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Trump sworn in as 45th president of the United States Pledging to empower America’s “forgotten men and women,” Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States Friday, taking command of a deeply divided nation and ushering in an unpredictable era in Washington. His victory gives Republicans control of the White House for the first time in eight years.

Looking out over the crowd sprawled across the National Mall,

See details on

Pg. 3

Nana Akufo Addo assumes office as President of Ghana By: Dr. Michael Baffoe, Winnipeg, MB

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States as Melania Trump looks on during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Trump painted a bleak “American carnage,” picture of the nation he shuttered factories and now leads, lamenting cont’d on pg. 15

Year in review - 2016 Compiled by Jonathan Baah Annobil, Toronto

The Year 2016 was very eventful for our Community herein Canada and in the Land of Our Birth, Ghana. We bring you month by month highlights of major events that we covered and reported on during the past year.

JANUARY 2016 • Police Officer Don Yirenkyi of York Regional Police Department promoted to the rank of detective.

• Noble Nketsiah, gospel musician from Ghana interviewed by Ghanaian News here in Toronto.

• Canadian Federal government prepares to sign the TransPacific partnership.

• Meningitis outbreak in Ghana kills 32 people according to health officials.

• 6th Happy FM/Lakeside Marina Family fun run launched.

• Ghana gets 7% out of $23 billion from Gold according to study by the African Centre for Energy Policy.

• Commemoration of Canadian Women first won right to vote a century ago starting from Ontario on January 28, 1916.

• Chinese in Guangzhou, China now accept Ghana Cedis for trade transactions.

• Inconsistent radar testing casts doubt on validity of millions of speeding tickets.

• The Church of Pentecost Christmas party held at Woodbine Banquet Hall.

• President Mahama dismisses Judges Ajet-Nasam, Ernest Obimpeh and others implicated in a Judicial scandal in Ghana.

• Toronto Police officer Forcillo cont’d on pg. 52

Hundreds of thousands of people thronged the BLACK STAR SQUARE and the adjourning streets and spaces in Accra on Sunday January 7, 2017 to witness the inauguration of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo as the fifth President of the Fourth Republic of Ghana.

The inaugural ceremony was also watched by millions of people on television across the country and on-line around the world. The activities climaxing this historic event started just before midnight on Friday January 6th in the Parliament of Ghana where the 6 th Session of the Parliament was

President AkufoAddo raises the Sword of State dissolved. A new Speaker of Parliament in the

person of Professor Mike cont’d on pg. 14

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cont’d on pg. 14

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

EDITORIAL KEEPING YOU IN TOUCH WITH NEWS FROM HOME AND LOCAL COMMUNITY ISSUES

Welcome President Nana AkufoAddo: We wish you well

EDITORIAL

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo was installed President of the Republic of Ghana amid all the pomp, pageantry and funfair in Accra on January 7, 2017. He has hit the ground running and settled into work. At the time of going to Press, the new President has appointed his Ministers, sector Ministers and Regional Ministers, who are currently undergoing vetting and possible approval by a Parliamentary Appointments Committee.

As we reported in our last issue in December, 2016, President Akufo Addo and his New Patriotic Party (NPP) swept to a landslide victory in the December 7, 2016 elections. Their victory underscored the confidence and hope that Ghanaians had in Nana Akufo Addo and his NPP to change their country’s fortunes and lives for the better. Recognizing the state of the Ghanaian economy and the state of despair that citizens had resigned themselves to in the run up to the elections, it is not far-fetched to say that the challenges facing President Akufo Addo and his government are enormous. The challenges include the collapse of the national health care system (the NHIS), the School Feeding program, the deplorable state of our road network, the massive levels of unemployment, the non-payment of salaries to government workers, the massive corruption in all aspects of the nation’s life, crimes and security situation including armed robberies at homes and on the highways and the general indiscipline in the Ghanaian society. This is a very tall order of challenges but which need immediate, mediumterm and long-term solutions.

We wish to restate the confidence Ghanaians imposed in Nana Akufu Addo and his party to direct the affairs of our dear nation for the next four years and hopefully beyond. Looking at the caliber of the team that he has so far assembled as his potential Minsters and Administrative hands, we believe that he has started well and may be on the right path. Ghanaians expect nothing less than a good fix to their problems.

The hardships in the country that have seen millions of youth unemployed and on the streets doing nothing did not and does not bode well for the long-term development as well as the security of the country. No nation can survive and progress when more than half of its population, the youth, have no jobs and virtually nothing to do. Likewise, no nation can survive when a greater part of its resources is stolen by highly-place public officials and their cronies through corruption. And most importantly, no nation can survive if citizens have no confidence in their leaders’ ability to make their lives better.

The above are the scenarios and background under which Nana Akufo Addo and his government are taking office. We have every hope that they will deliver. We have every hope that they are capable of turning the fortunes of the nation around. And we have every hope that they can inspire and instill confidence in the people of Ghana to feel good and proud about themselves again.

We shall be watching and closely monitoring the performance of this government. The Ghanaian News wishes Nana Akufo Addo and his government all the luck and God’s speed, but we will keep tabs and eyes on their every move and we will not hesitate to call them to order when needed.

Publisher / Editor Emmanuel Ayiku Contributing Editors Dr. Michael Baffoe Joe Kingsley Eyiah Director of Operations Comfort Ayiku Community Reporter Jonathan Annobil Winnipeg Bureau Dr. Michael Baffoe The Ghanaian News Publishes news and comments from the Community, serves Ghanaians across Canada with good source of information is committed to give good community Journalism The Ghanaian News is published in Canada by The Ghanaian News Corporation Editorial Office 2256 Sheppard Ave. Suite 202 Toronto, Ont. M9M 1L7 Tel:(416) 916-3700 Advertising Fax (416) 916-6701 Internet: www.ghanaiannews.ca E-mail: cayiku@gmail.com info@ghanaiannews.ca $1:00 per copy Subscription costs $66.00 for one year. including postage U.S. and foreign subscriptions costs US$120 per year.

Letters to the Editor We encourage your feedback and value your comments. Please feel free to write to us. keep letters to a maximum of 200 words, include your full name, Telephone # and mailing address with all correspondence.

Address your letters to the Editor The Ghanaian News 2256 Sheppard Ave. Suite 202 Toronto, Ont. M9M 1L7 Tel: 416-916-3700 or Fax: 416-916-6701 or e-mail us at info@ghanaiannews.ca Articles appearing in various columns of the Ghanaian News are intended to generate civil and informed public discussions.

You do not have to agree with opinions expressed by the writers.

That should encourage you to write to express your own views.

This is the way we generate lively and civil discussions in the community. Rejoinders are not forums for personal insults and we want readers to adhere to these principles.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage

COMMENTARY Looting and Raping of Public Properties in Ghana must cease!!!

By: Dr. Michael Baffoe & Emmanuel Ayiku

Since the last elections in Ghana that saw the crushing defeat of John Mahama and the NDC and the landslide victory of Nana AkufoA ddo and the NPP, the nation has been embroiled in a heated argument over what has come to be known as “Article 71 Emoluments”. Simply put, a few days after the elections, members of the Parliament of Ghana met in secret, behind closed doors, and approved very juicy, but obscene, retirement packages for the then outgoing President, John Dramani Mahama, the outgoing Speaker of Parliament, other defeated and then outgoing Ministers and other outgoing public officials. To even describe the so-called retirement emoluments as “juicy and obscene” is both soft and understatement.

The MPs who announced these obscene “retirement emoluments” justified them under Article 71 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.

Under the announced package, the then outgoing (now outgone) President John Dramani Mahama was to be given a retirement home befitting his status, with a full security staff, a cook, a garden boy, a steward, drivers and a cleaner. Aside from this he was to be given a large building fully furnished with the state-of-the art communications equipment and monitoring equipment to be used as his offices with a staff of four. All the staff referred to for the living house and offices are to be paid by the state of Ghana.

He was also to be given a number of cars to be changed every four years until he decides to die. He was also given the offer of two international travels a year with his wife to any international destination of his choice. On top of this, the outgone President will be on a tax-free monthly salary of over GHC22,000 a year!!

If all the above are not juicy…and obscene, we don’t know what else to describe them.

Article 71 of the Constitution, which the MPs used to justify these emoluments to the outgone President and similar emoluments to other officials does not

actually list all the above benefits. The Article in question list the offices whose holders’ salaries are charged to the Consolidated Fund. We do not know what the framers of the Constitution were really thinking at the time because they go on to say in sub-section 1(d) of the same Article that the “salaries and allowances, facilities and privileges and retirement benefits or awards” shall “be determined by the President on the recommendation of a committee appointed by the President”.

It is clear from the above that this section of the Constitution is totally flawed! How can the President appoint a committee to determine these obscene emoluments for himself?

He is most likely, as happened in this case with John Mahama, to stack the committee with his cronies, his own chosen few, to offer him whatever he chooses to take from the state. To buttress this point, just after the so-called Parliamentary Committee meeting in secret, announced these retirement packages for Mahama and his other cronies, he (Mahama) came up with a request that he wants to keep the state bungalow that he was residing in during the time of his Vice Presidency and Presidency, as his “retirement home”.

That was an affront to the intelligence of Ghanaians. In the first place that particular bungalow and adjourning facilities are officially designated as the residence of sitting Vice Presidents of Ghana. Mahama rightly or deservedly occupied that facility during the time he was Vice President under the late President Atta Mills.When he became President, he moved to the plush, newly completed Jubilee House built by the Kufuor government to commemorate Ghana’s 50th anniversary. It should be remembered that John Mahama and the NDC had vowed during the 2008 elections campaign that if they won that election and came to power they will turn the Jubilee House into a Zoo, where animals will be kept.

So what do we make of

Mahama moving into that edifice when he won the 2012 elections?

Had he turned to a Zoo creature? At any rate Mahama moved into the Jubilee House in 2013 and still kept the House and facilities at Prestige Link which he now wants to take forever as his “retirement home”.

We strongly believe that by keeping these two residential properties at the same time, Mahama actually did something seriously wrong. He should be charged rent for the five years that he kept the residences that belonged to the Vice President in addition to the Jubilee House.

And very recently, news broke that former President Rawlings has also been given some four big plots of land closer to his house, provided by the state, at Ridge in Accra by the government which he intends to use for his Foundation. And amidst all these, news also broke that former President Kufuor was never given any house nor vehicles as part of his retirement package under the same Article 71 despite being out of office for the past eight years. Justice indeed!!

It should also be recalled that when former NPP Minister of Tourism, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, sought to buy an old government bungalow that he was occupying, the NDC cried foul and made so much noise and even threatened to jail him for daring to make the offer to purchase a “public” property.

It is our strong opinion that these dishing out of state properties to outgoing public officials whenever governments change hands in Ghana must stop. They amount to naked robbery of public properties and resources. If this trend continues, there will not be any more public properties in Ghana.

They might have all been looted by former Presidents and high public officials. This is because the office holders that are listed in Article 71 as entitled to these “emoluments” are too many. It is just an obscene and unnecessary drain on the public resources.

They must be stopped now! This then again raises the issue of the need for a total look at the Constitution to purge it of all the undesirable articles.

The Ghanaian News January 2017

7

Celebrating Canada’s 150th The making of Canada in Charlottetown, PEI 2017 is a very special year as Canada will celebrate its 150th birthday on July 1st. Until 1867, there was no country in the world called Canada.

Instead, there was a chain of small British colonies that scattered across the northern part of the North American continent, separated by mountains, forests and prairies. Each colony had its own territory and its own government, and even its own postage stamps. Proud of their freedom and traditions, yet suspicious of each other, at the time, the colonies of British North America did not see a need to unite. In fact, many colonists doubted the benefits of a union and believed that they should remain separate.

There were also people in the colonies who thought that, sooner or later, Canada would join the United States of America, a young and strong country to the South. Few imagined that the British colonies would become a new nation.

Charlottetown, Prince

Edward Island’s political and cultural capital, was where the idea of Canada as a country was conceived. The city is famous for hosting the first meeting in 1864 to discuss the idea of Confederation, which eventually led to the birth of a nation 3 years later.

British North America before confederation The scattered British colonies in North America had little in common other than a tie to Britain far across the Atlantic and fear of being taken over by the United States. Each colony was led by a governor who represented the British Crown. There were four Atlantic colonies on the East coast: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and prince Edward Island. Across the vast landscape was a small colony of British Columbia on the West coast. The massive North-Western Territory with its plains and mountain ranges were home to Aboriginal and Metis communities and a few fur trading posts. The

Fathers of the Confederation on the steps of Government House in Charlottetown, one of the most famous photos in Canadian history. Sir John Macdonald, Canada’s 1st Prime Minister sitting down in the middle of the photo with George-Etienne Cartier standing next to him on the right colony with the biggest population, mostly farmers, was the United Province of Canada after the British government united Upper and Lower Canada (today’s Ontario and Quebec) in 1841.

The United Province of Canada was made up of Canada West with mostly English and Protestants, and Canada East which was mostly French and Catholics. The vibrant colony was growing but divided.

The med-1880s were troubled times for British North America. Political, m i l i t a r y, e c o n o m i c and social problems threatened to overwhelm the colonies. Constant

disagreements between representatives of Canada West and Canada East in the Legislative Assembly of the United Province of Canada had brought decision making to a standstill.

The colonies also had legitimate reasons to worry about external military threat from the South. Many Americans had a belief known as “Manifest Destiny”, that it was in God’s plan that all of North America will eventually belong to the United States. The fear intensified once the American Civil War ended in 1865. The powerful Union arm forces of the northern states could seek revenge against

Britain for supporting Confederate forces in the southern states during the war. The distant colonies were already expensive to support and would be difficult for Britain to defend if the Americans were to attack. It was time for the colonies to think about looking after themselves.

Charlottetown Conference - September 1-7, 1864 In the first week of September 1864, the Maritime colonies had planned a meeting in Charlottetown to discuss a union between Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. At the time, Newfoundland was tied

more closely to Britain so they did not send any representatives. The leaders from Canada East and West asked if they could attend to hear the discussions, 8 representatives led by Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir George Etienne Cartier and George Brown sailed into Charlottetown on the steamship Victoria to meet with 15 leaders of the Maritime colonies. It was here in Charlottetown that they laid the foundation for the most significant agreement that changed the destiny of the continent.

When the Charlottetown Conference opened, the leaders of the Maritime

cont’d on pg. 12

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Ahmed Hussen: From Somali refugee to Canada’s parliament Ahmed Hussen came to Canada from Somalia as a refugee. Now he’s the new minister of immigration.

Along with thousands of compatriots, Ahmed Hussen fled war-ravaged Somalia for a better life in Canada.

Hussen’s journey took him from Mogadishu to Toronto and then on to Ottawa’s Parliament Hill, where the former Somali refugee was named this week as the country’s newest minister of immigration in a reshuffle of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Cabinet.

It was a fast political rise

for the rookie politician, and will put Hussen, who arrived in Canada in 1993 as a 16-year-old, in charge of the complex portfolio that oversees who is welcomed into the country.

Friends say the lawyer and social activist will be able to draw from personal experience in his new role.

Mahamad Accord, who has known Hussen for years through his work with the Canadian Somali Congress, says his friend has not forgotten his modest roots despite w a l k i n g C a n a d a ’s corridors of power.

He says Hussen did not shy away from speaking openly about the problems plaguing the Somali community in Canada, from high rates of poverty and unemployment to gang involvement.

Hon. Ahmed Hussen “He didn’t change,” he says. “The people around him changed.”

Accord recalls Hussen offering him help a few years back. The Somali community in the provinces of Ontario and Alberta were struggling to tackle the deaths of dozens of young Somali men due to drug and gun violence.

But Hussen was also aware of how the community could be stigmatised, and was always careful in how he spoke and presented himself. Accord says his friend would tell him “we need to change people’s perception of us”.

“He expects high standards,” he says.

Accord admits he was sometimes jealous of

the lawyer and social activist’s ability to get across a difficult message diplomatically.

It was that ability that struck former Ontario politician George Smitherman when he first met Hussen in 1999. Hussen was then fighting for the interest of Regent Park, a multiethnic neighbourhood in downtown Toronto where he had settled with one of his brothers upon his arrival in Canada.

In 2015, he told the Toronto Star that a backlog in refugee applications for permanent residency at the time meant he could not qualify for a student

loan. Living in the public housing allowed him to save enough to go to university. , where many Canadian Somalis settled Hussen lobbied to help secure funds to revitalise the crime-ridden housing project, co-founding the Regent Park Community Council.

Some long-time residents had to move out of their homes during the redevelopment and were fearful they would not be able to return; Hussen worked to ensure their interests were protected.

“There was an extraordinary tension because there was distrust and concerns among tenants,” recalls Smitherman. “Ahmed had to very carefully but forcefully represent their interests.”

Smitherman, who calls t h e 4 0 - y e a r- o l d M r Hussen an “old soul”, later helped him land a job working with former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty.

“He was someone who spoke with a calmness and an informed knowledge and a maturity that defied his circumstances, both as someone who was young and someone who had taken this awesomely courageous step of leaving Africa for Canada.”

Mr Hussen swept his To r o n t o r i d i n g i n November 2015, though he drew criticism for not living in the disadvantaged riding he was elected to represent.

Speaking last April in the House of Commons, he raised concerns about the recent drowning death of hundreds of migrants from Somalia and the Horn of Africa, saying: “Asylum seekers are not criminals. They are human beings in need of protection and assistance and deserving of our respect”.

Smitherman sees Hussen’s background as both an asset and a possible disadvantage in the challenging portfolio.

“It sets up for tensions also as expectations are increased,” he says.

Following his swearing-

cont’d on pg. 16

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François-Philippe Champagne, Ahmed Hussen and Karina Gould to join federal cabinet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made major changes to his ministerial contingent Tuesday, elevating three rookie MPs to the cabinet table.

ministers considerably. She is replacing another young privy councilor, Maryam Monsef, who will be shuffled to the status of women portfolio.

The new privy councillors include Canada’s first Somali-Canadian MP, the youngest female cabinet minister in the country’s history and a rising star from former prime minister Jean Chrétien’s hometown.

Gould, 29, is the youngest female cabinet minister in Canadian history.

The Burlington, Ont., MP is an Oxford University graduate and a trade and investment specialist who worked for the Mexican Trade Commission before her foray into federal politics.

Ahmed Hussen

The Somali-born Hussen came to Canada as a refugee at the tender age of 16 after fleeing his war-ravaged native land.

After arriving from Mogadishu, he became a track and field star at his Hamilton high school before moving to Toronto to live with an older brother in the city’s Regent Park public housing development. He worked at a gas station in Mississauga, an hour commute from his home, to scrape together enough money for tuition at York University.

Along the way, he volunteered with Ontario Liberal Party and was brought into former premier Dalton McGuinty’s office after the 2003 election campaign ended Tory rule in the province. It was there that he first crossed paths with the likes of Gerald Butts and Katie Telford, now Trudeau’s top lieutenants who also worked at Queen’s Park. at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Tuesday, Jan 10, 2017.

(Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press) Hussen, 39, became an advocate for his impoverished community inside the premier’s office and helped secure millions in funding to revitalize his dilapidated housing project. Later, he left to become president of the Canadian Somali Congress.

His victory in York South–Weston was a source of

Quebec MP François-Philippe Champagne will serve as minister of international trade, left, Canada's new immigration minister, Ontario MP Ahmed Hussen, centre, and minister of democratic institutions, Ontario MP Karina Gould, right, will join Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet. (CBC News/Canadian Press)

She volunteered at a Mexican orphanage while a student at McGill University, and later worked as a consultant to the migrant and development program at the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C., experience that made her a natural fit for the role of parliamentary secretary to the minister of international development, Marie-Claude Bibeau.

pride for many of his fellow Somalis — who form a sizable voting block in the north Toronto riding — but Gould has had an interest in federal politics since Hussen has insisted he does not want to be seen as a a young age. She has pinpointed a visit by former Liberal MP for Burlington, Paddy Torsney, to her high token MP. school civics class, as an early inspiration to run for “I’m Canadian” Hussen told CBC News after his elected office. election.

“I was so impressed with her,” Gould told the Bay “I have a lot to contribute to Canada, and I’m a Observer, the local Burlington newspaper, after her mainstream guy, I’m not limited by my community. election. “It really inspired me to think it was a real Everyone has a heritage, but we have a shared possibility for me as a woman to become an MP.” citizenship.”

Both of her paternal grandparents are Holocaust Hussen reiterated Tuesday his reluctance at being survivors. branded the “Somali” cabinet minister. “I’ve done a lot of work outside my community,” he said, noting his advocacy for Regent Park represented the concerns François-Philippe Champagne of residents from 65 different ethnic backgrounds.

François-Philippe Champagne has been a strong “I’ve always prided myself as a Canadian. I’m also lieutenant of Finance Minister Bill Morneau over the proud of my heritage. But I think the two can work past year, and will now take a seat at the cabinet table together, and I think Canada is one of the few countries as the minister of international trade. that can actually happen,” he said.

Champagne takes over the hot file as support for global trade wanes in much of the Western world amid an Karina Gould ascendency of protectionist rhetoric.

Gould’s appointment as minister of democratic institutions will lower the average age of cabinet

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Long-time Liberal MP John McCallum is leaving federal politics for Beijing, where he will become Canada’s ambassador to China, and he will cede his immigration post to Ahmed Hussen, the first black Canadian to serve in Trudeau’s cabinet.

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12

The Ghanaian News January 2017

FOCUS The Menace of Bullying at Schools

By Joe Kingsley Eyiah, OCT, Brookview MS, Toronto “Bullying can affect everyone—those who are bullied, those who bully, and those who witness bullying. Bullying is linked to many negative outcomes including impacts on mental health, substance use, and suicide. It is important to talk to kids to determine whether bullying—or something else—is a concern.”-Stopbullying. gov Media reports on bullying in our schools and at our workplaces are very alarming. People who are bullied can experience negative physical, school, and mental health issues.

Many School Boards around the world have zero tolerance policy towards bullying. The topic is very wide but I would like to briefly discuss the menace of bullying at our schools and what parents could do about it.

What is bullying?

Bullying is considered by experts as the ways in which boys and girls act

happening to our students both at school and at home.

out their aggression. It usually occurs amongst younger teens and preteens and usually begins to fade by the later teen years. Research has shown that later primary and middle school years are the crucial years to be aware of bullying!

Bullying is harmful and can lead to depression, body image issues, and low self-esteem. Both girls and boys can bully in the form of racist, sexist or homophobic remarks.

There had been situations where the bullied had taken their lives in solitary. The dangers associated with bullying are frightening and ways and means must be sought to prevent them from

Schools and bullying: Parents expect schools to provide an environment that is emotionally and physically safe for our children. As parents, we normally feel terrified and enraged about any kind of threat to our children’s well being, especially in a place where they have to be.

According to psychologist and bullying expert Evelyn Field, bullies and targets of bullies often have undeveloped assertive communication skills.

Assertive communication is the open expression of your needs, desires, thoughts and feelings. It involves speaking up for your own needs while also respecting the needs of others.

