Christmas News: Toronto Waterfront Audit, Zhang, Lafleur, Military Purchase, DART, Hillier-Airbus-Build in China? Steel, Arms Sales to China?

Update: New posts have been added below: "Supervising the formation of public opinion ... Revocation: Citizenship, Root Causes, Media Creation"


T.O. waterfront deal undegoes audit -- Why has Citizenship and Immigration taken responsibility for the Toronto waterfrontproject? Dean Beeby, Dec.23, 05

OTTAWA (CP) - An audit of millions of dollars spent sprucing up Toronto's waterfront has found numerous contracting irregularities and questionable overseas travel.

[. . . . ] A spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration, which has taken over responsibility for the Toronto project, said the audit has sparked a new probe into the non-tendered contracts.

[. . . . ] Campbell added that his overseas trips to London, Hamburg and Barcelona, with board chair Robert Fung, were to inspect other waterfront projects and all were approved after the fact by the corporation's board.

Search: John Campbell, Robert Fung



Why would a relatively new immigrant from China be hired to work in the Privy Council Office ... later fired by Alex Himmelfarb? Paul Waldie, Dec. 23, 05, Globe and Mail

[. . . . ] Ms. Zhang said she worked at the news service from 1989 to 1992 and did routine stories. She said her only contact with "foreign representatives" is helping Canadian businesses develop markets in China.

[. . . . ] having married a Canadian she met while working at the Chinese news service. [. . . . ]

I wondered why, when I had read previously that Canadian-born Chinese would not be able to facilitate business with China the way a Chinese-born facilitator would.


Secret life: Visa student's downfall -- Sensational cases highlight problem -- Crimes prompt task force in China Martin Regg Cohn & Karen Mazurkewich, TorStar, Dec. 24, 05

SHANGQIU, China [. . . . ] Like so many other young Chinese who go abroad, Suo Zhiyang's fate was entrusted to a local agency that promised the world: For a fee the family could count on easy admissions, work permits and guaranteed immigrant status for their son, according to the sales pitch.

[. . . . ] The family ended up paying $100,000 for the son's education, stashing wads of cash into secret money belts to evade customs controls, according to the father.

And Getting Away From It All

Update: Jean Lafleur, Adscam, Costa Rica Adscam player in Belize? By Judi McLeod, Friday, December 23, 2005, Canada Free Press

Check our chances for getting ADSCAM $$$ returned and why Belize is so attractive? Is the RCMP looking for Lafleur? Isn't there a lawsuit in process?



Inn Chef recipes at present freely available -- e.g. Triangle Terrine of Honey Cured Salmon and Vermouth with a Caraway Rye Crisp, Homemade Mustard, Pickled Red Onions and Mustard Sprouts

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Thoughts of Military Purchase ... so much happens over Christmas ...

Dec. 26, 05, in the Globe and Mail in a tiny box on the bottom of page A21

Airbus may have an offer General Hillier can't refuse says editor Dianne DeMille, editor of the Canadian American Strategic Review.

Search: Canadian American Strategic Review

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New pages (December 2005) – Tactical Airlift With a Twist? CF tactical airlift looked like a shoe-in until Airbus spun an original and unexpected 2-stage proposal. How will Lockheed Martin respond?

Past pages (December 2005) – the Armoured Patrol Vehicle project and its candidates are reviewed.

Past pages (November 2005) – Sikorsky CH-53 Super Stallion added to helicopter ’lifter section.

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Hillier's Hopes for the Holidays – Honkin' Huge Helicopters! Dianne DeMille & Stephen Priestley – published in View from the West*, Oct. 2005

*First published in View from the West, a column in the Winnipeg Free Press.
The WFP is the last major independent newspaper left in Western Canada.

In a CP article published on 14 September 2005, Minister of National Defence, Bill Graham, admitted that, in this crucial deployment, the CF won’t have all the support equipment it needs.

“Heavy helicopters, for example – we don’t have any at the moment. They will be furnished either by the Dutch, the British, or the Americans, or by other allies.”

[. . . . ] So, the immediate options before General Rick Hillier reveal a tough choice. Hillier can (1) order a coat of Army green paint for the 15 SAR Comorants,
(2) lease (or lease - to - own) Russian Mil 17s, or (3) beg for rides on allies’ Chinooks, until the Air Force is completely happy with its latest shopping list.

