Canadian embassies have till Sept. 15 to hang the Queen's portrait

The Harper government, a staunch proponent of the monarchy, has ordered all Canadian embassies and missions abroad to display a portrait of the Queen by mid-month.

It’s the latest effort by the Conservatives to demonstrate support for Canada’s sovereign and part of a steady Tory campaign to champion more traditional elements of this country’s national identity, including the military.

“Like virtually every other country in the world who display pictures of their head of state in their missions, we expect all Canadian missions abroad to display pictures of Canada's head of state, the Queen; along with the Governor-General, the Prime Minister and relevant ministers,” said Rick Roth, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.

The instruction to install royal portraits in all of Canada’s foreign missions – scattered throughout 150 countries – calls for the pictures to be in place by Sept. 15, a government official said.

The Tories acknowledged that most Canadian offices abroad already hang a portrait of the Queen but said the new order is “simply to ensure conformity” across the board. They declined to identify scofflaw missions.

Gar Pardy, a former Canadian diplomat, recalled one foreign mission where Canada didn’t hang the Queen. “I remember that most embassies use to carry a picture of the Queen somewhere in the public area. The only exception was Argentina and there for obvious reasons,” he said, referring to the Falklands War.

The Conservatives have repeatedly tried to build respect for the monarchy since taking office more than five years ago, putting an emphasis on hanging portraits of the Queen in places such as the Prime Minister’s Office. One of Stephen Harper’s veteran aides, Ray Novak, is a staunch monarchist.

Back in August, the Harper government restored the word “royal” in front of the names of Canada’s navy and air force, reviving designations that had been discarded decades earlier. Defence Minister Peter MacKay championed the change as “celebrat[ing] our heritage” in the face of complaints from anti-monarchists and some Quebeckers.

Earlier this summer, Mr. Baird ordered colourful modern artworks by Quebec painter Alfred Pellan removed from the lobby of the Department of Foreign Affairs and replaced with a portrait of Elizabeth II.

Colin Robertson, a former Canadian diplomat, said the moves at Foreign Affairs suggest that it’s Mr. Baird who has a particular affinity for the monarchy. He could not recall previous Conservative foreign affairs ministers driving similar initiatives.

“This is, I think, particular to the minister. I don’t think we saw anything like this under [Lawrence] Cannon or [Peter] MacKay or [Maxime] Bernier,” said Mr. Robertson, vice-president of the Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute.

Officials said that while Ottawa could courier pictures of the Queen to foreign missions, diplomatic staff are also able to cobble things together themselves: downloading a high-resolution picture of Elizabeth II from a government website, printing it off on a photo printer and purchasing their own frame.

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Hydro bills feeling the heat

TORONTO - Toronto Hydro is warning customers not to be shocked when they open their latest bill, as a warmer-than-usual summer led to a significant increase in electricity use.

Customers with air-conditioned homes can expect to pay about $12 more on their July bill thanks to the hot and humid weather, a Toronto Hydro spokesman said Tuesday.

“This would of course depend on the frequency and extent of air conditioner use,” Alexandra Stadnyk said.

According to Environment Canada, July saw 272 hours above 25C, that’s up from 234 hours in July 2010 — a 21% year-over-year increase.

According to Toronto Hydro, air conditioning can account for up to half of a home’s power consumption during a heat wave.

Dehumidifiers and refrigeration appliances are also culprits for higher bills.

“If you don’t have an air conditioner and your bill still went up, there’s a number of questions to ask yourself,” Stadnyk said. “These include things like whether you had visitors stay with you over the summer, or if you recently added an extension to your home, was there a pool pump running or did you use more energy during peak time-of-use hours? Any of these factors could lead to a higher bill.”

With Environment Canada forecasting a warmer-than-average fall ahead, Stadnyk recommends surfing over to torontohydro.com for energy conservation tips.

“There’s a lot you can do,” she said. “Drawing blinds when it’s hot, or opening windows during cooler periods. You can plant trees for shade.

“Shifting your power usage to non-peak hours when possible is useful too.”

Customers also can track how much electricity they are using during peak time-of-use hours at torontohydro.com/tou.

“Once you see the information, you might decide to change what time you’re doing laundry or running the dishwasher,” Stadnyk said.

