The People's Summit of the Americas, beginning today and running all week, will bring together dissidents of every stripe in Quebec City to speak out against a globalization process they believe is driven by the rich at the expense of the poor. By 2020, Canadians could be listening to more samba CDs from Brazil, sipping champagne from Chile and maybe even buying their life insurance in Argentina. At the same time, consumers from the Rio Grande to beyond the Straits of Magellan will be importing just as much from Canada as the 15 countries of the European Union combined do now. On Thursday, top Montreal Urban Community police officers made front-page news when they accused a police officer, his retired partner and a private detective of passing confidential police information to organized criminal groups. The Gazette Mireille Bienvenu had barely finished her sentence when she realized she had done something terribly wrong.
Provincial offices follow the same schedule.
At first glance, it looked like a typical weekend afternoon at my honorary Italian family's modest Rosemount duplex. It isn't easy to say goodbye. And when you are parting with your life's work, going with grace becomes all the more daunting. But that is what a huge segment of Canada's entrepreneurial class will have to do during the next 15 years. The couple has six sons, five of whom are now working to make the family-owned bakery, Boulangerie St. Methode, a major player in the bread and pastry market in Quebec.