TES AUTO

*
*
*
*
*

Used Cars Dealer & Services

Oil Change
Brakes
Tires
Water pump & Timing Belt
Safety Inspection

!
Tel: 647-702-7528
448 Birchmount Rd. Unit 6, Scarborough, ON. M1K1A1
bellakebenna@yahoo.ca

Meftih The Life Line of Eritrean Community Award Winning Independent Monthly Newspaper
www.meftih.ca email: infomeftih@gmail.com
Volum 9
Issue 10 June 2014
-
Printed the first Friday of every month Tel: 416-824-8124 Fax: 416-783-7850

Malcolm Ilelaboye (Charles)

Sales Representative

Cell: 647-864-9191

Dir: 416-590-2444
malcolm@realestateservice.com
17 Church Ave., Toronto, ON. M2N 4E7

$2000

$2000

8

please see page 3

BOOK EARLY AND

SAVE ON FLIGHTS!

Call Zenab Warah

for the Best Fares
Tel 416-485-6387 ext 6326
Toll-Free 1-877-727-6387
zenab@airliners.ca
1220 Ellesmere Rd, Suite 1, Toronto, ON M1P 2X5 TICO #4631677

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10: page 2

* Car Accident *
*
* Slip & Fall
* Insurance Claim *

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10: page 3

Do you know whom to contact

when you wanted to buy a house
of your dream?
Yes, you are right!

Raj Sekhon

Dedicated, trusted and knowledgeable

Eritrea collecting money

for the dictator from expats in Canada
In a modest Edmonton apartment, Wegahta Tesfamariam
draws her slim hand across
her cheek and explains how
her native country is trying to
make her a victim of a tax scam
Canada thought it shut down a
year ago.
The 28-year-old is a permanent
resident of Canada, not yet a
citizen, and had to renew her
Eritrean passport back in February.
She was in for a nasty surprise.
As she told CBC News, Eritrea
demanded a share of her annual
income in a levy some liken to
extortion.

905-783-1300

There is a representative of
the government in Edmonton.
He asked me first I should pay
two per cent.
I was like, surprised. I know
that paying two per cent
stopped in Canada last year. He
said, If you need any service

from Eritrean government,

thats what you have to do.
I clearly told him I dont
want to pay that.
And no wonder. Tesfamariams bill would come
to roughly $1,200, a lot of
money for a newcomer to
Canada just a few years
into the workforce. Although as a trained drafting technologist, shes in a
better economic place than
many Eritreans who work
here at the bottom of the
skills ladder.
Other countries also tax
their
nationals
living
abroad, but Eritreas has
brought about a special
degree of global condemnation because of the surreptitious way it goes about
collecting the money, and
because it is a repressive
regime that has been un-

Please see page 5

. . .
1














15

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10:

page 4

? (.49)

1.





1

(.58-9 )


!


.






2

2.







3


4


(
)




5
-

-



-









!

3.
16
-









...




...














....


-
(. . )
4.

16
-






6
..





7

!


8






? (.39)




?[(.4
9)(. .211)]

...





9


?
5.




-

6.





10


(.36)




...






11

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10:

page 5

Eritrea collecting money for the dictator . . .

From page 3
der UN-imposed economic
sanctions since 2009 for
financing insurgent movements in the Horn of Africa.
Canada subscribes to those
UN sanctions, which gives
them the force of law in
this country, and Ottawa
went a step further in May
2013, after CBC News revealed how Eritreas Toronto-based consulate was
orchestrating the so-called
tax, sometimes adding in
an additional defence fee
controversially earmarked
for the military.
At the time, Canada expelled Eritreas senior diplomat in this country -- its
Consul-General -- for activities inconsistent with
the role of a diplomat, Foreign Minister John Baird
said in a carefully worded
statement.
It was one of the strictest

diplomatic actions taken

against Eritrea by any of
the several countries where
this controversial tax has
been exposed, most recently in Australia. And it held
out some hope the tax collections might stop.
Yet 10 months later, when
Tesfamariam got in touch
with an official in the Toronto consulate, it was as if
nothing Canada had done
really mattered.
As she later wrote to Citizenship and Immigration
Canada: He told [me] that
Ive to pay two per cent tax
for the Eritrean government in Eritrea from the
date I enter Canada to present, and he also asked me
to mail my income tax papers from Revenue Canada
to consular office in Toronto for him to calculate the
amount I should be paying,
and only then I can ask

about [passport] renewal.

ate official in Toronto.

Iman said.

She was disgusted. An

embassy or a consulate
should be representative
of a people and a government, she said.

The man inquired about obtaining papers for a power

of attorney. The Eritrean
official immediately raised
the matter of money.

The conversation then

turned to the change in
payment tactics.

They should be here working for us, not for the government. They dont care
what kind of service they
give. Theyre just here to
collect money for the dictator in Eritrea.

Did you fulfill all the other

said things? he asked, using a euphemism for payment.

Not alone

What shall I fulfill? the

man asked.
This two from a hundred
and things, replied Iman.

Tesfamariam is not alone

in objecting to being treated like a cash cow by her
consulate.
An Eritrean activist who
used to live in England and
asked to remain anonymous invited CBC News to
listen as he telephoned the
number of Ahmed Iman,
the senior Eritrean consul-

How am I going to pay it

in Eritrea? asked the activist.
It is not necessary for you
to go, but through someone, or if there are people
you know.

Two per cent?

