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Good news report from Canada

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21 July 2007

10 July was the 10th day of the first month of the 2nd year of Canadian national consciousness rising to invincibility, as indicated by the following press reports:

10 July 2007

The National Post - Canadian consumer confidence up in Q2 (10 July 2007) Canadian consumer confidence rose in this year's second quarter, according to a report by Decima Research. The firm said the overall consumer-confidence score of Canadians in the last quarter in the Decima-Investors Group index was 87.7, up 1.1 points from the first quarter. The score is derived from asking survey-takers questions about their confidence in the economy, their own financial well-being, and their willingness to make major purchases. More Canadians were saying they feel the economy will be better next year and over the next five years, and that now is a good time to make a major purchase.

From a Canadian Press report on this: Debbie Ammeter, a strategist with the Investors Group, said favourable economic conditions have kept Canadian consumer confidence high. 'The continued strong performance of the Canadian dollar coupled with relative stability in interest rate and employment levels certainly encourage Canadians to adopt a positive outlook for the near and longer term,' she said.

The Toronto Star - Building a bold new green world (10 July 2007) It sounded at times like a meeting of Optimists, but it was the seventh Congress of the World Green Building Council in Toronto. This is one group that remains resolutely upbeat. With more than 1,500 attendees from 30 countries, the conference is hearing from experts on all matters relating to global green industry. 'A new generation is coming along that has been educated about green building technology. We're going to see big, big changes in the next few years,' says Andrew Bowerbank, acting executive director of the WGBC and vice-president of sustainability at the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority. Kevin Hydes, chair of the WGBC, agrees. 'I'm an engineer and quite frankly engineers are responsible for a lot of the problems we face. Things have changed now and there's only one criterion: What impact do our actions have on the Earth? We've all got a role to play. We all bear some of the responsibility. It's the kids who will teach us how to do it. Environmental thinking is no longer an option, it's a prerequisite.' In Ontario, some builders—Minto, Tridel and Context among them—have already decided to go green.

The Toronto Star - Bylaw sought for nitty gritty on smog (10 July 2007) Toronto's board of health approved Toronto's medical officer of health Dr David McKeown's call for a report on a proposed community right-to-know bylaw. The bylaw would make Toronto North America's first major city to inform residents what pollutants they're exposed to and where they come from. The proposed bylaw would require businesses to report emissions of 25 toxic substances. Dr McKeown calls for the economic development and tourism department to report on ways to help companies adopt 'best practices' for pollution prevention. McKeown's staff has been consulting with businesses to provide tools to report on emissions without requiring extensive measurements.

From a Globe and Mail report on this: The benefit of disclosure is that it 'will certainly encourage them to pay more attention to what they're using and emitting and that this will hopefully stimulate greater interest in pollution prevention,' said Monica Campbell, manager of the public health department's environmental protection office. Federal right-to-know requirements click in only when there are big releases of pollutants. Consequently, only 3 per cent of Toronto's 11,000 businesses need to publicly reveal their discharges. The city estimates that more than 80 per cent of the most dangerous substances dumped into Toronto's air escape federal disclosure requirements. Katrina Miller, a spokeswoman for the Toronto Environmental Alliance, says the bylaw would provide local residents interested in a clearer neighbourhood with information on which companies they need to press for pollution cleanups.

The Toronto Star - Spike in renovation helps drive economy (7 July 2007) The renovation market is booming, according to a May housing report from Altus Clayton, an independent research group. Last year it grew by 7.4 per cent after inflation. Renovation was a C$44-billion industry in Canada in 2006 (compared with approximately C$22 billion just seven years ago), accounting for half of total residential construction spending, the other half being new home construction. The 'renovation fervour' is expected to continue to expand through 2008. According to Altus Clayton, the residential renovation sector will remain a growth leader this year and next—advancing at an anticipated rate of about 7 per cent per year in real terms, more than double the overall growth rate for the economy. The number of homeowners planning renovations worth more than C$5,000 rose this year, with more than half of homeowners agreeing completely or somewhat with the question asking if they planned to renovate. The top five areas of renovation include energy efficiency improvements, which are being spurred along by the availability of government grants up to C$10,000 (C$5,000 each from the federal and Ontario governments).

CBC on housing starts in June (10 July 2007) The number of housing starts eased in June, but analysts said Canada's housing market still remains healthy due to strong job growth and reasonable interest rates. '...it came from upwardly revised figures—starts in April and May were bumped up three per cent,' said Dr Sherry Cooper, chief economist for BMO Capital markets. Cooper noted that while the number of multiple-unit starts fell in June, single-family starts continued to steadily increase. The number of urban single-family home starts climbed by 2.1 per cent to 92,200 in June. An uptake in urban single starts was recorded in all regions across the country. Quebec led the country in urban starts, recording an increase of 12.8 per cent. The Atlantic provinces also registered an increase of 6.8 per cent, and British Columbia recorded a gain of three per cent. Housing starts in Alberta are still elevated. 'Saskatchewan, on the other hand, is taking over some of the leadership role, with starts hitting their highest level since 1987. Indeed, housing starts in Saskatchewan have been firmly rising from year-ago levels since mid-2006...,' Cooper said.

Canadian Press - Interest rate hike to reverberate, but unlikely to cool hot economy (9 July 2007) Both the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association and the Retail Council of Canada doubted that a 25 basis point increase would have much of an impact on sales of big-ticket items. 'The national economy is growing, employment and incomes are rising and our members are seeing strong demand, so I don't think one-quarter point is going to make a significant dent,' said Peter Woolford of the retail council.

The Globe and Mail - Songs of the ancestors, sounds of the North (9 July 2007) Janice Kuluguqtuq was 14 when she began learning the songs of her ancestors with other Inuit girls, creating rhythms using their breath and vocal chords. The person who first taught them this ancient Inuit art form, known as throat-singing, picked it up while studying at Nunavut Sivuniksavut, a small postsecondary school for Inuit, in Ottawa. Ms. Kuluguqtuq, now 19, estimates the majority of her female friends in her Arctic village now throat-sing and most have plans to pass it on to their daughters. Like many other centuries-old Inuit traditions, it was discouraged in the early 1900s. However, many young Inuit in communities around the Arctic are proudly reclaiming these fledgling arts as a way to connect with their past and with nature. There is a small but growing group of professional throat-singers in Canada. Tanya Tagaq on Victoria Island gained international fame when she began collaborating with Icelandic singer Björk. Sylvia Cloutier is also a professional throat-singer, based in Iqaluit. Ms Cloutier has travelled the world with her music. She learned the ancient art from a group of female elders in Puvirnituq in Northern Quebec. She has taken to instructing young Inuit if asked. 'It's easier to teach if someone hears it first, experiences it first and then tries it. It's the indigenous way of learning,' she said. She has also taught throat-singing at Ottawa's Nunavut Sivuniksavut. Nunavut Culture Minister Louis Tapardjuk is pleased that throat-singing and other ancient customs are gaining in popularity. 'We need our traditions to know ourselves,' he said.

These are a few of the news reports reflecting Canada's rising invincibility from the growing Yogic Flying groups across Canada and the Invincible America Assembly at Maharishi University of Management and Maharishi Vedic City, USA.

For further information on creating invincibility for your nation, please visit: www.globalgoodnews.com/invincibility.html

Copyright © 2007 Global Country of World Peace

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