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Uni exchanges win top marks

Uni exchanges win top marks
Liz Porter
September 6, 2011
Ads by Google
Self Managed Super (SMSF)

Uni exchanges win top marks
Liz Porter
September 6, 2011
Ads by Google
Self Managed Super (SMSF)

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Take Control of Your Super Special Offer Ends Soon. Apply Now!
More students are opting to study overseas, a learning experience in more ways than one.

More students are opting to study overseas, a learning experience in more ways than one. Photo: iStock

LAST semester, Rachael Thompson swapped her usual timetable of lectures at Deakin University's Geelong and Burwood campuses for an unusual learning experience: time behind the walls of a forensic psychiatric hospital in the Netherlands.

The law/commerce student spent the first half of this year as a law student at the University of Utrecht, where she studied gender and the law, introduction to European law and criminal law.

Her course work for a unit on forensic mental health took her into the high-security Pieter Baan Centre, where people accused of some of the Netherlands' most shocking crimes spend an intensive seven weeks undergoing observations, interviews and tests.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Rachael Thompson...student and traveller

Rachael Thompson...student and traveller.

This was the second exchange trip for the 22-year-old, now in the fifth year of her course. In 2009, she studied media law, international commercial law and intellectual property law at the University of Copenhagen — and took a free one-month intensive course in Danish, useful for social if not academic life as the courses were taught in English. Her chosen subjects, along with the units she studied in the Netherlands, counted towards her Deakin degree.

She is one of 300 Deakin students undertaking semester or year-long exchanges this year.


Jack McCardel studied in Canada. Photo: Eddie Jim

Thompson and McCardel are symbols of a trend. The "globetrotting degree" has become an increasingly popular option for today's undergraduates.

This year more than 9000 Australian undergraduate students have enrolled in courses at hundreds of universities in Asia, Europe, Africa, the US and Canada. More than 6000 of them were on exchange partnership arrangements, with their course costs covered by their HECS fees and the overseas "partner" university sending an equivalent number of students to Australia to do units that will count towards their degrees.

Students on exchange are also eligible for Australian government "OS-HELP" loans of $5611, which are added on to their HECS debt. Some receive scholarships, but most just save to raise the minimum $10,000 to $12,000 required for living expenses and travel overseas.

Uni exchanges win top marks
Liz Porter
September 6, 2011
Ads by Google
Self Managed Super (SMSF)

Uni exchanges win top marks
Liz Porter
September 6, 2011
Ads by Google
Self Managed Super (SMSF)


Uni exchanges win top marks
Liz Porter
September 6, 2011
Ads by Google
Self Managed Super (SMSF)

www.esuperfund.com.au

Take Control of Your Super Special Offer Ends Soon. Apply Now!
More students are opting to study overseas, a learning experience in more ways than one.

More students are opting to study overseas, a learning experience in more ways than one. Photo: iStock

LAST semester, Rachael Thompson swapped her usual timetable of lectures at Deakin University's Geelong and Burwood campuses for an unusual learning experience: time behind the walls of a forensic psychiatric hospital in the Netherlands.

The law/commerce student spent the first half of this year as a law student at the University of Utrecht, where she studied gender and the law, introduction to European law and criminal law.

Her course work for a unit on forensic mental health took her into the high-security Pieter Baan Centre, where people accused of some of the Netherlands' most shocking crimes spend an intensive seven weeks undergoing observations, interviews and tests.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Rachael Thompson...student and traveller

Rachael Thompson...student and traveller.

This was the second exchange trip for the 22-year-old, now in the fifth year of her course. In 2009, she studied media law, international commercial law and intellectual property law at the University of Copenhagen — and took a free one-month intensive course in Danish, useful for social if not academic life as the courses were taught in English. Her chosen subjects, along with the units she studied in the Netherlands, counted towards her Deakin degree.

She is one of 300 Deakin students undertaking semester or year-long exchanges this year.


Jack McCardel studied in Canada. Photo: Eddie Jim

Thompson and McCardel are symbols of a trend. The "globetrotting degree" has become an increasingly popular option for today's undergraduates.

This year more than 9000 Australian undergraduate students have enrolled in courses at hundreds of universities in Asia, Europe, Africa, the US and Canada. More than 6000 of them were on exchange partnership arrangements, with their course costs covered by their HECS fees and the overseas "partner" university sending an equivalent number of students to Australia to do units that will count towards their degrees.

