Two Canadians Reportedly Kidnapped in Northern Nigeria

The Kaduna State Police Command has confirmed the abduction of four foreign nationals along Kwoi-Jere road in Kagarko local government area of Kaduna State.

Two escorts with the Nigeria Police Force were reportedly killed by the armed kidnappers, before the foreigners were abducted.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Mukhtar Aliyu confirmed that the foreign nationals included two Canadians and two Americans.

The Spokesperson said the nationals were said to be returning to Abuja from Kafanchan, Jema’a local government area of Kaduna state, adding, “the kidnappers laid ambush for them and engaged the the escorts in gun duel which led to the death of two policemen while the four foreigners were whisked to unknown destination.”

He said the Command had since swung into action as it had deployed its anti-kidnap unit and assured that the abductors would be brought to book.

The officer urged Nigerians to be vigilant and report any suspected persons or group of persons to the appropriate authorities.

Three Canadians Who Made It To Time's 2017 Most Influential People List

We'll admit it — when an American news outlet puts out a list of important people in the world, we immediately start looking for the Canadians who are on it.

Call it a self-esteem issue, call it Canadian pride, but whatever it is, it never fails to send a shiver of happiness down our spines as we see some of the best and brightest from our country recognized on a world stage.

This year, Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people celebrated three Canadians who made their impact in various ways: Samantha Bee, Margaret Atwood and Ryan Reynolds.

Host/Executive Producer Samantha Bee of 'Full Frontal With Samantha Bee' poses in the green room during the TCA Turner Winter Press Tour 2017.

According to an editor's note from last year, the list is chosen to represent people "who have lessons to teach .. and the power to make us think."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is perhaps notable in his absence, though he did make the list last year, and was a close runner-up in the readers' choice poll, which was eventually won by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

RIP! BC Mourns Five Snowmobilers, Eight Injured In Northeastern Avalanche

Five people have been killed in an avalanche in northeastern British Columbia.

The incident occurred Friday afternoon near the town of McBride, which is located near the Alberta border, and about 500 km west of Edmonton.

The BC Coroners’ Service said the very large avalanche happened in an area where a group of people were snowmobiling.

Avalanche Canada said in a statement posted on its website Friday that it has received a report of “what appears to be a very large, significant event near McBride.”

“We do know that it was human triggered,” said the statement.

Changing weather conditions “may have produced stresses in the snowpack capable of producing large avalanches,” the statement went on. “Please be cautious this weekend.”

CTV News

One-fifth of New Immigrants Arrive With No Money

via Vancouver Sun

In a new report  by Metro, it shows new Immigrants arrive in Canada with an average of $47,000 in savings – but are left with less than half of that once they get initially settled, says a new BMO Wealth Management report.

And about one-fifth, or 19 per cent, come with no money at all, finds the study being released Wednesday.

“It can be incredibly stressful – financially and otherwise – to pick up, move to another country, and begin the process of creating a new life for yourself, so it’s great to see that new Canadians do have a bit of a nest egg remaining,” said Julie Barker-Merz, president of BMO InvestorLine.

Two Canadians set to marry 20 years after meeting as ring-bearer and flower girl

CTV
Recently, a former flower girl and ring-bearer were married in Minnesota 20 years after their first wedding experience.

Now Canada is about to get its own couple whose wedding will be their second trip down the aisle.

Engaged couple Misty Moneo and Spencer Pennington, both from Assiniboia, Sask., are in the process of planning their wedding. They’ll tell you that inklings of their romantic relationship began when the two were in the fifth grade.

"We were making Christmas decorations for the door decorating contest and he literally came up to me and said, 'I have a confession to make: I really like you,'" says Moneo.

The couple eventually began dating in 2006, when they were in Grade 10 – but they first shared the big day together more than two decades ago at Pennington’s aunt’s wedding.

New Document Shows Canadians Crying 'Fowl' Over Lack of Ethnic Chicken

Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press

Some people have been crying foul over the lack of ethnic chicken in Canada.

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz got an earful from customers who couldn't find particular poultry, a newly released document shows.

"Concerns about the availability of ethnic chicken have largely focused on supplies of specialty birds (e.g. chicken from the Silkie and Taiwanese breeds), kosher and Hong Kong chicken," the document says.

The Canadian Press obtained the four-page document under the Access to Information Act.

It says complaints flooded Ritz's office after the May 2013 closure of Toronto-based Chai Poultry, one of Canada's two suppliers of kosher chicken.

Chai Poultry sold its quota of chicken allocation to a halal processing plant based in the southern Ontario of town of Milton.

Canadians Milos Raonic, Vasek Pospisil win at Australian Open

Milos Raonic fires a serve to Donald Young en route to a second round win at the Australian Open in Melbourne. AP

Bill Scott The Canadian Press
Canadian Eugenie Bouchard had to battle in the opening set, but she hit her winning stride in the second to defeat Caroline Garcia of France 7-5, 6-0 on Friday for a place in the fourth round of the Australian Open.

The seventh seed from Westmount, Que., will next play the unseeded Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania (42nd), who beat Germany’s Carina Witthoeft (104th) 6-4, 6-4 later Friday.

