MAPLE LIFE

Morgentaler receives Order of Canada

Abortion rights activist Henry Morgentaler was awarded the Order of Canada Oct 10 as protesters voiced their opposition outside the Citadel in Quebec City.
Morgentaler was one of 20 recipients who received the award at a ceremony presided over by Gov Gen Michaelle Jean.
Morgentaler, 85 is best known for having Canada's abortion laws struck down in the Supreme Court 20 years ago.
His naming to the Order of Canada sparked protests from across the country with some members returning their orders and abortion opponents saying the award devalues the honour.
"I'm honoured to receive the Order of Canada today," Morgentaler said, reading from a statement following the ceremony. "Canada's one of the few places in the world where freedom of speech and choice prevail in a truly democratic fashion."
The Order of Canada is the nation's highest civilian honour for recognizing a lifetime of outstanding achievement and dedication to the community.
"I'm proud to have been given this opportunity coming from a war-torn Europe to realize my potential and my dream -- that is to create a better and more humane society," said Morgentaler, a Holocaust survivor.
Others who received the award included Louise Arbour, former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada; Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment; and prominent Montreal fashion designer Simon Chang.

Furtado reveals secret wedding

Canadian songbird Nelly Furtado has divulged that she got hitched over the summer.
The Victoria-born singer of hits such as Maneater, Promiscuous and Say It Right, confirmed she was married on July 19 to sound engineer Demacio Castellon.
"I love it," Furtado told Entertainment Tonight Canada Oct 17. "It's a nice phase of my life."
The Canadian Football League has also announced that Furtado will headline the halftime show at the Grey Cup in Winnipeg this month.
Furtado shot to fame in 2000 with her debut album Whoa, Nelly!, which included the hit single I'm Like a Bird.
The 29-year-old performer was recently spotted with a new diamond ring while in Miami, sparking rumours of secret nuptials.
"I just feel kind of free and relaxed and more in tune with trying not to be so stressed out," she said.
"I'm happy ... I'm excited about the future."
The singer has a four-year-old daughter, Nevis, from a previous relationship with DJ and producer Jasper (Lil' Jaz) Gahunia. The couple split in 2005.

Page pleads guilty

Canadian pop singer Steven Page, frontman for The Barenaked Ladies, pleaded guilty to drug charges in a New York courtroom Oct 28 in a deal that means he will avoid jail. A deal between Page's Buffalo-based lawyers and the Onondaga County District Attorney's Office U.S. district was worked out after the original felony charges were reduced to misdemeanour charges against Page and two co-defendants.
"I also apologize to all those I have hurt or embarrassed during this episode. The respect and responsibility I have earned over the course of my life and my career thus far are important to me," Page told a news conference following his court appearance.
The court proceedings have been adjourned for six months when it is expected that all charges will be completely dismissed.
As part of the agreement, the singer is expected to go through a drug screening program. It will mean he can continue to travel to the United States.
Previously, Page, who has been out on $10,000 bail.
Court documents claim Page, 38, admitted to police he snorted cocaine at his girlfriend's apartment prior to his arrest in July near Syracuse, NY.
The singer had originally pleaded not guilty.
Page was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony that could carry a prison sentence of up to 5-1/2 years.
Stephanie Ford, 25, was also charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, as well as unlawful possession of marijuana.
Page's girlfriend, Christine Benedicto, 27, was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance.
The singer, who lives in Toronto, separated from his wife last year. They have three children.
Page is most known for his clean-cut image and goofy humour as the lead singer of the Barenaked Ladies. The Toronto-based band, formed in 1988, and had recently released their debut kids CD, Snacktime.
The Barenaked Ladies cancelled appearances at the Disney Music Block Party in Long Island, NY, this past summer in the wake of singer's arrest.

Ben Weider dies at 85

Ben Weider, Canadian bodybuilder, businessman and internationally-renowned Napoleonic scholar and philanthropist, died Oct 17 at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal.
His death came six days before he was to inaugurate a permanent gallery housing his multi-million dollar Napoleon collection at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. He was 85.
"In my home, 200 people a year see the collection. If I give it to the museum, several thousand people will see it each week, and it will live on," Weider said.
Weider published several books on Napoleon and contended that the French emperor was poisoned in exile on St. Helena.
In his more than sixty years of involvement in bodybuilding, as Founding President of the International Federation of Body Builders (IFBB). Weider and his older brother Joe anticipated, then led, the worldwide fitness revolution and legitimized the sport of bodybuilding.
The IFBB, founded by the Weiders in 1946, has 173 member national federations worldwide and sanctions thousands of amateur and professional competitive events.
"I don't know of anyone who, starting with nothing . . . did as much as he did," said his biographer, Mike Steere. "To do what he did, to accomplish what he did in face of poverty and prejudice, is nothing short of heroic."
Ben Weider was born in Montreal Feb 1, 1923, to Jewish Polish immigrants. He and his brother Joe dropped out of grade school to support the family. He worked in garment sweatshops and restaurants before enlisting in the Canadian Army and serving during World War II.
Originally, Weider wanted to be an architect, but was denied entry-level positions in Montreal architecture firms. He worked with his brother Joe to put out a physique magazine and helped him operate his mail-order business in weightlifting equipment.
Weider became the promoter and producer of physique contests and travelled the world as an ambassador of bodybuilding, introducing the sport overseas and organizing new national federations of the IFBB. In 1947, Joe moved to New Jersey while Ben remained in Montreal.
Weider is survived by his wife, Huguette Derouin, and their three sons Louis, Eric, and Mark.

Frank folds

Publisher/editor Michael Bate announced Oct 28 that he is closing Frank magazine and its online counterpart, efrank.ca. "Despite the efforts of our wonderful staff and contributors, our loyal investors and our dedicated subscribers, we could not achieve profitability," Bate said in a release to subscribers.
The twice-monthly satirical rag, which took at Canada's political, business and media elite, was revived by Bate in 2005 after closing the year before.
"Frank is not part of the zeitgeist the way it was in the 1990s," Bate told the Toronto Star. "There was a time in the early '90s when we really had the field to ourselves, in the sense that we were doing stories that were the antidote to the mainstream media. In a way, we were the Internet. And then along came the Internet. More and more publications started doing what we were doing. And we couldn't compete."
Although the magazine has been sued more than 100 times during its 19-years of existence, according to the Canadian Press, the latest incarnation wasn't attracting the same kind of attention it once did.
"There's so much out there that is similar to what we're doing, we just weren't having enough impact," Bate told The Star.
Bate plans to write a book about his experience publishing Frank, but doesn't have a publisher yet.