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Deadly superbug outbreak hits problem-plagued network of Ontario hospitals
A deadly outbreak of a highly contagious superbug has claimed the lives of 15 patients in Southern Ontario, raising questions about whether enough is being done to prevent and control the spread of hospital-acquired infections.
Niagara Health System, a sprawling network of seven hospitals serving 434,000 people in a dozen communities, has declared an outbreak of Clostridium difficile, commonly known as C. difficile, at three of its sites.
Downpour leaves 18-metre sinkhole in Ontario highway
Photograph by: Mike Carroccetto, The Ottawa Citizen
A section of Highway 148 near Luskville, Ont., is now a canyon 18 metres deep, a victim of Friday’s heavy rains.
Remarkably, the family living next to the giant gap owns a construction company with expertise in exactly the type of work that will be needed to fix the road.
Not only does James Nugent, of R.H. Nugent Construction, have 35 years of experience in the field, he has the heavy machinery parked only a few hundred meters from the caved-in road.
“We were called in right off the bat,” he said. “There’s nothing signed, but we probably will be proceeding with the work under an emergency situation. They want a company that can start right away.”
Nugent said the large pipe that ran under that stretch of the highway seems to have been blocked at the intake. The torrents of water late last week Read more…
China eyes Canada oil, US’s energy nest egg
CALGARY, Alberta: In the northern reaches of Alberta lies a vast reserve of oil that the U.S. views as a pillar of its future energy needs.
China, with a growing appetite for oil that may one day surpass that of the U.S., is ready to spend the dollars for a big piece of it.
The oil sands of this Canadian province are so big that they will be able to serve both of the world’s largest economies as production expands in the coming years. But that will mean building at least two pipelines, one south to the Texas Gulf Coast and another west toward the Pacific, and that in turn means fresh environmental battles on top of those already raging over the costly and energy-intensive method of extracting oil from sand.
Most believe that both will eventually be built. But if the U.S. doesn’t approve its pipeline promptly, Canada might increasingly look to China, thinking America doesn’t want a big share in what environmentalists call “dirty oil,” because they say it increases greenhouse gas emissions.
Alberta has the world’s third largest oil reserves, more than 170 billion barrels. Daily production of 1.5 million barrels from the oil sands is expected to nearly triple to 3.7 million in 2025. Overall, Alberta has more oil than Read more…
Flood evacuations in Minot, N.D., Manitobans along Souris River brace for record high water levels
Homes in Minot, N.D. are hit by flood waters on June 23, 2011.
Officials ordered immediate evacuations Wednesday in Minot, North Dakota as the area deals with the worst flooding it’s seen in more than four decades.
Meanwhile in Manitoba, the province says several communities will be bracing for rising waters with record-high flood protection levels.
In North Dakota, more than 11,000 people within the Minot flood zones –about a quarter of the city’s residents—were forced to leave Wednesday afternoon. Water from the Souris River breached Minot’s levees Wednesday afternoon.
The Souris River, which is also called the Mouse River south of the border, is expected to reach unprecedented record levels by the end of the week, cresting by June 26.
Officials say there’s nothing more they can do to hold back the water.
“What I see right now is probably the most devastating in terms of the number of people directly impacted and what will likely be the damage,” said Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk of the North Dakota National Guard.
The community was pitching in Wednesday to help those in the flood zones get out with Read more…
U.S.-Canada Perimeter Security and an Integrated North American Command
While few details have emerged surrounding talks between the U.S. and Canada on a North American security perimeter, there is little doubt that deeper military integration between both countries will play an important part of any such deal. Plans for a common security perimeter have renewed calls to expand the NORAD bilateral air defence model to include ground and naval forces. There are also efforts to increase security cooperation in the Arctic and further integrate military command structures.
As part of the Tri Command Vision, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), and Canada Command (Canada COM) are working closer together in the defense and security of North America. Moving forward, the Tri Command strategic goals are to, “Improve unity of effort with each other and with our respective mission partners; develop a culture of continuous collaboration and cooperation in planning, execution, training, information management, and innovation; enhance intelligence and information sharing and fusion.” In order to better achieve these objectives, “The Commands shall develop and share Read more…
Ground holes prompt evacuations in QC
Experts are examining several ground holes that have appeared in Quebec City’s Charlesbourg’s district. (Radio-Canada)
Engineers and geologists are examining dozens of deep holes that appeared in the ground in Quebec City’s north end this week, as residents are being urged to leave their homes for safer locations.
City officials served evacuation papers Wednesday to about 15 homes and one business in Quebec City’s Charlesbourg district, where nearly 40 holes have been reported.
The holes, ranging between five and eight metres wide, have appeared this week in various fields, and on one residential driveway.
Engineers are running three kinds of tests: Read more…
EARTHQUAKE and now BUBBLING SULPHURIC GAS in Quebec Canada!
Canadian defence scientists probe ‘biometrics of intent’
OTTAWA — Canadian defence researchers are investigating how brain signals might distinguish hostile intent from everyday emotions such as anger and fear.
Though there is still much to learn, the goal is to push biometric science beyond identification techniques to a new frontier where covert security technology would secretly scan peoples’ minds to determine whether they harbour malicious intent.
“This ability can be used by members of the military and the security forces to isolate adversaries prior to commission of actions,” according to a research paper posted on the federal government’s Defence Research and Development Canada Read more…
Flooding Risk Raised for Midwest, Northeast, Neighboring Canada
Concerns for flooding continue through next week as two storms roll through the Midwest and the Northeast and adjoining areas of southern Canada.
First Storm
The storm coming today into Friday traveling from the Midwest to the Northeast U.S. will be the colder of the two storms.
What this means is that snow or a wintry mix will fall from around the central and lower Great Lakes through the northern mid-Atlantic and into New England. Rain will fall over the Ohio Valley through most of the balance of the mid-Atlantic and into southeastern New England and Nova Scotia.
Up north and well inland of the coast the snow and wintry mix will add to the water equivalent of the existing snowpack or will reduce that snowpack by very little.
According to Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams, “Farther south and along the coast, heavy rain or the combination of rain and melting snow and ice will lead to urban flooding problems and perhaps some rises on streams and rivers.”
With the ground still frozen in some areas, the water will run off crossing roads, collect in fields, backyards and city streets.
According to Senior Meteorologist and Indiana native Jim Andrews, “In the Ohio and Tennessee valleys into Friday, enough rain can fall without the aid of melting snow to lead to rises on rivers and small stream flooding.” Read more…
Washington proposes $5.50 fee for Canadians entering U.S. by air, sea
The U.S. has been charging that fee to other international passengers, except Canadians, Mexicans and Caribbean nationals who have been exempt from paying it since 1997.
Obama said the fee would raise $110 million yearly to help reduce the country’s budget deficit. The fee would also apply to air and sea travelers from Mexico and the Caribbean.
An average of 16 million Canadians fly to their North American neighbor yearly. The $5.50 fee, if approved by the U.S. Congress, would raise about $110 million and help defray the cost of beefed up boundary security.
The fee would not apply to Read more…
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