HALIFAX • WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2009 metronews.ca

Celebrity Buzz

Burlesqueshow next for Lohan?pg 26

Albert Einstein famouslypredicted that if bees were tocease to exist, humans couldlast only four years after thelast bee died.

A shocking estimation, butthese pollinators truly make

our ecosystems work What’s frightening is that

the world’s pollinators, preda-tors, prey, vegetation andoceans that we rely on forfood, oxygen and water are atrisk.

Which is precisely whyMetro is dedicating this year’sannual Green Metro to the top-ic of biodiversity — a term

that, quite simplyput, means the vastvariety of plants, ani-mals and natural re-sources found on Earth. Likebees.

So read on — and plant agarden. Ride your bike. Re-member the oceans, the bees,the worms — they are yourneighbours ... and our heroes.

MAGGIE SAMWAYSMetro World News

Think globally,act locally

SMALL STEPS Earth Day isn’t justfor “tree huggers” anymore, al-though there’s nothing wrongwith wrapping your armsaround a lonely maple or pinetoday, and even better, plant-ing a new one to keep it com-pany.

Here’s how some Haligoni-ans are taking similarly smallsteps today to make a big dif-ference tomorrow.

• Halifax Mayor Peter Kellyis launching the HRM SmartCar Fleet Program at 1 p.m.

• The Children’s Clean AirNetwork and The SalvationArmy are kicking off an idle-free education campaign.

• Halifax Citadel-SableIsland MLA Leonard Prerya ishosting a “fun andinformative” celebration from8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in VictoriaPark.

• The Nova Scotia NatureTrust is holding a Walk for Wa-ter with Aveda at 9 a.m. in theparking lot off Point PleasantDrive.

• The Friends of the HalifaxCommon are hosting the firstannual Earth Day CommonsCleanup from 9 a.m. to noon.

• The Nova Scotia Communi-ty College Institute of Technol-ogy Campus on Leeds Street istesting car emissions withwhite socks and holding alight bulb exchange.

• Staff and students acrossHalifax regional school boardare doing their part, fromproperty cleanup at AuburnDrive High to a used clothingdrive at Humber Park Elemen-tary.

TEARFUL HOMECOMING FOR HIJACKED, PG 2

Metro is marking

Earth Day with

a series of articles

to get you

to Go Green:

LOCAL. Nova ScotiaPower buys intoTruro wind farm. Page 2.COMMENT

AND VIEWS.

Paul Sullivan weighs in on what afatter planet will mean for the environment. Page 6.GO GREEN. Metro’s special EarthDay section takes a look at envi-ronmental issues around theworld — from what changing cli-mates mean to wine producers,to the effect plastic is having onour oceans. Pages 7-10.METRO DRIVE. We take a look at

Toyota’s reinvented Priushybrid. Page 16.ENTERTAINMENT.

Our movie reviewertakes a look at the new documentary

Earth. Page25.

ONLINE. Visit metronews.ca for more Earth Day stories.

GoGreenEARTH DAY: APRIL 22

Travel pg 22

Rural Scotland’smagnificence

Canada pg 4

Ignatieff goesto Washington

Business pg 11

Interest rate atnew record low

Sports pg 13

Conrad inchestoward Games

ShareYourViewshalifaxletters@metronews.ca

KRISTEN LIPSCOMBEfor Metro Halifax

Happy Earth Dayto all creatures

Atlantic Free Daily Newspapers Inc., operating as Metro Halifax 3260 Barrington Street, Suite 102, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K 0B5. Publisher: Greg Lutes

metro metronews.ca

Local

2Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Musical Box shows cancelled

Both Maritime concert stops for The Musical Box: A Trick of the Tail were cancelled yesterday due to health reasons in the band.The Musical Box was to play the Halifax Metro Centre on May 1. Refunds are available at point of purchase. METRO HALIFAX

Lithuanian celebrationThe Lithuanian yacht Ambersail is arriving in Halifax Sunday as

part of a worldwide tour to mark the Lithuanian Millennium, the

first recorded mention of the name Lithuania. Festivities begin

Sunday at 1 p.m. with a welcoming ceremony at Queen’s Wharf on

the Halifax Waterfront. The Ambersail is travelling to 20 countries

as part of its tour. METRO HALIFAX

Video Tamil protestersrally on Parliament Hill, atmetronews.ca/Canada

Video Hijacked flight pas-sengers reunite with family,at metronews.ca/canada

Blogs Kenya Hunt weighsin on the Susan Boylemakeover debate. TheBritain’s Got Talent contest-ant wowed au-diences withher amazingvoice despite aless-than-stun-ning appear-ance.

What’s online today.

CanJet Airlines said yester-day it will conduct aninternal review after oneof its planes was hijackedthis week at a Jamaicanairport, puttingpassengers and crew alikethrough a terrifyingordeal that could have haddeadly consequences.

The Halifax charterservice said in a news re-lease it wants “to ensurewe continue to providethe safest and most secureair travel possible.”

All 174 passengers andeight crew members whowalked aboard Flight 918late Sunday night in Mon-tego Bay walked off un-harmed yesterday morn-ing. Forty of those passen-gers stepped back on toCanadian soil shortly af-ter midnight yesterday,arriving in Halifax look-ing weary but relieved.

“It was horrifying,” avisibly shaken BrendaGrenier of Dartmouthtold television reporters

after reuniting with herfamily. “The man had agun and wanted to killpeople.”

Hatchett Lake womanLeanne Shaddock and herdaughters were sitting afew rows away from the

gunman. She told CTVNews the crew should becredited with reactingquickly, including a flightattendant who usheredeveryone to the back ofthe plane.

Some of the other pas-sengers continued on toCuba, while the crew ar-rived in Halifax on a sepa-rate flight late Mondaynight.

CanJet said tired crewmembers were being de-briefed yesterday. Provin-cial RCMP spokesman Sgt.Mark Gallagher added yes-terday the Mounties metwith the crew briefly andmay take statements. “Ifthere’s a need to assist theJamaican authorities,then we will.”

The airline said it’s pro-viding counselling servic-es for its staffers, addingit’s “proud of the profes-sionalism and selflessnessthe crew displayed underextremely difficult cir-cumstances.”

CHANGES City hall is makingchanges to how it dealswith firefighters and busdrivers.

Halifax regional council-lors had a long in-camerasession yesterday to discussthe recent suicide of aMetroTransitbus driv-er after ahigh pro-file inci-dent, anda humanrightscom-plaintagainstthe Hali-fax re-gionalfire de-part-ment.

Thecom-plaint, lodged by an associa-tion representing black fire-fighters, alleges they face ahostile work environment.The fire department nevertold council about the com-plaint, and was not requiredto do so under currentrules.

Council decided yester-day to change those rules so

they couldn’t be kept in thedark in the future. The ex-act rule change isn’t yetknown.

“That’s gone back to staffas of this afternoon, andthey will come back as tohow they believe is best tokeep council informed,”said Mayor Peter Kelly.

Council also ordered a re-view of Metro Transit poli-cies after a driver commit-

ted suicide over the week-end, one day after beingfired. Kelly said the reviewwould cover that and otherhigh-profile incidents in re-cent months.

He said the goal of the re-view is to make sure drivershave proper supports andthat there is a solid processto deal with “issues thatmay arise from any pointsof concern.”

Buying intogreener powerENERGY Nova Scotia Powerhas signed a deal topurchase a wind farmwith enough capacity topower 15,000 homes.

The Nuttby Mountainwind farm, located 20 kilo-metres north of Truro, iscurrently owned byCalgary-based EarthFirstCanada Inc. EarthFirst iscurrently under creditorprotection and has beentrying to sell the projectsince August 2008.

The project has a maxi-mum capacity of 45megawatts. The dealincludes land leases, trans-mission interconnectionrights and provincial envi-ronmental approval.

New protectedarea designatedENVIRONMENT Blue Moun-tain Birch Cove LakesWilderness Area is NovaScotia’s newest protectedwilderness region.

The province made theannouncement yesterdayfor the 1,312-hectareCrown land adjacent toBayer’s Lake BusinessPark. The wilderness des-ignation prohibits any de-velopment, forestry andmining.

The province announcedin 2007 that BlueMountain Birch CoveLakes would be designateda protected area, and thatis now finalized after con-sultation with the public,interest groups and themunicipality.

METRO HALIFAX

News in briefFATAL ACCIDENT A 14-year-oldgirl and a 49-year-old womanare dead following a head-oncollision between two cars onRoute 4 in Cleveland, around9:15 p.m. Monday. A third fe-male teenager was sent to theStrait Richmond Hospital byambulance with what are de-scribed as serious injuries. Thecause of the accident is underinvestigation.

BEAR SPRAY An 18-year-oldhas been charged with assaultwith a weapon and assaultcausing bodily harm after twoyouths were sprayed withbear spray yesterdayafternoon at Cole HarbourPlace. The RCMP arrested the18-year-old a short time laterand the teen will appear inDartmouth court today.

METRO HALIFAX

Cobequid Pass Crash aftermath

Toll booth operator James Mills rests in the QEII hospital in Hal-

ifax from injuries sustained in an accident on Monday, in which

a tractor collided with his booth on the Cobequid Pass. Mills

calls himself lucky to be alive after the incident which injured

three people.

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Tracey and Chris Fralick console their 13-year-old daughter Tamara, who arrived at Halifax Stanfield

International Airport early yesterday morning. Tamara was a passenger onboard CanJet Flight 918,

which was taken over by a gunman in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Sunday evening.

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XKRISTEN LIPSCOMBEfor Metro Halifax

Hijacked passengers come home

PAUL MCLEODpaul.mcleod@metronews.ca

Firefighters, bus drivers on council’s agenda

Hum takes leap, Sportsplex gets studyCouncil notebook

• Rockingham WentworthCoun. Debbie Hum is thenewest councillor to make theleap into provincial politics.Hum will seek the ProgressiveConservative nomination forthe riding of Halifax-ClaytonPark.

Last month theprovincial Liber-als announcedJim Smith,councillor for Al-bro Lake-Har-bourview,would seekthe nomina-tion for theirparty in Dartmouth North.Smith won the nomination at ameeting late last month.• Halifax Regional Councilmoved a step closer to a multi-million-dollar upgrade to the

Dartmouth Sportsplex withouteven needing to do anythinglast night.

Sportsplex operators want tobuild a 47,000 square foot field-house to expand recreationalroom and provide space fortrade shows. It’s projected tocost between $8 and $10 mil-lion, but the first step is a$100,000 study for planning.

The Harbour East Communi-ty Council unanimously ap-proved spending the $100,000.Council was set to debate it yes-terday, but because it fits intothe Community Facilities Mas-ter Plan, the money has alreadybeen worked into the 2009-10budget.

That means the study will goahead unless council choosesspecifically to remove it fromthe budget.

Debbie Hum

“That’sgone backto staff ...and theywill comeback as tohow theybelieve isbest to keepcouncilinformed.”Mayor Peter Kelly

ShareYourViewshalifaxletters@metronews.ca

local 3metrometronews.caWednesday, April 22, 2009

Grant buys more books

Halifax Public Libraries have added more books to the shelves after collecting a $10,000 grant from the Democracy 250 Legacy Fund. Morethan 400 items were added due to the grant. They cover subjects such as politics and government in Nova Scotia and Canada. METRO HALIFAX

Countless people are living again……because someone like Norma gave her permission. Norma O’Shea was a bright, happy person

who loved to help others. Now she’s helping dozens of others live because she chose to be an organ and tissue donor.

Norma’s husband, Pat, and daughter, Katelyn, knew her wishes all along. They had talked about it as a family. That decision gives them great comfort today.

Hundreds of Nova Scotians are still waiting for their turn. Will you be someone who helps?

Please sign up to be a donor on your health card, and talk to your family about your wishes.

Find out how at legacyoflife.ns.ca

Pat, Katelyn and Norma O’SheaWest Bay, Nova Scotia

“It was our privilege to honour her wishes.”

Halifax West High Schoolis slowly climbing its wayup the list of Nova Scotiaschools graded annuallyby the Atlantic Institutefor Market Studies.

“Halifax West continuesto edge its way ever so gen-tly into the top ranks,”Charles Cirtwill, executivevice-president of the localthink-tank, said of the sev-enth such report card re-leased yesterday. “It moved... from probably the bot-tom half of schools backfour or five years ago, andnow they’re sixth overall.”

The Clayton Park schoolscored a solid B+, makingit one of five schools in theprovince to improve bythree grades over fiveyears.

“They’re keeping kids in

schools, (and) they’re do-ing well in terms of gettingthem prepared for thoseprovincial assessments,”Cirtwill said.

Top scoring schools arealso succeeding at prepar-ing students for post-sec-ondary education, he said,one of the outcomes meas-ured on the report card.Other outcomes include at-tendance rates and studentgrades.

Cirtwill said not all Hali-fax area schools are doingas well. Cole Harbour Dis-trict High School is one ofthe lowest schools on thelist with a C grade.

Millwood High School inLower Sackville only man-aged a C+, but Cirtwill said“that’s progress,” since itreceived a C grade lastyear. Charles P. Allen Highin Bedford is the topschool in HRM, with an A-final grade.

Halifax schoolshows bigimprovementHalifax West climbs in rankings

KRISTEN LIPSCOMBEFor Metro Halifax

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Memorial Holocaust victims remembered

Mark Stein reads from a list of Holocaust victims during a remembrance event at Victoria Park in Hali-

fax. Several events throughout the city were held yesterday to honour Holocaust Memorial Day.

Teen chargedafter car chaseCHASE A 16-year-old malewas arraigned in youthcourt yesterday on severalcharges after the driver of astolen vehicle took policeon a short pursuit in Dart-mouth resulting in damageto three police cruisers.

Just before midnightMonday, Halifax RegionalPolice say they spotted astolen vehicle in the northend of Dartmouth wherethe driver failed to stop. Ashot pursuit ensued off Vic-toria Road, with the vehiclestopped on Chappell Streetwhere three male suspectswere arrested.

Before stopping the vehi-cle, police say the driverrammed several policeunits as he tried to flee.There were no injuries.

Const. Jeff Carr of HRPhowever said there was sig-nificant damage done to aDodge Durango police vehi-cle.

The 16-year-old driver isfacing charges ofpossession of stolen proper-ty, fleeing from police anddangerous operation of avehicle. Both passengers,32, are charged with joyriding and will be in courtat a later date.

