Readable, teachable news.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
The penny has been dropped from Canada’s currency.
On Feb. 4, the Royal Canadian Mint stopped sending pennies to banks and businesses.
The government decided that pennies cost too much to make and distribute. They estimate the country will save about $11-million by eliminating the penny.
Without a one-cent coin, many business transactions will change.
The Canadian government told businesses they can “round” cash sales to the nearest five-cent mark.
More Canadian students are signing up for French immersion, according to a report by Statistics Canada.
Even though the number of students in Canada is going down, the number of students taking French immersion has gone up by 12 per cent in the last five years. That information is based on the 2011 census.
The trend is particularly strong out west. Over the past 12 years, the number of students in British Columbia and Alberta taking French immersion has risen steadily. The number in Saskatchewan and Ontario are also climbing.
French immersion is when a student whose first language is not French, studies in French.
For nearly a month Theresa Spence, Chief of the community of Attawapiskat, has been protesting the way First Nations people are treated in northern Ontario.
Spence has not eaten any solid food for about 30 days. This type of protest is called a “hunger strike.”
During a hunger strike, people stop eating in order to make a peaceful protest about something they believe in. Spence is consuming only liquids, like water and broth.
Spence said she will not end her hunger strike until Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets with her to discuss First Nations rights.
Last week, Harper said he will meet with First Nations leaders on Jan. 11.
Recently Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper, has been facing a lot of questions about how other countries invest in Canada.
A Chinese company made a bid to buy a Canadian oil and gas company.
The bid had to be approved by the Canadian government.
This was an important decision for Canada because it would be another country owning a major Canadian resource company and Canadians are protective of the country’s natural resources.
When blankets arrived for the homeless and new cars appeared for those in need, people in the city of Terrace in British Columbia thought it must be magic.
It turned out the magic was coming from Bob Erb, 60, who won $25-million in a national lottery called Lotto Max.
Erb believes in sharing his wealth.
In fact, since he won the lottery about a month ago, he’s given away more than $7-million.
He has given money to the staff at the gas station where he bought the ticket.
He gave $20,000 to the man who sold him the ticket.
He’s given money and shoes to the homeless. And he’s helped support more than a dozen local businesses.
Erb has been buying lottery tickets for more than 40 years.
One day, the clerk he bought the ticket from accidentally rang up more “plays” than Erb had asked for. But he let it ride.
And it’s a good thing he did, because one of those plays hit the $25-million jackpot.
Erb’s generosity has helped his whole community.
The new vehicles he bought and gave away helped the car sellers have a better year.
And if people he chose didn’t need the vans, they passed them on to someone else in need.
In 2011, during what was called Arab Spring, protests in the Middle East showed that many people were fed up with their dictator leaders.
One of the largest countries in which people opposed their leader was Egypt.
The protests ended when President Hosni Mubarak was driven out of office and put on trial.
Last June, Egypt’s first freely elected president took office.
But instead of trying to get everyone to agree on how to run the country, President Mohammed Morsi decided to give himself complete power over all laws and all the people.
He said this was the only way to get things done.
Again the protests started as people streamed into the streets because their rights had been removed.
Their message got to Morsi and he cancelled his plans for complete power.
On Monday, Mark Carney made news when he announced that he was leaving his job as Governor of the Bank of Canada to become the Governor of the Bank of England.
The governor of a country’s central bank watches over the country’s money, and sets interest rates for borrowing or lending money to governments and others.
The governor also has to make sure there is enough cash in government accounts to cover all the programs it runs.
The central bank’s governor sets policies and rules for money matters at the highest level.
Carney told reporters that he took the job with the Bank of England because it will be a challenge.
He meant that he wanted to see if he could do a harder, or different, job than what he is doing now.
England is part of the United Kingdom, which is a member of the European Union.
Right now, the European Union is facing big decisions to make sure Europe’s financial future is strong.
Carney will have to help England to make those decisions.
In some countries, people aren’t allowed to say anything bad about their government. They don’t have “freedom of expression.”
Some writers who have spoken out against their governments have been put in jail by those governments.
Fortunately, there is a group called PEN International, which defends freedom of expression. PEN International fights for the rights of writers around the world.
Last week, PEN International went to Turkey. The group was led by Canadian author John Ralson Saul, the president of PEN International.
They met with Turkish President Abdullah Gül to show their concern for writers and journalists in Turkish prisons.
PEN asked the Turkish government to consider shortening jail time for prisoners before their trials. This period can often last for years.
Another problem is that prisoners aren’t able to see their lawyers quickly. According to one report in The Toronto Star, one man has been kept from talking to his lawyer for over a year.
In September, Daniels Spectrum opened its doors.
Daniels Spectrum is a wonderful new 60,000-square-foot facility set up to help people learn art and business, including music and painting classes and moviemaking.
It even includes a Centre for Social Innovation where people with ideas for new businesses work with creative people to think up new ways to make communities better.
It is all part of the rebirth of Toronto’s Regent Park neighbourhood that has been taking place for more than 10 years.
The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) wants the government to put higher taxes on junk food.
Doctors say that higher costs would make it harder for children to buy junk food.
They also want high fat and sugary foods that have little nutritional value, to have more information and even warnings on the packaging.
And they want less junk food advertising, especially targeting children.
These are just three strong actions doctors say will help children eat less junk food, keep their weight at a healthy level and live a longer life.
The Ontario Medical Association said that over the years strong actions like extra taxes and scary pictures on cigarette packages have helped to reduce smoking from 50 per cent, in the 1960s, to as low as 20 per cent in Canada today.
Doctors say this kind of action can help in the same way with junk food.
