Need a source? Ancestry.ca responds to Statistics Canada's sparse new Census

TORONTO, June 30, 2010 /Canada NewsWire/ - Yesterday, Statistics Canada acknowledged that it has changed the Canadian Census, removing historically critical sections of the census form like ethnicity, education, employment, income, housing and disability. This information will now be gathered from a new, voluntary, National Household Survey, and will never be released publicly.

Speak to Ancestry.ca Managing Director Karen Peterson about what this means for Canadians and what future generations will lose from this decision.

"It is ludicrous to cite privacy concerns when you're talking about the Census," says Peterson. "Personal census information remains private for 92 years. Future generations of Canadians who want to research their ancestors will not be able to do so with this new Census form. We are effectively erasing ourselves from history."

ABOUT ANCESTRY.CA

Officially Canada's leading website for family history resources, Ancestry.ca has 126 million Canadian records in such collections as the complete Historical Canadian Censuses from 1851 to 1916, Ontario and British Columbia vital records from as early as 1813, Quebec vital Records (The Drouin Collection), Canadian Passenger Lists and U.S. / Canada Border Crossings.

Ancestry.ca was launched in January 2006 and belongs to the global network of Ancestry websites (wholly owned by Ancestry.com Operations Inc.), which contains five billion records. To date more than 17 million family trees have been created and 1.7 billion names and 35 million photographs and stories uploaded. (Figures current as of June 1, 2010)

The Ancestry global network of family history websites - www.ancestry.ca in Canada

Can we bring Neanderthals back?

from HowStuffWorks.com
by Robert Lamb

Neanderthals and humans coexisted for thousands of years, but the relationship between the two human species was always a bit dysfunctional. Theories vary on whether we just took them into our beds or cooked their children for dinner, but either way we still wind up looking like jerks.

Most anthropologists believe that when times got tough and humans became more numerous, we simply made a stronger play for vital resources. It's been roughly 30,000 years since Neanderthals went extinct, but we're finally making an effort to learn everything there is to know about our long-dead and closest evolutionary peers. Maybe it's the guilt talking.

While archaeological finds continue to shed light on the Neanderthal way of life, recent advances in genetic science put us closer and closer to a comprehensive understanding of their physiology. At the center of this effort is the Neanderthal Genome Project, a collaboration among the U.S. companies 454 Life Sciences and Illumina and Germany's Max Planck Institute. The process entails extracting DNA from bones, removing contaminant DNA (such as that from bacteria or humans) and the reconstruction of the genome from decayed and chemically altered fragments.

In May 2010, the researchers presented a draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome. While the data answer many questions about such issues as Neanderthal language capacity and the genes they passed onto humans through interbreeding, we're still a long way from being able to resurrect one. Even with a completed genome sequence and artificially assembled DNA, the cloning options range from exceedingly difficult to beyond the scope of modern science... read more story at HowStuffWorks.com

Dramatic footage showing aftermath of tornado in Midland, Ontario

TORONTO, June 25, 2010 /Canada NewsWire/ - Insurance Bureau of Canada captured dramatic footage showing the devastation caused by a tornado that struck the town of Midland, Ontario on Wednesday, June 23. IBC immediately sent its Community Assistance Mobile Pavilion (CAMP) unit to Midland to offer insurance-related information to residents affected by the tornado.

About Insurance Bureau of Canada


Insurance Bureau of Canada is the national industry association representing Canada's private home, car and business insurers. Its member companies represent 90% of the property and casualty (P&C) insurance market in Canada. The P&C insurance industry employs over 110,000 Canadians, pays more than $6 billion in taxes to the federal, provincial and municipal governments, and has a total premium base of $39 billion.

Council of Canadians commends UN Right to Water Resolution

NEW YORK, June 18, 2010 /Canada NewsWire Telbec/ - The Council of Canadians was at the United Nations yesterday to support the historic presentation of a resolution on the right to water and sanitation and welcomed Bolivian Ambassador Pablo Solon's promotion of this initiative at the UN General Assembly.

But the Council of Canadians was disturbed to hear that inside a closed-meeting Canadian officials proved themselves once again the greatest obstacle to a resolution that would recognize the right to water and sanitation for the 1.2 billion people without access to clean water and the 2.6 billion without access to basic sanitation.

