title: Whaling

text: Key elements of the debate over whaling include sustainability, ownership, national sovereignty, cetacean intelligence, suffering during hunting, health risks, the value of 'lethal sampling' to establish catch quotas, the value of controlling whales' impact on fish stocks and the rapidly approaching extinction of a few whale species.


title: Whaling

text: The World Wide Fund for Nature says that 90% of all northern right whales killed by human activities are from ship collisions, calling for restrictions on the movement of shipping in certain areas. Noise pollution threatens the existence of cetaceans. Large ships and boats make a tremendous amount of noise that falls into the same frequency range of many whales. By-catch also kills more animals than hunting. Some scientists believe pollution to be a factor. Moreover, since the IWC moratorium, there have been several instances of illegal whale hunting by IWC nations. In 1994, the IWC reported evidence from genetic testing of whale meat and blubber for sale on the open market in Japan in 1993. In addition to the legally permitted minke whale, the analyses showed that 10–25% of tissues sampled came from non minke, baleen whales, neither of which were then allowed under IWC rules. Further research in 1995 and 1996 showed a significant drop of non-minke baleen whales sampled to 2.5%. In a separate paper, Baker stated that "many of these animals certainly represent a bycatch (incidental entrapment in fishing gear)" and stated that DNA monitoring of whale meat is required to adequately track whale products.


title: Whaling

text: It was revealed in 1994 that the Soviet Union had been systematically undercounting its catch. For example, from 1948 to 1973, the Soviet Union caught 48,477 humpback whales rather than the 2,710 it officially reported to the IWC. On the basis of this new information, the IWC stated that it would have to rewrite its catch figures for the last forty years. According to Ray Gambell, then-Secretary of the IWC, the organization had raised its suspicions with the former Soviet Union, but it did not take further action because it could not interfere with national sovereignty.


title: Whaling

text: Whales are long-lived predators, so their tissues build up concentrations of methyl mercury from their prey. Mercury concentrations reach levels that are hazardous to humans who consume too much too often, since mercury also bioaccumulates in humans. High levels have been found in the Caribbean,


title: Whaling

text: Scientists have analyzed the ability of the oceans to sequester atmospheric carbon before whaling and in modern times, hundreds of years after the most active whaling periods. Focusing on the amount of carbon stored in baleen whales, scientists determined that large marine mammals hold over 9 million less tons of carbon in the ocean than during the pre whaling era (9.1 x 10^6 tons).


title: Whaling

text: Whales play an important role in the carbon cycle in life and death. Living whales cycle carbon and nitrogen through throughout the water column via Whale feces where it can contribute to primary productivity at the surface. In death, whales can become part of a Whale fall and sink to the bottom, bringing their carbon with them to help form a temporary ecosystem at the ocean floor.


title: Whaling

text: Despite rebounding whale numbers after the international ban on whaling, climate change and rising carbon levels continue to hinder the amount of carbon sequestered by whales.


title: Whaling

text: Whaling was a major maritime industry in Australia from 1791 until its final cessation in 1978. At least 45 whaling stations operated in Tasmania during the 19th century, and bay whaling was conducted out of a number of other mainland centres. Modern whaling using harpoon guns and iron hulled catchers was conducted in the twentieth century from shore-based stations in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, also in Norfolk Island. Overfishing saw the closure of some whaling stations before a government ban on the industry was introduced in 1978.


title: Whaling

text: The total annual kill in Beaufort and Quebec areas varies between 300 and 400 belugas per year. Numbers are not available for Nunavut since 2003, when the Arviat area, with about half Nunavut's hunters, killed 200–300 belugas, though the authors say hunters resist giving complete numbers.


title: Whaling

text: Harvested meat is sold through shops and supermarkets in northern communities where whale meat is a component of the traditional diet. Hunters in Hudson's Bay rarely eat beluga meat. They give a little to dogs, and leave the rest for wild animals. Other areas may dry the meat for later consumption by humans. An average of one or two vertebrae and one or two teeth per beluga or narwhal are carved and sold. One estimate of the annual gross value received from Beluga hunts in Hudson Bay in 2013 was for 190 belugas, or per beluga, and for 81 narwhals, or per narwhal. However the net income, after subtracting costs in time and equipment, was a loss of per person for belugas and per person for narwhals. Hunts receive subsidies, but they continue as a tradition, rather than for the money, and the economic analysis noted that whale watching may be an alternate revenue source. Of the gross income, was for Beluga skin and meat, to replace beef, pork and chickens which would otherwise be bought, was received for carved vertebrae and teeth. was for Narwhal skin and meat, was received for tusks, and carved vertebrae and teeth of males, and was received for carved vertebrae and teeth of female Narwhals.


title: Whaling

text: The Whale and Dolphin Conservation says: "Canada has pursued a policy of marine mammal management which appears to be more to do with political expediency rather than conservation."


title: Whaling

text: Canada left the IWC in 1982, and the only IWC-regulated species currently harvested by the Canadian Inuit is the bowhead whale. As of 2004, the limit on bowhead whale hunting allows for the hunt of one whale every two years from the Hudson Bay-Foxe Basin population, and one whale every 13 years from the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait population. This is roughly one-fiftieth of the bowhead whale harvest limits in Alaska (see below).


title: Whaling

text: The Faroe Islands are legally part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but are geographically isolated and culturally distinct. The hunt, known as the Grindadráp, is regulated by Faroese authorities but not by the IWC, which does not claim jurisdiction over small cetaceans.


title: Whaling

text: Around 800 long-finned pilot whales ("Globicephala melaena") are caught each year, mainly during the summer. Other species are not hunted, though occasionally Atlantic white-sided dolphin can be found among the pilot whales.


title: Whaling

text: Most Faroese consider the hunt an important part of their culture and history and arguments about the topic raise strong emotions. Animal-rights groups criticize the hunt as being cruel and unnecessary and economically insignificant. Hunters claim that most journalists lack knowledge of the catch methods used to capture and kill the whales.


title: Whaling

text: IWC sets limits for large whales. The government of Greenland sets limits for narwhals and belugas. There are no limits on pilot whales and porpoises.


title: Whaling

text: The IWC treats the west and east coasts of Greenland as two separate population areas and sets separate quotas for each coast. The far more densely populated west coast accounts for over 90 percent of the catch. The average per year from 2012 to 2016 was around 150 minke and 17 fin whales and humpback whales taken from west coast waters and around 10 minke from east coast waters. In April 2009 Greenland landed its first bowhead whale in nearly forty years. It landed three bowheads each year in 2009 and 2010, one each in 2011 and 2015.


title: Whaling

text: In 2021 the Sermersooq municipal council banned whaling in Nuup Kangerlua, one of the largest fjords in inhabited areas of Greenland. The council did not want hunting to kill the humpback whales seen by the local tourism industry. Before local humpback hunting resumed in 2010 there had been nine humpbacks in the fjord during summer. When hunting resumed some were killed and others left.


title: Whaling

text: The Inuit already caught whales around Greenland since the years 1200–1300. They mastered the art of whaling around the year 1000 in the Bering Strait. The technique consists of spearing a whale with a spear connected to an inflated seal bladder. The bladder would float and exhaust the whale when diving, and when it surfaces; the Inuit hunters would spear it again, further exhausting the animal until they were able to kill it.


title: Whaling

text: Originally one of the most successful whaling nations, German whaling vessels started from Hamburg and other, smaller cities on the Elbe River, hunting for whales around Greenland and Spitsbergen. While 1770 is recorded to have been the most successful year of German whaling, German whaling went into steep decline with the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars and never really recovered. After the Napoleonic Wars, Germany tried but could never re-establish a successful whaling industry. German whaling ships in the mid to late 1800s would generally not be staffed with experienced sailors but rather with members of more wealthy farming communities, going for short trips to Scandinavia during the end of spring / beginning of summer, when their labor was not required on the fields. This kind of whaling was ineffective. Many journeys would not lead to any whales caught, instead seal- and polar bear skins were brought back to shore. Communities often paid more for equipping the vessels in the first place than making money with the goods brought back to shore. Today, local historians believe that German whaling in the late 1800s was more a rite of passage for the sons of wealthy farmers from northern German islands than an action undertaken for true commercial reason. German whaling was abandoned in 1872.


title: Whaling

text: Prior to the first world war, the newly established German Empire attempted to re-establish large scale German whaling. This was undertaken with ships either going from Germany to Iceland or from the newly established German colonies to African waters. These attempts never were commercially successful and quickly given up. Only in the 1930s could Germany – with mainly Norwegian personnel – re-establish a large and successful whaling industry. More than 15,000 whales were caught between 1930 and 1939. With the beginning of the second world war, German whaling was abandoned completely.


title: Whaling

text: In the early 1950s, Germany maintained one whaling vessel for testing purpose as it considered re-establishing a German whaling fleet, but abandoned these plans in 1956. The last remaining German whalers worked for Dutch vessels in the 1950s and 1960s.


title: Whaling

text: Iceland is one of a handful of countries that still maintain a whaling fleet. One company concentrates on hunting fin whales, largely for export to Japan, while the only other one hunts minke whales for domestic consumption, as the meat is popular with tourists. Iceland has its own whale watching sector, which exists in uneasy tension with the whaling industry.


title: Whaling

text: Iceland did not object to the 1986 IWC moratorium. Between 1986 and 1989 around 60 animals per year were taken under a scientific permit. However, under strong pressure from anti-whaling countries, who viewed scientific whaling as a circumvention of the moratorium, Iceland ceased whaling in 1989. Following the IWC's 1991 refusal to accept its Scientific Committee's recommendation to allow sustainable commercial whaling, Iceland left the IWC in 1992.


