Local News
Scarborough Hospital to Cut Nursing Jobs
Toronto-The Scarborough Hospital plans to get rid of 50 full
time and 10 part-time positions from its nursing Staff.
Hospital spokesman Dave Bourne says “like many hospitals,
The Scarborough Hospital is facing significant budget
challenges due to rising costs for drugs, supplies and
negotiated wage settlements.
Union officials have expressed concerns about the cuts saying
the hospital cannot remove registered Nurses and improve the
quality of care for patients.
Toronto Hydro offers buyouts to 460 employees
Toronto-Some 460 Toronto Hydro employees will have until
next week to decide whether to accept a buy out offer from the
company Employees have until February 24th to decide.
According to spokesperson Tanya Bruckmueller the buyouts
would only affect jobs the utility can do without as Toronto
Hydro looks to address a $20 million budget shortfall.
The utility has already phased out 60 non-unionized jobs and if
a significant number of employees don’t accept the buyout package
layoffs may be necessary.
Police Investigating Allegations of Dog Poisoning In Leslieville
Toronto-Greenwood Park Animal Hospital has issued a warning to pet
owners in Toronto Leslieville neighbourhood fallowing the alleged
poisoning of three dogs.
The dogs all fell ill with vommitting, diarrhea, convulsions and seizures
after a walk through alleyways east of Pape from Queen Street E. to Dundas
Street E. And the alley way South of Gerrard behind a community recreation
centre.
All three dogs – a cocker spaniel, mixed breed and a miniature
schnauzer appeared to have been healthy before their walk.
Autopsies couldn’t determine what toxin might have killed the
dogs.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-
5500 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
Undeclared Milk In Certain SWEETS FROM THE EARTH Brand
CARROT CAKES
Toronto-The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and
Ilana Robyn Foods Ltd. are warning people with allergies to
milk not to consume the Sweets From The Earth brand product.
This product has been distributed in Ontario and Quebec.
There has been 1 reported reaction associated with the
consumption of this product.
Consumption of this product may cause a serious or life
threatening reaction in persons with allergies to milk.
The manufacturer, Ilana Robyn Foods Ltd., Toronto, ON, is
voluntarily recalling the affected product from the marketplace.
The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.
It will cost you more to ride GO Transit as of Saturday.
TORONTO – The fare increase is the first in two years. The
increase ranges from 30 cents to 40 cents depending on the
length of your ride.
In January, Metrolinx approved an increase using a “fare by
distance” approach.
As a result, GO riders who travel a greater distance will have to
pay 30 cents more for rides between $4.20 and $5.50, an
additional 35 cents for rides between $5.51 and $7.00, and 40
cents more for anything over $7.00
GO said this will generate around $19.5-million per a year,
which they hope will manage costs as theagency deals with
unprecedented ridership growth.
African Region
Uganda-Ugandan officials have stripped Libya’s ambassador of
his title and evicted him from the embassy, saying he was an
obstacle to new relations with post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya.
Foreign minister says Okello Oryem says the Libyan diplomat
had to be evicted in order to accommodate the arrival in Uganda
of a new representative.
The evicted envoy has expressed concerns that he could be arrested
once he returned home, andUgandan officials say the government
may negotiate his transfer to a third country.
Oryem said the diplomat had been stripped of his security and
was now a private man.
Relations between Uganda and Libya prospered during the long
reign of Gadhafi, whose oil money flowed into Uganda through
the telecommunications and travel sectors. He was also popular
among Uganda’s Muslims, to whom he donated an elegant
mosque that remains one of the tallest structures in Kampala
the capital.
South Africa Women Protest Harassment With Miniskirts
South Africa-Hundreds of women wearing miniskirts have
marched through downtown Johannesburg to protest sexual
harassment.
A handful of men also donned miniskirts in support during Friday’s
march organized by the women’s league of the African National
Congress.
Women especially complain of harassment from the drivers of
private vans known as taxis, which serve as the main form of
mass transportation in South Africa.
In 2008, a 25-year woman wearing a miniskirt was stripped,
paraded naked and sexually assaulted by some drivers in
Johannesburg.
Senegal Opposition To Hold Protest Despite Ban
Senegal-Senegal’s opposition movement will go ahead with a
protest Friday at a square located just 500 yards (meters) from
the presidential palace, defying a ban by the government which
has refused to authorize the demonstration calling for the
departure of the country’s 85-year-old president.
The country’s opposition leaders say they are going ahead
because they consider the ban unconstitutional, according to
Abdoul Aziz Diop, spokesman for the M23 coalition of
opposition parties.
Senegal is just a week away from a much-anticipated presidential
election and electoral law allows candidates to hold rallies in the
pre-election period. Opposition demonstrations over the past two
weeks have often turned violent and led to vandalism, with crowds
setting fire to tires, buses and the wooden tables used by market
women to sell their wares.
On Tuesday, when the opposition last tried to hold a rally in
Place de l’Independance, police opened fire with a barrage of
tear gas, shooting the gas grenades out of a tank-like truck.
A 49-year-old woman caught in the scrum fainted, and was
dragged to safety by the employees of a travel agency located
on the square.
No serious injuries were reported, but four people have been
killed in other protests since January, when the nation’s highest
court ruled that President Abdoulaye Wade had the right to run
for a third term, despite a constitutional revision which
imposed a two-term maximum.
