Friday October 29, 2010

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Ted Talks

Shimon Steinberg: Natural pest control ... using bugs!

At TEDxTelAviv, Shimon Steinberg looks at the difference between pests and bugs -- and makes the case for using good bugs to fight bad bugs, avoiding chemicals in our quest for perfect produce.

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Tourism

NATIONAL TRAVEL AND TOURISM COALITION CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO ENHANCE COMPETITIVENESS

New whitepaper calls for fair taxation regime, level playing field with international competition

OTTAWA - Canada will continue to lose its attractiveness as a world tourist destination unless governments take immediate action to ease tax, regulatory and other burdens on the $71.5 billion industry, according to a new study by the National Travel and Tourism Coalition (NTTC).

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Best Business

Mennonite Savings and Credit Union Top 50 Best Small and Medium Employers in Canada – again!

KITCHENER - Mennonite Savings and Credit Union (MSCU) is thrilled to be named among the Top 50 Best Small and Medium Employers in Canada for the second consecutive year, moving to 19th from our debut at 47th last year. The 2011 list will be published in the November 8, 2010 issue of Maclean’s magazine, available on newsstands October 28th.

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Carbon

Forests Not Solution to Offsetting Carbon Emissions, Study Finds

Guelph - Don't look to forests to soak up increasing amounts of global-warming gases being pumped into the atmosphere, says a new study by University of Guelph scientists.

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Fun with Fundraising

Pie in the Face for Phil” employee initiative expands to company-wide drive

Kitchener-Waterloo – Desire2Learn is delighted to be participating in and supporting the “Pie in the Face for Phil” fundraiser.

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Best Workplace

The Co-operators Ranked Among the 50 Best Employers in Canada

GUELPH - The Co-operators has been recognized among Canada's best employers in the November 8 edition of Maclean's magazine, on newsstands today. International human resources firm Aon Hewitt compiles the list of the 50 Best Employers in Canada annually, using results of confidential employee surveys from workplaces across the country.

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Labour

Employment Earnings Rise

Statscan - Between August 2009 and August 2010, the average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees rose 4.4% to $860.67. The last time earnings growth exceeded 4.0% was in February 2008.

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Commercial Real Estate

Office vacancy dips below 10% in the Greater Toronto Area as 2.5 million square feet is transacted across the region

Third Quarter 2010 Greater Toronto Area Office Market Report

Toronto – Decisions surrounding commercial office space requirements that were delayed during the summer months are finally being negotiated, as evidenced by a flurry of leasing transactions concluded in the third quarter of 2010 in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) office market.

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Pension

U of G Starting Pension Discussions

Guelph - Facing proposed provincial legislation, the University of Guelph is reviewing options for restructuring its pension plans.

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Health Care

Ottawa prevention clinic has huge impact on stroke rate, study finds

OTTAWA - New research suggests that patients who are treated for mini-strokes at The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) have a markedly reduced chance of developing a full-blown stroke, thanks to a comprehensive new stroke prevention clinic.

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GDP

Real gross domestic product increased by 0.3% in August

Statscan - GDP increased 0.3% in August following a 0.1% decline in July. Oil and gas extraction, wholesale trade and manufacturing were the main sources of growth in August. Increases were also recorded in the finance and insurance sector, by real estate agents and brokers, in construction and retail trade. Utilities and forestry decreased while public sector output was unchanged.

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Environment

World Bank To Lead Economic Push On Nature Protection.

Earth - "The World Bank has launched a global partnership aimed at helping countries include the costs of destroying nature into their national accounts. Ten nations will take part in the pilot phase, including India and Colombia.

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Recognition

Neuroimaging leader to receive the 2010 Taylor Prize in Medicine

London - Dr. Charles DeCarli’s research has led to new brain imaging techniques and a new way of looking at Alzheimer’s disease, and now it’s earned him the 2010 J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine from The University of Western Ontario’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. “Imaging of the aging brain” is this year’s Taylor Prize topic.

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Nursing

School of Nursing research influences guidelines for improved patient safety

Kingston - QJBC-PS patient safety officer Janice McVeety feels its important to seek input from patients when it comes to establishing health care guidelines.

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Quarterly Results

DALSA Reports Record Third Quarter 2010 Revenue; Increases Dividend

Waterloo - DALSA Corporation, an international leader in high performance digital imaging and semiconductors, today reported revenue from continuing operations of $55.3 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 and net income from continuing operations of $4.8 million or $0.26 per share, diluted.

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R&D

Government of Canada Makes Major Announcement at Carleton University About New Research Initiative

Ottawa – Speaking at Carleton University on Thursday, Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology), announced a new initiative that will help Canada’s top researchers carry out large-scale projects in areas of national importance.

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Municipal Election

Election winds down but City Administrators have months to go to complete the process

Cambridge - For the Citizens of Cambridge the 2010 municipal election is over, however, staff at City Hall is still in high gear to complete the process.

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Labour

Unionization Rises at a Slightly Faster Pace

Statscan - On average, just over 4.2 million employees belonged to a union in Canada during the first half of 2010, up 64,000 from the same period last year.

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Recognition

MTE Receives National Engineering Award for Downtown Kitchener Environmental Remediation Project

Kitchener - MTE Consultants Inc. (MTE) is pleased to announce that they are the recipients of a 2010 Canadian Consulting Engineering Award of Excellence for the Joseph and Gaukel Streets Road Reconstruction and Environmental Remediation project in Kitchener.

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Environment

SAFETY-KLEEN INVESTS IN ONTARIO's GREEN ECONOMY

Canada's largest used oil re-refiner breaks ground on $26 million expansion of Breslau, Ontario, used oil re-refinery

BRESLAU - Safety-Kleen Canada Inc., Canada's largest collector and re-refiner of used motor oil, broke ground yesterday on a $26 million expansion of its Breslau, Ontario, used oil re-refinery. The expansion will increase the facility's processing capacity by 25 percent, from 152 million to 191 million liters of used oil annually.

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Work Place

Desire2Learn Named a Best Employer in National Study

Desire2Learn places in Top 50 as a Best Small & Medium Size Employer with high employee engagement

Kitchener-Waterloo - Desire2Learn announce its placement in the 2011 Best Small & Medium Employers in Canada study. The primary requirement to be named a Best Employer is high "employee engagement" - a measure of how positively employees feel about their employer, how likely they are to stay, and how committed they are to doing their utmost to achieve business objectives. In the 2011 Study, Desire2Learn placed in the Top 50.