title: Whaling

text: Iceland rejoined the IWC in 2002 with a reservation to the moratorium. Iceland presented a feasibility study to the 2003 IWC meeting for catches in 2003 and 2004. The primary aim of the study was to deepen the understanding of fish–whale interactions. Amid disagreement within the IWC Scientific Committee about the value of the research and its relevance to IWC objectives, no decision on the proposal was reached. However, under the terms of the convention the Icelandic government issued permits for a scientific catch. In 2003 Iceland resumed scientific whaling which continued in 2004 and 2005.


title: Whaling

text: Iceland resumed commercial whaling in 2006. Its annual quota was 30 minke whales (out of an estimated 174,000 animals in the central and north-eastern North Atlantic) and nine fin whales (out of an estimated 30,000 animals in the central and north-eastern North Atlantic). For the 2012 commercial whaling season, starting in April and lasting six months, the quota was set to 216 minke whales, of which 52 were caught.


title: Whaling

text: Iceland did not hunt any whales in 2019 and it is reported that demand for whale meat decreased in that year.


title: Whaling

text: Lamalera, on the south coast of the island of Lembata, and Lamakera on neighbouring Solor, are the two remaining Indonesian whaling communities. The hunters obey religious taboos that ensure that they use every part of the animal. About half of the catch is kept in the village; the rest is bartered in local markets.


title: Whaling

text: In 1973, the United Nations's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) sent a whaling ship and a Norwegian whaler to modernize their hunt. This effort lasted three years, and was not successful. According to the FAO report, the Lamalerans "have evolved a method of whaling which suits their natural resources, cultural tenets and style." Lamalerans say they returned the ship because they immediately caught five sperm whales, too many to butcher and eat without refrigeration. Since these communities only hunt whales for noncommercial purposes, it is categorized as 'aboriginal subsistence hunters' by International Whaling Commission (IWC).


title: Whaling

text: The Lamalerans hunt for several species of whales but catching sperm whales are preferable, while other whales, such as baleen whales, are considered taboo to hunt. They caught five sperm whales in 1973; they averaged about 40 per year from the 1960s through the mid 1990s, 13 total from 2002 to 2006, 39 in 2007, an average of 20 per year 2008 through 2014, and caught 3 in 2015.


title: Whaling

text: Traditional Lamaleran whaling used wooden fishing boats built by a group of local craftsmen clan called "ata molã" and the fishermen will mourn the "death" of their ships for two months. These days, the Lamalerans use a motor engine to power their boats; however, their tradition dictates that once a whale has been caught, fishermen will have to row their boats and the whale back to the shore. The traditional practices made whaling a dangerous hunt. In one case, a boat was pulled approximately 120 km away towards Timor (see Nantucket sleighride), while in another case, the hunted whale capsized the boat and forced the fishermen to swim for 12 hours back to the shore.


title: Whaling

text: When the commercial whaling moratorium was introduced by the IWC in 1982, Japan lodged an official objection. However, in response to US threats to cut Japan's fishing quota in US territorial waters under the terms of the Packwood-Magnuson Amendment, Japan withdrew its objection in 1987. According to the BBC, the US went back on this promise, effectively destroying the deal. Since Japan could not resume commercial whaling, it began whaling on a purported scientific-research basis. Australia, Greenpeace, the Australian Marine Conservation Society, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and other groups dispute the Japanese claim of research "as a disguise for commercial whaling, which is banned." The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has attempted to disrupt Japanese whaling in the Antarctic since 2003 but eventually ceased this activity in 2017 due to little achievement in creating change. Other NGOs such as the Australian Marine Conservation Society and Humane Society International continued to campaign against Japan's scientific whaling program and block votes at IWC to bring back commercial whaling.


title: Whaling

text: The stated purpose of the research program is to establish the size and dynamics of whale populations. The Japanese government wishes to resume whaling in a sustainable manner under the oversight of the IWC, both for whale products (meat, etc.) and to help preserve fishing resources by culling whales. Anti-whaling organizations claim that the research program is a front for commercial whaling, that the sample size is needlessly large and that equivalent information can be obtained by non-lethal means, for example by studying samples of whale tissue (such as skin) or feces. The Japanese government sponsored Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), which conducts the research, disagrees, stating that the information obtainable from tissue and/or feces samples is insufficient and that the sample size is necessary in order to be representative.


title: Whaling

text: Japan's scientific whaling program is controversial in anti-whaling countries. Countries opposed to whaling have passed non-binding resolutions in the IWC urging Japan to stop the program. Japan claims that whale stocks for some species are sufficiently large to sustain commercial hunting and blame filibustering by the anti-whaling side for the continuation of scientific whaling. Deputy whaling commissioner, Joji Morishita, told BBC News:The reason for the moratorium [on commercial whaling] was scientific uncertainty about the number of whales. ... It was a moratorium for the sake of collecting data and that is why we started scientific whaling. We were asked to collect more data.This collusive relationship between the whaling industry and the Japanese government is sometimes criticized by pro-whaling activists who support local, small-scale coastal whaling such as the Taiji dolphin drive hunt.


title: Whaling

text: In September 2018, Japan chaired the 67th IWC meeting in Brazil and attempted to pass a motion to lift the moratorium on commercial whaling. Japan did not receive enough votes and the IWC rejected the motion. Subsequently, on 26 December 2018, Japan announced that it would withdraw its membership from the IWC, because in its opinion, the IWC had failed its duty to promote sustainable hunting as the culture within the IWC moved towards an anti-whaling, pro-conservation agenda. Japanese officials also announced they will resume commercial hunting within its territorial waters and its 200-mile exclusive economic zones starting in July 2019, but it will cease whaling activities in the Antarctic Ocean, the northwest Pacific Ocean, and the Australian Whale Sanctuary.


title: Whaling

text: In 2019, the Australian Marine Conservation Society and International Fund for Animal Welfare commissioned legal opinion, which concluded that Japan's commercial whaling program within its territorial waters breaks international convention and law and that Japan makes itself vulnerable to potential international legal action.


title: Whaling

text: Norway registered an objection to the International Whaling Commission moratorium and is thus not bound by it. Commercial whaling ceased for a five-year period to allow a small scientific catch for gauging the stock's sustainability; whaling subsequently resumed in 1993. Minke whales are the only legally hunted species. Catches have fluctuated between 487 animals in 2000 to 592 in 2007. For the year 2011 the quota is set at 1,286 minke whales. The catch is made solely from the Northeast Atlantic minke whale population, which is estimated at 102,000.


title: Whaling

text: Whaling in the Philippines has been illegal since 1997 since the Fisheries Administrative Order 185 of 1991 was amended. The order initially only made illegal the catching, selling, or transporting of dolphins but the 1997 amendment widened the scope of the ban to include all cetaceans including whales. The calls for ban on whaling and dolphin hunting in the Philippines were raised by both domestic and international groups after local whaling and dolphin hunting traditions of residents of Pamilacan in Bohol were featured in newspapers in the 1990s. As compromise for residents of Pamilacan who were dependent on whaling and dolphin hunting, whale and dolphin watching is being promoted in the island as a source of tourism income. Despite the ban, it is believed that the whaling industry in the Philippines did not cease to exist but went underground.


title: Whaling

text: Russia had a significant whaling hunt of orcas and dolphins along with Iceland and Japan. The Soviet Union's harvest of over 534,000 whales between the 1930s and the 1980s has been called one of the most senseless environmental crimes of the 20th century. In 1970, a study published by Bigg M.A. following photographic recognition of orcas found a significant difference in the suspected ages of whale populations and their actual ages. Following this evidence, the Soviet Union and then Russia continued a scientific whale hunt, though the verisimilitude of the intentions of the hunt over the last 40 years are questioned.


title: Whaling

text: The Soviet Union's intensive illegal whaling program from 1948 to 1973 was controlled and managed by the central government. In Soviet society, whaling was perceived to be a glamorous and well-paid job. Whalers were esteemed as well-traveled adventurers, and their return to land was often celebrated elaborately such as with fanfare and parades. In regard to economics, the Soviet Union transformed from a "rural economy into an industrial giant" by disregarding the sustainability of a resource to fill high production targets. The government had controlled all industries, including fisheries, and whaling was not constrained by the need for sustainability through profits. Managers' and workers' production was incentivized with salary bonuses of 25%-60% and various other benefits, awards, and privileges. Many industries, whaling included, became a "manic numbers game".


title: Whaling

text: Currently, the indigenous Chukchi people in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in the Russian Far East are permitted under IWC regulation to take up to 140 gray whales from the North-East Pacific population each year. About 40 beluga whales are caught in the Sea of Okhotsk each year.


title: Whaling

text: There are no recent data on catches in the Arctic Ocean or Bering Sea, where about 60 belugas per year were caught in the early 1980s.


title: Whaling

text: Natives of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on the island of Bequia have a quota from the International Whaling Commission of up to four humpback whales per year.


title: Whaling

text: Their quota allows up to four humpback whales per year using only traditional hunting methods of hand-thrown harpoons in small, open sailboats. The limit is rarely met, with no catch some years.


title: Whaling

text: Its classification as aboriginal, and therefore permissible, is highly contested. In the 2012 meeting of the IWC, delegates from several anti-whaling countries, and environmental groups, spoke out against it, calling it "artisanal whaling out of control".


title: Whaling

text: The meat is sold commercially and 82% of Bequia residents consume it at least occasionally, though it is subject to high levels of methyl mercury.


title: Whaling

text: Residents of the town of Barrouallie hunt and sell meat from short-finned pilot whales and several dolphin species, including killer whales and false killer whales. 92% of people from the town, and high fractions from nearby towns, eat this meat at least occasionally. Sellers call this meat "black fish" without regard to species. Its levels of methyl mercury mean that consumption needs to be less than a serving every three weeks. However the mercury danger is not well known in the country. As of 2020 the government is considering banning the hunt of killer whales.