Car Bomb Explodes Inside Somalia Police Compound
Toronto-A police officer says that a car bomb detonated inside
a police compound in Somalia’s capital.
The explosion rattled the city and dark smoke could be seen
rising into the sky. There were no immediate casualty figures.
Suicide and car bomb attacks in Somalia are typically carried
out by al-Shabab, the country’s most dangerous militant group.
Al-Qaida announced earlier this month that it was merging with
al-Shabab.
Toronto-The Trinidad and Tobago Consulate General in Toronto
is now delivering Machine Readable
Passports to nationals within three to four weeks from the
initial date of application. This is down from three months a
year ago.
This was stated by Consul General Dr Vidya Gyan Tota-Maharaj
at a presentation ceremony of new passports to nationals held
at the Consulate General.
The Consul General told those gathered that since the
beginning of 2012, the Immigration Department in Trinidad
had processed over 600 new passports for applicants from the
Consulate and her staff was now working on further reducing
the time factor in the overall delivery process; currently it takes
about two to three weeks to get an appointment with the newly
acquired computerized system and the Immigration Staff has
approximately 30 appointments daily. The Consul General’s
goal is to have appointments scheduled with one week and
delivery of the passport to the applicant within two to three
weeks.
Dr Tota-Maharaj also announced the commencement of an
outreach program through which the Consulate will connect
with nationals across Canada to assist those residing out of
Ontario with theirapplications for the new Machine Readable
Passports.
The Consulate’s Immigration Team will begin phase one of this
program on Thursday March 22 and Friday March 23 in
Edmonton and on Monday March 26 and Tuesday March 27 in
Calgary.
The outreach program will continue on May 28 and 29 with the
team heading to Winnipeg, followed by Vancouver in July, Montreal
and Ottawa in September and New Brunswick in November.
Community
Toronto-There will be no major changes to the itinerary of
events in Jamaica to mark the country’s 50th anniversary this
year even though there has been a recent changein government
says junior minister, Arnaldo Brown.
“Certainly, with every change in administration, there are
certain changes that are automatic and will take place,” said
Brown, who defeated Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate
Camille Buchanan by 576 votes in East Central St. Catharine.
“Those alterations are happening and I don’t believe that they
aregoing to impede or disrupt the progress of the celebrations.
The Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Foreign
Trade gave the assurance at a media conference while in Toronto
last weekend for the Jamaica Canadian Association’s (JCA) annual
Boonoonoonos Brunch.
Brown is the first government minister to pay an official visit to
Canada since the Portia Simpson Miller-led People’s National
Party (PNP) regained political power in last December’s general
elections.
Caribbean Region
Trinidad-Drivers in Trinidad are racing to fill on petrol ahead of
pending strike action by Petrotrinworkers on Saturday February
18.
This despite assurances from the government and Petrotrin that
the has a 20-day supply of fuel before running out.
Petrotrin workers and their union, the Oilfields Workers’ Trade
Union (OWTU) are locked in an industrial dispute over the
settlement of a salary increase.
The Union’s initially wanted a 75 per cent increase over three
years but said that demand had been reduced significantly.
While the Union has indicated its willingness to reduce its
demand, the fuel company hasreportedly refused to increase its
offer. Officials at the State-owned oil company said the total
package being offered would take its employees further ahead of
other workers in the labour market.
Struggle To keep Maurice Bishop International Airport Open
Grenada-The Grenadian government is taking steps to ensure
the island’s Maurice Bishop International Airport remains open.
Information Minister, Senator Glen Noel say the Tillman
Thomas administration is making the necessary financial
arrangements for the Airports Authority to ensure the facility
remained open to daily traffic.
The operations of the airport are under threat as thousands of
dollars in international airline fees are being diverted away from
the Grenada Airports Authority . This as a result of a judgement
against thecountry in its legal battle with Taiwan.
The EXIM Bank of Taiwan obtained judgment against the
Government of Grenada for outstanding loans in a Suit filed in
the United States. The Taiwanese made a claim for all monies
owing to the Government of Grenada and its agencies to be paid
against the loan. Consequently, a request was made to airlines
operating on the Grenada route to pay monies owed to the Grenada
Airports Authority to the Taiwanese.
Virgin Airlines, British Airways and Delta Airlines have
reportedly started to deposit monies owed to the Airports
Authority into an account created for the purpose. This has
placed the Airports Authority in a very precarious financial
position.
The Government has promised to give a complete update on the
status of efforts aimed at bringing a resolution to the debt with
EXIM Bank of Taiwan, during the presentation of the 2012
budget
Bermudians upset at 10% increase in duty on personal items
Bermuda-In Bermuda, Thousands have signed a petition
against a rise in import duty on personal items and presented it
to Premier Paula Cox.
The concerned citizens are warning that all Bermudians citizens
and residents – will be hurt by this measure which they see as
robbing them of free choice. They add that the side effects could
endanger businesses and jobs.
The petition comes months after the Premier announced that
Government would increase the duty on personal items being
carried into the country through the airport by travellers from
25 percent to 35 percent.
The increase is one of several moves intended to support the
local retail sector by encouraging residents to shop locally. The
move was embraced by retailers.
