Air Canada Relocating Hong Kong Office

Western graduates 44 in Hong Kong

HONG KONG – Forty-four undergraduates and post-graduates representing seven faculties and affiliated colleges celebrated the culmination of their time at Western as the university held its eighth annual Hong Kong convocation ceremony Sunday in the Chancellor Room of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Amit Chakma, Western president; Janice Deakin, provost and vice-president (academic); and deans Brian Timney, Faculty of Social Science, and Carol Stephenson, Richard Ivey School of Business, joined more than 350 guests at the event – including Faculty of Science graduate In-ting Ho, who welcomed 19 family members to see him graduate.

 

Continue reading here.

Western provides the best student experience among Canada’s leading research-intensive universities.

 

Canada’s Century – How Canada can show leadership for the US

This peice from Cato is another look to Canada for leadership to show the US how to arrest their decline.

Note that Canadian corporate tax at the federal level is less than half that of the US.

LESS THAN HALF.

How?  Read the whole piece.

http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v34n3/cprv34n3-1.html

 

“Today the CPP is solvent over the foreseeable future, which contrasts with Social Security’s huge unfunded obligations. 

 

The Canadian unemployment rate plunged from more than 11 percent in the early 1990s to less than 7 percent by the end of that decade as the government shrank in size. After the 2009 recession, Canada has resumed solid growth and its unemployment rate today is about a percentage point lower than the U.S. rate.

Tax – Corporate Tax Canada – 15%, US – 35%

 

“Canada’s federal corporate tax rate has been cut from 38 percent in the early 1980s to just 15 percent today. Despite the much lower rate, tax revenues have not declined. Indeed, corporate tax revenues averaged 2.1 percent of GDP during the 1980s and a slightly higher 2.3 percent during the 2000s.

Now compare Canada with the United States. In 2012, Canada is expecting to collect 1.9 percent of GDP in federal corporate income taxes with a 15 percent corporate tax rate. The United States is expecting to collect 1.6 percent of GDP at a 35 percent corporate tax rate. Thus, the high U.S. rate is not only bad for the economy, but it also doesn’t help the government collect any added revenue.”

 

 

STORNOWAY ANNOUNCES ESTABLISHMENT OF HEAD OFFICE IN MONTREAL

Stornoway Diamond Corporation (TSX-SWY) is pleased to announce the relocation of its head office to Montréal, Québec from North Vancouver, British Columbia, effective immediately. The relocation reflects Stornoway’s focus on the successful development of the 100% owned Renard Diamond Project, which is on track to becoming Québec’s first diamond mine.

Matt Manson, President and CEO, commented: “Today’s announcement represents another step in Stornoway’s continuing evolution. Renard is a major undeveloped diamond asset with a significant potential mine life. As we work to develop it, our center of gravity on an operational, administrative, corporate and financial basis is moving eastwards. It now makes sense to consolidate our head office and operating functions in one location. Initially, we expect minimal relocation of staff associated with this announcement. Our exploration team will continue to operate out of North Vancouver, with a mandate to explore all of Canada. However, Montreal will become our platform for expansion as we build our mining team and corporate support staff. We are proud to be able to contribute to the long-established reputation of Montreal as a head office center for the Canadian mining industry“.

Stornoway was continued under the Canada Business Corporations Act in October 2011, and will remain incorporated as a federal entity.

To read the full new release please click here.

CanCham Member Scotiabank’s iconic Toronto tower sells for record $1.27-billion

Bank of Nova Scotia’s landmark red tower in downtown Toronto has been sold for $1.27-billion, the highest price yet paid for a Canadian office building.

After several months on the market and rumours of international interest, Toronto’s Dundee Real Estate Investment Trust partnered with Calgary’s H&R Real Estate Investment Trust to buy the 68-storey tower. The building will be two-thirds owned by Dundee, with H&R holding the remaining interest.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

CanCham Member Manulife Promotes Three Senior Executives

Hong Kong – Manulife (International) Limited has announced the promotions of three senior executives. Mark Richmond has been promoted to Vice President, Agency Operations. Helen Ho has been promoted to Assistant Vice President, Agency Technology and Strategic Projects. Tony Sung becomes Assistant Vice President, Agency Training and Development. 

Mark Richmond is in charge of the operational functions relating to Manulife Hong Kong’s 5,000-plus agency force including recruitment, training and development, compensation, sales incentives and promotions, and technology development.

He joined Manulife’s Asia Regional Office in 2006 to run the regional training and development function. He then moved to Indonesia where he doubled the sales of bancassurance business within two years and helped the company to achieve a significant growth through the expansion of bank relationships.

