The increased military presence imposed in the Arctic region by the Russian Federation and the United States of America has prompted Canada to maintain an equitable force to protect Canadian sovereignty. Canada currently maintains the largest Northern army and is not willing to demilitarize at the requests of countries outside of the Arctic region, but is willing to work with its Arctic neighbors to develop a suitable solution. Canada sees its military bases, the most in the Arctic, as justified because they are located on Canadian soil and are a response to the increased military presence of other Arctic countries. Thus, Canada has the jurisdiction and the right to maintain a standing army in the North to protect its interests and its sovereignty.
Topic Two: Resource Extraction
Given the current situation of the supply of fossil fuels, the Arctic and its massive reserves of resources have become a viable option for resource extraction. Canada is seeking to develop the Arctic safely and efficiently in resource extraction. Canada recognizes that the Arctic environment is unforgiving in that an environmental blunder caused by one country would affect all countries in the Arctic region. For that reason, Canada believes that certain regulations must be put in place by either the country or an international body to ensure that any resource extraction is safe for the Arctic. The Arctic is an area of great importance to the future of Canada and countries that will extract resources from it must consider the fact that the Arctic is unforgiving to oil spills and similar catastrophes.
Canada also seeks at the upcoming conference to solve existing border disputes, redefine outdated agreements, and define the sovereign rights of Arctic nations. Canada believes that its stake in the Arctic is legitimate because a significant portion of the Arctic borders Canada. Canada looks forward to working with other Arctic powers on solving the current issues in the Arctic.
Topic 3: Northwest Passage
Canada has and will continue to exert its control over the Northwest Passage because it is an integral Canadian waterway. First, the Northwest Passage runs through Canada and hence declaring it part of international waters would pose a threat to Canada’s sovereignty and security. Second, certain countries currently use the strait without consent from Canada which is a violation of Canada’s sovereignty. Canada seeks to ensure that ships passing through this strait adhere to Canadian laws just as Canadian ships passing through foreign countries adhere to foreign laws while within their jurisdiction. Canada will continue to exert its control over the Northwest Passage by using our Northern army to ensure the safety of passing ships and the Canadian people.
“I must say a word about fear. It is life’s only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unnerving ease. It begins in your mind, always … so you must fight hard to express it. You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don’t, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you.”
France condemns the violent actions of the Syrian government and seeks to protect Syrian civilians through sanctions imposed on the Syrian government and further action if needed. The Syrian people are expressing their fundamental freedom of expression and association which is guaranteed by the UN Charter of Human Rights, but the infringement of these freedoms by the Syrian government is an act that France will not tolerate. Earlier in this year, France, the United States of America, and the remainder of the European Union imposed economic sanctions on the Syrian government by freezing all offshore assets, an arms embargo, European aid, travel ban on senior Syrian officials, and sanctions on the 4 major Syrian companies that are the bulk of the Syrian economy. France has done a great deal in the effort to stop the Syrian government from using violence against its citizens, but since the Syrian government has only escalated the amount of force used against its citizens, further action needs to be taken to ensure the safety of the Syrian people. In summary, France condemns the use of violence by the Syrian government against its people and encourages other members of the Security Council to recognize the unjustified violence and to make an attempt to stop it. France believes this is the most important issue to discuss at the conference because of the quickly deteriorating situation in Syria.
Topic 2: The Arab Spring
The Arab Spring protests have been on the most part peaceful demonstrations but protesters have been met with violence from pro-government militias and the government. France is opposed to any government that uses violence to oppress its citizens’ freedom of expression and assembly and will seek out with the remainder of the European Union to impose sanctions on such governments. In the Arab Spring, France played a crucial role in Libya by imposing economic sanctions on the Libyan government and when the situation escalated, air support to oust the Gaddafi regime. With the task of defending civilians accomplished, France has unfrozen most of the Libyan assets and given control of rebuilding the country to the National Transitional Council of Libya. France strongly condemns the use of violence against civilians and looks forward to working with the other members of the Security Council on reaching a consensus regarding the issue of sovereignty in these situations.
Topic 3: Al-Shabab in Somalia
The rise of Al-Shabab in Somalia has significantly destabilised the recognized Somali government and has caused a rise in piracy in the surrounding waters which has affected the transportation of aid to Somalia. Since January 2009, France has been an active participant in an international group to fight piracy in Somalia and until December 2010, the leader of Operation Atalanta. France currently has a frigate permanently deployed in the region along with a reconnaissance plane in Djibouti. The operation is critical to delivering aid to Somalia and the efforts of Operation Atalanta helped feed 1.6 million Somalis every day. France will continue its commitment to Operation Atalanta and supports the current African Union mission in Somalia to create a secure environment for humanitarian aid and workers.
