POKER LOTTO will have nightly draws for prizes up to $100,000.00 but players can also win up to $5,000.00 instantly every time they play on their $2 Quick Pick ticket.

POKER LOTTO will use playing card symbols instead of numbers, and for the first time ever with a draw game, players can also win and claim prizes instantly at the time of the purchase. Tickets that win on the instant portion can be redeemed immediately at the retailer and will still be valid for that night’s draw for even more chances to win.

“Our customers are always asking for distinctive new games with more opportunities to win, and we are listening by introducing POKER LOTTO,” said Wendy Montgomery, OLG Vice President, Lottery Marketing & Key Accounts. “POKER LOTTO is like two games in one, and you don’t have to be a poker player to have fun and win!”

In-store sales and nightly draws will start on Tuesday, September 7, 2010. The overall odds of winning a prize in POKER LOTTO are 1 in 3.66 while the odds of winning the top prize are approximately 1 in 2.59 million. Full game details will be available at lottery retailers and on the POKER LOTTO page of www.olg.ca in the days leading up to start of sales.

OLG is a provincial agency responsible for province-wide lottery games and gaming facilities. Since 1975, OLG lotteries, casinos, slots, and resort casinos have generated more than $32 billion for the benefit of the Province of Ontario. Gaming proceeds support Ontario’s hospitals, amateur sport, recreational and cultural activities, communities, provincial priority programs such as health care and education, and local and provincial charities and non-profit organizations through the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

New artifact from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows™ film set added to Harry Potter: The Exhibition at Ontario Science Centre

Tickets On Sale Now at www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/harrypotter

July 23, 2010 @ 10:15AM

Michael Cress, Co-Chair of the Bike Rally and also HIV positive, says the need of services for people living with HIV/AIDS is becoming greater. “Each year, more people are becoming infected with HIV and at the same time people who are living longer with HIV are seeing greater health complications. There is a growing need for PWA’s core services like food programs, treatment resources and financial assistance for men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS in our community.”

    Sunday, July 25, 2010 - Queen's Park, Toronto
        8:00 a.m.   Departure Ceremony Begins and Group Photographs
        8:30 a.m.   Introduction by Co Chairs Michael Cress and Wade Borges
                    Remarks by Cory Garlough, Scotiabank; Brian Scott, PWA
                    Board Chair
        8:40 a.m.   Blessing of the Bikes - Rev John Joseph Mastandrea,
                    Metropolitan United Church
        8:45 a.m.   Group Stretching
        9:00 a.m.   Departure

Great photo opportunities will be available as the cyclists ride east on Wellesley Street, south on Yonge Street and east on Queen’s Quay. See detailed accompanying route map: http://www.newswire.ca/webcast/pages/scotia/Day1morningrider.pdf

“Scotiabank is proud to return for the third year as the presenting sponsor of the Bike Rally,” said Cory Garlough, Vice-President, Global Employment Strategies, Scotiabank. “In addition to our corporate support, we have a number of employees who will participate by cycling, fundraising and volunteering at the many stops along the route.”

About the Friends For Life Bike Rally

The Friends For Life Bike Rally runs from July 25 – 30, 2010, with over 400 Riders and Crew making the 600 km journey from Toronto to Montreal in support of the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation (PWA). The Bike Rally has raised over $7 million for PWA since it began in 1999. For more information about the Friends For Life Bike Rally in support of Toronto People With AIDS, please visit www.bikerally.org.

Professor Ahmad Ali rose on the horizon of Urdu literature with the publication of his Urdu short stories in Anagaray a book edited by him, Sajjad Zaheer, Mahmood uz Zafar, and Rasheed Jahan in 1932. Their short stories ch…allenged the Muslim religious orthodoxy, and their the then regressive culture. This book was immediately banned by the British rulers of India of that time, at the instigation of religious leaders. It is considered as the foundation stone of progressive thought and writing in Urdu language.

His English novel Twilight in Delhi is considered a South Asian Classic. It was translated in Urdu, by his wife, Bilqeece Jehan, as Dilli ki Shaam that is a masterpiece of translation that captures the language spoken by the ordinary people of Delhi, and the nuances of their culture. Twiliight in Delhi has been praised by such English literary giants as E M Forrester, and Virginia Woolfe.

Prof Ahmad Ali also edited an anthology based on his translators of major Urdu poets, under the title of The Golden Tradition. It is considered among the major books of translations introducing Urdu poetry to the global readers.