Mr. Richmond’s more than 30 years in the insurance Industry include diverse management experience in both operations and sales. His strong analytical and strategic background well positions him for his current diverse role.  

 

In the newly created role as Assistant Vice President, Agency Technology and Strategic Projects, Helen Ho is responsible for the planning and execution of the company’s distribution based projects with an aim to provide state-of-the-art technology to different sales channels.

She joined Manulife as Director, Regional Controllers of Asia Division in 2007 and was transferred to Hong Kong Agency Operations in 2010 as Director of Strategic Projects.

Ms Ho holds a Bachelor of Business degree in Accounting from the University of Monash in Melbourne, Australia and received her Master of Accounting degree from Dongbei University of Finance and Economics in Dalian, China. She is a Fellow member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants and a member of CPA Australia.

 

 

Tony Sung has been promoted to Assistant Vice President, Agency Training and Development. He is responsible for providing training and development services to both agents and agency managers.

He joined Manulife’s Asia Regional office in 2005 and was responsible for the development of training programs for senior agency managers across Asia. Prior to joining Manulife, Mr. Sung accrued solid experience in personal insurance and wealth management sales as well as agency sales management. He also built his own sales team in Canada.

He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of South Australia in Adelaide. He is a Certified Financial Planner as conferred by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.

 

 

 

About Manulife (International) Limited

Manulife (International) Limited is a member of the Manulife Financial group of companies.

Manulife Financial is a leading Canada-based financial services group with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States. In 2012, we celebrate 125 years of providing clients strong, reliable, trustworthy and forward-thinking solutions for their most significant financial decisions. Our international network of employees, agents and distribution partners offers financial protection and wealth management products and services to millions of clients. We also provide asset management services to institutional customers. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were C$512 billion (HK$3,976 billion) as at March 31, 2012. The Company operates as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as ‘MFC’ on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under ‘945’ on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at manulife.com.

 

Media Contact: 
Jacqueline Kam / Irina Kwan 
Manulife (International) Limited 
Tel: (852) 2202 1284 / 2510 5760 
Fax: (852) 2234 6875 
Jacqueline_tm_kam@manulife.com/ 
Irina_lc_kwan@manulife.com 

 

Jason Wordie – June Newsletter

Sham Shui Po Wet Market,  Kowloon City, Happy Valley Cemeteries and more….

June 2012 Newsletter    Good Luck to all of you who are taking part in this month’s Dragon Boat Festival! June is definitely going to be busy.  There are five walks on the website and we are hoping that the weather in June will be kind to us, details can be seen below and Jason will be busy giving lectures as well.  The next newsletter will be in August but in the meantime we will be taking bookings for Private Walks and Lectures so please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like to book.          Save The Date  27th September – 7pm  Join Jason for a three course dinner with wine and soft drinks and hear his lecture on 19th Century Urban Evolution –  How Hong Kong Came To Be.   Contemporary Hong Kong often seems a random jumble, with little apparent early planning. This easy-to-form general perception – like much else in Hong Kong – obscures as much as it reveals. To better understand how and why the modern city “is how it is” we need to step back into the mid-nineteenth century to see how the urban fabric was laid and subsequently evolved.   This extensively-illustrated lecture concisely fits together the various component fragments about Hong Kong that even relatively short-term residents all “know”, into a coherent, meaningful composite picture.    Bookings will open in our August Newsletter.  This Dinner Party and Lecture will be held at one of Hong Kong’s popular clubs.   You can also book a Private Dinner Party with Lecture – for enquiries please contact  Michelle Robinson.   Saturday 9th June Sham Shui Po Wet Markets – 8.45am Fresh-produce markets – popularly known as “Wet Markets” – abound in Hong Kong. Some are municipal markets with everything under one roof – others are located along the street-side. In Shamshuipo is one of the most popular – around Ap Liu and Pei Ho Streets, combining the best of everything with a wide variety of stalls to be explored.  Easy-to-follow recipes for a few basic, delicious home-style Cantonese dishes will be distributed to participants…  More on Sham Shui Po Wet Markets … Book here   Tuesday 12th June Kowloon City – 8.45am Kowloon Walled City, originally constructed in the 1820s, had degenerated into a notorious crime-ridden slum by the 1970s. The Walled City was finally cleared and demolished in the mid-1990s, and the new open space was transformed into a magnificent public park. Kowloon Walled City Park incorporates some of the nineteenth century Chinese Yamen (magistracy) buildings, as well as newly-constructed Soochow-style pavilions and ornamental ponds. Sympathetic seasonal plantings, winding pathways and mounds of dramatically mis-shapen rocks complete the Olde Cathay garden effect…… More on Kowloon City… Book here Tuesday 19th June Happy Valley Cemeteries – 8.45am  In this walk we will explore the Roman Catholic, Hong Kong (Colonial) and Parsee Cemeteries, and along the way learn about the contributions made by various distinct ethnic communities, over the past century and a half,to Hong Kong’s social and economic development. It may surprise some to learn that some of these communities were specifically local, non-Chinese Hong Kong communities… More on Happy Valley Cemeteries… Book here Sunday 24th June The Peak – 8.45am This beautiful corner of Hong Kong epitomizes the pivotal role played by wealth and privilege – in all respects – in Hong Kong life down the decades. We will go to the very top of Victoria Peak and see the remains of Mountain Lodge, and the surrounding gardens, the old red-brick Victoria Hospital for Women and Girls and on the way down, the old Pinewood Battery complex where bomb damage can still be seen on surviving ruined structures…  More on The Peak…   Book here   Sunday 24th June Stanley – 1.45pm One of Hong Kong Island’s oldest village settlements, extensive connections remain to its fishing and sea-faring past, as well as various religious groups that made their homes here, and enduring physical links to the Pacific War era. We will walk first to Stanley Military Cemetery and then to the old Stanley Police Station, on via Stanley Market Street and Stanley Main Street to the Tin Hau Temple, and then around the headland to the small but interesting Pak Tai Temple... More on Stanley…  Book here