Students on exchange are also eligible for Australian government "OS-HELP" loans of $5611, which are added on to their HECS debt. Some receive scholarships, but most just save to raise the minimum $10,000 to $12,000 required for living expenses and travel overseas.

Every Victorian university has exchange arrangements. Monash University's "Passport" program offers students semesters at Monash campuses in South Africa, Malaysia, at the Monash centre in Prato, Italy, and at 115 partner universities in 25 countries, while La Trobe's exchange program offers students a choice of more than 100 universities in 30 countries.

Rachael Thompson says her exchange experiences have made her far more confident and independent.

"I also find myself being able to deal with change and stress a lot better than before I went. It has broadened my horizons, now that I have been to so many places in the world. You gain so much knowledge without even realising."

She still has the slides from her field trip to the Pieter Baan Centre: another experience she would never have had in Melbourne. There were no The Silence of the Lambs encounters with any of the centre's inmates, the most notorious of whom must be the man who made world headlines after he skinned his mother, donned the skin as a cloak and then, brandishing his Bible, was found directing traffic.

But she left with a deep understanding of the philosophy of the centre, where specialists decide whether inmates can be held wholly responsible for their crimes.

Her exchange experiences also exposed Thompson to different styles of teaching. In Denmark, for example, attendance at lectures was compulsory, university was free and students received an automatic Centrelink-style payment enabling them to live away from home without having a job. As a result, perhaps, her fellow students were very dedicated.

"There was no 'Ps (scraped pass marks) get degrees' there. Marks matter, it's all you've got," she says.


It's barely September but Stuart Hibberd, Melbourne University's Manager of Education Abroad Student Programs, is taking applications for students wishing to study at overseas universities in July 2012.
Take Control of Your Super Special Offer Ends Soon. Apply Now!
More students are opting to study overseas, a learning experience in more ways than one.

More students are opting to study overseas, a learning experience in more ways than one. Photo: iStock

LAST semester, Rachael Thompson swapped her usual timetable of lectures at Deakin University's Geelong and Burwood campuses for an unusual learning experience: time behind the walls of a forensic psychiatric hospital in the Netherlands.

The law/commerce student spent the first half of this year as a law student at the University of Utrecht, where she studied gender and the law, introduction to European law and criminal law.

Her course work for a unit on forensic mental health took her into the high-security Pieter Baan Centre, where people accused of some of the Netherlands' most shocking crimes spend an intensive seven weeks undergoing observations, interviews and tests.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Rachael Thompson...student and traveller

Rachael Thompson...student and traveller.

Uni exchanges win top marks
Liz Porter
September 6, 2011
Ads by Google
Self Managed Super (SMSF)

www.esuperfund.com.au

Take Control of Your Super Special Offer Ends Soon. Apply Now!
More students are opting to study overseas, a learning experience in more ways than one.

More students are opting to study overseas, a learning experience in more ways than one. Photo: iStock

LAST semester, Rachael Thompson swapped her usual timetable of lectures at Deakin University's Geelong and Burwood campuses for an unusual learning experience: time behind the walls of a forensic psychiatric hospital in the Netherlands.

The law/commerce student spent the first half of this year as a law student at the University of Utrecht, where she studied gender and the law, introduction to European law and criminal law.

Her course work for a unit on forensic mental health took her into the high-security Pieter Baan Centre, where people accused of some of the Netherlands' most shocking crimes spend an intensive seven weeks undergoing observations, interviews and tests.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Rachael Thompson...student and traveller

Rachael Thompson...student and traveller.

This was the second exchange trip for the 22-year-old, now in the fifth year of her course. In 2009, she studied media law, international commercial law and intellectual property law at the University of Copenhagen — and took a free one-month intensive course in Danish, useful for social if not academic life as the courses were taught in English. Her chosen subjects, along with the units she studied in the Netherlands, counted towards her Deakin degree.

She is one of 300 Deakin students undertaking semester or year-long exchanges this year.


Jack McCardel studied in Canada. Photo: Eddie Jim

Thompson and McCardel are symbols of a trend. The "globetrotting degree" has become an increasingly popular option for today's undergraduates.

This year more than 9000 Australian undergraduate students have enrolled in courses at hundreds of universities in Asia, Europe, Africa, the US and Canada. More than 6000 of them were on exchange partnership arrangements, with their course costs covered by their HECS fees and the overseas "partner" university sending an equivalent number of students to Australia to do units that will count towards their degrees.