It is advised that boys and girls who are being bullied stand up to their bullies by be confident and calm in saying

Advice to Parents: When possible, try to notice problems when th ey are s mall. P ay attention to changes in your child’s behaviour.

Encourage children to tell you about what happens at school. Listen calmly without lecturing.

Volunteer even a couple of hours a week in the classroom or school yard so that you can both help out and stay aware of potential problems at school.

The following information on bullying has been made available to parents by the Canadian Children’s Rights Council: • Cyber bullying a relatively new phenomenon began surfacing as modern communication technologies advanced.

Through email, instant messaging, Internet chat rooms, and electronic gadgets like camera cell phones, cyber bullies forward and spread hurtful images and/or messages. Bullies use this technology to harass victims at all hours, in wide circles, at warp speed.

• Emotional bullying can be more subtle and can involve isolating or excluding a child from activities (i.e., shunning the victim in the lunchroom or on school outings) or spreading rumours. This kind of bullying is especially common among girls.

• Physical bullying can accompany verbal

bullying and involves things like kicking, hitting, biting, pinching, hair pulling, or threats of physical harm.

• Racist bullying preys on children through racial slurs, offensive gestures, or making jokes about a child’s cultural traditions.

• Sexual bullying involves unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive or inappropriate comments.

• Verbal bullying usually involves name-calling, incessant mocking, and laughing at a child’s expense.

All said and done, knowledge about bullying problems and strategies to promote healthy relationships are required in every place where children live, work, and play. We must all, students, teachers, school administrators, parents and the general public, individually and collectively, help stop bullying in schools!

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NO when and where necessary. They should also promptly report all acts of aggression towards them to adults.

The best they can also do is not to make themselves available to the bullies.

To the bullies, I say, you can make it better!

You can find a better way of expressing your needs, desires, thoughts and feelings than acting cowardly by bullying your friends and other students. Respect for others must guide all your actions!

1114

Canada is looking more attractive to students from the European Union looking for a place to study post-Brexit.

A new survey of 219 international students in the U.K., examining “Brexit effect” attitudes, found Canada has become the most desirable English-language place to study, pushing ahead of the U.K. Australia, the U.S. and New Zealand, according to Red Brick Research.

A year ago, the U.K. had top billing.

It’s too early to see whether there’s been an increase in EU students applying to schools since the U.K. voted to leave the

European Union in June, said Anver ’Saloojee, assistant vice-president, international at Ryerson University.

But he expects to see more interest in Toronto schools.

“I think definitely there will be a Brexit bump, there’s no doubt about it,” he said.

Saloojee said the climate of “xenophobic rhetoric” and “anti-immigrant sentiment” that has swelled around Brexit has a huge impact on where students decide to study.

“They certainly wouldn’t want to spend time in a country or a region that is not welcoming,” he said.

Arif Abu, coordinator

of international student support at Ryerson, said for many EU students it will come down to dollars and cents once Britain finalizes the terms of its departure. “If they have to pay international fees and Canada is cheaper, then why not choose Canada,” said Abu. Travelling across Asia, A b u s a i d h e ’s a l s o recently noticed many prospective international students gravitating towards Canada for a different reason.

“Everywhere I went there’s a great deal of interest in our prime minister,” Abu said.

“Students are like, your PM takes selfies, he’s cool.”

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

13

How Akufo-Addo made it to Presidency; The struggle, victory

By Edmund Agbeko, Toronto

Ofosu, they sustained Defeat is an orphan, attacks on the NPP leader. but victory has many c o m p a n i o n s . N e w A day to the general Patriotic Party (NPP)’s elections, the NDC was N ana Addo D ankwa buoyed and animated Akufo-Addo’s victory by what it has done. It over incumbent President has caused irreparable John Dramani Mahama and collateral damage to in the December 7, 2016 Akufo-Addo. Mahama presidential poll comes as w a s w i n n i n g b y 5 4 a surprise to the National percentage points, it Democratic Congress. w a s c o n v i n c e d . N o Not so much because he is Ghanaian could rein in incompetent, but that he’s on the NDC from its one of the most vilified dirty campaign. Not and taunted politicians even the National Peace in post-independence Council Chairperson,

President Nana Akuffo Addo Ghana. He was so many things to his political opponents. A cocaine dealer, an incompetent flagbearer and an unmarketable brand. He would never become a president, his opponents had declared.

Functionaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government were convinced the NPP leader would be defeated as happened to him in 2008 and 2012. He would be retired from politics, they had derided him.

Former Communications Minister, Dr Edward Omane Boamah heading the Communications Committee of the John Mahama 2016 Campaign had one supreme task.

Discredit Akufo-Addo and make him unappealing to the electorate. With his colleagues NDC National Organiser, Kofi Adams, NDC Deputy General Secretary, Koku Anyidoho, and former Deputy Communications Minister, Felix Kwakye

Professor Reverend Emmanuel Asante could dare. Ghanaians have nursed a baby lion and it has grown. But when the results trickled in, an unexplained sanity dawned on Ghanaians as though cold water has deliberately been poured on the country.

Suddenly, a new national consciousness has been birth. People felt free to point out failings of the NDC, something they couldn’t boldly do for fear of being insulted.

M a h a m a w a s embarrassingly defeated.

Akufo-Addo polled a stunning 53.68 percent of the valid vote cast.

He’s the next leader of the country. Those of his opponents whose trade it was to assassinate his character have been silenced until the next election year which is 2020. The man who wouldn’t dare to sit on the presidential throne did so on January 7, 2017.

The journey was

everything but glossy.

Akufo-Addo’s victory isn’t a function of luck.

From a rich political background, he developed a love for statecraft which saw him fantasying with the Ghana he would want to see. He learned from his father Edward Akufo-Addo, an astute lawyer who was Ghana’s third Chief Justice from 1966 to 1970 and later rose to become Ghana’s non-executive President from 1970 until 1972.

His uncle Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah affectionately called J. B Danquah was one of the great scholars Ghana has produced.

He played a key role in pre and post-colonial Ghana and one of the opposition leaders to Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah. J. B Danquah was described as the “doyen of Gold Coast politics” because of his works.

show of opposition to the former military leader’s regime in 13 years. He was accused inhumanely mismanaging Ghana’s economy. “Kume Preko provided a forum for people to express their dissatisfaction with what is going on,” Akufo-Addo had said in 1995.

Ghana must prosper and in his attempt to lead the prosperity drive, he lost the flagbearership of the NPP to twice to John Agyekum Kufuor.

Kufuor contested the 1996 elections and lost to incumbent Rawlings.

He, however, won the 2000 and 2004 elections.

Akufo-Addo was later to be voted NPP flagbearer for the 2008 elections.

When he thought it was his turn to serve the nation, Ghanaians voted for late Professor John Evans Atta Mills in a run-off in which the NPP abstained. Akufo-Addo was again defeated by

Mahama in the 2012 for what would become of election after the demise the NDC tomorrow. of the sitting president.

Everyone has a date with He suspected foul play destiny and when the in the elections and time is due nothing can headed to the apex court frustrate it. However, of the land to challenge uphill the process might his defeat. An astute be, you will have the lawyer, he thought he wherewithal to match it. could change the result December 7, 2016, was of the election through Akufo-Addo’s date with the Supreme Court, but his destiny. He might Mahama’s victory was have broken down in tears upheld. He conceded. after his two defeats, but Ghana moved on. But he knew his time was up. taking his third aim at His resounding victory the presidency, Akufo- will ease out the pang of Addo had one aim. Win pain. Hail the new leader or forget politics. He of Ghana. We all owe it triumphed. He humiliated to our children to help incumbent President our leaders to succeed.

Mahama at the polls. He A k u f o - A d d o n e e d s wasn’t subdued by the our prayers. He needs plain insult and divisive our thumbs up and our nature of Ghana’s politics. constructive criticisms in D e f e a t h a s s t r i p p e d good measure. We have Mahama of individuals to help him by speaking who cosmetically glided the truth to power. towards him because of his position. He would C o n g r a t u l a t i o n s t o be an orphan and his own President Nana Addo people would blame him Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

J. B Danquah together w i t h A k u f o - A d d o ’s father were part of the mysterious big six who were part of Ghana’s independence march.

The rest were Ebenezer Ako-Adjei, Kwame Nkrumah, Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey, and William Ofori Atta. There is no doubt Akufo-Addo’s encounter with these former leaders left a mark on him.

He said of Ghana in 1995 that it was being led by people who have “a very, very warped idea of a democratic system of government.” This was after he joined forces with some Ghanaians to stage the biggest single demonstration in terms of patronage in the history of Ghana. At least over 100,000 marchers were estimated to have joined the demonstration dubbed KUME PREKO. It was a show of discontent against the Jerry John Rawlings led-NDC government.

The event was the major

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

The 24-Hour Afroglobal Television Channel Goes On Free Preview To Celebrate Black History Month cont’d from pg. 1 Cable channel 708 and Bell Fibe channel 2472 in Canada. To celebrate Black History Month, Afroglobal Television is going on free preview from February 1st to March 13th. Anyone with Rogers Cable or Bell Fibe can watch during this time.

Subscription is required and appreciated after that.

“The goal of Afroglobal is to present world class documentaries, biographies, music, movies, soap operas, talk shows, drama series, sports, reality, children’s programming, current affairs, faith programs and others that reflect the rich heritage of Africa, the Caribbean and the rest of the Diaspora,” says Dr. Jefferson Sackey, Vice President of Programming, who has worked with global channels including America’s CNN, the German international broadcaster DWTV, and Multimedia Group of Ghana.

The original programming, produced in association with Silvertrust Media, include The Visionaries, a biography series; The Golden Button fashion series; the Open Mic music show; the Anatomic health, fitness and wellness series; Poetically Speaking; Sister Talk; Story Time; and The Minister leadership series. “We air inspiring and empowering shows, including music and movies from Nigeria’s Nollywood as well as from other parts of the world,” says Patricia Bebia Mawa, Executive Vice President of the channel.

Based in Toronto, Canada, the channel advances the aspirations

of people of African descent, who include viewers originally from Africa, the Caribbean and beyond. Plans are under way to make the channel available on platforms such as DSTV and StarTimes in Africa; Dish Network, Comcast, Warner and Cablevision in the USA; as well as Sky, Eutelsat, HOT and Intelsat among others in Europe and Asia.

Viewers can contact their service providers to subscribe or to request the channel.

At just $5 a month or $60 for the entire year, viewers can get the channel added to their package. “For the price of a few tickets in a movie theater, you can watch two movies every day, music and other awesome programming on the AFRO TV channel 24 hours a day for the whole year,” says Moses A. Mawa, President & CEO of the network. With new pick and pay cable and satellite channel options, viewers can choose Afroglobal instead of having stations they do not watch. General viewers who enjoy world beat music, movies and others love the channel.

To subscribe immediately, viewers can go to Channel 708 on Rogers Cable or 2472 on Bell Fibe and subscribe with their remote control.

They can also call their service provider and ask for the Afroglobal Television or AFRO TV channel. A customer service representative can lead them through the process. Subscription is also possible via the websites of the service providers. The entertainment and valuable information programming on the channel is suitable for the entire family, and diverse people

enjoy it. Tremendous opportunities also exist for advertisers.

As part of Black History Month celebrations this year, Afroglobal is hosting a reception in association with PricewaterhouseCoopers at the PwC tower in downtown Toronto on February 2nd. The event will feature remarks by community leaders, public service officials, and business leaders. Highlights of accomplishments of African Canadians as showcased on Afroglobal Television and other media platforms will be presented. Great faith content is also available.

This year, a special tribute will be accorded to Viola Desmond, who becomes the first Canadian woman and the first African Canadian to be on a banknote.

Afroglobal Television will also unveil its special Black History Month programming, which include “The Visionaries” documentary series. The series will feature highly accomplished people like Prof. George Dei, Beverley Salmon, Jackie Richardson and Dr. Julius Garvey.

“Hello Motherland,” a documentary on why many people of African Heritage from the Canada, the United States, the Caribbean and other parts of the world have made Ghana their new home will also be featured. Employment, sponsorship, advertising and programming opportunities can be inquired by contacting Afroglobal Television at (416) 650-6424 or by visiting the website at AfroglobalTelevision. com or via social media.

The best way to show support for the highly celebrated channel is to subscribe.

Celebrating Canada’s 150th

cont’d from pg. 7

colonies quickly agreed to put aside the subject of their union until they heard what the representatives from the United Province of Canada had to say. Since forming their coalition, John A. Macdonald, George Brown and George-Etienne Cartier had been doing a lot of thinking and took to the floor with energy and conviction in their

impressive presentation.

Macdonald introduced the idea of uniting all the colonies, Cartier and Brown explained the way new provinces in the Confederation would share power. When all was said and done, plans for a Maritime union had been forgotten, ideas of a confederation had taken center stage. The leaders agreed to meet again in Quebec City the following month where

they came up with 72 resolutions that outlined the divisions of power and representations for different levels of government, money matters and railways linking new provinces.

E v e n t u a l l y, t h e resolutions became the constitution for a new nation and July 1st 1867 was the chosen date for the official proclamation o f t h e Do m i n i o n o f Canada. Culled from Culture Magazine

Revealed: Mahama’s retirement package President John Mahama will take home a salary of GH¢22,809 up from the non-taxable salary of GH¢15,972 previously approved for outgoing presidents.

This reflects about 43 percent increase from the amount previously paid to outgoing presidents.

This was contained in the Presidential Emoluments Committee on the conditions of service of Article 71 office holders’ report available to citifmonline.com.

The Committee which is a creation of the 1992 Constitution was headed by Prof. Dora Francisca EduBuandoh of the University of Cape Coast with four other members.

The Prof. Dora Francisca Edu- Buandoh report was approved by Parliament after series of closed-door sessions before the house rose for the end of year holidays.

According to the report, the outgoing President, while on retirement will receive benefits such as state-provided staff not exceeding four (4) and a furnished and up-to-date office and communication equipment.

President Mahama will also receive “40 percent of [his] salary to be paid monthly. Staff support consisting of a cook, steward and gardener.”

In the area of security, “the state will provide two security persons to be chosen by the former President from state security. Two vehicles for security.”

For transport, President Maha-

President John Dramani Mahama

ma will be given two vehicles, a chauffeur, maintained and comprehensively insured by the State and changed every four years for life.

For overseas official travel, the state will fully pay for all such trips with his spouse and two security persons.

The state will however, sponsor only two of such travels per year and those not exceeding two weeks in duration.

President Mahama and his wife will also be entitled to free healthcare.

Other benefits include, the payment of utilities at his residence.

The Chief Justice will also take home GH¢17,107 instead of the previous GH¢15,552 while the Speaker of Parliament, who receives GH¢16,174 will take home GH¢17,791.

Other Article 71 office holders including Justices of the Supreme Court, Members of Parliament (MPs), Ministers of State, political appointees and some public servants will benefit from the 10% across board increase which takes retrospective effect from 2013. ghanaweb

Nana Akufo Addo assumes office as President of Ghana cont’d from pg. 1 Ocquaye was elected by the members of Parliament. He then took the oath of office administered by the Chief Justice Theodora Georgina Wood.

Thousands of people had earlier pitched camp around the BLACK STAR SQUARE from the early evening of Friday December 6th to enable them get access to the ceremonial grounds the next day.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by about thirteen Heads of State and governments from around Africa, and government representatives from around the world. The special Guest of Honor was the President of the Ivory Coast, H. E. Alassane Ouatarra. Also in attendance on behalf of the ECOWAS was the President of Liberia, Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sir leaf.

Important Ghanaian personalities in attendance were former Presidents, Jerry Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufour and

the outgoing President John Dramani Mahama, outgoing Vice President, Kwesi Amissah Arthur, Traditional rulers, Security and Service Chiefs and personnel and members of the Diplomatic Corps.

First to take the Oath of Office administered by the Chief Justice Theodora Georgina Wood, was the VicePresident Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia.

President Akufo Addo was then escorted to the stage to take his Oath of Office also administered by the Chief Justice Theodora Georgina Wood. The President, who was dressed in a rich Kente Cloth, raised the Sword of Office after the Oath-taking to thunderous cheers from the enthusiastic crowds.

He then inspected the Special Guard of Honour mounted by a detachment of the Armed Forces amid the firing of a 21-gun salute from behind the Independence Arc. See pics. on 35

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

It’s time to implement ROPAL - Freddie Blay Acting National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay is calling for the implementation of the Representation of the People Amendment Law (ROPAL).

According to him, Ghanaian citizens living in the diaspora contribute immensely to the GDP of the country and should not be prevented from exercising their franchise.

On February 24, 2006, Parliament passed the Representation of the People’s Amendment Bill ROPAL to give Ghanaians living abroad the right to vote in general elections conducted in Ghana.

But it has still not been implemented by the Electoral Commission since former President John Kufuor signed it into law.

US-based advocacy group, Progressive Alliance Movement (PAM), sued the EC over its failure to implement the ROPAL but EC chairperson, Charlotte Osei maintained that it will be a tough

A United Airlines spokeswoman said Monday that the airline was looking into how it had happened. The baggage handler, Reginald Gaskin, 45, was unharmed.

Reached by The Washington Post on Monday night, Gaskin declined to discuss how he wound up inside the plane. He said he had been advised by an attorney not to discuss the matter.

“I thank God,” Gaskin said.

“He was with me.”

United Express Flight 6060, operated by Mesa Airlines, took off from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport just before 3 p.m. Sunday and landed at Washington Dulles International Airport on schedule about 90 minutes later.

The plane, a 50-seat Embraer 170, rose to 27,000 feet, according to flight records. A United

President Akufo Addo nominates Ministers for his Government

By Dr. Michael Baffoe, Winnipeg, MB

Freddie Blay, Acting National Chairman, NPP task considering the cost involved.

However, on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Monday, Freddie Blay said the implementation is long overdue.

He indicated that, as Ghanaians living abroad whose remittances contribute to the development of the country, they deserve the right to choose the one to lead Ghana.

“It is time to have more faith in our own people outside, they contribute a lot to our GDP” he added.

Freddie Blay was confident the Akufo-Addo led government will ensure ROPAL is implemented for the 2020 general elections. ghanaweb

Baggage handler locked in cargo hold during 1.5-hour flight from Charlotte to D.C. A baggage handler was locked inside an airplane’s cargo area during a 1.5-hour flight from North Carolina to Northern Virginia on Sunday.

15

President Nana Akufo Addo has so far nominated thirty-nine Ministers of state for his government. He has also nominated ten people to the positions of Regional Ministers. In accordance with Article 78 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, a Parliamentary Appointments Committee is expected to vet these nominees and approve of their nominations by a majority vote in Parliament before they can start work. They are: Yaw Osafo-Maafo, nominated as Senior Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, Minister of Finance, Dr. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, Environment, Science and Technology, Alan John Kyerematen, Trade and Industry, Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Food and Agriculture, Albert Kan Dapaah, for National Security, Shirley Ayorkor Botwe for Foreign Affairs, Isaac Kwame Asiamah, Youth and Sports, Boakye Agyarko, for Energy, for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul. Others are Ambrose Dery, Minister of Interior, for Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Gloria Akuffo, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh for Education, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, for Minister of Health, Samuel Atta Akyea, for Minster of Works and Housing. For Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Joseph Kofi Ada, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, Minsiter for Information, Kwesi Amoako Atta, for Roads and Highways; Joe Ghartey for Railways Development, Ms. Otiko Afisa Djaba for Gender, Children and Social Protection. The rest are Ignatius Bafour Awuah, Minster for Employment and Labour Relations, Kweku Ofori Asiamah, Minister for Transport; John Peter Amewu, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs; Kofi Dzamesi Abubakar, Minister of Fisheries, Elizabeth Afoley Quaye; Minister of Inner cities and Zongo Development, Boniface Sidique; Minister of Business Development, Ibrahim Mohamed Awal. and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei Mensah.

As at the time of going to press, about fifteen of these Ministerial nominees had gone through the vetting process and awaiting a Parliamentary vote on their nomination.

Trump sworn in as 45th president of the United States cont’d from pg. 1 Lincoln’s inauguration.

depleted U.S. leadership.

President Barack Obama, the man he replaced, sat behind him stoically.

Tr u m p ’s f i r s t w o r d s a s commander in chief were an unapologetic reprisal of the economic populism and nationalism that fueled his improbable campaign. He vowed to stir “new national pride,” bring jobs back to the United States, and “eradicate completely” Islamic terrorism.

“From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it’s going to be only, ‘America spokeswoman could not say F i r s t , ” Tr u m p s a i d i n a Monday whether the plane’s 16-minute address. cargo hold was temperature In a remarkable scene, Trump controlled or pressurized. ripped into Washington’s At some point, workers in Char- longtime leaders as he stood lotte realized there was a pos- among them at the U.S. Capitol.

For too long, he said, “a small sibility that Gaskin was locked group in our nation’s Capital in the belly of the airplane and has reaped the rewards of contacted the Federal Aviation government while the people Administration. They alerted have borne the cost.” officials at Dulles, according For Republicans eager to be to airport officials there. back in the White House, Emergency responders at Dull- there was little mention of the party’s bedrock principles: es were waiting at the gate. small government, social conservativism and robust Authorities in Charlotte termed American leadership around the incident a “public acci- the world. Trump, who is dent,” and a representative for taking office as one of the most the FBI in Washington said the unpopular incoming presidents agency was notified but was not in modern history, made only oblique references to those who involved in the investigation may be infuriated and fearful of into the incident. his presidency.

Gaskin is an employee of G2 Secure Staff, a United vendor based in Texas that supplies baggage handling services, airline officials said.

“To all Americans in every city near and far, small and large from mountain to mountain, from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again,” he said.

A company representative did not respond to a message or Trump was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts, reciting email Monday evening. the 35-word oath with his hand placed upon two Bibles, one The Washington Post used by his family and another during President Abraham

Trump and wife, Melania, bid Obama and outgoing first lady Michelle Obama farewell as they departed the Capitol grounds in a government helicopter. Trump and Obama’s political paths have been linked in remarkable ways. Before running for the White House, the billionaire businessman led efforts to promote falsehoods about the 44th president’s citizenship and claim on the office.

Tr u m p ’s j o u r n e y t o t h e inauguration was as unlikely as any in recent American history. He defied his party’s establishment, befuddled the media and toppled two political dynasties on his way to victory. His message, calling for a resurgence of white, working-class corners of America, was packaged in defiant stump speeches railing against political correctness. He used social media to dominate the national conversation and challenge conventions about political discourse. After years of Democratic control of the White House and deadlock in Washington, his was a blast of fresh air for millions.

More than 60 House Democrats refused to attend his swearing in ceremony in the shadow of the Capitol dome. One Democrat who did sit among the dignitaries was Hillary Clinton, Trump’s vanquished campaign rival who was widely expected by both parties to be the one taking the oath of office.

At 70, Trump is the oldest person to be sworn in as president, marking a generational step backward after two terms for Obama, one of the youngest presidents to serve as commander in chief.

