The next generation of Canadian women are more likely to succeed in the future because they now have role models, Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 award winners, says Women’s Executive Network Founder Pamela Jeffery.

Women between the ages of 20-39 may apply on-line at www.wxnetwork.com by March 2, 2007 to participate in the program as protégées. The first program of its kind in the world, WXNWisdom II will offer successful applicants a year of mentoring, classroom instruction and peer networking beginning in April in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Halifax.

Each protégée will meet with her mentor four times during the year and receive 20 hours of classroom instruction focused on career development and leadership. There is an annual fee for the program of $1,600 to cover the costs of instructors and program materials. Bursaries are available for 10 worthy applicants based on financial need, to cover program fees.

Strong demand will drive steady price increases in the Vancouver condo market through the rest of the decade, according to new data released today by Genworth Financial Canada, a subsidiary of Genworth Financial, Inc.

Genworth’s Metropolitan Condominium Outlook report forecasts Vancouver condo price growth to remain steady through to the end of the decade.

The data compiled in the Metropolitan Condominium Outlook by Genworth shows that over the next four years, Vancouver condo demand is expected to slow to balance with supply, although a correction is not expected. After seeing price growth averaging 17.1 per cent in 2006, Vancouver condos will rise about 6.2 per cent this year and average 4.4 per cent annual growth through 2010.

According to a TD Waterhouse Investor Poll, young adults aged 18-24 are less likely than older investors to use all types of investment services, less likely to have a professionally-developed financial plan and more likely to be managing their investments entirely on their own.

When asked if they used the services of a bank, credit union or trust company for their investments, six in ten young adults answered affirmatively, only slightly less than the national average. However, when asked if they used more specialized services including those of a financial planner, full-service broker, discount broker or investment manager, in all cases the propensity to use such services is dramatically lower among 18 to 24 year olds.

“This is a classic ‘Catch 22′ scenario,” says says Patricia Lovett-Reid, Senior Vice-President, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. “Younger, inexperienced investors are in need of the most guidance and encouragement in setting and achieving financial goals. Yet it appears they’re least likely to be getting such advice.”

It’s the most radical trade deal since the ill-fated Multilateral Agreement on Investments. And it is for that reason why British Columbians need a public hearing on the soon-to-be-enacted Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement between B.C. and Alberta, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

“This deal is extremely powerful - it binds not only the province but all municipalities and school boards to its broad-sweeping provisions,” said CUPE BC president Barry O’Neill.

According to the Community Charter of British Columbia, municipalities are “an order of government” that have the “authority to determine the public interest of their communities.” However, the TILMA - like Bill 30, a law passed by the BC Liberal government that removed the public’s right to vote on proposed private power installations in their own communities - undermines that authority, says the union.

The British Columbia Securities Commission and the Alberta Securities Commission have reports about a scheme being offered at free, public seminars at which people are introduced to a way to participate in extraordinary investment returns with references to money moving offshore and Canadian tax avoidance. These are some of the “red flags” that regulators typically warn investors about.

Seminar attendees are told that they can join an organization for a fee that then allows them to learn about and access a system to become “portfolio account managers” and restructure their assets through a variety of methods including opportunities in the precious metals industry, consumer debt or capital markets, environmental projects and international mutual funds.

According to reports, under this scheme a fee is paid and members are given a one-year probation period with the organization to restructure their own assets, refer other people into the organization, or introduce a new business opportunity to the group.