Archive | Canada
WEBCAST: SHIMON PERES LIVE from Toronto @ 7:30pm
Shimon Peres in Toronto, Canada. Live webcast from Toronto, Canada @ 7:30EST.
Canada-Israel strengthen agriculture cooperation
Jerusalem, Israel, May 2, 2012 – Canadian farmers will benefit from stronger agriculture partnerships with Israel, following Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz’s first trade mission to Israel.
“The Harper Government is working to increase market opportunities for our hard-working producers and processors,” said Minister Ritz. “We continue to explore every opportunity to help farmers boost their bottom line, grow the agriculture industry, and strengthen the long-term prosperity of the Canadian economy.”
Minister Ritz met with his Israeli counterpart, Agriculture Minister Ms. Orit Noked, and stressed the need for access to Israel for Canadian beef. Israel committed to working with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Market Access Secretariat to move Canada’s request forward. In 2010, Israel’s total beef imports from all countries were valued at approximately $370 million.
Minister Ritz also raised the importance of a renewed Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement with Industry, Trade and Labour Minister Mr. Shalom Simhon. Since this free trade agreement came into force in 1997, total bilateral trade has more than doubled, reaching $1.4 billion in 2010, $63 million of which was agricultural goods. In 2010 alone, Canada exported $30 million worth of agri-food and seafood to Israel. Canada’s key agricultural exports to Israel are pulses, canola, and beverages.
Canada and Israel agreed that an enhanced memorandum of understanding for co operation in science and research would greatly benefit the long-term prosperity of both countries. Israel and Canada will work together to propose new research projects for collaboration. Demonstrating his commitment to agriculture science and research, Minister Ritz toured the Volcani Centre, Israel’s world-class agricultural research organization, to see what other opportunities exist for co-operation.
While in Jerusalem, Minister Ritz marked the Holocaust remembrance anniversary by laying a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial to honour the memory of the six million victims of the Holocaust and to pay tribute to the survivors.
-30-
Canada’s Simple Plan have a plan… It’s Israel!
One of rock’s most successful bands, Simple Plan is returning to Israel for its 3rd visit. Meet the world’s nicest guys.
The thing with Canadians – even Canadian rock stars – is that they’re so darn nice. Take Chuck Comeau for example, the drummer for Simple Plan, the hugely successful Montreal-based punk-pop band.
While he and his four band mates have carte blanche to behave as carefree and adult denying as they appear to be in their spunky, hook-filled songs, Comeau instead talks earnestly about responsibility, loyalty and aspirations… and about his refreshingly unjaundiced view of Israel, which he’s about to visit for the third time on May 5 at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv.
“Israel is a pretty magical place for us,” said Comeau recently from Hamburg where Simple Plan was touring in support of their fourth studio album Get Your Heart On!.
“We finished our world tour for our third album in 2008 by coming to Tel Aviv for the first time for a sold out show, and I don’t think we ever envisioned having so many fans so far from home. We knew from Facebook and Twitter that we had lots fans in Israel, but only when you go out and see a full room singing all the words to the songs, and people waiting at the airport for you, that it really hits you.”
“We booked extra time so we could travel around, and my family flew in – it was a beautiful experience. Israel has now become a must for us on every international tour,” added Comeau.
And after a decade together and ever-increasing popularity, Simple Plan’s international tours are becoming more extensive and far-reaching, with the band boasting (politely of course) of having performed in over 70 countries. An anomaly in the world of rock, Simple Plan has boasted the same lineup – Pierre Bouvier (lead vocals), Jeff Stinco and Sébastien Lefebvre (guitars), David Desrosiers (bass) and Comeau – since its inception in 1999. It’s a testament, according to Comeau, to the no-nonsense cordiality that the band members show to each other.
“A lot of it has to do with the fact that we were all friends before the band, we went to the same high school, we have the same values and the same approach to life,” said Comeau.
“It’s all about the fact that we also have the same goals and aspirations for the band, we’re on the same page. And at the times that we’re not, we sit down together and talk, reevaluate what we’ve accomplished and where we want to go. As the years go by, the fact that we’re all still together becomes more important and more precious to us – we value it even more.”
On Get Your Heart On! Which finds the band – in the words of one reviewer – “checking their adulthood at the door,” Simple Plan revels in reliving the punchy punk-pop of their youth, with a slew of cameo contributions from the likes of one their heroes, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, Natasha Bedingfield, and Somali-Canadian rapper K’naan. But in addition to bratty rockers like “You Suck At Love” and “Can’t Keep My Hands Off You,” there are also attempts to branch out with the pop reggae sounds of “Summer Paradise,” a development that Comeau expressed pride in.
“We grew up listening to that second generation of California punk rock – bands like Bad Religion – and no matter where we take our music, that will always be part of our DNA and how we look at things,” he said. “But as we’ve gotten older, we’ve opened our minds to new types of music and styles – it’s crucial to the band to prevent stagnation and boredom.
“That’s what I love about our band – we can have an in-your-face punk song like ‘You Suck At Love’ and the next track can be this reggae-Bee Gees-influenced song unlike anything we’ve ever done. It shows we’re expanding our musical palette and taking risks. But because we’ve been playing together for over a decade, it’s still going to sound like us. We have our own little musical identity no matter what style we tackle.”