Not apologetic
Yes, Iman said.
How can I calculate it?
asked the activist.
We write to those in England, and they will tell us
he is paying this and this,

To advertise online at

(www.
meftih.ca)
or
Offline on Meftih
Newspaper
please call
416-824-8124
or
Email: infomeftih@
gmail.com

Everything is paid in Eritrea, said the official. It is

almost stopped here. It has
been two years.

Eritrea has never been apologetic about collecting the

cash, believing it to be the
right of a sovereign state.
And it does have loyalists
in Canada and around the

Please see page 10

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10: page 6

4










7.
















(.
)

12





13
8.

14

15
?

...

...16




...



...17
9.

18




...






19


20
?(.39)


21







22

? . . .

... (.
. 183)
10.

23
...
-

-




( )-










....
...24
....


...25

11. ...





... ?


?
?
? ?

?
/

?


?

?...26 ...

27

12.










-

?(.49)





!
? (.49)



! !














-








(
. . 184)

13.



28
/

11

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10: page 7

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10:

page 8

-
-
1.







-
9 11



-








1.1.

1.2.

1.3.









1.4.

2.

2.1.

2.2.

2.3.

2.4.

2.5.


....

Editor-in-chief

Aaron Berhane
260 Adelaide St. E. Toronto,
ON. M5A 1N1 # 192
Tel: 416-824-8124
Fax: 416-783-7850
info@meftih.ca
www.meftih.ca

Editors:

2.6.

2.7.


-

2.8.





3. -

Grace Cherian

Photographer: Mulugeta Zergaber

Contributors: Mohamed Edris Naza Hasebenebi

Medhin Ghebreslasie, Amleset Tesfay, Bode Odetoyinbo, Mimi Chandy, Ken Ntiamoa

Subscription Costs in Canada $39 for a year and $59 for two years. In USA, it costs $45 for
a year and $69 for two years.
Articles appearing in assorted columns of Meftih newspaper are intended to generate civil
& informed public discussions. You dont have to agree with opinions expressed by the writers.
However, that should push you to express your own views. Through that way we generate lively
& civil discussions in the community. Rejoinders are not forums for personal insults & we want
readers to adhere to these principles.

3.1.

3.1.1.









-

3.1.2.

3.1.3.








4.

4.1




()
















4.2.

4.3.

4.3.1.


10

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10:

page 9

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10:

page 10

- . . .
8

4.3.2.




4.3.3.

4.4.

4.4.1.

4.4.2.

4.4.3.

4.4.4.

5.

5.1



5.2.

5.3.

5.4

5.5.



5.6.

5.7.

5.8.





5.9.






5.10.



5.11.

5.12

5.13.






6.


6.1.

6.2.








6.3.

6.4.

6.2.

6.4.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
11 2014

Eritrea collecting money for the dictator from . .

.
From page 5
world who publicly support
the tax, and lobby against
Canadas opposition to Eritreans here paying it.
As recently as June 3, the
Eritrean website Madote
reported that the Coalition
of Eritrean-Canadian Communities and Organisations
appeared before the parliamentary sub-committee on
human rights in Ottawa to
say.

access to important services and property rights in

Eritrea.

We are being prevented

from effectively exercising
our dual citizenship rights,
by paying the two per cent
rehabilitation tax we voluntary remit to Eritrea each
year.

They have to pay the two

per cent, too. But they dont
pay it in here, Iman said.
We are not collecting the
two per cent in Canada or
at our office, our consulategeneral. But we give them
[Eritreans in Canada] the
information.

This tax is what allows us

to contribute to the development of the country and
allows us to benefit from

When CBC News contacted Ahmed Iman, the senior

consulate official at the Eritrean consulate in Toronto,
he confirmed that Eritreans
in Canada still have to pay
the levy. The big difference
is, they dont pay the Consulate directly anymore.
They pay in Eritrea.

Asked how counselling

people how to pay is any

different from soliciting,

he said No, no. We not
soliciting. We are giving
information.
Pay in cash
A year ago, before Canada
cracked down on the practice, there were bureaucratic forms to fill out, and
funds were wired from
branches of the Toronto
Dominion Bank in Canada
to the Deutsche ZentralGenossenschaftsbank of
Frankfurt.
From there, documents
showed the funds were sent
to the Housing and Commerce Bank of Eritrea, majority owned by the ruling
regime, the Peoples Front
for Democracy and Justice
(PFDJ).

But these days, no forms,

and no banks.
Eritreans living here are instructed to have the money
hand-delivered to government offices in the capital
city of Asmara.
And because its strapped
for hard currency, the government wants it in cash, in
Canadian dollars in Waghata Tesfamariams case.
That requirement just
makes things worse for
someone like her. Even if
she could go to Eritrea with
the money, she wouldnt,
describing it as a society
that echoes apartheid-era
South Africa.
Well, youre always hunt-

Please see page 17

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10: page 11

6

...

! ...

29

587
..




( )














14.






(
)

!


15.


?30
?
?
?





(.. 211)
?

?
?....

?

....

? . . .

?






?

?

...
...

...


...




?


?


?












-







...


16.










...

-

??







...


!!


? ?

?
?
?






















(2.510)
...













...31

17.

(
)

( )

18.

12

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10: page 12

11
































-
...





19.

?






...


2001













32

20.




?
















...







(

...)













-
...
-
...

/
21.



-


(. 411-21 )

-



-


...

? . . .

...






?







...


( )





33



34

22.

(.51-11
)

?














23.


-





?
?























-

/?

24.

....














...-







...








35

25.




?
?

















- -
(
)

13

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10: page 13

12

















-

?
?




36




...

26.




?

-
?
?

...




...
- ...
37

...

....38

-








-





27. -






...

