METRO HALIFAX

News in briefCOMPLAINT Halifax RegionalPolice is investigating acomplaint from an 11-year-oldBedford girl who says she wasasked if she wanted a drivehome by a older male she did-

n’t know while walking homefrom Basinview ElementarySchool yesterday. The incidenthappened between 3 and 3:30p.m., with the girl saying no tothe request police are calling

suspicious and the driver tak-ing off. The suspect isdescribed between the ages of17 and 19. He was driving adark blue convertible.

METRO HALIFAX

Canada

4metro metronews.ca Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Mexican family allowed to stay

A Mexican family currently living in Whitehorse will be allowed to stay in Canada a few more months after federal authorities grantedan extension on a deportation order that would have required them to return to their native country tomorrow. CBC NEWS ONLINE

Liberal leader to take part in Afghanistan discussion

Iggy goes to D.C.Liberal Leader Michael Ig-natieff is off toWashington to take part inan exclusive and high-lev-el discussion on the futureof Afghanistan.

Ignatieff will joinRichard Holbrooke, theU.S. special envoy forAfghanistan and Pakistan,and other diplomats andsecurity experts at aclosed-door, invitation-on-ly meeting tomorrow look-ing at stabilizing the re-gion through measuressuch as negotiating peacewith the Taliban, reiningin Pakistan, shutting downrampant drug productionand closer co-operationwith Russia, Iran and otherneighbouring states.

The Liberal leader is par-ticipating as an interna-tional human rights ex-

pert, said Jill Fairbrother,his spokesperson. But hefeels compelled to attendthis event in particular be-cause of what he perceivesas the absence of the Con-servative government inthe debate about the fu-ture of the war-torn coun-try.

“(He’s attending) thisone because he has some-thing to say and the Cana-dian government hasn’t

been participating in thisdialogue with the U.S., andhe believes we should be,”Fairbrother said.

The Tories have hiredhigh-powered communica-tions operatives, such asformer White House presssecretaries Ari Fleischerand Mike McCurry, spokes-people for George W. Bushand Bill Clinton respective-ly, to land Prime MinisterStephen Harper interviewsthat will let him raiseCanada’s profile in the U.S.media.

But the government re-fused to follow the U.S.lead and name a special en-voy for Afghanistan andPakistan to better co-ordi-nate the future of theAfghan mission, drawingcriticism in many quarters.

TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE

TASER INQUIRY The RCMP, inthe closest it has come toacknowledging any mis-takes, will tell an inquiryinto actions of its officersin the death of RobertDziekanski that “there arethings that they would dodifferently,” says Commis-sioner William Elliott.

The head of the Moun-ties, in his first sit-downnewspaper interview after21 months on the job,made clear he is not con-demning the four officers,especially in light of a re-cent comment by theBritish Columbia’s attor-

ney general that chargescould still be laid.

But it was also clear theRCMP is attempting totake a different approachafter months ofstonewalling and steadfast-ly sticking to the officialversion of events that wasmade public immediatelyafter the Polish immi-grant’s death — that hewas “combative” and offi-cers acted in self-defence— and is now contradictedalmost daily.

“We will make submis-sions to the inquiry,” saidElliott. TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE

RCMP takes new approach Aide says he gavelift to SchreiberINQUEST Brian Mulroneywas so keen to see formerarms dealer KarlheinzSchreiber that his specialaide gave Schreiber a liftto the prime minister’s of-ficial summer residence, apublic inquiry was toldyesterday.

“I recall that meeting oc-curring … because I droveMr. Schreiber to Harring-ton Lake,” Paul Smith,Mulroney’s executiveassistant from 1991-93,testified regarding theJune 23, 1993, meeting.

TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE

BORDER The Canadian gov-ernment moved yesterdayto correct U.S. homelandsecurity chief Janet Napoli-tano after she wronglysaid some of the perpetra-tors of the 9-11 attackshad crossed into the Unit-ed States from Canada.

Public Safety MinisterPeter Van Loan — whomet with Napolitano inMarch — said his aideshad contacted her officeyesterday after she madethe remarks.

“She was well aware atthat time (in March) andunderstood clearly thatnone of the 9-11 terroristscame across the Canadianborder into the UnitedStates ... We confirmedwith her office this morn-ing that she continues tobe well aware of that,” VanLoan told reporters. REUTERS

CanadarebukesU.S. terrorclaims

Don’t boo U.S. anthem: GaineyBob Gainey has appealed to Montreal Canadiens fans to stop booing the U.S. national an-

them. The Canadiens coach and general manager said fans who booed during Star-Span-

gled Banner ahead of Game 3 of their playoff series against the Boston Bruins should find

other ways to voice their support. “I feel like there’s a confusion there with our fans,”

Gainey said. “They feel like booing the anthem is supporting our team, in that the

anthem represents the Boston team.” CBC NEWS ONLINE

Experience

• Ignatieff has first-hand ex-perience of the Taliban’sreign in Afghanistan, havingflown into Kabul on one ofthe first flights after the ul-tra-Islamic movement tookpower in 1997.

Ottawa Pro-Tamil protest

Tamil protesters call for the Canadian government to intervene

in the Sri Lankan conflict during a demonstration near the Cen-

tennial Flame in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa yesterday.

For 16 days, Tamil supporters from Ottawa and other cities

have held demonstrations in the capital.

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News in briefCRIME A decrease in the num-ber of break-ins sparked a dropin the severity of overall crimein a 10-year-period, while theseriousness of violent crimesremained stable, according to

a new report by Statistics Cana-da. The agency used a newcrime index, which trackschanges in the severity of po-lice-reported crime. It assignseach offence a weight. Accord-

ing to the index, overall crimeseverity fell by about 20 percent from 1998 to 2007, drivenby a 40 per cent drop in break-ins, said the report.

CBC NEWS ONLINE

metrometronews.ca

World

5

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Indoor Playground for babies, toddlers and kids up to age 6

405-GROW

155 Chain Lake Dr.,Bayers Lake

onthegrowcentre.com

Venezuelan opposition leader seeks asylum in Peru

Venezuela’s top opposition leader, Manuel Rosales, has fled to Peru to escape corruptioncharges he says are in retaliation for criticizing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. REUTERS

An ANC election poster is seen on public toilets in Kliptown informal settlement a day before the

South African election yesterday.

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Big turnout called forat South African pollsJacob Zuma called for ahuge turnout for SouthAfrica’s election today togive his ruling African Na-tional Congress anoverwhelming mandate inits toughest test since theend of apartheid.

Zuma is expected to be-come president after theballot of 23 million SouthAfricans, but the ANC riskslosing the two-thirds ma-jority in parliament itneeds to change the consti-tution in the face of a new

opposition party formedby ANC dissidents.

“We anticipate a massiveturnout and we expect thatthe people of this countrywill once again give theANC a huge and decisivemandate to work togetherwith them to further im-prove their lives,” he said.

Zuma, who had corrup-tion charges against himdropped this month, de-clined to comment on hispotential cabinet.

Businesses are worried

Zuma may veer away frompolicies credited with de-livering years of economicgrowth because he oweshis rise to forces such asthe trade unions on theleft of the party. Zuma hasgiven assurances there willbe no dramatic change ofdirection.

Opposition parties havebeen trying to capitalizeon growing frustrationwith poverty, crime andAIDS, as well as concernabout corruption. REUTERS

Sri Lankan troops move inon Tamil Tigers, 62,000 fleeCIVIL WAR Sri Lankan sol-diers battled into the lastredoubt of the rebel TamilTigers yesterday as the exo-dus of people fleeing thewar zone reached morethan 62,000, the militarysaid.

The Red Cross warnedthe situation was “nothingshort of catastrophic” andurged both sides to pre-vent further mass casual-ties among civilians, say-ing hundreds had been

killed in the past 48 hours.The military’s noon

deadline for the LiberationTigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) to surrender passedwithout word from theseparatists, who vowed nosurrender hours later.

Sri Lanka’s military, inwhat it dubbed the world’slargest hostage rescue op-eration, went in to keepthe stream of people mov-ing and give troops a clearshot at the LTTE. REUTERS

News in briefNATO Russia yesterday pulledout of a meeting with NATOmilitary commanders set fornext month but said it wouldstick to plans to resume formalpolitical ties, a Russiandiplomat said. REUTERS

Obama nudges Israel on PalestineISRAEL U.S. PresidentBarack Obama nudged Is-raeli Prime Minister Ben-jamin Netanyahu yester-day to accept the goal of aPalestinian state, as hepressed Israel and thePalestinians to “step backfrom the abyss.”

Deepening his role in re-viving peace efforts, Oba-

ma met Jordan’s King Ab-dullah, and set up talkswith Netanyahu, Palestin-ian President MahmoudAbbas and Egyptian Presi-dent Hosni Mubarak.

He seized the chance toreassure Abdullah of hiscommitment to a two-statesolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. REUTERS

metro metronews.ca

Comment & Views

6Wednesday, April 22, 2009

LOCAL

Publisher, Greg Lutes

Managing Editor, Philip Croucher

Sales Manager, Dianne Curran

Distribution Manager, April Doucette

NATIONAL

Group Publisher, Bill McDonald

Editor-in-Chief, Dianne Rinehart

Assoc Mana ging Editor, Tarin Elbert

Enter/Lifestyle Editor, Dean Lisk

Asst Mana ging Editor, Amber Shortt

Art Director, Laila Hakim

National Sales Director, Peter Bartrem

Interactive/Mrktng Director, Jodi Brown

METRO Halifax 3260 Barrington Street, Suite 102, Halifax, NS B3K 0B5; Tel: 902-444-4444; Fax: 902-422-5610; Advertising: 902-421-5824 • adinfohalifax@metronews.ca; halifax_distribution@metronews.ca; News: philip.croucher@metronews.ca

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Happy Earth Day.If you’re lookingfor somethinguseful to do to-day (other than

picking up a free coffee),you might try checking ifyou can see your toes.

It turns out the world’spopulation is getting fat-ter, and that adds to the al-ready heavy load on theplanet, greenhouse gas-wise.

No, the problem is notexcessive flatu-lence, al-though Iexpectthatdoes-n’thelp.Theprob-lem, ac-cordingto British re-searchers fromthe LondonSchool of Hygiene

and Tropical Medicine, isthe fatter we get, the morelikely we are to use ourcars to get around and themore fuel those cars haveto burn to haul our sorrybutts around.

There is no doubt thespecies is increasing inbulk. Between 1994 and2004 in England, the aver-age body mass index (BMI)increased from 26 to 27.3for men and 25.8 to 26.9for women. I regret to re-port that anyone with aBMI of more than 25is considered over-weight, and over30 is obese. InCanada two-thirds of thepopulation is

overweight and one-quar-ter is obese. South of theborder, birthplace of theBig Mac, 40 per cent areobese.

The British researchersestimate one billion leanpeople will emit one bil-lion fewer tonnes of car-bon dioxide a year thanone billion fat people.

So how’s that for an in-centive? Lose weight; savethe planet.

I confess I’ve alreadybeen inadvertent-

ly saving theplanet. I

start-ed los-ingweightthisJanu-arywhen Irealizedtherewas noway Iwas go-ing torun the

Vancouver Marathonin time to qualify for

the Boston Marathon, theHoly Grail of marathons, ifI continued to weigh in ata porky 205 pounds. Sonow I weigh 179, with a

BMI of 24.3. Mother Earthhas yet to send me a thank-you card even though Icheck the mail every day,but I guess she’s prettybusy shouldering the in-creased load.

OK, maybe she won’t no-tice the reduction, butyou’ve got to start some-where. I have to admit Ihaven’t felt this, uh, boun-cy in years. It may not beenough to beat four hoursin the marathon on May 3,which is what I need to doto qualify for Boston, butlumbering around thestreets of Vancouver for 26miles at 205 pounds is nofun. For so many reasons,light is right.

So Canada, I dare you.Take the challenge: Lookdown. No toes? Then it’stime to get off the couch,get out of the car, and putone foot in front of theother. Take a load off Moth-er Earth … and yourself.

Word on the street: In celebration of Earth Day, what’s the biggest lifestyle changeyou’ve made to help the environment?

Adam Travisage 25, Toronto

A: We upgradedto a high-effi-ciency furnaceand air condi-tioner.

SamanthaStrickerage 25,

Vancouver

A: The biggestchange I madewas selling mycar. I use transit,my roller-bladesor I’ll walk.

AmbrosiaMacDonaldage 32,

Edmonton

A: We recycleeverything. Weonly throw awayone bag of trashevery two weeks.

CarolynSladeHalifax

A: I’m trying toremember eachday to drive less… even a littlebit is going tomake a differ-ence.

Christine ThibeaultHalifax

A: We changedour lightbulbs toenergy savingbulbs.

Rob GreenoughHalifax

A: I’m separatingmy trash further,plastics from or-ganics and usingthe organics inour gardening.

TheWestView

PaulSullivan

metronews.ca/thewestview

Lose weight, save planet

Paul Sullivan is a Vancouver-based journalistand owner of Sullivan Media Consulting;

vancouverletters@metronews.ca.

EARTH DAY: APRIL 22

GoGreen

Although the U.S. is pushingthe use of plug-in hybrids,cost and infrastructure hur-dles could keep them out ofthe mainstream for years.

The cars, which sip gaso-line and are low in green-house gas emissions, havelarge batteries which can berecharged at home with anextension cord.

The big batteries allowplug-ins to depend more onelectricity, the use of whichemits less carbon dioxide perunit of energy than petrole-um products do, even if thepower comes from coal, saidDan Santini, an expert at theDepartment of Energy’s Ar-gonne National Laboratory.

The federal government ispushing development ofplug-ins. U.S. Presi-dent BarackObama has seta goal for theU.S. to putone millionplug-in hy-brid cars onthe road by2015. Oba-ma’s stimu-lus plan had $2billion for devel-opment of batteries.

Unfortunately, bigger

batteries are expensive, takefour to eight hours torecharge and have limitedrange, so many owners willwant to charge them athome and at work. Thatmeans a network of charg-ing stations would have to bebuilt for the cars to catch on.

The good news is the U.S.should have plenty of elec-tricity capacity. Mike Waters,an efficiency expert atProgress Energy said a“smart grid,” that can sendinformation from powerplants to customers, couldsoon send pricing signals toplug-in owners to encourage

them to stop chargingwhen peak power de-

mand nears.And though the

hurdles are high,some companiescould clear them asmore cars are built.

“The point is to get (them)on the road so we can seewhere the problems are andmove from there,” Pritchard

said. REUTERS

Worth mentioning

Plug in cars clean, butface many hurdles

EARTH DAY: APRIL 22

GoGreen

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metrometronews.ca

earth day: april 22 7Projects to keep you busy all year

Earth Day Canada has several year-round programs for Canadians of all ages. Programs include EcoKids,ecoMentors, EcoAction Teams and Toyota Earth Day Scholarship. For more, see earthday.ca. EARTH DAY CANADA

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

G GreenEDITOR: MIKE.DEREZYCKY@METRONEWS.CA

Nature has always inspiredmankind. Leonardo Da Vin-ci and the Wright brotherslooked at birds in flight toinspire their flying devices.