The purpose of an analyst is to present the options. It will be up to General Hillier to make the final recommendations to the Minister and his Cabinet colleagues.

Getting all the ducks in a row


Arcelor to boost Dofasco offer Dec. 24, 05, Toronto Star


Rejected Bidder Raises Offer for a Canadian Steel Maker New York Times, Dec. 24, 05

Arcelor Increases Dofasco Bid, Topping ThyssenKrupp's (Update 4) Bloomberg, Dec. 23, 05

Europe's Arcelor increases offer to $4.9 Billion for Canadian steelmaker CBC, Dec. 23, 05


Arcelor of Belgium increases offer to acquire Canadian steelmaker CJAD, Dec. 23, 05



Do we Dither? Or do we DART? Jan. 2, 2005, Dianne DeMille & Stephen Priestly

Dianne DeMille is Editor of the Canadian American Strategic Review (CASR), an online publication hosted by Simon Fraser University in B.C. Stephen Priestley is Researcher/Illustrator with the Review. (http://www.sfu.ca/casr)

The world is faced with the most horrific natural disaster in living memory, yet the Canadian government insists our 200-strong Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) may not be "the right tool" for this particular calamity.

How could this be? Is the Martin government, which refused to send DART to hurricane-ravaged Haiti in August -- apparently because it was too expensive -- dithering in public again? What are the problems with deployment this time? [. . . . ]

Search:

a debilitating bottleneck
smaller, more agile units.
five 20-year-old converted airliners, the CC-150 Polaris. This early-model Airbus
a Russian-Ukrainian air-cargo charter company, Volga Dnepr.
Leasing cargo aircraft
reliable air transport -- both strategic and tactical.
For tactical airlift, replacing Canada's worn-out Hercules fleet
Russia is the one affordable
at comparatively low cost.
new IL-76MFs are being produced in Voronezh, Russia,
Taxpayers should be asking why this option has not been seriously considered before.
its U.S. counterpart, the C-141.



Double DART (or make it smaller?) Ira Basen, CBC.ca Reality Check Team, Dec. 14, 2005, More Reality Check (check site for link)

[. . . . ] But what if it all didn't have to go at once? DeMille and Priestley suggest breaking DART up into its various "sub-units" – water purification, medical, communications, support, and security. Sending the sub-units that are required first, with the others following later, would allow DART to be deployed more quickly and for less money. So too would investing in newer generations of smaller, more mobile field hospitals, water purifiers and hybrid diesel/electric trucks. [. . . . ]

Canadian American Strategic Review

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Airbus to study feasibility of building jets in China Reuters / Boston Globe, December 5, 2005

TOULOUSE, France -- Airbus agreed with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday to study the possibility of setting up an assembly line in China -- a move that could see its jets being built outside Europe for the first time.

Wen signed an agreement to carry out a feasibility study at the start of a European trip expected to unlock provisional Chinese orders for 70 A320-family single-aisle Airbus aircraft worth $5 billion. Airbus and Chinese authorities will review over six months whether to set up a second A320 assembly line in China. [. . . . ]

Along with Germany, France is campaigning for the European Union to drop an embargo on arms sales to China that was imposed after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, in which tanks were sent to crush pro-democracy protests.

Around-The-Globe: Airbus Set To Launch A3XX Todd Jatras, Forbes.com, Dec. 15, 05

NEW YORK - After clinching a deal today to sell six A3XX planes to Virgin Atlantic Airways, Airbus Industrie has reached the 50 orders it previously said it needed to launch its long-range, double-decker super-jumbo aircraft. . . .

[. . . . ] Airbus claims the A3XX will offer 20% lower seat operating costs compared to the 747-400, while providing up to 40% more seats and 10% to 15% more range, or a total of 7,650 nautical miles per flight. So, it would seem that Boeing has a real quandary on its hands as to how it should compete with Airbus in the battle to supply companies with aircraft for international routes.

With Virgin, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Air France, Emirates Airlines and International Lease Finance already on board, and Lufthansa and British Airways on deck, the A3XX could become a real headache for Boeing. The prospect of onboard gyms, bars, casinos, game arcades, beauty centers, child care areas, conference rooms and showers may just be too compelling for the world's airlines to resist.

The Globe and Mail: Airbus has history of twisted landing gear -- re: O-ring seals September 23, 2005

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