-

28.





(
)


...








-










...

39


...
40

29.

Visit
www.meftih.ca
for more news

? . . .











41





-



...


















(.
1271)




...

30. (
.12)


...



-





42

43




44










-


?


(.410)

23










...
...
... (.1413)










(.1427-28)

(.. 18)

31.



45

14

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10: page 14

13






46




























-

32.
-



/











-






?

33.
-





-

?

?




...








(
)

47
34.

48




!49

? . . .

23
...





20

...50



-





51

?


(.122)



...






-

... 52

...

... (.1519)

-
35.





-
(Catechesis)




1)
2)
6 1975 ...
3)
-
2
4) 7-28 . 2012

5)

-


53


54




-

- (
)

-
-


36.
2




(.43)...






...55

15

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10: page 15

14
?



-







...


56
(.. 15
) !

57
37.

-
1973 6
( )

-
-

-

-







-




(
)
38.

-

58

? . . .

-






...
-


-









...59

?
)

39.

60




()
...

...

...





... 61



-






...





...













...

?
!!

-



...62
)

40.

63



-
















...64




?
)

41.

(2
. 318)












-


...

....
....


....
....


(..2116)

16

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10:

page 16

? . . .
15
)

42.




!!
!!

43.
...





...65





66












?














) - (
)
44.

67





68








2
-




-


...69

-


(. )









-





-

)


45.

[
]

...
-

(
.21 ..2)


70
-


71



-

-

)

46.


!
72



...
73


74













75
...76

...






77

78








(. 832 )




-

()
! ! ...


....




!
... (
. . 50)





-



!
!


[.
. 288]

/25
2014

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10: page 17

From page 10
ed. You cant go town to
town. You need a permit.
I would not be able to go
anywhere. Sometimes they
suddenly come and ask for
papers in the streets.

Eritrea collecting money for the dictator . . .

Eritrea put Tesfamariam
behind bars the first time
she tried to flee the country,
and pressed her into two
years of unpaid national
service.

Stateless limbo
Known in some quarters as
the North Korea of Africa,
Eritrea has a bad reputation, with human rights organizations reporting that
thousands of citizens have
been imprisoned without
cause.

She doesnt want to risk

that again, and doesnt
know anyone there who
could pay or take the money in on her behalf.
So with her passport about
to expire, and no prospect
of getting a new one, shes

about to go into an almost

stateless limbo.
In the view of Winnipeg
human rights lawyer David
Matas, who represents Eritrean activists in Canada,
this new payment process
is just as illegal as the old
one.
Its not papered. You dont
get letters any more. You
dont get instructions about
what bank to send it to. Its
done verbally now, but its
the same violation.
I would say they are
more guilty, because not
only are they violating
the law, they are also
being dishonest about
it, which they werent
before.
Withholding services
Tesfamariams letter to
Citizenship and Immi-

gration Canada suggests

the Canadian government
has been made aware that
the controversial tax is still
being collected by a different means. But she found
the CIC reply unhelpful.
If ... a request for the renewal of your passport ... is
refused, the letter of refusal
should be forwarded to this
office in order that your application for a Certificate of
Identity can be reviewed,
says the reply, dated May
6, 2014. In other words, go
back to the Eritrean consulate that wont give you
any information -- let alone
a passport -- without a cash
contribution, and ask it for
a letter of refusal.
Tesfamariam is pretty sure
shell never get any letter,
especially now that she has
gone public with her case.
I am talking today because I want to encourage

Eritrean people to speak

out, she says.
As a strategy, it is not without risk. The UN reports
that families of activists
overseas are often singled
out for persecution back
in Eritrea, which has informants in Canada.
If I talk on TV [here], the
Eritrean government wont
know, but the agents will
and they will transfer my
case. Some of them came
as a refugee, but are still
servants of the government.
Eritrean people dont feel
free, even though theyre
living in a free country
she says, alluding to the
fact that those who fled repression in Eritrea are still
living in its shadow here.

Rick MacInnes-Rae,
CBC News

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10: page 18

FIFAs World Cup year kicks off with U-17

tournament
Its true. We are
fewer than 100
days away from
the FIFA World
Cup.
Brazil 2014 will
be the highlight of
the soccer calendar and, for many,
the defining sports
event of the year.
But it is not the
only World Cup
on the horizon.
In fact, there are
a total of three
World Cups in
2014 -- all of them
in the Americas
-- including one
on Canadas own
doorstep
come
August.
As Neymar, Messi, Ronaldo et al gather in South
America, Brazil will rightly hog the lions share of
the global spotlight. The
other tournaments cannot
compete in terms of star
power but they are not
without their own merits.
The first World Cup of
2014 is primed to launch.
The FIFA U-17 Womens
World Cup, staged every
two years, kicks off its
fourth edition on Saturday,
with Canada playing Germany on opening day.
The 16-nation tournament
takes place in the heat and
humidity of Costa Rica -the first time the Central
American Republic has
hosted a FIFA event.
Why should we care? There
are no household names
and the players technical
ability is still evolving. If
they stay in the game, and

its a big if, the peaks

of their careers are years
away. It begs the question
-- should FIFA have even
introduced a World Cup
for this age group in 2008?
The answer -- for the good
of the game, as FIFA likes
to say -- is unquestionably
yes.
North Korea the favourite
The U-17 Womens World
Cup is a stepping stone. It
is a learning process which
cannot be simulated by
simply staying at home.
For the players it is part
of the education process
-- learning the true meaning of international soccer,
competing in alien environments against the best
of the best in ones age
group.
By definition, tournament
soccer is an unforgiving
taskmaster. The champion in Costa Rica may not
win every game, but it will
have played six matches
in equatorial conditions

in the space of 20 days.