In the same way, Swissinventor George de Mestralcreated Velcro in 1948 byanalyzing the burrs stuckto his pants and to hisdog’s fur after a walk in thecountryside.

Today, this science has aname: Biomimicry, a wordcoined by American re-searcher Janine Benyus,who published Bio-mimicry: Innovation In-spired by Nature in 1997.

“Biomimicry, or bio-mimetics, is all about look-

ing to nature for inspira-tion and borrowing na-ture’s blueprints, its chemi-cal recipes and ecosystemstrategies,” says Benyus.

“Why reinvent the wheelwhen we have optimal so-lutions in nature that havebenefited from 3.8 billionyears of field testing andnatural selection?”

This idea actually ap-peals more and more tocompanies that are tryingto find solutions to prob-

lems nature has been deal-ing with since the dawn oflife, such as minimizing en-ergy use and manufactur-ing without toxins.

“The natural world is fullof hints on how to manu-facture in life-friendlyways,” says Benyus.

Nature is full of exam-ples of adaptation, so“when we now talk aboutthe extinction spasm,we’re talking about losingwisdom, ideas that we

would not normally havethought of,” says Benyus.

We can no longer takethis wealth for granted.That’s why the BiomimicryInstitute has initiated aprogram called InnovationThrough Conservation,asking companies to do-nate a percentage of theirproceeds to conserve thehabitat of the species theytook inspiration from.

Biomimicry proves oncemore that the loss of biodi-versity is a lot more thanan animal lover issue.

NADIA LODDO

METRO WORLD NEWS

IN PARIS

Message from Metro CEO Per Mikael Jensen

To our readers,

We are the world’slargest newspaper andwhatever we do can im-pact — every week — 37million people on fourcontinents.

There are things thatonly the world’s globalnewspaper can do. GoGreen is a great exampleand Metro is proud to em-brace such a huge cause.

And what is Metro do-ing to Go Green?

The philosophy behindthe Metro business planlends itself to be moregreen than its paid-for

colleagues. Our aim is toreach as many readers aspossible with the mini-mum amount of copies —as opposed to that of apaid-for newspaper,where the number ofcopies is the key, notreaders.

We print our editionson recycled paper whenwe can — all of our south-ern European editions areprinted on 100 per centrecycled paper — andwhen we can’t, we buypaper from special farmsthat use less water togrow their trees. We arethe news in brief: It takes

us fewer pages to bringyou all the news you needto read. We turn downthe AC and the heat; weput our lights on specialtimers so they shut offwhen they can’t detectmotion.

Additionally, we’ve be-gun to explore cyclingdistribution and test pilotprograms to increase ourreach without printingmore copies.

In addition to our inter-nal and corporate effortsto be greener, as a massmedia outlet, Metro canuse its powerful reach topull together our readers’

will to be green into realaction by providing re-sources, information andcommunities that en-courage a greener world.And our readers are readyto Go Green from acrossCanada, to Santiago, toNew York, to Prague;Metro will be the booster.

Today’s special editionis the first step.

Join us. Go Green withMetro and feel free to jointhe Facebook group ofthe same name.

KIND REGARDS,

PER MIKAEL JENSEN

CEO, METRO INTERNATIONAL

USA and Canada: California may become toohot and too dry to producequality wine. The samegoes for Yakima Valley inWashington. The EastCoast looks as if it couldbenefit. The same goes forBritish Columbia and it’sOkanagan Valley.

South Americas: Both Chile and Argentinaare considered winners.The cooler sea currents inthe southern hemispherewill be to their advantage,and wine growers such asthe well-known MiguelTorres from Spain are buy-ing land here.

Africa: South Africa looks as if itwill suffer less from globalwarming than most places.However, wine growers arelooking to move to themountains.

Australia, New Zealand: Many districts are becom-ing too hot and too dry.Some of the wine growersare moving to mountainousTasmania where the cli-mate is cooler. In NewZealand, Central Otago onthe South Island could be-come the world’s possiblysouthernmost wine district.

Europe:The warmestplaces are introuble. Spainand Portugal arepredicted to bethose most likelyto suffer. Majorwine growerssuch asMiguel Tor-res in Spainare movinginto the Pyre-nees. In dis-tricts alreadyaffected,growers con-template ex-changing theTempranillowith othergrapes moresuited towarmer cli-mates. Italy, too,is suffering, es-pecially

places in the south likeSicily. Some local expertsadvocate irrigation, whichis now banned, to savevineyards in Tuscany forinstance. In France, itlooks as if the west and thesouth will be affected themost. Growers are movinginto higher regions, whenpossible, or buying land inother countries. For in-stance, winemakers fromthe famous ChampagneDistrict in France are mov-ing across the EnglishChannel, buying into thechalky regions of southernEngland. The British Islesare basking in the sun,winemakers are multiply-ing, the same goes for theamount of land taken upby vineyards. SouthernEngland could be theChampagne District of thefuture, some experts pre-dict.

Other countries: Denmark, Sweden, Finlandand other countriesaround the Baltic Sea haveso far only had amateur en-thusiasts involved in wine-making. But now it is be-coming commercial, withsome of the wines actuallyexported to buyers in oth-er countries. However,these countries will possi-bly still be too cool forlarge productions, ratherthey will produce interest-ing quality wine in smallamounts.

Asia: As surprising as it mayseem, China is already theseventh largest wine pro-ducing country in theworld. And some expertshave their eyes on an areanorthwest of Beijing asone of the most promis-ing — wines from hereare already winningprizes at internationalfairs. So get used tonames like Changyu,Dragon Seal, Great Wall

or Dynasty.

SOURCES:

ASSOCIATE

PROFESSOR

AND

CLIMATOLOGIST

GREGORY JONES

Vin-nersand losersThe changing face of wine regions

How nature can inspire design“The natural world is full of hints on howto manufacture in life-friendly ways.”Researcher Janine Benyus

Join in the funMore than six million Canadians are expected to join 500 million people

in more than 180 countries to celebrate Earth Day events and projects to

address local environmental issues. Nearly every school child in Canada

will take part in an Earth Day activity.

EARTH DAY CANADA

earth day: april 228metro metronews.ca Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Try to cut down on items going to landfills

Approximately 70 per cent of the waste found in landfills could be recycled. Try to compost and recycle allappropriate items. Also, attempt to reduce the amount of packaged goods you purchase. EARTH DAY CANADA

Denis Hayes is the manwho made Earth Day aworld phenomenon.When Earth Day waslaunched in 1970, Hayeswas its first co-ordinatorand turned theenvironmental day into aseries of events attendedby 20 million Americans.Twenty years later, Hayeslaunched the first interna-tional Earth Day. Result:

200 million participants in141 countries. Today, heheads Earth Day Network,which co-ordinates EarthDay activities around theworld.

Can the world become green-

er through a

one-day

event?

Of coursenot! Wehave no illu-sions aboutthat. Whatwe were do-ing in 1970was to getpeople fromvery differ-ent quarters to act togetheron problems like lead paintand highway construction.Today, too, people have torecognize thatenvironmental problemsdon’t stop at borders. Weshould start thinking ofourselves as one species.

Has the world become

greener since 1970?

The United States hasbecome substantially

cleaner. We’ve cleaned uprivers and lakes and savedendangered species. Butthe world is in poorershape than it was in 1970,in almost every aspect.

What is Earth Day’s biggest

accomplishment?

1970 to ’74was the gold-en era. Wepassed theenvironmen-tal laws onwhich societystill operates.Since then itsbiggestaccomplish-ment has

been getting millions ofschool children involved.Environmentalism has be-come a part of society. In1970, most people didn’teven think about the envi-ronment. Now, it’s part ofeveryone’s vocabulary.

What will the next

environmental crisis be?

The growing acidificationof the world’s oceans. Ithas devastating effects on

the smallest organisms,which will have tragic con-sequences on the wholefood chain, includinghumans.

What is the most immediate

environmental danger today?

Carbon emissions.

What is the most important

thing people can do to help

the environment?

Have no more than onechild, or two at most. Livein an energy-efficienthouse. Walk and ride yourbike.

ELISABETH BRAW

METRO WORLD NEWS

IN SAN FRANCISCO

The Inter-governmen-tal Panel on Cli-mate Change (IPCC),the scientific body createdby the United Nations toevaluate the risk of climatechange, has shown howstrong an influence scien-tists all over the world canhave on politicians andpublic opinion when theyspeak with one voice. Thiswas proven once again in

2007when the

IPCC shared the NobelPeace Prize with formerU.S. vice-president Al Gore,nearly 20 years after itsbirth.

But what about biodiver-sity? The lack of recog-nized scientific expertisein a field just as vital as cli-mate was underlined in

January 2005 at an inter-national meeting inParis by the then-French president

Jacques Chirac. Over thepast four years, theidea has progressed,and the creation ofwhat will be called theIntergovernmentalPlatform on Biodiver-sity and EcosystemServices (IPBES) is nowonly a question of time. “The IPBES should

work more or less like theIPCC,” says Didier Babin,the researcher who led ne-gotiations until the UnitedNations Environment Pro-gram (UNEP) officially tookover the project in Febru-ary.

Just as the IPCC (which iscomposed of more than2,000 scientists worldwide),the IPBES will not carry outresearch, but will be taskedto publish special reportsthat gather state-of-the-artstudies conducted by recog-nized scientists around the

world. Its main objective isto bring about common in-dicators that will have aninternational scope andwork as a bridge betweenthe distant worlds of sci-ence and politics to makeaction … and fast.

“IPCC and IPBES willprobably also work togeth-er,” says Babin, as there arestructural links betweenbiodiversity and climatechange.

“Think about the rainforests that are immensecarbon reservoirs and atthe same time among theglobe’s major biodiversityhot spots.”

IPBES will certainlyhave a lot to do in the nextfew years. A lot of hope islaid in this new panel thatshould be officiallyopened in 2010, duringwhat the UN has alreadylabelled the “year of biodi-versity.”

NADIA LODDO

METRO WORLD NEWS

IN PARIS

Greetings, EarthlingsFounder of Earth Day comes clean on being green

“In 1970, most peopledidn’t eventhink about the environment.”

Every week, 37 million people in 20 countries read MetroImagine if all of those readers — if all of us — banded together to change the world? What a difference37 million makes ...

RunningthroughthedropsWhen 37 million peopletake a five-minute shower,it only uses 3.5 trillionlitres of water, comparedto a 10-minute shower,which uses seven trillionlitres of water.

It’s exhaust-ingWhen 37 million peopleuse average sedan cars, itemits 2.59 trillion tonnesof CO2 during the lifetimeof their cars, as comparedwith 3.7 trillion tonnes ofCO2 if they used SUVs.

Drive me wildWhen 37 million driversleave their cars at homeand commute togetherwith their spouses/part-ners/neighbours, theycause the emission of 107million tonnes of CO2 an-nually, compared with 214million tonnes of CO2should they decide to usetheir own cars.

Dot-bombWhen 37 mil-lion people donot switch offtheir computers afterwork, they use 37 millionmegawatt hours of electric-ity annually, compared toaround 9.2 millionmegawatt hours if comput-ers and monitors areswitched off after work.

Guess who’s coming todinner?When 37 million people usemodern dishwashers withthe best rating once a day,they would use 666 millionlitres of water, comparedwith 1.5 trillion litres of wa-ter used by less efficientdishwashers.

Flushed awayWhen 37 million people re-furbish their bathroomswith low-flush toilets (sixlitres per flush), each flushuses 222 million litres of wa-ter, compared to old toilets(12 litres per flush), thatwould take 444 millionlitres of water to flush col-lectively.

Watt’s up,doc?When 37 mil-lion peoplechange justone 100-wattincandescent bulb for a 20-watt compact fluorescentlight bulb, giving the sameamount of light, during onehour they would be using740 megawatt hours of ener-gy to receive the same light-ing, compared with 3,700megawatt hours with theregular bulb.

TV starsWhen 37 million people un-plug their TV sets (1 wattstandby) while going tosleep, they would save296,000 kwh per day.

DANIEL DENISHUK

METRO WORLD NEWS

IN POLAND

World moves toward an IPCC in biodiversity

Denis Hayes speaking at the

first Earth Day event in 1970.

When 37 millionpeople share their

newspaper

(approximately 0.3 kg

of paper), they save

85,248 trees

Pass it on!

Bio bias

9earth day: april 22metrometronews.caWednesday, April 22, 2009

Washing in cold water can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Use cold water to wash your clothes. If every household in Canada did this, it would reduceapproximately 1.5 billion kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions each year. EARTH DAY CANADA

Go Green

At the heart of theoceans, areas as big asFrance, maybe more, arecovered in garbage.

The most famous ofthese is the Great GarbagePatch, discovered in thelate 1990s in the North Pa-cific Ocean between theUnited States and Asia. Butit seems that another sev-en similar patches may ex-ist, according to Seattleoceanographer Curtis Eb -bes meyer, one of the firstscientists to take interestin the strange routes ofplastic trash in the sea.

In his new book, Flotsa-metrics and the FloatingWorld: How One Man’sObsession with RunawaySneakers and RubberDucks RevolutionizedOcean Science, Ebbesmey-

er explains his “science offloating objects,” or “flot-sametrics.”

By observing trash onbeaches, such as Nikes orrubber ducks, he identi-fied several circular cur-rents, or gyres, which,like whirlpools, bring to-gether all the plastic andother solid garbage thatends up in the seasaround the world.

Eb besmeyer says thepatches of debris may cov-er a surface “equivalent toseveral times the UnitedStates.”

However, the garbage

patches are still unrecog-nized and neglected be-cause they are basicallydifficult to see.

“From a boat, you startseeing everyday objectslike toothbrushes andplastic bags on the out-skirts of the vortex,” ex-plains François Chartier,director of the oceanscampaign at GreenpeaceFrance, the organizationthat revealed the exis-tence of the Great Gar -bage Patch to the media.

“When you approachthe centre of the patch,the trash is thicker and

some birds have actuallystarted nesting on it.”

But from the sky, evenfrom satellites, there is“nothing to be seen,” saysEbbesmeyer. “It’s liketracking a ghost!”

Invisible plastic? Not re-ally. The fact is that mostof the pieces are quite see-through, like plastic bags.Others are fractions ofbigger pieces of plasticthat have disintegrated in-to bits as small as plank-ton.

