Vancouver, the host city of the Winter Olympics, is bursting with Olympic energy and national pride. That is unusual for Canada. The country’s typical modest stance has made way for a hunger for medals. “Why don’t we have fun and try to be number one?”
Vancouver, host city of the Olympic Winter Games, is generally praised for its high quality of life. Rainy weather is often mentioned as the biggest drawback. The former logging post grew into a multicultural metropolis known for its nature, sense of community, and liberal social policies. A portrait of Vancouver.
Vancouver’s Marc Emery sold large quantities of marijuana seeds to Americans. He will be extradited from Canada to the United States in January to serve a five year prison sentence. In an interview during his last days of freedom, he says it has been worth it to thwart the ‘war on drugs’.
Canadian forces are expected to remain active in southern Afghanistan after the current Parliamentary mandate for their mission expires at the end of 2011, says Canada’s Defence Minister Peter MacKay. Canadian troops will focus on training and reconstruction work, while U.S. forces will take over their combat tasks.
Omar Khadr, the Canadian ‘child of Guantanamo Bay’, once seemed a magnificent catch in the war on terrorism. But his detention has been problematic for both the U.S. and Canada. There is international criticism against a military trial for a minor. Canada can help by requesting Khadr’s extradition – but it does not want him back.
Canada has been a popular destination for Mexicans fleeing their country’s bloody drugs war. But now, the Canadian government has imposed a new visa requirement to stop the influx. “Harper has said, we don’t want any more Mexicans.”
Aboriginal people in remote parts of Canada often live in squalid conditions that you would expect to see in developing countries. In Wasagamack, a First Nation reserve in Manitoba, hardly anyone has running water. The H1N1 virus poses a threat.
Canada has a reputation as a haven for Roma people. Some even call it their ‘promised land’. Thousands of Roma from the Czech Republic have sought refuge in the Canadian city of Hamilton. But now, Canada is erecting barriers. “Nobody is saying to you: because you are Roma, we don’t want you.”
The border between the United States and Canada, traditionally known as the longest undefended border in the world, is increasingly looking like a fortress. A virtual wall of technology is being drawn up by U.S. Homeland Security. Critics see a “militarization of the border”.
Montreal is making a big bet on bicycling with the launch of its own system of public bikes, called Bixi. The Canadian city hopes to set an example in car-loving North America, to get people out of their gas guzzlers and onto two wheels.
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