title: Whaling

text: In early July 2012, during IWC discussions in Panama, South Korea said it would undertake scientific whaling as allowed despite the global moratorium on whaling. South Korea's envoy to the summit, Kang Joon-Suk, said that consumption of whale meat "dates back to historical times" and that there had been an increase in the minke whale population since the ban took place in 1986. "Legal whaling has been strictly banned and subject to strong punishments, though the 26 years have been painful and frustrating for the people who have been traditionally taking whales for food." He said that South Korea would undertake whaling in its own waters. New Zealand's Commissioner Gerard van Bohemen accused South Korea of putting the whale population at risk. He also cited Japan as having not contributed to science for several years despite undertaking scientific whaling. New Zealand's stated position may be seen by its media as less solid than Australia's on the matter given that its indigenous people are pushing forward with plans, unopposed by the government, to recommence whaling there. The people of Ulsan have also traditionally and contemporarily eaten whale meat. South Korea's representative at the IWC said that "this is not a forum for moral debate. This is a forum for legal debate. As a responsible member of the commission we do not accept any such categorical, absolute proposition that whales should not be killed or caught."


title: Whaling

text: The sale and purchase of whale meat is allowed if an official certificate is issued for bycatch, where whales die when they are caught in nets used to catch other fish. Bycatch of whales and dolphines reached 2,751 in 2012 and 1,849 in 2014. Ulsan Environmental Education Institute director Oh Yeong-ae argued "The policy of allowing sale of whales caught incidentally may be encouraging illegal whaling".


title: Whaling

text: monitored by the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee. The annual catch ranges between 250 and 600 per year.


title: Whaling

text: Subsistence hunting of the bowhead whale is carried out by nine different indigenous Alaskan communities, and is managed by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission which reports to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The hunt takes around 50 bowhead whales a year from a population of about 10,500 in Alaskan waters. Conservationists fear this hunt is not sustainable, though the IWC Scientific Committee, the same group that provided the above population estimate, projects a population growth of 3.2% per year. The hunt also took an average of one or two gray whales each year until 1996. The quota was reduced to zero in that year due to sustainability concerns. A future review may result in the gray whale hunt being resumed. Bowhead whales weigh approximately 5–10 times as much as minke whales.


title: Whaling

text: The Makah tribe in Washington state also reinstated whaling in 1999, despite protests from animal rights groups. They are currently seeking to resume whaling of the gray whale, a right recognized in the Treaty of Neah Bay, within limits (Article 4 of the Treaty).


title: Business plan

text: A business plan is a formal written document containing the goals of a business, the methods for attaining those goals, and the time-frame for the achievement of the goals. It also describes the nature of the business, background information on the organization, the organization's financial projections, and the strategies it intends to implement to achieve the stated targets. In its entirety, this document serves as a road-map (a plan) that provides direction to the business.


title: Business plan

text: Written business plans are often required to obtain a bank loan or other kind of financing. Templates and guides, such as the ones offered in the United States by the Small Business Administration can be used to facilitate producing a business plan.


title: Business plan

text: Business plans may be internally or externally focused. Externally-focused plans draft goals that are important to outside stakeholders, particularly financial stakeholders. These plans typically have detailed information about the organization or the team making effort to reach its goals. With for-profit entities, external stakeholders include investors and customers, for non-profits, external stakeholders refer to donors and clients, for government agencies, external stakeholders are the tax-payers, higher-level government agencies, and international lending bodies such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, various economic agencies of the United Nations, and development banks.


title: Business plan

text: Internally-focused business plans target intermediate goals required to reach the external goals. They may cover the development of a new product, a new service, a new IT system, a restructuring of finance, the refurbishing of a factory or the restructuring of an organization. An internally-focused business plan is often developed in conjunction with a balanced scorecard or OGSM or a list of critical success factors. This allows the success of the plan to be measured using non-financial measures.


title: Business plan

text: Business plans that identify and target internal goals, but provide only general guidance on how they will be met are called strategic plans.


title: Business plan

text: Operational plans describe the goals of an internal organization, working group or department. Project plans, sometimes known as project frameworks, describe the goals of a particular project. They may also address the project's place within the organization's larger strategic goals.


title: Business plan

text: Business plans are decision-making tools. The content and format of the business plan are determined by the goals and audience. For example, a business plan for a non-profit might discuss the fit between the business plan and the organization's mission. Banks are quite concerned about defaults, so a business plan for a bank loan will build a convincing case for the organization's ability to repay the loan. Venture capitalists are primarily concerned about initial investment, feasibility, and exit valuation. A business plan for a project requiring equity financing will need to explain why current resources, upcoming growth opportunities, and sustainable competitive advantage will lead to a high exit valuation.


title: Business plan

text: Preparing a business plan draws on a wide range of knowledge from many different business disciplines: finance, human resource management, intellectual property management, supply chain management, operations management, and marketing, among others. It can be helpful to view the business plan as a collection of sub-plans, one for each of the main business disciplines.


title: Business plan

text: "... a good business plan can help to make a good business credible, understandable, and attractive to someone who is unfamiliar with the business. Writing a good business plan can't guarantee success, but it can go a long way toward reducing the odds of failure."


title: Business plan

text: The format of a business plan depends on its presentation context. It is common for businesses, especially start-ups, to have three or four formats for the same business plan.


title: Business plan

text: An "elevator pitch" is a short summary of the plan's executive summary. This is often used as a teaser to awaken the interest of potential investors, customers, or strategic partners. It is called an elevator pitch as it is supposed to be content that can be explained to someone else quickly in an elevator. The elevator pitch should be between 30 and 60 seconds.


title: Business plan

text: A pitch deck is a slide show and oral presentation that is meant to trigger discussion and interest potential investors in reading the written presentation. The content of the presentation is usually limited to the executive summary and a few key graphs showing financial trends and key decision-making benchmarks. If a new product is being proposed and time permits, a demonstration of the product may be included.


title: Business plan

text: A written presentation for external stakeholders is a detailed, well written, and pleasingly formatted plan targeted at external stakeholders.


title: Business plan

text: An internal operational plan is a detailed plan describing planning details that are needed by management but may not be of interest to external stakeholders. Such plans have a somewhat higher degree of candor and informality than the version targeted at external stakeholders and others.


title: Business plan

text: Cost and revenue estimates are central to any business plan for deciding the viability of the planned venture. But costs are often underestimated and revenues overestimated resulting in later cost overruns, revenue shortfalls, and possibly non-viability. During the dot-com bubble 1997-2001 this was a problem for many technology start-ups. Reference class forecasting has been developed to reduce the risks of cost overruns and revenue shortfalls and thus generate more accurate business plans.


title: Business plan

text: An externally targeted business plan should list all legal concerns and financial liabilities that might negatively affect investors. Depending on the number of funds being raised and the audience to whom the plan is presented, failure to do this may have severe legal consequences.


title: Business plan

text: Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with third parties, non-compete agreements, conflicts of interest, privacy concerns, and the protection of one's trade secrets may severely limit the audience to which one might show the business plan. Alternatively, they may require each party to receive the business plan to sign a contract accepting special clauses and conditions.


title: Business plan

text: This situation is complicated by the fact that many venture capitalists will refuse to sign an NDA before looking at a business plan, lest it put them in the untenable position of looking at two independently developed look-alike business plans, both claiming originality. In such situations, one may need to develop two versions of the business plan: a stripped-down plan that can be used to develop a relationship and a detailed plan that is only shown when investors have sufficient interest and trust to sign a Non-disclosure agreement.


title: Business plan

text: In the free software and open source business model, trade secrets, copyright and patents can no longer


title: Business plan

text: be used as effective locking mechanisms to provide sustainable advantages to a particular business and therefore a secret business plan is less relevant in those models.


title: Business plan

text: Fundraising is the primary purpose of many business plans since they are related to the inherent probable success/failure of the company risk.


title: Business plan

text: The business goals may be defined both for non-profit or for-profit organizations. For-profit business plans typically focus on financial goals, such as profit or creation of wealth. Non-profit, as well as government agency business plans tend to focus on the "organizational mission" which is the basis for their governmental status or their non-profit, tax-exempt status, respectively—although non-profits may also focus on optimizing revenue.


title: Business plan

text: The primary difference between profit and non-profit organizations is that "for-profit" organizations look to maximize wealth versus non-profit organizations, which look to provide a greater good to society. In non-profit organizations, creative tensions may develop in the effort to balance mission with "margin" (or revenue).


title: Business plan

text: The business plan is the subject of many satires. Satires are used both to express cynicism about business plans and as an educational tool to improve the quality of business plans. For example,


title: Portmeirion

text: Portmeirion is a tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village, and is now owned by a charitable trust. The village is located in the community of Penrhyndeudraeth, on the estuary of the River Dwyryd, south east of Porthmadog, and from Minffordd railway station. Portmeirion has served as the location for numerous films and television shows, most famously as "The Village" in the 1960s television show "The Prisoner".


title: Portmeirion

text: Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, Portmeirion's architect, denied repeated claims that the design was based on the fishing village of Portofino on the Italian Riviera. He stated only that he wanted to pay tribute to the atmosphere of the Mediterranean. He did, however, draw on a love of the Italian village stating, "How should I not have fallen for Portofino? Indeed, its image remained with me as an almost perfect example of the man-made adornment and use of an exquisite site." Williams-Ellis designed and constructed the village between 1925 and 1975. He incorporated fragments of demolished buildings, including works by a number of other architects. Portmeirion's architectural bricolage and deliberately fanciful nostalgia have been noted as an influence on the development of postmodernism in architecture in the late 20th century.