“In the middle of thepatch, there is six timesmore plastic than plank-

ton,” Ebbesmeyer says. This accumulation of

plastic in the oceans is aserious menace for the en-vironment and for humanhealth.

“Dolphins suffocate onplastic bags, birds can dieof hunger because theirstomach is so full of undi-gested plastic that theycan no longer eat,” saysChartier.

But plastic also containstoxins (PCBs, heavy met-als) that are harmful tohumans and that are as-similated by plankton andother fish, which end upin the ocean’s food chain,and, consequently, in yourseafood chowder.

NADIA LODDO

METRO WORLD NEWS

IN PARIS

More plasticthan planktonOur oceans are covered in patches of garbage as big as a continent

“From a boat, you start seeing everyday objects like toothbrushes and plastic bags on the outskirts of the vortex.” François Chartier, oceans campaign director at Greenpeace France

Their are numerous warn-ing signs that global warm-ing is affecting the Earth aswe know it.

Here are some examples:Adélie penguins

Global warming is affect-ing the Adélie penguincolonies in the Antarcticpeninsula. Over the last 50

years, wintertemperatureshave risen byabout 5 C inthe penin-sula, re-ducingtheamountof packice. Packice di-

rectly af-fects the

availabilityof algae

available for krill, the mainstaple of the penguin’s diet.Without pack ice, there isno algae and no food forkrills — a direct repercus-sion on the penguin’s diet.In the last decade, the pop-ulation of Adélie penguinshas declined by almost 50per cent.

SOURCE: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

BeesScientist Albert Einstein

famously said: “If the beedisappears from the surfaceof the Earth, man wouldhave no more than fouryears to live. No more bees,no more pollination … nomore men!”

Excessive pesticide use inNorth America has led to adecline of up to 50 per centof managed colonies ofhoneybees.

Crops such as apples,pears and berries dependentirely on pollinators forfruit production.

SOURCE: BUMBLEBEE.ORG

Coral reefsCoral reefs provide goods

and services worth about$375 billion each year —yet the coral ecosystem cov-ers less than one per cent ofthe Earth’s surface.

In fishing, both the foodand marine ornamentaltrade are often caught us-ing cyanide, which stunsfish for easy capture.Cyanide kills the coral andmany other coral reef or-ganisms such as coralpolyps. Less than half thefish caught with cyanidesurvive long enough tothen be sold to restaurantsor aquariums.

SOURCE: PEOPLEANDPLANET.NET

ROMINA MCGUINNESS

METRO WORLD NEWS

IN LONDON

Canariesin globalcoal mine

earth day: april 2210metro metronews.ca Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Composting can cut down on household waste

Composting can reduce your household waste by approximately 50 per cent. Designate a small household container or bucketfor your food scraps and dump the contents into your backyard composter or green bin daily. EARTH DAY CANADA

Go Green

What would we do with-out worms?

“When we talk aboutbiodiversity, we never real-ly mention worms,” saysDenis Loyer, deputy direc-tor of the French Develop-ment Agency (AFD). “Butthey actually have an es-sential role in producingfood.”

Without worms, therewould be no fertile lands.Worms are actually onesingle long digestive tube.Feeding on organic waste,they end up excreting apowerful natural fertilizer.That’s how compost heapswork!

If pesticides can beharmful to these hard-working animals, it is sur-prising to discover thatwhat is really bad for themis working the land.Worms are killed by birdsand by the lack of food,while UVs finish the job bydestroying all other micro-scopic life in the soil.

“The difference is enor-mous: Where land islaboured, you can find upto 50 kilograms of wormsper hectare against two tofour tonnes on non-laboured agricultural ex-ploitations,” says Loyer. To-day, many soils are biologi-cally dead, with no morethan one per cent of organ-ic substance.

Chemical fertilizers feedplants but do not rebuildthe natural capi-tal ofsoils.Moreover,worms digtunnels inthe landthat allowwater topenetratedeeply in-stead of wash-ing awaywastefully —or worse, caus-ing floods. Thisis why a non-laboured agricul-ture is beinghailed as the fu-ture solution tofeeding the world.

“A project wehave in Tunisia shows thatthe farms are just as effi-cient, but have reducedcosts thanks to less labourand less chemicals. More-over, in dry countries,stocking water in the soilis very important,” addsLoyer. “This kind of agri-culture is growing by 15per cent per year.”

That’s good news,and not only forworms. As a matter offact, some climatechange experts be-lieve these shy creatureswill also be on the frontline tackling climatechange.

One worm may be likeDavid against the climateGoliath, but spread themaround the world, and youget a result that may equalthe benefit of stopping de-

forestation.How?

“Organic substance is ba-sically carbon, so like treesstock carbon as they grow,increasing the quantity oforganic substance in soilswill develop their capacityto sequestrate carbon,”

says Loyer. And we all know there’s

no one that can do thatbetter than worms.

NADIA LODDO

METRO WORLD NEWS

IN PARIS

Worms provide vital services to mankind such as workingland … and fighting against global warming

“When wetalk aboutbiodiversity,we neverreally mentionworms.”Dennis Loyer

Most of us see trees, gar-dens, maybe evensome fields or a riverduring our daily com-

mute. Even in the busiest city,we can enjoy some contact withnature. Whether we live in agreat rain forest or an urbanapartment, our livelihoods —and our lives — depend onkeeping the planet’s biodiversi-ty in good shape.

The truth is, we’ve spent our natural capitallike there’s no tomorrow and now we’refaced with the bill. Just as irresponsible bor-rowing and spending got us into the present

economic recession, so we’ve been piling up ecolog-ical debt by consuming and wasting more and morenatural resources. If you think the economy is inbad shape, take a look at the planet.

WWF’s Living Planet Report tells us thatthree-quarters of us live in countriesthat are ecological debtors — using upresources faster than nature can replace

them. If we carry on consuming at our current rate,by 2030 we’ll need the equivalent of two planets tomaintain our lifestyles. Over the past 35 yearsalone, we have squandered nearly one-third of theEarth’s biodiversity. Not only is this hugely damag-ing for the environment, but it doesn’t make anyeconomic sense. One recent report estimates thatforest ecosystems alone are worth around $28billion a year — and a lot of that money is literallygoing up in smoke.

As we increasingly worry about jobs andmortgages, we may be tempted to ignorethe bigger picture. But Amazondeforestation, hungry polar bears and over-

fished tuna are a challenge for all of us, becauseprotecting natural resources means better food andwater security, better human health and a betterchance of fighting climate change.

The good news is — we know what needs to bedone and we can afford it. We have a uniqueopportunity to use the trillions of dollars instimulus packages to create a green global

economy that could lift us out of recession, protectnatural resources and tackle global warming. Thefirst step is to agree to a fair, fast and effective glob-al deal on climate change in Copenhagen thisDecember. Then, in 2010 — the International Yearof Biodiversity — the UN must lead the rest of theworld in taking bold steps to reduce consumptionand stop biodiversity loss within 10 years.

Earth Day is a good time to think about ourshared responsibility to consume and sustainthe planet’s natural resources wisely — afterall, it’s in our own interest.

“The truth is, we’ve spent ournatural capital like there’s notomorrow and now we’refaced with the bill.”

Martin AtkinWWF International

Small creaturesdo great things

Look after the planet — and look after yourself

Darwin & worms• British naturalist CharlesDarwin should be remem-bered for more than his the-ory on the evolution of thespecies. The last book hepublished in 1881 showshow, by many means, hewas ahead of his time. WithThe Formation of VegetableMold Through the Action ofWorms, he opened thedoors of science to a seemlyinsignificant species: Theworm. He had friends andscientists send him samplesof worm waste to analyzethe benefits of this organicfertilizer. He took his jobvery seriously and also stud-ied their behaviour — heeven played the piano tothem to test their hearing.Worms are actually deaf.

11

metrometronews.caWednesday, April 22, 2009

BusinessEDITOR: FERMIN.DESOUZA@METRONEWS.CA

EastLink expanding:Persona customers inOntario and Quebec willnow receive their com-munications and enter-tainment services underthe EastLink brand. Small businesses targetonline marketing:A survey of Nova Scotiasmall-business ownersrevealed that more than40 per cent plan to spendthe bulk of their market-ing dollars in the nextyear online. This couldinclude building web-sites and using social me-dia-marketing sites likeFacebook and blogs. Call centre to lose client:A North Sydney call cen-tre is expected to lose aclient at the end of May.Michelle Steinmeyer, Up-source vice-president ofoperations, broke thenews to workers Mon-day.

Get the full stories delivered to

your inbox every morning.

Sign up today for the

DAILY BUSINESS BUZZ

nsbj.ca

The DAILYBUSINESS BUZZ

Hilton gets subpoena over Starwood spying claims

Hilton Hotels Corp. said yesterday it received a federal grand jury subpoena for documents related to allegations that thecompany stole documents from rival Starwood Hotels & Resorts to develop Hilton’s luxury Denizen Hotels. REUTERS

Interest rate cut to 0.25%Bank of Canada surprises markets with record-low reductionThe Bank of Canada tookmarkets by surprise by cut-ting its benchmarkinterest rate to a historiclow of 0.25 per cent yester-day and saying it was pre-pared to keep them therefor another full year in anaggressive bid to spur aslumping economy.

The central bank, in anunusual move, told mar-kets directly to expectrates to stay at the currentlevel until the end of thesecond quarter of 2010, as-suming inflation remainstame.

It also cut its economicgrowth forecasts to reflectits view that the Canadianrecession will be deeper

than it had previously pre-dicted. It now sees recov-ery starting in the fourthquarter of this year andnot the third quarter, as itpredicted in January.

Nonetheless, it suggest-ed that the cumulative ratecuts it has made since De-cember 2007 may be suffi-cient to help turn the econ-omy around, and that itmay not have to print

money to buy securities inthe market, a policy calledquantitative easing.

It will, however, set out aframework tomorrow forthat kind of unconvention-al policy.

“It is the bank’s judg-ment that this cumulativeeasing, together with theconditional commitment(to keep rates steady), isthe appropriate policy

stance to move the econo-my back to full productioncapacity and to achieve thetwo per cent inflation tar-get,” the bank said in astatement.

A majority of primary se-curities dealers had expect-ed rates to hold steady.

“Committing to keeping(rates) there for the nextyear is quite a startling rev-elation,” said Aron Gam-pel, deputy chief econo-mist at Scotiabank.

“I think that they are try-ing to engineer confidencein Canadian householdsand businesses that inter-est rates are going to staylow for the foreseeable fu-ture.” REUTERS

“I think that they are trying to engineerconfidence in Canadian households andbusinesses that interest rates are going tostay low for the foreseeable future.”Aron Gampel, Scotiabank

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France Continental workers raging

An employee of Continental tire factory looks at the guard post that was attacked by workers in

Clairoix, France, yesterday, after learning that an attempt to block the planned closure of their

plant in court had failed.

Track sale boosts CN RailPROFIT A gain from a tracksale and other itemshelped Canadian NationalRailway Co. post a higherquarterly profit on Mon-day, offseting the impact ofthe weak economy.

The railway remainsleery of predicting whenthe economy will rebound,but said operationalchanges adopted in recentyears were reflected inlower expenses in thequarter and will help evenmore when freight trafficrebounds.

The railway said it had anet profit of $424 million ,

or 90 cents a share in thefirst quarter. That com-pared with $311 million,or 64 cents a share, in thesame quarter a year earlier.

The profit would havebeen $302 million withoutone-time items such as a$157-million gain fromselling a rail corridor tothe Toronto area’s transitoperator and a tax recov-ery, the railroad said.

CN said revenue in thequarter was $1.86 billion,down from $1.93 billion, asthe sagging economycaused car loadings to drop16 per cent. REUTERS

Euro zone sees recovery aheadECONOMY The economiccrisis may be at its worstnow and a recovery couldfollow unless downsiderisks materialize, eurozone countries are likelyto tell a Group of Sevenmeeting on Friday, a G7source said.

The source also said themeeting in Washingtonwas likely to declare thatthe G7 would do whateverit takes to stabilize the fi-nancial system, were someunexpected disaster tohappen.

REUTERS

In briefGAINS Oil prices climbed intopositive territory yesterday,tracking gains on Wall Street asOPEC-member Iran said thecartel may need to restrict sup-plies further to thin downbrimming global stockpiles.

REUTERS

metro metronews.ca

Sports

12 Hasek back with Czech team

Dominik Hasek is coming out of retirement to play for his former club in the top Czech league. The 44-year-old goaltender will play next season for HC Moeller Pardubice in the town where he was born and started his career. Hasek will be the oldest player in the league. METRO NEWS SERVICES

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

EDITOR: JOHN.CHICK@METRONEWS.CA

Playhouse Disney!Two FREE concerts with one of

Canada’s top children’s performers

Celebrate Music with

Saturday, May 2nd

FREE! 11am & 3pm Mic Mac Mall visit PlayhouseDisney.caBell TV Channel 549

Jack Grunsky Featuring Songs Like:

Happy Day Siyanibingelela

Bynum under Rihanna’s umbrella?Various gossip sites and bloggers are reporting that Los Angeles Lakers centre

Andrew Bynum is currently dating singer Rihanna. “The couple dined in Bev-

erly Hills. When they left together, a witness reports that they looked

‘very couple-y, sitting real close to each other in the car.’” said a report

on The Big Lead. METRO NEWS SERVICES

NHLSTANLEY CUP PLAYOFFSYESTERDAY’S RESULTS

Carolina 4 New Jersey 3 Detroit 4 Columbus 1Pittsburgh 3 Philadelphia 1Vancouver 3 St. Louis 2 (OT)San Jose at Anaheim

TONIGHT’S GAMESBoston at MontrealWashington at N.Y. RangersChicago at Calgary

NBAPLAYOFFS

YESTERDAY’S RESULTSCleveland 94 Detroit 82 Houston at PortlandUtah at L.A. Lakers

TONIGHT’S GAMESPhiladelphia at OrlandoMiami at AtlantaNew Orleans at Denver

MLBYESTERDAY’S RESULTS

Texas 5 Toronto 4N.Y. Yankees 5 Oakland 3Pittsburgh 3 Florida 2Cleveland 8 Kansas City 7Minnesota at Boston PPDChicago White Sox at BaltimoreDetroit at L.A. AngelsTampa Bay at SeattleMilwaukee at PhiladelphiaAtlanta at WashingtonCincinnati at Chicago CubsL.A. Dodgers at HoustonN.Y. Mets at St. LouisColorado at ArizonaSan Diego at San Francisco

SCOREBOARD

LeBron, Cavs goup 2-0 on PistonsNBA LeBron James scored29 points and Mo Williamsadded 21 as the ClevelandCavaliers withstoodDetroit comeback for a 94-82 win last night to open a2-0 lead over the Pistons inthe Eastern Conferenceplayoffs. Delonte Westscored 20 and Zydrunas Il-gauskas 12 for the top-seeded Cavs, who built a29-point lead in thefourth, but allowed thePistons to get within sevenlate. METRO NEWS SERVICES

NBA

2009 Playoffs

Sports in briefNBA Magic centre DwightHoward was named NBA Defen-sive Player of the yearyesterday. At 23, Howard is theyoungest player to win theaward. METRO NEWS SERVICES

Marc-Andre Fleury had anoutstanding game with 45saves as the PittsburghPenguins took a 3-1 winover the Philadelphia Fly-ers in Game 4 of the East-ern Conference quarter-fi-nals at Wachovia Center.

