Majority of Board Directors Feel Sarbanes-Oxley Regulations Should be Repealed or Overhauled

NEW YORK -- Just four years after the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley, 58% of Board Directors surveyed feel that the regulations have served only to make boards overly cautious, and should be repealed or overhauled, according to the 32nd Annual Board of Directors Study, released yesterday by Korn/Ferry International (NYSE: KFY), the premier provider of executive search, outsourced recruiting and leadership development solutions.
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Characteristics of international travellers - Third quarter 2005 (preliminary)

Canadians travelled to overseas countries at a record pace between July and September last year, possibly taking advantage of the rising dollar to visit European destinations. In total, a record 1.5 million Canadian residents travelled to nations other than the United States between July and September, up 8.2% from the previous high in the third quarter of 2004.
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OTTAWA - Export Development Canada (EDC) announced today the first advance from a USD 10.5 million letter of offer for debt financing for Hanfeng Evergreen of Toronto in partnership with the Bank of China (Canada) (BOCC). The transaction marks the first time that EDC has provided financing for Canadian direct investment in China, and is an example of the growing trend towards globalizing operations.
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Private and public investment - 2006 Intentions

Investment in plants and equipment is expected to remain robust in 2006, fuelled by strong intentions in the booming oil and gas sector, and public utilities, according to a sample survey of 29,000 businesses, governments and institutions.
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Top Rated “Sturgeon in the Morning” Back on the Air in Waterloo Region

Joining forces with Canada’s first Community radio station FM 98.5 CKWR, Sturgeon in the Morning will mark another first- bringing talk radio to the FM dial in Waterloo Region. Scott Jensen, President of FM 98.5 CKWR, is pleased to be able to bring Sturgeon back.
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PARIS--Target Set for 8% Yearly Average Growth in Earnings Per Share
The Board of Directors of Lafarge , chaired by Bertrand Collomb, met on February 22, 2006 to approve the accounts for the year ending December 31, 2005.
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After Chad, Kenya, and Bangladesh, it is now Congo-Brazzaville’s turn to be scrutinized by the World Bank, writes La Tribune (France). World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has decided to suspend several loans and block debt forgiveness to the country. Kleptocrats better watch out, the daily warns.
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Following a 10.2% rise between December 2004 and December 2005, the energy index rose 15.3% between January 2005 and January 2006.
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Cambridge - Local technology firm Practice Solutions Software Inc. (PSS) expects to triple its workforce and expand its presence nationwide by the end of 2006. PSS, formerly Healthcare Software Inc., develops electronic billing, scheduling and medical records software for physicians.
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TORONTO - Advertising Standards Canada (ASC) today released its 2005 Ad Complaints Report. The Report provides information about consumers' complaints submitted to ASC in 2005 for review under the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards (Code). 2005 Highlights.
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MONTREAL - The Community Health and Social Services Network (CHSSN), a community organization aiming to improve access to health and social services in English for Quebec's English-speaking communities, released today the results of a major survey on the state of access in English to health and social services in the province. The survey reveals wide differences in access to services between the regions in Quebec, as well as on the Island of Montreal.
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OTTAWA, Feb. 22 - The McGuinty Government's announcement of further aid for the ailing forest industry is a "welcome first step" in implementing the year old recommendations of the Council on Forest Sector Competitiveness says Ontario's largest union of forestry workers.
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TORONTO, Feb. 22 - Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario President Sid Ryan has stepped down province-wide political action scheduled to begin at midnight tonight.
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Study: Aging, health and work - 2003

The people in Canada's labour force who were within 10 years of retirement in 2003 were generally in good or excellent physical and mental health, according to a new study. However, nearly half a million (19%) individuals aged between 50 and 69 had already left the labour force because of health-related reasons. Their loss is important because of rising concerns over a labour shortage in coming years as the baby-boom generation nears retirement and the growth in Canada's population slows. In 2002, 20% of workers were within 10 years of the median retirement age, double the proportion 15 years earlier.
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Some of Canada’s leading journalists, authors and media executives, including Gwynne Dyer and Scott Griffin, will be at the University of Guelph at 2:30 p.m. today to take part in the inaugural President’s Dialogue on the role of the media in a changing global community. The dialogue, titled “The Media: Communicators, Conscience, Creators?,” is being held in Rozanski Hall Room 103. It’s free and open to the public.
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IBEIJING, CHINA, - Ivanhoe Energy Inc. and CITIC Resources, a subsidiary of CITIC Group (formerly China International Trust & Investment Corporation), announced Feb 21 that CITIC Resources has made an important investment decision to convert its 40% working interest in the Kongnan Project in China's Dagang oilfield into shares of Ivanhoe Energy.
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Sony unveils world's smallest, lightest HD camcorder

TORONTO, Feb. 22 - Sony of Canada Ltd., Canada's leading supplier of electronic and computer products for consumers and business, today introduced the HDR-HC3 Handycam(R) camcorder, changing the notion that High- Definition (HD) video recording is for "advanced videographers only."
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Retail trade -December 2005