Students on exchange are also eligible for Australian government "OS-HELP" loans of $5611, which are added on to their HECS debt. Some receive scholarships, but most just save to raise the minimum $10,000 to $12,000 required for living expenses and travel overseas.

Every Victorian university has exchange arrangements. Monash University's "Passport" program offers students semesters at Monash campuses in South Africa, Malaysia, at the Monash centre in Prato, Italy, and at 115 partner universities in 25 countries, while La Trobe's exchange program offers students a choice of more than 100 universities in 30 countries.

Rachael Thompson says her exchange experiences have made her far more confident and independent.

"I also find myself being able to deal with change and stress a lot better than before I went. It has broadened my horizons, now that I have been to so many places in the world. You gain so much knowledge without even realising."

She still has the slides from her field trip to the Pieter Baan Centre: another experience she would never have had in Melbourne. There were no The Silence of the Lambs encounters with any of the centre's inmates, the most notorious of whom must be the man who made world headlines after he skinned his mother, donned the skin as a cloak and then, brandishing his Bible, was found directing traffic.

But she left with a deep understanding of the philosophy of the centre, where specialists decide whether inmates can be held wholly responsible for their crimes.

Her exchange experiences also exposed Thompson to different styles of teaching. In Denmark, for example, attendance at lectures was compulsory, university was free and students received an automatic Centrelink-style payment enabling them to live away from home without having a job. As a result, perhaps, her fellow students were very dedicated.

"There was no 'Ps (scraped pass marks) get degrees' there. Marks matter, it's all you've got," she says.


It's barely September but Stuart Hibberd, Melbourne University's Manager of Education Abroad Student Programs, is taking applications for students wishing to study at overseas universities in July 2012.
Take Control of Your Super Special Offer Ends Soon. Apply Now!
More students are opting to study overseas, a learning experience in more ways than one.

More students are opting to study overseas, a learning experience in more ways than one. Photo: iStock

LAST semester, Rachael Thompson swapped her usual timetable of lectures at Deakin University's Geelong and Burwood campuses for an unusual learning experience: time behind the walls of a forensic psychiatric hospital in the Netherlands.

The law/commerce student spent the first half of this year as a law student at the University of Utrecht, where she studied gender and the law, introduction to European law and criminal law.

Her course work for a unit on forensic mental health took her into the high-security Pieter Baan Centre, where people accused of some of the Netherlands' most shocking crimes spend an intensive seven weeks undergoing observations, interviews and tests.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Rachael Thompson...student and traveller

Rachael Thompson...student and traveller.

Every Victorian university has exchange arrangements. Monash University's "Passport" program offers students semesters at Monash campuses in South Africa, Malaysia, at the Monash centre in Prato, Italy, and at 115 partner universities in 25 countries, while La Trobe's exchange program offers students a choice of more than 100 universities in 30 countries.

Rachael Thompson says her exchange experiences have made her far more confident and independent.

"I also find myself being able to deal with change and stress a lot better than before I went. It has broadened my horizons, now that I have been to so many places in the world. You gain so much knowledge without even realising."

She still has the slides from her field trip to the Pieter Baan Centre: another experience she would never have had in Melbourne. There were no The Silence of the Lambs encounters with any of the centre's inmates, the most notorious of whom must be the man who made world headlines after he skinned his mother, donned the skin as a cloak and then, brandishing his Bible, was found directing traffic.

But she left with a deep understanding of the philosophy of the centre, where specialists decide whether inmates can be held wholly responsible for their crimes.

Her exchange experiences also exposed Thompson to different styles of teaching. In Denmark, for example, attendance at lectures was compulsory, university was free and students received an automatic Centrelink-style payment enabling them to live away from home without having a job. As a result, perhaps, her fellow students were very dedicated.

"There was no 'Ps (scraped pass marks) get degrees' there. Marks matter, it's all you've got," she says.


It's barely September but Stuart Hibberd, Melbourne University's Manager of Education Abroad Student Programs, is taking applications for students wishing to study at overseas universities in July 2012.
Take Control of Your Super Special Offer Ends Soon. Apply Now!
More students are opting to study overseas, a learning experience in more ways than one.