Sidney Crosby, TylerKennedy and Maxime Tal-bot each had a goal for thePenguins, who now hold a3-1 lead in this best-of-seven series. Pittsburghhas a chance to win the se-ries tomorrow in Pitts-burgh.

Red Wings 4, Blue Jackets 1

Chris Osgood was terrificbetween the pipes again,making 31 saves, and Hen-rik Zetterberg scored twiceas Detroit defeated the

Blue Jackets, 4-1, to grab acommanding lead in theirWestern Conference quar-ter-final series. Dan Clearyregistered a goal and twoassists and Tomas Holm-

strom also tallied for theRed Wings, who have wonthe first three games andwill look to complete thesweep tomorrow inColumbus

Hurricanes 4, Devils 3

Jussi Jokinen tipped inDennis Seidenberg’s pointshot at the third-periodbuzzer to lift Carolina overNew Jersey, 4-3, and tie theseries at two games apiece.

With the game tied atthree in the final minuteof regulation, Joni Pitka-nen had the puck near theblue line and sent a pass tothe right point. Seidenbergblasted a shot with onlyseconds on the clock, andJokinen, providing ascreen on Devils goal-tender Martin Brodeur,redirected it into the net asthe buzzer sounded.

METRO NEWS SERVICES

Pens put Flyers on the brinkSTANLEY CUP

2009 Playoffs

Sidney Crosby celebrates his second period goal last night.

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For recaps of the Canucks/Blues and Sharks/Ducks

series, visitmetronews.ca

metrometronews.ca

sports13Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Tillman enters not-guilty plea

The general manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders has pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual assault. Eric Tillman was not at theprovincial courthouse in Regina yesterday, but his lawyer, Aaron Fox, entered the plea on his behalf. METRO NEWS SERVICES

With another season com-ing to a close, Sarah Con-rad has inched a step clos-er to the 2010 WinterOlympics.

The Dartmouth snow-boarder went out with abang in 2009, finishing withthree consecutive podiumfinishes, including a Cana-dian half-pipe title in Apriland a bronze medal at an FISWorld Cup event in Italy inMarch.

She also placed fourth at aWorld Cup in Stoneham,Que., which earned her crit-ical Olympic qualifyingpoints.

Conrad, who went to the2004 Olympics in Turin, willneed another top-five finishto guarantee a spot in Van-couver, but even withoutthat, there isn’t muchdoubt.

“My chances are lookingpretty good right now, actu-ally,” Conrad said. “I’mdoing the numbers in myhead and we could probablysend at least three half-pipegirls. I’m pretty much topson the list with that fourth-place in Stoneham.”

Conrad, who bruised hertailbone in January andneeded to wear impactshorts all winter, got off to aslow start with a 12th-placefinish at the world champi-onships in Korea. But onceFebruary rolled around —the same time of year theOlympics will be held — shestarted to round into form.

She was particularlyhappy with a third-place fin-ish at Roxy Chicken Jam inMammoth, Calif., on March29, an event that featuredsome of the sport’s best.

“The momentum startedgoing after the world cham-pionships,” Conrad said. “Allthose events back-to-backwas super-cool to do reallywell in. They were really funtimes.”

Conrad will stay inSquamish until mid-May,then travel to Mammoth,Calif., to continue her train-ing for several weeks. She’lltake a brief vacation to NovaScotia in June and then it’sall business as she preparesfor 2010.

Said Conrad: “The biggestchallenge is pushing myselfwithout injuring myself,going as hard as I can with-out going too hard, peakingat the right time for theOlympics.”

MATTHEW WUESTmatthew.wuest@metronews.ca

Julian Radlein is not a typ-ical environmental ac-tivist. He is a six-foot-two,245-pound former full-back with the HamiltonTiger-Cats who was adeptat crushing opposing line-backers. But he’s also oneof Canada’s leading advo-cates for environmentalawareness.

Radlein enjoyed a five-year career with Hamiltonfrom 2003 to 2007. Dur-ing this time, he was ac-tive in the Hamilton envi-ronmental community.His involvement rangedfrom encouraging peopleto eat locally to perform-ing an environmental au-dit at Ivor Wynne stadium.Radlein credits his inter-est in the environment toearly exposure.

“My dad was a chemist,

so I grew up with scienceand a respect for the envi-ronment. I studied ecolo-gy at UBC. I like to thinkof myself not as an envi-ronmental activist, butmore as a survivalist.Clean air, water and soilare essential to sustaininglife.”

After retiring from theCFL last year, Radleinformed Evergreen SportsProgramming with formerSaskatchewan RoughriderDustin Cherniawski.

The company focuses ondelivering an environmen-tal message by using foot-ball players as theirspokespersons. The key-stone activity of theircompany is the Green-Zone Sustainability Blitz

— Speaker Series. “We focus on three pil-

lars of sustainability: Re-duce, reuse and recycle,”said Radlein.

B.C. Lions linebackerJavier Glatt spent his off-season presenting the Sus-tainability Blitz programto schools across B.C. Glattfeels the high-energy ac-

tivities of the programhelp to make it popularwith children of differentages.

“We always start with apep rally where the wholeschool comes together.There are environmentalgames that have studentscompeting against theathletes. We have a water

relay, energy challengeand waste relay. It is fun-ny how the students al-ways seem to win.”

Glatt tries to deliver hismessage in a language thestudents understand.“When I speak to schoolsin Vancouver, I always askthe students to imagine ifthey could not see themountains due to smog.Also, I talk about the im-portance of clean air andfresh grass for things likerecess. When you starttalking about recess beingin jeopardy, all the stu-dents immediately listen.”The GreenZone Sustain-ability Blitz is currentlybeing presented in B.C.,Alberta and Ontario.

Former CFL player tackling climate changeSTEPHEN JOHNSONfor Metro Canada

EARTH DAY: APRIL 22

GoGreen

Former CFL fullback Julian Radlein started Evergreen Sports

Programming after he retired from football.

• For more on theGreenZone SustainabilityBlitz, check it out online atgreenzonechallenge.com.

On the web

Soaring towards Vancouver

Sports in briefQMJHL The Memorial Cup-hostRimouski Oceanic are on thebrink of elimination in theQMJHL semifinals. Rimouskilost 6-4 to the DrummondvilleVoltigeurs last night and trailthe best-of-seven series 3-0. Inthe other semifinal, the Shaw-inigan Cataractes grabbed a 2-1series lead over the QuebecRemparts with a 4-1 win.

CANOE-KAYAK Waverley kayak-er Shaun Fair and CheemaAquatic Club coach Mike Ker-rivan have been named recipi-ents of the 2009 Petro-CanadaFueling Athlete and CoachingExcellence awards. Theprogram provides $8,000 infunding for training to 50Olympic and Paralympic hope-fuls.

METRO HALIFAX

Conrad’s results

• 12th — World champi-onships, Korea (Jan. 23)• 2nd — Burton CanadianOpen, Calgary (Feb. 8)• 13th — World Cup, Cy-press (Feb. 14)• 4th — World Cup, Stone-ham, Que. (Feb. 24/25)• 16th — World Cup, Spain(March 14)• 3rd — World Cup, Italy(March 21)• 3rd — Roxy Chicken Jam,Mammoth, Calif. (March 29)• 1st — Canadian champi-onship, Mont Tremblant,Que. (April 4)

Strong performances bolster Sarah Conrad’s chances of returning to Olympics

The word is out thatthe NHL’s next out-door game willtake place next sea-son at Fenway Park

in Boston. And with it,comes complaints from uphere that the league isavoiding holding one inCanada.

Yet the reason is simple. At this moment, there is

only one outdoor stadiumin this entire nation thatseats more than 40,000 peo-ple — Commonwealth Sta-dium in Edmonton, thevery field that hosted theNHL’s first outdoor venturein 2003.

While it might make youfeel warm and fuzzy toimagine NHLers taking theice at Montreal’s PercivalMolson Stadium or Toron-to’s BMO Field, these gamesaren’t staged to make theleague feel warm and fuzzy.They are staged to maxi-mize profit.

Some corners have saidthe Ottawa Senators couldplay a game on the RideauCanal. My advice to themwould be to not smoke mar-ijuana before making sug-gestions for where the Ot-tawa Senators play outdoorgames. A frozen waterwaywith 40,000 temporary met-al seats? That’s even moretemporary seating thanmost Grey Cup games.

JohnChick

metronews.ca/sports

Dartmouth native Sarah Conrad competes during qualification for the FIS Snowboard World Cup

on Feb. 13 at Cypress Mountain in West Vancouver, B.C.

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Few places in Canadacould hostNHL outside

John Chick is Metro Canada’s sports editor.john.chick@metronews.ca

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Disney and Metro have a convenient truth for you: for every ticketpurchased during the opening week of EARTH, being released

across North America on Earth Day (April 22), a tree will be planted in your honour.

"We couldn't think of a better way to launchthe new Disneynature banner, and tocelebrate the spirit of the film and Earth Dayat the same time," says Dick Cook, chairman

of The Walt Disney Studios.

Trees will be planted in the BrazilianAtlantic Forest which, at only 7

percent of its original capacity, isconsidered the most endangered

rain forest in the world. Disney is overseeing their

planting and care, and Metro iscontributing advertising space

to support the program.

For more information, includingticket availability at your localtheatre, visit disney.com/earth.

On April 22, Disney will celebrate Earth Day with thepremiere of the first film in its Disneynature series.Narrated in thrilling detail by James Earl Jones, EARTH

follows the journeys of three animal families as they interact withthe ever-changing world around them.

On a group of Nordic islands is where you’ll meet the polar bears.The world’s largest land predators travel hundreds of miles forsomething to eat, yet they don’t drink water. A male ventures far tohunt as a mother emerges from a snow den with her two cubs. Thepack ice melts earlier each year, and food is becoming a challenge.

To visit the next family, you’ll travel far south as an elephantmother guides her tiny calf across the Kalahari Desert in search offresh water, of which an adult can drink 50 gallons each day. In thisdry season, however, thick clouds of dust threaten to separatethem, and they are forced to share what little refreshment theyfind with hungry lions.

Finally, you’ll witness an epic 4,000-mile migration. In tropicalwaters, a humpbacked whale calf receives over 600 quarts of milkeach day, but its mother is starving. The pair set out on the longestjourney undertaken by any marine mammal to the southernmostAntarctic waters to feed on krill and small fish before they turnaround and journey back to the Equator.

The supporting cast of this story includes, among over 40 otheranimal species, some painfully adorable mandarin ducklings who,at their mother’s urging, fling themselves 30 feet from their nest tothe ground. Will they fly? Will they bounce? You’ll just have to waituntil Earth Day to find out…

To check out more exclusive and super-cute behind-the-scenes footage ofthe film’s three main families, visit disneynature.com/earth.

Seeking to capitalize on the recent success of naturedocumentaries, Disney looked back at its own long-dormantTrue-Life Adventures division—which not only garnered eight

Academy Awards from 1948 to 1960, but also fostered fondmemories for generations of schoolchildren—to inspire the firstDisney-branded film label in over 60 years.

“Nature invents the most beautiful stories,” says Jean-FrançoisCamilleri who, besides having been involved with the AcademyAward-winning film March of the Penguins, is executive vicepresident and general manager of Disneynature. “So in a place likethe Disney Studios, where storytelling is key, we are going to goand… bring them to the big screen. This was a vision of Walt Disneyback in 1948, and this is the vision of Disneynature today.”

For its first film, EARTH, the Disneynature teamlooked no further than directors AlastairFothergill and Mark Linfield, the creative teambehind the Emmy Award-winning Planet Earthseries, for assistance. “I think EARTH is a perfectfilm to start the Disneynature series… because itis a portrait of the whole planet,” Fothergillasserts. “In over five years‚ we filmed at over200 locations in 64 countries worldwide and

employed 60 cameramen… Nobody in the history of cinema hasever had so much time, resources, and talent brought together forone true-life feature.”

Disneynature is developing numerous titles concurrently and plansto release at least one feature-length documentary each year.Oceans, slated for 2010, will rely on new technology to capturedetailed underwater drama where few have previously ventured.Big Cats, to be released in 2011, follows three species as theyprotect and teach their cubs on the great plains of Africa. And thedirectors of EARTH will reunite for 2012’s Chimpanzee, shot overthree years in the tropical jungles of the Ivory Coast and Uganda.

To find out more about the Disneynature brand or to downloadeducational materials, visit disneynature.com

Nature, Disney-StyleDisneynature revives tradition of documentary excellenceBy Lori Dance

Trees for TicketsPlant yourself in front of EARTH, andDisneynature will plant a tree on EarthBy Lori Dance

Three Families,One EARTHDisneynature’s first film explores theanimal kingdom from pole to poleBy Lori Dance

Director Alastair Fothergill

INFORMATION FEATURE INFORMATION FEATURE

Nature invents the most beautiful stories“ ”

ONLY IN THEATRES

STARTS TODAY

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors,

we borrow it from our children. ~ Native American Proverb

�

metro metronews.ca

16Wednesday, April 22, 2009

EDITOR: KUMAR SAHA, KUMAR.SAHA@METRONEWS.CA

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Toyota Prius reinvented

I’m standing on the gas,the pedal flat to the floorand that’s where it’sgonna stay, fuel economybe damned.

We’re leaving the flats ofthe Napa Valley, spiralingup into the Mayacamas,trees and rock face blur-ring past, engine moaning,tires gripping nicely, onlythe occasional peep-peep-peep of traction and stabili-ty control warnings as I gointo a hairpin corner toohot, you know, one ofthose corners where you al-most have to look behindyourself to see whereyou’re going. Then, backon the gas and we are claw-ing towards yet anothercurve on the mountainroad.

