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Good news report from Canada, 31 March-1 April 2009

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1 April 2009

1 April was the 1st day of tenth month of the 3rd year of Canadian national consciousness rising to invincibility.

1 April 2009

Dr William Overall, National Director of the Global Country of World Peace in Canada, presented highlights of news reports reflecting Canada's rising invincibility from Yogic Flying groups across Canada and the large Invincible America Assembly at Maharishi University of Management and Maharishi Vedic City, USA.

Extensive scientific research has documented the Maharishi Effect of rising coherence, harmony, and peace created in the collective consciousness of a nation by large groups of Yogic Flyers. The effect has been found to extend beyond national borders when the group is of sufficient size.

Following are press reports featured in Dr Overall's presentation:

The Toronto Star - No delay for 'tough' emissions standards, Prentice says (1 April 2009) The federal government is moving ahead with 'tough' new standards for cars and light trucks meant to cut their output of greenhouse gas emissions, Environment Minister Jim Prentice announced. He warned the industry can't wait for good times to go green. 'The rest of the world won't wait. Someone else will move ahead to build the greener car,' he said in a speech to the Economic Club of Canada. 'We need to be at the forefront,' Prentice said. The new standard will bring Canada in line with goals set by the new U.S. administration, he said. 'Our automotive industry is tightly integrated with a continental industry and we must align our auto emission standards with our trading partner,' Prentice said.

From a Canwest News Service report on this: The federal government will set mandatory fuel standards on cars and light trucks that are harmonized with U.S. fuel regulations aimed at curbing carbon emissions. The regulations will be in place in time for 2011 model year vehicles, and will be harmonized with 2011 and future American standards, he said. The U.S. national fuel economy standards for 2011 models, announced by President Obama last week, are an average 27.3 miles (43.9 kilometres) per gallon. That's 30.2 miles per gallon for cars and 24.1 miles per gallon for light trucks. 'Some people may say that this is the worst possible time to introduce new automobile emission standards,' Prentice said. 'I would argue the opposite. I believe that, to survive and to thrive, the North American automakers must build the cars of the future—cars that leave less of a carbon footprint. That is the way forward for the North American automotive industry. 'We do not have the luxury of time,' Prentice said. 'We are moving immediately on these measures.'

From a Globe and Mail report on this: Mr Prentice also spoke of moving toward a new climate change arrangement with the United States.

The Financial Post - Markets end March with best monthly gain in years (31 March 2009) Global equity markets put in their best month in more than half a decade in March, zooming higher on Tuesday as markets once again showed off their new-found resilience based on growing investor confidence that an economic recovery is in sight. The TSX Composite index jumped 124.17 points or 1.44% on Tuesday to 8720.39. For the month of March, the country's main exchange was up 597.37 points or 7.3% from the previous month close of 8123.02. The monthly advance is the first since August of last year and the best monthly gain in almost eight years. On Tuesday, the financial sector jumped 3.03%. 'One thing we have noticed is that the latest market rally is different from previous ones. This time around, investors have bought into financials. This is good news, because equities have never rebounded from a recession without a strong contribution from financials,' said Pierre Lapointe, market strategist at National Bank Financial.

From a Bloomberg News report on this: 'There's hope that some of the government programs will start to work,' said Todd Johnson, a fund manager at BCV Asset Management in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which manages about C$100 million. Financial stocks on the TSX have propelled a 15 per cent rally in the Canadian stock benchmark since 9 March. The measure of banks, brokerages, and insurers in the TSX has surged 27 per cent since 9 March.

Bloomberg News on Canadian stocks advance amid signals U.S. economy is improving (1 April 2009) Canadian stocks climbed on Wednesday, adding to March's advance. All 10 industries in the TSX Composite Index rose. The TSX gained 221.43 points, or 2.5 per cent, to 8,941.82. Financial stocks have led the TSX to an 18 per cent advance since 9 March on speculation that the U.S. banking system is stabilizing. Fund managers in Canada are becoming more positive on equities, with 60 per cent saying they're bullish, according to a Russell Investments survey of 38 mangers.