Trump takes charge of an economy that has recovered from the Great Recession but has nonetheless left millions of Americans feeling left behind.

The nation’s longest war is still being waged in Afghanistan and U.S. troops are battling the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The American health care system was expanded to reach millions more Americans during Obama’s tenure, but at considerable financial costs.

Trump has vowed to dismantle and rebuild it.

But Trump’s call for restrictive immigration measures and his caustic campaign rhetoric about women and minorities angered millions. And Trump’s swearing-in was shadowed by questions about his ties to Russia, which U.S. intelligence agencies have determined worked to tip the 2016 election in his favour.

Trump faces challenges as the first president to take office without ever having held a political position or served in the military. He has stacked his Cabinet with e s t a b l i s h e d Wa s h i n g t o n figures and wealthy business leaders. Though his team’s conservative bent has been cheered by many Republicans, the overwhelmingly white and male Cabinet has been criticized for a lack of diversity.

Trump’s inauguration drew crowds to the nation’s capital to witness the history, though the crowds appeared smaller than past celebrations.

Demonstrations unfolded at various security checkpoints near the Capitol as police in riot gear helped ticket-holders get through to the ceremony.

In a show of solidarity, all of the living American presidents attended the swearing-in ceremony, except for 92-yearold George H.W. Bush, who was hospitalized this week with pneumonia. His wife, Barbara, was also admitted to the hospital after falling ill.

Associated Press

16

The Ghanaian News January 2017

IMMIGRATION AND SOCIAL ISSUES By: James A. Kwaateng, B.A. (Hons), LLB (Hons)

Express Entry System for Immigrant Applications under certain Economic Immigration Programs in Canada Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has launched a new electronic system called EXPRESS ENTRY to deal with applications for permanent residence under certain economic programs, specifically, under Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades and Canadian Experience Class programs. In order to meet local labour needs, provinces and territories, except Quebec, will also be able to recruit candidates from the Express Entry pool for a portion of their Provincial Nominee programs (PNPs).

The Express Entry and the Government of Canada’s Job Bank will now facilitate contact between employers in Canada and skilled foreign nationals, thus making integration faster upon the arrival of immigrants in Canada.

Notwithstanding the fact that employers will be able to select

people from this pool, the employers will still have to demonstrate to the Immigration that their efforts to fill the vacant positions with Canadian citizens or permanent residents were unsuccessful.

Under the new system, the Express Entry system becomes the first step to immigrate to Canada under the aforementioned programs. Potential candidates will have to complete an Express Entry profile. The profile information submitted will include skills, work experience, language ability, education and some other factors. In this first stage, there is no deadline to complete a profile and there will be no caps on the

number of candidates to be accepted to the pool.

The system is expected to create an inventory of high-quality candidates who employers in Canada will be able to consider when they cannot find Canadians or permanent residents to fill job vacancies.

Express Entry profiles will be valid for one year from the date the profile is submitted to the CIC by the candidate. There is no fee to submit an Express Entry profile but fees may be paid for language tests, educational credential assessments and other aspects of the application completed by a third party. Also, if you are invited to apply, you will be required to submit a new application for permanent residence and pay the necessary processing fee.

Applicants who are accepted into the Express Entry pool could get an invitation

to apply for permanent residence (ITA). These invitations are expected to take place at regular intervals within each year. Unlike the first stage where there is no deadline, if you are invited to apply, you will have 60 days to submit a complete application for permanent residence online.

Express Entry does not include an eligible occupation list or occupation caps at the time of launch.

To be eligible to enter the pool, Express Entry candidates must have skilled work experience in a National Occupational Code (NOC) O, A or B. Job offered to candidates in the pool will be subject to the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) requirements in place at that time. Candidates must also meet the minimum language requirements which are CLB 7 for NOC O and A

occupations and CLB 5 for NOC B occupations.

Those who get a job offer supported by an LMIA will quickly be given an invitation to apply (ITA). It should however be noted that an ITA is not a guarantee that a candidate will be granted permanent residence.

Every candidate has to meet eligibility and admissibility requirements under the Canada’s immigration law. Under normal circumstances, Express Entry candidates should not come to Canada to work until they have their permanent resident visa.

Express Entry candidates will need to register with Job Bank if they do not already have a Canadian job offer or a provincial/ territorial nomination.

This will give them the opportunity to view jobs available with employers in Canada and to begin promoting themselves

to employers, recruiters and others in charge of assisting them to be hired.

Later in 2015, Job Bank will “match” eligible employers with Express Entry candidates who meet their job description when there are no Canadians or permanent residents available for the jobs.

This will speed up the hiring process.

This is a new system that takes off in January 2015. It is advisable potential applicants study the system in detail or contact professionals for advice before participating in the program.

James A. Kwaateng, is an Immigration Law practitioner with offices located at 168A Oakdale Road, Suite 4, Toronto, Ontario. For thorough discussion of your immigration and related social and legal issues, contact him at telephone number (416) 743-2758.

From Somali refugee to Why Canada is sending immigrants Ahmed Hussen: Canada’s parliament cont’d from pg. 9 back home Permanent residency revoked over non-compliance An average of about 1,400 Canadian immigrants are intercepted at the border each year and ordered removed from the country for not fulfilling their residency obligations, Torstar has learned.

Although these newcomers can appeal to a tribunal to restore their permanent resident status, only one in 10 succeeds. according to government data.

“The tribunal is supposed to be immigrants” last resort as the Parliament has given it the discretionary power to give immigrants a second chance if they breach the law,” said immigration lawyer Lawrence Wong, who obtained the data through an access to information request.

“But that second chance in reality is hard to come by.

The national sentiment is pretty much the same.

If you are an immigrant,

don’t make a mistake. If you do, we want to see you kicked out.”

Canada’s immigration law requires permanent residents to be physically present in Canada for least 730 days in every five-year period in order to maintain their status.

Otherwise, their residency will be revoked.

According to the Canada Border Services Agency, on average 1,423 permanent residents a year were stopped at the border for failing the requirement from 2010 to 2014, the most recent statistics available.

During the period, Canada accepted some 260,000 newcomers annually.

The number of removal orders issued against these individuals had risen sharply to 1,413 in 2014 from 605 in 2008, when former Conservative Immigration Minister

Jason Kenny cracked down on fraud.

Across Canada, Quebec has the highest detection rate; more than a third of the removal orders were issued in the province.

Between 2008 and 2014, a total of 3,575 immigrants were slapped with removal orders for residency noncompliance at Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport in Montreal, dwarfing the 439 and 972 people respectively intercepted at Toronto’s Pearson airport and the Vancouver International Airport.

The numbers do not include those who had their permanent residency revoked due to criminality and misrepresentation, who were refused travel documents to return or who voluntarily relinquished their permanent residence.

Torstar News Service

in, Mr Hussen, the father of three boys, told media he was “extremely proud of our country’s history as a place of asylum, a place that opens its doors and hearts to new immigrants and refugees”.

he says.

Hussen has always referred to himself as a Canadian first and Somali second, says Accord. In 2015 Mr Hussen told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that he does not want to be labelled a “Somali MP”.

McCallum recently introduced contentious changes to Canada’s popular family reunification programme, replacing a first-come, first-serve process with a lottery system to randomly choose 10,000 people who filled out initial applications to express interest.

Critics say that reuniting families should not depend on luck of the draw.

“I’m a Canadian. Somali is my heritage and I’m proud of my heritage but I have a lot to contribute to Canada. And I’m a mainstream guy. I’m not limited by my community,” he said.

Hussen replaces John McCallum, a veteran politician who is going to become Canada’s envoy to China after managing Trudeau government efforts to bring in over 39,000 Syrian refugees in the last 13 months.

“Th e real m es s ag e o f th e n e w appointment is that the government wishes to profile refuges as a more salient part of our immigration program,’ says Jeffrey Reitz, a University of Toronto sociology professor.

“But it does raise the question of the mainstream immigration programme,”

The rookie minister will face challenges in the key, and rarely uncontroversial, portfolio.

Another recent decision to scrap a rule limiting how long foreign workers can stay in Canada is being targeted by the opposition as potentially harmful to the country’s work force in the long run.

Immigrant rights groups have been critical of the programme, arguing the workers under the program are vulnerable to abuse by employers.

He will also have to defend a recent Liberal decision to significantly reduce the number of private sponsorship applications for Syrian and Iraqi refugees because of a current backlog.

Canada plans to bring in 300,000 immigrants in 2017, the majority of them economic immigrants. CBC

The Ghanaian News January 2017

Saint Valentine’s Day

By Jonathan Annobil, Toronto

Saint Valentine’s Day, also known as Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is observed on February 14 each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it remains a working day in most of them.

St. Valentine’s Day began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. Several martyrdom stories were invented for the various Valentines that belonged to February 14, and added to later martyrologies.

A popular hagiographical account of Saint Valentine of Rome states that he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire. According to legend, during his imprisonment, he healed the

daughter of his jailer, Asterius. An embellishment to this story states that before his execution he wrote her a letter signed “Your Valentine” as a farewell. Today, Saint Valentine’s Day is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion, as well as in the Lutheran Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrates Saint Valentine’s Day, albeit on July 6th and July 30th, the former date in honor of the Roman presbyter Saint Valentine, and the latter date in honor of Hieromartyr Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni).

In Brazil, the Dia de São Valentim is recognized on June 12.

The day was first associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines”).

Valentine’s Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

Wrongfully Jailed: Man Freed After DNA Test Proves His Innocence The Supreme Court has acquitted and discharged a 36-year-old man who was wrongfully jailed for defiling and impregnating a 14-year-old student.

This was after a DNA test carried out on the child (now 12 years) believed to be the result of the defilement proved that Asante was not the father.

In September 2005, Asante was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour by the Tamale High Court after he was found guilty of defiling and impregnating the student, Rubamatu Mohammed.

He was however released from prison in September 2015 based on good conduct after serving two thirds of his jail term at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons.

Acquitted

and

discharged

In a ruling Thursday, the Supreme Court held that a new DNA evidence had proven that Asante was not responsible for the pregnancy. In view of this, the court held that Asante’s conviction by the High Court was not supported by any substantial evidence.

A s a n t e ’s v i c t o r y f o l l o w e d a n intervention by the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), who approached human rights lawyer, Francis Xavier Sosu to intervene in the matter. The GCGL paid the legal and filling fees throughout the case.

B

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d

On September 5, 2005, a Tamale High Court sentenced Asante to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour after the court found him guilty of defiling one

Rubamatu Mohammed, which led to the birth of the child. Asante, who had consistently maintained his innocence, in October 2006 appealed against his conviction but that appeal was dismissed.

In 2012, he went to the Supreme Court and the court granted him leave to file a notice of appeal against his conviction. The notice of appeal was followed by an application for an order for the conduct of a DNA test on the child. The Supreme Court accepted the application and accordingly ordered Rubamatu to make her child available for the DNA test initially at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

The court order was served and received on Rubamatu’s behalf by her aunts, Juliet Tinjina and Gladys Abokokpa, who were then taking care of Rubamatu’s child in Tamale. Although the court gave eight weeks within which the test should be conducted, the family refused to bring the child to Accra as ordered by the court.

Following the intransigence of the child’s family, the Supreme Court on February 11, 2015 further ordered Juliet Tinjina and Gladys Abokokpa to make the child, who was under their care, available for the DNA test, this time at the Police Forensic Unit.

Summarising the report from the Forensic Laboratory of the Police Hospital at the court’s sitting on November 17, 2015, the judge said the result of the test excluded Mr Asante of having any biological relations with the 10-year-old boy who was alleged to be the outcome of the defilement.

Daily Graphic

17

Why a Black History Month?

By Rosemary Sadlier, Immidiate Past President, Ontario Black History Society

Black History Month evolved from the work of Carter G. Woodson, an African American, in the 1920s. He established Black History Week as a week of celebration to follow the year’s study of Black history. The week he chose contained the birthdates of two people significant to the ability of people of African descent to be free to obtain an education. The week includes February 12th for President Lincoln, who brought emancipation into the law in the United States, and February 14th for Frederick Douglass, who advocated for Blacks to do what they could within their own country to lead to a better life for all Black people.

In the 1950s, the Canadian N e g r o Wo m e n ’s Association brought the celebration to Toronto, Ontario. By 1978, the Ontario Black History Society, whose mandate includes the promotion of Black history education, successfully petitioned the City of Toronto to

Dr. Rosemary Sadlier have the now monthly celebration formally recognized. Toronto, many other cities, and the province of Ontario currently proclaim Black History Month.

But why have a Black History Month? African Canadians need to feel affirmed, to be aware of the contributions made by other people of African Heritage globally, to have role models, and to understand the social forces which have shaped and influenced their community and their identities so that they can feel connected to the educational experience and their life experience in the various regions of Canada and around

the world. They need to feel empowered. It is imperative to have a balanced sense of the historical contributions of people of African descent within this country.

African Canadians need to know a history of Canada that includes all of the founding/pioneer experiences in order to work from an actual reality, rather than a virtual reality.

As a group, which has roots dating back to 1603, and which has helped to defend, clear, build, and farm this country, the presence of people of African descent is wellestablished, but not wellknown. It is not wellknown because history has tended to record the acts of rich and powerful Caucasian men to the exclusion of any other group. The celebration of Black History is an attempt to have the achievements of people of African descent in Canada and around the world included.

Living Word Assembly of God Church Presents

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

Ghanaian Women’s Fasting and Prayer Conference 15th Anniversary Celebration

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

We don’t want an Agric minister in suit – Economist An Economics Lecturer at the Kumasi Technical University, has advised the Minister-designate for Agriculture, Dr. Afriyie Akoto not to be an arm chair Agric minister.

According to Dr. Thomas Kusi Boafo, a critical sector like agric needs a minister who will be with the farmers at the grassroots not someone who speaks impeccable English.

“I want my Agric Minister to be with the farmers;

speaking English will not produce food for the citizenry” he stated on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Wednesday.

is the CEO of Plantation Resources Company Limited and holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from Cambridge U n i v e r s i t y, U K .

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday named Dr. Afriyie, the former Member of Parliament for Kwadaso as Minister for Agriculture.

Based on his background, M r. K u s i B o a f o believes his choice as the Agric Minister is very timely to salvage the collapsed sector.

The 57-year-old is a farmer himself with plantations at Manso Nkwanta in Ashanti. He

As an immediate measure, he urged the Minister-designate if passed by Parliament to

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

Trump gives OK to Keystone XL and Dakota Access Trump pulls pipelines U.S. out of TPP with executive Former president Barack Obama killed the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in late 2015 order U.S. President Donald Trump has signed President repeats campaign pledges on trade protectionism, business-friendly measures

executive orders to move forward on construction of two controversial oil pipelines that impact Canada, giving his OK to the Keystone XL and Dakota Access projects.

The new U.S. president made good on one of his campaign promises Monday, formally withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal negotiated by his predecessor but never ratified.

Speaking in the Oval Office in the White House as he signed the orders, Trump said that “we are going to renegotiate some of the terms” of TransCanada’s Keystone XL project. “And if they like, we will see if we can get that pipeline built — a lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs, great construction jobs.”

Donald Trump signed an executive order to pull out of TPP a little before noon ET, calling the move “great news for American workers.”

Trump signed an order on the Dakota Access Pipeline, saying it is also subject U.S. President Donald Trump shows his signature on an executive order on the Keystone XL pipeline on Tuesday. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo) to terms and conditions “to be negotiated by us.”

Speaking at a federal cabinet retreat in Ricketts, said the pipeline would create Trump did not elaborate about what he Calgary, Natural Resources Minister jobs in the state and bring tax relief to may be seeking in renegotiating the two Jim Carr said the Keystone XL project counties along the route, he added that projects. would mean 4,500 jobs — with half of state regulators must still conduct their them in the construction sector — for own review of the project.

The new U.S. president also said that if Canada, adding that all approvals are pipelines are built in the United States, in place on the Canadian side for the Some Nebraska landowners whose they should use U.S. steel. properties are affected by the proposed pipeline. pipeline have vowed to continue to “From now we are going to start making “We have been supportive of this since fight it. Jim Tarnick, a central Nebraska pipelines in the United States,” Trump the day we were sworn into government,” farmer who has rejected at least six said Carr said. “We believe it’s a good project financial offers from TransCanada W h i t e H o u s e p r e s s s e c r e t a r y for both Canada and the United States.” ranging from $30,000 US to $58,000 US for access to his land, said he Sean Spicer later said Trump’s executive Chris Bloomer, the president and is confident landowners will keep order invites TransCanada to resubmit its CEO of the Canadian Energy Pipeline blocking the pipeline through lawsuits proposal for the Keystone XL project.

Association, said the group was pleased and procedural challenges.

Shares of Calgary-based TransCanada with the move to approve Keystone XL. On the Dakota pipeline, the U.S. Army traded higher on the news. On the TSX, “The United States is a key trading decided last year to explore alternate shares of the company were up more than partner and major existing market for routes for it after the Standing Rock two per cent, rising $1.63 to $64.17 in Canadian oil and gas,” Bloomer said in Sioux tribe and its supporters said the afternoon trading. a statement. pipeline threatened drinking water and The proposed Keystone XL pipeline Native American cultural sites.

“While recent pipeline approvals will was blocked by former U.S. ensure our energy moves to tidewater, The leader of the Standing Rock Sioux president Barack Obama in late 2015, we must continue to maintain the long- said Tuesday that Trump’s executive when he said it would have undercut standing, strong relationship that we order violates tribal treaties.

U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate have with our neighbours to the south. change deal that was a centrepiece of his All pipeline projects in Canada remain “We are not opposed to energy environmental legacy. critically important to North America’s independence. We are opposed to reckless and politically motivated The proposed 1,900-kilometre pipeline energy interests,” he said. development projects, like DAPL, that would run from Hardisty, Alta., to Steele ignore our treaty rights and risk our Property owners to continue fight City, Neb. The U.S. government needed water,” Dave Archambault II, chairman to approve the pipeline because it crossed The stroke of Trump’s pen doesn’t mean of the Standing Rock Sioux, said in a the border. the Keystone XL project is a done deal. release.

While the governor of Nebraska, Pete The Associated Press, Reuters

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The 12-nation trade deal had been a target of his wrath on the campaign trail.

Prominent Republican — and frequent Trump critic — Senator John McCain of Arizona was quick to criticize the decision, releasing a statement calling it a “serious mistake.”

“This decision will forfeit the opportunity to promote American exports, reduce trade barriers, open new markets and protect American invention and innovation,” McCain said. “It will create an opening for China to rewrite the economic rules of the road.”

On the other side of the political aisle, Vermont Senator and erstwhile presidential candidate Bernie Sanders cautiously welcomed the move.

“I am glad the Trans-Pacific Partnership is dead and gone. For the last 30 years, we have had a series of trade deals — including the North American Free Trade Agreement ... which have cost us millions of decent-paying jobs and caused a ‘race to the bottom,’ which has lowered wages for American workers,” Sanders said.

“Now is the time to develop a new trade policy that helps working families, not just multi-national corporations.

If President Trump is serious about a new policy to help American workers then I would be delighted to work with him.”Reuters

The Ghanaian News January 2017

TransCanada makes new application to U.S. State Department for Keystone pipeline CALGARY -Tr a n s C a n a d a C o r p .

(TSX:TRP) has submitted a new presidential permit application to the U.S. Department of State for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.

The project would move oil 1,900 kilometres from Alberta to Steele City, Neb., where it would connect with other lines leading to refineries along

the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The application comes after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order earlier this week to help expedite the project.

Tr u m p d i r e c t e d t h e State Department and other agencies to make a decision within 60 days of a final application and declared that a 2014

environmental study satisfies required reviews under environmental and endangered species laws.

Former president Barack Obama rejected Keystone XL in late 2015, declaring it would undercut U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate change deal that was a centrepiece of his environmental agenda.

The Canadian Press

29

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

Mr. President, Can You Hear Me? YOUR EXCELLENCY, before I dive into it I would like to be clear: Yes, I voted for you and what your party stands and I represent those who invested their scarce hopes in you so please don’t take my advice for granted! I also would like you to know that I hold no special brief for any particular ideology, group, party or school of thought which might want to seek to bring about changes of any kind in our manners, morals, institutions or society.

I’m not a reformer, crusader, social philosopher or economic theorist---tulfiawa!

However, I consider myself as a practical individual who has devoted his very life to guiding Ghana to a brighter future for this generation and beyond so as for it to live up to its potentials.

Mr. President, no, I’m not going to disturb you with too many issues right now because you’re too busy trying to put your administration together and tackle the mountainous problems you’ve inherited. .However, I know some issues can’t wait for another four years.

As a new president, you’re going to get a lot of advisers and ideas all over the place, so I need to get your attention now, before your office gets so crowded and clogged by job seekers, ’fortune hunters’ and ‘political parasites’.

I’m a realist—in the most realistic sense of the word. I appreciate the fact that this is —and never has been and never will be—the best of times for Ghanaians to see the socio-economic Promised Land than

now. Nevertheless, this is the most difficult time in the history of Ghana, therefore that doesn’t mean one must under no circumstances raise questions, give suggestions, voice doubts, scratch his hair, raise any eyebrow or seek improvement.

The point is, it does no one any good to pretend there is never anything wrong in our system or society. Therefore there is no need to strive for perfection.

In other words, in a free society like ours, anything that in any way affects the lives or the welfare of the public at large should never be precluded from continuing critical scrutiny, examination and criticism.

With that in mind once we’re all on a nation building the following are my suggestions: Your Excellency, right off the bat, bewares of your own people and surround yourself with people who can always tell you what you don’t want to hear but need to hear. And, remember that those who are singing hallelujah now are the same people who will cry for your crucifixion four years from now.

Mr. President, I know, I may already have made some of your people mad, and I haven’t even gotten warmed up yet.

But let’s not let that get in the way of good suggestions coming from a dedicated and noble statesman with genuine concerns.

Mr. President, I hear — and, I’m sure you also heard— a lot of weeping and moaning during your campaigning season about the state of the country. Their dissatisfaction has three main, related causes: First, government does

Kwaku Adu Gyamfi

too many things they don’t want it to do.

Second, every time the government does anything, it ends up costing them too much money. The cost always outweighs the benefit. In other words, the people who pay for government are the people whom government seems least interested in serving.

Third, their MPs take them for granted after the election .You could say that they’re not mad at the government—just the people who run it.

If you don’t believe them take a trip to our seaports, hospitals, DVLA offices and other government’s institutions. These are positive and healthy expressions of honest, righteous grievances from the folks who sent you there.

Seek advice from your foes: Seek advice from other political parties –not just with those you differ with politically, but everyone provided they have good ideas to offer you to govern. It’s not a sign of weakness but, it’s called finding a common ground. We need more people with good ideas to help you tackle the tasks ahead of you. So tap into the pool of Ghanaian professionals, both home and abroad and seek their knowledge.

We Don’t Need Mother Teresa to Rule Ghana:

We don’t want mother Teresa to rule Ghana.

