Filipina chanteuse releases 3rd album

If you’re thinking of immigration to Canada soon, here’s the list of the fastest growing job sectors in Canada:

• Health care, social assistance
• Finance, leasing, real estate, insurance
• Public administration
• Construction
• Forestry, fishing, mining, oil and gas
• Management, administrative, support

The saying that "nothing is free anymore", except air is now a reality. Ontario will historically become the first province in Canada to charge bottled-water companies, food-processing firms and other industries for water that is taken from rivers, streams and underground outlets and sold. The legislation is supposedly to protect the environment, recognizing water as a precious resource.

University of Waterloo and the University of Northern B.C. released new findings that parents would serve their children better if they stopped worrying so much about their school grades and started focusing on how well they get along with other kids. I am in total agreement with this because most kids these days lack social/interpersonal skills which are so essential in living well with other people.

The findings also suggested that people who have difficulty getting along with other people, meaning people who are shy and inept when they have to meet other people are more likely to suffer high blood pressure and ills associated with that than people who are comfortable in social situations. In other words, social skills can be a major determinant to our health.

Then, a Prince George psychologist backed up the facts by his report that stress caused by interpersonal relationships is far greater stress than caused by work and can be more damaging to our hearts and our health. In today’s world where people are more exposed to e-mail and internet than human beings, we all have to work harder to be interpersonally literate besides being computer literate.

On the subject of marriage or living with someone. The number of single people in Canada increases yearly. According to the 2001 census, almost three million Canadians, or 12.5 percent of those 15 and over, lived alone, five times the rate in 1951. The number of those living solo rose by 350,000 from 1996 to 2001. This indicates that people are staying single longer.

Filipina chanteuse/jazz vocalist Armi Grano of Vancouver will soon release her third CD entitled "Feelin’ Fine". Accompanied by the best Vancouver musicians, Armi, who’s acclaimed as a skilled interpreter of the American and Brazilian songbook has created another memorable album. The eleven tracks of lovely ballads were elegantly performed with polish and poignancy, including an inventive version of "Laughter in the Rain".

Armi Grano’s album will be released before the much-awaited Vancouver International Jazz Festival (June 25 to July 4). One of the big names in this year’s Festival is Oscar Peterson, Canada’s greatest jazz musician who will return to Vancouver after 19 years. The 78-year old piano legend is a Montreal native but now lives in Toronto. He is a member of the Order of Canada and has eight Grammy Awards. Peterson has been at the top of the jazz scene for more than five decades.

It was a pleasant surprise to receive an invitation from Dr. Lucio Tan, chairman of Philippine Airlines to a reception and show this coming March 19 on the occasion of the launching of the four times weekly services between Vancouver and Las Vegas. It will be held at the Parkview Terrace of the Vancouver Convention and Exhibit Center.

There’s a lot of debate here over whether the strong Canadian dollar hurts or helps the Canadian economy. Some banks claim that a strong Canadian dollar has many advantages such as:

•Vacations in American hot spots will be a lot cheaper.
• High Canadian dollar buys a lot more imported US goods.
• Low-interest rates will continue.
• Canadian export manufacturers will be more productive to cope in the global, free-trade economy.
• Overall, a stronger Canadian currency is exactly what Canada needs to give the country a much-needed productivity boost.