Consumer spending in retail stores advanced for a third consecutive month in December, although at a considerably slower pace than November. For the year as a whole, automotive sector sales have pushed annual retail sales growth to its highest rate since 2002.
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Strengthening Rural Communities For A Stronger Ontario Premier McGuinty Commits $300 Million To Achieve True 50-50 Partnership For Land Ambulance Services by 2008

TORONTO - The Ontario government is building stronger rural communities by increasing land ambulance funding, proposing changes to improve local councils and calling for a tri-level commission on fiscal issues on which municipalities would sit as equals, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced Feb 21.
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MONTREAL - The kidnappers of American journalist Jill Carroll in Iraq have set Sunday, February 26th as a new deadline for meeting their demands. Reporters Without Borders is launching an international week of mobilisation starting on Tuesday, February 21st for her release. Reporters Without Borders Canada invites Canadian media to express their solidarity with Carroll and the two kidnapped Iraqi journalists also being held in the country
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Royal Bank of Canada representative office in Beijing upgraded to branch status

TORONTO, Feb. 22 - Royal Bank of Canada today announced that it has received approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission to upgrade its Representative Office in Beijing to a branch.
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BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Feb. 22 -- IP telephony provider Avaya and its technology alliance companies IBM, HP, SAP, Juniper, Nokia and Extreme Networks announced today a collaboration to form the first ever virtual summit dedicated to connecting business communications applications with people, information and networks. The summit will explore "what's possible" for businesses when they apply IP telephony to productivity, the customer experience, and business continuity and security.
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Employment Insurance December 2005

In December, the estimated number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits fell 0.6% from November to 492,570 (seasonally adjusted), and was down 5.3% from December 2004. This was the fourth consecutive monthly decline, continuing a downward trend that began in late 2003.
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MARKHAM - Osprey Media Income Fund announced results for the three months ended December 31, 2005. Revenue for the quarter was $60.8 million compared to $56.3 million last year, resulting in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA(1)) of $15.1 million compared to $13.3 million last year and distributable cash(1) of $12.1 million compared to $12.0 million last year, or $0.247 per diluted unit. Net income for the quarter was $7.7 million, compared to $6.0 million last year.
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Survey on Financing of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises - 2004

Debt financing requests have declined since the turn of the millennium, but medium-sized enterprises are still more likely to request financing than their smaller counterparts. Only one-fifth (19%) of all firms in Canada sought some form of external debt financing in 2004, according to results of the Survey on Financing of Small and Medium Enterprises. This was down from 24% four years earlier.
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US Franchisees of the Year Named During IFA Convention

PALM SPRINGS, CALIF -More than 50 franchise small-business operators who have been singled out for their outstanding performance will be honored Feb. 27 by the International Franchise Association. The IFA annual convention will be conducted Feb. 25-28 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. IFA is the world's oldest and largest organization representing franchising
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BOSTON- According to the February index, investor confidence decreased to 73.4 from January's revised reading of 77.0. Looking regionally, the confidence of North American institutional investors fell to 85.5 in February from a revised reading of 89.8 in January. The European Index increased from 73.7 in January to 77.9, and the Asian Index declined from 82.9 to 81.9 this month.
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OTTAWA - The Heritage Canada Foundation (HCF) release its 2005 Heritage Report Card on the state of heritage conservation in Canada, which includes the worst losses of the past year and the "Top Ten" most endangered places lists.
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The University of Guelph is raising awareness of intellectual freedom by celebrating Freedom to Read Week Feb. 26 to March 4.
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TORONTO - Four unions representing 200,000 health care and community social service workers have taken their campaign to fight the Ontario government's Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) plan to the province's airwaves and TV screens.
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TORONTO, Feb. 21 - It's a common quandary for job seekers: Are you being pushy if you contact an employer after submitting a resume? A new survey suggests the opposite may be true. Eighty-six per cent of executives polled said job seekers should contact hiring managers within two weeks of submitting application materials. Only 4 per cent said professionals should refrain from communicating once a resume has been sent.
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In a commentary published in The Washington Post (02/20), columnist Sebastian Mallaby writes that nine months into his tenure as President of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz has made headlines mainly by provoking a staff backlash. Meanwhile, the staff backlash is obscuring something interesting. In the past few months, there have been hints of fresh thinking on corruption. Now the evidence has reached critical mass: The change appears to be genuine, writes Mallaby.
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2005 was the most significant year in Woodstocks economic development history. Toyota announced its second Canadian facility would be build in Woodstock, First Gulf Developments purchased 67 acres for its First CommerceWay project, and the City enjoyed a record level of economic development activity.
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The World Bank announced this week that Latin America needs to cut poverty to boost growth - a conclusion that may be "descubriendo el agua tibia," or, stating the obvious. But this is a big deal for the international lending institution, writes columnist Marcela Sanchez of The Washington Post.
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