We all have our weakness so look deeply within yourself and see how you can turn your weakness into advantages which can benefit Ghana.

Mr. President, don’t be afraid to admit to Ghanaians when you screw-up badly(which you will do once in a while!).Once you do that your fun club membership will soar into the stratosphere.

Speak To Ghanaians Regularly: We live in a microwave world with its sophisticated technological gadgets.

Make good use of them. Get online, send messages and present your cases in an unfiltered way to a broad audience; both home and abroad otherwise the Ghanaian media will take you to the cleaners.

Make town- hall meetings the hallmark of your administration so as to interact with the folks who stood in line for hours to send you to your new home.

Be Frank with the Electorates: Most politicians are viewed with wariness and despised by electorates, so try as much as possible to tell them what they need to hear not what you want them to hear all the time.

And, please let them know that intellectual ability, empathy, patriotism and integrity have nothing to do with a college education.

Let the Media be your Ally: Do reporters and news men and women start their search for the truth in a totally unbiased, objective way before stories are published?

Do they actually do any investigation to see if an allegation holds up before they report?

They will tell you they do? They will vow, promise, swear, aver, and take an oath with one hand on the Bible that they do, but they don’t. However, that shouldn’t be the reason to fight them. They are more than you and your ministers. Besides, if you and your ministers tell the truth all the time to Ghanaians, there is no need to fight them.

Mr. President, remember the current environment has amplified the loudest and helped most partisan voices and speed -up fact-free theories about politicians. So watch what you do or say. In short, with the help of the Fm stations, political insurgents have tilted the national conversation.

Any Plans for This Microwave Generation?

“Say what?”Mr. President, I bet I caught you off guard, huh?

Yes, I’m referring to our face-booked, Iphoned, tablet, WhatsApp and instant- gratification generation; with its over-consumption appetite for foreign goods and lifestyle. This is the most important resource of Ghana yet its aspirations and expectations have taken for granted by every government .I wonder if Ghana can walk majestically if this segment of the population is creeping and wobbling aimlessly.

Question: Can your administration meet ( their sometimes, unrealistic) expectations and contain their anger and mistrust?

We Need An Active Disporan Affair Office for Ghanaians in the Diaspora:

Mr. President, can you and your administration sincerely ignore the plights of 5 Million Ghanaians leaving abroad and survive this socio-economic tsunami?

Your Excellency, amazingly, Israel has a plan to lure or recruit and retain every Jew from anywhere on this planet to move to Israel.

It does so by giving very attractive resettlement packages and incentives to entice the best brains to move to Israel and settle. But, in Ghana, the situation is different— way different!. The problems start right from the arrival Hall at Kotoka Airport till the day one checks out of the country.

No one (including the government officials) seems to care about the plights of Ghanaians in the Diaspora.—their skills, personal safety and ‘land –guards’ problems—are the government’s back case ,Does the government really have any record of all Ghanaians in the Diaspora and what they do and the skills and capital they possess?

The point is, right now those who are moving back home are doing so without any governmental influence, infusion or incentive.

Therefore they either have enough from their host countries or they need a rest from the hectic life in their host countries or the combination of the two. Is that the best way to harness Ghana’s intellectual resources and attract and retain the socio-economic selfimposed- exiles? Aren’t we all tired of seeing the offspring of Ghana being the globetrotter?

Even the dual – citizenship’s (mambo-

cont’d on pg. 61

The Ghanaian News celebrates 20 years of service to the community 1997 - 2017

The Ghanaian News January 2017

31

Community Information In remembrance of some of our community members who passed away in 2015

Gone Too Soon The death is reported of Mrs. Esther Donkor at the Etobicoke General Hospital. It ocurred on Monday January 23rd, 2017.

She was 54 years and is survived by husband Donkor Abagyina and 2 children Kofi Twumasi Donkor and Jason Appiah Donkor

Compiled by Jonathan Annobil, Toronto

Attaa Agyemang, 60 Oct. 15, 2016

Franklin Botchway 83 May 7, 2016

Anthony Owusu, 62 July 17, 2016

The Late Mrs. Esther Donkor

Joseph Opoku

Bryan Agyei, 22 Feb 28, 2016

Anna Sackey Mensah

Johnson Menkah 59 Oct 8, 2016

Douglas Kyere, 35

Domenic Anning 75 March 5, 2016

Patrick Arhin, 64 Christian Saarah 28 Oct. 19, 2016

Rev. Kwaku Asare, 66 Oct 2016

Elvis Kojo Jones 68 April 30, 2016

Fred Morris, 70 Nov.13, 2016

Emmanuel Cobbinah 65 Sept. 7, 2016

Cynthia Enyonam BuakahOwuatuh, 57 Feb. 12 2016

Edward Koroma, 59 June 19, 2016 Dr. Ofei Djoleto 69 March 1, 2016

Hayford Asante Danso

Raymond Siaw Odei, 79 Nov 30, 2016

Juliana Uzukwa, 52 April 9, 2016

Call Us First The Ghanaian News 41 6 - 9 1 6 - 3 7 0 0

Charleston church shooter sentenced to death Roof was convicted last month on 33 federal charges, including hate crimes Dylann Roof has been sentenced to death for killing nine black church members in Charleston, S.C. He is the first person to get the death penalty for federal hate crimes.

The jury reached a decision after about three hours of deliberations.

Earlier Tuesday, Roof threw away a chance to plead for his life, telling jurors: “I still feel like I had to do it.”

Roof walked to the podium less than three metres from the jury box with a yellow sheet of paper. He put it down and looked past jurors for about 30 seconds before beginning to read off the page.

Every juror looked directly at Roof as he spoke for about five minutes. A few nodded as he reminded them that they said during jury selection they could fairly weigh the factors of his case.

Only one of them, he noted, had to disagree to spare his life.

“I have the right to ask you to give me a life sentence, but I’m not sure what good it would do anyway,” he said.

Roof paused several times, but jurors never took their eyes off him. After one of the pauses, he abruptly said, “That’s all,” quickly gathered his sheet of paper and walked back to the defence table.

Early questions After more than two hours of discussions they re-watched a speech by one of the victims, Clementa Pinckney, the church pastor and a state senator. In it, Pinckney talks about the history of Emanuel and its mission.

Jurors also asked if Roof could safely be confined if he were sentenced to life in prison. The judge told them to reread the instructions he provided them to figure out what the mitigating factor means.

The attacker specifically picked out Emanuel AME Church, the South’s oldest black church, to carry out the cold, calculated slaughter, assistant U.S. attorney Jay Richardson said.

The 12 people Roof targeted on June 17, 2015, opened the door for a stranger with a smile, he said. Three people survived the attack.

“They welcomed a 13th person that night ... with a kind word, a Bible, a handout and a chair,” Richardson said during his closing argument.

“He had come with a hateful heart and a Glock .45.”

The gunman sat with the Bible study group for about 45 minutes.

During the final prayer — when everyone’s eyes were closed — he started firing. He stood over some of the fallen victims, shooting them again as they lay on the floor, Richardson said.

The prosecutor reminded jurors about each one of the victims and the bloody scene that Roof left in the church’s lower level.

No apologies The jury convicted him last month of all 33 federal charges he faced, including hate crimes. Roof, 22, would be the first person to get the death penalty for federal hate crime convictions.

Roof did not explain his actions to jurors, saying only that “anyone who hates anything in their mind has a good reason for it.” In his FBI confession, Roof said he hoped the massacre would bring back segregation or start a race war.

Nearly two dozen friends and relatives of the victims testified during the sentencing phase of the trial. They shared cherished memories and talked about a future without a mother, father, sister or brother. They shed tears, and their voices shook, but none of them said whether Roof should face the death penalty.

Richardson recalled Jennifer Pinckney’s remarks about her husband, Clementa, who was remembered for singing goofy songs and watching cartoons with their young daughters in his spare time. He was the church pastor and a state senator.

Roof acted as his own attorney and did not question any witnesses or put up any evidence.

The last person sent to federal death row was Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in 2015.

The Associated Press

32

The Ghanaian News January 2017

Trudeau welcomes Trump’s Keystone XL decision U.S. president approves $8B pipeline project but says it’s still subject to ‘renegotiation of terms by us’ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is strongly in favour of Donald Trump’s decision to green-light the Keystone XL pipeline project, a move he says will be a boon for Canadian jobs and government coffers, and help a hobbled Alberta recover from the steep decline in oil prices.

The government had expected Trump to approve the pipeline project early in his term, but sources told CBC News they were not given advance notice by the president’s team that the decision would come today.

Trudeau said he has spoken to the new U.S. president twice, and on both occasions he pressed upon him Canada’s steadfast support for the $8-billion project, which could carry more than 800,000 barrels of Alberta oil a day to refineries in Texas.

Trudeau also sought to clarify remarks he made at town hall in Peterborough, Ont., last week when he suggested the oilsands will be phased out, much to the chagrin of people who depend on the industry for their livelihood.

“I reiterated my support for the project. I’ve been on the record for many years supporting [Keystone XL] because it leads to economic growth and good jobs for Albertans,” he told reporters assembled in Calgary for the federal cabinet retreat.

“We know we can get our resources to market more safely and responsibly while meeting our climate change goals,” he said, adding Premier Rachel Notley’s hard cap on oilsands emissions will ensure Canada meets its reduction targets.

Tr u m p i s s u e d a p r e s i d e n t i a l memorandum Tuesday, which will allow the proponent, TransCanada, the chance to reapply for a presidential permit for cross-border construction.

‘I misspoke’

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau answers questions at a news conference with his cabinet after their Liberal cabinet retreat in Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017.

(Todd Korol/Canadian Press)

“I misspoke. I said something the However, Trump said the pipeline would way I shouldn’t have said it,” Trudeau still be subject to a “renegotiation of said, when pressed by a local Calgary reporter. terms by us.”

“We are going to renegotiate some of the terms and, if they’d like, we’ll see if we can get that pipeline built. A lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs. Great construction jobs,” he said, but did not specify what more he would like to extract from the proponent before construction can proceed.

“We know our transition off of fossil fuels is going to take a long time. My responsibility now ... is making sure Canadians have good jobs, making sure communities are prospering ... and doing it in a way that understands our responsibility to the environment and future generations.”

Trump has said he will push a “Buy American” agenda and will demand pipeline companies source steel used during construction from American manufacturers.

The prime minister said even if the transportation and energy sectors lessen dependence on fossil fuels, there will still be a demand for oil-based products years into the future.

Trudeau said those negotiations are out He said while opponents in the of the federal government’s hands, and Conservative Party made “political are the responsibility of TransCanada. hay” out of his comments, their former party leader also agreed, with other G7 leaders, to complete “decarbonization” by 2100.

Francois-Philippe Champagne, Ahmed Hussen and Karina Gould to join federal cabinet cont’d from pg. 16 Champagne has one notable supporter in his corner: former prime minister Jean Chrétien.

Both Champagne and Chrétien hail from Shawinigan, in rural Mauricie area of Quebec, and the Liberal lion encouraged the lawyer turned international businessman to run in the last election.

“He worked in Europe, around the world,” Chrétien recently said in French in an interview

with Quebec paper Le Nouvelliste, which recently named Champagne “person of the year.”

“He came to see me, he explained to me that one day he would like to practice politics,” Chrétien said.

“I encouraged him. I gave him my advice. He worked very hard, returned to his home, prepared himself and was elected. He does very

‘Very good moment’

The Liberal cabinet presented a united front Tuesday, heralding Trump’s decision as proof the two, ideologically well in Ottawa; everyone incompatible governments can work says it. I am very proud of together for the benefit of workers on him. He understands that either side of the border. it is not easy and that you have to work.”

“My reaction is that it would be very positive for Canada — 4,500 Champagne, 46, worked construction jobs and a deepening of abroad in the field of the relationship across the border on the green technology and energy file,” Natural Resources Minister as a vice-president and Jim Carr told reporters, referring to the senior counsel at ABB number of temporary direct and indirect Group, a multinational jobs that will be created in Canada.

Swiss conglomerate.

“This is a very good moment for He was awarded the Alberta.”

Young Global Leader award at 2009 World “I’m now a Toronto MP but I’m Economic Forum. CBC an Albertan,” Canada’s Foreign Affairs

SUPPORT BLACK OWN BUSINESS Message from The Ghanaian News 416-916-3700

Minister Chrystia Freeland said of the president’s memorandum. “As an Albertan, it’s a great decision for Canada and Alberta. The province needs jobs.”

But Trump’s decision was not universally lauded, with outgoing NDP Leader Tom Mulcair calling the project a “massive error” for Canada.

“It’s not clear why Justin Trudeau is pushing to revive a pipeline that will export Canadian jobs and has never been properly reviewed,” Mulcair said.

The pipeline will principally move diluted bitumen, and the NDP has said that the heavy crude should instead be refined in Canada.

Thorn in the side The project has been a thorn in the side of the Canada-U.S. relationship, and former prime minister Stephen Harper was openly critical of the former Democratic president for delaying construction. Harper predicted the pipeline would be built “with or without Obama,” a forecast that was borne out Tuesday.

Calgary’s Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who met with the prime minister and his cabinet to discuss the ailing Alberta economy, said he was happy to hear of Trump’s approval.

“I fundamentally believe the decision to deny that pipeline was one the biggest domestic policy errors of the previous administration,” he said. “It is important for Canadian energy to have access to global markets; it’s important for the prosperity of our nation for that to happen.”

•

Trump adviser to Canada: Don’t worry about NAFTA

•

Trump could lead to more ‘stable’ U.S. foreign policy: Harper

If built, the project will be a shot in the arm for Alberta’s oilpatch, as the project will carry 830,000 barrels of oil per day into the United States when fully operational. The industry has long said it needs more pipeline capacity to carry its product to market.

Supply from Western Canada will grow to 5.5 million barrels of oil a day by 2030, the Canadian Association of Petroleum

cont’d on pg. 41

The Ghanaian News January 2017

About ten years ago I bought my first property; I purchased this property for about $124,000.00.

I remember the sheer excitement I felt at that time as a young investor and home owner.

However, looking back now I realize how unprepared I was for this purchase. I had no idea the additional fees and extra cost that are associated with buying and owning a property.

I had always imagined that I would just write a cheque to the seller and bam! I would be a home owner. Boy was in for a shock. There were minor things I had to take care of such as legal costs, land transfer tax, mortgage insurance, moving costs and more. To be completely honest, I did not even know that the cheque to my lawyer on the closing date had to be a certified bank draft.

Although, many of these things seem inconsequential and rather obvious, many individuals new to property buying lack the same information I did during my first purchase.

Looking at where I am now in terms of home ownership and property

investments I can only smile when looking back at that moment in my life. But, remembering the stress I went through not fully understanding the process during my first property purchase I know that this is not something I would want to see others go through.

Let’s be clear, I don’t want to scare you about buying your first home or owning a home in general.

Home ownership is an important financial step for many individuals. As well, the pride involved in home ownership has been shown to impact many individuals in multiple ways. Aside from this there are many tangible benefits to owning your own home.

For starters, most of the money paid monthly for mortgages payments go directly into the house and can be recouped after selling the property.

On the other hand, when one rents 100% of the monthly payments made by individuals goes directly to the landlord and cannot be recouped after leaving the rental property. Furthermore, homeownership allows individuals to build a second income stream,

as many individuals have rented out rooms, parking spots and entire properties.

In order for individuals to take advantage of the many benefits of homeownership, they must be adequately prepared. As I found out all too well during my first property purchase, not being prepared can lead to unwanted stress.

Before you start looking at properties to buy it is important for individuals to know their credit score and maintain good credit. All too often people avoid knowing their credit score or even basic knowledge of how good or poor their credit is. I’ve seen many people wait till the last minute when they are about to purchase a property only to find out that their credit is not good enough to purchase the property they are looking at. An easy way to know your credit

Mortgage Brokerage

and the type of house you can really afford is to contact a bank or mortgage broker in order to get pre-approved for a mortgage. But keep in mind that just because the bank approves you for a $500,000 mortgage doesn’t mean you are obligated to buy a property at that price; you must consider your other financial commitments, such as child care expenses, retirement savings, and the cost of your lifestyle.

One thing that most new homeowners forgot to do is save enough money for their deposit and closing costs.

Down payments are usually at least 5 per cent of the price of the property, but it is highly recommended that all first-time home buyers aim to put down 20 per cent of the value of the home in order to qualify for a conventional mortgage. Closing costs can range anywhere

from 1.5 to 3.5 per cent of the total cost of your home. Often the money saved to cover closing costs is used for such things as a home inspection fee, legal fees, and property transfer tax among others.

Overall, buying your first property should never be done without proper planning and preparation. All too

often individuals rush to buy real estate simply because their friends/ family members are buying; this has resulted in being unable to manage their purchases.

It is important for individuals to educate themselves and seek the right guidance from a real estate professional in order to better position themselves to be a new homeowner.

We’ve got a mortgage for that!

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

Celebration Of NPP Victory In Pictures

The Ghanaian News January 2017

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Swearing-in ceremony of President Nana Akuffo Addo

Nana AkufoAddo takes the Oath of Office administered by the Chief Justice, Her Lordship Theodora Wood

Ex-President John Mahama congratulates President Nana Addo

VIPs at the ceremony

The First Lady, Rebecca congratulates her husband, the freshly-minted President

Vice President Dr. MahamaduBawumia takes the Oath of Office

The President inspects the guard of honour

Foreign dignataries at the ceremony

The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye arrives at the inauguration ceremony

President Nana Akuffo Addo being congratulated by Ex-President Rawlings

The British High Commissioner, H. E. Jon Benjamin Invited guests

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

Community

y in pictures

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

PEOPLE AND PLACES

Pastors and Elders of The Apostles’ Continuation Church Int’l at Church meeting

Mrs. Gifty Coffie attended thanksgiving Service at Church of Pentecost after recovering from serious sickness

Ghanaian Presbyterian Church Toronto Ushers

Group picture of Ghanaian Anglican Prophetess Pastor Comfort Twumasi Church of Toronto with the new Pastor, Rev. Fr. Kenneth Korsah celebrates her birthday

Cutting her cake with the support of her husband Apos. Twumasi-Ankrah

Graduation of Ronald Huetey

Ronald Huetey poses with family and friends

Ronald Huetey poses with Dr. Michael Baffoe

Watoto Children Choir visits Living Word Assembly of God Toronto, Jan 21, 2017 Watoto means "Children" in Swahili language. The choir is made up of children who have lost one or both parents to the AIDS epidemic or to war. The choir has toured Asia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Israel, The Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States with a team of Ugandan adults.

Their performances are a blend of native African rhythms, contemporary gospel music and ethnic dance. They have released several albums including Mambo Sawa and Beautiful Africa. Their unique ministry also comprises Watoto Child Care Ministries, three babies homes, three primary schools, a high school and a vocational school.

The Ghanaian News January 2017

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Ghanaian Presbyterian Church’s annual banquet at Panemonte Banquet Hall, 220 Humberline Drive, Sunday, January 8, 2017

Rev. & Mrs. Abekah and some church elders Eld. Elizabeth Adu-Gyamfi-meritorious award for provision of sanitizers to the church for a long time

Cutting of anniversary cake

Some church members ‘Kofi & Ama” 1st place - Tuesday born ‘Kofi & Ama” 3rd place - Wednesday born

‘Kofi & Ama” 2nd place - Saturday born

DJs and Media crew Church members

Some of the church elders A cross section of church members

Children at the party Some of the members

Members enjoying themselves on the floor

A cross section of church members

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

Pentecost Int’l Worship Centre (PIWC) end of year Party at Destiny Convention Centre, Woodbridge, ON December 27th 2016

End of year get together of Zumuta Muslim Association of Canada at Taric Islamic Centre, 99 Beverly Hills Drive, Toronto, Dec. 25, 2016

Group picture of Executives with the Consul-Gen. John Bosco

Alhaji Usman & wife receiving an award

Mohammed Toloba

Group picture of women

Abas Kashif receiving an award

The Ghanaian News January 2017

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Frankly Speaking So-Called Appointments (Vetting) Committee in Ghana’s Parliament Becoming Useless Exercise By: Dr. Michael Baffoe, Winnipeg, MB

Over the past one week, Ghanaians have been subjected to a useless and boring exercise, a charade called Parliamentary Vetting of Ministers-Designate of Ghana.

The new President of Ghana, Nana AddoDankwaAkufoAddo has since assuming office on January 7, 2017, nominated 39 persons to various Ministerial positions and ten persons to the positions of Regional Ministers. In accordance with Article 78 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, these Ministers have to be approved

by Parliament. In this direction Ghana’s Parliament constituted an Appointments Committee to determine the “qualification” of the Ministers Designate to their various offices.

This exercise, known in Ghana’s Parliament as “vetting” started about ten days ago but it has been a laughable useless exercise. To start with, I strongly believe that the composition of the Vetting Committee was wrong from the start. There are as many as twenty-five Members of Parliament on this one single Committee. This consists of 16 members from the majority NPP side and 10 from the minority NDC side. It is Chaired by the MP for Bekwai, who is the first Deputy Speaker, Hon. Joseph Osei-Owusu with Hon. AdwoaSarfo as his Vice-Chair.

The Minority Parliamentary leader, HarunaIddrisu is the ranking Member.

Since they started work over a week ago, about fifteen Designated Ministers have appeared before them to answer various questions. I have been closely following the “vetting” sessions and processes of every Designated Minister who has appeared before this cantankerous Committee

and I must say that I am very disappointed about the whole process. First, it has become obvious that the members on the Minority NDC side of the Committee see their roles as being negative, almost abusive to the point where they can either get a nominee angry or get them to provide the wrong answers. It seems to me that they see their roles only as embarrassing the nominees or try as much as possible to get them disqualified or disapproved.

Secondly, the quality of the questions they have been asking some of the nominees are so elementary, some unnecessary, to the point of uselessness. Even in normal job interviews, there are certain questions that are off limits to be asked. You do not ask questions about someone’s religious beliefs, their marital status or the number of children they have and when and how they had them. In effect, any question that has no bearing on the competence or future job effectiveness of the candidate is off limits.

Now hear some of the very useless questions these MPs have been asking the nominees: When the Minister Designate for Attorney General and Justice, Gloria Akuffo appeared before the Committee, one Committee member wanted to know whether she speaks Ga or Akuapem language; whether

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she is related to the President (because of her name) and most sickening of all why the nominee is not married and has two children. I nearly hit the roof on hearing this question.

Gloria Akuffo is one of the finest legal brains in Ghana. She was once (for over four years), Deputy Minister of the very Ministry she is now nominated to head. She served as Deputy to the current President when he was the Attorney General and Minister for Justice.

However, instead of focusing on her credentials, some of the Committee members whose combined job experiences may not reach ten percent of those of the nominee sought to throw all kinds of dirt at her. One Committee member wanted to know why the nominee did not indicate that she was once a member of Mensah Sarbah Hall of Residence (Vikings) at the University of Ghana, Legon during her University years.

What has that got to do with anything about the qualification for the position of Attorney General?