Bouchard made her breakthrough in Melbourne a year ago, reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal and duplicating that showing four months later in Paris before playing the Wimbledon final.

The 20-year-old’s win over the 36th-ranked Garcia made amends for a loss to the French player last year in Acapulco.

Canadians going to US for long stays need to be mindful of changes, says MP

Canadian border guards are silhouetted as they replace each other at an inspection booth at the Douglas border crossing on the Canada-USA border in Surrey, B.C., August 20, 2009

CBC - A BC. MP is warning people about a new information-sharing agreement between Canada and the United States that could put travellers who spend a lot of time in the U.S. at risk of significant consequences.

The Entry Exit Initiative allows officials to track how many days Canadians have spent in the U.S. Prior to the agreement, the country could only track re-entry dates, not exit dates.

"We were specially wanting to alert people that this could potentially be a problem for them if they were being careless about their travel," said Gail Hunnisett, constituency assistant for Alex Atamanenko, MP for B.C. Southern Interior.

Hunnisett said she's been fielding a lot of calls since her office put out the information.

Toronto police get help from US officials on mosque murder

CBC- At Friday prayers, two men arrive at Khalid Bin Al-Walid Mosque to worship. The Somali-Canadian mosque is not where they regularly pray, but they are welcomed as family.

The men are strangers not only to the mosque, but to Toronto. They're police officers from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Mohamed Abdullahi and Abdiwahab Ali are the first Somali refugees in the U.S. to become police officers.

Their neighbourhood in Minneapolis was crime ridden in the late 2000s. Dozens of young men had also left the city to join foreign extremist groups.

Ottawa family wants $500,000 ‘dowry’ back after young couple splits

The two split after a year and a half of marriage and entered a bitter dispute over a gift the groom's family gave Banifatemi -- half ownsership of a $1-million home.

Torstar News Service
She was a beautiful, young exchange student from Iran. He was a handsome, well-spoken Canadian from a well-heeled Iranian family in Ottawa.

They met in calculus class at Carleton University, fell in love and just over a year later, the two 20-somethings got hitched in a lavish ceremony in Toronto attended by both their families.

But the April 1 — April Fool’s Day — marriage proved prophetic, says the groom’s family.

In keeping with Iranian tradition, the groom’s family gave the bride a generous gift — half ownership of a $1-million Ottawa home — a “dowry” that is now the source of a bitter dispute between the now-separated couple and their families.

Last week an Ottawa judge dismissed the husband’s family’s claims for an order that the bride, 23-year-old Shakiba Banifatemi, transfer her portion of the property back to her ex’s parents. The judge also dismissed claims for orders that she reimburse them for the cost of the wedding — around $50,000, the groom’s mother says — and return any wedding gifts she received.

Canadians Ellen Page and Tatiana Maslany makes Forbes 30 Under 30 list

Hello!
Forbes has released its annual 30 Under 30 lists, one of which honours young adults who are “changing Hollywood.” This year, three Canadians landed a spot on the coveted catalogue – television star Tatiana Maslany, actress Ellen Page and Epic Meal Time creator Harley Morenstein.

Tatiana, 29, has earned accolades for playing an astonishing eight different characters (with several different accents) on the Canadian sci-fi series Orphan Black.

Halifax-native Ellen, 27, was selected because she “bravely took a stand” by publicly coming out as a gay woman during a conference last February. Since then, the Oscar-nominated actress has graced countless magazine covers, including W and Flare.

Lastly, Montreal-born Harley, 29, is responsible for “creating one of the most popular online shows," boasting more than 6.6 million followers on his YouTube channel, Epic Meal Time.

Canadians To Start Receiving Copyright Infringement Notices For Online Downloads

Canadian ISPs are now required to forward copyright violation notices to customers. FOTOLIA

Patrick O'Rourke Canada.com
The final part of the Canadian federal Copyright Modernization Act went into effect on Jan. 1, requiring internet service providers (ISPs) and website hosts to relay letters from copyright holders to customers associated with a specific Internet Protocol (IP) address, when an illegal copyright infringing download has occurred.

While these notices don’t carry immediate legal ramifications, they serve as a warning that the copyright holder is aware of your IP address’ downloading activity and could potentially take legal action.

Previously ISPs were able to decide if they wanted to inform their customers a copyright holder is aware of their illegal downloading. Internet service providers like Bell and Rogers have been periodically sending out these notifications for the last few years, but as of Jan. 1, doing so is now a legal requirement in Canada.

Survey shows majority Canadians are willingly give up mobile privacy for free app

Victor Ferreira | The Right Click –

A recent Symantec survey shows that a majority of Canadians often worry about their mobile privacy, but have no problem trading it in for a free smartphone app.

James Nguyen, a Symantec mobile security expert warns Android users to think twice before they download free apps from Google Play because while they may not be paying with their bank accounts, they could be offering up personal information in exchange, instead.

"There are a lot of free apps out there and they rarely come without a cost," Nguyen said. "Your personal data is used as a sense of currency. It's a trade off."

The survey results show that 54 per cent of Canadians are willing to make that trade.

