Ottawa

Johanne Etienne, centre, was crowned the first Miss Ottawa Afro-Caribbean Teen. Photo by Etienne Ranger East-end teen wins inaugural crown For Johanne Etienne, winning the crown in Orléans’ first-ever teen pageant celebrating Afro-Caribbean heritage means more than an impressive resumé addition or a bit of local fame. Bringing home the title of Miss Ottawa Afro-Caribbean Teen, explains the 19-year-old east-end resident, is the culmination of a life-long dream that started long before her move from Haiti to Canada.

“I decided to enter the (Miss Afro-Caribbean) pageant because since I was in my country, I would watch them on TV,” she recounts. “It was my dream come true. (Read the full post about ‘East-end teen wins inaugural crown’…)

Resource centres bracing for cuts With the city’s draft budget now tabled, east-end resource centres are firing back over the proposed loss of sustainability funding they say will seriously impact their programming and clientele. “There will be cuts to services,” says Renée Ladouceur-Beauchamp, executive director of the Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre (EORC), of the three-year, $500,000 sustainability funding package that may be deferred if the budget stands. “Every year it’s been a little bit of a question whether (the funding) was going to be clawed back.”

The impact, Ladouceur-Beauchamp continues, would be strongly felt on the ground at the EORC if no money is available for “unavoidable cost increases” like rising rent rates. (Read the full post about ‘Resource centres bracing for cuts’…)

Who is Syed Soharwardy?

Has the man who sued the Western Standard changed his mind about anti-freedom of expression laws?

Syed Soharwardy has dropped his human rights complaint against the Western Standard, has just completed a six-month, multi-faith Walk Against Violence and today announced his newly founded Freedom of Speech Centre has invited Ezra Levant to be its first speaker.

Is he a dangerous censor in retreat, or a genuine man of peace?

In an April 24, 2006 column titled “An unwelcome fight,” then-Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant first introduced readers to Calgary iman Syed Soharwardy:

The Western Standard has reported on the illiberal nature of human rights commissions before.

(Read the full post about ‘Has the man who sued the Western Standard changed his mind about anti-freedom of expression laws?’…)

The CCP now has the economic power to do tremendous damage to the American economy and/or exact painful geopolitical concessions from the leader of the free world.

Or not.

There was a loud sucking noise heard over Edmonton yesterday, the sound of almost $1 billion being pulled out of the province’s already fragile economy.

The Government of Alberta and Syncrude have reached an agreement that will see $975 million in additional royalities paid to the province between 2010 through 2015. This agreement will provide for the full implementation of the New Royalty Framework, a new tax scheme that is drawing criticism from Alberta’s free market opposition party.

On November 14th, the Western Standard reported that Paul Hinman, leader of the Wildrose Alliance, wants to see the province cancel the New Royalty Framework tax hike and focus instead on cutting government spending:

The engine of Alberta’s economy is beginning to stall.

(Read the full post about ‘Is now the time to suck $1 billion out of Alberta’s economy?’…)

Here’s an excerpt I thought I’d share from a letter to the editor published in the St. Catherines Standard:

Toronto Life magazine is the latest publication being threatened with an appearance before a human rights commission, this one because of a factual story it published about a possible honour killing in the Greater Toronto Area Muslim community.

I find this ghastly, draconian, kangaroo "court" system to be a disgrace to all Canadians, be they newcomers or third and fourth generation.

I thought human rights commissions were in place to prevent discrimination in employment or shelter based on race, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, etc.

(Read the full post about ‘Draconian kangaroo ‘court’ is a disgrace to Canadians’…)

Corel Corp. signs New York-based WYNIT Inc. as a new North American distributor of its digital media and graphics software. WYNIT will offer the products to customers in the photo specialty and wide-format printing spaces, among others. WYNIT is the exclusive distributor of the Wacom Cintiq 21UX tablet computer, which comes with Corel Painter X.

Tundra Semiconductor Corp. boosts its European presence, signing an distribution agreement with Germany’s Avnet Memec. The Ottawa-based chip maker says the “pan-European” agreement will see Avnet Memec, a distributor of specialized semiconductors, market, sell and support Tundra’s full product line through 31 offices in 19 countries. Tundra already has a European sales network spanning 25 European countries.

Kinaxis’s RapidResponse is selected by Pioneer Corp. to streamline supply chain management. The Tokyo-based electronics powerhouse will deploy the tool in its mobile entertainment products unit, the company’s fastest growing division, with the possibility of using it in other areas later on. The initial deployment, which is expected to be completed early in the new year, will be handled by systems integrator EXA Corp., a Kinaxis partner.

SolaCom Technologies and 911 Datamaster, based in Kansas, sign an agreement to jointly develop equipment and software for 9-1-1 emergency calls. The Gatineau-based company says the partnership will see testing and integration of next-generation 9-1-1 technology combining its call routing and call-taking equipment with 911 Datamaster’s emergency call database management and response software.

(Read the full post about ‘Partnership for new 9-1-1 tech’…)