Some of them were pulling newspaper articles, viciously written by NDC newspapers impugning on the integrity of the nominees in years past and asking them to justify themselves on these spurious s t o r i e s . W h e n M i n i s t e rDesignate Yaw OsafoMarfo sought to put one the Committee members in his place that he (the MP) was too young (a real fact) at the time of the issues he referred to have a

clear understanding of the issue, hell broke loose and he was asked to withdraw the statement, which he gracefully did “with apology”, although I thought the MP deserved no such apology.

Some of the MPs continued on the same destructive and unnecessary path when other Ministers especially B o a k y e A g y a r k o , E n e rg y Minister Designate, a seasoned Banker and Dr. OwusuAfriyieAkoto, Minister Designate for Agriculture, appeared before them. It looked like some of the MPs especially on the Minority side, have been very uncomfortable whenever these seasoned and highly experienced people come before them. When the Chair of the Committee ruled that a line of questioning of one of the MPs on Mr. BoakyeAgyarko was out of order, the MP roared in anger at the Chair. When Dr. OseiAkoto sought to provide an MP with real facts in answer to his unnecessary questions, they called him arrogant, the same charge they slapped on Yaw OsafoMarfo.

It has been a harrowing week of pure comedy and theater at the so-called appointments committee of Parliament who are trying to determine the “qualifications” of the overqualified persons appearing before them. The sentiments that have been expressed by many people which I totally agree with is the fact that you DO NOT need a Committee of as many as 25 people to “cross-

examine” one Ministerial nominee. Parliamentary work is done by so many specialized Select Committees who workin areas on which they have expertise. The appointments (Vetting) Committees should be made to work in the same manner and membership should not exceed seven persons. In that way there will be many committees working simultaneously. If they had done so, their vetting process could have taken no more than a week since more than ten nominees could be interviewed in a day with all committees meeting around the same time in various rooms.

T h e s o - c a l l e d Ve t t i n g Committee should avoid this extreme partisanship they have shown over the past ten days in their work with the Ministerial nominees. Their behavior and performance gives them no credit nor respect. It shows the whole country that their stance and conducts are only driven by hatred, envy and unnecessary politics. I strongly believe that moving forward, the Speaker of Parliament will heed the numerous calls being made to not only structure the Committees into smaller manageable and efficient ones, but to school the members to eschew the extreme partisan and sometimes disrespectful behavior they have shown towards the Ministerial nominees so far. The MPs want to addressed as “Honourables” and I suggest they live up to that title by behaving “honourably”.

Trudeau welcomes Trump’s Keystone XL decision cont’d from pg. 32 Producers has forecasted, while current pipelines can only carry four million barrels.

T h e L i b eral g o v ern m en t signed off on Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline and E n b r i d g e ’s L i n e 3 l a s t November, which, combined, will add capacity to transport 1.3 million more barrels of oil a day.

All told, Canada’s oil and gas producers could be flush with pipeline space if all of these projects are constructed, which could spell bad news for another much-delayed TransCanada project, Energy East.

“This is a decision that

TransCanada will have to make ... and the proponent’s own sense of where the markets are,” Carr said. “The job of the government of Canada is to make sure that the regulatory system is credible, and that’s why we made fresh appointments to the National Energy Board.”

Keystone XL has Canadian approvals Carr said Tuesday Keystone XL has secured all of its approvals north of the border, and the project will not be subject to the secondary environmental review process the government initiated last January for Trans Mountain and Energy East.

The National Energy Board and the former Harper government approved the project in 2010 but construction has been stalled as the proponent awaited approvals from the president, and states along the route.

TransCanada still has to secure route approval from Nebraska, as it previously withdrew its application for a state permit after Obama rejected the pipeline.

The massive 1,900-kilometre pipeline will connect to Tr a n s C a n a d a ’s e x i s t i n g Keystone pipeline system, and will carry oil from Hardisty, Alta., south of the border to refineries near Houston. CBC

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

Federal Court denies bid to block Canada-Saudi Arabia arms deal Montreal university professor argued $15B contract should not proceed due to human rights violations The Federal Court has rejected a bid by Montreal professor Daniel Turp to block Canada’s $15-billion sale of light-armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia.

In a 28-page decision by Justice Danièle TremblayLamer, the court ruled the minister of foreign affairs has broad discretionary powers to grant export permits.

“In the impugned decision, the minister considered the economic impact of the proposed export, Canada’s national and international security interests, Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and the conflict in Yemen before granting the export permits, thereby respecting the values underlying the conventions,” it reads.

Olivia Akpari

“The role of the court is not to pass moral judgment on Harper’s government, which highlighted the thousands the minister’s decision to issue the export permits, but of jobs it is expected to create and keep in southern only to make sure of the legality of such a decision.” Ontario.

The court also noted that broad discretion would also But the sale by General Dynamics Land Systems has been controversial due to Saudi Arabia’s human have allowed the minister to deny the permits. rights record.

Turp, a former Bloc Québécois MP and Parti Québécois MNA, argued the federal Turp was not available to react to the decision, but said government’s decision to allow the export permits through a spokesman there is a “strong possibility” does not meet the legal requirements under the Export that he will appeal. and Import Permits Act and the Geneva Conventions Act, according to the federal court summary of the Cesar Jaramillo, executive director of peace and disarmament group Project Ploughshares, said the case. ruling underscores a need for more stringent rules on exporting arms.

Focus on jobs, human rights The deal with Saudi Arabia was struck by Stephen “The Federal Court ruling does not make the sale

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FOOD FOR LIFE

Bringing the Gospel to our Community by Rev. Isaac DeGraft Takyi Goal Setting and Goal Achieving—Our Spiritual Obligation The year 2017 is here with us and we might want to take the opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to God for his love, grace, mercy and peace. Before we continue with our discussion, it will be appropriate to register our profound gratitude to Rev. Joseph Osei-Amoah who has for many years been the originator and writer for “Food for Life” that the Ghanaian community in Canada and other countries have enjoyed for years.

The Lord, before the year began, revealed to us that the year 2017 was going to be, among other things, the year of chiefly establishment, an attractive establishment and a Godly establishment.

God says He is ensuring our establishment. The Lord say He will establish His people. If you are a child of God be assured of this promise of God from the book of Micah chapter four and verses one to five. You might like to read the whole chapter for context and clarity on the kind of future the Lord has for you as His people.

It is very important to realise that the fact that God has given such a promise does not necessarily guarantee its fulfillment. Whatever promise God gives to His children has its corresponding responsibility, hence the Food for Life for this first month of the year is on Goal Setting. Let us begin with some simple questions, from the personal level first.

Do you have your goals ready?

Are they written down with clarity and simplicity? Do you have them displayed at a place where you can easily see them daily? Finally do you have a community, I mean a friend to hold you accountable as you work on your goals?

Kindly make some time to answer these questions for your greater good in the year 2017. I will like to see you at the end of the year smiling and excited for your realized goals.

Kindly ensure that you do not go through the year by default

again, I will risk more and (3) If I had it to do over again, I would do more things that would live on after I’m dead.

What would be your answer to the above question?

but by design. Have a plan and work the plan to make a difference in your life.

In Food for Life this month let us try to think about what goals are, some of the common mistakes some people make when setting goals, how to set goals that see the light of day, and finally look at some of the Biblical characters that set goals to help us realize how scriptural goal setting is.

Someone has said “You do not grow big to manage well, you manage well to grow big”.

Think about this quote carefully because it brings to the fore the importance of goal setting. By the way I hope you know that there is a difference between goal setting and goal achieving, right? Let me give you a hint.

For those who think they cannot do it, be encouraged by the words of Zig Ziglar, in saying “You do not have to be great to start, you have to start to be great”. Whatever it is, wherever you are in life do not let the size of your current situation determine your future rather let the size of your God be the determining factor. You are unique, you are special, you have the potential to do it, so rise up, sit up, sit down, write down and act on them.

Sociologist Anthony Campolo tells about a study in which 50 people over the age of 95 were asked “If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently?”

From their answers emerged three themes: (1) If I had it to do over again, I would reflect more. (2) If I had it to do over

A goal is a desired result, an achievement, or possible outcome that a person or a system envisions, plans, directs an effort to and commits to achieve. Let me throw it in here that goal setting is an intellectual process while goal achieving is an action process, and one needs both to be effective and productive.

What is the results you strongly desire to see materialized by the end of the year? Do you have goals for your spiritual, physical, emotional, financial, mental, vocational and relational health?

God sets goals. God has goals. He sets goal for the earth, for the universe, for history and for eternity. God has goals for every creature of His and I surely believe he has goals for you.

T h e fi rs t b o o k o f the Bible affirms it: “In the beginning God made from nothing the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was an empty waste and darkness was over the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was moving over the top of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good. He divided the light from the darkness. 5 Then God called the light day, and He called the darkness night.

There was evening and there was morning, one day.6 Then God said, “Let there be an open space between the waters. Let it divide waters from waters.”

7 God made the open space, and divided the waters under the open space from the waters above the open space. And it was so. 8 Then God called the open space Heaven. There was evening and there was morning, the second day. 9 Then God

Living Word Assembly Launches Global University learning Centre

By Vernon Ayiku, Toronto

New York Times bestselling author Rev. Rick Warren.

Rev. Isaac De-Graft Takyi Rev De-Graft Takyi has took the congregation by introduced his congregation storm, ushering a new era to the Global University, a for long standing pillar school for Evangelism and of the Toronto Ghanaian Discipleship. There students Community. But as many have the opportunity to enroll changes as there were in 2016, it appears to be a mere in programs such as Bible precursor for more significant Theology, Intercultural or Religious Education at the changes to come in 2017. undergraduate or graduate level.

Falling in line with the Church’s current 50 days of Many members of Living Transformation campaign, Word have already enrolled a program originated and crafted by evangelist and

and numbers are expected to increase as spokesmen from the University was invited to the church to elaborate on the different programs the university offers. As the transformation continues at Living Word, it seems this move set the church up to have a variety of leaders in the community and possibly around the world for years to come. This seems to fulfill the creed the church now stands on, “Live the word, reach the world.”

said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered into one place. Let the dry land be seen.” And it was so. 10 Then God called the dry land Earth.

He called the gathering of the waters Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let plants grow from the earth, plants that have seeds. Let fruit trees grow on the earth that bring their kind of fruit with their own seeds.”

And it was so. 12 Plants grew out of the earth, giving their own kind of seeds. Trees grew with their fruit, and their kind of seeds. And God saw that it was good. 13 There was evening and there was morning, the third day. 14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the open space of the heavens to divide day from night. Let them tell the days and years and times of the year. 15 Let them be lights in the open space of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 Then God made the two great lights, the brighter light to rule the day, and the smaller light to rule the night.

He made the stars also. 17 God put them in the open space of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule the day and the night. He divided the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.20 Then God said, “Let the waters be full of living things. Let birds fly above the earth in the open space of the heavens.” 21 God made the big animals that live in the sea, and every living thing that moves through the waters by its kind, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God wanted good to come to them, saying, “Give birth to many. Grow in number.

Fill the waters in the seas. Let birds grow in number on the earth.” 23 There was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring into being living things after their kind: Cattle and things that move upon the ground, and wild animals of the earth after their kind.” And it was so. 25 Then God made the

wild animals of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that moves upon the ground after its kind. And God saw that it was good.26 Then God said, “Let Us make man like Us and let him be head over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over everything that moves on the ground.”

27 And God made man in His own likeness. In the likeness of God, He made him. He made both male and female. 28 And God wanted good to come to them, saying, “Give birth to many. Grow in number. Fill the earth and rule over it. Rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “See, I have given you every plant that gives seeds that is on the earth, and every tree that has fruit that gives seeds. They will be food for you. 30 I have given every green plant for food to every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to every thing that moves on the earth that has life.” And it was so. 31 God saw all that He had made and it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, the sixth day”. (Genesis 1:1-31 New Life Version) God wants us to be like Him. To create things, to make our world a better place, to make our lives better than it is now. God knew the kind of world He wanted and so He went to work to get it done. Do you know how you want your world to be? If yes, prayerfully work smart to get it accomplished. How is your educational health? How is your marriage doing? How are your children doing? To some, I may say, how is your health doing?

Jesus had goals. He came to seek and to save the lost. This gave Him direction, guidance, energy and priority.

Jesus in Luke’s gospel reveals “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to

cont’d on pg. 63

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Ask The Doctor

Lifestyle

By: David Yaw Twum-Barima, MD, MSc, FRCPC

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This column is devoted to answering your questions on health and discusions of diseases which are common among the African Canadians.

Weight loss: Ready to change your habits?

Many disease states are affected or brought on by being overweight or obese. Many times we all decide that we need to lose weight and sometimes we plunge into a weight loss program. In this article, we will review some questions that you need to answer before you decide to lose weight.

Are you motivated to lose weight? Is your weight-loss goal realistic? Answer these questions and more to make sure you’re ready to start a weight-loss program — and know what steps to take if you aren’t quite there.

Your weight-loss success depends in large part on your readiness to take on the challenge.

If you jump in before you’re ready, your weight-loss plan might buckle under the first challenge.

Use these questions to assess your weight-loss readiness.

1. Are you motivated to make long-term lifestyle changes?

Successful weight loss depends on permanent lifestyle changes, such as eating healthy foods and including physical

activity in your daily routine. That could represent a significant departure from your current lifestyle.

Be honest.

Knowing that you need to make changes in your life and actually doing it are two different things. You might need to overhaul your diet so that you’re eating more whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products, for example. You’ll also need to find time for physical activity, ideally at least 30 to 45 minutes — or more — nearly every day of the week.

Whether your motivation for undertaking these changes is better health, improved appearance or simply feeling better about yourself, find your motivation and focus on it.

2. Have you addressed the big distractions in your life?

If you’re dealing with major life events, such as marital problems, job stress, illness or financial worries, you might not want to add the challenge of overhauling your eating and exercise habits.

Instead, consider giving your life a chance to calm down before you launch your weight-loss program.

3. Do you have a realistic picture of how much weight you’ll lose and how quickly?

Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is a lifelong process. Start by making sure your weight-loss goal is safe and realistic — such as losing 10 percent of your current weight. Then aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week until you reach your goal.

This means burning 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume each day — through diet, exercise or both.

You might lose weight more quickly if you change your habits significantly. Be careful, though. Radical changes that aren’t sustainable

aren’t likely to be effective over the long term.

4. Have you resolved any emotional issues connected to your weight?

Emotions and food are often intertwined.

Anger, stress, grief and boredom can trigger emotional eating. If you have a history of an eating disorder, weight loss can be even trickier.

To prepare for the challenges, identify any emotional issues related to food. Talk to your doctor or a mental health provider, if needed.

5. Do you have support and accountability?

Any weight-loss program can be difficult.

You might face moments of temptation or become disheartened. Having someone in your corner to offer encouragement can help. If you don’t have friends or loved ones you can rely on for positive help, consider joining a weight-loss support group.

6. Have you embraced the weight-loss challenge?

If you don’t have a positive attitude about losing weight, you might not be ready —

and if you dread what lies ahead, you might be more likely to find excuses to veer off course.

Instead, try to embrace the vision of your new lifestyle and remain positive. Focus on how good you’ll feel when you’re more active or when you weigh less. Picture yourself celebrating every success along the way, whether it’s enjoying a new food, finishing another exercise session or losing your first few pounds.

Your results: Ready or not?

Think about your responses to the questions above: Did you answer yes to all or most of the questions? You’re probably ready to make the lifestyle changes that’ll support permanent weight loss.

Forge ahead with a healthy diet and regular physical activity — starting today! If you think you need help, consult a dietitian or enroll in a reputable weight-loss program. If you have a significant amount of weight to lose, you might benefit from medically

supervised weight loss with a team of health professionals — such as a dietitian, a therapist or an obesity specialist.

Did you answer no to more than one of the questions? You might not be ready to embark on a weight-loss program right now and that’s OK. Explore what’s holding you back and face those obstacles.

Consider seeking help from your doctor or another professional, such as a certified wellness coach, to help you work through these issues. Then reevaluate your readiness for weight loss so that you can get started on the path to a healthier weight.

If you couldn’t answer all of the questions with a simple yes or no but you feel generally positive about most of your answers and you’re upbeat about a weightloss program, consider starting now. You might never have definitive answers in life. Don’t let that rob you of a chance to achieve your weightloss goals.

REFERENCES: Modified from Mayo Clinic Housecall, May 2013

Many youth with ADHD given antipsychotic drugs: study TORONTO -- One in 20 Ontario children and youth have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and many are prescribed antipsychotic drugs, despite having no other mental health diagnoses, researchers have found.

A study by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences found almost 12 per cent of kids and youth with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, were prescribed antipsychotics like Risperdal, Zyprexa and Seroquel.

“When we looked at the information on the children and youth with ADHD who were prescribed antipsychotics, a very, very small number of them had a condition where you would expect the use of an antipsychotic -- conditions such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia,” said senior author Dr. Paul Kurdyak, head of the

mental health and addictions program at ICES. As its name suggests, ADHD causes such symptoms as difficulty concentrating on tasks and restlessness, which can have major implications for school achievement, no matter a young person’s intellectual capabilities, Kurdyak said.

To conduct the study, published Wednesday in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, researchers took a random sample of health records for 10,000 Ontarians aged one to 24 and examined data relating to ADHD and other diagnoses, prescribed medications and health services utilized.

They found about five per cent -- or 536 -- of the children and youth had a diagnosis of ADHD. Males are two to three times more likely than females to be diagnosed

with ADHD. About 70 per cent of the young people with ADHD were being treated with drugs like Ritalin and Adderall, which are considered standard, first-line therapy for the common condition.

About 20 per cent had also been prescribed antidepressants, “which isn’t terribly surprising because depression and anxiety commonly cooccur with ADHD,” Kurdyak said.

after 10 weeks on the drugs -- and the risk of developing pre-diabetes or diabetes.

“We don’t know why these children and youth with ADHD are on antipsychotics, but there is a risk associated with early antipsychotic exposure, so we need to know more about why they are being used, so that the benefits can be weighed against the risks.”

“But the surprising finding to us was the 12 per cent of kids with ADHD who were prescribed an antipsychotic,” he said, explaining that the medications have a sedating effect, which could help reduce disruptive behaviour.

Mark Henick, national director of strategic initiatives at the Canadian Mental Health Association, said it’s known that some doctors prescribe antipsychotic medications for ADHD, and he’s concerned about the high level of use in young people with the disorder.

However, these drugs can have adverse effects, such as causing significant weight gain. One study found kids gained almost 19 pounds on average

“They’re not indicated for ADHD and there’s not a lot of evidence that they work for ADHD,” he said Wednesday. “In fact,

there’s good evidence that they could be harmful.”

The ICES study shows that people who go to a psychiatrist for treatment are more likely to be prescribed an antipsychotic, noted Henick, who was not involved in the research. “ B u t i t ’s o f t e n n o t appropriate in these kinds of cases, where we know psychotherapy is quite effective for ADHD.” However, he said it can be difficult for many families to arrange psychotherapy for a child with ADHD. Psychiatrists’ services are covered by provincial health insurance, but they often have long wait lists as a result.

Psychologists and other psychotherapists are typically far more accessible, but their services are not covered and must be paid for out of pocket.

“So you’d be looking at anywhere from $100,

$150, $200, $250 an hour for psychotherapy for ADHD -- and most families can’t afford that.”

Kurdyak said children and youth who experience continued ADHD-related behavioural issues that are making school and home life difficult need to have an integrated therapeutic plan beyond medications.

“You’d certainly want a child in that situation to have access to behavioural therapies that provide children and their families with coping skills so that they can manage their behaviours,” he said.

“We would like to see situations where kids, who are more complex, that the treatment they receive is comprehensive and aligned with their need and not simply the addition of an antipsychotic with all its risks.” The Canadian Press

46

The Ghanaian News January 2017

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Health Canada expands warning for some antibiotics Safety review points to known side-effects of fluoroquinolones beyond muscular issues A class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones are associated with a range of persistent or disabling side-effects in rare cases, according to Health Canada.

Fluoroquinolones include oral and injectable antibiotics used to treat respiratory, urinary tract and other infections. The drugs are available as generic and brand name products including: •

Ciprofloxacin (Cipro).

•

Moxifloxacin (Avelox).

•

Levofloxacin.

•

Norfloxacin.

•

Ofloxacin.

In 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada asked makers of fluoroquinolone drugs to place a warning on the label that the drugs could lead to tendon ruptures.

Now the Canadian regulator says a safety review suggests known side-effects include not only muscular issues such as tendonitis and

Achilles tendon rupture, but also nerve damage such as peripheral neuropathy (damage to or a disorder affecting the nerves outside the spinal cord and brain), and central nervous system issues such as anxiety, dizziness and confusion.

Reactions can occur hours to weeks after taking a fluoroquinolone.

“As a result of its safety review, Health Canada is working with manufacturers to include information concerning this rare but serious risk in the product labelling of these drugs,” the regulator said Monday.

Health Canada said before taking a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, tell your health-care professional if you have previously experienced a side-effect related to its use.

If you experience side-effects such as joint and muscle pain, numbness, tingling or confusion while taking a fluoroquinolone, consult a health-care professional.

Researchers will also conduct more studies to better understand the use of fluoroquinolones in Canada, the regulator said. CBC

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47

Wynne rejects road tolls for Toronto, Tory calls decision ‘paternalistic and shortsighted’ The province will not allow tolls to be placed on the Gardiner Expressway a n d t h e D o n Va l l e y Parkway and will instead double the portion of the gas tax that is given to municipalities for transit, a move that could ultimately provide the city with an extra $170 million annually.

Premier Kathleen Wynne made the stunning announcement in Richmond Hill on Friday morning, noting that there are not the necessary alternative options in place to justify tolls on the two busy highways.

“With this request, I have always said that there needed to be options for people and they needed to be affordable options and those options are not in place,” Wynne said, noting that there are alternative means of transportation for people who wish to avoid provincial toll roads like Highway 407. “The

conditions are just not right and that’s why we made this decision.”

The portion of the gas tax that will go to municipalities will increase from two cents to four cents by 2021, though the tax itself is not going up.

Based on the amount of revenue Toronto received from the gas tax in 2016, the city would be in line to receive an additional $170 million annually as of 2021.

Speaking with reporters, Wynne contended that city is getting exactly what it asked for and admonished those who favour road tolls as an “ideological position,” noting that Toronto is “getting the same amount of money that was put forward in the proposal.”

M a y o r J o h n To r y, however, rejected that notion while speaking

with reporters at city hall after the announcement, calling Wynne’s decision “paternalistic and shortsighted.”

“Simply put Toronto is being forced to contend with major issues like housing, roads and childcare and then told we are not able to take the measures that we choose to take to address those financial needs,” he said.

“That is shortsighted, it is not right and it will ultimately hurt the Ontario residents that need transit and housing the most.”

Tory said the additional revenue from the gas tax is good news for Toronto but he said it is likely to fall short of what the city may have generated through road tolls and will “certainly” fall short of the city’s overall needs.

