Canadian grocery chain warns of higher food prices
Toronto, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Metro President and Chief Executive Officer Eric La Fleche is warning of a rise in food prices in the coming months. Metro is the third largest food retailer in Canada.
The executive said last week that in some categories such as pasta and bread there would be significant hikes in prices.
Similar warnings have been made the past few days by other major food firms such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, Kraft Canada and General Mills.
The Food and Agriculture Organization reported higher prices for grains, oilseeds and sugar at levels similar to the food crises of 2008. As a result, FAO’s overall Food Price index in December surpassed the peak in June 2008.
However, the impact of rising food prices would be felt less by Canadians compared to citizens of large nations such as India and China. This is because food makes up only 17 percent of consumer spending and is third only to shelter and transportation.
Moreover, food prices in Canada rose only 1.7 percent in 2010, compared to 15 percent in India and 9 percent in China. Indians spent 47 percent of their income on food, while Chinese spent 34 percent.
Weather, particularly the La Nina phenomenon, is partly to be blamed for the rising food prices. However, the larger problem is the higher demand over supply. Experts pushed for more investment in agriculture to stem the continuous rise in food prices because there are still many farmlands that are either underutilized or idle.
View full post on Lifestyle And Leisure Stories
Painful affairs of child adoption in Nepal
Feature Story, Nepal (AHN) – Last September, American couple Haydn Hilling and his wife Edvige desperately wanted to take home their adopted Nepali child, Kailash. Though the American couple that hails from Louisiana spent more than one-and-a-half years getting the necessary paperwork required for the adoption, the process has come to a standstill following the United States’ decision to halt adoptions of abandoned children from Nepal.
The U.S. administration halted the adoption of Nepali children due to growing allegations of child trafficking and falsification of documents, often in connivance with government authorities.
A joint statement issued by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the first week of August said the step was taken to protect the rights and interests of Nepali children and their families after field visits to orphanages and police departments showed that documents describing children up for adoption as abandoned were often unreliable.
Another 10 countries–Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom–have also halted inter-country adoptions from Nepal.
According to Nepal’s Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, new rules were put in place last December and some stern measures have been added to the process.
“The Hague Secretariat also wants the smooth resumption of child adoption here,” chief of the ministry’s legal section, Sher Jung Karki said. The new set of policies allows local placement agencies to charge US$5,000 to adopting parents, while the government charges US$3,000.
Any foreign placement agency must set up a liaison office in Nepal and pay the government US$10,000 that will be handed over to an organization working for the welfare of children. Subsequently, the process of inter-country adoption of street children is subject to widespread abuses, the government has banned the adoption effective from Jan. 5.
The new policy also allows Nobel laureates, heads of states/governments, foreign ministers, celebrities, or a couple with an annual income of over US$300,000 to become foster parents, while others cannot.
Largely, a vulnerable adoption process that had been taking place in Nepal since several years has compelled the US government more alerted and posed a ban. That was the reason that they could not adopted two – year – old Kailash which made them running from pillar to post that their call will be heard.
Now the list is long. As many as 56 American families are facing heartbreak due to the US Government decision to ban child adoption from Nepal until Nepal’s legal provision ensures that adopted children were not fraud and claim genuine.
These desperate 56 parents have instituted an alliance and had registered a petition in US Congress. “We respectfully request that the Right Honorable members of the US Senate and House petition the Department of State and USCIS within the Department of Homeland Security to assist the “Nepal Pipeline families” in obtaining visas to bring their children home immediately,” the petition reads.
In response to the petition, 14,398 letters and emails were sent far to support their campaign. Moreover they have internet campaign through blog, http://theywaitnepal.blogspot.com/. One can find the photos of to be adopted Nepali child and their US mother. “These families are struggling to bring home their legally adopted children who are stuck in Nepal awaiting visas that will allow them to enter the US,” they write in their blog.
Many anxious parents are waiting in the US also. Many are stranded since August, 2010.
