CURRENT EVENTS MAY 10

1. CURRENT EVENTS MAY 10 CANADA'S FOREIGN-BORN RESIDENTS RATIO TOPS IN G8, • Canada is home to 6.8 million foreign-born residents —one-fifth of the country's population and the highest ratio in the G8, new data from Statistics Canada's controversial National Household Survey (NHS) shows. • It also says aboriginal populations surged by 20 per cent between 2006 and 2011, and that two-thirds of Canadians are affiliated with a Christian religion, including 12.7 million Roman Catholics. • But the survey, which replaced the mandatory long-form census cancelled by the Harper Conservatives in 2010, is rife with warnings that the data may not be as accurate, given its voluntary nature. • The data released Wednesday is the first of three reports from the NHS, with the other two set for release in June and August.

2. CURRENT EVENTS MAY 10 • The first part of the NHS was conducted in May 2011, and gives a glimpse of Canada's cultural makeup. • It covers: • Aboriginal peoples. • Immigration. • Citizenship. • Place of birth. • Language. • Ethnic origin. • Visible minorities. • Religion. For the NHS, 4.5 million households received questionnaires. The final response rate was 68.6 per cent, or about three million people.

3. CURRENT EVENTS MAY 10 • The long-form survey was eliminated after the Conservative government cited concerns about personal freedoms in 2010. Anyone not filling out the survey could have faced fines or jail time. • Statistics Canada says social and economic data from the NHS will be used by communities to plan services such as child care, schooling, family services, housing, roads and public transportation, and skills training for employment. • The other two parts of the survey will be released on June 26 (covering labour, education, place of work, commuting to work, mobility and migration and language of work) and Aug. 14 (providing data on income, earnings, housing and shelter costs).

4. CURRENT EVENTS MAY 10 CHILD ABDUCTIONS BY STRANGERS RARE IN CANADA • Child abductions by strangers rarely happen in Canada, but exactly how rare is harder to determine. • Police statistics show 25 children of the 46,718 reported missing in 2011 listed as "abducted by stranger." • However, the definition of stranger for these numbers includes anyone who is not a parent. In other words it could be a relative, a friend of the family, a babysitter or someone unknown to the family or victim. • A 2003 study tried to break down those numbers. Marlene Dalley and Jenna Ruscoe, then with the RCMP's National Missing Children Services, studied the 90 stranger abduction missing child reports that had been entered into the national police database in 2000 and 2001.

5. CURRENT EVENTS MAY 10 • They found just two of those children had been abducted by someone other than a relative or a close family friend. • In the 2011 statistics, 63 per cent of the missing children and youth reports were over within 24 hours and 86 per cent within a week. In any year the vast majority of the reports turn out to be runaways. • http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/ID/2383919078/ Amanda Pick of the Missing Children Society of Canada says that the rescue of the three abducted young women in Cleveland gives hope to the families of missing children in Canada.

6. Brittany Stalman was 17 when her family reported her missing on Nov. 13, 2006. • Melanie Ethier, then 15, has not been seen or heard from after she went missing in northeast Ontario in 1996. • Eva Ho had just turned 17 when she and two friends disappeared in Toronto in 2006. • It's nearly 20 years since Lindsey Nicholls, 14, went missing in B.C. • http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/ID/2383916168/

7. CURRENT EVENTS MAY 10 LOW WATER LEVELS IN GREAT LAKES CAUSE CONCERN • Historically low water levels in the Great Lakes may seriously impact the environment and consumers. • Water levels in some of the Great Lakes have dropped to the lowest levels in decades, reports CBC's Aarti Pole, and experts say these steep drops are due to a lack of precipitation and warm weather. • Less ice during the winter increases evaporation, said John Nevin of the International Joint Commission, which is tasked with assisting the Canadian and U.S. governments in finding solutions to problems in waters that lie along or flow across the border. • "Evaporation is actually the number one cause of water loss in the Great Lakes," he said.

8. CURRENT EVENTS MAY 10 • In addition to adverse effects on the ecosystem, such as areas where fish spawn along Georgian Bay and Lake Huron drying up, the low water levels can impact the economy. • Boats can't be fully loaded if the water they're in isn't deep enough. This increases the cost of shipping and directly impacts consumers. • You can see it in the grocery store," said Angus Armstrong, the Toronto Port Authority's harbour master and chief of security. • He said cement, asphalt and bulk goods such as sugar all move through ports. Low water levels in Lake Huron have caused officials to postpone ferry service until at least Friday, May 10. http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/ID/2383309592/?page=3