When Android apps are downloaded, users are immediately prompted with a message alerting them of what information the app requires in order to be installed. Some apps require access to features like a user's contacts and emails for synching purposes, but others require access to features like health and fitness data, camera, photos, and text messages.

Notable Canadian newsmakers who died in 2014

The Canadian Press
JANUARY

6 — Toronto-born actor Larry D. Mann, 91, who voiced Yukon Cornelius in the 1964 animated Christmas favourite “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

15 — Newfoundland and Labrador broadcaster Bas Jamieson, 85. His 40-year career included stints in television and radio across Canada.

16 — Canadian-born comic actor Dave Madden, 82, who played agent Reuben Kinkaid on the hit 1970s sitcom “The Partridge Family.”

17 — Former Bloc Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde, 73, of cancer. She served in the Commons between 1993 and 2011, also served as a cabinet minister in the Parti Quebecois government of Rene Levesque in the 1980s.

FEBRUARY

Ottawa Premier Kathleen Wynne Makes CNN's 'Most Inspiring Women' List

Lucas Oleniuk via Getty Images

Zi-Ann Lum | Huff
U.S. network CNN has named Kathleen Wynne as one of its “most inspiring women of 2014.”

The Ontario premier was acknowledged for her role in politics as the province's first female to have the role, and as the first “openly gay head of government.” Other politicians on the list include Burmese Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and President Joyce Banda of Malawi.

Halifax’s Ellen Page is the only other Canadian who also made the longlist. The actor came out earlier this year in a Human Rights Campaign's conference speech.

In May, Wynne opened up about her sexuality in an interview with the Toronto Star. She praised the comfort that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms brings to her and her partner Jane Rounthwaite.

Canadians of ukrainian descent answering call of the homeland

Toronto resident Krystina Waler, left, with Ganniday, a Ukrainian soldier who was wounded in the current conflict with Russia, in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Torstar News Service
Marko Suprun of Winnipeg joined the Maidan uprising more than a year ago in Ukraine, and he’s never left.

Sunnybrook surgeon Dr. Oleh Antonyshyn led a team of 25 physicians, nurses and medical professionals from across Canada to Kyiv last month to operate on people burned and disfigured by injuries.

And Eugene Melnyk, owner of the Ottawa Senators and supporter of orphaned children in Ukraine for two decades, couldn’t say no when he was asked to lend a hand to support Antohyshyn’s work.

From fancy dinners attended by the likes of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and hockey great Wayne Gretzky, to online fundraising campaigns and bake sales, the 1.2 million Canadians of Ukrainian heritage have opened their hearts and wallets, donating money, time and ingenuity to help win a war in another land.

Canadians Treating The Homeless Better Than Americans Do, See Video

New Reports Shows Canadians Waste $31B Worth Of Food Every Year

More than $31 billion worth of food is wasted every year in Canada and when energy, water and other resource costs are factored in the true cost could be up to three times that much, a new report suggests. | Martin Leigh via Getty Images

CBC
More than $31 billion worth of food is wasted every year in Canada and when energy, water and other resource costs are factored in the true cost could be up to three times that much, a new report suggests.

Consulting firm Value Chain Management International published a report this week that tabulates the total monetary cost of the millions of kilograms of food that goes to waste every year in Canadian homes, restaurants and grocery stores.

That's a 15 per cent increase from the report's findings four years ago, when the group found the cost was $27 billion in 2010. It's also two per cent of Canada's total GDP, and larger than the total economic output of the poorest 29 countries on the planet.

Canadians Spend More Of Their Income At The Gas Station Than Almost Everyone

Jesse Ferreras | Huff
Household debt isn't the only area where Canadians outshine their southern neighbours.

We also spend more of our money on gasoline than Americans do, according to Bloomberg data released Dec. 1.

Canadians spent 2.89 per cent of their income on gasoline in the fourth quarter of 2014, while Americans spent 2.27 per cent.

The proportion of our income spent on filling up our cars is largely a factor of consumption; we're second only to the U.S. when it comes to how much gas we use.

We also rank sixth in the world when it comes to how much of our annual income goes to paying at the pump.

South Africans stood on top of the world when it came to spending their income on gasoline, at 5.17 per cent.

Purported ISIS Video Calls For Attacks On Canadians

A U.S.-based company that monitors trends within the global jihadist movement says Islamic State has released a video calling for lone-wolf attacks on Canadian targets. | YouTube

Terry Pedwell, The Canadian Press
A slickly produced video released on Sunday urged Muslims to launch indiscriminate attacks against Canadians, similar to those carried out in October in Ottawa and Montreal.

The SITE Intelligence Group, an American based company that monitors trends within the global jihadist movement, said the video was produced by the Islamic State and the Levant. It was also been distributed on Twitter and jihadi forums.

On the video a man, who says he is a Canadian and identifies himself as "Abu Anwar al-Canadi," urges his Muslim countrymen to follow the example of Martin Couture-Rouleau.

The National Post identified the man as John Maguire, a former University of Ottawa student who converted to Islam and became radicalized before leaving Canada last year. The newspaper cited friends and family.

The 23-year-old is among dozens of Canadians under RCMP investigation after allegedly making their way to Syria.