It seems that child adoption in Nepal has been turned into a profitable business as dozens of websites and privately organizations have claimed that there were many advantages of adopting children from Nepal. “There are many advantages for adopting from Nepal. Even though Nepal is an economically poor country, children are cared for very well with few incidences of abuse or neglect. If you like the idea of adopting a baby or toddler, it would be an excellent country to consider,” claims, adoptionark.
View full post on All Stories
Ontario joins growing clamor for Ottawa to mend diplomatic ties with UAE
Toronto, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Ontario has joined the growing list of Canadian provinces that are urging the federal government to mend broken diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates. Alberta made a similar call early this month.
Ontario Minister of Economic Development and Trade Sandra Pupatello warned Tuesday that the dispute with Dubai over landing rights for UAE-owned carriers could result in lost contracts and missed opportunities for the province. To repair the diplomatic impasse, Pupatello flew to Dubai to meet with UAE businesses and officials.
She led a delegation of 20 Ontario health companies that are interested in tapping into the Middle Eastern region’s growing healthcare market.
The minister criticized Ottawa for being protectionist in refusing UAE’s request for more landing rights in Toronto, while pushing for open markets in other sectors such as telecommunications. Pupatello opined that Air Canada could handle the competition from Etihad Airways and Emirates.
However, federal officials have not made any efforts to fix the broken ties, worsened by UAE’s decision to slap dollar rates on Canadians seeking tourist visas to the emirates, while charging nationals of other countries dirham rates.
View full post on Economy, Business And Finance Stories
Complaints against Bell Canada telemarketers flood regulators
Montreal, Quebec, Canada (AHN) – It took more than 10,000 complaints before the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission acted against Bell Canada and its telemarketers. Despite phone owners listing their numbers in the national Do Not Call registry, the telecom firm’s contractual employees have allegedly continued to hound them with calls.
After a year of being flooded by complaints, the regulatory agency finally acted and imposed a $1.3 million fine on Bell Canada in December.
Aside from bothering consumers, the telemarketers – some of whom were based overseas – were at times reported to be aggressive and abusive. Some complaints were against telemarketers who cursed at people who were not interested in the Bell Canada products or services offered through the phone.
One complainant said he received a death threat after he asked to speak to the manager of the telemarketer.
Bell Canada refused to confirm the number of complaints filed against it with the CRTC, but stressed most of the complaints were not actual violations of the Do Not Call regulations.
The penalty was the largest imposed by CRTC for violation of telemarketing rules. In the same month, the regulatory agency fined another telemarketing firm, Xentel DM, for abusing an exemption from the Do Not Call registry granted to charities.
View full post on Economy, Business And Finance Stories
Survey: 47 percent of Canadians don’t believe health food claims
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – A survey released Monday found that 47 percent of Canadians don’t believe in health claims on food products. The skepticism is felt mostly among Canadians in the age bracket 55 and above.
Among popular food additives, 72 percent of the survey respondents asked by Ipsos Reid said they believe that probiotics or live microorganisms added to food products improve their health. Another 79 percent identified Omega-3 fatty acids as an additive that is good for their health.
Because of the mistrust of health claims on food labels, only 44 percent of Canadians are willing to pay more for such products. The 44 percent placed a 12.8 percent cap on how much price increase they are willing to shoulder to attain better health.
Health food claims are being monitored by government agencies as Canada continues to grapple with obesity. According to Statistics Canada, 61 percent of Canadians are overweight.
To compound the problem for Canadians seeking better health through eating, various fads flood the market such as carbohydrate reduction, reducing fat, shifting to vegetables or subsisting on liquid that all claim to work.
Obesity researchers are now saying that weight reduction can be achieved using any diet so long as calorie intake is reduced. Their conclusion is based on a 2005 study that followed 160 overweight volunteers who used the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers or Zone diets. After 12 months, most of the volunteers lost an average of six pounds, but there was no statistical difference among the diets.
View full post on Lifestyle And Leisure Stories
Ottawa amends mortgage rules to curb rising household debts
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced Monday that Ottawa has amended three rules governing mortgages to curb rising household debts.