Match fitness, recovery,
plus physical and mental
fatigue must all be managed professionally even
though we will be watching amateur teenagers.
Those who succeed are a
reflection of their national
youth programs. A glance
at the history books shows
where the time and money
invested is producing tangible results. Forget Europe or South America -- at
this level Asia has quickly
established itself as a dominant force.
Since its inception, every U-17 Womens World
Cup final has featured at
least one Asian country.
And whatever we may
think about the politics of
a dictatorship, the facts are
undeniable: North Korea
is hands down the team to
beat. The inaugural 2008
champion was a semifinalist in 2010 and runner-up
to France in 2012.

Its neighbour has also tasted glory. South Korea lifted the trophy in 2010, edging out Japan for the gold
medal only after a dramatic
penalty shootout. The Japanese and North Koreans
are back for more in 2014,
with China completing the
Asian representation.
Canada draws tough group
The Europeans are closing
the gap. Germany -- twice
a U-17 semifinalist -- has
long been regarded as
one of the pioneers of the
womens game and arrives
as the reigning European
champion. Spain is also
making significant headway and handed the Germans a heavy beating in
the qualifying group stages
before ultimately losing
the final on penalties.
France, the 2012 champion, did not qualify this
time around.
By contrast, North America
is struggling to keep pace.
The United States is the

No. 1 nation in womens

soccer, but apparently the
Americans are late bloomers. For the second time
they have failed to qualify for the U-17 Womens
World Cup and stumbled
in the group stage in 2010.
Canadas record is impressive by comparison. It has
qualified for every edition
of the tournament and has
twice reached the quarter-finals. Most recently,
in 2012, the Canadians
reached the knockout phase
only to lose narrowly to the
powerful North Koreans.
Theres more where that
came from. Canada has
been drawn into a toughlooking group where, once
again, North Korea will
be among the opponents
along with Germany and
Ghana. All three nations
made it to the semifinals
two years ago.
Canadian coach Bev PriestPlease see page 21

Anwar Spices

Specializing in Ethiopian spices Wholesale

*
::
*


!
Anwar Abdo
Tel: 416-283-3254 Cell: 647-859-4339 Fax: 416-284-8189
1202-4175 Lawrence Ave. E. Toronto, ON. M1E4T7
anwarabdo2003@yahoo.ca

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10: page 19

DUFFERIN CUSTOM
UPHOLSTREY & DECORATION
We do new custom made:- Sofa, Chair, Headboard,
Slip Cover & Window Seats.
For your old furniture we do:- Re upholstery,
Restyle, Restoration & Replace foam cushion

*


416-546-1501

2350 DUFFERIN STREET TORONTO, ON

Eagle Manor PHARMASAVE

Specialty services provided by us:

* Pharmasave Medication Manager

* Medication Delivery
* Medication Reviews
* Live well consultations
* Live well community
seminars

1901 Weston Rd. unit 19 (at Lawrence ave)

Tel: 416-241-1115

Your ad could be placed

here! call
416-824-8124
visit our website
www.meftih.ca or www.meftih.
digitalepaper.in

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10: page 20

Henry: This generation can

lift trophies

Great Cause
For Great
Rejoicing
By Grace Cherian
Last year my brother James
and I, cousin Sanjiv and
his son Sanford, went to
India to visit Moms three

Thierry Henry has seen

and done it all with France.
The only Frenchman to
have taken part in four
FIFA World Cup tournaments, he experienced
a massive high on home
soil in 1998, a huge disappointment at Korea/Japan
2002, an unexpected revival at Germany 2006 and
an inexplicable debacle at
South Africa 2010.
Alongside those ventures,
the graceful forward was
part of the golden generation that enjoyed a glorious triumph at UEFA Euro
2000. He also scored 51
goals in 123 appearances

for Les Bleus, making him

the countrys top scorer
and second most capped
player of all time.
In Rio de Janeiro to analyse Brazil 2014 matches
for television, the 36-yearold New York Red Bulls
star took time out of his
busy schedule to grant an
in-depth interview to FIFA.
com, during which he recounted his long-lasting
love affair with the French
national football team.
FIFA.com: Do you remember the first time you saw
France play?
Thierry Henry: My earli-

Editor-in-chief

Aaron Berhane
260 Adelaide St. E. Toronto,
ON. M5A 1N1 # 192
Tel: 416-824-8124
Fax: 416-783-7850
infomeftih@gmail.com
www.meftih.ca

Editors:

est memory of watching

France is Marius Tresors
goal against Germany at the
1982 World Cup in Spain.
Its just a brief flashback.
I was in the West Indies
at the time, and there was
an explosion of joy in my
house I didnt really understand what was happening. I turned around and
saw the replay of Tresors
volley. Everyone knows
what happened next.
Was it right then that you
were won over by the
French national side?
I was just five then, so it
was the only image I had

Please see page 21

Grace Cherian

Photographer: Mulugeta Zergaber

Contributors: Mohamed Edris Naza Hasebenebi

Medhin Ghebreslasie, Amleset Tesfay, Bode Odetoyinbo, Mimi Chandy, Ken Ntiamoa

Subscription Costs in Canada $39 for a year and $59 for two years. In USA, it costs $45 for
a year and $69 for two years.
Articles appearing in assorted columns of Meftih newspaper are intended to generate civil
& informed public discussions. You dont have to agree with opinions expressed by the writers.
However, that should push you to express your own views. Through that way we generate lively
& civil discussions in the community. Rejoinders are not forums for personal insults & we want
readers to adhere to these principles.

brothers and their families.