title: Portmeirion

text: The main building of the hotel and the cottages "White Horses", "Mermaid", and "The Salutation" had been a private estate called "Aber Iâ" (), developed in the 1850s on the site of a late 18th-century foundry and boatyard. Williams-Ellis changed the name (which he had interpreted as "frozen mouth") to "Portmeirion": "Port-" from its place on the coast; "-meirion" from the county of Merioneth (Meirionydd) in which it was sited. The very minor remains of a mediaeval castle (known variously as Castell Deudraeth, Castell Gwain Goch and Castell Aber Iâ) are in the woods just outside the village, recorded by Gerald of Wales in 1188.


title: Portmeirion

text: In 1931 Williams-Ellis bought from the estate of his uncle, Sir Osmond Williams, Bt (1849-1927), the Victorian crenellated mansion Castell Deudraeth with the intention of incorporating it into the Portmeirion hotel complex, but the intervention of the war and other problems prevented this. Williams-Ellis had always considered the Castell to be “the largest and most imposing single building on the Portmeirion Estate" and sought ways to incorporate it. Eventually, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the European Regional Development Fund as well as the Wales Tourist Board, his original aims were achieved and Castell Deudraeth was opened as an 11 bedroom hotel and restaurant on 20 August 2001, 23 years after Williams-Ellis's death, by the Welsh opera singer Bryn Terfel.


title: Portmeirion

text: The village of Portmeirion has been a source of inspiration for writers and television producers. Noël Coward wrote "Blithe Spirit" while staying in the "Fountain 2" ("Upper Fountain") suite at Portmeirion. George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells were also early visitors. In 1956 the architect Frank Lloyd Wright came and other famous guests included Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman. In the late 1950s, Stanley Long, a former RAF photographer, came to create a collectible stereoview series through VistaScreen. The village has many connections to the Beatles. Their manager Brian Epstein was a frequent visitor, along with Paul McCartney, and George Harrison spent his 50th birthday there in 1993. It was while Harrison was in Portmeirion that he filmed interviews for The Beatles Anthology documentary. Musician Jools Holland visited whilst filming for the TV music show "The Tube", and was so impressed that he has had his studio and other buildings at his home in Blackheath built to a design inspired by Portmeirion.


title: Portmeirion

text: The grounds contain an important collection of rhododendrons and other exotic plants in a wild-garden setting, which was begun before Williams-Ellis's time by the previous owner George Henry Caton Haigh and has continued to be developed since Williams-Ellis's death.


title: Portmeirion

text: Portmeirion is now owned by a charitable trust, and has always been run as a hotel, which uses the majority of the buildings as hotel rooms or self-catering cottages, together with shops, a cafe, tea-room, and restaurant. Portmeirion is today a major tourist attraction in North Wales and day visits can be made on payment of an admission charge.


title: Portmeirion

text: The village was the setting of the inaugural Festival N°6, which took place in September 2012 and featured headline acts Spiritualized, Primal Scream and New Order. The festival then ran each year in September at Portmeirion until 2018, when the festival organisers announced that the festival would be taking an indefinite break.


title: Portmeirion

text: Architecture critic Lewis Mumford devoted a large part of a chapter of his 1964 book "The Highway and the City" to Portmeiron, which he called an artful and playful little modern village, designed as a whole and all of a piece ... a fantastic collection of architectural relics and impish modern fantasies. ... As an architect, [Williams-Ellis] is equally at home in the ancient, traditional world of the stark Welsh countryside and the once brave new world of "modern architecture." But he realized earlier than most of his architectural contemporaries how constricted and desiccated modern forms can become when the architect pays more attention to the mechanical formula or the exploitation of some newly fabricated material than to the visible human results. In a sense, Portmeiron is a gay, deliberately irresponsible reaction against the dull sterilities of so much that passes as modern architecture today. ... [I]t is prompted by [the] impulse ... to reclaim for architecture the freedom of invention — and the possibility of pleasurable fantasy — it had too abjectly surrendered to the cult of the machine.


title: Portmeirion

text: Mumford referred to the architecture as both romantic and picturesque in Baroque form, "with tongue in cheek." He described the total effect as "relaxing and often enchanting" with "playful absurdities" that are "delicate and human in touch", making the village a "happy relief" from the "rigid irrationalities and the calculated follies" of the modern world.


title: Portmeirion

text: The houses Anchor, Arches, the hotel building, Lady's Lodge, the inside of the Pantheon and the vaulted ceiling of Gate House are decorated with murals and frescoes by the Frankfurt-born artist and friend of Clough Williams-Ellis Hans Feibusch.


title: Portmeirion

text: Portmeirion Town Hall is a grade I listed building, incorporating stonework and the Hercules Hall from the demolished Emral Hall in Flintshire.


title: Portmeirion

text: Television series and films have shot exterior scenes at Portmeirion, often depicting the village as an exotic European location. These include the 1960 "Danger Man" episode "View from the Villa" starring Patrick McGoohan and the 1976 four-episode "Doctor Who" story titled "The Masque of Mandragora" set in Renaissance Italy. The last episode of "Citizen Smith", the Christmas 1980 episode "Buon Natale", was filmed partly in Portmeirion. In 2002 some scenes were filmed there for the final episode (at the time) of the TV series "Cold Feet". The town of Wiggyville in the CBeebies series "Gigglebiz" is shot in Portmeirion as well. The village of Llan-ar-goll-en in the Welsh preschool show of the same name on S4C, was shot there.


title: Portmeirion

text: Portmeirion has been the location for music videos and concerts. The 1980s Scottish band Altered Images used Portmeirion in their video "See Those Eyes". Siouxsie and the Banshees used Portmeirion as a setting in their 1987 recording of "The Passenger" for the "Laughing Prisoner" spoof. This video included various scenes from "The Prisoner".


title: Portmeirion

text: In 1966–1967, Patrick McGoohan returned to Portmeirion to film exteriors for "The Prisoner", a surreal spy drama in which Portmeirion played a starring role as "The Village", in which McGoohan's retired intelligence agent, known only as "Number 6", was incarcerated and interrogated, albeit in pleasant surroundings. At Williams-Ellis' request, Portmeirion was not identified on screen as the filming location until the credits of the final episode of the series, and indeed, Williams-Ellis stated that the levy of an entrance fee was a deliberate ploy to prevent the Village from being spoilt by overcrowding. The show, broadcast on ITV in the UK during the winter of 1967-68 and CBS in the US in the summer of 1968, became a cult classic, and fans continue to visit Portmeirion, which hosts annual "Prisoner" fan conventions. The building that was used as the lead character's home in the series currently operates as a "Prisoner"-themed souvenir shop. Many of the locations used in "The Prisoner" are virtually unchanged after more than 50 years.


title: Portmeirion

text: Because of its "Prisoner" connection, Portmeirion has been used as the filming location for a number of homages to the series, ranging from comedy skits to an episode of the BBC documentary series "The Celts", which recreated scenes from "The Prisoner". Other occasions include:


title: Mandal Commission

text: The Mandal Commission or the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission (SEBC), was established in India in 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educationally backward classes" of India. It was headed by B.P. Mandal, an Indian parliamentarian, to consider the question of reservations for people to redress caste discrimination, and used eleven social, economic, and educational indicators to determine backwardness. In 1980, based on its rationale that OBCs ("Other backward classes") identified on the basis of caste, social, economic indicators made up 52% of India's population, the commission's report recommended that members of Other Backward Classes (OBC) be granted reservations to 27% of jobs under the Central government and public sector undertakings, thus making the total number of reservations for SC, ST and OBC to 49%.


title: Mandal Commission

text: , the V.P. Singh government declared its intent to implement the report in August 1990, leading to widespread student protests. As per the Constitution of India, Article 15 (4) states, " Nothing in this Article or in clause(2) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any provision for the advancement of any socially or educationally backward classes of citizens or for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled tribes". Hence the Mandal Commission created a report using the data of 1931 census which was last caste wise census and extrapolating same with some sample studies. VP Singh was accused of using the Mandal Report which was ignored by the Janta government. It was a social revolution and affirmative action. All of a sudden almost 75% of Indian population got preferential treatment in educational admissions and Govt employment. Earlier 25% population of India which is SC ST was covered and now more than 50% of Other Backward Class came under reservation. The youth went for massive protest in large numbers in the nation's campuses, resulting in many self immolations by students.


title: Mandal Commission

text: Indira Sawney challenged the Mandal Commission and Govt decision to implement it in the Supreme Court in front of a nine Judge bench. After hearing both sides the bench passed the Act with a provision that maximum reservation can be 50% of the educational seats or job vacancies and creamy layer of income will be applicable. Presently the creamy layer limit is Family income of INR Eight lakhs (Eight hundred thousand rupees) per year. It was implemented in 1992.


title: Mandal Commission

text: Even before the Mandal Commission some Indian states, like Maharashtra, already had high reservations for economically poor people.


title: Mandal Commission

text: The primary objective that the Mandal Commission had in India was to Identify the conditions regarding social and educational backward classes to consider the question of reservations of seats and quotas.


title: Mandal Commission

text: Leading to the formation of the Mandal Commission, Indian society was based largely on the principles of Jaati and Varna, and to that extent a partially closed system. As the result of colonialism, the artisan and similar classes had been impoverished. This created a social stratification that played a dominant role within Indian society, laying the context for the Mandal Commission to be formed. Therefore, during the late 1900s India witnessed caste and class to stand for different patterns of distribution of properties/occupations for individuals. This directly affected Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes that were known collectively as Other Backward Classes (OBC), which were the focal groups that experienced the severities of colonial exploitation and the resultant caste/class stratification within the social organization found within traditional India.