“severely limits” the Tory said. city’s ability to solve its City staff have previously own fiscal challenges. estimated that a $2 toll “It is time that I stop being on both the Gardiner and treated as a little boy the DVP would generate going up to Queen’s Park $166 million annually in short pants and saying while a $3.90 toll would ‘Please, could you help generate $272 million. me with something that is in the City of Toronto Act that I can do’ and being told ‘No, come again another day’ when houses are falling down, transit needs are not being met and transit is in chaos,”

That said it should be noted that the motion approved by council in December did not make any specific stipulations about what the toll would be or how much revenue

it would generate.

“I have a bit of tunnel vision on transit and an extra $170 million a year for transit is fantastic news but I think there will be a lot of questions about how will the difference be bridged between the amounts that are now being committed and what we could have generated (from tolls),” TTC Chair Josh Colle told CP24 following the announcement. “The toll cont’d on pg. 59

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49

H.E. Dr. Sulley Gariba, outgoing Ghana High Commissioner bids farewell to Canada

By Jonathan Baah Annobil, Toronto

The Lobby of the Ghanaian Presbyterian Church, Toronto was the venue of a short farewell event in honour of the outgoing Ghanaian High Commissioner to Canada, H. E. Dr. Sulley Gariba and his wife. H. E. Dr. Sulley Gariba assumed office as High Commissioner in Canada when he presented his Letters of Commission to the GovernorGeneral of Canada, His Excellency the right Honourable David Johnston on Wednesday February 18, 2015 at Rideau Hall Ottawa. He is returning to Ghana after being recalled following the election of a new President and government in Ghana.

The Ghanaian-Canadian Association of Ontario (GCAO) initiated the event with a section of the Ghanaian chiefs in attendance. John Bosco Kpebesani, the Consul General of Toronto gave short remarks after which H. E. Dr. Sulley

Gariba responded. He acknowledged the warm hospitality he received during his 2-year tenure as High Commissioner.

He also recalled the surprise visit of Nananom to him in Ottawa, an occasion he said, he will never forget as they braced the minus 18 degree cold to visit him even when he had not yet presented his credentials.

He continued that journey of a diplomat, a journey of service which has no length, can be a day, a year or four years. “ My hope and aspirations was to help in building the community,’ he added. Also through your leadership we wanted to start a demographic exercise. We did not listen enough and therefore could not reach an agreement. The original plan was for our chiefs, elders and priests to take the lead in the demographic exercise. Your leadership is worthy of praise as you made the “Asafo” event

Nana Anokye Bresiama presenting a collage to H.E. Sulley Gariba at Royal Ontario Museum a memorable one. Your presence was felt in your regalia and leadership”, he concluded H. E. Gariba made a strong appeal to the leadership of the Ghanaian Community to form a Canada Council in Canada.

As we saw when we were drawing the

Group picture of Nananom and community leaders with H.E. Sulley Gariba and wife

diaspora policy, until we get strong input of people who live here but also have Ghana in their DNA, we cannot make policy work, and the only way to make the policy work is that we have room that represents Ghanaians in Canada to make their input.

He pointed out that the second issue is about investment of Canada in Ghana. Providing some statistics on investments, H. E. Gariba pointed out that Canada imports only $20m from Ghana according to statistics but if we count Ghanaian business in Canada it will be more. There are several hundred Ghanaian businesses who are making investments in Ghana but are not taking advantage of incentives that these businesses should get. “So I urge you as I leave to work harder towards forming the Ghana Canada Chamber of Commerce because last year I helped my Canadian counterpart in Ghana to relaunch the Ghana Canada Chamber of Commerce and if you can work hard to form something similar to take advantage of Ghana investment incentives because other Canadians are taking advantage”, he said. “if you go with the force of Chamber of Commerce you can tackle the Ghanaian bureaucracy and will be able to negotiate the privileges and incentives that goes with investment”, he concluded.

Wofa Yaw, the immediate past president of GCAO presented a plaque on behalf of GCAO to H. E Dr. Sulley Gariba, for his service to the community. Nana Anokye Bresiamah, Asantefuohene of Toronto also presented a collage of pictures of Dr. Gariba during his tenure of office in Canada on behalf of the community.

Outgoing High Commissioner Briefs Leaders of the Toronto Ghanaian Community after the Elections in Ghana . From Joe Kingsley Eyiah & Emmanuel Ayiku, Toronto

H. E. Dr. Sulley Gariba, the outgoing Ghana’s High Commissioner to Canada on Saturday, January 14, 2017 met with the executives and advisory board members of the Ghanaian Canadian Association of Ontario (GCAO) as well as the local community media to brief them on the December 2016 elections in Ghana and the subsequent transition of power from his government (NDC) to the new government of the NPP. The function which took place at the premises of the Ghanaian Presbyterian Church in Toronto took the form of questions and answers. During the interaction Dr. Gariba pointed out that it was incumbent upon Ghana’s High Commissioners and Ambassadors around the world to remain in their respective countries during and immediately after the elections to update those countries on the state of affairs especially on the transition in Ghana. He said, “mine was an easy job in Ottawa since the elections and the transition were very peaceful in Ghana.”

In briefing the government of Canada

Community leaders of Ghanaians in Toronto with H.E. Sulley Gariba on the transition process in Ghana he had to acknowledge that unlike transition process in Canada where there is a large team the government in power easily handed over the affairs of governance to ahead of the elections, Ghana has only one administrator who received all the transitional notes

after the elections. He pointed out that there had been a slight improvement in Ghana’s transition process this year which made the process this quite transparent.

On the question of Diaspora concerns, the outgoing High Commissioner advised Ghanaians in the Diaspora to have a united voice in lobbying the

government of Ghana to solve or pay attention to their genuine concerns.

Dr. Gariba stressed that requests from Ghanaians in the Diaspora to government must be well organized and put in writing for follow-ups!

The outgoing High Commissioner promised to play his part as a private citizen in Ghana to help Ghanaians in Diaspora.

50

The Ghanaian News January 2017

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

The Ghanaian News celebrates 20 years of service to the community 1997 - 2017

51

52

The Ghanaian News January 2017

cont’d from pg. 1

Year in review - 2016

found guilty of attempted murder in 2013 death of Sammy Yatim in A Toronto street car.

• Bethel Prayer Ministry Int’l held 5-day power packed program with Apostle John Prah from Ghana as guest preacher.

• CN Tower lights in celebration of the 20th National Black History Month.

• Ghana’s Ruth Baffoe to get 3 bronze medals after Nigerian tests positive for banned substances at African Games.

FEBRUARY 2016 • Black History Month celebration at Queen’s Park.

• Announcement made for the opening of Jean Augustine Secondary School in Brampton o in September 2016.

• New Ontario student Grant announced making tuition free for tens of thousands of students thus making college and university more accessible and affordable.

• New Canadians lean on court comments to disavow citizenship oath to queen after comments from Ontario’s highest court.

• President Mahama announces that Ghana is to become petroleum distribution hub • Ghanaian MP Ofosu Asamoah asserts that Ghanaian MPs don’t read 80% of documents placed before them.

• Ontario announces that sale of wine will be allowed in 300 grocery stores.

• Electronic visa requirement for foreigners visiting Canada delayed by Federal government.

• President Mahama blames Bank of Ghana for DKM microfinance Scandal.

• Boutros Boutros Ghali, former UN Secretary-General dies at 93.

• Abuakwa North MP J.B. Danquah Adu murdered in his home.

• Ghanaian Comedian “Nkomode” Yaw Donkor died.

• Rev. & Mrs. De-Graft Takyi formally takes charge of Living Word Assembly of God Church.

• Billy Joe Amponsah a.k.a. Uncle Joe lunches new album “Onyame ama mesipi” at the Church of Pentecost, 2256 Sheppard Avenue West.

• Apostles’ Continuation Church International’s 28-Day Fasting and Prayer ends.

• Ghanaian-Canadian Association of Ontario (GCAO) Homework Club in Toronto expands with parents’ coaching.

• Toronto’s Richmond Laryea makes waves with Orlando Pirates.

• Ghana’s first ever Grammy Award nominee Rocky Dawuni explains why he did not win.

• 10,000 pairs of Abraham Attah’s oscars shoes to be donated to Charity in Ghana.

• Ghanaian Canadian Association of Ontario’s Action Plan 2016 meeting held in Toronto.

MARCH 2016 • Ghana flag raised at Toronto City Hall in commemoration of Ghana’s

Independence Anniversary • Toronto Ghanaian community celebrate Ghana’s 59 Independence anniversary in a grand style.

• Former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford dies: scores pay final respect as former mayor lies in repose at City Hall.

• Federal Budget 2016: Liberals’ spending plan projects $29.4B deficit.

• Women over 65 double their participation in workforce, statistics Canada finds.

• Judge finds Ghomeshi not guilty of six assault charges • ‘Ghana Gold City’ set to be launched by 2020.

• Living Word Assembly of God Church 2016 Easter Convention.

• Apostolic Church International 2016 Easter convention.

• Lighthouse Assembly of God Church Easter convention.

• Evangel Assembly of God church Easter Convention.

• Aspiring NPP Parliamentary candidate Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie visits Canada.

• City introducing steeper fines for illegal parking in Toronto.

• Canada’s population hits 36 million for the first time.

• Minimum wage in Ontario up to $11.40 an hour slated for the Fall 2016.

• Canadians waiting more than a month to find out if eligible for employment insurance.

• Jake Obetsebi Lamptey former NPP National chairman passed away.

• Comedian Samuel Kwadwo Boaben aka Bishop Bob Okala died.

• DCOP Angwububutoge Awuni. Eastern Regional Police Commander died.

• 5 top most reported crimes in Ghana were car theft (805) car hijacking, (67%) theft of motor cycle, (44%) care vandalism (25%) and assault/ threat (17%) according to a survey, the first of its kind to be conducted in the country.

• Kwahuman Cultural Association annual Easter dance.

• Calgary’s Adehyeman Cultural group heralds celebration at 59th Ghana’s Independence in Calgary.

• Rev. Dr. Ralph Dartey receives Mandela Legacy Award in Ottawa.

• The Church of Pentecost Greater Toronto Area joint 2016 Easter convention.

• $84 million missing from Ghana’s 2014 oil revenue.

• South Africa’s Jacob Zuma breached constitution according to South Africa highest court.

• University of Cape Coast Alumni Association inaugurated in Toronto.

• Apostles’ Continuation Church International’s joint Easter 2016 convention in Toronto.

• Ghana’s 59th Independence celebration at Brock University, St Catherine, Ontario • York University Ghanaian Students Association holds 59th Independence celebration.

• Ghanaian Community in Manitoba marks Ghana’s 59th Independence anniversary in Winnipeg.

• Matthieu Indome hauls record medals at Athletic competition in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

• Ghanaian lightweight prospect Richard Commey knocked down his Camgebeli in Copenhagen, Denmark. opponent Georgian Anzor APRIL 2016 • Francis Atta gets RBC Community Award at the 34th annual BBPA Harry Jerome Awards.

• Akosua Tiwaah Bonsu voted among the 40 top emerging youth leaders of Manitoba.

• OWN Accounts for its stewardship in Ghana to the Toronto Ghanaian community.

• Judge clears Mike Duffy of all 31 charges in connection with Senate expense scandal.

• More than 500 Ontario doctors billed more than $1m last year, one billed $6.6m.

• Panama papers reveal billions hidden in anonymous paper shares.

• Andrew Loku death: Ontario partially releases SIU report, launches Police oversight review.

• Canada Revenue Agency’s tax compliance crackdown reaps more money than expected.

• Police arrest 80 people in province-wide child exploitation investigation in GTA. • Vodafone hands over Ghana Telecom University, other assets to government.

• The inaugural Canadian Black History Summit (CBHS) held in Toronto.

• The Toronto Circuit of North America Mission of the Methodist Church Ghana welcomes the Very Rev. Joseph Owusu-Atuahene.

• Manulife to offer life insurance to HIV-positive customers • Canada’s first case of sexually transmitted Zika virus confirmed in Ontario.

• Brussels Airlines celebrates new Toronto-Brussels-Accra service.

MAY 2016 • Ghana Medical Help holds GUDU exhibition in Toronto to support hospitals in Northern Ghana.

• Afroglobal Television launches on Rogers Cable.

• New Ghana Consulate fees for applicants in Canada effective in June announced.

• President Mahama appeals to Ghanaians to use whatsapp social media productively.

• Mounties wearing video cameras told to record use of force.

• Pastor Michael Mupfawa, Snr. Pastor Maranatha SDA Church San Diego California USA was the guest preacher at the 6th Annual All African Day of SDA in Toronto.

• Haiti will not be admitted as African Union member state at next summit in Kigali Rwanda, AU informs the public.

• Ghana Supreme Court strikes down law on non-bailable offences.

• North America Mission Fellowship of the Kingdom (FK) and annual General meeting (AGM) held in Maryland USA. • Couples Retreat at Toronto Ghanaian Presbyterian Church.

• Inauguration of St. Joseph Men’s Fellowship of the Ghanaian Catholic community of St. Andrew’s Parish Toronto.

• Eric Appiah-Agyei launches debut album “Meyi woaye a metease” at the Ghanaian Presbyterian Church Toronto.

• Ghanaian Women’s Fasting and Prayer Conference held at the Ghanaian Presbyterian Church Toronto.

• Living Word Assembly of God Church annual couples’ dinner at Holiday Inn Toronto Airport East.

• Man receives penis transplant in Boston, USA. • Apostles’ Continuation Church International English service celebrates 1st anniversary.

• Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Canada celebrates its 50 years in Canada with special service at Nathan Philip Square Toronto.

• Church of Pentecost Eastern Canada celebrates Youth Week.

• Bizarre accident at Bethel Prayer Ministry International as van crashes into the church.

• Going to church could help you live longer according to study aired in CNN. All Nations Full gospel Church celebrates 30 years in Ministry JUNE 2016

• Joe Kingsley Eyiah of Ghanaian News bags Excellence in Teaching Equity Award.

• Ghanaian-Canadian Association of Ontario (GCAO) organise Youth Summit in Toronto.

• New Consular fees for applicants in Canada effective 15th June 2016.

cont’d on pg. 53

The Ghanaian News January 2017

cont’d from pg. 52

53

Year in review - 2016

• PM Cameron of Britain resigns after Britain votes to leave EU. • Help Abigail Bafowaah get cancer care announced.

TTC to remove all remaining Sunday- only bus stops.

• Canada ranks No.2 on social progress index measuring quality of life.

• Approximately 60 per cent of Toronto’s traffic lights to be retired by end of 2017.

• About 1000 permits to be issued for new HOT lanes along QEW. • Send-off appreciation service for the Very Rev. De-Graft Semie Obiri.

• The Methodist Church North America Mission Susanna Wesley Mission Auxiliary (SUWMA) holds Biennial Conference in Newark, New Jersey.

• Rev. Isaac Takyi De-Graft & the Missions Dept of Living Word Assembly of God Church visited Nalerigu and Gbintiri in Northern Ghana.

• Nadia Eke won first Gold medal for Ghana at the 2016 African Athletics Championship in Durban.

• Fatima Samoura from Senegal started work as Fifa Secretary General.

JULY 2016 • Culture Day observed at Ghanaian Presbyterian Church Toronto.

• Ghana’s supreme court fights back on threats against the judiciary as it jails 3 radio presenters for contempt of court.

• Kojo Bonsu resigns as Mayor of Kumasi.

• Ghana parliament rejects November 7 election date.

• Toronto city Council votes to overturn road hockey ban.

• Air Canada policy change urged after minor left alone to sleep on airport floor overnight.

• Flagstaff house and the Osu Castle have been declared a ‘no flying enclave’ for airlines in Ghana.

• Toronto Police Officer receives 6-year term for shooting death of Sammy Yatim.

• Group reviewing Ontario’s labour laws searches for ways to help vulnerable workers.

• Immigrants detained in Ontario jails remain on hunger strike.

• Police diversity fails to keep pace with Canadian population.

• Ghanaian highlife maestro Daasebre Gyamenah dead.

• Hon. Ramesh Sangha’s community BBQ and open house in Brampton.

• Ben Osei sows “Seeds of Hope” at a Summer Day Camp in Jane & Finch.

• Church of Pentecost 2016 North America “Apostolization” held in Toronto.

• Evangel Assembly of God Church summer crusade with Rev. Christian God Church Ghana.

Essandoh of Assembly of • Ghanaian SDA donates to Abigail Bafowaah’s fund.

• The Apostolic Church International presented outdoor garden chairs to Norfinch Care Centre.

• Insults in Twi movies have lowered standards of the industry according to Grace Omaboe.

• Emmanuel “Gameboy” Tagoe retains International Lightweight title.

AUGUST 2016 • Dr. Francis Ali-Osman a Ghanaian appointed by President Obama to serve on US National Advisory Board.

• H.E. Dr. Sulley Gariba held a special meeting with the executives and board of advisors of the Ghanaian-Canadian Association of Ontario (GCAO) as well as the community media.

• Mr. Kwasi Opoku Otchere, AGTA resident and an Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine in Canada spoke at the Strategic Future Leaders conference in Kumasi Ghana.

• Student federal grants get bumped up starting August 1.

• Canada’s new passport rule catches dual citizens by surprise, as they will soon be allowed to fly into the country only if they have a Canadian passport.

• President Mahama pardons the Montie 3 radio presenters amid controversy in Ghana • Gender-neutral washrooms coming to all high schools within Peel board.

• Half of grade 6 students in Ontario failed to meet provincial math standard.

• Interest payment on mobile money wallets begins on Sept 11 according to Bank of Ghana.

• Okyeman Cultural association of Toronto celebrates 25th anniversary.

• Ghana has 137 inmates on death row according to Amnesty International.

• Depression, anxiety cost Canadian economy billions, Conference board says.

• Christian Hope Ministries International celebrates its 10th anniversary.

• Toronto Ghanaian SDA Church promotes safety and awareness campaign.

• Abigail Bafowaah transferred to Vancouver to continue treatment.

• Nana Kofi Anokye Bresiamah sworn in as Toronto Asantefuohene for a second term.

• Canadian surgeons urge people to throw out bristle BBQ brushes.

• Sperm donor at heart of Canadian lawsuits admits he lied to company Xytex, police say.

• Korean ambassador blasts Ghanaian officials over lateness.

• Ga Dangbes in the GTA celebrates Homowo in grand style.

• The Church of Pentecost Vancouver organizes summer picnic in Surrey, BC. • Ghanaian Festival of Arts & Culture (GhanaFest) held in Toronto.

• Canadian Farmers Almanac predicts icy cold, snowy winter.

• Isaac Dogbe “Royal Storm” unanimously wins the WBC Championship in Accra by beating Filipino champion Neil John Tabanao and is congratulated by President Mahama.

SEPTEMBER 2016 • Southern Ghana Asafo Flags and Artifacts on exhibition at Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) Toronto.

• Zipporah Prempeh wins the 1st GhanaianCanadian beauty pageant at the City Play House Theatre Vaughan, Ontario.

• Trudeau, Harper and Chretien gather in Jerusalem with leaders to mourn Peres.

• Canadians in Panama Papers shouldn’t expect deal KAMA solutions holds “The Xchange” annual seminar in Toronto to create a platform to enable participants get the opportunity learn something new as well provide networking for business like-minded African, Caribbean and other entrepreneurs in the GTA..

• Ghanaian community in Toronto contributes to the Diaspora Engagement Policy at an public forum.

• Morocco applies to rejoin African Union.

• President Obama opens new US Museum designed by Ghanaian architect David Adjaye.

• Ghana secures $500 Million World Bank Partial Guarantee.

• Dr. Mary Grant the first Ghanaian female medical doctor has died at the age of 88.

• Lakeside Estate wins court case against Ashaley Botwe Family John Offei Armah.

• Hunger costs Ghana GHC4.6 bn yearly as per study conducted by the Cost of Hunger in Africa (COHA).

• Farewell service in honour of Apostle Sampson Ofori Yiadom & Family immediate past head of Church of Pentecost Canada in Toronto.

• St. Louis Past Students Association (SLOPSA) 1st annual BBQ in Mississauga Ontario.

• Kwesi Nyantakyi, Ghana Football Association president wins FIFA Council seat and becomes the first Ghanaian to serve on World Football’s powerful cabinet of 36 members.

OCTOBER 2016 • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau receives the World head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, the Caliph, His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad in Ottawa.

• Endless Possibilities and Developmental Organization honors 13 women in Toronto.

• Citizenship applications plummet as fees soar according to Ottawa.

• New passport processing system exposed to security gaps, audit finds… reported by Global

cont’d on pg. 56

54

The Ghanaian News January 2017

2016 Crossover

Service in our community

The Church of Pentecost Evangel Assembly of God Church

Harvest Christian Church

Living Word Assembly of God Church

All Nations Full Gospel Church Christ Redeemer Church

The Ghanaian News celebrates 20 years of service to the community 1997 - 2017

The Ghanaian News January 2017

2016 Crossover

55

Service in our community

Impact Live s Church

Ghana Methodist Church

Lighthouse Assembly of God Church Ghanaian Presbyterian and Anglican Churches

Glory Pentecostal Ministry of Toronto

St. Andrew’s Ghanaian Congregation Catholic Church

The Apostles’ Continuation Church Int’l

Disciple’s Revival Church

Trinity Baptist Church

Rhema Power of Grace Chapel Int’l

56

The Ghanaian News January 2017

cont’d from pg. 53

Year in review 2016

case management program.

• New federal mortgage rules take effect.

• Auto insurance rates rise in Ontario despite Liberal pledge to lower them by 15 percent.

• Lifelong flu vaccine moves closer with Canadian research.

• Habitat for Humanity and the MasterCard Foundation partner to expand access to Housing Microfinance in Africa.

• Canadian Cancer Society: HPV-related oral cancers have risen dramatically in men.

• 9th Edition of Strangers in New Homelands International Conference on migration and settlement held at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg.

• Park named after 1st Black Councilor in Toronto-William Peyton Hubbard • Ghanaian Women’s Prayer Conference in Toronto held at Living Word Assembly of God. • Record death toll in the Mediterranean migrant crossings • Former Woodstock, Ontario nurse facing 8 murder charges in deaths of elderly patients.

• All Nations Full Gospel international convention held in Ghana.

• Isaac Dogbe named WBO African Boxer of the year in Puerto Rico.

• FIFA President Infantino mourns former Black Stars coach Fred Osam Duodu.

NOVEMBER 2016 • 27 Ghanaian-Canadians honoured at a glittering Awards ceremony in Toronto.

• Queenmother of Asante Kingdom, Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, dies at 111 years.

• Supreme Court of Ghana rules that former Attorney General Martin Amidu can cross examine Alfred Woyome • Prof. Sefa Dei urges Ghanaian-Canadians to get community centre.

• Premier Wynne & Mark Sunders applaud Ghanaian-Canadian community spirit.

• International criminal court facing exodus of African nations over charges of racism • Mobile Money records 420% growth in 5 years according Ghana chamber of telecommunications • Ghana Home Loans to start operations as a bank in 2017.