Since then weve been
corresponding steadily by
email and getting to know
each other better.
My cousin Teena and I
write to each other very
regularly. Shes young
enough to be my daughter.
So its hardly surprising
that I feel quite maternal
towards her. She often asks
me for counsel and I pray
for all my relatives in India
each morning.
Today I received an email
from Teena, saying Dad had
written to her father, Uncle
Publius. The last time they
had contacted each other
was five decades ago! This
is a remarkable milestone
in both their lives. Dads
reaching out to Uncle Publius is cause for great rejoicing.
Uncle Publius fell ill some
months ago. His older
daughter Irene, who had

been working in Dubai,

came home to spend time
with her elderly father as
she didnt know the extent or nature of his illness. Since then Uncle

has recuperated and Irene

has returned to Dubai. But
because she had spent so
much time away with her
father in Trivandrum, she
doesnt have a job to go
back to in Dubai. Irene will
have to start hunting for a
job now.
Teena meanwhile has always stayed at home with
her mom and dad and
worked from home. Working from home allowed her
to be there for her parents
as theyre both elderly. But
her fathers illness seems
to have taken a terrible toll
on Teena. She feels very
anxious most of the time
and so is ill-equipped to
look for work. Now neither daughter works.
Dad and I had discussed
their situation. He asked
me to get all of Teenas
banking information. Teena told me in her email that

please see page 21

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10: page 21

Henry: This generation can lift . . .

From page 20
of them. But Mexico 1986
definitely did trigger something. Les Bleus had a great
run, knocking out Brazil
along the way. Thats when
I really started to take an
interest. There was Euro
1984 too. As a supporter,
it was easy to fall in love
with that team.
At what point did you
think that the feeling was
mutual?
That was also easy to tell,
because it helps when
you play in a World Cup
that your country is hosting. That coincided with
my debut. The victory in
1998 was the high point
you dream about that as a
young boy, you tell yourself that one day youll win
the World Cup, but at the
same time a small part of
you knows that its a fantasy thatll never become reality. And then, in the end,
we did it, and the fact that
we did so just along the
road from where I grew up
was truly incredible.
What advice would you
give to the new generation
of French internationals?
The two pieces of advice
that I would give them is
to make the most of it, and
to understand that experi-

ence comes from playing

in tournaments like these.
Theyll learn a lot, and it
wont always be easy, but
this generation really does
have the quality to do well
and lift trophies. I hope
they do it quite quickly.
When you play in a World
Cup, you never know if
youll get the chance to
do it again. I had the opportunity to play in four,
so it probably seems a bit
strange to say that, but you
have to approach each one
as if its your last.
Which current French
players are you most impressed with?
There are a few. We lost
Franck Ribery ahead of
the World Cup, but hes
an amazing player. And
then theres Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba, Raphael
Varane and so on. The guys
in the midfield and up front
are getting a lot of praise,
but Varane is an extraordinary player. Hes composed, and already plays
like a defender with a tenyear career under his belt.
I dont think people are
talking about him enough.
Its quite unusual to be so
mature at such a young
age, although playing at
Real Madrid has clearly

Great Cause . . .
From page 20
Dad mentioned in his message that he had sent her father a bank draft by registered mail. This is indeed a
first. Dad has never helped
Moms relatives before. I
truly rejoice to see Dads
heart softening towards
those in financial need
especially those related to
him only by marriageand

the compassion hes showing for Uncle Publius and

his family. If Mom could
look down from Heaven,
her heart would overflow
with gratitude because of
Dads generosity.
I see Dads actions as a
great cause for celebration.

helped him. We had Laurent Blanc; Varane has a

similar style, but with different qualities. Its pretty
easy to spot a defence that
has a player who remains
calm no matter what.
It seems that the French
public has fallen in love
with Les Bleus again.
Well, in football, I think
love is generated by winning matches. When youre
not winning, the bond isnt
quite so strong, if it exists
at all. There are highs and
lows, and its up to you to
perform well and thereby
ensure that those feelings
remain intact.
Do you think that all love
affairs end badly?
Its not just about love.
Happy endings dont really exist, except in Hollywood. But things become
much tougher when love is
involved. When its workrelated, or something like
that, things normally have
a way of sorting themselves out. But love is different, as it can transform
into hate. But thats life.
Have you been able to
come to terms with the circumstances surrounding
the end of your interna-

tional career?
Ive got no problem with it.
Its not a question of coming to terms with it thats
football.
It was your goal in 2006
that eliminated Brazil in
the quarter-finals. With
that in mind, how have you
been welcomed here?
Very well, actually; its
an extremely welcoming
country. I already visited
last year. People like to
chat, and ask you where
youre from. Some recognise me and some dont,
but generally they all know
a bit about football. What
surprises me about the people here is their generosity, their good humour and
their desire to have fun. Of
course they talk about my
goal in 2006, but as I often
say, at the end of the day,
we didnt win that tournament either. There can only
be one team who returns
home completely satisfied,
and thats the winner.
You rubbed shoulders with
Lionel Messi at Barcelona.
Do you think he is going
to have a successful World
Cup?
Messi doesnt play all by
himself. Lets talk about
Argentina. Its clear that if

Argentina win, Messi will

play well. At some point,
the guys around him will
have to help him out. Has
Argentinas time come?
They havent won the
World Cup in quite some
time. So its not really a
Messi problem. The team
has to play as a unit, work
hard, and only then will
you see Messi performing
at the top of his game its
as simple as that.
Which attack-minded players have caught your eye
recently?
Luis Suarez, of course,
Robin Van Persie and Arjen Robben, for starters.
And then there are players like Thomas Muller,
who doesnt get talked
about as much, but keeps
finding a way to stick the
ball in the net. If theres
a loose ball or deflected
shot, hes ready to pounce.
Even when hes not trying
to score, he scores. There
are lots of attackers I could
mention, but whats more
important is teams overall
approach. Its always better when they try to attack
rather than defend.

