meftih newspaper april 2014

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Meftih The Life Line of Eritrean Community Award Winning Independent Monthly Newspaper

www.meftih.ca email: [email protected] 9 Issue 8 April 2014 -

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GENEVA, Switzer-

land, March 31, 2014/

African Press Orga-

nization (APO)/ The

United Nations Special

Rapporteur on the situ-

ation of human rights

in Eritrea, Sheila B.

Keetharuth, today ex-

pressed deep con-

cern about persist-

ing human rights

violations in the

country in the con-

text of the Eritrean

national service.

National service

dominates life in

Eritrea entirely,

Ms. Keetharuth

said at the end of an

ofcial visit to Ger-

many and Switzer-

land from 17 to 28

March 2014 during

which she collected

rst-hand information

from Eritrean refugees

and migrants on the

human rights situation in

Eritrea.

The bulk of what the hu-

man rights expert docu-

mented reconrmed her

earlier ndings: The

main reasons spurring Er-

itreans to ee their coun-

try are linked to the indef-

inite national service andthe constant fear of being

targeted, she said.

Young people are con-

scripted into the military

without any prospect of

demobilization. Once

they complete military

training, they are as-

Eritrea: UN expert warns about persisting human

rights violations linked to the national service


2/24

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signed to various Govern-

ment sectors, including in

the civilian administration.

A conscript who spent al-

most 14 years in national

service told the Special

Rapporteur that some

families have three or four

sons and daughters in the

national service. The sal-

ary is paltry too low to

cover the prevailing cost

of living, let alone support

family members, especial-

ly children, the elderly or

siblings.

During the interviews withthe Special Rapporteur,

refugees described in great

detail the widespread inse-

curity that every Eritrean

citizen experienced, irre-

spectively of whether he or

she was a national service

conscript.

In addition to regular

round-ups by the military,

citizens are targeted ar-

bitrarily for reasons that

remain mostly unknown

to the victims or beyond

their control, or at times on

charges of plotting to leave

the country, the indepen-dent expert explained.

Severe punishment, in-

cluding of family members

of those who ed, often

takes the form of arrest

and detention, sometimes

for prolonged periods in

inhumane conditions and

systematic ill-treatment.

Other forms of punishment

may include the payment

of heavy nes, thus depriv-

ing entire families of theirmeans of livelihood.

Harassment and intimida-

tion of family members,

including elderly parents,

is routine.

Accountability mecha-

nisms do not exist, leaving

victims without any access

to justice and perpetuating

a climate of impunity and

fear which extends beyond

the borders of the country,

the Special Rapporteurwarned.

Ms. Keetharuth also ex-

pressed concern about the

plight of 276 Eritreans de-

tained in Nagad, Djibouti,

with two having report-

edly died while in custody.

I reiterate my call on the

international community

to strengthen efforts to

ensure the protection of

those eeing from Eritrea

by granting at least tempo-

rary refuge or protection in

line with their obligations

under international refugee

and human rights law.

I request the Eritrean Gov-

ernment to demonstrate its

willingness to deal with its

human rights challenges by

taking immediate positive

steps to reverse the climate

of impunity and fear and

by inviting me to assess thesituation of human rights in

UN expert warns about . . .

From page 1


4/24


/ 267

24

()

/

the country rst hand so as

to nd lasting solutions,

she stressed.

Eritrea continues to refuse

to cooperate with the coun-

try mandate created unani-

mously by the UN Human

Rights Council and has

not yet granted the Special

Rapporteur a visa to visit

the country.

Due to lack of access to

Eritrea, I will continue to

link up with Eritrean refu-

gees and migrants outside

of their home country, as

well as with all others con-

cerned by human rights

in Eritrea, including those

who consider themselves

to be victims of alleged hu-

man rights violations, hu-man rights defenders and

other civil society actors,

Ms. Keetharuth said.

The result of her ndings,

which will be strictly lim-

ited to the situation inside

Eritrea, will be reected

in her second report to the

Human Rights Council in

June 2014.

SOURCE

United Nations Ofce

of the UN High Commis-

sioner for Human Rights

(OHCHR)

Eritrea: UN expert warns about . . .From page 3

CIBC economist Benjamin Tal

says Canada lacks detailed in-

formation and statistics about

Canadas housing market, andthat poses a danger to the coun-

try in the long run.

In the report Flying Blind,

published Thursday, Tal pro-

vides a list of questions about

Canadas housing market where,

for some reason, theres no track-

able data. The U.S., on the other

hand, monitors many aspects of

real estate data.

What was the dollar value of

new mortgages originated in

Canada in the last quarter? Tal

asks, rhetorically. What is the

share of non-conforming loans

in the Canadian landscape?

What is the delinquency rate of

those non-conforming loans?

What is the ow of rental activ-

ity in the country? What is the

share of foreign investors in the

condominium market? What is

the average down payment?

The short answer to those and

many other questions is that we

simply dont know, Tal says.

The gap between the impor-

tance of the real-estate market

to the economy and the lack of

publicly available information

on it is mind-boggling.

Tal says that for a variety of

reasons, U.S. policymakers and

private-sector economists have

access to a much deeper pool

of information. Useful, illustra-

tive data such as the amount of

foreign buying activity, tenancy

rates and details on new mort-

gages applications are often

easily accessible on a federal,

statewide and sometimes even

city-specic level in America.

Theres simply no easily avail-

able public equivalent to a lot

of that data in Canada. Canadas

big banks often keep track ofthat data internally where avail-

able, but theres a broader inter-

est in sharing and documenting

that data more publicly.

Incomplete picture

How can you determine the

level of rate sensitivity if you

do not have information on the

distribution of mortgages by ac-

tual mortgage rates, the level of

down-payment and .. debt ser-

vice ratios? Tal wrote.

Tal does acknowledge, however,

that even having access to that

much data wasnt enough to

prevent that countrys real estate

collapse in 2007.

But the dearth of information

is bad in a number of ways, he

warns. It causes people to form

opinions on the overall market

based on evidence they can pull

together from anecdotal snap-

shots and the picture thatpaints isnt always a pretty one.

Those with no access to such

data form their (usually bear-

ish) opinion largely based on

anecdotal evidence that hide

more than what they reveal, Tal

says.

The lack of housing data also

gives policymakers an incom-

plete picture of the market. The

broad perception that the overallmarket is overheated, but slowly

cooling may in fact be the case,

but how are policymakers sup-

posed to determine what the best

policy on interest rates should

be, for example, if they dont

have a complete picture of all

the data, Tal wonders.

The situation is unhealthy, he

said.

Fortunately, Tal says Canada is

in a suddenly good position tox the problem. Canada Mort-

gage and Housing Corporation

(CMHC) and the Bank of Can-

ada both named new leaders in

the last 12 months, and with Jim

Flaherty announcing his retire-

ment, there will soon be a new

nance minister in Canada.

New leadership at each of those

nancial pillars gives Canada

an opportunity to chart a course

that [reduces] any potential risk

of a real estate bubble by mak-ing data availability a top prior-

ity, Tal says.

CBC News

Canadian housing data dangerously in-

complete, CIBC warns


5/24


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line at

(www.meftih.ca)

or

Offline on Meftih

Newspaperplease call

416-824-8124or

Email: infomeftih@

gmail.com

Newly unsealed police

documents show that fear

ripped through north Etobi-

coke neighbourhood as the

Dixon City Bloods Gang

dreaded retribution if thenow-infamous video that

appears to show Toronto

Mayor Rob Ford smok-

ing crack cocaine was re-

leased.

Summaries of the wire-

tapped conversations relat-

ed to the Ford investigation

were released by a judge at

the Ontario Superior Court

on Thursday. The alleged

threats were intercepted

by police in May through

wiretaps as part of a sweep-

ing drugs-and-guns inves-

tigation known as Project

Traveller.

Police documents reveal

that Fords friend and oc-

casional driver Alexander

Lisi made threats to mem-

bers of the Dixon City

Bloods, warning that their

neighbourhood was going

to get lit up un-

til the video was

returned.