During the later years of his life Prof Ahmad Ali translated Quran into English under the title: Al Quran: A contemporary translation. Since its publication by Princeton University Press, it has become a best selling translation of Quran, and captures the heart of readers form all religions with the lyrical flow and beauty of language that is the essential trait of Quran in Arabic.

Immediately after the creation of Pakistan, its first Prime Minister Liaqat Al Khan asked Prof Ahmad Ali to join the Foreign Service. He was appointed as the first Pakistani envoy to China and established the first Pakistani embassy in China, laying the foundation of a friendship that is so dear to the people of Pakistan.

He wrote several books of prose and poetry in Urdu and English and many of these have been translated in various international languages.

The program is as follows:

Date: Sunday July 25, 2010
Time : 2 PM
Place : North York Central Library
5120 Yonge Street
Toronto, ON M2N 5N9
(416) 395-5535 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting(416) 395-5535end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting(416) 395-5535end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Subway (TTC) : North York Center
(There is ample underground parking and ample economic parking around the building)

Program:
Meet and Greet : 2-3 PM
Program begins at 3 PM.

Speakers:
Munir Saami
Shahid Akhtar
Unaiza Ahmad (will read a paper by Orooj Ahmad Ali).
Zia Ahmad
Karamtullah Ghori
Abid Jafri

There is no fee for this event, and we endeavor to serve refreshments.

Please mark your calendars and come with your friends and family, to pay tribute to a great South Asian and Pakistani mind.

Thanks.
Munir Pervaiz (Saami)
Secretary
Phone: 416 891 1807

The Naughty event is a one night only rendezvous in the Distillery District. It will combine burlesque performances by Coco Framboise and the sounds of the renowned DJ Dopey and Poizonus. Those wishing to attend can register on the Facebook page of the “redlightdistrict” or at volvocars.ca.

“The Tour allows Canadians to experience the safety and amazing technological aspects of the car,” said Jeff Pugliese. VCCC president and CEO. “Visitors can sit in the car and actually experience the revolutionary Pedestrian Detection and City Safety systems. The Naughty Event displays the other side of the car, fun and fresh and dynamic with an edge like no other Volvo before.”

The Volvo S60 is available with Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake, a groundbreaking technological solution that actively helps the driver avoid accidents. Volvo’s radar- and camera-based system can detect pedestrians in front of the car, warn the driver if someone walks out into its path, and then automatically activate the S60′s full braking power to stop the vehicle if the driver fails to respond in time.

The sexy new design of the all-new S60 has been described as the sportiest Volvo ever. It is equipped with a turbocharged T6 engine, delivering 300 horsepower and 325 lb.-ft. of torque, and comes standard with all-wheel-drive. Its breathtaking new design captures the imagination and sets the heart racing like no other Volvo sedan, with the C-pillar stretching all the way to the taillights, giving the impression of a 4-door coupe.

The Naughty Volvo Tour is a series of experiential events, which allow attendees to preview the Volvo S60 before it goes on sale. Utilizing multimedia interactive displays to emphasize the car’s design, performance and safety attributes will heighten the sensory experience. Demonstrations of the Pedestrian Detection system in action will also b

More than 130 CAA South Central Ontario (CAA SCO) bus and foot patrollers will be taught life-saving skills during a one week leadership camp at Camp Samac in Oshawa, July 20-23. School children from Barrie, Brantford, Brant County, London, Orillia, Peterborough/Lakefield, Peel and Toronto will be taking part in the top-notch training provided by police officers from across Ontario. The 10 – 12 year olds will learn first aid, fire safety, bus safety and bus evacuation skills.

“If it wasn’t for the tireless efforts of the police officers, school teachers and the patrollers themselves, the School Safety Patrol (SSP) program wouldn’t be what it is today,” said Leslie Rocha, Community Relations Specialist, CAA SCO. “CAA’s award-winning SSP program has been recognized by the Ontario Safety League, has a proven track record and over 80 documented cases in which a patroller has saved a life.”

One bus patroller came to the aid of a kindergarten student who fell and hurt himself. The patroller administered first aid to the boy’s cut and comforted him as the bus driver called for help.

Another patroller put out a fire in his own home and prevented a disaster after learning to properly use a fire extinguisher at CAA SCO’s leadership camp.

Patrollers dedicate over 3.45 million volunteer hours each year to community safety. There are currently over 55 police services, more than 800 schools and over 20,000 elementary students involved in the program.