Source: Fifa.com

FIFAs World Cup year . . .

From page 18
man needs no reminding
that her team has probably
fallen into the Group of
Death. She can, however,
call upon the relative experience of captain Jesse
Fleming and defender Sura
Yekka, both of whom have
already been capped at the
senior international level.

Priestman will also be

counting on her threepronged strike force of
Emily Borgmann, MarieMychele Metivier and Marie Levasseur to deliver the
goals they found so easy to
come by during the qualifying campaign. In Costa

Rica the chances will be

fewer and farther between.
So then, the first of three
FIFA World Cups in the
space of five months. A
long, hot summer of soccer lies ahead. Whats not
to love?

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10: page 22

Technology & Science

Sharper satellite images allowed,

as U.S. loosen rules

Canada Continuing Global Leadership in Nutrition, Providing Humanitarian Assistance

Support to the World Food Programme
Nutrition key to delivering on
Canadas top development
priority, saving the lives of
women and children across
the developing world
May 28, 2014 Toronto, Ontario - Foreign Affairs, Trade
and Development Canada

Satellite images sharp

enough to show details
such as manhole covers,
stop signs and lamp posts
will soon be available in
Canada and around the
world, after the U.S. loosened limits put in place
years ago due to national
security concerns.
Starting early next year,
the U.S. government will
allow the commercial sale
of black-and-white images
with a resolution of up to
25 centimetres and colour
images of up to a metre,
confirmed Tahara Dawkins, director of the Commercial Remote Sensing
Regulatory Affairs for the
U.S. National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in an email
to CBC News.
Starting earlier this month,
satellite imagery companies have been allowed to
sell black-and-white images with a resolution of up to
40 centimetres and colour
images with a resolution of
1.6 metres.
Before now, satellite image
providers werent allowed
to sell black-and-white
images with a resolution
higher than 50 centimetres or colour images with
a resolution better than
2.0 metres even though at
least one U.S. satellite image provider, Longmont,
Colo.-based DigitalGlobe
Inc., was technologically

capable of collecting higher resolution images. At

the allowable resolutions,
its possible to see cars and
houses, but not always details such as manhole covers or mailboxes.
Once you start looking at
the difference between 30
to 50 [centimetres resolution], then youre getting
into a very considerable
difference and the types of
things that you can see in
the imagery are considerably different, said Sam
Lieff, general manager for
Lethbridge,
Alta.-based
BlackBridge Geomatics,
which distributes images
from DigitalGlobe alongside images from its own
RapidEye satellites.
Whats really interesting
about that is once we get
into this really high resolution imagery, we become
competitive with aerial
photography.
That means companies like
his will soon have access
to a wider range of clients
who are looking for images for applications ranging from city planning to
forestry management, he
said.
The previous ban on sharper images affected satellite
image distributors around
the world, including BlackBridge Geomatics.

Please see page 23

Today, the Honourable Rona

Ambrose, Minister of Health,
along with Ertharin Cousin,
Executive Director of the
United Nations World Food
Programme (WFP), visited
SickKids Hospital ahead of
the Prime Ministers Saving
Every Woman, Every Child:
Within Arms Reach Summit.
Canada is proud to be a
global leader in supporting
nutrition around the world.
Increasing food security and
ensuring access to nutritious
food are at the heart of poverty reduction, and is a fundamental pillar of Canadas
maternal, newborn and child
health initiative, said Minister Ambrose. Mothers and
children are often the most at
risk during a crisis and have
special food and nutrition
needs. Canada will continue
to work with the World Food
Programme to help deliver
concrete results for those in
need.
Following the visit, Minister
Ambrose announced on behalf of the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and
La Francophonie, $98 million
in humanitarian assistance
funding to the WFP, Canadas
largest humanitarian partner.
The WFP is the United Nations frontline agency in the
fight against hunger.
The WFP responds to emergencies and saves lives by
getting food to the hungry
quickly, while also working
to prevent hunger in the future; as such they are ideally
positioned to help Canada
deliver on its top development priority, that of improving maternal, newborn and
child health. Improving nutrition and ensuring access

to nutritious food are key to

Canadas strategy to help lift
millions of people out of poverty around the world.

and shape the future of global

action on maternal and child
health issues.
Quick Facts

Children who get enough

food are less likely to get
sick or die. They are more
likely to stay in school, contribute to their families and
communities, and reach their
full potential, said Minister
Paradis. Canadas focus on
maternal and child health reflects the values of millions
of Canadians who believe
that we cannot stand idly by
while the poorest and most
vulnerable suffer deaths that
are easily and inexpensively prevented. Canada will
continue to partner with the
World Food Programme, to
deliver real results.
On behalf of the millions
of vulnerable people WFP
reaches each year, Canadian
government and taxpayer
support is immensely appreciated, said WFP Executive
Director Ertharin Cousin.
The WFP enjoys a long and
productive partnership with
the Government of Canada,
working towards achieving
our mutual goal of ending
hunger. Eliminating hunger
fits hand-in-glove with the
Muskoka objective of reducing child mortality. We recognize and applaud Canadas
global leadership in maternal,
newborn and child health. I
am certain that together, we
will reach our goal of Saving Every Woman, Every
Child.
Improving the health of
mothers, newborns and children is Canadas top development priority. Following
the significant progress made
through 2010s Muskoka
Initiative, the Prime Minister is once again taking action to mobilize the world to
maintain maternal, newborn
and child health as a top development priority. On May
28 to 30, 2014, in Toronto,
Canada is hosting Saving
Every Woman, Every Child:
Within Arms Reach, an international Summit that will
build on Canadas leadership

On April 28, 2014, the

Prime Minister announced
that Canada will host Saving
Every Woman, Every Child:
Within Arms Reach, an international Summit on Maternal, Newborn and Child
Health issues.