More students are opting to study overseas, a learning experience in more ways than one. Photo: iStock

LAST semester, Rachael Thompson swapped her usual timetable of lectures at Deakin University's Geelong and Burwood campuses for an unusual learning experience: time behind the walls of a forensic psychiatric hospital in the Netherlands.

The law/commerce student spent the first half of this year as a law student at the University of Utrecht, where she studied gender and the law, introduction to European law and criminal law.

Her course work for a unit on forensic mental health took her into the high-security Pieter Baan Centre, where people accused of some of the Netherlands' most shocking crimes spend an intensive seven weeks undergoing observations, interviews and tests.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Rachael Thompson...student and traveller

Rachael Thompson...student and traveller.

MORE

Read More

Olivia Chow rules out NDP leadership bid

                    Olivia Chow rules out NDP leadership bid

           

Jack Layton as head of the New Democratic Party, saying the role of Official Leader of the Opposition is "not for me."
Olivia Chow rules out NDP leadership bid
Olivia Chow rules out NDP leadership bid


           Jack Layton as head of the New Democratic Party, saying the role of Official Leader of the Opposition is "not for me."

In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview with the CBC's chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge that will air Monday night on The National.

    "We have a lot of capable people that can be leader. That’s not my role," she said in her first interview since her husband's death, conducted at the site of the couple's marriage on Toronto Island.
CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge and NDP MP Olivia Chow talk about her life with Jack Layton and the couple's last few days together.CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge and NDP MP Olivia Chow talk about her life with Jack Layton and the couple's last few days together. (CBC)

"I will continue the work that needs to be done in the House of Commons and pushing a public transit bill, a national one. And I will continue doing that kind of work. But leader, not for me."

When asked by Mansbridge whether she would resist any attempt to convince her to run, Chow shook her head and replied: "Drafting? No."

In the interview, Chow talks about her life with Layton, their last few days together and takes questions about his final struggle with cancer.

Layton, who died Aug. 22 at the age of 61, led the New Democrats to a historic second-place finish in May's federal election to replace the Liberals as the Official Opposition to Prime Minister's Stephen Harper's Conservative majority government.

Since Layton's death, his wife's name had been thrown in with several other NDP figures as a possible candidate to replace him at the helm of the party.

NDP deputy leaders Thomas Mulcair and Libby Davies have said they are considering running but insist they haven't made a decision yet. A number of other MPs — including Megan Leslie, Francoise Boivin, Robert Chisholm, Romeo Saganash and Peter Julian — have also said they are thinking about it, while the NDP's president, Brian Topp, said he is weighing his options.

The party's federal council is meeting next week to set up the rules that will govern the leadership race. A date and location for a leadership convention must also be decided upon.Jack Layton as head of the New Democratic Party, saying the role of Official Leader of the Opposition is "not for me."

In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview with the CBC's chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge that will air Monday night on The National, Chow said she wouldn't join the leadership race to continue Layton's legacy as Opposition leader.

"We have a lot of capable people that can be leader. That’s not my role," she said in her first interview since her husband's death, conducted at the site of the couple's marriage on Toronto Island.
CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge and NDP MP Olivia Chow talk about her life with Jack Layton and the couple's last few days together.CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge and NDP MP Olivia Chow talk about her life with Jack Layton and the couple's last few days together. (CBC)

"I will continue the work that needs to be done in the House of Commons and pushing a public transit bill, a national one. And I will continue doing that kind of work. But leader, not for me."

When asked by Mansbridge whether she would resist any attempt to convince her to run, Chow shook her head and replied: "Drafting? No."

In the interview, Chow talks about her life with Layton, their last few days together and takes questions about his final struggle with cancer.

Layton, who died Aug. 22 at the age of 61, led the New Democrats to a historic second-place finish in May's federal election to replace the Liberals as the Official Opposition to Prime Minister's Stephen Harper's Conservative majority government.

                         NDP deputy leaders Thomas Mulcair and Libby Davies have said they are considering running but insist they haven't made a decision yet. A number of other MPs — including Megan Leslie, Francoise Boivin, Robert Chisholm, Romeo Saganash and Peter Julian — have also said they are thinking about it, while the NDP's president, Brian Topp, said he is weighing his options.

The party's federal council is meeting next week to set up the rules that will govern the leadership race. A date and location for a leadership convention must also be decided upon.