• Trump wins White House in astonishing victory.

• Some Canadians with dual citizenship restricted on using foreign passport.

Supreme court freezes Ghana government’s accounts over judgment

debt.

• Police disrupt Vaughan-based car theft ring, seize $5m worth of cars.

• Danida-sponsored research improves the lives of Ghanaian cocoa farmers.

• Dr. William Herbert Lawrence Allsopp former honorary Consul General of Ghana in Vancouver dead.

• Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (UK) to promote the certified Actuarial Analyst Qualification (CAA) in Ghana.

• EU deploys election observation mission to Ghana.

• Ghanaians in Toronto elect new officers to lead the Ghanaian-Canadian Association of Ontario with Emmanuel Duodu as its new president.

• NPP fundraising and dinner held at Taj Banquet Hall in Toronto.

• Mayor John Tory endorses tolls for 2 major Toronto highways.

• Five (5) candidates for next Canadian woman on banknote revealed by Bank of Canada.

• Acute hepatitis after heavy energy drink use “a warning to the consumer,” liver specialist says.

• Canada saddened by African countries decisions to leave International Criminal Court.

• Prime Minister Trudeau heads to Madagascar after visiting Liberia.

• The Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State, Togbe Afede XIV has been elected President of Ghana House of chiefs.

• Gerald Asamoah appointed head coach of Schalke 04 U23 side.

DECEMBER 2016 • Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo elected President of Ghana in historic elections as the New Patriotic Party (NPP) sweeps to a landslide victory winning 170 of 275 Parliamentary seats • Ontario’s harmony is fragile, can be broken, Premier Wynne warns.

• Canada congratulates Ghana for holding transparent and democratic elections.

• Longtime Gambian President Yahya Jammeh loses vote in elections as Adama Barrow wins the Presidential elections in the Gambia • NDI Ghana observer delegation issues post-election preliminary statement, applauds the people of Ghana.

• Joint Transition Team to oversee transfer of power in Ghana inaugurated by outgoing President Mahama and incoming President Nana Akufo Addo • Toronto Police take part in pilot project to test drivers for drug impairment.

• DKM customers receive second round of payments.

• Government of Canada takes early action to improve the Temporary Foreign Worker Programme.

• Interpol border operation targets organized crime networks across West Africa.

• IMF projects oil to boost Ghana’s economy by 7.5% in 2017.

• Paramount chief of Denkyira Traditional area Odefuo Boa Amponsem III dead at 94, ruled for 60 years.

• US-Africa Chamber of Commerce opens first African office in Accra Ghana.

• Ghanaian Presbyterian Church 2nd Food Drive & Cookout to Evangel Hall Mission, Toronto.

• Heaven in My Heart Ministries opened in Toronto under the leadership of Rev. Mr. Eleanor Adu-Anane.

• TraumAssist International Annual Fundraiser Gala at the Claireport Banquet and Convention Center.

• Lakeside Estate Housing Exhibition at Presbyterian Church Toronto.

• Canada-Ghana Chamber of Commerce visit Toronto.

• “Jane/Finch” movie premiere at Manhyia Palace Toronto directed by Alex Yeboah.

• Canada adopts lottery system for reuniting immigrants with parents, grandparents.

• Eating eggs everyday is not harmful say Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosa, a doctor and former Director-General of the Ghana Health Services.

• Antonio Ciuterres former Portuguese PM sworn in as UN Secretary General.

• Welcome Home Evangelistic Ministries host community lunch.

• CRA spends millions but fail to stop tax workers from snooping on Canadians, documents show.

• Gas filling station explodes near Trade Fair Centre, many feared dead and injured.

• Ghana’s Isaac Dogboe claims WBO Bantamweight title by defeating Julian Evaristo Aristule of Argentina in New Zealand.

• Riyad Mahrez wins BBC African Footballer of the year 2016 award.

The Ghanaian News January 2017

57

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

Wynne rejects road tolls for Toronto, Tory calls decision ‘paternalistic and shortsighted’ cont’d from pg. 47 could have been up to $300 million a year in some of the scenarios.”

The provincial City of Toronto Act identifies road tolls as a possible userfee available to Toronto but it states that the city “does not have the power to designate, operate and maintain a highway as a toll highway,” unless a regulation is made under the act.

Wynne initially expressed a willingness to consider signing off on that regulation but changed her mind, following repeated criticism from PC Leader Patrick Brown and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.

In an interview with CP24 on Friday, Horwath described the doubling of the gas tax revenue given to municipalities

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The portion of the gas tax going to municipalities for transit will increase by half a cent per litre in 2019-2010, another half a cent in 2020-2021 and then a full cent in 2021-2022.

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

China steps up as US steps back from global leadership Chinese President Xi Jinping’s appearance at last week’s World Economic Forum shows global leadership is shifting, not drifting, toward Beijing. The most vigorous defense of globalization and multilateral cooperation was mounted not by an American statesman, but by the president of the People’s Republic of China.

“The problems troubling the world are not caused by globalization,” Xi declared. “Countries should view their own interest in the broader context and refrain from pursuing their own interests at the expense of others.”

Speculation is mounting that the United States,

with Donald Trump cast in the role of president, will ignore international challenges, renounce global responsibilities and abandon friends and allies.

As Washington greets a new administration disinclined to play a worldwide role, Beijing increasingly accepts opportunities to lead.

Xi and his colleagues understand that their c o u n t r y ’s d o m e s t i c development and global ascendance require steady engagement and honest efforts abroad.

Yes, China has “done the right thing” before.

It has restricted antibiotics in food-animal agriculture, created a new infrastructuredevelopment bank for

Asia, aided previously exploited African countries and promised to end its internal ivory trade.

But never before has China so forthrightly stepped up when the United States appears to be stepping away. As scholars of Chinese strategy and the intersection of science and politics, we see how Beijing’s ambitions and interests will affect its engagement on a range of important international issues.

The case of climate change Climate change policy is one good example of this trend. Commentators warn that Trump’s pledge to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate

agreement would let China “off the hook” for curbing carbon emissions.

In fact, China put itself “on the hook” in Paris for reasons having little to do with the United States.

China’s most urgent atmospheric problem is not carbon dioxide.

It’s combustion toxicity from burning coal, oil and biomass. The Chinese these days don’t look through their air; they look at it. And what they see, they breathe.

Combustion toxicity has degraded China’s air quality so much, by Chinese assessments, as to destroy 10 percent of GDP annually since the late 1980s and cause hundreds of thousands of premature deaths every year. And air pollution

has become China’s single greatest cause of social unrest.

In response, China is closing its old coal-fired power plants, and the new ones it’s building are much farther away from its prosperous and politically influential eastern cities. Other fossil-fueled industries are being put farther away, too. China has also contracted with Russia to buy huge amounts of natural gas, whose combustion emits lots of CO2 but not a lot of toxic air pollutants.

These moves will expose fewer people, especially prosperous urban dwellers, to toxic air pollution. On their own, though, these moves will not do much to meet

carbon targets and restrain warming.

In an even better bet to clear its air, China is moving to add more nuclear, hydroelectric, solar and wind turbine generating capacity.

Greenpeace estimates that during every hour of every day in 2015, China on average installed more than one new wind turbine, and enough solar panels to cover a soccer field.

China is already the world’s leading producer of renewable energy technologies. More remarkably, it is also the leading consumer. And in January, it announced plans to invest an additional US$360 billion in renewable power between now and 2020.

That’s $120 billion a year.

These renewable power measures are being taken to fight China’s number one problem – air pollution – but they will also automatically cut China’s carbon emissions.

If it can manage political rivalries among local power companies and upgrade its electrical grid to handle all that solar and wind capacity, then China is likely to meet its Paris commitments earlier than currently required.

Defecting from Paris would not help China address its air pollution problem. Defection would, however, reinforce the presumption that U.S. leadership is indispensable – a presumption Beijing is loath to perpetuate.

Mr. Keith Sargeant- KEITH@ACSCARGO.CA

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A savvier and more probable move is for China to assert – for the first time on a major global issue – moral authority.

cont’d on pg. 61

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

61

Doomsday clock is closest it’s been to midnight since 1953 Be afraid? Yeah, maybe.

A metric used for 70 years to gauge how close the planet is to apocalypse now affirms many people’s fears.

The Doomsday Clock has moved half a minute closer to midnight, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced on Thursday. The world is now two and a half minutes away.

This is the closest we’ve come to catastrophe since 1953, when the United States and the Soviet Union had both tested hydrogen bombs.

The organization was founded by the University of Chicago scientists behind the Manhattan Project, which developed the world’s first atomic weapon.

Its Science and Security Board gave a number of reasons for its decision, including tensions between the U.S. and Russia in 2016, North Korea’s underground nuclear tests, global warming’s continual march forward, and, you guessed it — the election of Donald Trump.

“The probability of global catastrophe is very high.”

The clock stayed put at three minutes to midnight last year, after ticking two minutes down in 2015 after Russia annexed Crimea and invaded Ukraine, according to the San Diego UnionTribune.

Many of his cabinet nominees haven’t been confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and he hasn’t had time to do very much as president.

The board highlighted “disturbing” comments Trump made about nuclear weapons and his dismissal of climate change.

But we could still get closer to disaster in the next year or two.

“The probability of global catastrophe is very high, and the actions needed to reduce the risks of disaster must be taken very soon,” the board wrote.

One person’s words haven’t historically influenced the board’s decision, but cyberattacks and deception campaigns during the U.S. presidential race with reported ties to Russia did.

Those events made the world more dangerous than a year ago, the board said.

Mr. President, Can You Hear Me? cont’d from pg. 31 jumbo) process is so complicated and time -consuming that people simply give up after the first attempt—this goes to show that we only interested in their remittances—to finance luxurious funerals at home and be the source of financial reservoir for our inflated expectations and entitlements.— but not their physical presence in Ghana. Well, if the government takes care of their problems and needs maybe,(just maybe),they will be willing to pay their fair share of taxes while in their host countries; provided their taxes could be accounted for and put into good use for the betterment of the nation.

We Need More and Aggressive Road Maintenance Fund: Vehicles coming from our neighboring countries should be asked to buy temporary auto insurance in Ghana for the period they intend to spend in the country. That would not only safeguard our citizens and economy in case something happens while they’re in Ghana, but it would be a source of revenue for our Road Fund. The Toll booth’s revenue should also directly go into this Fund so as to fix our accident –prone and pothole infested roads.

Job Creation to Check the Brain Drain Syndrome: There are four major areas good jobs can be created for a massive employment: 1) Railways transportation, 2) we can create an niche in ‘Organic food’

Production department (snails, mushrooms, fruits, edible leaves and plants) and export them to the western countries—who are tired of consuming chemically saturated foods which have been the source of their diseases and obesity.3) Medical tourism can single-handedly be an answer to our healthcare personnel exodus and fix the unemployment situation in Ghana.

The juicy part of this industry is that it will bring in subsidiary industries like: banking, transportation, restaurants, hotels, hair salons, housing, building construction, entertainment, communication, education, shopping outlet, personal security services and much more.

In other words, medical tourism positively and directly affects other areas of the main economy and the society beyond everyone’s imagination.

National Summit Is Needed Urgently: Your Excellency, I know your hands are tied up right now because of other matters, However, I think within two years of your administration You need to organize a National Summit to bring home all the stakeholders in and outside Ghana and ask for their ‘contributions’ or ‘supports’ to help you move this nation forward to an enviable level.

Decentralization Of Your Ministries: Mr. President, do we honestly need to have the Ministries of

SUPPORT BLACK OWN BUSINESS Message from The Ghanaian News 416916-3700

Agriculture, Education, Social Welfare or Natural resources to be in Accra? Moving some ministries away from the capital will encourage development in other local areas and reduce over population in the capital.

Your Excellency, I know I have already pissed-off many of your overlysensitive folks out there.

Some of them have their blood pressure gauge way up in the sky. But that is just a bit of an advice that you can of course ignore or heed, as you wish. I can pretty much predict what will happen in either case in 2020 in Ghana. If it’s ignored life will go on pretty much as it has up till now. If you heed the advice things will change for all of us. But, I hope I am not the only dreamer or the lonely voice in the forest.

Mr. President, our fragile and infant democracy needs a brand-new mindset and a visionary leadership in order to allow our many socio-economicself-imposed exiles the chance to work, live, raise their kids and ultimately, die on their motherland. So please don’t disappoint them, sir!

To those who are upset with my advice: Believe me, if you don’t come from (or didn’t grow around) abject poverty—with no prospects of obtaining any money and no concept of a future—you really don’t have a clue about this message.

I thank you sir, for your undivided attention, You’ll definitely hear from me again and again after your ‘honeymoon’.

Meantime, let’s keeps hope alive!!

Kwaku Adu-Gyamfi (voice of Reason) *The author is a social commentator and the founder of the AduGyamfi foundation for the disadvantaged youth of Asuom.

“The board’s decision to move the clock less than a full minute—something it has never before done— reflects a simple reality: As this statement is issued, Donald Trump has been the U.S. president only a matter of days,” the board wrote.

But the board still stressed the extent of the overall threat.

“Wise public officials should act immediately, guiding humanity away from the brink. If they do not, wise citizens must step forward and lead the way.” The Huffington Post Canada

Federal Court denies bid to block Canada-Saudi Arabia arms deal cont’d from pg. 42 of Canadian military equipment to a human rights pariah — the precise type of deal Canada should be denouncing rather than vindicating — any more palatable,” he said in an email to CBC News.

“If the Minister of Foreign Affairs can authorize such deals despite the abysmal human rights record of the recipient, then the ruling itself should serve as a compelling call for strengthening our military export controls.”

Documents obtained by CBC News from Global Affairs Canada last April confirmed that former foreign affairs minister Stéphane Dion personally signed off on export permits to ship $11 billion worth of the $15-billion vehicle sale.

The documents say the personal signoff was a rare exception because the deal was so high profile and worth so much money.

The documents acknowledged the human rights concerns, noting “the reported high number of executions, suppression of political opposition, the application of corporal punishment, suppression of

freedom of expression, arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment of detainees, limitations of freedom of religion, discrimination against women and the mistreatment of migrant workers.”

‘Key military ally’ But the records also call Saudi Arabia a “key military ally,” and note that the kingdom supports international efforts to counter Islamic State in Iraq and Syria as well as countering instability in Yemen.​ Today’s ruling notes that Dion considered the situation in Yemen, and said there was no evidence that Canadian military equipment, including LAVs, had been used to commit the alleged human rights violations.

Tremblay-Lamer also noted that neither the United Nations Security Council nor the Parliament of Canada has adopted any resolution against Saudi Arabia.

The office of Dion’s successor, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, had very little to say about the ruling.

“We thank the court for its decision,” said her spokesman Joseph Pickerill in an email. CBC

China steps up as US steps back from global leadership cont’d from pg. 60 Chinese diplomats are already reassuring the world that China will keep and even expand its climate commitments. This message conveys Beijing’s resolve not to let to let multilateral greenhouse gas mitigation collapse, and show the way out of a crisis whose agreed solution is threatened by others’ malfeasance.

National interest in global leadership If sustained, such action will mark a critical inflection point in China’s global role. It will become less a challenger to an established order, and more a champion of a common cause. The United States will risk being regarded as aloof and unreliable and, following its 2016 election, even politically unstable.

Likewise, Beijing is asserting greater leadership in other areas once led

by Washington. With the demise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Washington negotiated with 11 Asian countries excluding China, Beijing is promoting its own Pacific trade-andinvestment framework excluding the

United States.

Even more grandly, Xi is articulating an alternative vision for global economic growth. The model focuses on physical investment, especially in transportation and IT infrastructure. In this, it is linked to the new Silk Road project, through which China is expanding linkages across Eurasia by integrating railways, ports and information networks into transnational corridors. The Chinese approach also does not rely on portfolio investment and central banks exertions to drive growth – a sharp contrast to Western policies.

Ceding global moral authority to China would be a high price for America to pay for the pleasures of political posturing. Yet a China leading by example would have a greater stake in its own reputation, and the greater that stake becomes the more engaged China becomes. Such a China, we believe, could profoundly benefit the world. The Conversation

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PLACES OF WORSHIP DIRECTORY Ghana Methodist Churches in Canada

I AM ALPHA & OMEGA MINISTRY INT'L

( SOCIETIES UNDER THE GHANA METHODIST CONFERENCE)

We invite you to worship with us

The Superintendent Minister-In-Charge

Church Service:

invites you to worship with us

Sunday Worship: 10.00a.m. - 12.30 p.m.

Wednesday Bible Studies: 6.00p.m. - 7.30 p.m.

Friday Prayer Meeting: 7.00p.m. - 9.00 p.m.

JESUS Loves You

Toronto Society

Bishop John Mensah

NEW LOCATION 100 Penn Drive, Unit #6, North York, Ont.

Place of Worship: 19 Penn Drive, North York, Ont. (off Finch Av./Milvan)

416-743-4555 (Office) 905-216-2323 (Residence) Day and Time of Worship: Sunday: Bible Class Meeting: 10:00 a.m. - 10.30 a.m.

Church Service: 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Jericho Hour Prayer Meeting 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Wednesday Mid-day Prayer - 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Friday: Bible Teaching/Prayer Meeting 8:00 p.m. - 9.00 p.m.

Saturday Organizational Meeting: 6.30 p.m. - 9.30 p.m.

Sunday Brampton Prayer Meeting 8:00 p.m.

Tel: 416-419-6671

EVANGEL ASSEMBLY OF GOD CHURCH NEW ADDRESS 314 Rexdale Blvd. Etobicoke, Ont. M9W 1R6 Tel: 416-242-7950 Fax: 416-242-8573

Calgary Methodist - 403-603-2864 Edmonton Methodist - 587-336-1223 Ottawa Methodist - 613-823-2291

In Montreal at: Place of Worship: 6870 Rue de Terreborne, Montreal, Que, H4B 1C5

Church Activities

Pastor in Charge

Rev. Milton Offei

Sunday School: Church Service: Sunday Evening: Wednesday Bible Studies: Friday Prayer Meeting:

10a.m. -11:00a.m.

11a.m. - 1:30p.m.

7p.m. - 8:30p.m.

7p.m. - 8:30p.m.

7p.m. - 9:00p.m.

Disciples Revival Church Healing & Deliverance Centre Rev. Dr. & Rev (Mrs) Charles Mantey Founders/Senior Pastors

416-614-7771

Very Rev. Joseph Owusu Atuahene

Day and Time of Worship Sunday Divine Service: 12:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Friday Prayer Meetings: 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Contact: Rev. Joshua C. Doughan - 514-542-0871 SERVICES ARE CONDUCTED FOLLOWING THE TRADITIONAL GHANA METHODIST LITURGY. PLEASE COME AND JOIN US. WE HAVE A PLACE FOR YOU. GOD RICHLY BLESS YOU

CHRIST REDEEMER CHURCH

Pastor-in-charge: Pastor Eric Amoah Tel: (416) 748-1242 Cell: (416) 300-9970 Church Services Sunday Service: Bible Study: 10 a.m.-11a.m.

Worship Service: 11a.m. - 1p.m.

Wednesday: Bible Study 6:30p.m.-7:30p.m.

Friday Night Prayer: 8p.m.-10p.m. Pastor Eric Amoah Location: 4 Racine, Unit 9

(Kipling/Rexdale)

Email: info@disciplesrevivalchurch.org www.disciplesrevivalchurch.org

Redemption Faith Church

SUNDAY SERVICE - Morning - 10:00 am

Invites you to worship with us at 1485 ALBION ROAD (Albion/Kipling)

Mid-Week Service

Tel: 905-495-1936 Fax: 905-495-1937

Wed: Bible Study & Prayer: 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm Friday: Youth Service 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm Friday: Adult Intercessory Prayer - 7:00 - 9:00 pm

This is a loving and caring Church that preaches and teaches the whole counsel of God. A place where the word of God is backed by strong anointing to bring Salvation, Healing and Deliverance to all people who believe on the LORD JESUS CHRIST

For deliverance & healing, come to Disciples, a Church that caters to your needs Do visit our website and sign up for the Pastor's monthly newsletter

www.disciplesrevivalchurch.org

30 Gordon Mackay Rd, North York, ON, M9N 2V6

Rev. Dr. Stephen Ofori-Darko

CHURCH ACTIVITIES: Sunday Search the Scriptures - 12 noon - 12-45 p.m.

Church Service - 12:45 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Fridays - 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Bible Study, Intercession & Deliverance

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FOOD FOR LIFE Goal Setting and Goal Achieving—Our Spiritual Obligation cont’d from pg. 44 preach good news to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lords favor”(Luke 4:1819 NIV). Jesus’ goals determined the people He surrounded Himself with, the books He read, the places He went to and the exact times He was needed there. Friends, His goals determined His source of strength and encouragements.

The Holy Spirit also has goals. Speaking of the Holy Spirit, Jesus told His disciples “But the Counselor, Helper, Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26. NIV). The Holy Spirt will also testify about Jesus, John will continue to emphasise.

Luke will reveal in the book of Acts that the Holy Spirit gives us power to be witnesses in our world.

God sets goals, Jesus sets goals and the Holy Spirit has goals; so why do we think we can succeed without goals?

Maybe you may be asking, why should I set goals even though God did, Jesus did and the Holy Spirit also does?

Pastor Rick Warren lists some other reasons

which I do agree with because they are based on the Scriptures. Per him, goal setting is a spiritual responsibility— God expects His children to set goals (Philippians 3:12-15);goal setting is a statement of faith—you can state that I believe that with the help of God I will wake up every morning at six and pray for fifteen minutes to be spiritually healthy (Matthew 9:29); goal setting is a stretcher of faith, focuser of energy (1 Corinthians 9:26); goal setting keeps one going (Job 6:11); goal setting builds ones’ character (Philippians 3:12), and setting goals, my friends, has rewards, he will admit (Proverbs 11:27; 1 Corinthians 9: 25-26a).

If goals have all these rewards, if goals are important to God, then why don’t most people set goals, or better still, why don’t even most Christians set goals? There are so many reasons but we will just considera few: (1) for some it is lack of belief and skepticism—many people don’t believe that they could achieve significantly more than they are currently achieving in their business, their health and their lives just by setting goals.(2) Some also set the wrong goals either based on what parents, friends or others would have them set, (3) for others too it is because of

past failures or previous disappointments—we try something once and if we fail, we refuse to do it again for fear of embarrassment or comparison with others who have succeeded.(4) For many others too, it is fear—fear paralyzes many people so that they just keep on doing the same old things that they’ve always done. Fear stops them from setting new goals in case they don’t achieve them. Fear holds them inside their comfort zone and stops them from setting big goals. The Bible says “God has not given us the spirit of fear or of timidity, but of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). (5) In fact, to some too it is outright laziness and love of the comfort zone—we like and love where we are.

We do not want to change.

Many people I know do not set goals because they are just too lazy.

Sure, they don’t say that, they say they’re too busy but they’re not—they’re too lazy. I hope you are not one of those people!