"We are shamed and outraged by the Harper government's position on this issue," said Maude Barlow, chairperson of the Council of Canadians. "Canadians clearly do not support the denial of these fundamental rights and we condemn this obstructionism which harms the opportunity for progress when so many of the world's most vulnerable people continue to suffer."

Barlow and Anil Naidoo, organizer for the Council of Canadians Blue Planet Project, were also in New York to brief the Group of 77 on water. At the briefing, the Group of 77 chairman, Ambassador al-Saidi of Yemen, announced his support for this resolution as did other influential G-77 countries.

Naidoo said,

"For years, in other UN processes, we have seen Canada obstruct progress on the human right to water. Now the issue is at the General Assembly. If Canadians do not let this government know blocking progress on the human right to water is not acceptable, Canada will be known as the country that blocked the human right to water, a stain that will not easily disappear."

Barlow adds,

"We are overdue for water to be acknowledged as a global priority, passing this resolution would send a strong signal that before the Millennium Development Goal review in September and before the next Earth Summit in 2012, that we are committed as a global community to address the suffering caused by the global water crisis."

She also highlighted this message for the prime minister,

"The right to water and sanitation is clearly an issue related to maternal health. A G20 agenda on maternal health without support for the right to water is a sham."

The next informal consultation on this issue is Wednesday, June 23rd and then in July. Unless it is blocked at the consultation phase, the resolution in its final form will go to the United Nations General Assembly and with its passage there the human right to water and sanitation would be officially recognized by the United Nations.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Launches first National Event

WINNIPEG, June 16, 2010 /Canada NewsWire Telbec/ - Hundreds of Indian Residential School survivors, together with Aboriginal leaders, church groups, government representatives and members of the public gathered today in Winnipeg for the opening ceremonies of the first National Event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC).

"Today, we welcome Canadians to join us in honouring all survivors of residential schools who are present and with us in spirit," stated Chief Wilton Littlechild, TRC Commissioner. "We invite you to open your hearts and minds, and affirm a genuine desire to see positive change for today and for generations to come."

Former students and others whose lives have been fundamentally impacted by the residential schools system have come together to talk with each other and to share their experiences with the Commission at the four day National Event. Included in those conversations are the voices of former staff and other school workers who have been contacted and encouraged to come forward.

"This is a story about Canada, and Canada needs to take notice of what it is that is being said," stated Justice Murray Sinclair, TRC Chair. "There is an unmistakable, absolute truth experienced when the person across from you summons up immeasurable courage to tell you something they may have never told anyone," he added. It is the type of truth that causes the most stoic of us to squirm."

The National Event is of great importance for non-aboriginal Canadians who may have had nothing whatsoever to do with the schools directly, but who have everything to gain from understanding what actually happened at them.

"We have before us an incredible opportunity to better understand and rewrite our own history," said TRC Commissioner Marie Wilson. "We can all learn from the lessons of the past, and walk toward respectful relations for the future... for the sake of the child taken and the parent left behind."

The four-day National Event is the first of seven to be held across Canada within five years. It is expected to draw thousands to participate in cultural exhibitions by First Nations, Métis and Inuit groups, film screenings, plays, art exhibits and musical performances.

Additional information about the TRC and the Winnipeg National Event is available at www.trc.ca, or by calling 1 (888) TRC-5554.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established as a result of the 2007 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. Its mandate is to inform all Canadians about what happened in the 150 year history of the residential schools, and guide and inspire a process of reconciliation and renewed relationships based on mutual understanding and respect.

Australian Anglican Church Says Population Growth May Break Commandment 'Thou Shall Not Steal'

What's an image of Gandhi doing here? Keeping reading... Photo: Ibrahim Areef via flickr.

from TreeHugger.com
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY

In what surely would be a hugely controversial move if had happened in the United States, the Australia's Anglican Church has come out saying that the nation should have fewer children and the government should scrap financial breaks for having bigger families on environmental grounds. They also recommend curbing immigration to reduce environmental pressure. The Church says that current rates of population growth in Australia are unsustainable and are out of step with the eight commandment (thou shall not steal).

