Vancouver Information and Newspaper

Archive for February, 2010

MONTREAL – An analysis by the Quebec Ministry of Finance suggests the province has one of the most heavily indebted economies in the industrialized world.

The 44-page document calculates the province’s total debt as 94 per cent of GDP, employing methods used by the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development.

The government report, available on the ministry’s website, compares the total provincial public debt to that of other Canadian provinces and to major industrialized nations.

Quebec ranks only below Japan, Italy, Greece and Iceland in terms of public debt as a percentage of GDP.

The report calculates public debt across Canada as 69.7 per cent of the country’s GDP.

The report puts Quebec’s total public debt at $285.6 billion.

RICHMOND, B.C. – Canada has won a gold medal in the men’s long-track speedskating team pursuit at the Vancouver Olympics.

Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., Lucas Makowsky of Regina and Mathieu Giroux of Montreal defeated the U.S. in the final with a time of three minutes 41.37 seconds.

The Americans closed the gap as the race wore on but could not catch the Canadians and finished in 3:42.58.

The Canadians established a pair of Olympic records in Friday’s quarter-final and semifinal wins.

The medal caps a good but not great Games for the Canadian long-trackers. The team had set a medal target of nine and will go home with five, four of which were won on the women’s side.

The Netherlands won the bronze, defeating Norway in an Olympic record 3:39.45

SUDBURY, Ont. – Striking union members in Sudbury, Ont., have engaged in “unlawful thuggery” by threatening personnel during a bitter seven-month strike at Vale Inco, the company alleges in a lawsuit.

United Steelworkers Local 6500 and some of its members have posted personal information about people who are continuing to work during the strike, which has led to intimidation, threats and an assault, the mining giant alleges in its more than $1-million lawsuit.

“This has not been a peaceful strike,” the company writes in a statement of claim, filed in Superior Court in Sudbury.

“Masked picketers have engaged in criminal conduct, including an assault of a Vale Inco employee and the sabotage of Vale Inco property.”

People on the picket lines have set large fires so trucks carrying explosives and fuel can’t cross, hydro wires have been cut, rail equipment has been damaged and roads have been littered with nail spikes to puncture truck tires, the statement of claim alleges.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

“The defendants’ conduct is unlawful thuggery, which has nothing to do with legitimate trade union activity,” the lawsuit says. “This conduct should not be tolerated in a liberal and civilized society.”

Wayne Fraser, a director for the union in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces, called the lawsuit an “antagonistic measure.”

“It’s a nuisance,” said Fraser, who is not one of the 25 people directly named in the suit.

“(The allegations) are not true. They’re unsubstantiated and it’s just a way of Vale trying to divide the membership from its rank and file activists.”

A statement of defence has not yet been filed but is in the works, said Fraser, who also said the union plans to countersue the company for defamation.

The lawsuit comes as the two sides met with a mediator over the weekend for exploratory talks in a bid to find a way to ending a seven-month-old strike. The two sides have not formally met since the strike started.

More than 3,000 employees at Vale’s mill, smelter, refinery and six nickel mines in the Sudbury area have been on strike for seven months.

At issue are proposals by Vale Inco to reduce a bonus tied to the price of nickel and to exempt new employees from its defined-benefit pension plan, moving them instead to a defined-contribution plan.

Workers complain they shouldn’t have to give concessions to a company whose parent, Brazil-based Vale S.A., earned US$5.35 billion in 2009.

The people named in the lawsuit have been targeting Vale employees who have returned to work during the strike, as well as contractors and personnel responsible for picket line security, the company alleges.

Pictures and personal information such as addresses and phone numbers have been posted on a union website and a Facebook page.

Those singled out have had their property and homes vandalized, received anonymous phone threats at home and one employee was assaulted while jogging, the statement of claim says.

Three people named in the lawsuit were criminally charged in that attack.

After that particular assault an altered picture of the man was posted on the Facebook site showing him with scars, a throwing star embedded in his torso, other “cutting weapons” in his torso and arms and his throat slit, as well as the words “Who’s Next” on his shirt, according to the lawsuit.

While he was at work one day the same man’s vehicle was vandalized, with his tires slashed and the word scab spray-painted about 12 times on his car. Union placards were found on and around the car, the company alleges.

A deadly earthquake that rocked Chile early Saturday morning, triggering a Tsunami for parts of the Pacific coast, was expected to have minimal impact on British Columbia, experts said.

“The main energy is not directed at Canada it’s directed well to the South,” said Gerard Fryer, a geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which is based in Hawaii.

