By Michael Bourque

In a speech to the Canadian Club last week, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney called on businesses to invest in Canada now – an action he sees as the most likely to prevent our country from slipping into another recession.

Interestingly, attracting new investment is the primary focus of Canadian manufacturers and exporters right now, and we believe that businesses and governments must work together in order to achieve this end.

Sept. 8, 2011

Toronto, ON, Sept. 8, 2011 - From residential homes to commercial buildings, hospitals and schools, architects and designers rely on plastics to help maximize durability and improve energy efficiency and performance. Properly installed plastic building products can help reduce energy, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and maintenance costs, thus reducing a homeowner's carbon footprint. Here are just a few of the ways that plastics help to save energy and GHG emissions at home:

Fire Safety Week 2011 sees the revolutionary anti-combustible Cold Fire™ make its journey from predominantly government and industrial use to availability for domestic use as well. Front line Tested by NASCAR racing teams and firefighters around the globe, Cold Fire's natural fire suppressants and retardants are now available to the public for use in their own homes.

If you are one of the many community newspaper publishers across Canada trying to craft strategy for Internet news distribution, this study will be of interest to you. I invite your help in defining current and future practice of electronic news distribution at Canadian community newspapers.

A ten-minute anonymous survey is located at www.newspaperproject.ca

Most people don't know that today natural gas meets 30 per cent of Canada's energy needs with Canadian natural gas distribution companies serving approximately 6.2 million customers in homes, businesses and industry across Canada.

Natural gas is abundantly available, affordable, safe, reliable, versatile, and a clean source of energy. That's why over six million customers representing well over half the Canadian population rely on it today for heat and power in homes, apartments, buildings, businesses, hospitals and schools.

By Michael Bourque, Chemistry Industry Association of Canada

With a federal budget coming soon, expect to be bombarded with numbers. Here’s one to keep in mind: since 2002, Canada has lost 500,000 manufacturing jobs. While many of those jobs have gone to China and other developing countries, a significant number have been lost to the U.S. and other developed nations. The upshot? Low-cost labour isn’t the only way to lose a manufacturing plant.

By Michael Bourque, Chemistry Industry Association of Canada

In the upcoming federal budget, we'll hear a lot of discussion about "tax breaks for big business" and how we can't afford them. But as corporate taxes become a political hot potato, we risk losing sight of some pretty compelling facts.

The holidays are a time when Canadians coast to coast to coast gather with their families to celebrate the season and reflect on the past twelve months. This year, why not celebrate your family by building your family tree and learning about those who came before you? Genealogy is a fascinating pastime and a great way to connect with all generations. And with access to millions of historic records online, it’s never been easier to get started.

OTTAWA, March 22, 2010 – A new study from the Forest Products Sector Council (FPSC-CSPF) entitled Challenges and Impacts: Labour Market Transition Programs for Laid-Off Forest Products Workers in Canada highlights the challenges laid-off forest workers face in forest-dependent communities across Canada. 

May is Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month

Toronto, ON – (May 1, 2009) – When the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF) was created in 1960, children with cystic fibrosis (CF) were not expected to live long enough to attend kindergarten. Today, thanks to great progress in CF research and care, half of all Canadians who have cystic fibrosis are living well into their 30s, and beyond.