Lisi called LibanSiyad, an alleged

victim of an ex-

tortion attempt to

obtain the video,

about one hour af-

ter news of the crack video

appeared on the U.S. web-

site Gawker on May 16,

2013. He asked about an

infamous picture on the

website that shows Ford

with Anthony Smith, who

was shot dead outside a

downtown Toronto night-

club last March, and two

accused gang members

who have since been ar-

rested and charged with

drug trafcking.

In a conversation recorded

one day later, the police

documents show that Siyad

warned that Fords driver

had threatened a man nick-

named Juiceman, saying:

youre f-king dead, and

everybody on your block

is dead. The afdavits say

that police do not know

Juicemans identity.

In another conversation,

Lisi tells Siyad that the

heat is on the Dixon

neighbourhood and its

only going to get worse

until the video is returned.

Lisi did not make death

threats directly in the in-

tercepted calls disclosed in

the police documents; they

were second-hand.

The Project Traveller wire-

taps captured 50 commu-

nications related to Ford

on May 17.

Fords friend El-

ena Basso, who

lives in the house

where its believed

the crack video

was lmed, com-

plained in a con-

versation recorded

May 20 that police

and Robs people

were coming every day.

She said news of the crack

video was disrupting the

drug business in the neigh-

bourhood, and she told Si-

yad that if he had the video

to bring it to her house and

give it directly to Rob.You know its going to

go down, hes the f-king

Mayor of Toronto, Basso

says.

She continues: Hes got

power. Somebody tried

to, it doesnt matter whos

right or wrong, everyones

going to go f-cking, if

were going to feel the heat

everywhere. Not just in f-

king Dixon Park, were,

were going to feeling it,

people at Weston Roads

going to feel it, people on

Jane Street gonna feel it,

everywhere.

Later in the conversation,

Basso reminds Siyad that

she had warned them about

Ford.

Rob Ford, I told you guys

hes a big f-king idiot any-

ways.

The wiretaps were part of

the Project Brazen 2 in-

vestigation, which was

launched in the fall after

police became aware of theFord video.

Ford, who is running for

re-election this October,

has not been charged with

any crimes. None of the al-

legations contained in the

search warrants have been

tested in court.

CTV News

Gang feared retribution after Ford crack video,

documents reveal


6/24


(Reuters) Eritrea, who

have a history of players

defecting when on inter-

national duty, have with-

drawn from the African

Nations Cup qualiers, the

Confederation of African

Football said on Sunday.

They were due to play new-

comers South Sudan in oneof two preliminary round

xtures in April. South

Sudan now proceed to the

next qualifying round in

Mauritius.

Seventeen players from

the Eritrean squad, plus the

team doctor, absconded at

the 2012 East and Central

Africa Senior Challenge

Cup in Uganda.

In 2011, 13 Eritrean players

sought asylum in Tanzania

after the same tournament,while 12 members of the

Eritrea squad disappeared

and sought asylum in Ke-

nya during the regional

tournament in 2009.

Eritrea withdraw from Nations

Cup qualication

Four Eritrean athletes also

left their base and sought

political asylum in Britain

after the London Olympics

in 2012.

Between 2,000 and 3,000

Eritreans ee the small

east African country every

month, a United Nationsreport said last year.

(Reporting by Mark

Gleeson in Cape Town;

Editing by Toby Davis)

Sources tell CTV News

that it is unlikely Toronto

Mayor Rob Ford will face

criminal charges as a re-sult of an ongoing police

investigation into his ac-

tivities, while provincial

police say they turned the

case back over to Toronto

investigators after discov-

ering theres nothing left to

probe.

Toronto Police had asked

the Ontario Provincial Po-

lice in early March to as-

sume an oversight role inthe investigation.

The OPP, however, con-

rmed Thursday that

theyve handed Project

Brazen 2 back to Toronto

Police because there is

nothing for them to inves-tigate.

OPP spokesperson Sgt.

Pierre Chamberland said

Thursday that no new in-

formation has come to

light since then and thats

why the probe is back in

the hands of Toronto Po-

lice.

Project Brazen 2, a spinoff

from a separate investiga-tion into drugs and guns,

waslaunched last fall after

police became aware of

a video that shows Ford

smoking what appears to

be crack cocaine from a

glass pipe.

The investigation led to the

arrest of Fords friend and

former driver, Alexander

Lisi, who was charged with

extortion for his alleged at-

tempts to obtain the video.

Although Toronto Police

say that Project Brazen 2

continues, Ford appeared

relieved Thursday by the

OPPs decision to step

away.

Id like to thank the OPP

for doing a proper inves-

tigation, he said at city

hall. Ive said it from day

one: I didnt do anythingwrong.

Ford said he still supports

Toronto Police 100 per

cent.

In the past, he has repeat-

edly criticized Police Chief

Bill Blair, saying investiga-

tors were wasting taxpay-

ers money to follow him

and Lisi around. Ford has

also publicly challenged

Blair to arrest him.

Police documents unsealed

Thursday show that mem-

bers of the Dixon City

Bloods Gang dreaded ret-

ribution if the Ford vid-eo was released. Fords

friend Elena Basso, who

lives in the house where

its believed the video was

lmed, complained in a re-

corded conversation that

police and Robs people

were coming every day

after news of the video

broke.

With a report from CTV

Torontos Natalie Johnson

Criminal charges against Rob Ford unlikely: sources

OTTAWA -- While politi-

cians in Ottawa still cant

decide who is in the mid-

dle class, a new analysis

suggests wealth is increas-ingly gravitating to the

very top.

The report by the left-lean-

ing Canadian Centre for

Policy Alternatives shows

that the countrys 86 rich-

est individuals and fami-

lies -- or 0.002 per cent of

the total population -- are

getting exponentially rich-

er and now have accumu-

lated as much wealth as

the countrys poorest 11.4

million.

Thats more than in 1999,

when the richest 86 had as

much money as the poorest

10.1 million and enough to

buy up everything in New

Brunswick and still have

about $40 billion left over,

according to the report, to

be released Thursday.

The point of the exercise,

says economist and authorDavid Macdonald, who

used Statistics Canada data

and research from Cana-

dian Business magazine,

is to show that if income

inequality is a policy and

social justice concern --

wealth inequality is worse.

In fact, the super-rich list

of Canadian residents has

little to do with income inthe traditional sense, he

said. None of the 86 are

company CEOs -- often

the poster children of the

Occupy crowd for their

unseemly salaries and bo-

nuses. Instead, the ones on

the list are there by virtue

of being company found-

ers or related to company

founders.

The super-rich have gotten

there by creating and trad-

ing assets, whether compa-

nies, real estate or securi-

ties.

We often focus on income

inequality but thats a so-

cialist paradise compared

to wealth inequality, said

Macdonald.

The top 20 per cent only

get half of all the income,

but in terms of wealth in-

equality, the top 20 per

cent have 70 per cent of

all wealth. Its much moreextreme and the concern is

as you accumulate all this

wealth, this wealth starts to

buy you political power.

Inequality, whether in

Canadas richest 86 have as

much wealth as poorest 11

million

Please see page 11


7/24



8/24


Editors: Grace Cherian

Photographer: Mulugeta Zergaber

Contributors: Mohamed EdrisNaza HasebenebiMedhin Ghebreslasie, Amleset Tesfay, Bode Odetoy-

inbo, Mimi Chandy, Ken NtiamoaSubscription Costsin Canada $39 for a year and $59 for two years. In USA, it costs $45 fora year and $69 for two years.

Articles appearing in assorted columns of Meftih newspaper are intended to generate civil

& informed public discussions. You dont have to agree with opinions expressed by the writers.However, that should push you to express your own views. Through that way we generate lively

& civil discussions in the community. Rejoinders are not forums for personal insults & we want

readers to adhere to these principles.

Editor-in-chief

Aaron Berhane260 Adelaide St. E. Toronto,

ON. M5A 1N1 # 192

Tel: 416-824-8124Fax: 416-783-7850

[email protected]

www.meftih.ca

27 2014 (Market Watch) (SunridgeGold Corp.): $345 $428 : (Taxlaws of Eritrea) (Sunridge GoldCorp.) -

$692

$345 $428 $83

?