Under the new regulations, the maximum amortization period for government-backed insured mortgages was reduced to 30 years from 35 years. These are for mortgages with loan-to-value ratios of more than 80 percent.
Ottawa also cut the maximum amount that residents could borrow to refinance their mortgages to 85 percent from 90 percent of their homes’ value. The government also withdrew government insurance backing on lines of credit secured by homes.
With the changes, the amortization of an average Canadian resale house sold for $344,551 with an minimum 5 percent down payment of $17,227 would increase the monthly amortization by $110 to $1,555.
Although Canada has less than 1 percent mortgage default rate, Flaherty said the federal government wants to reduce borrowing with the average level of household debts rising to 148 percent of disposable income.
Flaherty said in a statement, “Canada’s well-regulated housing sector has been an important strength that allowed us to avoid the mistakes of other countries and helped protect us from the worst of the recent global recession.”
He added, “The prudent measures announced build on that advantage by encouraging hard-working Canadian families to save by investing in their homes and future.”
View full post on Economy, Business And Finance Stories
American cheap chic discount chain enters Canada
Minneapolis, MN, United States (AHN) – U.S. cheap chic discount chain Target is set to enter Canada soon with the company’s purchase of Zellers.
The development is a result of Hudson’s Bay Company’s sale for $1.825 billion of it weakest chain, Zellers, to Target.
Under the agreement, Target will take control of up to 220 Zellers outlets and spend $1 billion to transform 100 to 150 stores to Target outlets in the next two to three years.
Target’s entry to Canada is expected to change the domestic retail scene in the latter and help ease the congestion in the U.S. retail market. It may also serve as business model for other American retailers such as Marshalls, Kohls and Dick’s Sporting Goods which are eying to expand north of the border.
HBC owner Richard Baker said it will use the proceed of the sale of Zellers to pay debts and improve the company’s remaining retail chains such as the Bay, Home Outfitters, Fields and Lord and Taylor.
Target has wanted to enter Canada, Mexico or Latin America for the past 10 years, and immediately went into action in November by talking with HBC when it learned other U.S. retailers also wanted to buy Zellers.
View full post on All Stories
Alberta in trade talks with UAE
Calgary, Alberta, Canada (AHN) – Despite the worsening diplomatic impasse between Canada and the United Arab Emirates, Alberta will send an official this week to Dubai to attend trade meetings.
Alberta International and Intergovernmental Minister Iris Evans is scheduled to leave Friday for UAE in a bid to expand trade between the oil sands-producing province and the oil-rich emirates. Evans said Calgary could not wait for Ottawa and Dubai to settle their difference.
From 2005 to 2009, Alberta exports to UAE averaged $153.4 million a year, mainly canola seeds, machinery and wheat. For the same period, Alberta imported from the emirates an average of $2.61 million yearly, mainly surveying equipment, machinery, precious stones, and iron and steel products.
In the field of energy, Alberta Energy signed in January 2010 a Memorandum of Understanding with the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company on carbon capture and storage, while Abu Dhabi committed $22 billion to an initiative that would transform the UAE into a top developer and producer of clean energy technologies.
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach even attended in 2009 the World Future Energy Summit hosted by UAE.
The diplomatic row between Canada and UAE was recently a hot topic again in Canadian and UAE media because of Liberal MP Bob Rae’s personal visit to the emirates in a bid to heal the wounds due to Ottawa’s rejection of more landing rights requested by UAE for state-owned Etihad Airways and Etihad.
The past two months saw the UAE government taking action for the rejection by kicking out the Canadian troops stationed at Dubai’s Camp Mirage in November and charging dollar rates beginning Jan. 2 to Canadians seeking tourist visa to UAE, while collecting dirham rates from other nationals.
View full post on Economy, Business And Finance Stories
Canadian firm offers to buy one of Iceland’s largest seafood suppliers
Lunenberg, Nova Scotia, Canada (AHN) – High Liner Foods continues to be on a buying binge. After purchasing Viking Seafoods in December, High Liner announced late Tuesday that it had bid $445.5 million for Icelandic Group, one of the largest seafood suppliers in Iceland.
