THE Conference Board of Canada has downgraded its economic forecast for Manitoba, but still predicts it will be one of the country's best performers in 2012 and will also enjoy solid growth in 2013 and 2014.

In its Autumn 2012 Provincial Outlook report released Monday, the Ottawa-based think-tank predicts Manitoba will post the third-strongest economic growth rate in the country this year, at 2.5 per cent.

It expects growth to slow in 2013 and 2014, but predicts a healthy 2.1 per cent and 2.3 per cent growth, respectively, in each of those years.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/lower-manitoba-growth-forecast-still-pretty-good-board-says-180094471.html

The Fort la Reine Museum needs your vote in order to help restore a treasure of national significance. The Museum is competing in the Aviva Community Fund competition where it hopes to restore Le Rideau – the personal business car of Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, general manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Aviva Canada is giving away $1 million to create positive change in communities across Canada, with Round Three ending on Nov. 26. The semi-finals will begin on Dec. 3 with judging beginning on Dec. 20.

The Van Horne Car was custom built in 1882 by CPR for Van Horne, its general manager. The car served as a sleeping car, dining room, gentleman’s club car, as well as a rear office where Van Horne was visited by Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald on numerous occasions.

http://www.portagedailygraphic.com/2012/11/19/fort-la-reine-museum-needs-your-vote

OTTAWA — Canada’s privacy watchdog is raising concerns about a new mini-visa that will require certain visitors to Canada to disclose personal information that may include details about their mental health status and drug use and could be shared with the United States.

The Electronic Travel Authorization — a commitment made as part of Canada’s perimeter security deal with the U.S. — is among the measures crammed into the latest budget implementation bill.

In a written submission to a Commons committee now scrutinizing the measures, privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart called on the government to ensure the details of the plan are rooted in law and thereby subject to Parliamentary oversight.

That includes what questions can be asked, how the information is to be used and how long government should be allowed to keep the information.

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Canada+privacy+watchdog+raises+concerns+about+mini+visa/7572454/story.html

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper says if President Barack Obama and U.S. lawmakers can't find a solution to the looming fiscal cliff it could spark other unforeseen economic woes.

Harper told a Canada-United States business forum in Ottawa on Monday that he hopes "reasonable people" can come to a solution now that the election south of the border is over. "To the extent I hear some people talking about a bungee cord, I think that kind of talk is foolish," Harper said.

"If you go over a cliff, you can't be sure what will happen next. Like we saw with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, how a single major event can trigger a series of events that's very hard to pull back from."

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/harper-warns-of-unforeseen-consequences-if-us-fails-to-avoid-fiscal-cliff-180031671.html

From flag-waving at sporting events to decorating knapsacks with maple leafs, Canadians have always found ways to showcase their national pride to the world. Now Cecil Johnson, a 19-year-old business student from Newfoundland, has captured the public’s imagination -- and a contest win -- with his video ode to Canada’s greatness.

In August 2012, Johnson, along with 8,000 other Canadians, took part in the 35 Million Directors project.

The project, launched by the Canadian Tourism Commission, asked Canadians to forward personal videos that captured Canada’s beauty from coast to coast. The top entries would later be used to create the CTC’s next international tourism campaign, and, hopefully, entice more visitors to Canada.

http://canadaam.ctvnews.ca/am-extras/19-year-old-nfld-student-wins-35-million-directors-project-1.1044142

OTTAWA - The high-flying Canadian loonie may soon be joining the elite club of global reserve currencies.

The International Monetary Fund signalled in a new report it is considering asking foreign countries to report their holdings of Canadian and Australian dollars separately, which would technically make them global reserve currencies.

It would be the first addition to the list of five reserve currencies — the U.S. greenback, the Japanese yen, the euro, the British sterling and Swiss franc — since 1999.

Previously the two were lumped together in the "other currencies" category.

The notice was contained in an appendix of the new IMF report, which took note that at least two other countries held the Canadian and Australian dollars in their foreign reserves.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/imf-eyes-elevating-loonie-to-elite-club-of-global-reserve-currencies-180041891.html

Tours to Israel are departing as usual, despite some missiles that have landed in or near tourist areas. But tour operators are fielding calls from concerned relatives and travelers, and some say bookings have slowed.

Bell Wholesale Travel of Northbrook, Ill., had five groups in Israel Monday, founder Madeleine Cohen says. "We've been in business for 30 years and we would never, ever jeopardize our customers," she says. "But I have had a lot of calls from family members ... 'Is my mom OK?' "

Pilgrim Tours president David Nyce also has clients in Israel and says "the groups that came back (last) weekend didn't even know what was going on" regarding violence in the Gaza Strip and missiles aimed at northern areas. He says the region's instability "does affect our business, and I think it affects everyone's business, if they're honest with you. ... Our advance bookings are on hold ... things are slowing down." He said he thinks people are watching and waiting to see what happens in Israel, Iran and Syria before making new plans to travel to the region.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/dispatches/2012/11/19/israel-tourism-not-hard-hit-yet-by-missile-attacks/1715485/

ATLANTA - Jekyll Island's governing board on Monday approved a series of agreements with a developer to get a 200-room beachfront Westin Hotel project back on track, a spokesman for the island authority said.

The hotel is part of a broader plan to revitalize the tourist destination. The Jekyll Island Beach Village project also includes an adjacent convention centre that just opened and plans for a second hotel, new shops, restaurants and public parks along the beach.

"It's hard to overstate how important this is," Jekyll Island Authority spokesman Eric Garvey said of the $41 million Westin project.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/jekyll-island-board-approves-new-deal-for-westin-hotel-a-key-piece-of-broader-tourism-plan-180014511.html

(A complete article published originally in the WFP, Nov.  '72)

Winnipeg has been selected to play host to the World Jaycee Conference May 10 to 19, 1973, an event expected to attract about 1,000 delegates. The announcement was made in Taipei, Formosa, site of this year's World Jaycee Congress. Hal Hardy, president of Winnipeg Jaycees, presented the only bid for the convention Thursday. It will be held in the Hotel Fort Garry. The world conference is considered a training session and is held only when organizers consider it necessary. The conference has a $20,000 budget: $3,000 comes from the Winnipeg Jaycees and the remainder from donations and government grants. Most of the delegates will come from Canada and the United States, bill organizers are trying lo get one representative from most of the 85 countries with Jaycee organizations. The Winnipeg Jaycees group, with 67 members, will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year.