The Summit, to be held

from May 28 to 30, 2014, in
Toronto, will build on Canadas leadership and bring
together Canadian and international leaders and experts,
Canadian civil society, businesses, scientists, developed
and developing countries, international organizations and
global foundations to ensure
that maternal, newborn and
child health remains a priority of the global development
agenda.

In 2013, Canada was the

WFPs third largest donor,
contributing over $370 million to its operations.

In 2013, the WFP provided food assistance to more

than 80 million people in 75
of the worlds poorest countries.

Canada is providing
$2.85 billion in funding between 2010 and 2015 under
the Muskoka Initiative to
save the lives of women and
children in developing countries.

Canada is on track to
meeting its Muskoka commitment, with 80 percent of the
funding already disbursed.
Related Products

Backgrounder Canadas 2014 Humanitarian Assistance to WFP

Address by Minister of
Health Rona Ambrose: Press
Conference with Ertharin
Cousin, Executive Director
of the United Nations World
Food Programme

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10:

The Harper government to

allow passengers to use portable electronic devices during all phases of flight
The Honourable Lisa Raitt,
Minister of Transport, today announced an important change that will benefit travellers flying with
Canadian air operators, as
well as the aviation industry. Passengers will soon
be able to use portable
electronic devices such as
cameras, electronic games,
tablets and computers during all phases of flight. This
includes while an aircraft
takes off, climbs, descends
and lands, provided the device is in non-transmitting,
or flight mode, and that
their airline has met certain
safety conditions outlined
by Transport Canada.
Previously,
passengers
could not use their devices at their leisure during

take off and landing. This

change, which is made possible through an exemption
to the Canadian Aviation
Regulations, means that
passengers will soon be
able to work or play whenever they please on flights
in Canada. It strikes the appropriate balance between
safety and passenger comfort that Transport Canada
and airlines always strive
to achieve. The use of electronic devices on any flight
will be at the discretion of
the air operators, who must
demonstrate that their aircraft are not affected by
the use of the devices and
that during critical phases
of flight and during emergencies, all passengers are
aware of and able to follow
crew instructions.

page 23

Mohamed Fahmy, Egyptian injustice and Canadas spineless response: Neil Macdonald
The government of
Canada, on the day
that one of its citizens was sentenced
to a long prison term
in Egypt for the
crime of committing journalism, was
moved to note that
Egyptians are, after
all, progressing toward democracy.
And, added our
prime
ministers
parliamentary secretary, We dont want
to insult them.
Because, you know, that
would just be rude.
Instead, the government in
Ottawa, which runs around
the world, chin out and elbows up, lecturing other
governments about respecting human rights and
democratic self-determination, prefers soft-spoken
diplomacy toward the regime in Cairo, which has:

Attacked and toppled the

countrys first democratically elected government.
Crushed,
imprisoned,
tortured and slaughtered
members and supporters of
that government.
Criminalized criticism of
its rule and stamped out
what little press freedom
Egyptians enjoyed.
Installed a general as president in a rigged election
without real opponents.
Its probably best, the

Harper government has

apparently concluded, to
remain largely silent as a
journalist who carries a
Canadian passport is sent
off to some hellishly violent Egyptian prison for
doing his job.
Best to have cabinet members avoid cameras on this
sensitive and unsettling

Please see page 24

Sharper satellite images allowed, as U.S. . . .

From page 22
As commercial distributor, weve never been able
to sell the imagery at its
highest resolution until
now, said Lieff. He acknowledged that could be
frustrating for clients.
14-year-old rules
The previous rules were
put in place by the U.S.
Department of Commerce
14 years ago.
The whole basis of it is
really security and military reasons, Lieff said.
The U.S. military doesnt
want precision imagery
getting into the hands of a
terrorist organization.
However,
DigitalGlobe
petitioned the government
to loosen the rules ahead

of the launch of its Worldview-3 satellite, which will

collect images with a resolution of up to 31 centimetres. The satellite launch is
scheduled for August.
DigitalGlobe announced
on June 11 that it had received notice of the new
resolution rules, including
one that would allow resolutions of up to 25 centimetres starting six months
after its Worldview-3 satellites are operational. The
company declined to be interviewed.
Dawkins said the national
security community was
fully involved in the decision to loosen the rules and
the changes do not curtail
our authority to limit data
collection and distribution of imagery in certain

circumstances to address
national security concerns,
foreign policy interests,
and international obligations.
However, she noted that
given the advances in remote sensing and commercial imagery, NOAA also
has a national security interest in seeing that U.S.
companies are competitive
in the growing commercial
imagery marketplace.
Lieff said since 2008, satellite image distributors have
had to disclose all their users to the U.S. government
so it can be checked against
lists of terrorists. He added,
There just havent been
any bad issues that have
happened.
Rules relaxed

He forsees that the relaxed

rules will provide opportunities to sell satellite
imagery for applications
that would have once relied more heavily on aerial
photography, such as municipal planning, oil and
gas pipeline placement,
mapping the kinds of trees
in a forest, or mapping elevation changes for mining.
Satellite mapping is faster
and easier than aerial photography, Lieff said.
However, he noted that
aerial photography can
take images with resolutions much higher than 25
centimetres, and will remain the only option for
clients who need that kind
of detail.