- -

1) - (Cor-poration Tax)- $692 $347

2) 40% (40 ) (Share ofafter-tax profit) 40% - $345

40- $138

3) - ( ) -

$485

(SunridgeGold Corp.) - (Potash) -- ..

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(Sunridge Gold Corp) (Post-Tax Value) $428

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10


9/24



10/24


. . .

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27/03/2014Source: Assenna


11/24


income or wealth, increas-

ingly looks like it will be-

come a key issue in the

upcoming federal elec-

tion, with Liberal Leader

Justin Trudeau and NDP

Leader Thomas Mulcair

seeking to make the casethat Conservative policies

have left the middle class

behind -- with little job se-

curity, higher in debt, and

in many instances, living

paycheque to paycheque.

The government has point-

ed to the growth in net

worth most recently re-

ported by Statistics Canada

in February as an indicator

their policies are working

for everyone.

After-tax disposable in-

come has increased by 10

per cent across all income

brackets, noted Employ-ment Minister Jason Ken-

ney at the time.

But Statistics Canada also

showed wealth gravitat-

ing to the top. While me-

dian net worth rose almost

80 per cent since 1999 to

$243,800 per family unit,

the top 40 per cent pos-

sessed 88.9 per cent of to-

tal net worth, leaving the

bottom 60 per cent with a

mere 11.1 per cent of the

pie.

Eye-opening was the data

that showed the poorest 20

per cent of family units hadmore debts than assets.

The issue ared again

Wednesday after Trudeau

asked Prime Minister Ste-

phen Harper if he thought

that the problem of the

middle class was a myth.

Harper chided Trudeau for

Canadas richest 86 have as . . .

his inability to dene the

middle class.

But the issue is not going

away. The NDP has been

especially critical of the

governments decision to

severely cut corporate tax

rates, even in the middle ofa recession, and getting lit-

tle job creation or business

investment in return.

Some economists have also

argued that nations with

high levels of inequality

tend to underperform more

egalitarian countries in

terms of overall eco-

nomic growth.

The latest CCPA

analysis also suggests

that once someone

gets to the top of the

wealth ladder, they

likely stay there.

The richest individu-

als and families in

2013 were pretty

much the same peo-

ple who made the list

in 2005 and in 1999

-- well-known fami-

ly names like Thom-

son, Weston, Irving,

Desmarais and Pat-

tison.Between 1999

and 2013, the re-

port shows that the

wealthiest 86 Canadians

had enlarged their pot of

gold from $118 billion to

$178 billion on real non-

inationary terms.

Macdonald says a reason

wealth growth is increas-ingly becoming concen-

trated is that it is taxed dif-

ferently from income.

If one Canadian makes

$100,000 a year selling a

company (or shares) while

another makes $100,000 a

year working at a job, the

worker will pay twice the

tax of the business seller,

he said.

A combination of a higher

inclusion rate (for capital

gains) and higher incometaxes at the top of the in-

come scale could go part

way to offset the ood of

wealth that is accumulating

in the pockets of Canadas

wealthiest and ensure some

benets are returned to the

majority of Canadians.

Julian Beltrame,

The Canadian Press

From page 6

Prime Minister Stephen

Harper today issued the fol-

lowing statement following

news from the Vatican that

two Canadians, Marie de

lIncarnation and Franois de

Laval, have been canonized

by the Catholic Church:

Today, I welcome the very

exciting news from the Vati-

can that His Holiness Pope

Francis has ofcially pro-

claimed Canadians Marie de

lIncarnation and Franois de

Laval as Saints.

PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA RECOGNIZING THE

CANONIZATION OF MARIE DE LINCARNATION

AND FRANOIS DE LAVAL

It is entirely tting that

this recognition be given to

two outstanding Canadians

who were pillars of the early

Church in Canada and whose

lives exemplied faith and

piety.

This is a tremendous honour

for Canada and a wonderful

day for Catholics.

Saint Marie de lIncarnation,

often referred to as the

Mother of the Canadian

Church, was an Ursuline

nun who founded Canadas

rst school. Fluent in locallanguages, she taught the

children of both the settlers

and the Aboriginal popula-

tion.

Saint Franois de Laval was

the second Catholic bishop in

North America and laid the

foundations for the Church

in French Canada. As a mis-

sionary to New France, he re-

jected his familys wealth to

faithfully pursue his spiritual

vocation.

Both were

b e a t i f i e d

by Blessed

Pope John

Paul II in

1980 and

d e c l a r e d

Saints by

Pope Fran-

cis on April

3, 2014.

They served

and died in

what is to-

day Qubec

City, where

they are

buried.


12/24


You dont care about my

feelings!, You dont un-

derstand me! Why cantyou support me?, I cant

take this anymore!. These

words, echoing sentiments

of built up resentment,

are often repeated over

and over again during the

course of heated arguments

between parents and chil-

dren, husbands and wives,

and even between friends.

Dealing with these kinds of

issues are not always easy.

Fear not though! Thesekinds of issues and many

more can be resolved or

even avoided using a few

simple yet very effective

techniques!

1. Try your best to be

positive about every aspect

of your life. Begin with

your mind and end with

your actions. The harmful

effects of negative thoughts

and feelings can have di-

sastrous consequences forones social and family

life. Once negative feel-

ing start to appear try your

best to dispel them. Look

to people and things that

teach you to be a better

human being and remove

yourself from the people

and things that cause you

to be unhappy. We all have

that friend we love because

we see them for calm after

a storm. They are sweetand happy go lucky and

we almost want to steal

their energy. We seek them

when we need that most,

but many other times we

forget them in order to

seek the company of others

whose approval we seek.

In this life we have to learn

to deal with all the circum-

stances and situations that

are brought before us. If

we cant gure out howto move past, or better yet

accept those around us we

will have a very hard time.

We should care enough to

fulll the needs of those

we love instead of neglect-

ing them. If we dont do

this, how do we have the

right to police their behav-

iours when they are not to

our liking?

2. Try to empathize

with people. As the say-

ing goes, try to be in a

persons shoes. When

people are down all they

need sometimes is just a

listening ear and a friendly

distraction. Being overly

critical and rational when

someone is emotionally

fragile is not only cruel

but also ineffective. If one

wants to really make a dif-

ference in a loved ones

life, one has to try to coun-

sel them wisely and with

patience. All people can

change but some just need

more of an effort than oth-

ers. Although we might notalways understand where

people are coming from,

we can easily recognize a

person who is deeply hurt-

ing. Just because they were

horrible to you yesterday

it doesnt mean they are

not deserving of your love

tomorrow. A simple hug

and a smile can go a long

way to cheer a person up.

I know for me chatting and

exchanging funny storiesis always good way I can

help cheer up a friend who

is otherwise down. You too

have that ability. Just look

past the outside of a person

and try to focus on their

humanity.

3. Be honest with peo-

ple. If you have a problem

with something a friend

has done you should waituntil you are calm and talk

to them about it. There is

no point in telling anyone

else you have a problem

with that person except

that person themselves.

You would save yourself a

lot of trouble and unneces-

sary negative feelings that

way. Humanity is diverse;

unfortunately, part of that

diversity entails overcom-

ing misunderstandings.

Understanding were peo-

ple are coming from helps

one accept them better. I

know for me I battled with

this issue. As I grew up I

realized that people can be

really impolite and even

borderline rude for no rea-

son. I came to the realiza-

tion though that expecting

things from people that

they cant give did nothing

but make me feel unhappy.

I learned two things from

this period in my life. 1.

I should always focus on

self- development be it

through developing coping

strategies or by giving peo-ple a chance and getting to

know them better. I came to

realize that the more I got

to know someone the easier

it was for me to like them.

Giving people a chance no

matter how they appear to

you is an excellent way to

become more accepting.

You might be handsomely

rewarded for it, you never

know. The second thing I

learned through my ongo-ing journey of self -devel-

opment is that differences

are not one of the miseries

of life but actually one of

its beauties.

