO members who are also neighbours of Russia.

These include the three former Soviet Union satellites, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all with fragile economies and significant Russian minorities; as well as the much larger Poland, a former member of the Soviet Union's Warsaw Pact military alliance.

Including Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was always controversial within NATO because they are so far east and so difficult to defend.

Still, they made it in and now demand NATO show it would be ready to honour its famous (Article 5) guarantee that an attack on one member involves an attack on all.

In recent weeks, the U.S., with U.K. support to come, has rushed in limited fighter plane and other  air support for the Baltic members, as well as 300 support staff and some naval units.

UKRAINE-CRISIS/

Russian sailors mill about onboard the Suzdalets at the Crimean port of Sevastopol earlier this week. As many as 150,000 Russian troops are also taking part in exercises along Ukraine's eastern boundary. (Reuters)

But so cautious a response has not eased the nervousness in the region, which has been warning NATO for years about Russian ambitions.  

Some of their fears stem from the large military exercises Moscow has run in the Baltic region in recent years, including some that simulate attacks on Lithuania and Poland.

NATO, it should be noted, also exercises units in the Baltic region, while Poland has recently launched a substantial arms buildup of its own in response to Russia's.

These days, NATO is also hearing rising security concerns and demands for reassurance from nations such as Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria , as well as both the Czech and Slovak Republics.

Here, NATO's worries are not limited to military pressure-tactics, but encompass the deep political crises and anti-democratic trends in some of these Eastern Europe countries, where crony-capitalism and the leverage of Russian gas supplies open new doors to Putin's influence.

No, this is not the old Cold War. Today's Russia is weaker than the West, even with few European powers ready for yet another arms race with Moscow.

But if Putin's regime really does feel that NATO's once triumphant march to the east is at least in part reversible, given the right pressure points, then NATO's very credibility is about to be severely tested, yet again.


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Why airlines don't live-stream black box data

International teams have spent nearly three weeks looking for evidence of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane, a search that includes the hunt for the aircraft's so-called black box, which holds flight data that would likely explain what caused MH370 to deviate from its course.

But many aviation experts wonder why, in our increasingly networked world, divers are scouring the Indian Ocean for a metal box when technology already exists that would enable planes to stream black box data to the ground in the event of an emergency.

"Look at how much money has been spent, on this crash and others, just to do the post-mortem," says Doug Perovic, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Toronto.

"It's crazy, when the technology [to stream the data] is already there."

Mystery of Malaysia Flight 370

Tune in Sunday, March 30 at 10 p.m. ET/PT to The Passionate Eye on CBC News Network for a documentary that unravels the theories and probes the mysterious disappearance of Flight MH370.

By some estimates, it would have cost just a few thousand dollars in satellite time if MH370's black box had been primed to live-stream its data over the estimated seven hours that followed that first dramatic veering off course.

Black boxes have been on planes since the late 1950s, and now every commercial aircraft has two: a flight data recorder (FDR) and a voice recorder. (Although they are referred to as black boxes, they are typically orange in colour, making them easier to spot in murky waters.)

According to standards set by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the FDR must contain a minimum of 88 data "parameters" on the flight conditions of an aircraft, from time of day to altitude, air speed and acceleration.

Housed in a metal shell built to withstand extreme temperatures and pressure, black box recorders are mainly used to investigate the cause of in-flight accidents.

While black boxes are built to survive a crash and long-term submersion in water, they also have a built-in design flaw – if a plane has gone down in the ocean, it can be an enormous challenge to find the device. While each box contains a beacon, the unit only has enough battery power to transmit a signal for 30 days.

After the crash of Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean in June 2009, it took divers two years to find the black box.

Technology in place now

The disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines flight, and the thwarted efforts thus far to locate its black boxes, has led some aviation experts to doubt their usefulness.

Pierre Jiennot, a Canadian engineer who helped perfect black box technology while working at Air Canada about 40 years ago, feels that the device, in its current form, is "obsolete."

He started to question its effectiveness more than a decade ago, after seeing the extent of the plane wreckage in the 2001 attacks on the World Trade towers in New York.

"The black boxes were pulverized," he says. He thought back then that it would be far more efficient to be able to transmit that flight data to the ground.

