War on Drugs Migrates North

Canada Pushes for Healthy Street Food
Vancouver has become the first North America city to impose strict healthy food regulations for potential street vendors. In its attempt to cut down on unhealthy street food, the Canadian government is trying to lessen the number of carts selling foods that are high in sodium, fats or sugars.
But public opinion about the move remains divided.
Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab reports from Vancouver

Die Spiele von Vancouver sind eröffnet: Kanadas Ureinwohner begrüssen die Wintersportler der Welt
NZZ ONLINE: In Vancouvers BC Place sind die XXI. Winterspiele mit der Begrüssung durch die verschiedenen Stämme der Ureinwohner Kanadas eröffnet worden. In der ersten olympischen Auftaktfeier unter Dach wurde der Einzug der Nationen gleich an den Beginn des Programms gesetzt.

Ein Snowboarder kurvt durch die grandiose Berglandschaft British Columbias, er fährt durch ein von Fackelträgern gebildetes Ahornblatt, setzt zum Sprung an – und landet im Oval des BC Place, des Hallenstadions von Vancouver. Mit dem Übergang von Video zur Realität, von den Bergen zum Tal, hat die Eröffnungsfeier der XXI. Olympischen Winterspiele in Kanada begonnen. >>> spi. | Samstag, 13. Februar 2010

Workers Overwhelmed as B.C. Burns
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Vancouver – One of the worst outbreaks of forest fires in British Columbia history is beginning to overwhelm the province's hard pressed firefighting crews.

Firefighters who have been battling for weeks in scorching heat to keep scores of raging fires at bay are being forced to let many fires burn unchecked so they can concentrate on those posing the gravest threat to communities.

Hundreds of new fires have been reported in the past few days and crews just can't keep up, information officer Radha Fisher said Monday. “There are a lot of fires burning out there, and right now, we have to prioritize.”

Gusting winds fanned dangerous fires on the outskirts of several municipalities overnight into Monday, forcing a new round of evacuations and more than doubling the number of British Columbians driven from their homes by advancing flames to more than 5,300.

“We're getting about 100 to 150 new starts a day. We've also seen some very aggressive growth on existing fires,” Ms. Fisher said. “It's a pretty extreme situation, so we have to concentrate our resources where there are property and people to protect. This is one of our most challenging years ever, and it's not over.” >>> Rod Mickleburgh | Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Watch CTVNews video here

Related:
Forest Fires Rage in Spain, Greece >>> AFP | Monday, August 03, 2009

Multiculturalism Is No Longer a Spectator Sport
CANADA FREE PRESS: Multiculturalists can be likened to the hypocritical dilettantes who visit Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, gush over the Amish lifestyle and then return home to their cell phones and hummers.

The Amish are quaint if they can be safely confined to a theme park. But what if they were to multiply a million fold to burst across the land and lever legislatures to impose their ways? One might recall the ordeal of the citizens of Antelope, Oregon in the 1980s when 7,000 cult followers of the “Baghwan”, the Rajneeshees, invaded Wasco County and took over the town council to raise havoc. 


In the Vancouver I knew, people of British origin made up 65% of the population, while just 5% were classified as Asian. I recall that those of us who were “British” were rather proud of the 35% who were not. We thought that they added “spice” to our lives, and especially to our cuisine. We were, in the 1960s, proto-typical “multiculturalists” before the word was coined. And like the Amish, that 35% was considerate enough, for the most part, to stay out of our neighbourhoods and live in designated parts of town. “Multiculturalism” was envisaged really as just a spectator sport. Drop in and visit somebody exotic, then go home where it is safe and comfortable. 
 


But suddenly, following the policy movement in 1966 toward immigration from “non-traditional” sources, and the looming loss of Hong Kong to the Chinese Communists, Vancouver saw a demographic shift of dramatic proportions. In little over two decades the British share of the city’s population fell from 65% to 25% while the Asian share skyrocketed from 5% to 25%. An ugly nickname emerged for the town: “Hongcouver”. The mayor preferred the politically correct euphemism: “A world within a city.” Now 38% of city residents are foreign-born, second only to Toronto at 44%. 
 


It is one thing to add “spice” to your plate. It is another to dump the whole two kilogram bag of pepper on it. As superficial and innocuous as multiculturalism initially appeared to be, it set in motion forces that will be difficult to control. Once the number of foreign-born reaches a critical mass, concessions to them no longer are a matter of generosity and tolerance but necessity. The more Muslims that populate a Western nation, for example, the more difficult it will be to say no to them in questions that matter. 
 


When the Swedes opened up their homogeneous Nordic society to mass immigration from outside Scandinavia, some decades ago, they also let the multicultural genie out of the bottle. Now 17% of the Swedish population have an immigrant background and over half of immigrants come from beyond Europe. This seemingly marginal percentage gave them the leverage to persuade the Swedish government to dis-establish the Lutheran Church, even though 78% follow that denomination. The ethnic tail does not have to be very long to wag the majoritarian dog. 
 


Immigration can accelerate growth at a pace beyond the ability of the host culture to fully comprehend it or react to it in time. In just twenty years the Muslim population in Canada more than doubled to 600,000 in 2001. In the ten years preceding that date, it leapt by 129% so that the number of Muslims surpassed the number of Jews in the country. By 2017 they are projected to reach nearly a million and half in number. What happens when they begin to throw their weight around? What is happening now? 
 


The Iranian Muslims of North Vancouver some years ago were bold enough to ask North Vancouver council to require the local swimming pool to change its dress code to ban bikinis. In another ten years, with another 10,000 Muslims in the district, will council have the will to resist their petition? Why weren’t they willing or able to revoke the taxi-cab licence of the company whose Muslim driver refused a ride to blind man because his guide dog, was, according to the Koran, “unclean”. Multiculturalism is no longer a spectator sport >>> By Tim Murray

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)