4. Self -Ref lect ion

is an excellent way to be

honest with yourself about

who you are! Often times

we are excellent critics of

others (I include myself in

this category) but we sel-dom apply the same analy-

sis to ourselves. There is

no shame or embarrass-

ment to acknowledge that

one has a weakness, in

fact it, it is actually a signof great strength. If one is

always getting upset with

people and can barely tol-

erate them, it is fair to as-

sume one can improve

upon their communication

skills. Acknowledging the

problem is the rst step to

solving it. We all know that

1 + 1 equals 2 but we seem

to forget that life too has

a formula- of sorts. Posi-

tive human developmententails battling with ones

ego and learning to come

to terms with ones difcul-

ties. People who risk be-

ing vulnerable in order to

face their fears are often

admired by us because we

too wish we could do the

same. Walking around with

the weight of the world on

your shoulders and refus-

ing to show any weakness

in front of people can eas-ily cause you to have anxi-

ety or even worse, an emo-

tional breakdown.

5. Dont overwork

your mind and body with

expectations. Try your best

and leave the rest to God.

You are a human being you

are not perfect. You can

make mistakes. You are

allowed to feel unsure of

things. Develop good cop-ing techniques to relieve

stress. If you ever nd your-

self suffering from anxiety

relax yourself more. You

may have reached your

limit of tolerance and your

body is telling you to calm

down, listen to it. It is ex-

pected for all people to

feel overwhelmed at one

point in time or another.

If you are a student and

taking exams, it is betterhave to them deferred until

you feel better. If you are

a working, try to do activi-

ties and things after work

that help you to build ener-

gy and relieve stress at the

same time. Things like ex-

ercise and massages are an

excellent way to help calm

you down. I know person-

ally know of someone who

goes swimming often be-

cause they found it helps

them to relax and stop wor-

rying. Find your outlet and

stick to it. You dont want

to risk your health. Anxiety

is a very scary thing but it

can be overcome with talk

therapy. Talk therapy can

help you learn your triggers

and help you develop good

coping strategies. Dont

give up on yourself but at

the same time count your

blessings. Look to people

and things that make you

happy. Happiness is a con-

tagious energy if one is

surrounded by it and lives

by it. Your difculties can

make you a greater per-son provided you have a

positive outlook. Negativ-

ity, fear and worry drain a

person and cause them to

loose badly needed energy.

Avoid it at all costs!

This concludes my piece

thank you for taking the

time to read it. I hope it

was benecial. My only

goal with this piece was to

share some techniques thathave helped me immensely

to become happier. We are

here together on the earth

and we all need to care

about each other. I wish

you all peace and happi-

ness in all that you do. If

I could tell you one thing,

it would be that you are a

valuable member of our

community and that we all

need you to be a part of it.

Let us all come togetherand assist each other for

the greater good.

Self- Reflection: Sign of weakness or Great Strength?By: Remah Ibrahim


13/24


()

. . .From page 14

Vancouver, British Columbia

CANADA, Mar 27, 2014 (Fil-

ing Services Canada via COM-

TEX) -- Sunridge Gold Corp.

(the Company or Sunridge)

(sgc:TSX.V/SGCNF) is pleased

to report that it has received up-

dated values from the nancial

model for the Asmara Project

Feasibility Study (the Study)

which increased the Base Case

post-tax net present value

(NPV) from $345 million to

$428 million. The increased

numbers are based on the Com-

pany receiving clarity on the tax

laws of Eritrea, specically the

application of historic expendi-

tures and depreciation in the -

nancial model. The pre-tax value

of $692 million for the Study re-

mains unchanged. The results of

the Study were initially reported

on May 28, 2013 and amended

on August 21, 2013.

The Study demonstrates that

the mining of all four advanced

deposits that make up the As-

mara Project (Emba Derho, Adi

Nefas, Gupo Gold and Debarwa)

and processing of the ore near

the large Emba Derho deposit is

economically robust with a pre-tax NPV (using a 10% discount

rate) of $692 million and a post-

tax NPV (10% discount rate)

now at $428 million. The new

post-tax number is a signicant

increase of $83 million from the

original post-tax NPV (10%) of

$345 million.

The following outlines the Base

Case Highlights from the Study.

* NPV of $692 million at a 10%

discount (pre-tax)

NPV of $428 million at a 10%

discount (post-tax)

* Internal rate of return (IRR) -

pre-tax 34%, post-tax 27%

* Base Case metal prices used -

$3.25/lb copper, $1.00/lb zinc,

$1,400/oz gold, $25.00/oz sil-

ver

Feasibility Study Report

An amended Asmara Feasibility

Technical Report which incor-porates the updated application

of Eritrean tax laws is being

completed by lead engineering

company SENET with support

from Snowden Mining Indus-

try Consultants Inc. on resource

estimation, mine design, mine

planning and economic mod-

elling in addition to work by

Knight Piesold Ltd. on water

and waste management design.

Blue Coast Metallurgy Ltd. di-

rected metallurgical test-work.

The new report will be led on

the Companys prole on www.

sedar.com within 30 days of this

press release.

Qualied Person

The Asmara Feasibility was

completed by lead engineering

company SENET under the di-rection of Pieter Theron Projects

Director and approved by Neil

Senior, Pr.Eng, an Independent

Qualied Person within the

meaning of NI 43-101.

Michael Hopley, President and

CEO of Sunridge Gold Corp. is

the Companys Qualied Per-

son responsible for the contents

of this press release and has re-

viewed the information in the

release and conrmed that it is

consistent with that provided by

the independent Qualied Per-son responsible for the Study.

ABOUT SUNRIDGE:

Sunridge is a mineral explora-

tion and development company

focused on the acquisition, ex-

ploration, discovery and devel-

opment of base and precious

metal projects on the Asmara

Project in Eritrea. Sunridge cur-

rently has approximately 210

million shares outstanding and

trades on the TSX Venture Ex-

change under the symbol SGC.For additional information on

the Company and its projects

please view the slide show on

our website at www.sunridge-

gold.com or call Greg Davis at

the number listed below.

SUNRIDGE GOLD CORP.

Michael Hopley

Michael Hopley, President and

Chief Executive Ofcer

Sunridge Gold Increases Post-Tax Value for theAsmara Project, Eritrea


14/24


We have learned the death

of Mr. Ahmed Nasser, a vet-

eran of the Eritrean revolu-tion with great sadness and

would like to express our

sympathy and condolences

to his family, colleagues,

and the entire Eritrean peo-

ple. Mr. Ahmed Nasser has

dedicated his life to the Eri-

trean revolution and contin-

ued his struggle in the quest

for freedom and democracy

in our country. His passing

is made more tragic by the

fact that he never got the

chance to enter his belovedcountry and live and rest in

it with dignity. As we mourn

this great loss of yet anoth-

er stalwart of our national

revolution, we call up on

our generation to give duerespect to all veterans of the

Eritrean war for indepen-

dence and recognize their

positive contributions and

commitments. It is now up

to us to meet the challenges

we face as a generation and

rescue our nation from a to-

tal destruction and establish

a democratic political sys-

tem supported by the pillars

of freedom, justice, human

rights, rule of law, liberty,

respect, peace, and prosper-

ity.

EYSC, EMC, and EM-DHR Joint Statementon the Death of Mr.

Ahmed Nasser

39

1975 ..

Please see page 13


15/24


Swiss francs ($565,500).

Further details of the case

were not provided, but Bar-

celona said in February that

FIFA had sent a commu-nication instructing it not

to select six players who

are under 18 for its youth

matches South Koreas

Lee Seung Woo, Paik Se-

ung-Ho and Jang Gyeolhee,

Theo Chendri of France,

Nigerian-Dutchman Bobby

Adekanye and Patrice Sou-

sia of Cameroon.

The punishment, whichprevents Barcelona from

signing any players until

the summer of 2015, leaves

recent agreements with Bo-

russia Monchengladbach

goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter

Stegen and Croatian teenag-

er Alen Halilovic to join the

club in July in limbo.