Air France black box

Flight data recorders, such as this one recovered from an Airbus A340 crash in Toronto on Aug. 4, 2005, are housed in metal casing to withstand extreme temperatures and pressure. (Nicki Corrigall/The Ottawa Citizen-Canwest News Service)

"It seemed obvious to me that we could have had the information piped through a satellite instead of having to … look for a black box," says Jiennot, who is now on the advisory board of Star Navigation Systems Group, a Toronto-based firm that has built a live-streamed black box system.

Calgary-based FLYHT Aerospace Solutions sells a similar system. Called the Automated Flight Information Reporting System (AFIRS), FLYHT's product combines the infrastructure of the internet and the constellation of 66 satellites operated by Virginia-based Iridium Communications.

When a plane experiences an adverse event, AFIRS can send streaming data off the aircraft to one of Iridium's 66 satellites and then down to ground-based servers, where the message is interpreted and sent to the airline.

The infrastructure for this type of system has existed since about 2000, but it wasn't until after the Air France crash that airlines took it seriously, says Richard Hayden, sales director for FLYHT.

"The loss of one of the most sophisticated aircraft in the sky in 2009 [the Airbus A330-203 in the Air France flight from Brazil] basically woke people up to the fact that the tools that were being used at that stage were inadequate for dealing with emergency situations," says Hayden.

Even so, he notes, "aviation doesn't move very quickly to adopt change." 

Because of ever-present safety concerns, the industry is highly regulated and new technology is subject to rigorous vetting.

"Some of that inherent caution and conservatism is why airplanes are so safe," Hayden says.

The cost factor

While there is widespread approval of a live-streamed black box system, most airlines see the cost of integrating it prohibitive, says Bill Norwood, vice-president of products and technology for JDA Aviation Technology Solutions, a Maryland-based consultancy firm.

Norwood says that the airline industry is reticent to add costs that will further erode the bottom line. This is an industry with notoriously low profit margins, he says.

According to The Economist magazine, airlines have average profit margins of just one per cent, and in 2012, "they made profits of only $4 for every passenger carried." This is largely due to the cost of fuel and government fees.

Norwood says the chief cost in using a live-streamed black box system is transmitting the data through satellites, which will have a direct bearing on the cost of every flight.

"In the realm of making the flight profitable or not profitable, if they start [live-streaming black box data], the flight is no longer profitable," he says.

That view reflects a lack of understanding about what the technology is capable of, says Hayden, who adds that FLYHT has sold 350 units of its AFIRS system and has orders for 250 more.

He says the AFIRS system doesn't stream black box data for every hour of every flight. It only begins streaming data once an irregular event has occurred, which reduces the satellite transmission costs significantly.

Hayden says that based on Iridium's pricing, it would cost about $5 to $7 US per minute to transmit black box data via their satellites to the ground.

He estimates that if this technology had been on board the missing Malaysian Airlines flight and live-streaming for the estimated seven hours after the flight first experienced a problem, it would have cost about $3,000.

Given how much time, money and effort has been expended on the luckless search for MH370's black box, the cost of operating a live-streaming version seems like a trifle, says U of T's Perovic.

"I don't think it's a prohibitive cost, particularly with something where the risk factors are high."

Mystery of Malaysia Flight 370

Tune in Sunday, March 30 at 10 p.m. ET/PT to The Passionate Eye on CBC News Network for a documentary that unravels the theories and probes the mysterious disappearance of Flight MH370.


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Rob Ford to CBC: 'I'm not a criminal'

Rob Ford touted his "proven track record of success" in an interview with host Matt Galloway on CBC Toronto's Metro Morning radio show today, despite a year in which the Toronto mayor has been mired in scandal.

Ford spent much of the interview talking about his record as a fiscal conservative who's helped boost business in Canada's largest city while controlling costs at city hall.

"We're booming," said Ford, who is seeking re-election in the Oct. 27 vote. "Tourism is up, taxes are down. When people go to bed at night, they can trust me with their hard-earned taxpayer dollars."

Later in the interview, Galloway asked Ford about some of the scandals that have enveloped his office in the past year, including his admission to smoking crack cocaine and pending extortion charges against his friend and former driver Sandro Lisi.