And, no, you’re not read-ing the wrong story.

This is the 2010 ToyotaPrius, the third and latestgeneration of the fuel-effi-cient, low-emissions hybriddear to the hearts of the14,000 or so environmen-

tally-sensitive Canadianswho have bought one sinceits introduction a decadeago.

To build a car that ap-peals to a broader audiencewhile staying true to the

environmental expecta-tions of the faithful, over2,000 engineers worked ona product that boasts a longlist of firsts along withmore than 1,000 patents.

The 2010 Prius starts onthe MC platform sharedwith Scion XB. The previ-ous Prius had all the soul-less enamor of a scienceproject — econo car trap-pings and no-nonsensetrim topped by a utilitarianlittle shifter sticking awk-wardly out of the dash.

The 2010 Prius is a dri-ver’s car, with true cockpitfeel courtesy of a raisedconsole in “freeform geo-metric design”, mounting ahandsome little shifterthat’s so cute you just wantto hang onto it. The layoutis complemented by asporty oval steering wheel,push button start, newgraphic displays, soft touchpadded materials, morecomfortable seating and aleaf pattern grain textureon dash, door panels andfabric.

But enough about looks,let’s get to the meat of thematter.

The Prius’ Hybrid Syner-gy Drive is ninety per centnew for 2010. Unlike mostother hybrid vehicles avail-able, Prius has always beena “full” hybrid, allowing itto run on engine alone, bat-tery alone, or both.

The powertrain improve-ments start with a bigger1.8-litre DOHC gasoline en-gine. Other improvementscome with the new engine,a lighter electric motor andgenerator, improved cool-ing to components, morecompact battery packag-ing, a lighter transaxle, animproved CVT transmis-sion and, importantly forCanada, an exhaust heat re-covery system that was

winter-tested in Timmins,Ont., and that proved toprovide quicker warm-upand better cold weather fu-el efficiency.

The net result? Twenty-two per cent more powerand seven percent less fuelconsumption. The 2010Prius is rated at 3.8L/100kmcombined, better than the previous model’s4.1L/100km rating.

Hybrid aims to win hearts without compromising green thinking

NissanroadsterunveiledDEBUT The 2010 Nissan370Z roadster made itsglobal debut at the recentNew York auto show,wowing visitors with itsclassic open-air sports carlooks.

The roadster shares itsengine, transmissions,suspension, platform andmost major componentswith the coupe.

The cutting-edge tech-nology includes the stan-dard 332-horsepower 3.7-litre DOHC V6 engine andchoice of 7-speed automat-ic transmission or close-ra-tio six-speed manual withavailable SynchroRevMatch — the world’s firstsynchronized downshiftrev matching manualtransmission.

“The 370Z Roadster de-livers the same exception-al performance offered inthe Coupe and more re-finement than any other Zconvertible that has comebefore,” said Jeff Parent,vice president of sales andmarketing, Nissan CanadaInc. “Features such as itsone-touch, auto-lockingconvertible top and beau-tifully crafted interiormight be unexpected in acar this sporty.”

The Z(R) Roadster is ex-pected to be available inCanadian Nissan dealer-ships in late summer.

METRO NEWS SERVICES

EARTH DAY: APRIL 22

GoGreen

2010 Toyota Prius

Type: Mid-size hybrid sedanPrice: Not availableEngine: 2ZR-FXE 1.8-litre VVT-IDOHC four-cylinder with elec-tric motor assist (134 hp / 105lb-ft of torque).HP: 3.7/4.0/3.8L/100km(city/hwy/comb)

ROB BEINTEMAfor Metro Canada

The 2010 Toyota Prius has

more room, more power, and, of

course improved fuel efficiency.

The new 2010 Prius really sets itself apart with a totally revised

and handsome driver-oriented layout.

Canadian student car winsA student team from Laval University in Quebec topped more

than 500 students from North and South America to win the

2009 Shell Eco-marathon Americas. The team took the grand

prize in the prototype division, with a combustion-engine ve-

hicle that achieved 1,172.2 km per litre.

METRO NEWS SERVICES

To build a car that appeals to a broaderaudience … over 2000 engineers workedon a product that boasts a long list offirsts along with more than 1,000 patents.

metrometronews.ca

metro drive17Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Fun heart of Soul

One of several new boxycars coming out, this newKia is not just full of soul,it’s stylish and it’s also ahuge amount of fun.

The Korean carmaker’scompact SUV is its mostdistinctive design yet andset to be a trailblazer forthe brand.

New design director andAudi TT designer PeterSchreyer has produced astriking car with faux-4x4

credentials. It has boxylooks along the same linesas the Nissan Cube, HondaElement and Scion xB, is

high off the road and it al-so offers the same in-townpracticality as a 4x4, but isobviously cheaper to buyand far more economical— and ecological — than areal off-roader.

There’s a selection of funcoloured exteriors andoriginal interiors — includ-ing a dogstooth pattern.There are three special edi-tions including the Divaand Samba, but it’s theSoul’s Burner that’s thebomb — this bad boycomes in black with redhighlights, a dragon design

on the outside, hot blackwheels and a flashy redand white interior.

This model also has abrilliant feature — redlights in the speakers thatflash in time with the mu-

sic you’re listening to. These things are essen-

tial for the type of driverthat Kia expects to appealto, a young, urban crowdlike you, who will want toferry their friends around

and maybe not mind somuch that the boot won’tfit more than one babybuggy. It all adds to the funexperience of driving thiscar — it feels solid, but isalso nippy and agile.

Kia impresses with new compact SUV

EMMA E FORRESTMetro World News

• Wallet-friendly, eco-friendlyoff-roader• Fun to drive

2010 Kia Soul

Type: Compact SUVPrice: from $15, 495Engine: 1.6 litreHP: 124 bhp

Highlights

Metro Global Motoring

Editor Emma E Forrest poses

with the 2010 Kia Soul

At first blush thejust-releasedMercedes-BenzSLR StirlingMoss might not

appear to be the ideal sub-ject to discuss today ... to-day being Earth Day.

Some of you might evensuggest that such an ex-travagant vehicleshouldn’t even be built inthe first place. Well, yousort of have your wish, be-cause they’re only making75 of them. There, happynow?

But everyone and every-thing has a part to play inmoving towards moreEarth-respectful humanmobility — even, surpris-ingly, a $500,000-plussports car that can onlycarry two people andabout 18 minutes worth ofluggage.

The part played by this,and the other models inthe SLR range (roadsterand coupe), is advancingthe use of carbon fibre in“mass produced” produc-tion vehicles.

Carbon fibre is incredi-bly strong and stiff for itsweight. As such, it’s be-come the material ofchoice for suchthings as hockeysticks, tennisand bad-minton rac-quets, andnow bicyclesframes. (Iplay a bit ofhockey andbadminton, sowhen they get

around to making a beerbottle out of the stuff, I fig-ure my leisure time will becarbon-fibre complete.)

Its strength comes fromthe way it’s made —strands are layered and wo-ven together in specificpatterns, and each timeout, it’s done differently, toprecisely fit the task athand. Not dissimilar to theway Mother Nature goesabout building her stuff.

But such a customizedand fussy process, addsmuch cost and time. Andthe raw material for car-bon fibre is already waymore expensive than alu-minum or steel.

The SLR is unique notonly because its body pan-els are made of carbon fi-bre, but also its super-structure. This body shellis made by McLaren — thesame firm that buildsMcLaren F1 racing cars. F1is where all the big enve-lope pushing gets done,when it comes to carbon fi-bre and four wheels.

Mercedes and McLarenhave developed materialand process systems tospeed up both the creationand assembly of carbon fi-bre components. The teamtook their cues from thetextile

industry, as some of the au-tomated systems resembleweaving machines.

High heat areas, such asengines and exhausts, willalways be made of metalfor the foreseeable future,but how about everythingelse?

In an email interview,James Banks, Mercedes’body function manager,said, “It is quite feasiblethat small structural partscould start appearing onproduction cars within thenext few years … Personal-ly, I believe carbon fibrecrash systems and class Abodywork are the two ar-eas of the automobile thatare likely to see the biggestadvances in the comingyears.”

When this does happen,it will be another exampleof trickle-down technolo-gy, in the constant pursuitto make all cars safer andlighter and more fuel-effi-cient.

And if you have to buildsomething high, to get thenecessary gravity, youcould do worse than thisgorgeous SLR, built as ahomage to the original SLRthat racing legend, StirlingMoss, which famouslydrove to a succession ofvictories in 1955.

AutoPilot

MichaelGoetz

metronews.ca/autopilot

Michael Goetz has been writing about cars andediting automotive publications for more than20 years. He lives in Toronto with his family and

a neglected 1967 Jaguar E-type.

“Carbon fibre isincredibly strongand stiff for itsweight.”

Mercedes-Benz SLR

Stirling Moss

Carbon fibre catching on

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metro drive19Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Porsche thrillsfor the people

When Porsche announcedit was pulling out of mostmajor auto shows, includ-ing February’s CanadianInternational Auto Showin Toronto, it causedwaves in the industry.

In an effort to thrillwould-be customers intobuying, the company de-cided to throw its fullweight behind its WorldRoadshow, a travelling cir-cus of Porsche vehicles andpersonnel that providesthe ultimate test drive.

While this is the road-show’s 11th year, it’s beingheld in Canada for the firsttime. The event kicked offlast week at the Mosport In-ternational Raceway nearToronto and is scheduled toend this Friday.

The goal is to run 350prospective buyers througha one-day program, in thehope, as one official put it,of spreading “the Porschevirus.”

The program involvesdifferent activities, rangingfrom performance testinga 911 Turbo Cabriolet, tousing a Cayman S or Box-ter S around a slalomcourse, to off-road drivingwith a number of Cayennemodels, and, of course, lap-ping Mosport’s challenging

four-km circuit. The machines in use to

pound around the roadcourse are a great mix ofmodels, from a basic-but-focused 911 C2S with sport-chrono package and six-speed manual, to a more re-laxed 911 Targa 4 with PDK,Porsche’s new twin-clutchautomatic gearbox.

There was a full-on track-oriented Cayman S withbody-hugging one-piecesport seats, PDK and car-bon brakes that was a realfavourite on media day,while the bright-copper

Cayenne GTS at the taildidn’t hold anyone up,with the large SUV easilyhitting 190 km/h up theAndretti Straight.

“The Porsche WorldRoadshow is a large, ambi-tious event,” said JasminRawlinson, Porsche Cana-da’s director of marketing.

“Experience with theroadshow in other coun-tries has proven the bestway to sell Porsches is toput people behind thewheel. This way, they expe-rience for themselves justwhat makes our vehicles sospecial.”

Porsche Canada is hop-ing for to attract a goodnumber of orders from theevent, especially as“eighty-plus per cent of thepeople sent to the eventhave never owned aPorsche before,” LauranceYap, public relations man-ager for Porsche Canada,explains.

MARK ATKINSONfor Metro Canada

The Cayenne was among Porsche’s fleet at the World Roadshow.

Porsche Canada allowed its would-be customers to test drive its models at the World Roadshow.

“(People)experience for themselves justwhat makes our vehicles so special.”Porsche Canada’s Jasmin Rawlinson

Daimler testing car2goTESTING Daimler is bring-ing its innovative mobilityconcept to the U.S. by thefall of this year.

The first internationalpilot will start in the Texascapital Austin with an ini-tial fleet of about 200 fuel-efficient smart fortwo cars.

Called car2go, it providesa simple, flexible, and cost-effective solution for citydriving. The U.S. introduc-tion coincides with the ex-pansion of the pilot in Ulm,Germany, where the com-pany opened the service tothe public on March 26 af-ter the internal test whichstarted last October.

The car2go concept isbased on a fleet of Smartfortwo vehicles which areavailable for rent to regis-tered members at anytime, 24/7, making citydriving as easy as using amobile phone.

Contrary to traditionalcar-sharing programs,car2go offers the freedom

to get in a car and drive atany time of day without re-serving a car in advance.

The vehicle can then beused for as long as re-quired and returned to any

available parking locationwithin the defined area ofoperation, a mobility solu-tion offering maximumflexibility.

FROM CARGUIDE

Daimler will bring its innovative mobility concept to the U.S. by

the fall this year with an initial fleet of about 200 fuel-efficient

Smart fortwo cars available for rent to members.

metro metronews.ca

metro drive20Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Metro News and Kool 96.5 want YOU to weigh in on the city’s coolest places to eat, party, shop – you name it! Go to metronews.ca or kool965fm.ca to register your choice for this month’s category:Metro’s Koolest Shoe Shop!One lucky player will win a prize pack valued at over $100!

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Keep on trucking2009 Silverado Hybrid paints the pickup green

There will always be a sun-rise.

There will always be anEngland.

And there will always bepickup trucks.

Sure, truck sales are offbut an interesting thing ishappening south of the bor-der, and to a lesser extenthere. Pickup truck sales (butnot SUVs) are on the up-swing.

As soon as the price offuel started to drop, Ameri-cans began buying pickupsagain.

So it turns out it’s thecost of fuel, not vehicleprice, that’s a determiningfactor in truck purchasing.

And, frankly, whenPrime Minister StephenHarper’s federal infrastruc-ture money starts flowing,people won’t be haulingwallboard and cementmixers to the job site inHonda Civics. They’re go-ing to need a pickup.

However, there is stillthe uncertain cost of fuel.So the question is whetheror not you can have yourpickup cake and eat it too.

General Motors is alonein offered a full-size hybridpickup that can tow up to6,100 lb and get up to9L/100 km on the highway.I know because I did it.

GM’s green trucks are

based on the 2-Mode Hy-brid System currentlyfound in the GMC Yukonand Sierra, Chevrolet Tahoeand Silverado (tested here)and Cadillac Escalade.

This is a “full” hybridsystem, in that it can oper-ate on electric power, gaso-line power or a combina-tion of both for a claimedsaving of up to 25 per cent.

While the GM Hybridsystem is one of several af-fordable hybrid technolo-gies, it is the most adapt-able for large vehicles. Infact the 2-Mode hybrid sys-tem was adapted and re-fined from the hybrid tech-nology GM has used in citybuses since 2003. It is nowthe first hybrid system

used in a full-size SUV.The Hybrid’s drivetrain

is the sum of three maincomponents, each ofwhich works together toprovide seamless, econom-ical and comfortable oper-ation that goes virtuallyunnoticed by the driverand passengers.

The components are anElectrically Variable Trans-mission (EVT), an EnergyStorage System (ESS) andthe Vortec 6.0-litre Gen IVV8 engine with Active FuelManagement (AFM). TheAFM allows it to run on on-ly four cylinders for light-energy demands.

