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Our daily pick of some of the best stories on The Link.
Ottawa urged to review how Ethiopia spends Canadian aid money
A recent Human Rights Watch report says donor countries like Canada are inadvertently supporting Ethiopia's controversial villagization programme. Critics say the programme, which involves the forced relocation of tens of thousands of Ethiopian farmers in an alleged land grab by foreign agri-corporations, has led to widespread human rights violations and in some cases, starvation.
Black History Month - Canada's anti-slavery movement
The month of February is dedicated to exploring Canada’s Black history. And, in our continuing series of vignettes celebrating Black History month, today we learn how slavery was brought to an end in Canada. Slavery did exist in Canada’s early colonial years, but this country took an early lead in abolishing the practice in North America.
Smart-e-Pants - Innovative Canadian-made electrified undergarments protect against bedsores
Canadian scientists have come up with a new way to stave off the misery of bedsores. People with paralysis have tested underpants which deliver small electrical currents. The Link’s Lynn Desjardins has spoken with someone who helped develop the electric underpants and with someone who has tried them.
Canadian senator's comments resurrect death penalty debate
Capital punishment was abolished in Canada in 1976, but the Harper government’s point man in the Senate on crime issues has revived the issue with his suggestion that ropes be left in the prison cells of murderers so they can hang themselves if they so choose. Ottawa correspondent Amanda Pfeffer tells us about the outcry sparked by Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu’s remarks.
Manitoba’s Native leaders see a return to ancient traditions and spiritual values as the solution to modern problems
An estimated 68,000 Aboriginal people live in the city of Winnipeg. That’s 10 per cent of the Manitoba capital’s population and the largest proportion of First Nations people in any major city in Canada. This segment of population is also one of the most affected by poverty and alcoholism and it has the highest rate of incarceration. Rufo Valencia of RCI’s Latin American section recently visited Winnipeg and tells us many First Nations elders see a return to the old traditions and Native spirituality as key to overcoming these challenges.
Innovative documentary walks audiences through the life of a doomed grizzly bear
Bear 71 was a female grizzly in Canada’s Banff National Park and it’s the name of an unusual new documentary about her life. For several years, surveillance cameras captured Bear 71’s movements through the park and the nearby town of Canmore, Alberta. Filmmaker Leanne Allison used that footage and a wealth of information collected about Bear 71 and other park animals as the basis of a new kind of storytelling experience. Bear 71, the documentary, marries traditional film making to an interactive web site that lets viewers choose the elements they wish to see and even enter the story themselves.
Canada develops new technology to produce medical isotopes without nuclear reactors
Canada is poised to become a world leader in a new technology to supply medical isotopes for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Victor Nerenberg speaks with Dr. Kevin Tracey, vice-president of the Ontario Association of Nuclear Medicine, about the race to find an alternative to nuclear reactors as the source of these much-needed isotopes.
Shafia trial sparks discussion of domestic violence in Muslim community
Three Afghan-Canadians have been convicted of murdering four other family members in what the judge called a "twisted concept of honour." But for many Muslim families, the tragedy of the Shafia family represents much more. We explore the discussion over domestic violence within the Muslim community as The Link's Ottawa correspondent, Amanda Pfeffer brings us her conversation with Muslim families in the nation’s capital.
Canadian newspaper readers adopt Afghan girl
17-year-old Roya Shams won the heart of thousands of Canadians after The Toronto Star newspaper first told her story in 2010, and then chronicled its efforts to help her pursue her studies, first in Afghanistan and now in Canada. We speak with the Star's Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Paul Watson who escorted Roya out of Kandahar last month and arranged for her to attend Ottawa's Ashbury College. Roya Shams is now getting the education she needs to take up her assassinated father's torch and fulfil his, and now her, dream of bringing democracy to Afghanistan.
Anvil Mining faces lawsuit by Congo massacre survivors
People from the Democratic Republic of Congo want to sue a mining company with offices in Canada, for its alleged role in a 2004 massacre. Advocacy groups working on their behalf are asking the Supreme Court of Canada to rule whether the case against Anvil Mining can go ahead in Canada. The Link’s Lynn Desjardins looks into why the case could be tried in Canada and the implications it might have for companies operating in developing countries.