Here's how the exchange went:

rob.ford.metro.morning

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford appeared on Metro Morning Friday, telling host Matt Galloway 'I am not a criminal' in response to questions about his bevaviour over the last year. (David Donnelly/CBC)

Galloway: "Why should anybody trust anything that you say?

Ford: "I have a proven track record of 14 years of success"

Galloway: "And part of that track record is you lying about smoking crack, lying about a reporter being in your backyard  … lying about saying you weren't going to drink anymore, and you were caught again drinking …. So based on that, why should anyone trust anything that you say?"

How much?

Ford: "Was I perfect? No. I'm not a criminal … I haven't been charged with anything. Don't call me a criminal, Matt, because I'm not a criminal."

Ford also restated his demand that if police have a tape of him smoking crack, it should be released. He said he wants to know how much police are spending investigating him.

Watch all the candidate interviews

Metro Morning host Matt Galloway interviewed five Toronto mayoralty candidates this week.

You can watch videos of all the interviews here:

Galloway then continued to ask Ford about his record in office: "You've admitted to buying drugs, you've admitted to smoking crack … those are behaviours I think that a lot of people would characterize as criminal and as not becoming the office of mayor. Do you think those behaviours should be considered alongside the rest of your record?"

Ford: "It's part of it. What you're saying has been said for the last year, over and over. People are blocking it out. If people want to judge me on my personal life, go ahead, people are going to judge me on my record."

During the interview — which you can watch by clicking on the image at the top of this story — Ford once again stated his often-repeated line that he's saved the city "a billion dollars."

Tax saving?

Yesterday, the city manager came short of backing that claim, saying the city has implemented a number of initiatives that have added up to $972 million in budget savings.

Ford said the elimination of the $60 car registration tax accounts for $240 million, pushing him over the $1 billion total.

Galloway challenged the mayor on this, saying the car tax elimination represents a reduction of revenue, not a savings in expenditures.

"To me … that is a tax reduction," said Ford. "When you don't have to pay that $60, I have saved the taxpayers over years more than $240 million."

"My character speaks for itself"

Ford again repeated that he's done everything he's promised to do, which he said speaks to his character. He said he has never missed a debate and would put his attendance record against anyone's on city council.

He characterized his use of crack as "experimenting with drugs," and said it is behind him.

"This is not something that happened last night," he said. "For the last year, every day the media's talked about it. I've admitted to it. And people know that. So what more do you want me to say?"

Ford pointed to his weight loss as a sign he has moved past crack use. "Look at me, I'm a lot thinner than I was before," he said to Galloway. "It's about living a healthier life."

Ford ended the interview by saying that 90 per cent of Toronto would agree that they are better off than they were four years ago. 

Ford opponents Olivia Chow, David Soknacki, John Tory and Karen Stintz all appeared on Metro Morning this week.


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What should gender-neutral washroom signs look like?

The Vancouver Park Board is seeking public input on its plans to install gender-neutral washrooms and the signage that will advertise them.

A draft report released on Thursday notes that future washroom design will likely have to change. It also recommends retro-fitting current washrooms to create more space to accommodate different genders while maintaining privacy.

hi-gender-neutral-washroom

A gender neutral washroom sign installed last year at the University of Alberta. The Vancouver park board is currently debating some colourful alternatives to signs like this one. (CBC)

The report says the change rooms at the Killarney and Hillcrest aquatic centres are good examples of what this type of new design might look like.

Last September, Vancouver City Council passed amendments to the city's building code and bylaws to permit gender-neutral washrooms in public buildings.

The park board says it eventually plans to expand gender-neutrality to change rooms as well as washrooms in all its recreational facilities.

it is considering a variety of signage including an upside-down rainbow triangle, to show transgendered persons they are welcome,  gender-neutral signage that shows just toilets, or male and female silhouettes with wording that also welcomes transgendered men and women.

For some transgendered persons, going to a public washroom can create anxiety and fear. Vancouver Park Board Commissioner Trevor Loke says it's a human rights issue.

Transgendered signs

The park board is also debating neutral signage or signage with male and female symbols that also welcome transgendered persons. (Vancouver Park Board)

"It's based on a number of complaints we've had around harassment and abuse, both physical and verbal, in washrooms."

Gender-neutral washrooms have already been, or are about to be installed, in several public jurisdictions in Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

People will have an opportunity to comment on the draft report next Tuesday night at the Coal Harbour Community Centre and online. 