“The Hawaiian Islands are in full evacuation. We are expecting the first wave,” said Fryer.

The Chilean government declared a state of catastrophe following the massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake.

The West Coast Alaska Tsunami Warning centre issued an advisory for coastal British Columbia earlier in the day, warning people of strong currents.

In Tofino, B.C., a popular surfing village off the west coast of Vancouver Island, officials posted advisories around town to get the message out to residents to stay clear of the beach.

Jilane Kariatsumari, an employee of Live to Surf said the shop has stopped renting equipment.

“It’s a pretty big deal I guess. No one really knows what’s going to really happen,” said Kariatsumari.

But Fryer said he didn’t expect any serious damage to the Canadian coastline.

“I suspect maximum run up in Canada almost certainly is going to be less than a metre and that’s kind of a threshold for damage,” said Fryer, adding that even a half a metre could sweep a person off their feet, causing them to drown.

Meanwhile, Chilean-Canadians frantically tried to contact friends and family in the country on Saturday.

“It’s a lot of collapsed buildings, lot of bridges, most of them fairly new and they all just came down like paper,” said Jose Astorga, president of the Winnipeg Chilean Association, whose members have been able to contact some family in Chile, but have not been able to account for all their relatives.

Canadian officials tried to establish communications with Canadians who may be in the affected zone.

“Canadian officials in Santiago and Ottawa are currently assessing the situation to clarify the extent of the damage as well as to determine the potential impact on Canadians who are currently in Chile,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a written statement.

There are some 1,100 Canadians registered as being in Chile, said Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon.

But the earthquake has devastated phone services in the South American country, he said.

“Communications are extremely sporadic,” Cannon said in an impromptu teleconference.

“Cellphones, or for all intents and purposes wireless communications, are very sketchy. The hard communication lines are down as well.”

Many people have turned to social networking sites to try to connect with people affected by the massive quake.

“I still don’t know about family members, but Facebook is helping me more than the telephone,” said Ledda Urbani, vice-president of the Quebec Chilean Association in Montreal.

Nell Halse, a spokeswoman from Cooke Aquaculture – a New Brunswick company that has operations in southern Chile, said the company has eight people from Canada in the country.

“The news we have is everyone seems to be accounted for,” she said, adding Twitter helped make the initial contact.

Even members of the Chilean Olympic team were feeling for their countrymen on Saturday.

The Chef de mission Luis Alberto Santa Cruz said all three members of the team and their families are doing well.

“I heard about this late last night right after the earth quake took place, and I was able to get in contact with them last night. Telephones are not working now, but I’ve been in contact with mail and messenger and they’re all fine,” said Cruz.

Cruz said one member was planning on returning home on Saturday.

Cannon said Canada has stockpiles of emergency supplies that it could provide to non-governmental aid organizations in Chile, should the government there issue a request for help.

However, the minister ruled out sending Canada’s military disaster assistance response team, commonly referred to as the DART team.

Harper extended sympathies to those affected by the quake.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Chile as they respond to this emerging natural disaster,” he said.

A big concern in the aftermath of the quake was the question of what kind of damage could be caused by tsunamis, which are often created by underground tremors.

“Canadian officials are also closely monitoring the potential implications of the tsunami warning that has been issued across the Pacific Ocean,” said Harper.

In a statement, Governor General Michaelle Jean said her heart goes out to Canadians of Chilean descent.

“From one natural disaster to another, here we are put to the test once again. After the terrible earthquake that devastated a number of cities and villages in Haiti just weeks ago, the destruction has made its way to Chile,” said Jean.

There are an estimated 40,000 Canadians of Chilean descent living in regions of Canada extending from Quebec to areas throughout the western provinces.

-with files from Kevin Drews

HALIFAX, N.S. – Experts say the escalating price of a new hospital in Truro, N.S., is symptomatic of growing cost pressures on public and private projects, brought on partly by a growing shortage of skilled workers.

The hospital, a major construction project in Atlantic Canada, was initially priced at $104 million but has since grown to $180 million.

Krista Wood, spokeswoman for the Colchester East Hants Health Authority, says contractors are building in the extra costs of transporting and housing skilled workers, which could be as much as $100 a day for each worker.

“Contractors responding to bids are having to build in the cost of bringing in people to do the work,” said Wood.

“It seems to be coming more commonplace.”

Like the rest of the country, Nova Scotia is experiencing what experts say will be a steady decline in skilled workers, the product of an aging workforce and a declining birthrate. Statistics Canada says 15.3 per cent of Canadian workers are 55 or older and there are just as many Canadian workers over 40 as under.