Bookings For all group walk bookings please complete our electronic booking form. For private and corporate booking enquiries please contact Michelle Robinson. Request: We welcome any walk photos you have that we could include in the Newsletter or on the Website © 2012 Jason Wordie.    All rights reserved.    unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences

 

Mexican Guest Chef at The Lounge in The Four Seasons Hotel!

Viva Mexico! Guest Chef Jorge González turns up the heat with his unique Mexcian style at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong

From June 1-10, 2012, we are delighted to welcome guest Chef Jorge González from Four Seasons Hotel Mexico, D.F, to The Lounge. Jorge brings sizzling Latino flavours to Hong Kong with a set lunch menu and an evening à la carte menu, daily. To complement his menu, we are pleased to offer a limited selection of Mexican wines, as well as the country’s famed Tequilas and mezcal.

Next door at the Blue Bar, accompanying Jorge on his 10-day tour will be Tequila barista, Alfredo Sánchez hailing from the beautiful

Four Seasons coastal resort in Punta Mita. Sánchez presents a fiery cocktail menu including classics and signature cocktails, which Chef González will complement with a light Mexican bar snack menu.

When our heat is turned down in the kitchen, the Blue Bar will continue to fly the flag, offering Mexican Tequilas and cocktails until the end of August 2012.

We hope you’ll join us. Viva Mexico!

Due to limited availability, we advise booking a table for dinner in advance.

For dinner reservations at The Lounge only, please call 3196 8820

Or email: lounge.hkg@fourseasons.com »

To view the full promotion please click here.

 

Hotel Verta by Rhombus: One of “10 Best Boutique Hotels in the UK 2012”

Hotel Verta by Rhombus:
One of the ‘10 Best Boutique Hotels in the UK 2012’

Mr. Calvin Mak (left), Founder & CEO of Rhombus International Hotels Group with Mr. Piers Brown (right), Host of Boutique Hotel Summit 2012

Click Here for Press Release

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at 
pr@rhombusinternational.com 

 

Mining: North American Nickel Appoints Mr. Gilbert Clark of the Sentient Group to the Board of Directors

Vancouver, B.C. – May 25, 2012 –North American Nickel Inc. (TSX VENTURE: NAN) (OTCBB: WSCRF) (CUSIP: 65704T 108). North American Nickel (“NAN”) is pleased to announce that it has appointed Mr. Gilbert Clark to the Board of Directors.

Mr. Clark is a European based Geologist with more than 13 years of industry experience; principally in mining and international resource developments. Since 2010, Mr. Clark has been involved in private equity investments and appraisals primarily in the mining and energy sectors. He is currently an Investment Advisor with The Sentient Group, an independent private equity investment firm specializing in the global resources industry.

Rick Mark, CEO of North American Nickel states: “I have had the chance to work with Gilbert and the Sentient team over the past three months of our due diligence process, and, so, I am very pleased he is Sentient’s choice to join our Board. Gilbert’s experience in analyzing projects internationally broadens our Board’s perspective and his involvement with Companies at all stages of development will certainly be an asset with success in Greenland.”

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ MORE