Barcelona, which has

not commented on the

sanctions, has three

working days to inform

FIFA of an intention toappeal and then a fur-

ther week to provide its

reasons for challenging

the punishment.

Premier League club

Chelsea had a one-year

transfer embargo im-

posed after being found

by FIFA to have induced

teenager Gael Kakuta to

leave Lens, but it wasoverturned in 2010 by

the Court of Arbitration

for Sport.

FIFA tightened its rules

on transferring minors in

2010, to help end what glob-

al players union FIFPro

described as the equivalent

of child trafcking. FIFA

sought to close loopholes

which allowed clubs and

agents to bring youngsters

to Europe on the promise of

getting a lucrative contract,

only to abandon them with-

out a job or education.

In the Barcelona case, FIFA

stressed the interest in pro-

tecting the appropriate and

healthy development of aminor as a whole must pre-

vail over purely sporting in-

terests.

The disciplinary committee

emphasized that the protec-

tion of minors in the context

of international transfers is

an important social and le-

gal issue that concerns all

stakeholders in football,

FIFA said in a statement.

Above all, the committee

highlighted that while inter-

national transfers might, in

specic cases, be favourable

to a young players sporting

career, they are very likely

to be contrary to the best

interests of the player as a

minor.

Barcelona potentially needs

to sign a replacement goal-

keeper, with Victor Valdesout of contract at the end

of the season and ruled out

for seven months this week

following knee surgery. Ge-

rard Pique is in need of an

assured partner in central

defence with the impending

retirement of Carles Puyol.

The FIFA case threatens to

further damage the image

of a Catalan football insti-

tution that is owned by its

members and prides itself as

being more than a club. It

is currently grappling with

the fallout from last years

signing of the 22-year-old

Neymar.

Barcelona president Sandro

Rosell abruptly quit in Janu-ary as he ghts a lawsuit al-

leging he misappropriated

funds by hiding the real cost

of Neymars signing from

Brazilian club Santos. In

February, Barcelona paid

13.55 million euros (then

$18.6 million) to Spanish

tax authorities to cover any

potential irregularities over

the transfer, while maintain-

ing its innocence of fraudcharges.

The Associated Press

Barcelona banned from signing players . . .From page 18


16/24


Please see page 17

OPINION

Like many, I was

excited by the new wave

of justice seekers and their

amazing energy and en-

thusiasm. I, unfortunately,

have not joined a specic

organization, but I have

observed their online ac-

tivities with what at times

can be described as enthu-

siasm and at others as sheer

disappointment. As an

observer, I have been im-

pressed with a great many

commentators and writersand the sound intelligence

with which they discuss

our national tragedy.

Some of these remark-

able people I have become

good friends with and have

developed a deep respect

for. They embody bravery

by refusing to give up on

their people and embody

resilience because they

are able to learn from their

experiences. I am positivethat there are many more

people like this out there

and look forward to getting

to know them too.

These kinds of people have

helped me feel hopeful in

the future and to start to re-

ally believe that our people

have nally realized the

value demanding justice

and political accountability

in Eritrea. It is very tragic

that it took so many lives

for many of us to wake up

and realize that supporting

a regime as oppressive as

the one holding Asmara

hostage is not a sign of

loyalty but of inevitable

death.

That being said, I want to

touch upon something that

I have noticed. Again I

want to clarify that this is

only according to my ob-servations. I have noticed

that although some have

vocalized their commit-

ment to the cause of bring-

ing justice and dignity to

Eritrea and its long suf-

fering people; their words

and actions do not mirror

it. There seems to be too

many tit for tat remarks

and commentary on is-

sues where there should be

more resolve and discipline

displayed. Political discus-

sion may cause one to feel

offended or even slighted,

but one must learn to for-

give or even forget peo-ples perceived offenses

for the greater good. The

perceived culprits many

times are not even aware

they are offensive it is just

the way they speak, so it

would be futile to engage

them using the very tactics

they have mastered. On the

ip side of the coin, there

are many people who care-

fully craft their words and

try their best not to offend

people, but end up beingoffended anyway by brash

and unrened political op-

ponents.

It is almost as though we

are battling between two

online realties. One happy

go lucky and one a deeply

hurting angry one. There

has to be a balance be-

tween these two realities

and more of a consorted

effort needs to be made

to build strong, yet em-pathetic characters within

ourselves. Good leaders

are those that master their

surroundings and circum-

stances with the intention

of achieving a goal. In our

case, what greater goal do

we have then to save our

people from the horrors

they face daily. Humility

and strength go hand when

one wants to unite a people

torn apart by hate. I would

love to see us all unite on

the basis of survival-truly!

The petty squabbles that so

evidently magnify them-

selves on computer screens

across the globe and within

chat rooms need to be ex-

tinguished.

Furthermore, if one feels

that their ego is interfer-

ing in their work to unite

our people, one needs to

be conscious enough to re-

move themselves from it.

It is not a sign of defeat to

humble oneself but a sign

of great strength. I wouldlove to see the momentum

I saw not too long ago re-

turn and for all of us to be a

part of. It almost seems to

me like a honeymoon pe-

riod has almost ended and

the nitti gritty realities of

coexistence are fracturing

our union. If we dont prac-

tice self restraint, patience

and most of all discipline

when it comes to matters

of disagreement we risk

becoming the instrumentsof our own demise. We

all need to re- shift our pri-

orities and understand that

there is nothing glamorous

or glorious about ghting

for justice. Flashy slogans

and sharp tongues will get

us nowhere good. We, the

people, are the opposition

and we, the people, have to

be just even if it is against

our own selves. Our surviv-

al depends on this. In time

all things are revealed forwhat they truly are, so we

just ought to sit back and

assess situations before we

hastily jump on any band-

wagon. We can easy be

misled enough to ride on

a bandwagon leading us

straight to hell. These are

my parting words. I will

leave you the colloquial

greeting of salam, peace.

May the struggle continue

and may we nally bring

justice to Eritrea, God will-

ing.

A View from a FarBy: Remah Ibrahim

For months, Rob Ford has

insisted he wants to debate

all comers in Torontos

mayoral race. This eve-

ning, the mayor will get

his wish, as the ve lead-

ing candidates for mayor

participate in their rst

debate from 5 p.m. to 7

p.m. on Citytv and on-

line. Mayoral contenders

Ford, Olivia Chow, John

Tory, Karen Stintz, andDavid Soknacki will each

get a chance to discuss the

three major subjects of the

debate: taxes, transit, and

leadership.

For candidates like Stintz

and Soknacki, the debate

will be an opportunity to

raise their name recog-

nition and be put on the

same platform as the three

other candidates, who pollat much more competitive

levels. But it wont be easy

to gain a lot of traction in

just one debate. Ford has

consistently exceeded ex-

pectations at these events

he participated in over 100

debates in the 2010 cam-

paignas he tends to stick

to his talking points and

deliver them with convic-

tion, which comes across

well in the format. Tory

will likely warn against an

Olivia Chow or a Rob Ford

mayoralty and say livable,

affordable, functional a

lot. And Chow will likely

argue against choosing any

of the Ford lite options,

and claim that adopting his

policies without his behav-

iour would still be a recipe

for failure.

As we follow the de-

bate, the Torontoist Truth

Squad will be on-the-yfact-checking the state-

ments and claims made by

the candidates in order to

provide more context and

establish what holds up.

Statements that we judge

to be outright wrong will

get a FALSE rating, while

half-truths and exaggera-

tions will get a QUES-

TIONABLE rating.

Desmond Cole will be fact-checking Olivia Chow and

David Soknacki, David

Hains will be fact-check-

ing John Tory and Karen

Stintz, and Christopher

Bird will be fact-checking

Rob Ford.

Let the Hunger Games de-

bate begin!

Before we begin the rst

televised debate of Cam-

paign 2014, we can take a

trip down memory lane to

Fact-Checking

the First Televised

Mayoral Debate


17/24


the debate on March 30,

2010. George Smither-

man was the front-runner,

and longshot candidate

Rob Ford took credit for

cleaning up Rexdale

and wanted to bring back

Julian Fantino. The more

things change.

