Monday December 5, 2011

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Ted Talks

Sarah Kay: How many lives can you live?

A performing poet since she was 14 years old, Sarah Kay is the founder of Project V.O.I.C.E., teaching poetry and self-expression at schools across the United States

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Gift Giving

Charitable donors Spend More in 2010

Statscan - Canadian taxfilers reported making charitable donations of just under $8.3 billion in 2010, up 6.5% from 2009. At the same time, the number of donors increased 2.2% to just over 5.7 million.

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Education

Conestoga Celebrates Opening of Health and Life Sciences Centre

Kitchener - Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) and MP for Cambridge-North Dumfries, was at Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Kitchener Friday to officially open the institution’s new Health and Life Sciences Centre.

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Show and Tell

Waterloo Engineering researchers to showcase innovations at public event

WATERLOO - Some of the brightest minds in the faculty of engineering at the University of Waterloo will be showcasing their leading-edge research Wednesday, Dec. 7 on the main Waterloo campus.

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Appointment

Laurier appoints Dr. Corinne Dixon as director, Health Services

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Labour Force

Canadian unemployment rate rises by 0.1 percentage points to 7.4%

Statscan - Following a notable decrease the previous month, employment edged down 19,000 in November, and the unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage points to 7.4%. Despite the recent declines, employment was up 1.2% (+212,000) from 12 months earlier.

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Health Care

C. difficile outbreak in a isolated unit at Freeport

Waterloo Region - Grand River Hospital in cooperation with Region of Waterloo Public Health has declared an outbreak of C. difficile in one unit at the Freeport Site. Hospital staff members are taking steps to protect patients while working to stop further spread of the disease.

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Economic Development

Ontario Government Seeks Input On Proposed New Development Act

Southwestern Ontario - Last week, the Ontario government introduced the Attracting Investment and Creating Jobs Act that, if passed, would create the new Southwestern Ontario Development Fund.

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Recall

Acura Driver's Airbag Inflator Recall Expansion

expansion includes certain 2001 to 2003 Honda Accord, Civic, Odyssey and CR-V, as well as certain 2002 to 2003 Acura 3.2 TL and 3.2 CL vehicles

MARKHAM - Honda has expanded a previously announced recall of certain 2001 through 2003 model-year Honda and Acura vehicles to replace the driver's airbag inflator in approximately 27,000 vehicles in Canada.

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Climate Change

Integrative Biology Prof Makes Headlines

Guelph - University of Guelph integrative biology professor Merritt Turetsky is a contributing author of an op-ed article in the current issue of Nature. The Vancouver Sun also wrote an article about the op-ed and the issues it raises.

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Guest Column

For Effective Leadership, Understand Your Style

By Glenn Gutek

At the risk of placing substance over style, all leaders must understand this simple truth: style does matter. It is not about matching your belt to your shoes, or accessorizing appropriately for the occasion, but rather understanding the way you go about leading.

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Immigration

Defining The "Canadian experience":

Tory says it’s time to bring Canada’s diverse talent into the workplace

TORONTO – On Friday a broad group of business, corporate, and community leaders met with academics to ensure that diverse talents from immigrant communities are contributing to corporate success, and according to former Ontario PC leader John Tory, the meeting couldn’t come at a better time.

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Education

York U receives single largest donation for Environmental Studies Awards from HSBC Bank Canada

York U receives single largest donation for Environmental Studies Awards from HSBC Bank Canada

TORONTO – Dec 1, 2011, York University President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri and Barbara Rahder, dean of York’s Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES), announced a $1M donation from HSBC Bank Canada – the single largest corporate endowment supporting Environmental Studies Awards in Canada.

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Thinking About

Rotman Institute of Philosophy explores how the mind engages in social interaction

London - As part of The University of Western Ontario’s Department of Philosophy ongoing colloquium series, John Bolender, a Visiting Fellow at the Rotman Institute of Philosophy delivered the lecture, "Unbounded Recursion Outside Language ... or Not?", last Friday.

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Retail

Canadians Open Their Wallets on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

The Moneris Spending Report Shows an Increase in Canadian Retail Spending

TORONTO - Moneris Solutions, Canada's largest debit and credit card processor, announced Friday that consumer spending on Black Friday and Cyber Monday recognized significant increases of 8.29 per cent and 15.38 per cent in dollars spent respectively, compared to 2010.

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Anniversary

Celebrating 10 Years in Waterloo Region

Waterloo -Last Wednesday, 2011 Virtual Causeway celebrated its tenth anniversary in style by hosting an exclusive event at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. Over 250 of Virtual Causeway’s clients, partners, employees and friends enjoyed an evening of networking and a private concert performance by Canadian blues-rock band Big Sugar.

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Economic Development

Association Welcomes Government's Next Infrastructure Steps

Ottawa - The Canadian Public Works Association congratulated the Government of Canada and Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel on Friday because of the announcement that the next phase of developing a new long-term infrastructure plan for Canada is underway.