           Jack Layton as head of the New Democratic Party, saying the role of Official Leader of the Opposition is "not for me."

In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview with the CBC's chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge that will air Monday night on The National.
    "We have a lot of capable people that can be leader. That’s not my role," she said in her first interview since her husband's death, conducted at the site of the couple's marriage on Toronto Island.
CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge and NDP MP Olivia Chow talk about her life with Jack Layton and the couple's last few days together.CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge and NDP MP Olivia Chow talk about her life with Jack Layton and the couple's last few days together. (CBC)

"I will continue the work that needs to be done in the House of Commons and pushing a public transit bill, a national one. And I will continue doing that kind of work. But leader, not for me."

When asked by Mansbridge whether she would resist any attempt to convince her to run, Chow shook her head and replied: "Drafting? No."

In the interview, Chow talks about her life with Layton, their last few days together and takes questions about his final struggle with cancer.

Layton, who died Aug. 22 at the age of 61, led the New Democrats to a historic second-place finish in May's federal election to replace the Liberals as the Official Opposition to Prime Minister's Stephen Harper's Conservative majority government.

Since Layton's death, his wife's name had been thrown in with several other NDP figures as a possible candidate to replace him at the helm of the party.

NDP deputy leaders Thomas Mulcair and Libby Davies have said they are considering running but insist they haven't made a decision yet. A number of other MPs — including Megan Leslie, Francoise Boivin, Robert Chisholm, Romeo Saganash and Peter Julian — have also said they are thinking about it, while the NDP's president, Brian Topp, said he is weighing his options.

The party's federal council is meeting next week to set up the rules that will govern the leadership race. A date and location for a leadership convention must also be decided upon.Jack Layton as head of the New Democratic Party, saying the role of Official Leader of the Opposition is "not for me."

In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview with the CBC's chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge that will air Monday night on The National, Chow said she wouldn't join the leadership race to continue Layton's legacy as Opposition leader.

"We have a lot of capable people that can be leader. That’s not my role," she said in her first interview since her husband's death, conducted at the site of the couple's marriage on Toronto Island.
CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge and NDP MP Olivia Chow talk about her life with Jack Layton and the couple's last few days together.CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge and NDP MP Olivia Chow talk about her life with Jack Layton and the couple's last few days together. (CBC)

"I will continue the work that needs to be done in the House of Commons and pushing a public transit bill, a national one. And I will continue doing that kind of work. But leader, not for me."

When asked by Mansbridge whether she would resist any attempt to convince her to run, Chow shook her head and replied: "Drafting? No."

In the interview, Chow talks about her life with Layton, their last few days together and takes questions about his final struggle with cancer.

Layton, who died Aug. 22 at the age of 61, led the New Democrats to a historic second-place finish in May's federal election to replace the Liberals as the Official Opposition to Prime Minister's Stephen Harper's Conservative majority government.

                         NDP deputy leaders Thomas Mulcair and Libby Davies have said they are considering running but insist they haven't made a decision yet. A number of other MPs — including Megan Leslie, Francoise Boivin, Robert Chisholm, Romeo Saganash and Peter Julian — have also said they are thinking about it, while the NDP's president, Brian Topp, said he is weighing his options.

The party's federal council is meeting next week to set up the rules that will govern the leadership race. A date and location for a leadership convention must also be decided upon.
In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview with the CBC's chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge that will air Monday night on The National.
    "We have a lot of capable people that can be leader. That’s not my role," she said in her first interview since her husband's death, conducted at the site of the couple's marriage on Toronto Island.
CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge and NDP MP Olivia Chow talk about her life with Jack Layton and the couple's last few days together.CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge and NDP MP Olivia Chow talk about her life with Jack Layton and the couple's last few days together. (CBC)

"I will continue the work that needs to be done in the House of Commons and pushing a public transit bill, a national one. And I will continue doing that kind of work. But leader, not for me."

When asked by Mansbridge whether she would resist any attempt to convince her to run, Chow shook her head and replied: "Drafting? No."

In the interview, Chow talks about her life with Layton, their last few days together and takes questions about his final struggle with cancer.

Layton, who died Aug. 22 at the age of 61, led the New Democrats to a historic second-place finish in May's federal election to replace the Liberals as the Official Opposition to Prime Minister's Stephen Harper's Conservative majority government.