The final report goes before the Park Board, Apr. 28.


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Is Hillary Clinton too old to be president?

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 25 Maret 2014 | 21.49

Does age matter when it comes to who occupies the White House? That's a question that could be asked with more frequency should Hillary Clinton decide to seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. president, as she is widely expected to do, and as the Republican field of potential candidates fills up with 40-year-olds.

The former first lady and secretary of state will turn 67 in October, meaning she would be moving back into the White House at 69 if she won the 2016 election. Most U.S. presidents have been in their 40s or 50s when they took office, including the current president Barack Obama who was 47 when he won, so Clinton would be one of the oldest.

What role, if any, Clinton's age might play — in her decision and in the race if she does go for it — has already been the subject of some debate. It may be rude to talk about a woman's age, but politics plays by different rules.

Fox News host Mike Huckabee, who hasn't ruled out another run at the Republican nomination (he tried in 2008), said last month that he's not sure Clinton will run.

"I think everybody assumes she will but look, she's going to be at an age where it's going to be a challenge for her," he said before going on to criticize her record as the U.S.'s top diplomat.

National Journal columnist Charlie Cook recently broached the topic in a piece that prompted more than 4,200 comments on the magazine's website as well as accusations of sexism.

Cook didn't say that Clinton shouldn't run because of her age, he tried to make the point that perhaps she herself is taking it into consideration in making her decision. Becoming president is typically a nine-year commitment by taking a year to run then serving two four-year terms, the maximum allowed.

Worries about wrinkles

Cook wrote that her rigorous schedule as secretary of state took a toll on Clinton's health and that the pace of a campaign is even more intense and she would be enduring it at an older age.

"This is not necessarily an end-all-be-all argument that she should or would not run, simply that she likely would have to think long and hard as to whether she is physically up to the rigours of running and serving in office," he wrote. 

Joe-Biden-age

Vice-President Joe Biden smiles during a meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, on March 19. Biden would be 73 during the 2016 election and is rumoured to be interested in running. (Mindaugas Kulbis/Associated Press)

Howard Kurtz noted in a Media Buzz column on Foxnews.com on the questions being raised about Clinton's age that women politicians are scrutinized more than men when it comes to their birthdays.

"Hillary — she of the ever-changing hairstyles — has to worry about wrinkles in a way that male candidates do not." He also warned that if Clinton critics try and use her age against her it could backfire.

Indeed the Republicans will have to be careful if they want to make an issue out of her age. Baby Boomer voters may be insulted and alienated if they claim someone in their late 60s is too old to be president. Plus their own candidate in 2008, Sen. John McCain, was 72 when he ran against Obama.

Vice-President Joe Biden, who would be 73 come election time, hasn't ruled out a run for the top job and some Republicans have been contrasting his and Clinton's ages with their own potential 2016 candidates.

"Don't tell me that Democrats are the party of the future when their presidential ticket for 2016 is shaping up to look like a re-run of The Golden Girls," Sen. Mitch McConnell told last year's Conservative Political Action Conference.

"We've got Rand Paul, we've got Marco Rubio, we've got Paul Ryan and a slew of smart, young and energetic governors. And the other guys? They've got Hillary and Joe Biden," he said.

Democrats have 'old, tired candidates'

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a 42-year-old Republican who is said to be interested in running for president, has said the Democrats have "old, tired candidates."

If Clinton's and Biden's ages are used against them in the presidential race, the Republicans likely won't be arguing that they are too old to carry out their duties, but rather they've just been around too long, their ideas are stale, and the White House should belong to a younger, fresher face. 

Marco-Rubio-age

Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 8. Rubio, 42, could be a candidate for his party in the 2016 election. (J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press)

The oldest of the potential candidates mentioned by McConnell is Rand Paul at 51, the rest are in their 40s and will be counted on to attract younger voters, who convincingly chose Obama over Mitt Romney and McCain in the last two elections.  

If it is Clinton on the ballot in 2016, she could try and counter the Republican spin on her age by arguing that she's been working in politics virtually as long as some of their potential candidates have been alive and she has the experience they lack to lead the country.

But Clinton, and her husband Bill, are polarizing figures and her age likely will have nothing to do with whether she gets elected or not.