At all times, the 2-ModeHybrid system collectstorque-based data, deci-phers it, and then deter-mines the most fuel-effi-cient means of propellingthe vehicle.

This results in a number

of ways to save fuel suchas: engine off at idle; elec-tric-only propulsion to 48km/h in light load condi-tions; electric boostingduring acceleration blendswith engine power to savefuel; cutting off fuel to theengine during vehicle de-celeration; active fuelmanagement cylinder de-activation technology; andregenerative braking andengine speed and load con-trol.

My tester was what youwould call an ExtendedCab “working truck” withcloth interiors and hardplastic trim.

The Silverado Hybrid hasa fuel rating of 10.5L/100km (27 mpg) city and9.8L/100 km (29 mpg) high-way.

JIM ROBINSONfor Metro Canada

• Affordable hybrid systemfor a pickup• Many standard features

2009 Chevy Silverado2-Mode Hybrid

Type: Full-size SUVPrice: Base, $50,875. As test-ed, $52,445 including $1,300shipping feeEngine: 6.0-litre, DOHCV8/electric motor (332 hp,367 lb/ft)

Highlights

EARTH DAY: APRIL 22

GoGreen

Putting brakeson teen drivers

Ford’s MyKey will be a standard feature on the 2010 Focus.

When your teenager takesout the family car, you maynot always know where heis. But thanks to Ford’snew MyKey system, you’llhave a better idea of whathe’s doing.

Debuting on the 2010 Fo-cus and planned for severalmore models, MyKey is a no-charge standard feature thatlimits the car’s top speed,prevents the traction con-trol from being disabled,chimes warnings at pre-setspeeds, encourages seatbeltuse, and caps the volume onthe audio system. It worksthrough the message centrein the instrument cluster,and is invisible to driverswho don’t want to use it.

Parents program keysthrough the ignition, turn-ing them into “MyKeykeys.” These trigger thepre-set system whenthey’re used to start thecar, limiting what the vehi-cle will do.

One key always remainsthe “administrator,” and isused to program others; italso lets parents operatethe vehicle without limits.The MyKeys can be wipedclean or reprogrammed atany time, if desired. Anymicrochipped key can be-come a MyKey, whetherit’s one of the keys thatcomes with the car, or pur-chased from the dealer.

Starting the car with aMyKey always triggers

three automatic defaults.The regular seatbelt re-minder chimes, but thestereo won’t work until thedriver has buckled up, aswell as any front-seat pas-senger. The low-fuel warn-ing comes on at 120 km toempty, rather than the usu-al 80 km notice. And if thevehicle is equipped withspecial safety features suchas Park Aid or the newBlind Spot Information Sys-tem, these can’t be disabledby the driver.

Beyond those, parentscan also program in speedalert chimes at 72, 88 or105 km/h; the inability todisable the traction control;a limit of 44 per cent of thestereo’s volume; and a lim-ited top speed of 130 km/h.

“Buckle up, watch yourspeed, and turn down theradio are the three thingsparents ask,” said KerriStoakley, Ford’s communi-cations manager Stoakley.“So mom and dad mightgive more seat time withthe system. It’s a good re-minder to children thatthey need to drive safely.”

“Buckle up, watchyour speed, andturn down the radioare the three thingsparents ask.”Ford’s Kerri Stoakley

The 2009 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid

full-size SUV saves up to 25 per cent

on fuel consumption.

metrometronews.ca

metro drive21Wednesday, April 22, 2009

gling with a little torquesteer only under the hard-est acceleration, pullingthe MKS’ somewhat porky

1872 kg (4127 lbs) of curbweight satisfactorily up tospeed with a burly back-ground roar. Fuel economy

numbers vary according tosources but we’ll go withthe optimistic CanadianEnerguide ratings of12.9/8.8L/100km(city/hwy).

After almost a hundredyears of automotive his-tory, it’s easy to equateLincoln with luxury.Which carries its owndangers of design inertiaand hidebound tradition.But Lincoln designersseem to be aware that“tradition should be aguide, not a jailer.” Espe-cially in the face ofincreased competition inthe premium class.

Lincoln continues to tryto reinvent itself to appealto a younger audience anda wider swath of the mar-ketplace.

It’s not an easy process.It requires the compromiseof pleasing your regularfans with the familiar,while simultaneously try-ing to attract new buyerswith novelty and innova-tion. The latest end resultof that blended process —the 2009 Lincoln MKS.

Central to the design, astriking double-wing grille,playing on Lincoln’s tradi-tional waterfall grille mo-tif, angles to the jewel-

styled headlamps thatwrap around the ventedfront fascia and flow into asharp crease along thehigh beltline.

That high beltline is em-phasized by the sweep ofwindshield, the elevatedrear deck, and the deepseating and high consoleinside the car.

In a new age of tall wag-ons, CUVs and othercrossover hybrid styles, theMKS sits and feels verymuch like a traditional car,still typically North Ameri-can in style and spirit. But,then again, this ain’t exact-ly Grandpa’s Lincoln.

A full suite of very mod-ern available technologiesincludes:

• SYNC, a hands-free, voice-activated hands-free in-carcommunication and enter-tainment system developedby Ford and Microsoft. Thesystem integrates Blue-tooth-enabled cellphones,your iPod, or other digitalmedia players. • Intelligent Access withPush Button Start — a firstfor Lincoln — allows thedriver to unlock the vehi-cle with the fob or touchthe heat-sensitive keylessentry pad on the B-Pillarand start the engine with apush-button on the instru-ment panel.

As tested, my front-wheel-drive model be-haved civilly enough, wrig-

Lincoln MKS tries younger look

• Full suite of moderngadgetry• Luxurious but trendy

2009 Lincoln MKS

Type: Full-size premiumsedanPrice: from $47,799Engine: 3.7-litre Duratec V6(273 hp, 270 lb/ft)

Highlights

ROB BEINTEMAfor Metro Canada

The 2009 Lincoln MKS is

taking the brand’s design

DNA into a new era.

A palette of available interior

colours and a long list of stan-

dard equipment are all found

inside the 2009 Lincoln MKS.

Golf, FCX Clarity honouredAWARD The all-new Volk-swagen Golf edged out theToyota iQ and the Ford Fi-esta to bag the 2009 WorldCar of the Year title at theNew York InternationalAuto Show last week.

The sixth generationGolf made its first appear-ance at the Paris MotorShow last fall, and was un-veiled in North America atthe Canadian InternationalAuto Show in Toronto thisFebruary.

The new Golf will becoming to Canada this fall

as a 2010 model.Honda’s FCX Clarity took

home the eco-friendly hon-ours in New York as it wasnamed the 2009 WorldGreen Car.

The FCX Clarity, a sleek-ly styled hydrogen fuelcell-powered sedan cur-rently available on a limit-ed lease-basis, is poweredby an electric motor thatruns on electricity generat-ed by an on-board fuel cellstack.

The vehicle’s only emis-sion is water, and its fuel

efficiency is up to threetimes that of a moderngasoline-powered automo-bile and two times that of agasoline-powered hybridvehicle.

The World Green Carawards were inauguratedin 2003, and officiallylaunched in January 2004,to reflect the reality of theglobal marketplace, aswell as to recognize andreward automotive excel-lence on an internationalscale.

METRO NEWS SERVICES

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis poses with Honda’s FCX Clarity.

metro metronews.ca

Travel

22Wednesday, April 22, 2009

TRAVELDESK@METRONEWS.CA

ABSOLUTETRAVELSPECIALISTS.COM

Aztec exhibitThe British Museum in London will launch an exhibition

called Moctezuma: Aztec Ruler on Sept. 24. One of the

feature objects will be this turquoise mosaic and cedro

wood mask from Mexico, which dates from the 15-16th

century AD. Visit britishmuseum.org. REUTERS

NYC: The Real Deal

Through June 30, New York City visitors can get a buy-one-get-the-second-one-half-off deal at more than 100 businesses and organizationsincluding museums, tours and attractions, arts and entertainment venues, nightlife spots and spas. See nycgo.com/realdeal. METRO NEWS SERVICES

If a rugged wildernesswith golden eaglessoaring overhead and ex-pansive mountain rangessounds like a setting that’sonly on offer in NorthAmerica, maybe it’s timefor you to experience thenatural magnificence ofrural Scotland.

Your adventure shouldstart in London when youboard the CaledonianSleeper train. This over -night train is a magical ex-perience — you step on atLondon’s hectic EustonStation, have a few beersin the bar carriage as youpass though England, putyour head down in yourcozy bunk, and whenyou’re woken up with acup of tea at 6 a.m., youfind yourself in the wide-open Scottish countryside.

Our destination was For-est Lodge, a Victorian-era

hunting lodge on theAtholl estate in Perthshire,in the heart of Scotland.The estate is also home toBlair Castle, which comescomplete with suits of ar-mour and hallways full ofantlers, and is base to Eu-rope’s only private army,the Atholl Highlanders.

We got out in pictur-esque Pitlochry — wherewe had to wait for the localtaxi company to deliverkids to school before driv-ing us 40 minutes throughthe snow to the lodge.

Forest Lodge is likesomething out of anAgatha Christie movie, ahuge white house nestledin the crook of the valley.Inside there are comfort-able bedrooms, a diningroom with a banquet tablefor 20, a huge kitchen witha larder, and a living roomwith plump sofas, tartancurtains and an open fire.

There’s even a gun roomand a drying room whereyou can air your wet coat

and your walking boots af-ter a romp round the coun-tryside. This is an aristo-cratic weekend withoutthe price tag — the cost ofaccommodation and foodis small when shared, andthere’s nowhere to squan-der your hard-earned cashon fancy restaurants, ex-pensive pubs or silly sou-venirs.

There is no mobile

phone reception, just anancient payphone with acrackly line, so you areforced to completelyswitch off.

It pays to plan ahead —there’s no way to pop outfor milk here. Calculatewho’s cooking what andyou can have exactly whatyou need delivered by localgrocers Tilt Stores. We ar-rived to find a larder burst-

ing with fresh fruit, vegeta-bles, meat reared on localfarms, wine, and evensome welcome snacks in-cluding shortbread andtablet, a sweet and tastytype of Scottish fudge thathits the spot when you’vejust hit the one of the localsummits.

Deer hunting is a popu-lar activity here — it’s alsoessential for controllingnumbers — but we chose adaily hike up the moun-tains instead.

Armed with an Ord-nance Survey map thatmarks every contour ofevery elevation, we set offto conquer the nearbymunro, the name for aScottish mountain with aheight over 910 metres.Hiking fanatics call it“munro bagging” as theytry to tick all 284 munrosoff their list, but one wasmore than enough for usnovices. The two-hour trek

to the top is rewarded witha plateau with mountainsstretching for as far as theeye can see.

As well as eagles andgrouse, there were flashingwhite tails of mountainhares darting away, and ahuge herd of deer led up aridge by a stately stag sil-houetted against a radiantpink sunset.

After all that fresh air,it’s time for for haggiscanapés in the lounge,then a four-course banquetof smoked salmon, locallamb and pudding fol-lowed by port and cheese.

It would be difficult toleave this place at the endof the weekend, were itnot for the fact that goingback to London is also partof the adventure — after afull day admiring icicles inthe river of the glen, wehad another night of sleep-er-train fun to keep us ingood spirits.

Exploringthe Scottishcountryside

EMMA E. FORRESTMetro World News

Left, on a riding adventure on the Atholl estate in Perthshire. Right, a view of Blair Castle.

Nature a magnificentbackdrop to getaway

Rural retreatThe Lodge

• Book Forest Lodge throughAtholl Estates. There arelodges sleeping different num-bers, all work out to around$130 each for three nights;atholl-estates.co.uk.Getting there

• Book the Caledonian Sleep-er from London at sco-trail.co.uk. You can get a dis-count for a group booking (for

about $270 a head), or keepan eye out for the “bargainberths” — each month 1,200single tickets are releasedfrom £35 apiece.Food delivery

• Local grocers Tilt Stores willsource whatever you need,from fresh produce to wineand locally-sourced meat, tel.01796 481 206.

METRO WORLD NEWS

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From Halifax RegionalFrom Halifax RegionalFire and EmergencyFire and Emergency

On the occasion ofOn the occasion of

Volunteer WeekVolunteer WeekApril 19-25, 2009April 19-25, 2009

A Special Thank You To All Our

Volunteer Firefighters

A Special Thank You To All Our

Volunteer Firefighters

metro metronews.ca

travel24Wednesday, April 22, 2009

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BUYING A NEW HOME?Read New Homes every Thursday.

Only in Metro.

From the tops ofMachu Picchu, tothe rose-red rock ofPetra’s canyon-likeSiq, to the divinely-

inspired churches of north-ern Ethiopia, there areplenty of places on earththat inspire. If you’re look-ing for a holiday with a spir-itual element, here are afew suggestions:

Korean retreatLive like a monk at the

Lotus Lantern InternationalMeditation Centre. Locatedtwo hours from Seoul, this12-year-old Buddhist tem-ple was designed for for-eigners looking to study thereligious philosophy of ZenBuddhism. Visitors sleep ontraditional Korean cots,wake up at the crack ofdawn (3:45 a.m., to be ex-act), slip into itchy greytraining suits, eat simplefood, wash their own dish-

es and meditate manytimes a day.

Sun rise in NamibiaBordering South Africa

and Botswana, Namibia iswhere the Atlantic Oceanmeets the desert, andwhere rich wildlife and tra-ditional African culturemeet some of the world’smost stunning sunrises. Apopular tourist activity isclimbing up Dune 45, oneof Namibia’s many naturalsand castles. The hikealong the ridge isn’t easy,but it’s all worthwhile

when you see the sun’swarm, orange light illumi-nate the 80-million-year-oldNamib Desert.

Get enlightened in IndiaRishikesh, a holy city in

northern India, is a placemany travellers go to findthemselves. It’s a wildlypopular spot on the banksof the Ganges River thatdraws Hindu pilgrims, new-age hippies, young Israelibackpackers and wiseBabas who spend their daysin the lotus position. Locat-ed some 200 kilometres

from Delhi, this self-pro-claimed yoga capital of theworld is packed with medi-tation centres, ash rams,Ayurvedic massage par-lours, vegetarian rest au-rants and spiritual commu-nities. With its nightly cere-monies along the river andvibe of collective spirituali-ty, there’s something magi-cal about Rishikesh.