title: Mandal Commission

text: The extent of how embedded the caste system is in India, coupled with the colonial impoverishment that many groups such as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes experience, paved the path towards the Indian state to recognize/attempt to redress caste discrimination. Other Backward Classes have historically been excluded from opportunities and duties that lead to socioeconomic advancement in Indian society. The artisans, peasants, farmers, and owners of cottage industries bore the direct brunt of exploitation under the British Raj. Many self sufficient cottage industries were destroyed to serve colonial needs. The rise of industrialisation and globalisation changed the economic structures in rural India and was another factor leading to the impoverishment of the artisan classes. Combined with social mobility - social is hereditary, and marrying outside one's group is rare.


title: Mandal Commission

text: However, two different types of change that were prevalent during the lead up to the Mandal Commission was: Change in the relative positions of the groups in the caste hierarchy and the Change in how the tendency of how hereditary groups were ranked. Respectively, the first did not impair the caste system as a form of "social stratification" and the second type of change lead to the caste system to transform entirely. Educational background in relation to occupation between two generations were found to be directly correlated. Thus, educational facilities played a critical role among Other Backward Classes, and the opportunities for those who received poor/well education contributed to the overall social stratification of India. Additionally, the overlap between cast and economics became more apparent


title: Mandal Commission

text: Appointment of a commission to investigate the conditions of backward classes in India every 10 years, for the purpose of Articles 15 (Prohibition of Discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth). The First Backward Classes Commission had a broad-based membership, the Second Commission seemed to be shaped on partisan lines, composed of members only from the backward castes. Of its five members, four were from the OBCs; the remaining one, L.R. Naik, was from the Dalit community, and the only member from the scheduled castes in the commission. It is popularly known as the Mandal Commission for its chairman being Shri. B.P. Mandal.


title: Mandal Commission

text: The Mandal Commission adopted various methods and techniques to collect the necessary data and evidence. In order to identify who qualified as an "other backward class," the commission adopted eleven criteria which could be grouped under three major headings: social, educational and economic. 11 criteria were developed to identify OBCs.


title: Mandal Commission

text: As the above three groups are not of equal importance for the purpose, separate weightage was given to indicators in each group. All the Social indicators were given a weightage of 3 points each, educational indicators were given a weightage of 2 points each and economic indicators were given a weightage of 1 point each. Economic, in addition to social and educational Indicators, were considered important as they directly flowed from social and educational backwardness. This also helped to highlight the fact that socially and educationally backward classes are economically backward also.


title: Mandal Commission

text: Thus, the Mandal Commission judged classes on a scale from 0 to 22. These 11 indicators were applied to all the castes covered by the survey for a particular state. As a result of this application, all castes which had a score of 50% (i.e. 11 points) were listed as socially and educationally backward and the rest were treated as 'advanced'.


title: Mandal Commission

text: The commission estimated that 52% of the total population of India (excluding SCs and STs), belonging to 3,743 different castes and communities, were ‘backward’. The number of backward castes in Central list of OBCs has now increased to 5,013 (without the figures for most of the Union Territories) in 2006 as per National Commission for Backward Classes. Figures of caste-wise population are not available beyond. So the commission used 1931 census data to calculate the number of OBCs. The population of Hindu OBCs was derived by subtracting from the total population of Hindus, the population of SC and ST and that of forward Hindu castes and communities, and it worked out to be 52 per cent. Assuming that roughly the proportion of OBCs amongst non-Hindus was of the same order as amongst the Hindus, the population of non-Hindu OBCs was considered as 52 per cent.


title: Mandal Commission

text: As the commission had concluded that 52 per cent of the country's population consisted of OBCs, it initially argued that the percentage of reservations in public services for backward classes should also match that figure. However, as this would have gone against the earlier judgement of the Supreme Court of India which had laid down that reservation of posts must be below 50 per cent, the proposed reservation for OBCs had to be fixed at a figure, which when added to 22.5 per cent for SCs and STs, remains below the cap of 50 per cent. In view of this legal constraint the commission was obliged to recommend a reservation of 27 per cent only for backward castes. The overlap between caste and economic backwardness became even more tenuous as a result being that it extended to include the OBC.


title: Mandal Commission

text: Prior to the establishment of the Mandal Commission in India, the state of India faced caste discrimination in terms of social, economic, and political context. Living standards, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and OBC households were viewed to be significantly lower than in the mainstream population, comprising Hindu forward castes and other religious groups. In December 1980, the Mandal Commission submitted its Report which described the criteria it used to indicate backwardness, and stated its recommendations in light of its observations and findings. By then, the Janata government had fallen. The following Congress governments under Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were not willing to act on the Report due to its politically contentious nature. After being neglected for 10 years, the Report was accepted by the National Front government led by V.P. Singh. On 7 August 1990, the National Front government declared that it would provide 27 per cent reservations to "socially and educationally backward classes" for jobs in central services and public undertaking. Having released the Government Order on 13 August, V.P. Singh announced its legal implementation in his Independence Day speech two days later.


title: Mandal Commission

text: That same year in September, a case was brought before the Supreme Court of India which challenged the constitutional validity of the Government Order for the implementation of the Mandal Report recommendations. Indra Sawhney, the petitioner in this case, made three principal arguments against the Order:


title: Mandal Commission

text: The five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court issued a stay on the operation of the Government Order of 13 August until the final disposal of the case. On 16 November 1992, the Supreme Court, in its verdict, upheld the government order, being of the opinion that caste was an acceptable indicator of backwardness. Thus, the recommendation of reservations for OBCs in central government services was finally implemented in 1992.


title: Mandal Commission

text: However, as reported by the Times of India on 26 December 2015, only 12 per cent of the employees under central government ministries and statutory bodies are members of the Other Backward Classes. The data shows that out of 79,483 posts, employees from the OBCs occupied only 9,040 of them.


title: Mandal Commission

text: A decade after the commission gave its report, V.P. Singh, the Prime Minister at the time, tried to implement its recommendations in 1989. The criticism was sharp and colleges across the country held massive protests against it. On 19 September 1990, Rajiv Goswami, a student of Deshbandhu College, Delhi, attempted self-immolation in protest of the government's actions. His act made him the face of the Anti-Mandal agitation then. This further sparked a series of self-immolations by other upper-caste college students like him, whose own hopes of getting a government job were now at threat, and led to a formidable student movement against job reservations for Backward Castes in India. Altogether, nearly 200 students committed self-immolations; of these, 62 students succumbed to their burns. The first student protester who died due to self-immolation was Surinder Singh Chauhan on 24 September 1990.


title: Mandal Commission

text: Across northern India, normal business was suspended. Shops were kept closed, and schools and colleges were shut down by student agitators. They attacked government buildings, organised rallies and demonstrations and clashed with the police. Incidents of police firing was reported in six states during agitation, claiming more than 50 lives.


title: Mandal Commission

text: The mountainous region (present day Uttarakhand) of Uttar Pradesh saw multiple protests after the implementation of OBC reservation in Uttar Pradesh (covering current Uttarakhand). The Hills had abysmal educational infrastructure with Govt Job the only option. Although, OBC constituted a major chunk of population in the plains of Uttar Pradesh, the Demography was quite different in the Hills. The population in Hills mainly consisted of Upper Caste, SC and ST with hardly any OBC presence. However, the implementation meant 27% seats in Schools/colleges/Govt Jobs would now go on to the people from Plains. The implementation was one of the reason that intensified the statehood movement of Uttarakhand


title: Mandal Commission

text: However, according to Ramchandra Guha, the agitation did not gain as much traction in southern India as it did in the North due to certain reasons. Firstly, people in the South were more agreeable to the implementation of the Mandal report recommendations as affirmative action programmes had long been in existence there. Furthermore, while in the South the upper castes constituted less than 10 per cent of the population, the figure in the North was in excess of 20 per cent. Lastly, as the region had a thriving industrial sector, the educated youth in the South were not as dependent on government employment as those in the North.


title: Mandal Commission

text: The National Sample Survey puts the figure at 32%. There is substantial debate over the exact number of OBC's in India, with census data compromised by partisan politics. It is generally estimated to be sizeable, but lower than the figures quoted by either the Mandal Commission or and National Sample Survey.


title: Mandal Commission

text: There is also a debate about the estimation logic used by the Mandal Commission for calculating OBC population. Yogendra Yadav, psephologist turned politician, agrees that there is no empirical basis to the Mandal figure. According to Yadav, "It is a mythical construct based on reducing the number of SC/ST, Muslims and others and then arriving at a number."


title: Mandal Commission

text: Yadav argues that government jobs were availed to those who by their own means had got higher education, and that reservation for OBC's was only one of the many recommendations of the Mandal Commission, which largely remain unimplemented after 25 years.


title: Mandal Commission

text: The National Sample Survey's 1999–2000 round estimated around 36 percent of the country's population as belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC). The proportion falls to 32 per cent on excluding Muslim OBCs. A survey conducted in 1998 by National Family Health Statistics (NFHS) puts the proportion of non-Muslim OBCs as 29.8 per cent


title: Mandal Commission

text: L R Naik, the only Dalit member in the Mandal Commission refused to sign the Mandal recommendations. Naik argued that intermediate backward classes are relatively powerful, while depressed backward classes, or most backward classes (MBCs) remain economically marginalised.


