Greetings from beautiful downtown Banff! This week's roundup of Canada- related Daily Kos diaries also features a profile of Canada's resort city on the Rockies. But first...lots of Maher Arar-related news and editorials as hist innocence is confirmed by Harper's Tories...and denied by Bush's fascist thugs Attorney General and Director of Homeland Security. We've also got environmental news and some film suggestions for a wintry evening. So grab a mug of something warm and come on down below the fold for Canadian news, analysis and of course... pointless pootie-n-puppy pics!
There's more below the fold –come on down!
Cross-posted atThe Next Agenda.
Maher Arar:Part One
What happens when an innocent Canadian citizen is wrongfully arrested, deported to Syria and tortured for 10 months, only to be cleared of all wrongdoing? Well, first Bu$hCo refuses to admit doing anything wrong. In:Gonzo and Chertoff dig in heels; Arar still on watch list. Wreck Smurfy picks up Arar's story.
Then, in a nice piece of what passes for "diplomacy" in Bushland, we get this:US Ambassador to Canada: Shut up (over Maher Ahar) Read it and weep and tribe34 details the rude response to requests that Arar be removed from the no-fly list. As commenter frankfrink points out in his diary, being on the US no-fly list prevents Arar from being able to take any flight that even crosses US airspace—pretty tough way to travel. Hello, Mr. Bush? TheManWithNoPoint lays it out for you:This is Why We Don't Do Torture.
Pointless Puppy Pic
(Reading about torture, rendition, and the callousness of Bush officials makes me want a quick break. These calm-inducing fuzzy poms come courtesy Kossack exmearden. Sleepy, fuzzy goodness....breathe deeply....feel calmer....better? OK. Back to the news.)
Maher Arar: Part Two (The Saga Continues)
Arar's story continued to be dramatic this week, as Harper's government announced some compensation for him. paul2port'sMaher Arar: Gets Apology and $12.5 million offers details. Others who picked up the story include a brief rundown about The High Cost of Fascism: Arar to Receive $9 MM Settlement from essexgreen.
And you can read an outstanding rundown of the entire Arar saga in Neocynic's Arar: 1 Cup of Coffee= 1 Year of Torture= $10M.
If there's a silver lining in all this, it's this passionate rant that offers A Bush Primer For Our Canadian Neighbors from A Paradox. Great read for when you've just about had enough.
Other Canadiana News and Fun
The New Industrial Revolution Will be Green by AlienAbductee gives us a look at what the Canadian Liberals may well claim as their signature topic in the next election: the environment. A sobering look at how heavily the environment weighs on Canadian and European minds.
For a bit of lighter fare, I recommend LandofEnchantment'sFriday Night at the Movies: Stormy Weather Not strictly Canadian, but this diary offers up a fine selection of movies with weather-related themes, including Canadian classics Like Nanook of the North and The Far Runner.
Featured Canadian Community: Banff, Alberta
This week's broadcast comes to you from beautiful Banff, Alberta! This popular resort town is located in Banff National Park. Founded in 1885, it is Canada's oldest national park. The town is home to 8352 permanent residents; tens of thousands more tourists visit every year to enjoy the stunning beauty of the Canadian Rockies.
History from Wikipedia:
The town was founded by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1880 as a tourist destination. The original location of the settlement was where Lake Minnewanka currently is, and was called Siding 29 (on the CPR line). There are still remnants of the nearby mining town of Bankhead - situated between Lake Minnewanka and the current Banff townsite. It was named after the burgh of Banffshire in Scotland, the birthplace of two CPR directors. The Railway built a series of grand hotels along the rail line and advertised the Banff Springs Hotel as an international tourist resort. Banff remains one of the most popular tourist destinations in Canada. In 1985, the United Nations declared Banff National Park, as one of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, a World Heritage Site.
What's Going On in Banff?
If you want to find out what's goin on, tune into Banff's CBC station online; country fans might prefer CKRY-2, or enjoy Banff's best classic rock atCFGQ-2.
Perhaps you'll be making plans to attend the Banff World Television Festival. Panels and seminars on the best of television enliven the gathering for professionals. And don't miss the "Rockies," awards recognizing excellence in television. Then there's the Banff Summer Arts Festival and the hot literary ticket WordFest. These gatherings aof artists and writers are histed by the The Banff Centre, which offers facilities for the performing arts, for conferences, for professional development and more.
Banff Tourism
If you're hoping to move to Banff, there may be bad news. Only those employed in Banff (along with their immediate families) can take up residence there; the growth restriction is an attempt to preserve the region's resources. But if you're just wanting to visit, you're in luck. It's definitely a great place to be a tourist.
Banff is surrounded by mountains. Sulphur Mountain, named for its hot springs, offers swimming and hot pools. You can take a gondola to the summit and enjoy a meal at the teahouse; or, do it the old-fashioned way. Skiing and hiking are available on many nearby peaks; Banff has over 1,600 kilometres of hiking trails. Three resorts--Ski Norquay, Lake Louise and Sunshine Village--together offer skiable acreage totalling 7,748 Acres. Other attractions include Castleguard Caves, Canada's longest cave system.
What about wildlife? Well, Banff is home to Alberta's southernmost herd of woodland caribou. You migth also spot wolves, moose, mountain goats, cougar, black bears, grizzly bears, pika, otters, and beaver. Or check out the scenery at beautiful Lake Minnewanka, only 5 km away. Dammed for hydro power, the lake offers spectacular recreation scuba diving. A submerged village (sunk by a 1941 damming) makes for an especially interesting dive.
You can drive from nearby Lake Louise along the scenic Icefields Parkway, which gives access to scenic spots like Crowfoot Glacier, Bow Summit, Mistaya Canyon, Columbia Icefield,
Icefield Centre, and Athabasca Falls. In the summer traffic peaks to about 100,000 cars a month.
Where to Stay
If you like to vacation in style, then of course you must stay at the Banff Springs Hotel. From Wikipedia:
The Banff Springs Hotel is a former railway hotel in the Scottish Baronial style, located in the Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The hotel, designed by architect Bruce Price [1], was built over a century ago by the Canadian Pacific Railway, at the instigation of its President, William Cornelius Van Horne, and rebuilt in the 1920s after a fire.
Under the stewardship of its current owner, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, the hotel has recently had an extensive renovation which, however, has not changed its original grandeur. A significant feature of the change has been the addition of a world class spa. An original construction flaw, the siting of the entrance and lobby on the river side, has also been corrected in this renovation. (The architect is said to have declared "you built my hotel backwards!")
If you'd like something cozier, check outBanff Avenue Bed and breakfast. Frankly, you'd be hard-pressed not to find something to your liking considering the range of accommodation options for Banff.
That's it for this week's News from the North. If you just can't get enough of Canadian progressive politics, then stop byThe Next Agenda for more. Hope to see you, and this has been your weekly News from the North.
All photos in the public domain except:
View of Banff from Sulphur Mountain created by RedWolf, and used under Creative Commons Sharealike License.
Banff street scene photograph created by Kevin Saff and used under terms of the Creative Commons License.
Sleeping poms created by exmearden and used with permission.