The practical effects are already being felt in capital projects undertaken by provincial departments and municipalities alike.

Almost every municipality in the province is running into the same problem, says Port Hawkesbury Mayor Billie Joe MacLean, who is also a vice-president of the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities.

He cites a tender his town put out for a water treatment plant, thinking bids would come in at about $2.2 million. It came in at $3.8 million.

“We were astounded,” he said.

MacLean said the lack of qualified labour is also having an impact on smaller contracts, including one in neighbouring Antigonish County to plow snow from sidewalks.

“They got one bid on a job that was estimated by their people at $260,000. It ended up at $585,000.”

None of this comes as any surprise to Jim McNiven, a senior policy research adviser and professor emeritus at Dalhousie University.

Nova Scotia will likely be looking at almost zero unemployment by 2015, he says, with a lot of jobs that can’t be filled.

“From brain surgeons right down to people who make beds in hotels, it doesn’t matter what it is. You’re still going to be short,” said McNiven.

“The story you’re hearing out of Truro is going to be commonplace.”

McNiven said the Canadian birthrate dropped below the level needed to replenish the workforce 40 years ago and the number of immigrants that would have to be brought in to address the shortfall would be unrealistic – half a million over the next 20 years for Nova Scotia alone.

He says governments are going to have to start getting creative to address the problem, beginning with changes to labour market rules designed in the 1980s when people outnumbered jobs.

“For instance, we’re finally getting rid of mandatory retirement, where we’ve been telling people that ‘We don’t care if you want to work. You can’t, because young people need jobs,’ ” he said.

“We also need to find a more efficient system to match up people who say they are looking for work with those who need them for work.”

Michael Atkinson, president of the Canadian Construction Association, says the current economic downturn has temporarily created a larger labour pool.

But he says that will quickly disappear once the recovery begins to ramp up.

“We’re going to have to find 320,000 new workers by 2017 just to keep pace with retirees and to keep pace with what expected demand will be at that time,” he said.

Atkinson says he’s not sure a labour shortage can be blamed for escalating costs in public building projects.

“Was it a realistic estimate of costs, or was it done three years ago when they were getting through all the approvals and hasn’t been touched since?” he asked.

“They may have a budget but is that a realistic estimate of what the construction costs will be? No way.”

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette and Slovenian cross-country skier Petra Majdic are the winners of the Terry Fox Award at the Vancouver Olympics.

The award, created for the 2010 Games by the Fox family and Vancouver organizers, is named for the heroic amputee runner who set out on a cross-country trek to raise funds for cancer research in 1980. It is presented to an athlete who embodies the values that Fox did, showing determination and humility in the face of obstacles.

Rochette, from Ile-Dupas, Que., won a bronze medal less than a week after her mom Therese died in Vancouver.

“”There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when she took to the ice on Tuesday after her mother’s death,” John Furlong, CEO of the Vancouver organizing committee, said in a statement. “We all held our breath and willed her on as she gave a remarkable, dignified performance – one that helped her earn bronze. Her grief, determination and her grace have touched all of us.”

The 24-year-old’s medal was Canada’s first in Olympic women’s singles since Elizabeth Manley claimed silver at the 1998 Calgary Games.

Majdic, 30, captured bronze despite a crash in training that left her with four fractured ribs and a collapsed lung.

“She performed in pain knowing her country and family were counting on her to win Slovenia’s first medal at the Games – and she did with a bronze medal finish,” Furlong said.

The athletes were selected by a committee that included Fox’s brother Darrell, sportscaster Brian Williams, Olympian and VANOC board member Charmaine Crooks and former rower Tricia Smith.

“We are so pleased to see this award, named in honour of Terry, go towards Petra and Joannie, athletes who embody many of the same qualities he did as he pushed himself day after day towards his goal of finding a cure for cancer,” Betty Fox, Terry’s mom, said in a statement. “This year marks the 30th anniversary of my son’s Marathon of Hope.

“Watching Petra and Joannie and their determination to carry on and triumph is something Canadians and the world will not forget. They represent the best of us and what we can accomplish – just like Terry.”

Fox’s cross-Canada trek was cut short when the cancer spread to his lungs and he died in 1981 at the age of 22.

The awards are made out of nickel and wood, and similar in style to the Vancouver 2010 medals. They also include a quote from Fox in both English and French: “I want to set an example that will never be forgotten.”