CAA South Central Ontario is a not-for-profit auto club offering insurance, travel, automotive care and roadside services. There are more than 1.8 million CAA members in South Central Ontario and 5 million members in Canada. We’re more than Roadside Assistance. We’re Life-side Assistance. Visit www.caasco.com.

“We are joining a growing list of Canadians who are urging the government to reverse this ill-conceived cabinet decision,” said OPSBA president Catherine Fife.

Census data is one of the best sources of information about Canadians and helps us to learn what services and programs are needed most, and where they are best located. This is vitally true in the world of education. For example, Ontario has launched the first phase of an extended and integrated full-day early learning program for four- and five-year olds. One of the goals of this initiative is to promote school readiness. Census data allows school boards to connect the readiness of five-year-olds to thrive in school with the social and economic circumstances in which they live. This information allows school boards to find ways to prepare children to get the most out of their school experience which ultimately helps them achieve better outcomes.

“Without accurate data, connecting students to the programs and services they need is compromised. This vital work should not become a guessing game,” said OPSBA president Catherine Fife. “Our students and their families deserve better.”

A specific priority of OPSBA is an increased focus on the educational, mental, emotional, social and physical needs of children. These needs are linked together in terms of successful experience in school and addressing them is connected to having reliable and relevant information. This is especially vital when school boards are trying to measure whether they are doing the right things to help increase achievement in school for specific demographic groups be they First Nations, Métis, Inuit or newcomers to Canada. The long-form census is a key tool for school boards in understanding populations and assessing living conditions.

The census is the only way to track many of Canada’s most pressing social trends and problems. In the information age, finding solutions to those problems requires, dare we say it, Mr. Harper, …information.

On Thursday, July 15, the Lifesaving Society will release initial findings from a study commissioned to explore the influence of ethnicity on attitudes and behaviours surrounding water safety. The findings are being released to coincide with the start of National Drowning Prevention Week, July 17-24.

Several issues around water safety were investigated, including:

    -   Likelihood of participation in swimming and other water activities
    -   Correlation between the length of time a person is settled in Canada
        and their knowledge, attitudes and experiences around water safety
    -   Effectiveness of certain water safety education programming and
        programs including in-language materials as a way of reaching out to
        groups of new Canadians

The Lifesaving Society will also release the latest Drowning Report statistics and provide its perspective on the best methods to prevent drowning deaths.

“Our mainstream media has failed to report the real issues that have motivated thousands of people to protest the G8/G20 Summits. It has failed to critically address the intimidation, abuse and illegal actions of the police, which have resulted in the broad abuse of our civil rights,” reads an official statement from the Toronto-based group of media and film activists behind the site. The effort was initiated by social-issue documentary filmmaker Liz Marshall (Water On The Table, Girls of Latitude, Grandmothers: The Unsung Heroes of Africa) as a response to her firsthand experiences at the G8/G20 summits, and the media coverage that followed.

“I participated in two wonderfully inspiring protests – in Huntsville and on the streets of Toronto with thousands of peaceful protesters. The message was loud and clear: issues of global economic, social and climate injustice are paramount in our world, and things must change; we must be listened to and consulted with. It takes a lot of courage and tenacity to be a committed activist in this day and age, but that’s not celebrated. Instead, the mainstream media focuses on sensationalistic violence and vandalism and not on the issues voiced by the majority. I formed this group in response to the shameful ways our mainstream media reflects protest. We hope that The Real G8/G20 becomes the hub for this conversation, and a showcase of diverse expressions about the real issues.”

“At moments of social conflict, it is important that journalists and independent media have the freedom to do their jobs – to witness and document events of public interest,” says John Christou, Chair of the Documentary Organization of Canada. “During the G20 protests in Toronto, that freedom was repeatedly violated. Journalists and documentary filmmakers were victims of seemingly unprovoked attacks by police. The number and pattern of these accounts make it clear that an independent inquiry into the treatment of media by police during the G20 summit is necessary.”

“More than twenty-five thousand people showed tremendous resolve and bravery, marching peacefully through the streets of Toronto surrounded by heavily armed riot police to speak out against the closed door nature of the summits,” said Maude Barlow, chairperson of the Council of Canadians, which, along with rabble.ca, is supporting the Real G8/G20 initiative. “Then one thousand endured intimidation, unlawful and often violent arrest and detention. But instead of cowering, those who took to the streets during the summits are sharing stories, posting videos and pictures – they’re brave and committed to really showing what happened on the streets that weekend and will force our government to do the same.”