| A student symposium at the University of Calgary is bringing together a number of speakers to discuss the impact of war on children.
The symposium, called Children in War, is being organized by the U of C’s Global Health Interest Group. Speakers from UNICEF, the Calgary Immigrant Aid Society and Project Ploughshares, among others, will take the stage.
The event is open to the public and tickets are available at the U of C medical bookstore and on campus at room Science A 120. Proceeds will be donated to Warchild Canada. More information is available by e-mailing:
children_and_war@hotmail.com.
Premier Ralph Klein has softened the provincial government’s support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq after dissenting MLAs and members of the peace movement generated opposition.
Last week, Klein announced his intention to draft a formal motion of the legislature to support the U.S. war in Iraq, and to oppose Canada’s decision to stay out of it based on the lack of United Nations support. But that motion changed to a less-formal statement read by Klein in the legislature that focused on the relationship between Canada and the U.S. and expressed hope for a quick resolution to the conflict.
Klein’s comments riled opposition politicians who said the province shouldn’t get involved in international affairs, and prompted protests by Calgary’s peace movement. A petition, started by Calgary-based Symbiosis Productions, asking Klein to rethink his support for the war gained thousands of signatures. Many Albertans, however, have voiced their support of Klein’s position.
A U.S. judge has refused to throw out a lawsuit against Calgary-based Talisman Energy for its controversial involvement in an oil project in Sudan.
Talisman had asked the judge to throw the case out based on a jurisdictional argument, but the ruling means the lawsuit, brought by a group claiming to represent affected Sudanese residents, will proceed.
The lawsuit accuses Talisman of collaborating with the Sudanese government in their long-running civil war against non-Muslims in the southern part of the country. Talisman has long denied the charges, claiming its presence in the country helped the citizens.
Talisman recently sold its stake in the oil project to a company owned partly by the Indian government.
New mothers are staying away from work longer and more fathers are taking paternity leave since the federal government increased parental leave two years ago, according to Statistics Canada.
The study says the new rules are having a major impact on new parents. The number of new mothers who qualified for parental leave increased to 61 per cent from 54 per cent under the new rules. The number of fathers receiving paternity benefits increased five times above the level in 2001.
Newborns also received longer full-time care from their parents under the new rules, and the number of babies receiving full-time care from both parents for a short time also increased. |
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