5:04: Chow claims thatbuilding an LRT to replace

the Scarborough RT will

save a billion dollars. Even

in the most generous in-

terpretation, this gure is

overblown by about $100

million, as Daniel Dale

pointed out in his March

17 fact-check of the claim.

QUESTIONABLE

5:06: Stintz says she has

a plan to fund the Down-town Relief Line, but its a

stretch. Her plan to sell half

of Toronto Hydro would

raise only about $400 mil-

lion and would also require

a 0.87-per cent property

tax revenue increase. The

Downtown Relief Line

would cost $7.4 billion.

QUESTIONABLE

5:08: Ford has not saved

the City a billion dollars.

He has not built a sub-

way. City council has notapproved a subway for

Finch. Ford does not have

a proven track record of

building subways. And the

St. Clair streetcar line is

not an LRT. Right out of

the gate, Ford has blatantly

lied ve times in less than

a minute. FALSE

5:12 Citytv is asking view-

ers to text in the name of

the candidate they wouldmost trust to run transit in

the city, which will just end

up being a competition for

which campaign can stuff

the ballot box most. Go,

democracy, go!

5:20: Chow asks Ford

about what he would say

to people who rely on TTC

services that have been

cut. Ford immediately lies

and says he hasnt cut TTC

service, which he voted

for and got passed in 2011

when he cut numerous

route services down. He

claims he has not cut one

red cent on transit, skip-

ping the fact that the TTC

budget allocation has not

been raised along with the

rate of ination, which is

effectively a cut. He also

claims that a further transit

fare hike will not be nec-

essary, which is extreme-

ly unlikely, but everythingelse he said was FALSE.

5:21: Emma Teitel of Ma-

cleans magazine asks Tory

a specic question about

what he would do to im-

prove bus service. He does

not answer directly, saying

that a plan will come later.

He argues that we need to

focus on all road conges-

tion, and focus on trafc

signalling and co-ordi-

nating road construction.

These efforts are already

in the works at City Hall.

QUESTIONABLE

5:24 Tory: Mr. Ford is ac-

tually right that the fund-

ing of the TTC has gone

up, not down. Tory is

right that gross TTC fund-

ing has increased, but on a

per-rider basis, funding has

gone down. In 2010, the

ridership subsidy, which is

the lowest in North Ameri-ca, was $0.92 per trip. It is

now $0.79. QUESTION-

ABLE

So, the poll on Citytv says

viewers rated Chow high-

est during the transit seg-

ment. Its worth noting that

Chows campaign team has

also organized a debate-

watching party.

5:31 Ford claims he has

cleaned up Soknackis

mess, which isnt even

remotely true considering

the massive budget short-

fall thats in Torontos

immediate future. Then

he claims again that hes

found efciencies and

oh, lord, hes just not going

to stop, is he. FALSE

5:35: Stintz takes credit

for the new streetcars and

subways that the TTC has

rolled out. But these werepurchased under the previ-

Fact-Checking the First Televised . . .From page 16

Please see page 20


18/24


Please see page 15

to radiofrequency elds if

there is no clear evidence

of health effects from cell-

phone use. He acknowl-

edged that its a bit of a

challenge in terms of

sounding a bit like a mixed

message. But he said the

panel heard from many

Canadians at a public hear-ing who felt they had no

control over their exposure

because radiofrequency

devices are now every-

where.

The idea was for people

who were concerned, to

give them some tools that

would at least put things a

little bit more in their own

control, he said.

Similarly, the other recom-

mendations also addressed

concerns voiced by Cana-

dians at public hearings.

Some parents were con-

cerned there was no inves-

tigation when they report-

ed problems they believed

were associated with Wi-

Fi in schools, he wrote in

an email to CBC News.

Clusters, no matter what

type of disease, are dif-cult to investigate (and, to

be honest, often leave ev-

eryone unhappy), but the

panel felt there should be

some process in place to

follow up.

Wireless radiation safety

hearing criticized

With respect to those who

reported suffering from

IEI-EMF, Demers said

there is so far no scien-

tic evidence linking theirsymptoms to measurable

radiofrequency elds.

From page 22 On the other hand, thereare people who are seri-

ously ill and seriously con-

cerned about that, he said

at the media brieng, and

we believe that this should

be a priority area for re-

search to identify just what

is causing their symptoms

and ways to properly pre-

vent those symptoms.

The panels attempts to

address public concerns

were not enough for Cana-

dians for Safe Technology,

a group that wants lower

limits in Safety Code 6.

The group said in a news

release that it was disap-

pointed in the report and

accused the panel of ignor-

ing some published peer-

reviewed science warnings

of related health risks.

Source: CBC News

Wireless radiation health . . .

most anything, said Pro-

gressive Conservative en-

ergy critic Lisa MacLeod.

This is a premier who

likes to pretend she wasntpremier for six weeks af-

ter assuming ofce. Shes

also pretending now that

she wasnt the Liberal

leader for the past year. He

worked for her.

On Tuesday, the New

Democrats issued a news

release calling on Faist to

voluntarily testify before

the standing committee on

justice.

If he does not, the party

says it would use a speak-

ers warrant to bring him

before the committee.

The NDP news release

noted that a speakers war-

rant was used to get for-

mer Ornge executive Chris

Mazza to testify in front of

a legislative committee in

2012.

NDP quite concerned

As a minority government,

the Liberals must work

with one of the opposition

parties in order to pass their

annual budget a process

that will unfold over thenext few weeks.

Should the government be

able to pass their budget,

they will be looking to the

New Democrats to make

that happen.

On Tuesday, NDP Leader

Andrea Horwath told re-

porters that her party is

quite concerned about

the events of last week and

now this week, and the

New Democrats will be

considering those matters.

When asked a follow-up

question as to whether Hor-

wath regretted not pulling

the trigger on an election

previously, the NDP leader

said she believed that the

last couple of weeks had

produced important rev-

elations in the legislature.

I think its pretty clear

that the work that weve

been doing is important,

she said. Its pretty clear

that nobody would have

known about Mr. Faist and

his participation had wenot gone through the last

week or so.

Horwath said that because

a public inquiry is not tak-

ing place, the legislature

is instead seeing informa-

tion come out in dribs and

drabs.

Nonetheless, she said that

MPPs are using that in-

formation to search for

answers in the gas-plantscandal.

The people of this prov-

ince need to know why

the government felt it was

OK to take $1.1 billion and

move two gas plants for

the purposes of saving a

couple [of] political seats,

Horwath said.

Source: CBC News

From page 24

NDP willing to seek . . .

England striker Jermain

Defoe will miss Toronto

FCs weekend game against

the Columbus Crew with a

slight hamstring strain.

Manager Ryan Nelsen says

Defoe, who had a scan

Tuesday, will be out for

the short-term.

Not a major thing but

denitely unavailable this

weekend, he said.

The 31-year-old Defoe

was substituted in the 61st

minute of Torontos 3-0

loss to Real Salt Lake on

Saturday. He went to the

dressing room, favouring

his left thigh.

Defoe has scored all three

of Torontos goals this sea-

son.

Toronto (2-0-1) is already

without Canadian mid-

elder Jonathan Osorio,

who is also dealing with a

hamstring issue.

Jermain Defoe to miss

match with hamstring strain

Barcelona was banned by

FIFA from signing any new

players for next season af-

ter being found guilty on

Wednesday of repeatedly

breaching transfer regula-

tions.

The heavy sanction, which

covers the summer and

January transfer windows,

followed an investigation

over the past year into the

Spanish champions sign-

ing of players under the age

of 18 from 2009 to 2013.

FIFA found the signing of

10 un-named players to

be in breach of its rules

covering the protection of

minors. A ne of 450,000

Swiss francs ($509,000

US) was also imposed on

Barcelona, which was giv-

en 90 days to regularize

the situation of all minor

players concerned.