While the new rules apply to all U.S. commercial

satellite operators, NOAA
says DigitalGlobe is the
only U.S. satellite provider
capable of providing images with a resolution close
to 25 centimetres by next
year.
But Lieff says the rule
change opens new doors
for other companies including ourselves.
Theres new satellites
coming up that will definitely breach the 50-centimetre resolution, he said.
Were just looking a few
years out, really.

Emily Chung,
CBC News

Meftih June 2014 Volume 9 Issue 10:

page 24

Mohamed Fahmy, Egyptian injustice and Canadas spineless response: . . .

From page 23
day, instead sending out
Harpers
parliamentary
secretary, Paul Callandra,
to advise against giving
any insult to Cairo.
Well, not entirely silent.
Lynne Yelich, who is actually a junior minister (of
consular affairs) in Stephen Harpers cabinet, did
post a written statement in
which she declared Canada
is concerned that the judicial process that led to his
verdict is inconsistent with
Egypts democratic aspirations.
Judicial process. Seriously.
What evidence?
To be quite clear: Egyptian
prosecutors didnt bother
introducing, or even trumping up, any real evidence
against Canadian citizen
Mohamed Fahmy, along
with Australian citizen
Peter Greste and Egyptian
citizen Baher Mohamed.
(Fahmy also has Egyptian
citizenship.)
They didnt need to. Trivialities like evidence are
unnecessary; what the military wants is whats im-

portant. One presumes, for

example, that rigorous evidence was not introduced
in the trial of 183 people
whose death sentences
were confirmed a few days
ago for attacking a police
station during a single incident. (A judge had originally ordered nearly 700
people executed.)
No, it was enough for the
regime to simply allege the
journalists had falsified
news and aided the Muslim Brotherhood, the principal target of the Egyptian
militarys campaign of persecution.
In reality, of course, the
three are going to prison
for being employees of
the Al Jazeera TV network, which is owned by
the government of Qatar,
which generally supported
the elected Brotherhood
government, and which the
Egyptian generals (along
with many other Middle
Eastern despots) utterly
despise.
Calling the trial a judicial
process is the sort of pusillanimous drivel conservatives scorn when they
hear it from the mouths

Kerry basically declared

that Washingtons reservations about el-Sissi have
evaporated now that hes
taken off his military uniform and won what can
only loosely be described
as an election (not a difficult feat when youve
jailed all your opponents).

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry

of liberals expressing patience with oppressive
Arab regimes elsewhere in
the Middle East.

praise Fahmys brother

had for the Canadian governments efforts after the
verdict was delivered.

So why such forbearance

for the likes of Abdel-Fatah
el-Sissi and the rest of the
junta in Cairo? Especially
when other world leaders
are expressing unqualified
disgust? (British Prime
Minister David Cameron
set aside his English reserve to declare himself
completely appalled.)

The other possibility my

diplomatic acquaintance
suggested was less palatable: that Canadas government, like the far-right
American politicians who
cheered as the Egyptian
generals grabbed power,
has concluded that military
oppression is greatly preferable to any governance
by Islamic fundamentalists, even elected ones, and
the regimes excesses are
the price to be paid.

The most charitable explanation is one offered by a

Canadian I know with deep
diplomatic expertise in the
Middle East.
He posited that the government of Canada, lacking
the raw power of Washington which ensured that
American citizens facing
charges were quietly allowed to leave Egypt
has perhaps been conducting back-channel talks
with the Egyptians, and has
secured some sort of facesaving deal to free Fahmy
once the uproar has died
down.
If that is the case, good
for Canada. The current
government was a tremendous help when CBC journalist Mellissa Fung was
kidnapped in Afghanistan
back in 2008, and that was
all behind the scenes, too.

Lynne Yelich, Canadian Minister of State

(Foreign Affairs and Consular),

If this is happening again,

it might explain the bit of

Chilling and draconian

Like the U.S., Canadas
primary concern in the
Middle East is Israels security. That is the anchor
of Canadas Middle East
policy.
The deposed government
of Egypts Muslim Brotherhood was sympathetic
towards and helpful to
the Hamas government
in Gaza. The current regime in Cairo has pleased
Washington, and Canada,
by blowing up the tunnels
into Egypt used by Hamas
in Gaza and has generally
cracked down on Muslim
extremists within Egypt.
Hence the visit to Cairo
last week of U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry, who
met with el-Sissi.

U.S. military aid, partially

withheld out of concern
over human rights violations, will resume, Kerry
announced. The regime
will be getting all those
Apache helicopters and
other hardware it wants so
badly, the better to keep its
citizens obedient.
But Kerry at least had the
bottle to stand before a microphone Monday and denounce the sentencing of
the journalists as chilling
and draconian. As soon as
he heard about it, he said,
he made an angry call to
Egypts foreign minister.
And none of the journalists
is even an American citizen.
Canadas Yelich, meanwhile, used a press release
to call on the Egyptian
government to protect the
rights of all individuals, including journalists.
I suppose members of my
craft should be grateful
we merit inclusion in that
broad category. But youd
think Canada could do better for one of its citizens.

Neil Macdonald,
CBC News