Hey, Hey, Hey! It’s National Sweater Day!

In case you haven’t heard, February 9th is being heralded in Canada as National Sweater Day.

While it may sound funny, there’s a serious tenet behind it—turn down the heat, don a sweater and make this world a better place.

Wonder how many people around the office water cooler will be wearing a sweater today?

Sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, one interesting fact is lowering that thermostat 1° saves 200 pounds (100 kilograms) of harmful emissions polluting the air we breath, that’s equal to the weight of a baby hippo.

One Toronto university is challenging students and staff to don the ugliest sweater they own for a chance to win a prize purported to be a ‘sustainability package.’

Does wearing a sweater reduce a man’s macho image? Save the Wildlife advocates are asking, What animal gave up its life for your sweater?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that there will be a March 19 by-election in the Toronto-Danforth riding. Jack Layton who was the leader of the NDP party died from cancer in August of last year.

Originally, Harper’s office set March 12 as the date for the by-election, but his office announced a change in the date on Monday.

There will be a NDP convention in Toronto during the same week as the by-election. The NDP Party is electing a new leader to replace interim leader Nycole Turmel who took over the Party after Layton’s death.

The NDP election vote will take place on March 24. There are eight candidates seeking to become the new leader of the NDP party.

The Conservative and Green party have already selected representative candidates. The Liberal Party has not held their nomination as of yet.

Before his death, Jack Layton held the Toronto-Danforth riding for over seven years.

Election Held To Determine Who Will Replace Jack Layton

Two 17-year old Canadian teenagers, Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad, crafted a weather balloon and sent a plastic astronaut made of Lego pieces into space.

A video of the event shows segments of the journey which lasted for a little more than an hour and half.

By the end of the video the Lego man is shown holding a Canadian flag out in space. According to reports, the two teenagers used four cameras, a helium filled balloon and a cell phone equipped with GPS technology to capture the images and the voyage.

In addition, they used a parachute made of nylon. The parachute was used to ensure that the Lego man would return back to Earth without any hitches.

It was Ho who first approached his friend Muhammad with the idea. They had learned of similar projects by students in the United States and Britain and had a feeling their idea would be a success.

Mathew and Asad went online to search for inexpensive cameras. They sewed the parachute themselves. Reportedly, neither Ho nor Muhammad had any sewing experience.

According to reports, it took several months of preparation time before the final launch was made. The materials needed for the project was less than $500.

Two Toronto Students Launch A Lego Man Into Space

This fall Canada can proudly welcome The Bachelor to their DVR lists. The show is currently casting Canadian contestants for the show. American host, Chris Harrison, was in Toronto on Monday to announce the casting call for the show.

He did announce that he will not be hosting this new version, so they are also looking for a host. Fans are also patiently awaiting the announcement on who will be the first Canadian bachelor vying for love.

Canadian fans currently watch the show on Citytv. This is the network that has picked up the Canadian version for the fall. Some are wondering if the Canadian version of The Bachelor will be more successful than the American version. The show is currently in it’s 16th season.

History has shown that the couples very rarely stay together as they have only one still married and going strong. Ben Flajnik is the current bachelor.

His proposal was turned down by Ashley in the last season of The Bachelorette.

The Bachelor Canada, Are You Ready For Love?

The death of the four time X Games champion Sarah Burke on Thursday January 19, 2012 was not only a great loss but also brought a huge burden to her family.

29 year old Sarah died during a training run sponsored by Monster Energy Company on the famous Super Eagle half pipe in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Reports indicate that Sarah’s accident on January 10 caused irreversible damage to the brain after a cardiac arrest caused by a ruptured vertebral artery.

Her 9 day stay in hospital led to a medical bill of around $200000 after undergoing surgery and treatment. Since Sarah was a Canadian receiving treatment in the US her insurance cover was unable to cover the cost.

There was however an overall appeal from the public for Monster Energy to cover the bill but this did not happen.

Her husband Roy Bushfield set up a website as a fundraising campaign and by Saturday the site had raised $246701 towards covering the medical bill.

This has ensured that Sarah’s family won’t have to deal with the huge medical bill left behind by her unfortunate demise.

Donations Cover Sarah Burke's Medical Bill

According to a statement released Thrusday, Canadian Skiier Sarah Burke has succumbed to her injuries, after a crash during a practice run last week in Utah.

Burke, a native of Barrie, ON, underwent neurosurgery to repair a tear to one of the 4 major arteries to her brain.

