Canada

Driving into the eye of a tornado

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:50:43 +0200

A violent tornado touched down in the province of Ontario, Canada, on Thursday. Several more twisters ensued, leaving nothing in their path.

Filmed in Vaughan, Ontario, on the outskirts of Toronto. Posted by "jzon06".

Vaughan. Posted by "milsap".

A mother’s dilemma

Ed Mazza — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:19:45 +0200

The sterile dressing that Faith wears on her head.

In the early stages of her pregnancy, Canadian blogger Myah Walker was confronted with a mother's worst nightmare. Doctors told her that the baby had only a partially formed brain, and would likely die before birth or shortly afterwards; a condition called anencephaly. She refused abortion. And despite the odds, her baby is still alive two months after she was born.

Anencephaly is when a foetus's neural tube fails to close as it should during the early stages of development, resulting in the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp. Babies with the defect normally die stillborn, or a few hours or days after the birth.

Nineteen weeks into her pregnancy, Myah was told of her baby's condition and advised to abort the foetus. But the young woman, full of faith, refused. And despite all scientific improbability, Faith Hope, born 19 February, is still alive. Her mother writes the blog "We walk by Faith, not by sight". Attacked by several outraged web users, she explains her decision to The Observers.

'There’s probably no God'

Ségolène Team Observers — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:36:14 +0100

On a bus in Toronto. Posted by theAtheist bus Canada

The campaign urging passersby to "stop worrying" and "enjoy (their) life" instead will appear on 10 Montreal buses until March 10 and head to Toronto as well.

The Humanist Association of Quebec, which masterminded the campaign, explains on its website why "there's probably no God":

"Though there is no scientific proof of the existence of a divine being, it is equally impossible to prove beyond doubt that God does not exist (nor does Father Christmas at that). Hence, to state that God does not exist is a matter of 'faith', whereas humanists/atheists base their conclusions not on faith but on verifiable facts."

The site then goes on to argue that not believing is without doubt the more interesting option: Quebeckers may henceforth enjoy their lives to the fullest without living in fear of the Almighty and of roasting in hell.

The Canadian initiative follows a similar campaign initiated in the United Kingdom by the humorist Ariane Sherine.

Police cinema: “"Hollywood meets homicide"

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:53:32 +0100

This video was posted online by the Toronto Police Service in the search for witnesses to a murder. The footage has certainly received a lot of hits; a voyeurism which has shocked Canada. Warning, the images might be upsettting.

It's been branded "Hollywood meets homicide", and police in Toronto hope it could be the key to taking the fight against crime into the 21st century. Videos taken with mobile phones or CCTV cameras are now being made routinely public on the homicide squad's http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/ website - a controversial step which cops see as a way of harnessing the power of new media to mobilise a younger generation of crime-spotters, but a step which some find insensitive. This week, shaky video footage of a dead stabbing victim in a Toronto car park was released in the hope that viewers might bring in new leads. Twenty-two-year-old Reon Paul was attacked in the aftermath of Ghana's 2006 World Cup victory but his killers were never found. Investigators hope the graphic video could finally put them behind bars.

The perfect woman- according to a software program

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:42:00 +0200

Can we create the perfect face with a software program? A Canadian Web user has tried to find out.

With the use of "morphing" software, Pierre Tourigny fused the faces of around 30 girls rated 9.5 or 10 on Hot or Not (where attractiveness is rated on a 1-10 scale). By applying the same technique to various groups of girls, different archetypes emerged - the beauty, the "girl next door" and the beast - as well as a palette of go-betweens. But what about charm? It doesn't exist in the software.

The beast, the "girl next door", and the beauty.

The most and least attractive. Each fusion is made from around 30 images.

Miss Universe candidates morphed by region.

Canadian PM accused of stealing a speech on Iraq

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:17:43 +0200

Canadian web users are in hysterics about Prime Minister Stephen Harper's latest slip-up, just two weeks before the national party elections. The news is out that as an MP in 2003 leading the opposition, he copied, almost word for word, a speech on Iraq from Australian prime minister John Howard.

Canada is in full election swing. Tonight the leaders of the five major parties will come face to face for a televised debate in French, and tomorrow in English. The favourite, current prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party Stephen Harper, will have to defend himself against an attack launched by one of the Liberal Party leaders, Bob Rae. Rae has accused him, supported by video evidence, of stealing a pro-Iraq war speech from former Australian prime minister John Howard. Today his aide took full responsibility for the blunder and resigned. He admitted that the speech had been plagiarised but said that it was his fault, and that Harper was unaware of the transgression.