That includes the centerpiece of the album – the heartfelt ballad “This Song Saved My Life” – a unique collaboration between the band and its fans. Comeau and band mate Pierre Bouvier were discussing writing a song about the emotional power music can have in someone’s life.
“We wanted to write about how one song, or one album can change someone’s life,” said Comeau. “It may seem like an exaggeration, but I think any music fan has had those moments when you’re going through tough times and you hear a song or a band and it gets your over the hump. We all had those moments growing up, and a lot of fans have told us that we’ve become that band for them.”
THE BAND decided to ask their fans how they felt. Comeau posted a message on his Twitter feed saying, “We decided to write a song about you guys… Can you tell me how our music has made you feel through the year?” The responses started arriving immediately and grew to avalanche dimensions.
The result is probably the first song ever written via Twitter, with every lyric taken from the fans’ messages.
“It was really special. We got messages from kids saying that if they hadn’t heard that song or that album, they didn’t know if they’d be here today. We wanted to write the song as a tribute to them, and figured the best way would be to go to them directly and have them power our music. And in a way, the song has become the symbol of what we stand for as a band – that interaction and feedback with the audience.”
Once the song was written, the band took the final step of inviting 25 of the responders to join them in a Vancouver studio to sing on the track, an event that Comeau deemed as “completing the circle.”
“I’m really proud of the song – it’s created an even more special bond with the fans, and we love playing it live.”
And if you thought Simple Plan couldn’t get any nicer, Comeau described the achievements of the Simple Plan Foundation, which the band founded six years ago as a way to give back to its community and to get involved in the lives of young people in need.
“It’s all about kids who are sick with illnesses like cancer, or kids going through tough times growing up with typical problems like depression, drugs, and dropping out,” he said.
According to the band’s statement on the foundation’s website, “it breaks our hearts to see so many young people fighting to survive while feeling depressed and lost.
We want our Foundation to help them find their way and show them that there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel, that things can get better.”
Comeau proudly announced that the foundation has raised over a million dollars, and at this month’s annual Juno Awards honoring the best Canadian musical talent, Simple Plan was given the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award for the efforts of the foundation.
“I think the message we’re putting out there is you don’t have to wait until you are 40, 50 or 60 to do something. I think the world would be a better place if we all make a little time and a little effort,” vocalist Bouvier told reporters at the event.
Apropos the band’s orientation, the foundation promotes music as a means for the youth to find a passion in their lives, and the band has used its music to forward those aims – donating a dollar from the price of each ticket on their current tour to the foundation and performing an annual benefit show to raise funds.
“We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished – the foundation is something that’s close to our hearts,” said Comeau.
And it’s apparent that there are some big, Canadian hearts ticking in rhythm behind the beat of Simple Plan.
Source: Jpost.com
Montreal’s Kathleen Rieter is ready for the spotlight after big win on The Voice in Israel (National Post)
Montreal-born singer Kathleen Reiter had only lived in Tel Aviv a few days when she strode onto the stage of Israel’s top televised vocal competition and stole the show.
A powerful rendition of British singer Adele’s Rolling in the Deep last October had judges of the Israeli version of The Voice leaping from their seats and clamouring for the chance to coach the 23-year-old, who had decided to “make aliyah,” or immigrate to the Jewish homeland, that summer.
And when the show’s first season ended Saturday, Ms. Reiter was crowned victor — a win that has propelled the trilingual pop powerhouse to national stardom
“It was a huge surprise and I think I’m still a bit in shock,” Ms. Reiter said when reached by phone in Tel Aviv on Monday. “I don’t really realize what’s going on.”
Ms. Reiter had taken voice lessons in Montreal since age 12 and competed in singing competitions on a much smaller scale — clinching the title of Montreal’s Jewish Idol in 2004 when she was 15.
But never had she taken such a risk — stepping out before a national television audience in a country she had only visited in the summers of her childhood.
VIDEOS: She sang in English and in French… Montrealer Kathleen Reiter will sing, for the first time in Hebrew on the VOICE Israel.
 on http://sizedoesntmatter.com){kind=link}
She’s a Montrealer, now Israeli, that has won the hearts of all her now fellow citizens, tonight, she will sing in Hebrew for the first time on the show! We will bring you the results as soon as we get them!
If you missed her 2 previous performances, check them out…
UPDATE! Video of her performance in HEBREW BELOW
OTTAWA: Canada and Israel: A Relationship Built on Shared Values
Join us for a multi-partisan panel discussion on the proud Canada-Israel partnership - including:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Ottawa
Canadian-Israeli economic, academic and cultural cooperation
Canadian and Israeli humanitarian aid efforts
Tuesday March 13 – 5:30pm
Carleton University – Canal Building – Room 2104
Brought to you by:
Israel Awareness Committee of Ottawa
Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee
Carleton Campus Conservatives
Carleton University Liberals
More info and RSVP: israelaffairs@hillelottawa
Adam Moscoe
CJPAC Senior Fellow
University of Ottawa
Yaelle Gang
CJPAC Fellow
Carleton University
THERE WILL BE FOOD AND REFRESHMENTS
For more info: http://www.facebook.com/events/337368822980762/