"If Hillary Clinton runs for president and doesn't win it's not going to be because of her age,' the National Journal's Cook said in an interview.

The Democrats have been in for two terms and Obama's approval ratings are abysmal, voters may be looking for a change no matter who is running for the Democrats, he said.

Clinton also has her share of critics based solely on her own record as a New York senator and as secretary of state.

First thing is first though — Clinton has to decide if she will run.

"Having turned 60, I can tell you that people don't make eight or nine-year commitments lightly when they're in their 60s, particularly their late 60s," said Cook.

If Clinton does become president in 2016, she still won't hold the record for oldest elected president — that title goes to the president who is revered, adored and considered nearly flawless by Republicans, Ronald Reagan. He was inaugurated in 1981 at the age of 69, and turned 70 two weeks later. He was 77 when he left the White House.


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Human traffickers going unpunished in Canada, experts say

After nearly a decade, a law designed to catch human traffickers who exploit vulnerable people has netted few charges and even fewer convictions in Canada, anti-trafficking advocates complain.

There have been 35 human trafficking convictions since new laws to combat the problem came into effect in 2005, according to Public Safety Canada's latest report.

Among those cases, at least nine of the victims were under the age of 18 and two of those 35 cases involved trafficking for forced labour.

When it comes to charges, Statistics Canada data shows that 125 people were charged in Canada between 2005 and 2012 in incidents in which trafficking in persons was the most serious offence.

Under a Criminal Code provision established in November 2005, people can be charged with trafficking in persons if they recruit, conceal or otherwise exercise control over a person for the purpose of exploiting them.

Exploitation, under the law, means the victim believes that disobeying the trafficker puts their safety or the safety of loved ones at risk.

Human trafficking can include forced labour, forced prostitution and other sex-related work such as working for massage parlours and escort services.

Human trafficking charges by province

Check out this interactive map showing the number of charges issued in each province and territory for incidents in which trafficking in persons is the most serious offence.

'Too many people are getting away with it'

Winnipeg Conservative MP Joy Smith, an anti-human trafficking advocate, says more charges and convictions are warranted.

"I think too many are getting away with it," she said. "Basically because it was under the public radar screen, police weren't trained for human trafficking."

Joy Smith

Joy Smith, a Conservative MP from Winnipeg, says she's not satisfied with the current amounts of funding and education being aimed at combating human trafficking. (CBC)

Smith said that's now changing, but while police are getting trained, it's up to the courts to follow through.

"I'm very proud of our police forces  I have to say that, not just because my son's a police officer and I've seen the sacrifice they've put in," she said.

"But when they get the cases to court, the judges have to understand what human trafficking is. They too let people off, and you wonder, 'How does this happen?'"

The Conservative government has invested heavily to combat human trafficking. One of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's campaign promises in 2011 was to establish a national action plan.

The government committed $25 million spread over four years. This is on top of millions of dollars spent in provinces like Manitoba, which devotes $10 million a year to its sexual exploitation strategy.

Despite all the efforts to combat the issue, Smith says more is needed.

Christine, human trafficking victim

'Christine,' a Winnipeg woman in her early 30s, says she was lured into the sex trade and human trafficking a decade ago after she become addicted to crack. (CBC)

"I'm not satisfied yet with the amount of funding, and I'm not satisfied with the lack of education," she said.

CBC News spoke to a woman who says she was trafficked.

"Christine," whose identity CBC is concealing, is a Winnipeg woman in her early 30s. She says the law did not protect her, and the justice system doesn't see trafficked women as the victims of crime.

"Nobody bothers to take it the one step further and, again, ask, 'Why are you out there? What is it that's put you out there?'" she said.

Christine ran away from her suburban Winnipeg home a decade ago and was introduced to the city's tough North End crack scene through men that she was dating.

"I had gone from the suburban, going to the clubs and doing coke on weekends, to suddenly selling the drug in the North End," she said, adding that she eventually met her trafficker after becoming addicted to crack.

She moved in with his family and eventually they threatened to kick her out if she didn't start prostituting herself to support their drug habits.

Feeling trapped, Christine agreed.

"When I was done with a john, my trafficker would be right on the doorstep," she said. "I would barely even be able to get to the front steps and he would take the money out of my hand."

"I became their possession to be able to get drugs," she added.

