Kivalliq has potential say business scholars
From: Northern News Services, Wednesday, July 11, 2007

A group of scholars were in Rankin Inlet the week of June 25 as part of a study to find out about doing business in the North. Aldene Meis Mason, a doctoral student at the University of Regina, is studying the use of caribou in commerce in three different Inuit regions, one of them being Rankin Inlet and Coral Harbour. "I'm trying to get an understanding of the context, of what it means to be a community here," said Mason.

RCMP, U.S. Army block public forum on the Security and Prosperity Partnership
The Council of Canadians has been told it will not be allowed to rent a municipal community centre for a public forum it had planned to coincide with the next Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) summit in Montebello, Quebec on August 20 and 21. The Municipality of Papineauville, which is about six kilometres from Montebello, has informed the Council of Canadians that the RCMP, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) and the U.S.

Vancity names Vrooman as CEO: Deputy minister of finance replaces Dave Mowat
Tamara Vrooman, who served for the past three years as B.C.'s deputy minister of finance, has been appointed Vancity's new chief executive officer, the credit union announced Monday. The 39-year-old Vrooman replaces Dave Mowat, who served as CEO for seven years and recently joined ATB Financial in Alberta as president and CEO.

Social efforts gone south
Capital Ideas
It wouldn’t be fair to say Victoria’s efforts to deal with the unholy trinity of homelessness, drug addiction and street-level crime have been all talk and no action. But I think most seasoned observers would agree the amount of talk has far outstripped the amount of action on these issues. I’m thinking specifically of Rev.

Dream runs out of fuel: Seaway Valley co-op's plans for ethanol plant dead
Once trumpeted as the means to give Eastern Ontario farmers a piece of the corn-processing action, a $70 million ethanol production plant proposed for Cornwall is dead. Blaming the outcome partly on a commercial ethanol industry which "worked feverishly to keep us out of business," Seaway Valley Farmers Energy Co-Operative is shutting down afte r 14 topsy-turvy years since the plan was first introduced.

Volunteering is icing on cake for retiring execs
There are a lot of ways retiring executives can put a final exclamation point on their careers. But probably none is quite so challenging as working with Canadian Executive Services Overseas, a 40-year-old non-profit agency that gives businesspeople the chance to volunteer in developing countries.

Biofuels: The Five Myths of the Agro-fuels Transition
Biofuels. The term invokes a life-giving image of renewability and abundance—a clean, green, sustainable assurance in technology and the power of progress. This image allows industry, politicians, the World Bank, the United Nations, and even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to present fuels made from corn, sugarcane, soy and other crops as the next step in a smooth transition from peak oil to a yet-to-be-defined renewable fuel economy.

Canadian workers’ paycheques in 30-year holding pattern : Study
Canadians are working harder and smarter, contributing to a growing economy, but their paycheques have been stagnant for the past 30 years, says a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

Aboriginals at the margins
A scathing report on the condition of Aboriginal peoples had sparked interest in sweeping reforms aimed at restoring social norms and economic productivity to Aboriginal communities. An inquiry headed up by a former director of public prosecutions, Rex Wild, and an Aboriginal health worker, Pat Anderson, reported on conditions of material poverty and social breakdown that are well known, but it was the rampant child sexual abuse that made headlines here.

Can Vancouver Fend off Olympics Sweatshops?
China's abuses 'a warning bell' for 2010.

Imagine being a 13-year-old girl in a factory. You're forced to work 12 or more hours a day, sometimes seven days a week in a clamorous space full of dangerous equipment and dirty air. You could lose three days' pay for too much time in the bathroom, you are paid less than half the legal minimum wage in your country. The work can leave your hands bleeding, your throat and lungs full of fibre, filth and lint.