title: Mandal Commission

text: Critics of the Mandal Commission argue that it is unfair to accord people special privileges on the basis of caste, even in order to redress traditional caste discrimination. They argue that those that deserve the seat through merit will be at a disadvantage. They reflect on the repercussions of unqualified candidates assuming critical positions in society (doctors, engineers, etc.). As the debate on OBC reservations spreads, a few interesting facts which raise pertinent question are already apparent. To begin with, figures on the proportion of OBCs in the Indian population vary widely. According to the Mandal Commission (1980) it is 52 percent. According to 2001 Indian Census, out of India's population of 1,028,737,436 the Scheduled Castes account for 166,635,700 and Scheduled Tribes 84,326,240; that is 16.2% and 8.2% respectively. There is nocoss data on OBCs in the census. However, according to National Sample Survey's 1999–2000 round around 36 per cent of the country's population is defined as belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC). The proportion falls to 32 per cent on excluding Muslim OBCs. A survey conducted in 1998 by National Family Health Statistics (NFHS) puts the proportion of non-Muslim OBCs as 29.8 per cent. The NSSO data also shows that already 23.5 per cent of college seats are occupied by OBCs. That's just 8.6 per cent short of their share of population according to the same survey. Other arguments include that entrenching the separate legal status of OBCs and SC/STs will perpetuate caste differentiation and encourage competition among communities at the expense of national unity. They believe that only a small new elite of educated Dalits, Adivasis, and OBCs benefit from reservations, and that such measures don't do enough to lift the mass of people out of poverty.


title: Elizabeth line

text: The Elizabeth line is a high-frequency hybrid urban–suburban rail service in London and its suburbs. It runs services on dedicated infrastructure in central London from the Great Western Main Line west of Paddington to and via Whitechapel to the Great Eastern Main Line near ; along the Great Western Main Line from London Paddington to and Heathrow Airport in the west; and along the Great Eastern Main Line between Stratford and in the east. The service is named after Queen Elizabeth II, who officially opened the line on 17 May 2022 during her Platinum Jubilee year; passenger services started on 24 May 2022.


title: Elizabeth line

text: Under the project name of Crossrail, the system was approved in 2007, and construction began in 2009. Originally planned to open in 2018, the project was repeatedly delayed, including for several months as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Elizabeth line

text: In May 2015, existing commuter services on a section of one of the eastern branches, between and Shenfield, were transferred to TfL Rail; this precursor service also took control of Heathrow Connect in May 2018, and some local services on the Paddington to Reading line in December 2019. These services were augmented by a new central section in May 2022, and rebranded as the Elizabeth line. The outer services were connected to the central section in November 2022. By May 2023, the central section will have up to 24 nine-carriage Class 345 trains per hour in each direction.


title: Elizabeth line

text: In 2001, Cross London Rail Links (CLRL), a 50/50 joint-venture between Transport for London (TfL) and the Department for Transport (DfT), was formed to develop and promote the Crossrail scheme, and also a Wimbledon–Hackney scheme, Crossrail 2. In 2003 and 2004, over 50days of exhibitions were held to explain the proposals at over 30 different locations.


title: Elizabeth line

text: In 2005, ahead of Crossrail's hybrid bill submission, a number of feeder routes were considered by CLRL west of Paddington and east of Liverpool Street. It was viewed, given the 24 trains-per-hour (tph) core frequency, that two feeder routes, each of 12tph, could be taken forward.


title: Elizabeth line

text: In the west, a route to Maidenhead (later extended to Reading) and Heathrow Airport was selected. In the east, routes to Abbey Wood (curtailed from Ebbsfleet to avoid conflicts with the North Kent lines) and Shenfield were selected.


title: Elizabeth line

text: The Crossrail Act 2008 authorising the construction project received royal assent on 22 July 2008. In December 2008, TfL and the DfT announced that they had signed the "Crossrail Sponsors' Agreement". This committed them to financing the project, then projected to cost £15.9billion, with further contributions from Network Rail, BAA and the City of London.


title: Elizabeth line

text: Boring of the railway tunnels was officially completed in June 2015. Installation of the track was completed in September 2017. The ETCS signalling was scheduled to be tested in the Heathrow tunnels over the winter of 2017–2018.


title: Elizabeth line

text: At the end of August 2018, four months before the scheduled opening of the core section of the line, it was announced that completion was delayed and that the line would not open before autumn 2019. After multiple delays, in August 2020 Crossrail announced that the central section would be ready to open "in the first half of 2022".


title: Elizabeth line

text: On 17 May 2022, the line was officially opened by the Queen in honour of her Platinum Jubilee. She was not scheduled to attend the event, but decided to attend with her son, Prince Edward, to unveil the plaque commemorating the official opening.


title: Elizabeth line

text: Though the main tunnels under central London had not yet been opened, passenger operations on the outer branches of the future Elizabeth line were transferred to TfL for inclusion in the concession – this took place over several stages beginning May 2015. During this initial phase of operation, services were operated by MTR under the "TfL Rail" brand. Following the practice adopted during the transfer of former Silverlink services to London Overground in 2007, TfL carried out a deep clean of stations and trains on the future Elizabeth line route, installed new ticket machines and barriers, introduced Oyster card and contactless payment, and ensured all stations were staffed. Existing rolling stock was rebranded with the TfL Rail identity.


title: Elizabeth line

text: The Elizabeth line runs on an east-west axis across the London region, with branches terminating at Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east, and at Heathrow Terminal 4, Heathrow Terminal 5 and Reading in the west. There are 41 stations. In the central section, there are interchanges with London Underground, National Rail and Docklands Light Railway lines.


title: Elizabeth line

text: "Crossrail" is the name of the construction project and of the limited company, wholly owned by TfL, that was formed to carry out construction works.


title: Elizabeth line

text: The "Elizabeth line" is the name of the new service that is on signage throughout the stations. It is named in honour of Queen Elizabeth II. The Elizabeth line logo features a Transport for London roundel with a purple ring and blue bar with white text. Unlike lines of the London Underground, the roundels contain the word "line".


title: Elizabeth line

text: "TfL Rail" was an intermediate brand name which was introduced in May 2015 and discontinued in May 2022. It was used by TfL on services between Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5 and Reading, as well as trains between Liverpool Street and Shenfield.


title: Elizabeth line

text: Ten new stations have been built in the central and south east sections of the line, and thirty-one existing stations were upgraded and refurbished. Nine of the ten new built stations were fully opened on 24 May 2022 with Bond Street as the exception which, , still needed further final finishing prior to testing and commissioning. All stations are equipped with CCTV and because of the length of trains, central stations have train indicators above the platform-edge doors. All 41 stations will be step-free, with 13 of these (the central and Heathrow stations) having level access between trains and platforms.


title: Elizabeth line

text: Although the trains are long, platforms at the new stations in the central core are built to enable trains in case of possible future need. In the eastern section, and have not had platform extensions, so trains use selective door opening instead. At Maryland this is because of the prohibitive cost of extensions and the poor business case, and at Manor Park it is due to the presence of a freight loop that would otherwise be cut off.


title: Elizabeth line

text: A mock-up of the new stations was built in Bedfordshire in 2011 to ensure that their architectural integrity would last for a century. It was planned to bring at least one mock-up to London for the public to view the design and give feedback before final construction commenced.


title: Elizabeth line

text: The Elizabeth line route exclusively uses nine-car Class 345 trains for the services on the routes. The requirement was for 65 trains, each long and carrying up to 1,500 passengers. The trains are accessible, including dedicated areas for wheelchairs, with audio and visual announcements, CCTV and speaker-phones connected to the driver in case of emergency. They will run at up to on certain parts of the route.


title: Elizabeth line

text: In March 2011, Crossrail announced that five bidders had been shortlisted for the contract to build the Class 345 and its associated depot. One of the bidders, Alstom, withdrew from the process in July 2011. In February 2012, Crossrail issued an invitation to negotiate to CAF, Siemens, Hitachi and Bombardier, with tenders expected to be submitted by mid-2012. In 2013, Siemens also withdrew from the bid, but will provide signalling and control systems for Crossrail. In December 2013, the European Investment Bank (EIB) agreed to provide loans to Transport for London for the rolling stock of up to £500M. On 6 February 2014, it was announced that Canada's Bombardier had been awarded a £1bn contract to supply 66 trains, with an option for 18 more. Bombardier Transportation would later be acquired by withdrawing bidder Alstom on 29 January 2021.


title: Elizabeth line

text: The first train entered service on 22 June 2017 on the TfL Rail route between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield as a seven-carriage unit, since, before the platforms were lengthened, the complete nine-car sets could not be accommodated at Liverpool Street station.


title: Elizabeth line

text: Eight Class 315 trains, which were built in 1980–1981, are still needed to run on the Liverpool Street-Shenfield via Stratford section of the Elizabeth line. They will cover Elizabeth line services during weekday peak hours for an initial few months until there are enough Class 345 trains to run the service, as some are out of service temporarily whilst extra carriages are added to them.


title: Elizabeth line

text: The Elizabeth line uses 25kV, 50Hz AC overhead lines, already in use on the Great Eastern and Great Western Main Lines.


title: Elizabeth line

text: The Heathrow branch started using the European Train Control System (ETCS) in 2020. The Automatic Warning (AWS) and Train Protection & Warning (TPWS) systems are used on the Great Western and Great Eastern Main Lines, with possible later upgrades to ETCS. Communications-based train control (CBTC) is installed in the central section and the Abbey Wood branch.


title: Elizabeth line

text: The Elizabeth line has depots in west London at Old Oak Common TMD, in south-east London at Plumstead Depot, and in east London at Ilford EMU Depot.


title: Elizabeth line

text: Upon opening, the line ran as three physically separate services: between Reading or Heathrow airport and London Paddington in the west; from Paddington via Liverpool Street to Abbey Wood in the centre; and between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield in the east. To connect between services, a walk between the separate stations at Paddington or Liverpool Street was required.