Human trafficking under-reported, says prosecutor

Jennifer Mann, a Manitoba senior Crown attorney, said there is no question that human trafficking is happening, but it's a crime that is under-reported.

"We've had very few cases come to our attention in prosecutions," she said. "Victims of that crime don't typically go to police and report what's happening to them."

Det.-Sgt. Darryl Ramkissoon of the Winnipeg Police Service agrees that few victims come forward.

"A lot of times the girls don't want to go through the court process and it ends there," he said.

"A few of them will tell us they are being forced to do it."

Diane Redsky

Diane Redsky of the Canadian Women's Foundation says her research shows that about 50 per cent of all trafficked persons in Canada are aboriginal. (CBC)

He added that other charges, such as living off the avails of prostitution, are often laid in order to get victims out of the situation they are in.

"At least we get them to a safe place," he said.

Mann said the penalties for trafficking can be severe, up to 14 years in prison and even life in prison if other factors, like sexual assault and forcible confinement, are present in the case.

"They're certainly significant," she said. "They send the message to offenders that if you engage in this kind of conduct, you will be sentenced quite severely."

Sentences for the 35 convictions obtained in Canada ranged from one day to nine years imprisonment. One company was fined more than $200,000.

The majority of charges were laid in Ontario. Saskatchewan and the North show zero charges.

Manitoba also has zero charges, according to the Statistics Canada data, which only counts incidents in which trafficking was the most serious crime committed.

There may be additional charges that were not captured by the StatsCan survey. In fact, one Winnipeg woman was charged in 2010, but that was later dropped.

About half of all trafficked persons are aboriginal

The lack of convictions among provinces with a high proportion of aboriginal people is concerning to Diane Redsky, project director of the Canadian Women's Foundation's national task force on human trafficking of women and girls in Canada.

Redsky said her research shows that about 50 per cent of all trafficked persons are aboriginal.

"There is clearly an over-representation of aboriginal women," she said.

"We know that the majority of women and girls that are trafficked in Canada are marginalized, so they come from aboriginal, immigrant and refugee, racialized women, as well as women living in poverty."

More than 90 per cent of the convictions in Canada involve domestic human trafficking; the remaining cases involved people being brought into Canada from another country.

That's a gap that trafficking expert and author Benjamin Perrin says is "deeply concerning," as his research shows there are a large number of international victims in Canada from eastern Europe and Asia.

"Their traffickers have never been prosecuted and held accountable," he said.

"This suggests that the criminals behind these enterprises are getting away with impunity, profiting lucratively, and we should be extremely concerned that's the case."

But not all experts believe international sex trafficking is so rampant.

John Ferguson, a retired RCMP superintendent, says the lack of convictions around international sex trafficking in Canada may indicate that it is not that widespread.

"After so many years, after a decade of enforcement when you have so few charges," he said, "one can only surmise that the government's enforcement efforts have been in the wrong direction."

Ferguson said human trafficking for forced labour is the main form of trafficking in this country.

"I think sex trafficking does exist on the international stage in Canada, but not to any great extent," he said.

Too few questions being asked

Perrin said women are being trafficked into massage parlours and other sex-related industries, with too few questions being asked about how they got there and who is controlling them.

"We've documented cases of massage parlours in Canada being used essentially for debt bondage," he said.

Debt bondage involves women who come to Canada and are told they cannot leave the industry until they pay off an inflated debt to the trafficker that can be more than $50,000.

Status of Women Minister Kellie Leitch told CBC News the federal government is very concerned about human trafficking.

"These are heinous crimes. The individuals that are perpetrating these crimes need to be brought to prosecution, they need to be found," she said.

She points to Public Safety Canada's national action plan and more than $25 million in federal funding that has gone into developing a national strategy to combat human trafficking.

She added that more than $2.5 million in funding from her department has gone into programming to help identify challenges and take action on human trafficking across the country.

"We've funded local community projects to make sure that Canadians are aware of what is going on and they can deal with it." she said. "Over 52,000 Canadians have been educated on how to identify victims of these tragedies."

"My focus is making sure that the most vulnerable in society, those victims of human trafficking — mainly children and women — are the ones that we're looking out for." she said. "This has to be stopped."

Approximately 80 cases in which charges under human-trafficking-specific offences have been laid are currently before the courts.


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