Travel tips from Canadian 'the world's most travelled man'

Mike Spencer Bown has been backpacking virtually non-stop since 1990, and has visited all 195 of the world's countries on all seven continents.

His grand adventure started 23 years ago, while he was looking down from a mountain in British Columbia. He told CTV Your Morning he had always been fascinated by ecosystems and was inspired to explore new ones.

“I’d seen what I could see across Canada and the States, but I was really curious about jungles, maybe the Himalaya Mountains and things like that,” said Bown, who says he first began his vagabond lifestyle to see different kinds of animals. “But then I found out that people, if anything, were actually more interesting.”

Through his travels Bown picked up a trick or two. For example, a khaki shirt with a lot of pockets is helpful for impersonating officials.

Royal Visit: Prince William and Kate Paddle to Haida Gwaii by War Canoe

Prince William Duke of Cambridge helps row a traditional war canoe in Haida Gwaii, B.C., on Sept. 30, 2016. Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Prince William and Kate arrived at a small village off the coast of B.C. on Friday in a replica 15-metre Haida war canoe, taken to the remote island by paddlers wearing T-shirts opposing liquefied natural gas development.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were welcomed to the Haida heritage hall by more than a dozen chiefs and elders.

Young dancers in brightly coloured and beaded costumes performed a dance to honour the survivors of Canada’s residential schools and their personal journeys.

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

A Blessing In Disguise: Low Dollar Draws Tourists To Canada

 Giuseppe Valiante | The Canadian Press
 From British Columbia to Montreal, the low Canadian dollar is proving a boon to the tourism sector.

Dragged down by cheap oil and an international slump in commodity prices, the dollar is trading at around 70 cents against the greenback and enticing Americans to travel north of the border.

"We're getting more reservations at the last minute from Americans planning trips for the weekend," says Eve Pare, head of the Hotel Association of Greater Montreal.

Montreal-area hotels in December made more than $40 million, up more than nine per cent from a year earlier, Pare noted.

The city's tourism bureau said last summer's season — between June and August — saw a 10 per cent increase year over year in the number of American tourists crossing the border into Quebec.

For Katie, 20, a McGill University student from New York State, the low Canadian dollar means her tuition is "basically nothing."

Canadian man who took random woman on free round-the-world trip because she had same name as ex returns

They met in the departure lounge - then went around the world together.  It was a trip-of-a-lifetime that sparked global attention after Jordan Axani, 28, offered to take any Canadian girl called Elizabeth Gallagher on his Christmas vacation. He booked the trip with his ex-girlfriend - Elizabeth Gallagher - and was determined not to waste her non-transferable ticket when they broke up. After posting his plea on Reddit, he received a picture of Elizabeth 'Quinn' Gallagher's passport on Twitter, and accepted her offer.

Now, after three weeks and eight countries, he and Quinn, 23, have returned. The pair set off on December 21 from Toronto and returned on January 8, visiting New York, Bangkok, Paris, Milan, Venice, Vienna, Prague, New Delhi, Khao Lak, and Hong Kong. Despite looking cozy, the pair say there was no romance. Elizabeth has a boyfriend. See photos from their trip

Trip of Death! Quebec adventurer returns after solo travel to Antarctica

Frederic Dion hugs his daughters Adelie (6), left, and Danaelle (3) as he arrives at the airport, Monday, January 12, 2015 in Montreal.

The Canadian Press
A Quebec adventurer who has just returned from a solo trip to the geographic South Pole says his next big adventure will involve trying to be the best father in the world.

Frederic Dion made the trip to the Antarctic on skis and covered 2,100 kilometres in 35 days.

The 37-year-old arrived at Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport this afternoon and was welcomed by his wife and two young daughters.

Dion’s trek wasn’t without its challenges, with winds of more than 100 kilometres per hour and temperatures that often plummeted to -50 C.

His sleigh, which contained a tent, sleeping bag and food, broke apart and he also suffered frostbite along the way.

Court trial delayed for Canadian in Florida sex tourism case

The Associated Press
Trial has been delayed for a Canadian man accused of travelling to Florida to have sex with someone investigators say he believed was an underage boy.

U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore agreed to delay trial for Rene Roberge of Sherbrooke, Quebec, until Jan. 26. It had been set to begin Monday. Court papers show the case likely will end in a plea deal.

Authorities say Roberge flew to Florida after making contact on the Internet with undercover investigators posing as a 14-year-old boy and his father to arrange a sexual encounter. Agents also allegedly found child pornography on Roberge’s tablet computer.

Toronto man’s adventure with stand-in girlfriend reaches Eiffel Tower

Jordan Axani and Elizabeth Gallagher make it to the top of the Eiffel Tower just minutes before its lights were turned off for the night.

