Nation in brief

Gov’t solicits ideas on reducing violence against women on campus
The federal government is now soliciting ideas directly from student groups on how to reduce violence against women across university and college campuses. It will accept proposals for projects under $200,000 until Jan. 27, the Canadian Press reported. Federal Minister for the Status of Women Rona Ambrose expressed concern last week that a complacent attitude might be hindering the struggle to eliminate violence against women on Canadian campuses. There are good programs in place, Ambrose said, but incidents across the country like women being followed into washrooms, assaulted in tunnels, and grabbed by someone hiding in the bushes offer a reality check. One in four women has reportedly been a victim of a sexual assault, while women aged 15 to 24 are almost 18 times likelier to be assaulted than women aged 55 and older.

Nenshi mouths off on Twitter
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi has joined the growing list of public figures making headlines for their free-wheelin’ comments on Twitter. The Globe and Mail reported that Nenshi told blogger Werner Patels last weekend that he was ‘’off [his] meds” after Patels criticized Nenshi’s stance on Occupy Calgary. Nenshi has defended the right of protesters to occupy the public space. The mayor is also known for engaging in debates on the social media website with other users. Patels and some mental health workers rebuked the mayor for the comment. Nenshi apologized afterwards, but plans to continue using Twitter.

Élargis your horizons
An online poll of 2,400 Canadians has found that unilingual anglophones are the least likely group to appreciate Canada’s two official languages, the Montreal Gazette reported. The survey, conducted by Léger Marketing for independent think tank the Association for Canadian Studies, shows that six out of 10 unilingual Canadians have a negative perception of relations between anglophones and francophones. The survey also found that the level of comfort an anglophone feels speaking French directly correlates to their feelings towards relations between the two linguistic communities — 46 per cent of anglophones who are somewhat uncomfortable in French think of the relations in a negative light, versus only one in three anglophones who are comfortable in French. As a whole, francophones are less likely to have a negative perception of relations between the English- and French-speaking communities.

Canada might pull out of Kyoto protocol
The federal government has no plans to renew its commitment to the Kyoto Protocol, while Environment Minister Peter Kent remains mum on whether it would withdraw from the accord altogether. On Sunday night, CTV News reported the government would pull the plug on the accord. Kent would neither confirm nor deny those reports on Monday. Meanwhile, Industry Minister Christian Paradis told question period that the government remains committed to its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent of 2005 levels by 2020. Paradis said the Kyoto Protocol would not work because it does not include some of the world’s top emitters — a condition Canada continues to push for in future accords.

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