The Spanish Football Fed-

eration was also found by

the world governing body

to have violated the rules

covering the registration ofminors and ned 500,000

Barcelona banned from

signing players by FIFA


19/24


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20/24


Editors: Grace Cherian

Photographer: Mulugeta Zergaber

Contributors: Mohamed EdrisNaza HasebenebiMedhin Ghebreslasie, Amleset Tesfay, Bode Odetoy-

inbo, Mimi Chandy, Ken NtiamoaSubscription Costsin Canada $39 for a year and $59 for two years. In USA, it costs $45 fora year and $69 for two years.

Articles appearing in assorted columns of Meftih newspaper are intended to generate civil

& informed public discussions. You dont have to agree with opinions expressed by the writers.

However, that should push you to express your own views. Through that way we generate lively

& civil discussions in the community. Rejoinders are not forums for personal insults & we wantreaders to adhere to these principles.

Editor-in-chief

Aaron Berhane260 Adelaide St. E. Toronto,

ON. M5A 1N1 # 192

Tel: 416-824-8124Fax: 416-783-7850

[email protected]

www.meftih.caplease see page 21

By Grace Cherian

I opened my eyes. I was lying on

the hard brown laminate oor-

ing of my living room. How did

I get there? Just a few minutes

earlier Id been sitting up on my

soft red couch reading. Then I

understood. Another fainting

spell. Im prone to dizziness

from time to time.

It was 10:00 p.m. My bedtime. I

tried to move. But my right foot

really hurt. I couldnt walk. So

I crawled into my bedroom andclimbed into bed.

When I woke up the next morn-

ing my ankle still hurt. I must

have twisted it. It was Mon-

day. I had scheduled lunch with

my friend Dea for Thursday. I

phoned to cancel our date. Deas

a nurse. Is your foot swollen?

she asked. Silly me. I hadnt

even checked. I pulled off my

sock.

Yes.

Put an ice pack on it. Twice

a day for twenty minutes. Ill

come and visit you on Thursday.

But I wont stay for lunch.

Dea arrived on Thursday with

a load of homemade soups and

mufns for me. Let me see

your foot, she said.

I removed my sock. Dea felt my

foot.

Its warm, she said.

From the blood pooling there?

I asked. She nodded.

We visited for a while. Before

Dea left she said, Youd better

make an appointment to see the

doctor. Your foot is more swol-

len than I thought.

My general practitioner, Dr.

Grundland, works at Womens

College Hospital. But she wasntthere when I went. I saw Dr.

Kraft instead. She requisitioned

an X-ray and told me to come

right back and see her. I hobbled

across Grenville Street to the X-

ray department.

Theres a reason your foot is

swollen and sore, Dr. Kraft

said. Youve fractured the

bones at the base of your second

toe. And I had been walking

with a broken foot a whole week

thinking I had just twisted my

ankle!

Dr. Kraft prescribed an air cast

and crutches for six weeks.

Crutches?? Why do I need

crutches?

You cant exert any weight on

the injured foot. And keep your

foot elevated as much as pos-

sible.

The next day my brother David

drove me to Starkman Surgi-

cal Supply on Bathurst Street.A helpful Indian gentleman

said, What size shoes do you

wear?

7M. He tted me with an air

cast and then found me a pair of

crutches. But I just couldnt get

the hang of using them.

Try this two-wheeled walker,

he said. Ah, thats so much bet-

ter.

The next week I saw Dr. Grund-land. We have to nd out whats

causing your dizzy spells, she

said. She lined up a whole series

of medical procedures for me.

Being temporarily disabled has

given me some insight into the

struggles of those with persistent

disabilities. Something as basic

as transportation for instance. I

couldnt use the TTC. I applied

for Wheel-Trans. But they in-

sist on an in-person assessment

rst. The lady who interviewedme said I would be notied by

A Taste of

Becoming

Disabledous administration, which

she has also criticized for

being scally irresponsi-

ble. QUESTIONABLE.

5:40: Soknacki keeps call-

ing the tax increase coun-

cil approved to fund the

Bloor-Danforth subway

extension the biggest tax

increase in the Citys histo-

ry. The transit portion of

the tax increase amounted

to 0.5 per cent this year, 0.5

per cent next year, and 0.6

per cent in 2016, for a total

of 1.6 per cent. After prop-

erty taxes were frozen foryears under Mel Lastman,

they rose between 3 to 5

per cent a year under Da-

vid Miller. Now, Soknacki

may be referring to the 30-

year time period during

which the transit tax will

be collected. He is correct

that the debt levied to pay

for the Bloor-Danforth ex-

tension will limit the Citys

debt ceiling, and thus, limit

borrowing opportunities.But its a big stretch to call

it the biggest tax increase

in the Citys history.

FALSE

5:41 In response to

Soknackis question about

money-saving votes that

Ford failed to show up for,

Ford again claims he has

saved the taxpayers a bil-

lion dollars and that Joe

Pennachetti says thats

correctneither of which

is trueand then he con-

ates cutting taxes with

cutting spending again, be-

cause hes Mister FALSE.

5:41 Jimmy Kimmel has

more to say about Toron-tos mayoral debate.

5:42: Stintz defends the

changes in her position

when it comes to the island

airport and Scarborough

transit expansion. Stintz

claims that her position on

the airport is based on three

principles, but its a deec-

tion; she doesnt explain

why she was against jets

then and is for them now.

QUESTIONABLE

5:48 Its worth mentioning

that this entire debate for-

mat, which simply encour-

ages candidates to shout at

one another, is completely

useless, and Citytv should

feel embarrassed.

5:50: Tory repeats his line

that hes the only candi-

date who will take the city

not left, not right, butforwards, because he is

apparently either Kang or

Kodos.

5:51 Ford lies again about

the billion dollars and

sheer fatigue is starting to

set in, but this time he says

he did what David Miller

could not do; namely, save

money through budget ef-

ciencies. However, Da-

vid Millers administration

saved an amount of money

in budget efciencies com-

parable to what Fords has.

FALSE

5:51 Rob Ford blah blah

gravy train blah blah then

claims hes created 57,000jobs in the last three years

(a) he doesnt really create

jobs directly as mayor, and

(b) the unemployment rate

has risen during his tenure

as mayor. FALSE

5:55: Chow claims that wa-

ter rates have gone up dur-

ing Fords administration.

While this is true (rates

went up 9% this year, for

example), water rates have

been going up at an iden-

tical rate for years as part

of the Citys Wet Weather

Flow Master Plan. QUES-

TIONABLE

5:55: Ford, after attacking

Tory for losing the provin-

cial election for some rea-

son, says he is a business-

man. Ford, by his own

admission, worked a very

minimal number of hours

at Deco Labels while hewas a city councillor; if he

ever was actively involved

in Decos management on

a day-to-day basis, he has

not been so for over a de-

cade now. FALSE

5:56: Ford claims that we

havent had one union

strike. Well, except for

that librarian strike in

2012. FALSE

5:56: In case youre won-

dering why this debate is

at the weird 57 p.m. time

Please see page 21

From page 17

Fact-Checking the First Televised . . .


21/24


mail within seven to

ten business days. But

I had several medical

appointments to go to.

Fortunately an agency

in my neighbourhood

called the Mid-Toronto

Community Services

drives people with

disabilities to medi-

cal appointments and

brings us home. I

phoned them up. Risa,

the Transportation Co-

ordinator made an ap-

pointment to visit me

at home. After asking

me some questions,she said I qualied for

the service. She made

it effective that very

afternoon. So I booked

all my appointments

with them.

The drivers of the Mid-

Toronto Community

Services have all been

courteous and help-

ful. They drive both

cars and vans. But the

drivers picked me up

in regular cars because

my walker is collaps-

ible and ts in the back

seat or trunk of the car

Some friends, John and

his wife Sharon, came

to visit me. The buzzer

wasnt working. So

I had to hobble out

to the lobby through

four sets of very heavy

doors and let them in.

And then I had to do the same to

get back into my apartment. Its

very hard work using a walker.

My forearms are bearing the

weight of my entire body. Be-

cause I dont normally use these

muscles, I tire very easily. I was

struggling with both hands on

the walker, trying to open four

sets of heavy doors and keep

them open long enough for me

to get through.