''Out of care for the whole of creation, particularly the poorest of humanity and the life forms who cannot speak for themselves ... it is not responsible to stand by and remain silent,''

a discussion paper by the [Anglican Church] commission warns.

''Unless we take account of the needs of future life on Earth, there is a case that we break the eighth commandment - 'Thou shall not steal'.''

''In the context of unsustainable global population growth it is inconsistent and arguably irresponsible to provide financial incentives for population increase,''

the paper says. ( The Age)

Taking More Than Your Need Is Stealing

Read the original article (linked above) for the details of Australian government policy. That's not so much the interesting part to me so I won't go into it, but the fact that the Anglican Church of Australia links population growth and resource consumption to stealing is a really important point of eco-philosophy--and one I'm a bit surprised (in a good way) was made.

There's an interesting coincidence of Gandhian philosophy going on: Paraphrasing, think 'there's enough on Earth for everyone's need, but not everyone's greed'...read more story here

Words Reflect Our Culture

TORONTO, June 8, 2010 /Canada NewsWire/ - We all know that the words toque, poutine and, of course, eh are words rarely used outside of Canada but there are a lot more than you may realize including:

beaver fever (n) Canad. - an infectious disease caused by drinking water that has been contaminated by wildlife

flipper pie (n) Canad. - a Newfoundland pie with a filling of cooked seal flippers

garburator (n) Canad. - a garbage disposal unit installed as part of a kitchen sink

humidex (n) Canad. - a system of measuring discomfort showing the combined effect of humidity and temperature word origin C20: from humid +(in)dex

These words alone exemplify how unique we are as Canadians and why it's essential to have a dictionary that reflects those qualities. Just as importantly, dictionaries act as a record of our language and its constant evolution.

To celebrate the launch of the COLLINS CANADIAN DICTIONARY, HarperCollins and The Globe and Mail are launching The Thousand-Word Short Story Contest. Send us 1,000 words and don't miss your chance to be published in Canada's leading newspaper this summer. The only hitch to this short story contest? You've got to include at least 10 from a list of 40 Canadian words in your work to qualify.

Submissions, which must be in by Canada Day, will be read by a committee and the finalists will be chosen by a panel of judges consisting of:

Tish Cohen, best-selling author of Town House and The Truth About Delilah Blue
Martin Levin, esteemed Books Editor of The Globe and Mail
Iris Tupholme, Publisher of HarperCollins Canada Ltd.

The winning submission will be published in The Globe and Mail. For more details about the contest and to submit your story, visit www.collinscanadadictionary.ca.

With more than 175 years of experience in dictionary publishing, Collins is trusted and relied on by users all over the world. All Collins dictionaries are based on the Collins corpus - a four-billion word corpus of written and spoken English, updated every month, that shows how language is really used today. Among others, Canadian sources include The Globe and Mail, CBC transcripts, and Canadian books of fiction and non-fiction.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) - June 15th, 2010 - Toronto

TORONTO, June 4, 2010 /Canada NewsWire/ - Abuse and neglect of older persons is an alarming global problem that is largely under-estimated, under-recognized and under-reported. It remains an 'invisible' yet escalating issue in every community. Research indicates that public education campaigns such as World Elder Abuse Awareness day (WEAAD) are successful in raising the awareness and generating community action.

On June 15th 2010 we call for action across the world to celebrate WEAAD. On World Day activities are held to acknowledge the severity, the prevalence, and transfer local, national and regional knowledge and resources. Raising awareness is fundamental in the prevention of elder abuse and the elimination of the stereotypes that plague older adults.

The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA) in collaboration with the International Federation on Ageing (IFA) and with the support of the governments of Ontario and Canada is proud to host the 2010 WEAAD in Toronto, Ontario. Over 100 delegates representing government, non governmental organizations and professionals working and interested in the field of ageing will gather on this important day to debate, discuss and describe new initiatives that work toward a world where older people will be protected against neglect and abuse.

In special recognition of the intergenerational nature of WEAAD, students from five national and one international (India) school will demonstrate their understanding and solutions to the neglect and abuse of older people.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is an initiative that was conceptualized and inaugurated in Canada in 2006 and gains greater world wide recognition every year. This year the event will be held at the University of Toronto, Faculty Club, 41 Willcocks Street, Toronto.