Tests revealed Burke sustained “irreversible damage to her brain due to lack of oxygen and blood after cardiac arrest,” according to a statement released by Burke’s publicist.

She has won gold medals in the winter X-Games, and World Free Style Skiing Championships.

The 29-year-old died at 9:22 Thursday morning.

“The family expresses their heartfelt gratitude for the international outpouring of support they have received from all the people Sarah touched,” the statement said.

Canadian Freestyle Skier Sarah Burke Dies at 29

Monday morning marked a new era for Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, hopefully a lighter one that comes with a slimmer waist-line.

Ford and his brother city councillor Doug Ford rolled out an old fashioned scale in front of the mayor’s office at 9:30am for a new year weight loss challenge.

The mayor once referred to himself as 300 pounds of fun, and his brother isn’t far off that size.

The mayer hopes to shed 50 pounds by June 18th. That means he’s got about 22 weeks – or five months – to accomplish this ambitious task.

“Anyone can lose weight by going on any short term quick fix diet,” says nutrition Leslie Beck speaking to Newstalk 1010. “That’s a mistake when people go some sort of crash diet, fad diet, unbalanced diet.”

Beck thinks the Mayor should make sure to get in three meals a day with one or two snacks.

“His plan needs to have him eating at regular intervals through the day,” says Beck. “(Snacks) will keep his blood glucose levels stable, keep his energy up and prevent him from getting too hungry at the end of the day.”

“Skipping meals is an absolute no-no on any weight loss diet…It sets you up for failure later. You’re going to be overly hungry,” says Beck.

Rob Ford's Weight Loss Challenge To Shed 50lbs

Three people have been recovered from sea off the coast of Tuscany as the luxury linger Costa Concordia Cruise Ship inadvertently ran itself aground.

Water began to fill the ship and after 12 hours ended up completely on its side.

Although several are still missing, most of the passengers and crew members were rescued and are now safe and onshore.

The exact reason for the incident has not been given, but investigation in under way.

Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) confirmed Saturday that 12 Canadians were on board the ship, all of whom made it off the vessel safely.

“Canadian consular officials in Italy are working with local authorities to gather additional information concerning this incident, and are in touch with Canadian citizens who were on the ship,” a statement from the department read. “Canadian consular officials are providing consular assistance as needed.”

Interviews show that passengers were upset that they were not given better instructions on how to evacuate the ship. For the first hour chaos and panic therefore ensued.

“(The captain) has been taken into custody. He was questioned earlier today, according to Italian media reports,” Winfield told CTV News Channel.

“There have been no formal charges so we don’t know where the investigation is going to go. But he is in custody.”

It’s not everyday a luxury liner needs rescuing on the sea, but the incident for Concordia is not the first.

In 2008, the luxury liner crashed up against the Sicilian port dock after strong winds pushed the Palermo enough to cause damage, although no one was hurt.

Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Involved In Accident, 3 Reported Dead, 12 Canadians On Board (PHOTO)

Air Miles has announced that they will be adding an expiry date for points collected under their loyalty program. The company has recently posted the announcement on its corporate website that, starting Dec. 31, 2011: “All Air Miles reward miles will have a date stamp of five years.

This means that any reward miles, that have been earned before December 31, 2011, will need to be redeemed by December 31, 2016.” Until recently, air miles had no expiry date and could be carried over every year indefinitely. Now, any Air Miles which exceed the expiration date, will be voided.

The Air Miles program is a highly popular royalty program which earned consumers free air travel or merchandise by redeeming points known as “air miles”. Air miles could be earned from shopping from hundreds of retailers across Canada, ranging from grocery stores to clothing retailers.

This news came to a shock to the millions of subscribers who valued the points collected through this plan. As many as two-thirds of Canadian households will be affected by this change. Market analysts predict that Air Miles’ partners and sponsors will suffer considerable public backlash for this move.

This change comes shortly after Air Miles revealed its latest rewards program called Air Miles Cash.

Air Miles Points Now Have An Expiration Date

Lotto Max Results And Winning Numbers Friday December 30th

Winning Lotto Max ticket sold in Ontario

Somewhere in Ontario, there’s a lucky lottery player who may now be planning one heck of a New Year’s Eve party.

A single winning ticket for last night’s $50-million Lotto Max jackpot was sold in the province.

There are four winning tickets for the 10 MaxMillions up for grabs – two were sold in B.C., one in Calgary, and one in Ontario.

30-Dec-2011

      

 7818161