John and Sharon were too busy

chatting with each other to no-

tice. Thoroughly exhausted from

my efforts, I nally said, Could

you please open these doors?

Some people are completely

blind to the needs of those with

disabilities.

Friends like Dea have gone out

of their way to help. She has

come over every week to stock

me up with homemade soups.

My brother and neighborthey

share them the same name, Da-

vid have bought me grocer-

ies.

One of the hardest things about

being conned is struggling

with depression. So Ive phoned

friends and said to them, Can

you please visit me? I need a

picker-upper.

Friends whove broken bones

themselves were very sensitive.

When they came to visit, theyvewaited on me hand and foot.

Complete strangers have been

kind, holding open doors for

me. One person in my building

saw me at the mailbox. He said,

I can tell youve seen better

days.

And Ill see better days again,

I chirped.

I will indeed. The orthopedic

surgeon has promised that my

cast can come off when I see

him on March 31. I feel like a

caged bird that can y again.

A Taste of Becoming . . .From page 20

slot, one Citytv source tells

Torontoist its because of

U.S. syndicationthey

wont pre-empt shows

like Cougar Town. Busy

Phillips has those kinds of

powers.

6:09: Fords question for

Soknacki references him

increasing spending more

than any other budget chief

ever has, which isnt true,

because Ford is referring

to the gross budget, which

includes the provincial

and federal funding DavidMiller excelled at getting.

FALSE

6:11: Answering a ques-

tion on budgets from Ford,

Soknacki does a decent

job explaining to view-

ers where the budget has

grown in recent years.

He does glare somewhat

alarmingly at his adversar-

ies on stage when he gets

red up. Wonder how thatis playing with the view-

ers.

6:11: Ford claims that gar-

bage collection is saving

$80 million per year. Its

saving $80 million over

the life of the contract.

FALSE

6:11: Stintz claims that

she has always been clear

about where she stands on

revenue tools for transit,

but this is not the case. As

Tory points out, she sup-

ported selling 10 per cent

of Hydro before modifying

that to 50 per cent this past

Monday. QUESTION-

ABLE

6:14: Ford, nally being

asked about all that crack

he smoked, goes back to

his track record, says I

saved a billion dollarsYET AGAIN, then invites

people to his campaign

kickoff party. FALSE

6:19: Fords closing state-

ment: proven track recordof success, billion dollars,

efciencies, the CFO says

a billion dollars, et cetera.

FALSE Congratulations to

Citytv for inventing a de-

bate format so completely

useless that it enables Ford

to quite literally repeat the

same three lies for a solid

hour.

6:25: Citytvs post-debate

analysis is nothing short of

awful. The rst commen-

tator makes the argument

that Ford won the debate

because he was a good

communicator, essentially

saying that the mayors

overwhelming intransi-

gence was really great.

The second analyst adds

that it was impressive how

on top of the Citys les

Ford was, like which tran-

sit lines were getting built.

This is what happens whenyou get analysts who dont

follow City Hall.

6:40: In a post-debate

scrum, Stintz is asked how

she will deal with losing

part of the dividend from

selling half of Hydro. She

claims that they might get

a greater dividend with ef-

ciencies from the private

sector. The idea that ef-

ciencies in a utility compa-ny could double net income

to make up for selling half

of the company is either

disingenuous or ignorant.

FALSE

By DAVID HAINS, DES-

MOND COLE , AND

CHRISTOPHER BIRD

source: torontoist.com

From page 20

Fact-Checking the

First Televised . . .


22/24


Technology & Science

vice to his constituents in

Scarborough-Agincourt,

the leaders ofce said in

an email statement to The

Canadian Press.

Over that time he has

shown himself to be a

ghter and a strong advo-

cate for a variety of causes.

He takes on causes dear tohis heart with real passion

and determination. We sa-

lute his public service and

wish him well.

Among his accomplish-

ments, Karygiannis counts

persuading Parliament to

recognize the 1915 geno-

cide of Armenians in what

is now Turkey as a crime

against humanity.

In his nal speech in the

Commons, Karygiannis

also referred proudly to hisskill as a political organiz-

er, although his aggressive

tactics, particularly among

multicultural communi-

ties, often landed him in

hot water.

He quoted a letter from

Martin last year, in which

the former prime minister

said Karygiannis can out-

campaign and out-organize

just about anyone.

There are very few people

that have the capability to

organize and help othersget elected, Karygiannis

said of himself. Many

people say Im the last

samurai in our party.

He was banned by the

Ontario wing of the party

from attending delegate

selection meetings during

the 1990 leadership con-

test, after he was accused

of physically accosting a

Martin supporter.

Karygiannis, who was or-

ganizing for Chretien at the

time, was also famously

accused of putting chew-

ing gum in the coin slots

of pay phones to prevent

Martin organizers from

calling supporters whod

been suspiciously misin-

formed about the timing of

a delegate meeting.

However, Karygiannis

eventually became one of

Chretiens severest critics

and became an organizerfor Martin camp during the

2003 leadership contest.

In 2006, he was nation-

al co-ordinator for Joe

Volpes ill-fated leadership

campaign. He quit mid-

campaign over a difference

of opinion over Israel and

wound up calling the po-

lice to stop Volpe from re-

moving computers, which

had been leased in Kary-

gianniss name, from his

campaign headquarters

From page 23Veteran Liberal MP J. Karygiannis . .

Health Canada shouldaggressively research

the possible link between

wireless airwaves and can-

cer and should inform Ca-

nadians how they can limit

their exposure to such

electromagnetic elds

while using cellphones, an

expert scientic panel rec-

ommends.

However, the panel found

that Health Canada guide-

lines for human exposure

to wireless airwaves from

cell towers, radio and TV

broadcast antennas and

other wireless technology

provide enough protection

from the two established

health effects from high-

powered exposure to those

frequencies:

Heat damage such as

burns.

Electrical shocks or nervestimulation.

While the panel looked at

studies about other health

effects, those effects could

not be conrmed because

they were not consistently

observed in multiple rigor-

ous studies.

The expert panel, assem-

bled by the Royal Society

of Canada, was asked by

Health Canada to do a sci-

entic analysis of the de-partments latest update to

Safety Code 6, which sets

safety limits for exposureto radiation from radiof-

requency elds emitted by

wireless devices and trans-

mitters. The panel released

its report Tuesday.

Kenneth Foster, a bioen-

gineering professor at the

University of Pennsylvania

and a member of the expert

panel, noted that radia-

tion in this case is simply

electromagnetic waves

travelling through the air,

like the light from a ash-

light, and are too weak to

break chemical bonds, un-

like more powerful radia-

tion such as X-rays.

The eight scientists on the

panel, led by cancer epide-

miologist Paul Demers of

Cancer Care Ontario and

the University of Toronto,

pored through evidence in

scientic literature to g-ure out if the new limits

do a good job of protect-

ing both people who work

with equipment such as

cell towers and the general

public.

Based on the evidence

about known hazards, the

panel doesnt recommend

any changes to Safety

Code 6, Demers said at an

embargoed press brieng

organized by the ScienceMedia Centre of Canada.

However, we did havea number of other rec-

ommendations to Health

Canada about precaution-

ary measures that can and

should be taken, Demers

said.

The report said Health

Canada should: aggres-

sively pursue scientic re-

search aimed at clarifying

whether there is a link be-

tween radiofrequency en-

ergy and cancer.

Give consumers more in-formation about wireless

radiation including rec-

ommendations on practi-

cal measures that Canadi-

ans can take to reduce their

exposure around cellphone

use (for example, limiting

use in areas with low sig-

nal strength, and using an

earpiece).

Investigate and gure out

what is causing the debili-

tating symptoms of people

who say they are hyper-sensitive to radiofrequen-

cy radiation a condition

known as idiopathic envi-

ronmental intolerance at-

tributed to electromagnetic

elds (IEI-EMF).

Develop a way for the pub-

lic to report suspected dis-

ease clusters and for those

suspected clusters to be in-

vestigated.

meftih newspaper april 2014

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