Since Layton's death, his wife's name had been thrown in with several other NDP figures as a possible candidate to replace him at the helm of the party.

NDP deputy leaders Thomas Mulcair and Libby Davies have said they are considering running but insist they haven't made a decision yet. A number of other MPs — including Megan Leslie, Francoise Boivin, Robert Chisholm, Romeo Saganash and Peter Julian — have also said they are thinking about it, while the NDP's president, Brian Topp, said he is weighing his options.

The party's federal council is meeting next week to set up the rules that will govern the leadership race. A date and location for a leadership convention must also be decided upon.Jack Layton as head of the New Democratic Party, saying the role of Official Leader of the Opposition is "not for me."

In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview with the CBC's chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge that will air Monday night on The National, Chow said she wouldn't join the leadership race to continue Layton's legacy as Opposition leader.

"We have a lot of capable people that can be leader. That’s not my role," she said in her first interview since her husband's death, conducted at the site of the couple's marriage on Toronto Island.
CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge and NDP MP Olivia Chow talk about her life with Jack Layton and the couple's last few days together.CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge and NDP MP Olivia Chow talk about her life with Jack Layton and the couple's last few days together. (CBC)

"I will continue the work that needs to be done in the House of Commons and pushing a public transit bill, a national one. And I will continue doing that kind of Business. But leader, not for me."

When asked by Mansbridge whether she would resist any attempt to convince her to run, Chow shook her head and replied: "Drafting? No."

In the interview, Chow talks about her life with Layton, their last few days together and takes questions about his final struggle with cancer.

Layton, who died Aug. 22 at the age of 61, led the New Democrats to a historic second-place finish in May's federal election to replace the Liberals as the Official Opposition to Prime Minister's Stephen Harper's Conservative majority government.

                         NDP deputy leaders Thomas Mulcair and Libby Davies have said they are considering running but insist they haven't made a decision yet. A number of other MPs — including Megan Leslie, Francoise Boivin, Robert Chisholm, Romeo Saganash and Peter Julian — have also said they are thinking about it, while the NDP's president, Brian Topp, said he is weighing his options.

The party's federal council is meeting next week to set up the rules that will govern the leadership race. A date and location for a leadership convention must also be decided upon.


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Toronto to pay tribute to Jack Layton

Thousands of people are expected to pay tribute to Jack Layton at Toronto City Hall, where the NDP leader will lie in repose before his state funeral on Saturday.

Dignitaries and invited guests are expected to begin arriving at city hall at 8 a.m. on Friday. The public can pay their respects and sign a book of condolences from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Well over 10,000 people paid tribute to Layton as he lay in state in Ottawa Wednesday and Thursday, and similar crowds are expected in the city where Layton lived for decades as an activist, councillor and MP.

Toronto residents' affection for Layton has been clear since his death, with tributes and well-wishers leaving flowers and mementoes at Layton's constituency office, his home, and at Toronto City Hall — where a single chalk message scrawled on the concrete wall of a raised walkway became a large-scale memorial, with hundreds of messages written in chalk.

Dozens of people, many ringing bells or honking the horns on their bicycles, were on hand as the hearse arrived at Toronto City Hall late Thursday. They broke into spontaneous applause and cheered and the motorcade slowed to a halt, and again when a Toronto police honour guard carried Layton's coffin into city hall.

The public and will have a chance to pay their respects to Jack Layton at Toronto City Hall before his state funeral this coming Saturday.

Amid the applause some were heard shouting "we love you, Jack," and "welcome home."The city's CN Tower will be lit in orange from sundown Saturday until sunrise Sunday in honour of the late NDP leader.

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poll says, More health-care accountability sought

The majority of Canadians polled said a health-care agreement should take a national approach rather than focusing on the individual health needs of each province or territory. (Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press)

Canada needs a health-care ombudsman to address complaints about poor medical treatment, a new poll suggests.

The poll was part of the Canadian Medical Association annual report card on health care, released Monday at the group's conference in St. John's.

"Patients are too often lost in the shuffle in health care," said CMA president Dr. Jeff Turnbull.

The report card looked at attitudes on topics such as adopting a Canadian patient health charter to ensure accountability, a complaint mechanism, funding models for health care and the next federal-provincial health agreement.

