Did You Know...? - Edition 8

September 14, 2009

That… The CMHC announced that new housing starts in Canada increased to 150,400 units in August, from 134,200 in July. These numbers are another indication that we are making progress on the economy and that our Economic Action Plan is working. While we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel, we are still in the midst of the global economic recession. A potential recovery is fragile and very tentative.

That… the Government of Canada has invested more than $33.4 million throughout the riding of Macleod through the  Building Canada Fund, National Trails Coalition, Recreational Infrastructure Canada (RInC) program and Sport’s Canada Hosting Program. This will  result in community improvements in: Okotoks, Crowsnest Pass, Arrowwood, Nanton, Turner Valley, Lower Kananaskis Lake Cottage Subdivision, Cochrane, Lakes of Kastynstone, Bragg Creek, Pincher Creek, High River, Black Diamond, Claresholm, and the Municipality of Foothills and Municipal District of Willow Creek. 

That… Prime Minister Stephen Harper marked the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States at the 9/11 monument at Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa. 

"We still grieve for all the innocent men, women and children aboard the doomed airplanes, we still mourn the thousands who died in the collapse of the twin towers and the fires at the Pentagon. We are still in awe of the passengers who fought back aboard Flight 93 and of the rescue workers who risked their lives to save others." Harper said, in solemn remarks at Canada's newly designated "National Cemetery" that were a marked departure from the recent spate of domestic election speculation and partisan bickering. “Terrorism is not something that happens somewhere else to someone else. The 24 Canadians killed on 9/11 are a reminder that it can happen to us. So we have worked with the United Nations and our allies to resist and prevent terrorism where it finds sustenance and sanctuary."

That… the Conservative government announced a $ 75-million funding package to better protect Canadians from food-borne illness outbreaks after an independent investigator identified a "void in leadership" in Ottawa during last year's deadly listeriosis outbreak. Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said the cash is earmarked to solve all 57 recommendations flagged by Sheila Weatherill, who released her critical report in July. "Keeping family safe is this government's No. 1 priority," Ritz said at a news conference. "Ms. Weatherill captured the essence of the task before us when she said 'the greatest memorial for this tragedy will be to make us safer in the future' and we couldn't agree more. So we are announcing we are moving forward on all 57 of Ms. Weatherill's recommendations and we are investing $75 million immediately to begin implementing these recommendations." He said the government will hire 166 new food safety staff with 70 of those workers appointed to work exclusively at ready-to-eat-meat plants. The government will also move ahead with a third party audit, said Ritz. "We are already in the process of hiring that third party auditor to review inspection resources and allegations and we expect to have the results of that party audit by early in the new year."