Torstar News Service
As café patios lay empty and the streets bare on a freezing Sunday evening in the City of Love, two Canadians hurried through the French capital’s back alleys on a mission.

It was almost 10:45 p.m., the Eiffel Tower was closing in 15 minutes, and the two, fresh off a plane from Prague, were intent on being atop the famed monument before its sparkling lights came on for the last time that night — even if it meant dodging cars to get there.

Toronto businessman Jordan Axani, 28, marched briskly ahead of companion Elizabeth “Quinn” Gallagher, 23, barely pausing for stoplights.

The two chance travellers, who have become household names since Axani reached out on social media last month for another Elizabeth Gallagher to join him on a trip around the world after breaking up with his girlfriend of the same name, made it to the base of the tower in the nick of time.

As they thundered up the lift, they told a Torstar News Service reporter tagging along how, eight days into their journey, they’ve become accustomed to barrelling through cities.

Photo | Christian Pilgrim Pays Homage To Jesus Birthplace In Bethlehem

 A Christian pilgrim kneels to touch the silver star marking the location traditionally believed where Jesus Christ was born in the 'Grotto' in the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, 08 December 2014.  EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN 

Ebola News: Canada imposes quarantine on travellers from affected countries

Helen Branswell, The Canadian Press
People coming to Canada from Ebola-affected countries -- including returning health-care workers -- will need to undergo a more formal 21-day monitoring period, the federal government announced Monday. And some will be told to stay at home for the duration of that time.

Some public health officials and aid groups that had been anticipating the release of a new federal policy expressed relief at what they saw, saying earlier iterations had been more restrictive. The fear has been the government might adopt a policy that made health-care workers returning from Ebola missions feel like pariahs, which could discourage others from volunteering to join the battle.

"We were concerned the Quarantine Act would be used to impose things that we did not feel are reasonable. And I think we can work with what they've got now," said Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia's deputy provincial health officer.

Fire Outbreaks In Disney World’s Magic Kingdom

There was a bit of pandemonium at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida on Saturday night, after a fire broke out.

Some embers from fireworks ignited a fire at Disney World’s newest ride called “the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train,” CNN reports.

Thankfully no one was hurt, as passengers on the ride were able to get off safely and in a timely manner.

The incident has engendered renewed safety concerns amongst parents who considered Disney as a safe place for their children to visit. However, Disney’s management have assured all patrons that the incident was just a once in a lifetime occurrence, and that the venue remains very safe.

Tourism Update | Nepal Closes Trekking Route Where 38 Died

CP   Binaj Gurubacharya, The Associated Press

Nepalese officials closed a section of a popular Himalayan trekking route Sunday after rescuers, overwhelmed with last week's snowstorms that killed at least 38 people including four Canadians, had to save new hikers who set out after the blizzards on the same deadly trails.

The dead from the blizzards and avalanches that hit the upper section of the Annapurna trekking circuit in northern Nepal included foreign trekkers, local guides and villagers. Most of the hundreds of trekkers who had been stuck in the snow have been brought to safety, and government official Yama Bahadur Chokhyal said rescue helicopters were winding down flights.

But as the weather cleared, new trekkers began making their way up the same trails, prompting the government to close the route, Chokhyal said. In some sections, the trails were completely hidden beneath the heavy snows.

"Our rescuers and helicopters ended up having to bring down these new people while we were still trying to reach the ones who were stranded by the blizzard," he said.

Tragic | Death toll reaches 45 in Nepal snowfall

A snowstorm in the Himalayan region of central Nepal has killed at least 45 people, including eight foreigners and a group of local yak herders, while dozens of climbers remain unaccounted for, officials have said.

Improving weather conditions allowed rescue workers to recover the bodies of four trekkers – two Poles, an Israeli and a Nepali – from the Thorong La pass area on the Annapurna Circuit trekking trail on Wednesday, a day after they were caught in a blizzard, Al Jazeera reports.

Nepal army rescuers in helicopters spotted eight more bodies of trekkers along a mountain trail on Thursday, police chief Govind Pathak, said.

In neighbouring Manang district, an avalanche on Wednesday killed an Indian and four Canadian trekkers in Phu village, said Devendra Lamichane, a government official. Digging out the bodies would take days, he said.

The other dead included three villagers in the same district, about 160km northwest of the capital, Kathmandu, whose bodies were recovered on Wednesday.

Tragic | 17 Tourists Including Canadians Died in Himalayan Snow

The bodies of trekkers killed following a snowstorm

Tens of thousands of international visitors come to Nepal each year to explore the spectacular Himalayan Mountains, providing poor communities with millions of dollars that they desperately need.

The perils of that endeavour revealed themselves in stark fashion on Tuesday, when at least 17 people from around the world died after being trapped in heavy snowfall while trekking at high altitude, CNN reports.