title: Elizabeth line

text: As of 6 November 2022, when through-running began, there are two main service groups, overlapping through the core section: from Reading or Heathrow Airport to Abbey Wood; and from Paddington to Shenfield. The off-peak weekday service is as follows:


title: Elizabeth line

text: Some early morning and late night services run into London Paddington main line terminus instead of going across central London. Likewise, some early, peak-direction, and late trains run between London Liverpool Street main line terminus and Gidea Park, bypassing Whitechapel.


title: Elizabeth line

text: In May 2023, it is planned to allow trains to run from both eastern branches to west of Paddington. This will allow both more flexible, and higher frequency, services: 24tph peak, 20tph off-peak, and direct services between Shenfield and Heathrow. In the longer term, when opens, all trains will serve , with those not serving the Reading or Heathrow branches reversing there.


title: Elizabeth line

text: Ticketing is integrated with the other London transport systems, but Oyster pay as you go will not be accepted on the western section between West Drayton (the limit of TfL's Zone 6) and Reading, with only contactless cards valid there. Travelcards and concessionary passes will be valid within Greater London. The Elizabeth line is integrated with the London Underground, the wider Transport for London network and the National Rail networks; it is also included on the standard Tube map.


title: Elizabeth line

text: Journeys to or from Heathrow Airport are priced at a premium due to using the rail tunnel between the airport and Hayes & Harlington. That stretch of line is not part of the Network Rail system but owned by Heathrow Airport Holdings, who charge TfL an additional fee for each train that uses it. Heathrow is nevertheless included within travelcards and daily/weekly fare capping as a Zone 6 station.


title: Elizabeth line

text: Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Elizabeth line was predicted to carry over 200 million passengers annually immediately after opening; this was expected to relieve pressure on London Underground's lines, especially the Central line. is expected to become one of the busiest stations in the UK, due to it being the key interchange station with Thameslink services. In a business plan for the line published in January 2020, Transport for London predicted total annual revenues from the line of nearly £500million per year in 2022/23 (its first full year of operation) and over £1billion per year in 2024/25. By the time the line opened, TfL had reduced their passenger forecasts because passenger travelling habits changed during the pandemic; the estimate was between 130 and 170 million passengers by 2026.


title: Elizabeth line

text: New stations have been proposed to serve London City Airport, and extensions have been put forward to Ebbsfleet in the south east, Milton Keynes in the north west, Staines in the south west, and Southend Airport in the east.


title: Extreme metal

text: Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual transgression".


title: Extreme metal

text: The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style associated with the speed metal, thrash metal, black metal, death metal, and doom metal genres. Hardcore punk has been considered an integral part of the development of extreme metal, in the case of song structure and speed, in every case other than doom metal.


title: Extreme metal

text: Extreme metal acts set themselves apart from traditional heavy metal acts, such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Motörhead, by incorporating more abrasive musical characteristics such as higher tempos, increased aggression and a harsher extremity. In the majority of the world, extreme metal does not receive much radio-play or achieve high chart positions.


title: Extreme metal

text: Extreme metal's sonic excess is characterized by high levels of distortion (also in the vocals – growling, gargling or screaming), less focus on guitar solos and melody, emphasis on technical control, and fast tempos (at times, more than 200 beats per minute). Its thematic transgression can be found in more overt and/or serious references to Satanism and the darker aspects of human existence that are considered out of bounds or distasteful, such as death, suicide and war." "Visual transgression [can include] ... medieval weaponry [and] bloody/horrific artwork."


title: Extreme metal

text: According to ethnographer Keith Kahn-Harris, the defining characteristics of extreme metal can all be regarded as clearly transgressive: the "extreme" traits noted above are all intended to violate or transgress given cultural, artistic, social or aesthetic boundaries. Kahn-Harris states that extreme metal can be "close to being ... formless noise", at least to the uninitiated listener. He states that with extreme metal lyrics, they often "offer no possibility of hope or redemption" and lyrics often reference apocalyptic themes. Extreme metal lyrics often describe Christianity as weak or submissive, and many songs express misanthropic views such as "kill every thing". A small number of extreme metal bands and song lyrics take radical (left or right) political stances; for example, the Swedish black metal band Marduk has commonly referenced the Nazi Panzer tanks, which can be seen in works such as "Panzer Division Marduk" (1999).


title: Extreme metal

text: The British band Venom are one of the first bands to venture into extreme metal territory, due to their ideological shift into themes of evil, the devil and hell. Their first two albums, "Welcome to Hell" (1981) and "Black Metal" (1982), are considered a major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general. This early work by Venom, in combination with bands like Discharge, the Exploited and Amebix as well as American hardcore punk brought integral elements into the budding extreme metal landscape at the time.


title: Extreme metal

text: In 1983, Metallica would release their debut album "Kill 'Em All", which fused elements of the new wave of British heavy metal with hardcore punk and the style of Motörhead, becoming the first thrash metal album, and would eventually be certified triple platinum. A few months later, Slayer would release their own thrash metal album "Show No Mercy", influenced by the sounds of Venom, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Mercyful Fate.


title: Extreme metal

text: When extreme metal band Hellhammer first began making music, it was generally panned by critics, leading to the members forming Celtic Frost in its place, which proved very influential on the progression of the genre. During this period, the line between extreme metal genres were blurred, as thrash metal bands such as Slayer, Sepultura, Sodom, Destruction and Kreator were integral to the first wave black metal scene. The front cover of the Sarcófago's 1987 debut album, "I.N.R.I.", is regarded as a great influence on black metal's corpse paint style make-up. That record is also considered one of the first wave black metal albums that helped shape the genre. Their second album, "The Laws of Scourge", was one of the first technical death metal records to be released.


title: Jason Kenney

text: Jason Thomas Kenney (born May 30, 1968) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 18th premier of Alberta from 2019 until 2022 and the leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) from 2017 until 2022. He also served as the member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Calgary-Lougheed from 2017 until 2022. Kenney was the last leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party) before the party merged with the Wildrose Party to form the UCP. Prior to entering Alberta provincial politics, he served in various cabinet posts under Prime Minister Stephen Harper from 2006 to 2015.


title: Jason Kenney

text: Kenney studied philosophy at the University of San Francisco, but returned to Canada without completing his degree. In 1989, he was hired as the first executive director of the Alberta Taxpayers Association before becoming the president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Kenney was elected to the House of Commons in the 1997 federal election for the Reform Party. In 2000, he was re-elected as a Canadian Alliance candidate and then was re-elected five times as a candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada.


title: Jason Kenney

text: Following the Conservative victory in the 2006 federal election, Kenney was appointed parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Harper. In January 2007, he was sworn into the Privy Council as the secretary of state for multiculturalism and Canadian identity. Kenney held the post of minister for citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism from October 2008 to July 2013, when he became minister of employment and social development and minister for multiculturalism. In February 2015, he was named minister of national defence. Kenney was considered a potential party leader following the defeat of the Conservative government in October 2015 and resignation of Harper as leader.


title: Jason Kenney

text: In July 2016, Kenney announced his intention to run for the leadership of the Alberta PCs in that party's 2017 leadership election. Kenney resigned his seat in Parliament on September 23, after sitting in the House of Commons for over 19 years. He was elected party leader on March 18, 2017, on a platform of merging with the Wildrose Party. He was leader until the merger was effected on July 24. Kenney was then elected United Conservative Party leader on October 28.


title: Jason Kenney

text: On April 16, 2019, Kenney led the United Conservative Party to a majority government in the 2019 Alberta general election, defeating incumbent Premier Rachel Notley of the New Democratic Party. Kenney came under criticism for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic from members within the UCP and the general public, triggering a leadership review in May 2022. On May 18, 2022, Kenney narrowly won the leadership review 51.4% to 48.6%, but announced that this support was insufficient and that he would step down as UCP leader. Kenney remained premier until October 11, 2022. Danielle Smith was chosen to succeed him by the United Conservative Party on October 6, 2022.


title: Jason Kenney

text: Jason Thomas Kenney was born on May 30, 1968, in Oakville, Ontario, the son of Lynne (Tunbridge) and Robert Martin Kenney. His father was a teacher at Appleby College and was of Irish heritage. Kenney's grandfather was jazz musician and big band leader Mart Kenney.


title: Jason Kenney

text: Kenney attended the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, a private Catholic high school of which his father was president. Kenney may have been inspired to enter politics following a brief discussion with former prime minister John Diefenbaker.


title: Jason Kenney

text: Kenney studied philosophy at the University of San Francisco, a Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, but failed to complete his coursework. It was there that he discovered conservatism. During his time in California, Kenney was interviewed by CNN for a segment exploring religious values. In the segment, where he was credited as "Jason Kenny – Anti-abortion Activist," he argued against Jesuit professors who declared free speech as essential to a university. Allowing pro-choice activists on campus, Kenney argued, was "destroying the mission and the purpose of this university." In the student newspaper, the "San Francisco Foghorn", he suggested that giving a platform to pro-choice groups would mean the school had no basis to refuse a similar platform to pedophiles or to the Church of Satan.


title: Jason Kenney

text: The Archbishop rejected Kenney's petition that summer, and he never returned to complete his undergraduate degree. Instead, Kenney returned to Canada to begin work for the Saskatchewan Liberal Party. He was "very involved in the young Liberals" as a young man, and in 1988 was executive assistant to Ralph Goodale, the leader of the provincial party at the time. Not long after, in 1989, Kenney was hired as the first executive director of the Alberta Taxpayers Association, which advocated for fiscal responsibility. In 1990, Kenney was named president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, a self-described taxpayer's advocacy group that scrutinizes governmental expenditure from a conservative perspective.


