News for Youse: B.C.'s first Family Day, Pope announces resignation, and Ravi Shankar wins Grammy

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      B.C. celebrates first Family Day  Premier Christy Clark has created a new statutory holiday today just three months before the next provincial election. Meanwhile, the new director of provincial affairs with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Mike Klassen, has told CKNW Radio that government gets the glory for the new holiday, but small business is footing the bill.

      Legislature resumes tomorrow  MLAs will be back in Victoria tomorrow to hear the speech from the throne from new Lieut.-Gov. Judith Guichon.

      Community centre associations will meet  This afternoon, members of community centre associations will gather at Hillcrest Community Centre to discuss the park board's recent vote to reallocate revenues between different centres.

      Pope Benedict XVI announces resignation  For the first time in nearly 600 years, the head of the Roman Catholic Church has announced he'll resign. Pope Benedict XVI, born as Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, will leave office on February 28, nearly eight years after becoming pontiff.

      Speculation rises about a Canadian pope  Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec is among those being considered as a potential replacement for Pope Benedict XVI. Ouellet is president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.  

      Mumford & Sons, FUN., Gotye, Ravi Shankar among Grammy winners  Mumford & Sons won Album of the Year for Babel, FUN. was named Best New Artist, Gotye took home Record of the Year for "Somebody That I Used to Know", and recently deceased sitar legend Ravi Shankar won the Grammy for Best World Music Album and the Lifetime Achievement Award. For more on the Grammy Awards, go here, and a complete list of winners is available here.

      Jason Garrison has most powerful shot  New Canucks blueliner Jason Garrison fired a puck at 101.8 miles per hour, winning the team's annual superskills competition in this category at Rogers Arena yesterday. Dale Weise was the fastest skater and Max Lapierre won for shooting accuracy.

      Divorce threatens charity's future  A charity backed by actor Jackie Chan called Save China's Tigers is in jeopardy after the founder, Quan Li, divorced U.S. banker Stuart Bray. Quan, a former Gucci fashion executive, said this resulted in her ouster from the organization.

      Comments

      3 Comments

      DavidH

      Feb 11, 2013 at 12:09pm

      Once again, a self-appointed lobby group grabs media attention and receives slavish attention:

      "Meanwhile, the new director of provincial affairs with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Mike Klassen, has told CKNW Radio that government gets the glory for the new holiday, but small business is footing the bill."

      The Canadian Federation of Independent Business claims 109,000 members. The total number of small businesses in Canada is approximately 1.2 million. But the "Federation" speaks for small business? lol!

      This reminds me of the other fake lobby group called the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. They claim a total of 80,000 "supporters" (whatever that means) ... but 24.5 personal income tax returns were filed in 2011. Does the CTF represent anybody, other than the staff who get paid by the CTF?

      When will the media - including the Straight - apply some basic common sense when it comes to quoting fake organizations like the the CFIB and CTF? Never, I suspect.

      Martin Dunphy

      Feb 11, 2013 at 1:12pm

      No milk with your cornflakes today, DavidH?

      Tell you what, next time the <em>Straight</em> will personally interview a few million small-business owners and taxpayers for a small round-up item that is referencing another media outlet's story.

      DavidH

      Feb 12, 2013 at 12:14pm

      @ Dunphy: Why would you interview a "few million" small business owners and taxpayers?

      You have apparently already conceded that 109K out of 1.2 million, and 80k out of 24.5 million, are sufficient numbers to support a valid opinion.

      The reality is that if you called 5 business owners and stopped six people on the street, your story would be equally valid.

      But hey, if you quote a CFIB or CTF press release, that's even easier.