Respondents felt strongly that a patient health charter should include recourse for those who receive poor health service, with 87 per cent saying they support a mechanism for citizens to complain about poor health service.

About 86 per cent supported including an independent ombudsman for complaints about poor health service in the patient health charter.

The survey also suggested:

    * 82 per cent of Canadians agreed that a patient health charter that outlined patients' rights and responsibilities would make the system more efficient.
    * 80 per cent agreed that the number of complaints against a jurisdiction should be reported so people can compare jurisdictions to one another.
    * 97 per cent agreed federal, provincial and territorial governments need to start working together on a new health accord to replace the current agreement that expires in 2014.
    * 93 per cent agreed that governments should meet every year to discuss the state of health care in the country.

Those surveyed were more divided about whether the federal-provincial health-care agreement should take a national or jurisdictional approach, with 52 per cent preferring one national in scope with all provinces agreeing on how the system will be funded, delivered and made accountable.

Similarly, 49 per cent chose a model where provinces and territories receive a certain amount of funding for health care to spend as they see fit. The other 46 per cent felt a portion of each provinces and territories' funding should be held back until performance targets are met. Five per cent did not answer.

Ipsos Reid conducted the poll between July 5 and July 8, using an online survey of 1,026 Canadian adults and a telephone survey of 1,000 Canadian adults on July 6 and 7.

The results of the telephone survey are considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

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This is The First Time In 122 Years The Central Canada Exibition Has Been Shut Down - Except For Wartime

This year's SuperEX event has been cancelled, marking the first time there will be no exhibition at Ottawa's Lansdowne Park since the world wars.

Ottawa's SuperEX has been suspended for 2011 due to Lansdowne Park's planned redevelopment.

The Central Canada Exhibition Association's board of directors made the decision to suspend the fair — which was first held in 1888 — last week, citing Lansdowne's redevelopment as the main reason.


It will be the first time in 122 years the Central Canada Exhibition has been shut down, barring the war years; for Moran, it will mark the first time in 78 years she will miss the Ex, which was suspended this year as organizers look for a new venue in the wake of the redevelopment of Lansdowne.

In its heyday, the Ex was one of the top fairs in North America, drawing as many as 800,000 people a year — double the number of recent years. Its grandstand shows featured famous acts such as the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes and country star Willie Nelson, as well as the renowned “travelling railroad” carnival, the World of Mirth.

“My mother would make us lunches, and my father built us a wagon” to get there and back, she remembers. In the 1930s and ’40s, the kids would earn a few pennies scavenging empty Coke bottles for the deposits. You could buy food at any of the church-run booths, which offered wholesome fare such as “apple pie and a cup of tea — not the greasy stuff you get nowadays.”

Moran remembers paying a quarter to see the freak show, and recalls the time then-mayor Charlotte Whitton shut down the burlesque shows at the Ex. “We didn’t go in, of course, but we’d see the girls going in” to perform.

Moran can also recall the surreal sight of carnies unloading circus animals from the railroad that used to run where the Queensway now stands, and taking them down O’Connor Street to the fairgrounds.

No surprise that her coming-of-age stories all revolve around the Ex: “We had a lot of fun picking up guys,” she recalls, hastening to add that it was just innocent flirting. “They never tried to get smart with us. … There was no dope or drink involved. We had good, clean fun at the Ex.”

And she savours the tale of her father, who used to enter vegetables he grew in contests at the Ex in the 1950s and 60s. One year he wasn’t ready, “so he went down to the (Byward) Market and bought some,” and entered those as his own. “He won first prize for every item,” laughing as she recalled the memory.

As the years went by, Moran went on to have her own children, but her love of the Ex never faded, and she went faithfully every year; she even once penned a poem about the Ex.

Even in her 80s, the magic has never faded: “I went three or four times last year,” she says, although she admits the fair is not what it used to be: “It wasn’t that good over the last 10 years.”

The Ex used to offer much more than just rides and entertainment: Before television ads and home shows were the norm, that was “where people used to go to see latest and greatest TVs, appliances and cars,” he adds.

Now they shop elsewhere, and gambling — another major money-maker at the Ex — goes on at casinos and even corner stores. Over time, people have forgotten where it all began, he says.

Memories of the Ex: 122 Years at Lansdowne airs at 8 p.m. at the Coliseum Building at Lansdowne Park on Thursday.


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