Bloomberg News - Canadian banks don't need government debt plan, Nixon says (1 April 2009) Canada's biggest banks probably won't need to tap a C$218 billion debt backstop programme set up by the federal government because their finances are sound, Royal Bank of Canada's top executive said. 'I think it would be very unlikely that you'd see utilization of that program,' Gordon Nixon said in an interview. The Canadian government announced in October it would provide guarantees on as much as C$218 billion of commercial bank debt to revive lending and match bank bailouts offered by other governments. The lenders haven't tapped the credit yet. 'I would love to see us manage through this without any of the financial institutions having to access that program,' Nixon said.

Bloomberg News on Bank of Canada Governor says measures to spur economy will work (1 April 2009) Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said actions taken in Canada and abroad will jolt the economy out of recession, and suggested the central bank may not need to use new measures beyond interest rate cuts. 'There is a plan to restore confidence and growth, we are implementing it, and it will work,' Carney said today in a speech in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Recent fiscal and monetary policy actions will begin to be felt later this year, he said, adding that monetary policy can deliver greater stimulus if interest rates are left low for a longer period of time. Carney cut the Bank of Canada's rate to a record 0.5 per cent March 3, and said it will stay there or lower until there are signs of strong economic growth. Carney also said that governments in Canada still have room to provide additional fiscal stimulus.

Reuters Canada - Canada has considerable fiscal flexibility - BoC (1 April 2009) Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said the Canadian government is in no danger of getting into excessive government debt due to stimulus spending. 'The overall flexibility that exists for Canadian governments is considerable, very considerable,' Carney told a business audience following a speech on Wednesday.

The Regina Leader-Post on Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg will lead in economic growth for 2009 (31 March 2009) Saskatoon, Regina, and Winnipeg will again set the pace this year in economic growth among the 13 Canadian census metropolitan areas (CMAs), according to the Conference Board of Canada's metropolitan outlook for spring. The three Prairie cities, along with Quebec City and Ottawa-Gatineau, are expected to post economic growth this year. 'Saskatoon and Regina will not match their spectacular 2008 growth rates, but they have enough economic momentum to top all other CMAs again this year,' said Alan Arcand, principal economist for the outlook report. Saskatoon's economy is forecast to increase by 1.7 per cent in 2009 and Regina's economy by 1.6 per cent. Strong in-migration into both CMAs will continue to support residential construction activity and demand for services. Winnipeg's economy is expected to grow by 1.1 per cent this year. Employment has risen for three years and sound labour markets have lured newcomers. Meanwhile, historically high levels of investment in public infrastructure are expected to keep Quebec City's economy growing by 0.6 per cent in 2009.

CBC News - New program makes it easier to recycle electronic waste in Ontario (31 March 2009) A new electronics recycling programme was launched in Ontario on Tuesday with the aim of greatly increasing the number of old computers, television sets, and fax machines diverted from landfills over the next five years. Under the C$62-million programme, a network of more than 100 collection sites is being set up across Ontario up with the assurance that the electronics waste will be recycled or reused in an environmentally appropriate way. The products to be collected include desktop and laptop computers, mice, keyboards, disk drives, monitors, desktop printers, fax machines, and televisions. Consumers can go to a website, called Do What You Can, select 'electronics', and enter their postal codes or municipalities to find out the nearest locations of sites where they can bring their unwanted electronic goods.

From a Canadian Press report on this: A second phase of the programme will collect a long list of other electronics including cameras, cellphones, VCRs, DVD players, turntables, and speakers. A little less than a third of the province's electronic waste is currently being reused or recycled, and a target of 61 per cent has been set over five years, said Environment Minister John Gerretsen.

CBC News - Smart meters to signal cheap power when wind is blowing (1 April 2009) The Prince Edward Island city of Summerside is ready to buy smart metres to help its utility's 5,000 customers know when they can share in savings from a planned wind farm. The city is expecting big savings when a 12-megawatt wind farm starts coming on line this fall, because the wind power will be cheaper than electricity bought from New Brunswick. The smart metres will allow the utility's customers to share those savings. The metres would be connected to the utility, and customers would be able to see in real time when electricity is cheaper. 'The real advantage of the smart meter is that it will allow users to notice when the price is down, and then you as a consumer can use the electricity at a higher level when the wind is blowing,' Jeff Dahn, a physics and chemistry professor at Dalhousie University, told CBC News Tuesday. Dahn said making decisions about when to vacuum, do the laundry, or some baking is just the beginning. 'Appliances are coming along that will have the ability to communicate with the Internet or the power company and determine when the price is low and switch themselves on at the right time,' he said. The new C$30-million wind farm is expected to produce more than 50 per cent of the city's total electrical needs.