The Nova Scotia-based food processor said it wanted to expands its business and saw an opportunity in making an unsolicited offer to Icelandic, which exports marine products to the U.S. Icelandic is owned by a public pension group operated by the Framtakssjodur Islands fund.
Reports said that Icelandic indicated it is not interested in High Liner’s offer. Another buyer, a European-based private equity company called Triton, has also offered to purchase Icelandic and there had been limited talks between the two companies.
On Dec. 13, High Liner completed its buy-in of Viking for $31.5 million. Viking reported net sales in 2010 of $40 million.
View full post on Economy, Business And Finance Stories
Bell Canada call center employees win $50 million lottery jackpot
Toronto, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Nineteen call center employees of Bell Canada started 2011 by winning the $50 million jackpot in the Lotto Max.
It is the largest jackpot in the province ever won by a single ticket, according to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission.
The commission declined to identify the 19 lucky millionaires, except to confirm that they are employees of Bell Canada assigned at the company’s call center near the Scarborough Town Center shopping mall.
The lottery was drawn on Dec. 31. On that day the 19 were at the office celebrating New Year’s Eve, but they left by mid-afternoon.
A women validated the winning ticket before 9 a.m. Monday at a gas station. Although the OLG office was closed on Monday, the commission had someone wait for the winners to claim their prize money. The group is expected to claim their millions later this week.
It is the second largest group jackpot win in Canadian history. The largest, $54 million, was won in the 2005 Super 7 draw by oil and gas workers in Alberta.
View full post on Lifestyle And Leisure Stories
Day Trading- Facebook opens at $42
- U.S. adds anti-dumping tariffs to Chinese solar panels
- Fitch downgrades Greek sovereign debt
- Clinton urges Americans to invest in Myanmar, names ambassador
- Gambia: Small country with a big crisis
- Verizon ending unlimited data for phone upgrade
- Senate confirms Federal Reserve nominees
- Aiming to leave least developed country list
- Bret Michaels settles lawsuit over Tony awards injury
- JC Penney store sales plunge nearly 20 percent
- Forex
- Getting Started In Forex – The Proven Best Strategy For Getting Started In Forex
- Forex Secrets – Delusion Number 2 – Who Prompts Forex Quotation to Traders?
- Summary Box: Stocks fall as dollar jumps
- Ava Forex Broker-Providing An Apparent Platform To Trade For Both Traders And Investors
- Forex Trading Strategies – How to Be a Super Successful Forex Trader! AAA+++
- Fed stands pat on interest rates and bond purchases
- Managed Foreign Exchange – Tips And Tricks to Manage Your Forex Account
- Car sales in Philippines jump 29 percent
- Suicide Won’t End Madoff Suits
- What to Look for in Opening a Free Forex Account
-
- Investors
- Comparison Shopping for Personal Loans
- Comparison Shopping for Personal Loans
- Bank of America repurchases $2.5 billion debt from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac in settlement
- Bank of America repurchases $2.5 billion debt from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac in settlement
- Illinois Firm Recalls Raw and Ready-To-Eat Sausage Products Due To Possible Adulteration
- DeLisha Milton-Jones shines as Sparks topple Liberty in historic rematch
- June 20, 2011: Braves 2* vs. Blue Jays 0 (MLB)
- Debt Consolidation – Savior in Debt Crisis
- Government Check List for Starting a Business
- Rohingyas in Malaysia seek education, opportunities
- Eco friendly Business
- Save the energy and save yourself from debts
- Stella McCartney’s sunglasses are eco-friendly
- Climate-vulnerable countries to seek help from rich nations
- Bangladesh, India vulnerable to climate change
- Disease concerns as flash floods hit Kenyan coastal area
- Nalgae leaves 18 dead in the Philippines
- Rising sea level could wipe out California’s billion-dollar beaches
- Two million hit by floods in Sindh Province
- Drought – the view from the ground
- British Columbia sends more firefighters to Ontario