Setting goals and chasing your dreams could take you on a journey that you could never imagine, it will cause you to pay the price that you have never thought about but the reward is worth the investment. (6) Last but not the least, many people today want everything now. The problem of

can achieve—based on the plan they fall in love with. (11) They require knowing exactly how to do it before theydo it.To succeed,you must suspend the requirement of knowing how. (12) They question their right to be or have whatever they want in life—looking down on themselves, questioning their selfworth. (13) They think that the purpose of the goal is the goal. To avoid this last mistake, always remember that the goal of the goals you set is to cause you to become or grow into the person who can handle the goal.

instant gratification, many do not have the patience for the seed to grow naturally. Gavin Ingham puts it this way: “we are living in an instant gratification, no patience culture”.

Growth is not automatic, success is not automatic and so the dreams and the goals you have will not happen automatically too.

I think it will be great to look at some common mistakes many people make in setting goals. (1) They do not write the goals down on paper or on their computer, please write your goals down. (2) They create too many goals, five to seven goals is recommended for each area of the circleof life you choose. (3) They also only focus on one area of their lives—balance is the key. (4) They do not apply the SMART rule, in other words they do not make the goals specific, measurable, applicable, realistic and time bound (it does not have deadlines). (5) They don’t keep them visible, (6) They don’t stretch out of their comfort zones, (7) They do not make the goals compelling, (8) They do not take the next step. (9) They set gaols that they know they can accomplish—let the size of your God determine the size of your goals; set big goals and trust God to help you through it.

(10) They set goals based on what they think they

Ghanaian Presbyterian

As Christians, we need to go a step further to find out the kind of goals that God does bless, pleases or honors Him? To do that, answer the following questions: (1) Will this goal honor God? (2) Is it motivated by love or by self? (3) Will it require depending on God? Do the goals demand me depending on God’s word, God’s Spirit and God’s people to accomplish it? Will it benefit the people around me?

How do you set goals then? Take a piece of paper right now. Write down the one goal for each of the following circlesof your life: Spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, relational, financial and vocational. Kindly ensure

that they are specific and havedeadlines. For example, as part of my spiritual health,Iamreading through the New King James version of the Bible by 31st December 2017.

Thus, I have a diary with a reading plan with specific chapters to read each day.

For more assistance, do not hesitate to ask God, talk to a friend, speak with your Pastor or research online (google). You might also get in touch with me if you are comfortable with that.

God bless you as you follow the conviction of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:12-16 from the New Life Version Bible: 12 I do not say that I have received this or have already become perfect.

But I keep going on to make that life my own as Christ Jesus made me His own. 13 No, Christian brothers, I do not have that life yet. But I do one thing. I forget everything that is behind me and look forward to that which is ahead of me. 14 My eyes are on the crown. I want to win the race and get the crown of God’s call from heaven through Christ Jesus. 15 All of us who are full-grown Christians should think this way. If you do not think this way, God will show it to you. 16 So let us keep on obeying the same truth we have already been following.

Living Word

Church of Montreal

Assembly of God Church (Affiliated with P.A.O.C.)

139 Millwick Drive Toronto, Ont. (Steeles/Islington) Tel: 416- 741-6285 Fax: 416- 741-0133

Minister: Rev. Stephen Azundem

Services: Sunday 10:00AM – 1:00PM Divine Worship Service Wednesday 7:00PM – 9:00PM Teaching Service (Bible Study) Friday 7:00PM – 9:00PM – Prayer Service

Tel (office): 514 278 8109 Tel (Cell): 514 660 2422

1345 rue Lapointe St. Laurent, QC, H4L 1K5 Location: At the Corner of O’Brien and Poirier.

Email: livingwordag@bellnet.ca Senior Pastor Rev. Isaac Takyi DeGraft

Church Activities

Sunday Early Morning Prayer: 8:30 a.m.

Sunday School: 9:30 a.m.

Worship Service: 10:30 a.m.

Tuesday Prayer: 10:00 a.m-12 noon

Wednesday Bible Study 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

Friday Prayer 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.

Last Friday of the month“All Night Prayer”):

7:30 p.m.-12 mid-night Youth Service (Fridays): 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.

Departmental Meeting (Every other Sunday): 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

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Ghana Calvary Methodist United Church, Toronto Tel: 416-614-6110 647-341-7305 Email: gcmuc.org Invites all Christians to join us to worship and glorify the Living God

Worship Schedule: Sunday Church Service - Akan: English Service

- 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

-

10:00 a.m. - 12 noon

Friday

- Prayer Meeting: - 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Saturday

- Organizational Meetings Choir Practice, Singing Band Practice

Bethel Prayer Ministry Int'l Do you desire to experience the power and the presence of God demonstrated in your life?

Do you want to experience the marvelous work of God's grace in your life?

Then, Bethel Prayer Ministry International would like to invite you to visit their church where the word of God is preached powerfully to release the power of God in your life.

Pastor Dennis Awuku COME AND YOU WILL BE BLESSED Senior Pastor

Contact:

Res. 416-740-6963 Church 416-642-0390 Worship Hours: Sunday Service: 9am - 1pm Tuesday 9am - 2 pm Consultation Wednesday: 7pm - 9p.m.

Friday: 9pm - 12 pm Saturday (Prayer Warriors) 6pm - 8pm Location: 52 Carrier Drive, Unit 12, (Albion/Hwy 27)

Etobicoke, Ont., M9w 5S5

Harvest Christian Church Invites you for a wonderful time with the Lord

Auxilliary Minister Rev. Samuel Victor Mpereh

-

647-770-8440

Venue of Worship 65 Mayall Avenue, Toronto, ON Tel: 416-614-6110 Email: gcmuc.org Hamilton Society Stoney Creek United Church (Chapel) 1 King Street West, Stoney Creek, Hamilton Contact: 289-244-5914, 289-700-6815, 289-698-1388

Worship Hours Sundays (Mornings) 10 - 12:45pm Wednesday (Bible Study) 7 -8:30 pm Friday (All Night Prayer) 8-10:30pm Rev Moses Sarpong

Come and Experience the power of the Word Join us at 196 Toryork Drive(Corner of Weston/Finch)

Tel: 416-743-2507

It’s Harvest Time So Reach Out And Make A Difference

It’s A Great Commission!

Apos. Dr. Emmanuel Anthony Owusu National Head

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65

The Apostolic Church Int'l.

The Apostolic Church International (Toronto Assembly) is a Branch of The Apostolic Church in Ghana Apostle Nii Aryee (Area Supt. Canada-Wide)

Meeting Schedule Sunday (Worship) Wednesday Teaching Service Friday Prayers Friday: Monthly All Night Service Saturday : Movements -

- - - -

10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

10:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.

5:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

THE APOSTLES'

Field Superintendent contact: 416-454-6141 (cell) 905-913-2037 (Res)

CONTINUATION CHURCH INTERNATIONAL (CANADA)

168 Rexdale Blvd.,

North American Headquarters: 10 Belfield Road Toronto, Ont., M9W 1G1 Tel: 416-247-6629 Fax: 416-247-5308

Etobicoke, Ontario, M9W 1P6 Church Office 416-740-1979 Field Secretary: Pastor Cyril Williams - 416-875-9616

Lighthouse Assembly of God Church

Apostle Charles Anokye-Manu

SERVICE TIMES:

2016: OUR YEAR OF LOVING OUR COMMUNITY

SUNDAY SERVICES: 9:00 am-10:30 am Multinational Service 11:00 am-1:30 pm Ghanaian Service WEEKDAY SERVICES: Wednesday - Bible Studies Friday - Prayer Service LOCATION:

Pastor-in-charge: Rev. Boniface Keelson

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm 7:00 pm -9:00 pm

42 Steinway Blvd. Unit 1&2 (Hwy 27/Steeles) Toronto, Ontario, M9W 6Y6

Tel: 416-740-1200 Fax: 416-740-6435 Email:

lighthouseag@outlook.com Website: http:/www/lighthouseag.ca www.lighthouseagtoronto.org

Rhema Power of Grace Chapel Int'l

Worship Service Bible Studies Service All Night Service Deliverance

Toronto

Sunday - Divine Worship - 10a.m. - 1p.m.

Wednesday - Bible Studies 8p.m. - 10p.m.

Friday - Prayer / Deliverance - 7p.m. - 10p.m.

Contact Lines: Tel: 416-321-2796 (Pastor's Res) 416-747-9225 (Church)

Cell: 647-921-2414

378 Cremazie East Montreal, Quebec, H2P 1E5

Scarborough Assembly 63 Howden Rd., Unit 'F' Scarborough, ON, M1R 3C7 Pastor In-Charge: Pastor Ohene Kena Tel 647-850- 0142 Fax 416-945- 9445

Tel: 514-271-9083 Pastor-In-Charge: John Arhin

Contact: Res: 450-687-4916 Cell: 514-654-6178

Immanuel Assembly of God Church, Scarborough Sunday School: 9:30am -10:30am Church Service: 10:30am - 12 noon

350 Deerhide Cres, North York, ON Rev. Bishop Joe Bonnah

Montreal Assembly

10 Belfield Road Tel: 416-247-6629

Place of Worship:

Founder &Pastor-in-charge

- Sunday 10:30 a.m.

Wednesday 9:00 p.m.

- Friday 9:30 p.m.

- Saturday 4:00 p.m.

Worship With Us At These Branches In Canada

Invites all Christians, Non-Christians and members of the Resurrection Power Tradition to join us worship the Great Jehovah

Days And Time of Worship

Website: www.apostlescontinuation.org

Rev. Douglas O. Ansah Pastor-in-charge

LOCATION Don Montgomery Community Centre 2467 Eglinton Ave. E. Scarborough, Ont., (Kennedy/Eglinton Subway Station) For more info contact:

647-880-4216

Email: immanuelscarborough@gmail.com Website: immanuelaog.ca.

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

The Apostolic Church Int’l Canada Inc.

(Currently, the only Ghana affiliated Apostolic Church in Canada)

Heaven In My Heart Ministries 100 Penn Dr, Unit #3 Rev. Eleanor Adu-Anane, Oversea and Founder MRE, ECE

Tel, 647-892-9412 Fax: 905-846-6257 E-mail eleanoraduanane@yahoo.ca

Time of Worship: Apostle Dr. KwabenaAkufo Supervising Apostle

Reverend Festus Ofori Senior Pastor Services

Sunday Worship Service 10am-1:00pm Wednesday Bible Studies 7:30pm-9:30pm Friday Prayer Meetings 7:30pm-9:30pm Contacts Us: 312 Rexdale Blvd, Etobicoke ON M9R 1R6 Major intersection Martin Grove www.theapostolicchurchcanada.org Email:apostolicchurchcanada@yahoo.com

Wednesday: Bible Studies 7:00pm to 8:30pm Friday: Prayer Meeting 8:30pm to 11pm st 1 . Friday of every month: All Night Prayer Meeting & Deliverance 9pm to 2am Saturday: Youth Meeting: 2pm to 4pm Choir Practice: 3pm to 5pm Sunday: Christian Education: 9am to 10am Celebration: 10:30am to 12:30pm

Rev. Mrs Eleanor Adu-Anane MRE, BA, RECE For Counselling & other matters contact the Pastor

647-892-9412 or 905-846-6257 E-mail: eleanoraduanane@yahoo.ca 100 Penn Drive Unit #3, North York, Ontario Canada. M9L 2A9

Tel: 647-607-5124 / 416-274-3378 416-897-4742

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Mathew 5:6

Come and taste the power of Christ.

Mailing Address: 2 Berwick Avenue Brampton Ontario, L6Z 2P6,

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GHANAIAN ANGLICAN CHURCH OF TORONTO 1796 Lawrence Avenue West (Jane & Lawrence) Rev. Fr. Kenneth Korsah

Sunday: Bible Study

- 2pm-3:00pm Sunday Worship - 3pm-5:00pm Tuesday: Teaching/Prayer - 7pm-9:00pm Thursday: Prayer Meeting - 10:30am-12noon Friday: Prayer Meeting - 7pm-9:00pm

Saturday: Group Meetings - 3pm-7:30pm Bro. Sam Hector Morris (People's Warden) 905-792-9761 Bro. Bernard Kufuor (Priest's Warden) 647-928-9370 Sis. Shirley Nartey Tawiah (Secretary)

Welcome Home Evangelistic Ministries Affiliated with the Evangelical Church In Canada

Gen. Overseer & Founder: Evang. & Prophetess Winnie Manu BRE, M. Div.

Worship Celebration Services Sunday Worship Celebration: 10 a.m.

Wednesday: Bible Studies - 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Friday: Intercessory Prayer Meeting 8:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.

Friday: Youth Night - 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Healing Service: Last Sunday of every month

Place of Worship Cheyne Middle School 236 Queen Mary Drive Brampton, ON L7A 3L3

Contact Info: Tel: 647 210 7057 Fax: 905 495 4789 Website: www.wheministries.org

Christian Hope Ministry Int'l Invites You All To Come Worship With Us Apostle-in-charge: Apostle Twumasi Ankrah

Tel: 647-344-6726 Cell: 416-200-2453 TIME OF WORSHIP: Sunday 10:30 am - 1:30 pm Tuesday 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Friday 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm Apostle Twumasi Ankrah

VENUE: 1177 Finch Dr. #20, North York "And these signs will follow those who believe, in My Name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them, they will lay hands on the sick , and they will recover. Amen (Mark 16:17)

"COME AND EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF GOD"

Transformation Centre Assembly of God Church, Mississauga Join us on Sundays for worship at: Venue: Clarkson Community Centre (Margaret Marland Room) Address: 2475 Truscott Drive, Mississauga, Ont (Southdown Rd/Truscott Dr. on Winston Churchill Blvd/Truscott Dr.

Time: 10.00AM-1.00PM

Email: whemtoday@gmail.com

Glory Pentecostal Ministry of Toronto Pastor-in-charge: Rev. Rockson Owusu Atwima - 416-708-7742

Invites all Christians and Non-Christians to join us to worship the Almighty God WORSHIP SCHEDULE Sunday Regular Service 11:00 am to 1:30 pm Tuesday Prayer and Healing Service 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm Friday Prayer Night 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm

PLACE OF WORSHIP 230 Eddystone Ave., #207, North York, Ont. M3N 1H7 We are more tan our conquerors Romans 8:37 "Come and see the manifestation and the power of the Holy Spirit at work"

Praise Temple of Christ International Snr. Pastor: Apostle Osei-Bonsu 336 Gary Ray Drive @ Signet Worship Schedule Sunday Worship - 10 am - 12:30 pm Wednesday - Bible Study - 7 pm - 9 pm Friday - Prayer Meeting - 8 pm - 10 pm Second and last Friday of each month All Night Prayer Meeting 10 p.m. - 2 a.m.

Apostle Osei Bonsu

Contact: Pastor Isaac K. Bonful Tel: 289-814-5482 Email: transformcentreag@yahoo.ca www.transformationcentreag.ca "...Be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." Romans 12:2a

For information call: 905-840-7387, 647-208-1093 416-209-9136, 647-710-2573 Pastor Appiah Jacob

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Around the Ghana Sports Scene World Cup: Fifa to expand competition to 48 teams after vote Uefa, European football’s T h e Wo r l d C u p w i l l b e 48-team tournament, giving a expanded to host 48 teams, up potential profit rise of £521m. from 32, Fifa has decided.

Campaign group New Fifa Now described the expansion A n i n i t i a l s t a g e o f 1 6 as “a money grab and power groups of three teams will grab”. precede a knockout stage for the remaining 32 when the But Infantino said: “It’s not at change is made for the 2026 all a money and power grab, it is the opposite, it’s a football tournament. decision.”

The sport’s world governing body voted unanimously in He added the decision was taken favour of the change at a “based on sporting merit”. meeting in Zurich on Tuesday.

He says the decision on who The number of tournament will get the extra qualification matches will rise to 80, from slots has yet to be decided 64, but the eventual winners but “this will be looked at will still play only seven games. speedily”.

The tournament will be completed within 32 days - a measure to appease powerful European clubs, who objected to reform because of a crowded international schedule.

“No guarantees have been made,” he added. “The only sure thing is that everyone will have a bit more [representation] than they have.”

He says there is no rush to decide The changes mark the first what will be used to separate World Cup expansion since teams who finish on the same points and goal difference.

1998.

Reports had suggested there It will make a mockery of the could be a penalty shootout at qualification process for most the end of each drawn match. confederations But Infantino said: “This will Campaign group New Fifa be part of the regulations to be Now decided a few years before the Why expand? ‘Football is more event, it is nothing for now.” than just Europe and South The World Cup’s weirdest America’ format changes Fifa president Gianni Infantino FA wants further information has been behind the move, The Football Association said saying the World Cup has to be in a statement: “We will work “more inclusive”. with Uefa, Fifa and the other European associations to “We are in the 21st century and understand how the 48-team we have to shape the World Cup Fifa World Cup will work. of the 21st century,” he said at a news conference after the “ T h e p r i o r i t y h a s t o b e consideration of the potential announcement. impact on fans, players, “It is the future. Football is teams and leagues, and also more than just Europe and recognition of the importance South America, football is of sporting integrity and commercial viability. global.

“The football fever you have in a country that qualifies for the World Cup is the biggest promotional tool for football you can have.

“This football promotion, in many parts of the world where today they have no chance to play [at the World Cup], was at the top of our thoughts.”

According to Fifa research, revenue is predicted to increase to £5.29bn for a

“In terms of the allocation of places, we note that further discussions will follow across the confederations and would expect a proper consultation process to be carried out before any decision is made.”

Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan welcomed the expansion, saying it was a a “positive step, particularly for the smaller nations”.

governing body,said: “It was clear that all other confederations were overwhelmingly in favour of expanding the Fifa World Cup to 48 teams. As a result, Uefa decided to join in supporting the new format of the competition.

“Uefa is satisfied that it succeeded in postponing the final decision regarding the slot allocation of every confederation in the future format of the Fifa World Cup. “We would also like to state that we are happy that the new proposed length and format of the tournament does not increase the burden on players.

We will also ensure that clubs’ interests will continue to be protected.”

What the critics say: ‘It will dilute the competitiveness’ The European Club Association (ECA), which represents the interests of clubs at European level, reiterated it was not in favour of an expansion. It said Fifa had made a political rather than sporting decision.

“We fail to see the merits to changing the format of 32 that has proven to be the perfect formula from all perspectives,” it said in a statement.

“Questionable is also the urgency in reaching such an important decision, with nine years to go until it becomes applicable, without the proper involvement of stakeholders who will be impacted by this change.

“ECA will analyse in detail the impact and the consequences of the new format and will address the matter at the next meeting of its executive board, scheduled for the end of January.”

New Fifa Now says the governing body needs to reform, said it would “dilute the competitiveness of the tournament”.

“It will not help development of the game or provide improved competitive opportunities for lower-ranked nations,” it added.

“Instead, it will make a mockery of the qualification process for most confederations.”

BBC Sports

with Jonathan Baah Annobil

Usain Bolt loses gold as Olympic chiefs strip Jamaica of 2008 relay win

Usain Bolt no longer has nine Olympic gold medals after the IOC confirmed that relay team-mate Nesta Carter tested positive for the prohibited substance methylhexaneamine.

The decision from the IOC relates to the 2008 Olympics

Reserve players did their best – Grant Black Stars head coach Avram Grant insists reserve players who were given the opportunity to play against Egypt in Ghana’s last group match at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations gave their all.

There has been a strong criticism of the performances of Andy Yiadom, Bernard Terkpetey, and Jonathan Mensah following G h a n a ’s 0 - 1 l o s s t o t h e Egyptians on Wednesday, but the former Chelsea manager, speaking to Class Sports, said the players did their best as it was an opportunity to try them.

“I think they tried their best.

All the players showed a lot of spirit. It was a good opportunity for them to play. I don’t want to say it was good or bad. It was

However it is not certain if he will play in Sunday’s crucial quarter-final clash with DR Congo as treatment is expected to have already started.

The Ghanaian has fears he

may be ruled out of the Africa Cup of Nations after suffering an injury in Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat by Egypt.

Gyan was substituted in the first half and was danger of missing Sunday’s quarter-final against DR Congo.

However Black Stars medical officer Adam Baba revealed that he suffered ‘a left thigh muscle contusion’, the Ghana FA statement read.

This means the tests in the Gabonese capital of Libreville on Thursday have shown that the injury is not as bad as initially feared.

When Gyan suffered the injury he feared it could rule him out of the tournament as Ghana seeks capture the title as the striker a key player for the fourtime African champions “I’m in pain right now. I don’t know the extent of the injury, we have to go for an MRI scan,” he told BBC Sport on Wednesday night.

“I’m desperate to come back and I’ll try as much as possible but if I cannot it’s part of the game.”

The 31-year-old striker was making his 99th international

an opportunity to give some of the [key] players some time to rest although they could have done better,” he stated.

Avram Grant is expected to revert to his strongest starting XI for their quarterfinal game against the Congolese on Sunday with a place in the semi-finals up for grabs.

Source: classfmonline.com

CAF best team for first roundNo Ghana player involved Confederation of African Football have announced the best eleven of the first round of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations with no Ghanaian player in the team.

The group stages came to an

Massive Asamoah Gyan boost for Ghana, injury not serious as feared Injured captain Asamoah Gyan could a play a further part in Ghana’s 2017 Africa Cup of Nations campaign as the injury is not as serious as initially feared, the Ghana FA has revealed.

The UAE-based striker has returned to the Black Stars camp in Oyem to undergo treatment to get him fit for subsequent matches in the tournament in Gabon.

in Beijing where Bolt won gold with the Jamican relay team in the 4x100m.

The disciplinary committee, which comprised of Mr Denis Oswald (Chairman), Mrs Gunilla Lindberg and Dr Ugur Erdener, has ruled that as Carter tested positive the entire team will be disqualified and therefore they will lose their gold medals.

This takes Bolt down to eight gold medals and he loses his record of having won triple gold at the past three Olympics.

Source: Wires

appearance in the Group D match against Egypt and was looking to score his 50th goal for his country.

He believes he was a “victim” of a dreadful playing surface in Port-Gentil that has already come in for widespread criticism.

Coach Avram Grant admitted he is concerned that he will lose his skipper.

They can now be assured that he could now play a further part in th e co mp etitio n.

GHANAsoccernet

end on Wednesday with the next round set to for Saturday and Friday.

The following players made the team of the group stages.

Tunisia and Egypt dominate with two players each.

Goalkeeper: Fabrice Ondoa Ebogo (Cameroon) Defenders: Ahmed Fathi (Egypt), Ahmed Hegazy (Egypt), Modou Kara Mbodji (Senegal) and Hamza Mendyl (Morocco).

Midfielders: Mohammed Ben Amor (Tunisia), Youssef Msakni (Tunisia) and Boussoufa Mbark (Morocco) Attackers: Junior Kabananga Kalonji (DR Congo), Naim Sliti (Tunisia) and Denis Bouanga (Gabon).

Joy Sports

The Ghanaian News January 2017

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The Ghanaian News January 2017

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