Al Jazeera News Head Hopeful

TORONTO — The managing director of Al Jazeera English told the Toronto
Star last week that he’s hopeful the news channel will be approved for
broadcast in Canada. Tony Burman, a former senior CBC news executive,
said the Qatar-based network could air on Canadian cable and satellite
carriers as early as the fall if the channel gets regulatory approval
this month or next. He made the comments ahead of the Canadian
Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s June 8 deadline
for written comments on Al Jazeera’s application. After objections by
Jewish groups to an application by its Arabic parent channel, the
latter was approved for broadcast in 2004 on the condition that
carriers censor hate speech, but they said the condition was too
onerous.

Firms Get Grant

TORONTO — Two firms, one Israeli and one Canadian, have received a grant from the Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation (CIIRDF) to create products to assess the risk of pre-eclampsia, a potentially fatal condition for women and fetuses during pregnancy. Diagnostic Technologies Ltd., which makes diagnostic devices for high-risk pregnancies, and Canadian partner Miraculins Inc. got $782,000 for their $1.6-million joint project, the firms said last month. The CIIRDF was formed in 1994 to promote research and development between Israeli and Canadian companies.

JFS Receives Funds

OTTAWA — Ottawa’s Jewish Family Services (JFS) received a $266,649 grant from the province’s Newcomer Settlement Program (NSP) on May 27. Ontario’s minister of citizenship and immigration, Michael Chan, and local MPP Jim Watson were on hand to present the grant and tour JFS facilities. The NSP funds community-based, not-for-profit organizations that help immigrants.

Zareinu Snags Cash

TORONTO — Zareinu Educational Centre of Metropolitan Toronto has received a grant of $276,000 over five years from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to raise its profile in the community and provide more hands-on programs and services to children with special needs, Zareinu said last week. The grant from the provincial body is the largest in Zareinu’s history, the 19-year-old Jewish agency said.