A woman tests her blood sugar level. The International Diabetes Federation estimates that 522 million people will have diabetes by the year 2030. (CBC)(iStock)
GENEVA (AP) – The International Diabetes Federation predicts that one in 10 adults could have diabetes by 2030, according to their latest statistics.
In a report issued on Monday, the advocacy group estimated that 522 million people would have diabetes in the next two decades, based on things like aging and demographic changes. (USAToday)
Why is diabetes on the rise? For a significant portion of the world, food is generally more accessible now than a few decades ago but, the type of food that is more accessible is part of the problem. Walk through any grocery store and you’ll see a clear trend. The cheapest and most accessible foods are generally unhealthy; frozen meals, bagged snacks, and sugary drinks are usually at the top of this list. These items have one thing in common, they’re high in calories and in fat. Don’t get me wrong, I have had my fair share of sugary drinks and chocolate, but when diets are composed of mainly high calorie and high fat foods there’s a problem. Michael Phelps might be able to consume over 12,000 calories a day, but unless you’re swimming at an Olympics level from 9 to 5, you shouldn’t be. So what if the shopping budget is limited or there’s no time to cook? Make an effort to have time. If there’s one lesson I can give after a decade and a half (and a bit) on this planet, it’s that physical wellbeing precedes everything. Logically, without a body, you are nothing.
A healthy diet needs to be supported by an active lifestyle. Whether you spend 30 minutes a day or an hour a day playing a sport or exercising, the important thing is that you’re staying active which is key to a healthy life. However, the combination of an unhealthy diet and lifestyle is becoming much more common. There are simply too many distractions. Most children and adults spend their afternoons and evenings inside in the comfort of their electronics. I understand that when the weather is not that great such as it was yesterday with howling winds and what I thought was a distant thunderstorm that it’s probably better to stay inside, but there’s no excuse to have a short outing on a warm sunny day. Leave the distracting ambiance of the internet to play a game of soccer or try out a new healthy recipe because I assure you, it’ll still be there when you get back.
The price of peanuts has risen substantially since last year with consumers taking the brunt of the increase through higher prices for peanut related products. I didn’t really like peanut butter to begin with so I don’t have any complaints but for the thousands of households that cherish their PB&J, there might be some tough times ahead. I’ve read some articles and most authors have reached a consensus that the weather is to blame. Well in that case, hopefully peanut prices will drop next year, but all of this could have been avoided by using genetically modified crops. There are skeptics who argue for organic produce and keeping “natural order of things”, but the fact is organic crops are not impervious to even slightly hostile weather. A week without rain? There goes the year’s crop.
Our planet’s population recently hit 7 billion and with that many more mouths to feed, genetically modified crops is one of the few viable solutions. There could be crops in the next decade or two that can grow with very little resources to feed people who might have otherwise perished from starvation. Being able to grow a modified crop vs. not being to grow anything. The choice is clear for most people, grow the modified crop.
Planting genetically modified crops is not a bad thing. We’re simply accelerating the process of evolution that might have occurred regardless. Does growing genetically modified crops mean that we’ll lose organic crops? No, because there will always be a market for organic produce. The belief that eating organic makes a world of a difference will still remain. However for many parts of the world genetically modified crops will make a world of a difference.
The recent Provincial Election had a record low turnout with only 49.2% of eligible Ontario voters turning up at the polls. The disappointing turnout might have something to do with the recent Federal election or the lack of media attention, but in the end the turnout just marked another point in the downward spiral of voting turnouts. The most common excuse given by the average Ontarian is “Canadian politics is boring.” While that might be true to a certain extent, it might be worth reminding those individuals that they live in Canada and should take in part in Canadian politics whether they like it or not. If you’re not willing to attend council meetings to provide input, at least vote because at most it’ll only take ~10 minutes.
Maybe voting is something that we have started to take for granted. Maybe we have forgotten that in many parts of the world, the people can’t vote even if they want. Maybe we have forgotten the wars fought, the lives lost, and the battles won just to maintain our democratic state. In that case, the people just need to be reminded that every vote counts.
*Is it time for mandatory voting? No, that would defeat the purpose.
Alan Zhong