Fountain of youthFor a look at the cradle ofIncan civilization and ataste of her sacred waters,head to Isla del Sol on theshores of Bolivia’s sacredLake Titicaca. On the southend of the island, walk up200 steps to a sacred springthat’s said to be the foun-tain of youth. A sip of thewater is not only refresh-ing, it’s an important partof Incan tradition. Lake Tit-icaca is also the highestnavigable body of water inworld — which means youmay have difficulty differ-entiating between yourown spiritual enlighten-ment and good old-fashionaltitude sickness.

TheTravelJunkie

JuliaDimon

metronews.ca/traveljunkie

Julia Dimon is co-host of Word Travels airing on OLN; juliadimon.com.

Rishikesh, a holy city in northern India, draws Babas, such as the

one above, Hindu pilgrims and tourists looking for meaning.

JULIA

DIM

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A selection of spiritual journeys

The Strip’s big gamble

CityCenter, a $9 billion development that was to become a 67-acre mini-metropolis of condominiums, hotels,shops and casinos in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip, is facing a funding crunch and an unclear future. REUTERS

metrometronews.ca

25Wednesday, April 22, 2009

EDITOR: DEAN.LISK@METRONEWS.CA

Earth hits big screen

Filmed at the same timeas the BBC series PlanetEarth, Alastair Fothergilland Mark Linefield’s Earthis a remarkableachievement of naturedocumentary filmmaking.

The movie is filled withthe beautiful cinematogra-phy that defined PlanetEarth even if it isn’t quiteas intellectually satisfying.

It is impossible to watchEarth without comparing itto its predecessor, andwhile the confines of a 90-minute movie funded byDisney prevents the film-makers from capturing thedepth of the series, this isstill an impressive compan-ion piece that demands tobe seen on the big screen.

The longer running timeand family-focus of this fea-ture forced the filmmakersto construct a narrative outof the footage captured forEarth. Fothergill and Line-field have structured theirfilm around three familiesof animals (polar bears,

whales, and elephants) em-barking on epic journeysacross their natural habi-tats.

The narrative deviceworks, but limits what thefilmmakers are able to ex-plore thematically and theanimals are given humanqualities in a manner thatcreates unfavorable com-parisons to March Of ThePenguins. It’s an outdatednature documentary tech-nique that hurts the filmever so slightly, but can

probably be attributed toDisney’s involvement inthe project and not thefilmmakers.

Despite a questionablestorytelling device, Earth isstill a remarkable achieve-ment. The stunning highdefinition photographythat sold countless copiesof Planet Earth Blu-rays re-ally comes alive on the bigscreen.

This is a film that simplymust be seen in a theaterand will hopefully find a

wider audience than mostnature documentaries.James Earl Jones’ command-ing voice provides the nar-ration that links the movietogether (oddly PatrickStewart narrated the moviein Europe, but not here) andjust might cause audiences

to burst into applause whenhe utters “the circle of life.”

Though hardly perfectand less impressive than it’ssmall screen predecessor,Earth is still a wonderfulfilm sure to please familyaudiences tired of the usualZac Efron tripe.

PHIL BROWNfor Metro Canada

EarthDirector: Alastair Fothergill,Mark LinefieldStars: James Earl Jones and avariety of cuddly animalsClassification: GRating: 111

A male Superb Bird of Paradise displays its feathers to attract a

mate in the new documentary Earth.

New doc an impressive companion piece to BBC series

Screen times

• Bayers Lake: Wed 1-3:30-9:20 Thu 1-3:30-7-9:20• Dartmouth Crossing: Wed-Thu 12-2:25-4:45-7-9:30

• Times are subject to change.Complete listings are alsoavailable at metronews.ca/movies.

EARTH DAY: APRIL 22

GoGreen

Foot ChaseGossip Girl star Chace Crawford is

apparently ready to star in a remake

of Footloose, but the producers are

having trouble scheduling it around

the filming of his television

work. EONLINE.COM

Quick recovery for Madonna

Don’t worry about Madonna, who fell off a horse in the Hamptons over the weekend. Her trainer Tracy Andersontold Usmagazine.com that the singer will be back in the gym today. USMAGAZINE.COM

Entertainment

26entertainment

Celebrity Buzz

metro metronews.ca Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Baby on way for Gruffudd

Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd, who starred in Fantastic Four, and his English wife, actress Alice Evans, areexpecting a baby, his rep confirms to People. This will be the first child for the couple. METRO NEWS SERVICES

CAREER Lindsay Lohanhas sparked rumoursshe’s signed on toappear in a newtopless Las Vegasstage act, female-first.co.uk re-ports.

The star, 22,reportedly flewto Sin City onSaturday toattend thegrandopeningof sexy

striptease produc-tion Peepshowand meet withits creator,

Broadway di-rector andchoreogra-pher JerryMitchell.

FormerSpice GirlMelanieBrownkicked off

her stintin theshow

lastweek,which

features celebrities in ro-tating lead roles.

According to Fox News,Lohan is in talks withMitchell to take over fromactress Kelly Monaco whenthe star leaves the show toreturn to U.S. soap operaGeneral Hospital.

A spokesperson for Lo-han had not returned re-quests for comment.

Lohan has seen her act-ing career almost disap-pear in the last 12 months,with her last movie, IKnow Who Killed Me, uni-versally panned; Lohan’sperformance garnered hera Razzie. METRO NEWS SERVICES

Lindsay goes burlesque? Mel’s lover keepssteamy sex diary?RUMOUR The womanclaiming to be MelGibson’s mistress, Russiansinger Oksana Pochepa, re-portedly keeps a diary ofall her sexual activity —and isn’t shy aboutsharing it.

“She once showed methe diary and I could bare-ly believe it,” a source tellsthe Sun. “Sex is the mainthing for her.” It’s been re-ported that Gibson’s wifefiled for divorce aftersteamy pictures of her

husband andPochepawerepub-lished.

METRO

WORLD

NEWS

JT and Jessicastill togetherRELATIONSHIP Ever sinceJustin Timberlake wasspotted “very much actinglike a single guy” at KateHudson’s star-studded30th birthday party overthe weekend, according toUs Weekly, rumors havebeen swirling that he andgirlfriend Jessica Biel havesplit up.

But friends of the couplesay that couldn’t befurther from the truth.“They have not split,” asource says, according toHollyscoop.

Another adds: “Thingsare very good with them.

They do thingsseparately

sometimes.”METRO

WORLD NEWS

Kanye’s nakedpics no shoe adSCANDAL The pictures ofKanye West and his nakedgirlfriend, Amber Rose arenot for a Louis Vuittoncampaign, as originallythought, femalefirst.co.ukreports.

Last week, the rapper’spersonal images surfacedon the Internet, with re-ports quick to suggestthat it was part of West’scampaign for his range ofLouis Vuitton sneakers.

However, according toThe Cut, sourceshave con-firmed tothemthat theimagesarenot

part of any campaign forthe fashion house.

West’s desire to ditchmusic for designing seemsto be gaining momentum

in the fashionworld though,

as he ap-peared at arecord num-ber of showsaround theglobe duringFashion

Week season. METRO NEWS

SERVICES

Farrah’s son exaggerates: PalPEOPLE Farrah Fawcett’sbest friend Alana Stewarthas dismissed claims madeby the actress’ son incourt, telling a judge hismom’s cancer problemshad reduced her to a skele-tal 86 pounds, female-first.co.uk reports.

Redmond O’Neal madethe shocking claim incourt last week during ahearing stemming fromdrug charges against him,but Stewart insists the 24-year-old is mistaken.

She tells people.com,“Farrah is not 86 pounds.Redmond is young andoverreacted a little. Farrah

has lost weight, but notthat much.”

Stewart has revealedFawcett is planning to payback O’Neal’s father — herex Ryan — for all hissupport by hosting a68th birthday partyfor the actor onMondaynight.

Stewartadds, “Ryanhas really beenthere for Far-rah in such awonderfulway.” Shealso insistsher can-

cer-stricken pal is on thepath to recovery followinga hospital stay at the begin-ning of the month.

She explains, “Ijust saw her ... She

had colour in herface and wastalking andlaughing.”

Fawcettwas admittedto a Los Angeles

hospital for in-ternal bleed-ing not di-rectly relatedto her cancer.

METRO NEWS

SERVICES

Swayze ‘kicking butt’ILLNESS Whoopi Goldbergtells usmagazine.com hercancer-stricken Ghost co-star Patrick Swayze is “do-ing the best he can.”

“He’s kicking butt,” shesaid. “And, you know, he’ssick. And he, likethe rest of us,doesn’t knowwhen it’s goingto happen — be-cause it will hap-pen, that he is go-ing to go — but hedoesn’t know whenor where.

“His attitude is,

why wait for it to hap-pen?” she went on. “Sohe’s busy as hell.”

Since he was diagnosedwith pancreatic cancermore than a year ago, the56-year-old actor — whodenied reports that he is

nearing “the end” — hasthrown himself intowork.

He’s writing a mem-oir, and the first seasonfinale of The Beast,

airs Thursday.METRO

NEWS

SERVICES

FAMILY Ben Affleckmay have many tal-ents when it comesto parenting three-year-old daughter Vi-olet, but according tohis wife Jennifer Gar-ner hairdressing is-n’t one ofthem, peo-ple.comreports.

“Ben will do theschool run,” Gar-ner, 35, tells InStyleof her family’smorning routine.

“He dresses her anddoes her hair. It’s

pretty fun-ny. Youcan al-waystell

when he has been at it,just two random barretteshanging in there. It’s sosweet.”

Adds Garner: “Ben canbe pretty clueless when itcomes to my clothes ormakeup. But when he doesnotice and says something,he’s so sweet that I forgivehim.”

METRO NEWS SERVICES

Life at the Affleck-Garner home

OPINION Jackie Chan hasbeen facing a good deal ofbacklash in his nativecountry for commentshe made last weekat a business forumin Hainan, a south-ern Chinese island,according to MSNBC.

“I’m not sure if it’sgood to have freedomor not. If you’re toofree, you’relike the wayHong

Kong is now. It’s verychaotic. Taiwan is also

chaotic.“I’m gradually be-ginning to feelthat we Chineseneed to be con-trolled. If we’renot being con-

trolled, we’ll justdo what we want,”

Chan said.METRO

WORLD

NEWS

Chinese ire overChan’s comments

GE

TT

Y IM

AG

ES

27entertainment

Take Five

metrometronews.caWednesday, April 22, 2009

For more delicious Metro recipes, visit: metronews.ca/food

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Horoscopes AVATAR VENUS

HOW TO PLAY: Digits 1 through 9 will appear once in eachzone – one zone is an outlined 3x3 grid within the largerpuzzle grid. There are nine zones in the puzzle.Do not enter a digit into a box if it already appearselsewhere in the same zone, row across or column downthe entire puzzle.

SUDOKU SOLVE TIME:

Under 13 min ...............Genius13-17 min.....................Scholar

17-21 min .......................Smart21-25 min....................Not bad25+ min...........Keep practising

PREVIOUS DAY’S CROSSWORD AND SUDOKU ANSWERS:

1 Barrel2 Infamous Idi3 “La Boheme” role4 Gain5 Prompt6 Earlier7 Frogs’ hangout8 Either of two presidents9 One with a silly smile10 Pinnacle11 Laborer16 Started20 Emanation22 Have coming23 Marble variety25 Poke26 Dos Passos trilogy

27 Clear up29 In the thick of31 401(k) alternative32 Cove34 “Phooey!”38 Groups of species40 Some of the family42 Whale group43 Jurist Robert44 Actress Falco45 “The Thin Man” dog47 Got bigger48 Mad king of literature49 Vortex52 Charged bit53 Witticism

Crossword down

7 9 4 6 1 3 5 8 2

6 3 8 9 2 5 1 4 7

1 2 5 4 8 7 9 3 6

2 8 7 5 3 9 6 1 4

5 6 9 7 4 1 8 2 3

3 4 1 2 6 8 7 5 9

8 5 6 3 9 2 4 7 1

4 7 3 1 5 6 2 9 8

9 1 2 8 7 4 3 6 5

1 Overly theatrical5 Pitcher’s chapeau8 Memo writer’s “Now!”12 Eastern bigwig13 Actor Tognazzi14 “Monopoly” pair15 Buck17 Bullets18 Switchblade19 Wet21 Notion24 Work with25 Equitable28 Culture medium30 Eve, originally33 “— Lay Dying”34 Eugene O’Neill specialty

35 Geological period36 Emeril’s interjection37 Con38 Showing signs of aging39 Skillet41 Advantage43 Caviar provider46 Point of view50 Valhalla VIP51 Didn’t quite boil54 Schism55 Excessively56 Peruse57 Piano lineup58 Picnic invader59 Distorted

Find today’s answers + play more games at metronews.ca

Crossword across

Sudoku

Pork withMustard Sauce INGREDIENTS:

1 tsp (5 mL) extra-virginolive oil4 boneless pork loinchops, 3/4 in. (2 cm) thick,trimmed of all fat 4 tbsp (60 mL) dry whitewine or vermouth1 garlic clove, minced3/4 cup (175 mL) chickenor vegetable stock2 tsp (10 mL) cornstarchmixed with 1 tbsp (15 mL)water1/2 cup (125 mL) sourcream1 tbsp (15 mL) Dijon mus-tard1 tbsp (15 mL) choppedfresh tarragonSalt and fresh-groundblack pepperFresh chives

METHOD:

1. Heat oil in largenonstick frying pan overmedium-high heat. Addpork chops and fry untilbrown, 3 minutes per side.Transfer to plate; set asideand keep warm.

2. Add wine or vermouthto pan with garlic and letbubble briefly. Pour instock and boil 2 minutes.Stir together cornstarchmixture and sour creamuntil smooth. Add to hotcooking liquid, stirringwell. Reduce heat and sim-mer, stirring constantly,until thick and smooth, 2minutes. Stir in mustardand tarragon and seasonwith salt and pepper totaste.3. Return pork chops tosauce in the pan. Reduceheat to low, cover pan,and simmer until chops are cooked through,4 to 5 minutes.4. Arrange pork chops onwarm plates and spoonsauce over. Garnish withchives.SERVES 4

Metro Recipe of the Day

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This day in history

APRIL 22, 1864: The U.S. Congress passes the CoinageAct which mandates that the inscription "In God WeTrust" be placed on all coins minted as United Statescurrency.APRIL 22, 1983: The German magazine, Der Sternclaims that Adolf Hitler's diaries were found in wreck-age in East Germany.APRIL 22, 1970: First Earth Day celebrated.APRIL 22, 1993: The Holocaust Memorial Museum inWashington, DC is dedicated.APRIL 22, 1994: Kansas reinstates the death penalty.

METRO NEWS SERVICES

WWW.DDODGE.COM • 469-9050 • WWW.DDODGE.COM • 469-9050

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