title: Jason Kenney

text: Kenney was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1997, at the age of 29. He was elected as a member of the Reform Party of Canada, which later became the Canadian Alliance. While a member of the House of Commons, Kenney was co-chair of the United Alternative Task Force, national co-chairman of Stockwell Day's campaign for leadership of the Alliance, and national co-chair of the Canadian Alliance's 2000 election campaign. While on the Opposition benches between 1997 and 2006, Kenney served in several prominent shadow cabinet roles, including deputy House leader for the Official Opposition, critic for Canada–United States relations, critic for national revenue, and critic for finance.


title: Jason Kenney

text: He was a member of a group of Reform Party MPs that were known as the Snack Pack due to their habit of eating greasy food and ridiculing the ruling Liberals.


title: Jason Kenney

text: Kenney supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and suggested that the Chrétien government's refusal to support the war would damage Canada's relationship with the United States.


title: Jason Kenney

text: On February 6, 2006, Kenney and Sylvie Boucher were appointed as parliamentary secretaries to the prime minister, Stephen Harper. That August, when two opposition MPs suggested removing Hezbollah from Canada's list of terrorist organizations, Kenney came under fire for comparing the organization to the Nazi Party. Later, he rebuked Prime Minister of Lebanon Fuad Saniora for his criticisms of Canada, invoking the $25 million CAD that the country received from Canada in reconstructive assistance during the 2006 Lebanon War.


title: Jason Kenney

text: On January 4, 2007, Kenney was sworn in as the secretary of state for multiculturalism and Canadian identity and as a Privy Councillor. In this capacity, Kenney was the Harper government's representative to ethnic communities in Canada, and made frequent appearances at ethnic community events across the country.


title: Jason Kenney

text: In early 2008, Kenney posted an announcement on his website, declaring that the Canadian government recognized the flag of the Republic of Vietnam as the symbol of the Vietnamese-Canadian community. Further, he declared that "attempts to disparage [the flag] are a deeply troubling attack on one of Canada's ethnic communities and on the principles of multiculturalism." In May 2008, he made a speech at an Army of the Republic of Vietnam rally, lending support to the program.


title: Jason Kenney

text: That same month, Kenney launched the Community Historical Recognition Program (CHRP), which established $13.5 million CAD in funding over five years for commemorative projects by ethno-cultural communities that had been subject to discriminatory Canadian immigration and wartime policies. By the project's conclusion in 2013, all of the funds had been utilized, save for $500,000 that was earmarked for education about the Chinese head tax, and was left unspent when one Chinese community group failed to file the required paperwork. Because more than thirty other projects involving the Chinese-Canadian community had been funded through the CHRP, Kenney considered the project a success and declined to release the funding, citing the conclusion of the program. In 2013, Kenney said in his remarks on the end of the CHRP program that the government was "committed to recognizing and educating Canadians about the experiences of those pioneers who overcame such heavy burdens. Their experiences mark an unfortunate period in our nation's history. We must ensure that they are never forgotten."


title: Jason Kenney

text: In 2008, Kenney became Minister of Citizenship and Immigration in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet shuffle of October 30, while retaining responsibility for multiculturalism, which he had been given in 2007.


title: Jason Kenney

text: In April 2009, Kenney officially launched Asian Heritage Month to "better understand the rich diversity the Asian Canadian community brings to Canada".


title: Jason Kenney

text: While speaking in Jerusalem in December 2009 about Canadian government funding of human rights organizations, Kenney said, "We have de-funded organizations, most recently, like KAIROS who are taking a leadership role in the boycott [of Israel]. We're receiving a lot of criticism for these decisions ... but we believe we have done these things for the right reasons, and we stand by these decisions." He later added in a letter to the "Toronto Star" that, "While I disagree with the nature of KAIROS's militant stance toward the Jewish homeland, that is not the reason their request for taxpayer funding was denied."


title: Jason Kenney

text: On June 26, 2010, Kenney announced changes to the Skilled Worker Immigration Program. For their applications to be processed, skilled worker applicants were thereafter required to either have an offer of arranged employment or be qualified in one of 29 eligible occupations out of the 520 described in the National Occupational Classification (NOC). A cap of 20,000 applications per year for the skilled workers class was also introduced. As of July 1, 2011, a maximum of 10,000 Federal Skilled Worker applications will be considered for processing in the subsequent 12 months. Within the 10,000 cap, a maximum of 500 federal skilled worker applications per eligible occupation will be considered for processing each year.


title: Jason Kenney

text: Kenney said that his reform of the immigration point system fixed problems with the previous immigration system. He also said the new system was more efficient in accepting migrants who could make the best contributions to the Canadian economy. The Canadian Experience Class Program was created to attract more international students who qualify as a graduate in the program, with an increased focus on youth, job skills, and a fluency in English or French. And at the same time, the immigration department imposed a new language requirement for the Federal Skilled Workers (FSW) program. Many of these changes were made to reduce the processing times for immigration applications. Vancouver immigration lawyer Richard Kurland said that these changes would guarantee "no more backlogs." Kenney, however, decided to delete the backlog of 280,000 skilled worker applications, and a lawsuit by the deleted applicants failed to preserve the applications.


title: Jason Kenney

text: There was significant criticism of the institution of a Designated Country of Origin (DCO) list, which attributes countries as being unlikely to persecute. Therefore, refugee claimants coming from these countries—including Hungary, Mexico, and Israel—will undergo a different refugee claimant process than those from non-DCO countries. Furthermore, refugee claimants from countries on the DCO no longer receive emergency healthcare coverage.


title: Jason Kenney

text: In 2011, Kenney imposed a ban on niqab face veils for those taking the oath of citizenship. In his appeal on behalf of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration in "Citizenship and Immigration v Ishaq", 2015 FCA 194, the three justices ruled in favour of Zunera Ishaq and her right to wear the niqab, confirming that the federal requirement was unlawful.


title: Jason Kenney

text: On July 19, 2011, Kenney announced that the government intended to revoke the citizenship of 1,800 people it believes obtained their status through fraudulent means. The decision to revoke Canadian citizenship was rare, and a large-scale proposed crackdown had no precedent. At the time of his announcement, fewer than 70 citizenships had been revoked since the "Citizenship Act, 1946".


title: Jason Kenney

text: An investigation into residence fraud continued to grow, and almost 11,000 cases were being reviewed in September 2012. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) revoked up to 3,100 citizens' citizenship, citing cheating or lies. Kenney said of the matter, "Canadian citizenship is not for sale and we are taking action to strip citizenship and permanent residence status from people who do not play by rules." CIC worked in tandem with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and various overseas Canadian offices to prevent citizenship fraud. Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Vic Toews said that "These efforts reinforce our government's commitment to protecting the integrity of our immigration system." The CIC estimates that about 5,000 people with Canadian permanent resident status are outside of Canada, and implicated in residence fraud.


title: Jason Kenney

text: In January 2009, Kenney made public statements critical of U.S. soldiers seeking asylum in Canada who were facing punishment for their refusal to participate in the Iraq War. Unlike in the Vietnam era, Kenney said, the current asylum seekers were neither "draft dodgers" nor "resisters", but rather "people who volunteer to serve in the armed forces of a democratic country and simply change their mind to desert. And that's fine, that's the decision they have made, but they are not refugees." He also referred to the asylum seekers as "bogus refugee claimants". These remarks were seen by some supporters of the asylum seekers as a form of interference in the asylum process. Kenney believed that Kimberly Rivera, an American soldier seeking refuge, was not a legitimate refugee. "Military deserters from the United States are not genuine refugees under the internationally accepted meaning of the term," said Alexis Pavlich, the minister's press secretary.


title: Jason Kenney

text: In 2012, Kenney took steps in 2012 to find and combat marriage fraud. His efforts were primarily focused on marriages in which one party was a Canadian citizen and the other, an immigrant, was using marriage to facilitate their entry into Canada, at which point they would leave their sponsor's home and declare the marriage to be a lie. In response, Kenney instituted a five-year prohibition on spousal sponsorship for those who had already been sponsored by a spouse into Canada. He also implemented a "conditional" permanent residency status, to ensure that a spouse or partner had to live as husband and wife for a minimum of two years with their Canadian sponsor, or else they would have their status revoked.


title: Jason Kenney

text: As part of Kenney's "Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act", introduced in June 2012, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism would have the ability to deny entry to Canada based on "public policy considerations." Kenney was quoted in "The Globe and Mail" as saying that present immigration laws do not allow someone to be kept out if they are seeking to promote violence. The previous year, both the official opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) and Quebec's National Assembly had asked Kenney to exercise negative discretion, but no such ability existed under Canadian law. During debate in the House of Commons, the NDP criticized this component of the bill, arguing it gives too much power to the minister.


title: Jason Kenney

text: Earlier, in March 2009, the CBSA prevented British politician George Galloway from entering Canada, where he had planned to give a series of speeches against the War in Afghanistan. The Office of the Immigration Minister stated that the Canada Border Services Agency deemed Galloway as inadmissible to Canada due to national security concerns. Galloway had openly given what he called "financial support" to Hamas, classified as a terrorist group in Canada.


title: Jason Kenney

text: Galloway pursued the matter in the Canadian court system, where it was revealed that Kenney's office had emailed the CBSA on the matter. The Federal Court found that Kenney's office had used "a flawed and overreaching interpretation of the standards under Canadian law for labeling someone as engaging in terrorism or being a member of a terrorist organization." The presiding judge also determined that the CBSA had produced its assessment of Galloway on scant evidence after receiving instructions from Kenney's staff, who attempted to bar Galloway because "they disagreed with his political views".


title: Jason Kenney

text: "The Globe and Mail" later pointed out that, while Kenney was quick to refuse Galloway entry into Canada, his department gave entry to controversial politician Geert Wilders, who compared Islam to fascism and campaigned to ban the Quran from the Netherlands. Wilders spoke in Toronto and Ottawa, generating further controversy.