Posted on YouTube by "liberalvideo".

The transcripts from both tapes can be found on the Liberal Party's website.

"Phoque" or "fuck" - when it comes to culture, Canadians don’t speak the same language

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:44:01 +0200

Language gaps and cultural misunderstandings are an integral part of daily life for Canadians dealing with their fellow countrymen from the other side of the French - British divide. This rather amusing sketch about the issue is also a serious warning about the future of Canadian culture, which according to the clip, faces near-extinction.

Under Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Canadian government has cut 45 million euros worth of funding for cultural programmes over the past six months. Around fifteen programmes, considered out-dated or misused, have been axed. The latest blow came on 8 August when it was announced that two major funds would be withdrawn, leaving the cultural scene in Canada looking fragile.

However, investing in culture is a lucrative business. At least that's the message a group of Canadian celebrities are trying to get across. Since singer Michel Rivard, comedian Benoit Brière and humorist Stéphane Rousseau posted this video on YouTube 19 September, its been watched almost a million times.

The film tackles the great linguistic divide in Canada, something that both sides, despite frustrations, find rather funny. The video is a massive online hit, and arrives in time for the 14 October national party elections. Our Canadian Observers react to the sketch.

Posted on YouTube on an account called "Culture en péril" (culture in peril), and translated by "Tupperfan".

Terrorists training in the Canadian wilderness

Team Observers — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:02:38 +0200

A video that will be used as evidence against a group of alleged Islamic extremist terrorists has emerged on the internet just before one of the accused is to stand trial for Canada's first ever terror plot. But the footage was shot on a weekend camp organised by an informant paid by Canada's security services - a detail largely overlooked by the Canadian media.

Hailed as "key evidence" by the Canadian press, the video shows a small group of youths hiking, using a rifle and play fighting in the woods in Ontario. It is being used as proof that the "Toronto 18", of which some were allegedly in the video, were training for planned "large-scale attacks" in Ontario. Eleven members of the group face trial this autumn for alleged involvement in the planned attacks.

The group was arrested during counter-terrorism raids in June 2006. They were accused of planning to attack, amongst others, the Canadian Parliament and The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) headquarters with truck bombs, take hostages, and behead the Prime Minister and other politicians.

Their cases are based on evidence against them largely collected by two CSIS informants, who were paid C$300,000 (€200,000) and C$4 million (€2.6m) respectively for their work. The former is Mubin Shaikh, a Muslim, who organised the "terrorist training" weekend camp shown in the video. Known in Canada for his outspoken attitude and a problematic drug addiction, Mubin Shaikh caused controversy by admitting that the group was not aware of the "terror plot" that lay behind the "winter weekend" camp, as the participants refer to it. When FRANCE 24 tried to contact the CSIS to confirm these details, they told us they were unable to comment.

Since the start of the case, charges against seven of those originally arrested have been stayed. Those released say they were tortured and abused in prison, with some left in solitary confinement for up to 17 months.

Susan wants to open Canada’s first ever brothel

Julien — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:04:00 +0100

Material compiled with the help of our Observer in Canada, Ostap Karmodi.

Although prostitution is legal in Canada, brothels are not. Sex workers have to trawl the streets by night, putting themselves at severe risks. Physical abuse is commonplace and many have been killed. One man was recently convicted for the murder of six women, most of them prostitutes from the poor Vancouver district of Downtown Eastside, and he's suspected of 43 other similar murders. Now, a group of Vancouver sex-workers has set up a sex workers “cooperative”, with the hopes of opening Canada’s first ever brothel in time for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Susan Davies, one of the campaign’s organisers, tells us about her struggle.

Montreal fire-fighters try for Toronto wages

Julien — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 13:20:37 +0100

A Montreal fire engine with the altered Toronto emblem

Montreal fire-fighters are arguing for a pay rise to equal their Toronto counterparts- who have just received a three per cent rise. But because of a law in Quebec that prohibits emergency services from going on strike, the workers have had to find a more innovative way to complain. To get their message across the stations are plastering a new emblem on their engines. An altered version of the Toronto motif, where the original features Toronto's landmark CN Tower; Montreal's version has the equally famous Montreal Olympic Stadium in its place. Their message to the council is clear: we want equal pay.

This story reflects greater concerns for Montreal. Since the late sixties Toronto has taken the lead over the city in economic and cultural development, draining the former industrial and financial centre of its resources and creating a bitter rivalry between the two major cities.