A dozen of the deaths were in the popular Annapurna region, Nepal army spokesman Niranjan Shrestha said, while another five were in the neighboring Manang district.

Officials say more people are missing and it is feared the toll could rise.

This is already one of the deadliest such tragedies in the history of Nepal, a nation of about 26 million known worldwide for its spectacular mountain ranges, including Mount Everest.

The deaths, said to be the result of two days of unusually heavy snow caused by Cyclone Hud-hud in eastern India, come only six months after tragedy last struck on the slopes of Mount Everest.

Two Canadian Women Found Safe After Nepal Avalanche

A Canadian survivor of the Nepal avalanche that killed at least 27 people has described a harrowing tale of being buried waist-high in thick, heavy snow on a "nightmare" of a day.

Quebecer Sonia Leveque said she thought she was going to die and that she and her fellow trekkers are fortunate to be alive.

"We fought for survival and we were lucky," she said in an interview from Nepal with RDI, Radio-Canada's all-news network.

"I think nobody in the group wanted to die."

She said that Tuesday was a "nightmare" and that nobody in her small group saw the avalanche coming.

"It happened extremely quickly — within seconds, we were separated," Leveque said.

Photo | Jay Z, Beyonce and Blue Ivy Holidaying In Paris

The Carters, who have been in Paris for about a week now following their show in the city, caused quite a hysteria when they went sight-seeing in the city of love yesterday...with their security detail of course...and Beyonce was the photographer for the family.

See more photos after the cut...

Vacation Photo of Power Couple Beyonce, Jay Z and Blue Ivy

Beyonce and Jay Z have been enjoying a vacation in the Mediterranean sunshine with their daughter and their mothers. They have moved from Italy and now they are in France aboard a super yacht in the French town of Antibes in the Côte d'Azur. 
 

See more photos after the cut...

Huge Blow To Maternity Tourism As Report Recommends Limiting Citizenship by Birth

The federal government should restrict granting citizenship by birth on Canadian soil to children with at least one parent who is a citizen or permanent resident, according to a recently released policy reform proposal.

The document was released to Andrew Griffith, a former director general for citizenship and multiculturalism at Citizenship and Immigration Canada, via a Freedom of Information request. The 17-page report, marked "secret," was prepared for then-Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. It includes options for the federal government on whether to limit citizenship by birth on soil in order to ensure that babies born with citizenship "have a strong connection to Canada."

"Such a change may be considered to strengthen program integrity and protect the value of citizenship," the document says. "Similar to the first generation limit for persons born abroad to a Canadian parent, restricting citizenship by birth in Canada to children born to a parent who is either a permanent resident or citizen could also be seen as supporting efforts to protect the value of citizenship."

Under the Citizenship Act, all babies born on Canadian soil are automatically granted citizenship, except for children of foreign diplomats. Canada and the United States are the only countries to have birth on soil citizenship provisions. The United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and many European countries restrict citizenship by birth on soil to children of citizens or permanent residents.

Rihanna Caught Carrying Weed In Plastic Bag

 

Rihanna carries her weed in plastic bag during holiday in France . Rihanna smokes and she doesn't care that you know it. The Bajan beauty was spotted carrying a clear plastic bag of suspicious looking substance that looks with marijuana while on holiday with friends in the French island of Corsica.

 

 

    

Toronto Zoo Great Panda Almost Nipped Visitors

Female panda Er Shun eats bamboo at the Panda House at the Chongqing Zoo in Chongqing, China. The Toronto Zoo began playing host to male Da Mao and Er Shun in February 2012. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

Toronto Zoo is investigating "an isolated incident" in which visitors bypassed a bamboo barrier and got too close to a five-year-old giant panda, which was briefly only separated from the public by a chain-link fence.

The security breach happened on Sunday evening and was captured on a cellphone video by a 25-year-old man who was visiting the zoo with his fiancée.

Andrew Fedurko said he accidentally walked into an off-limit area, assuming it was part of the exhibit.

We walked into an enclosed area to the right of the cage," he said, adding that his fiancee was leaning against the chain-link fence when a panda suddenly appeared from around a corner.

"It didn't look like it was going to jump at us necessarily but I'm not a panda expert," he said.

Fedurko said once he realized how close they were to the animal, they stepped back and he captured other visitors on video.

The footage shows visitors leaning up against the chain-link fence, with some putting their hands up against the fence while the panda is nearby.

Da Mao is one of two prized giant pandas on a 10-year breeding loan from China as part of a conservation partnership. The pandas will be in Toronto for a five-year term, set to end in 2018, at which point they will be relocated to the Calgary Zoo.

A zoo spokeswoman said visitors had bypassed a bamboo barrier -- approximately 4.5 metres high -- that been closed and latched but there was no padlock on it, which is zoo protocol.