The Vancouver Sun - 'The war is over': Great Bear Rainforest plan reached (31 March 2009) The British Columbia government has met a deadline to bring a new approach to resource development in the Great Bear Rainforest (the world's largest intact temperate rainforest)—where people, the environment, and the economy are given equal billing. After over a decade of protests, First Nations, forest companies, and environmentalists joined in supporting the new approach, called ecosystem-based management. Agriculture and Lands Minister Ron Cantelon said the Great Bear plan is an example to the world on managing human activity while protecting biodiversity. 'The war is over. Now we can move on in a positive way,' he said. The plan sets aside 2.1 million hectares of the 6.4-million-hectare area as parks and conservancies. Over the rest of the land, resource development, specifically logging, is to be based on ecosystem-based management. Environmentalists say the new logging rules will require streams, grizzly bear habitat and half the old-growth timber to be protected. 'That adds up to another 700,000 hectares being off-limits to logging,' said Valerie Langer, of ForestEthics. Another key element is a C$120-million economic fund, half of which was raised by eco-groups, that has been established to develop new, green businesses and to ease the transition to new practices. Along with Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, ForestEthics negotiated the new management deal with a consortium of five forest companies and the B.C. government. 'We have made tremendous ecological gains,' Langer said. 'We have shifted from a model that was log first and then figure out what to do about the rest later, to a model where we now say, ''What are the limits of the eco-system?'' We have a science-driven process to figure out what that is.' Besides changing details of land management, the implementation of the Great Bear project changes who will make the final decisions. First Nations will participate equally with the province on major decision-making. 'We've set up a governance structure that is government-to-government on dealing with major issues,' said Steve Carr, chief executive officer of the province's Integrated Land Management Bureau.

From a Canadian Press report on this: Agreements have now been signed with over 20 First Nations and the combined land-use planning area includes 6.4 million hectares, an area more than twice the size of Belgium. 'It's a conservation model that other parts of the world can look to, a model that shows how protection of ecological values and human well-being can be advanced without undermining each other,' Stephanie Goodwin, Greenpeace spokeswoman, said.

The Canadian Pres - Education key to Nunavut's next decade: premier (31 March 2009) Nunavut marks its 10th anniversary on Wednesday. 'I take education as an underlying solution to many of the issues that we're dealing with today,' says the eastern Arctic territory's new premier, Eva Aariak, chosen by her legislative colleagues last November following the territorial election. 'Job readiness, suicide, dropout rates, social issues, alcohol and substance abuse—when engaged in focused efforts such as trying to complete their education, individuals are engaged in where they want to go,' she suggests. All these problems are bound up together, but tug on the string labelled 'education' and all those ills just might unravel, Aariak says. Only 25 per cent of Nunavut students end up graduating, less than half the average for southern aboriginals. The system will only face increasing demand. Nunavut has the highest birth rate in Canada and over half of Nunavummiut are under 25. 'We need more teachers, many more teachers,' Aariak says. But not just any education system will do. Aariak draws on her own experience to insist that Inuit children need to learn in an environment that nurtures their culture and language. Educated in a residential school and in Ottawa, Aariak knows that need first-hand. 'I lived it,' she said. 'When I was young, gaining information about the outside world was very much pushed. There was no Inuktitut taught in the schools I attended.' Eventually, that lack became painful. 'There was still something missing in me. I don't know enough about who I am, where I come from,' she said. Aariak learned her fluent Inuktitut as an adult. With the passage of new legislation that promises Inuktitut-language instruction, Nunavut has taken the first step toward building an education system geared to its own culture and needs. There's a long way to go, but Aariak is an optimist. 'We are coming out with a lot of positive things.'

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