quinta-feira, 13 de outubro de 2011

Canadenses aprendendo português?


Artigo interessante dessa semana no Vancouver Sun falando sobre a importância de se aprender português brasileiro!

Quem sabe essa tendência não é uma boa pra nós brasileiros aqui em terras do Norte?


Many parents I know have enrolled their kids in French immersion schools, or weekend Mandarin courses, in an effort to prepare the next generation for a competitive future world of open trading markets and portable skills. While commendable and far-sighted, I wonder how many parents have considered preparing their children for a world where Brazil becomes an economic powerhouse and significant trading partner for Canada?



I suspect not many. That should change.


Why should Brazil matter to Canada? It's now the world's seventh largest economy, one of the fastest growing and projected to be No. 5 within a few short years. Its natural resource based economy is similar to Canada's, as are the vast distances that separate its resources from its main population centres. Most importantly, it is a rapidly developing economy with specific needs - many of which Canada is uniquely positioned to address.


It should be no surprise, therefore, that one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's first foreign trade missions, since winning a new mandate, was to Brazil. Or that our new Trade Minister, Ed Fast, has already helped arrange two trade missions to that country in the past 100 days.


What they see is an opportunity for our businesses, our people and ultimately for our children.


Canada has much to offer Brazil. We have 80-plus years of experience in developing a natural resource economy, building critical infrastructure, and traversing large tracts of sensitive terrain in order to connect our resources to our population base. Developing infrastructure is a major priority for Brazil. In addition to hosting both the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, Brazil has plans to invest more than $800 billion in new infrastructure projects over the next 10 years. One example of the types of solutions Canada can provide Brazil is the portable camp and shelter market. Canada is a world leader in this field, born out of decades of helping resource and construction companies provide high quality living conditions to workers.


Weatherhaven is a 30-year-old Vancouver-based company that develops portable and re-deployable shelter solutions for the natural resource, disaster relief and military markets. Our specialty is re-deployable camps in remote areas, particularly those requiring a very light environmental footprint. We have supplied customers in more than 50 countries and, after entering Brazil 10 years ago, have seen it become one of our fastest growing markets.


This past August, as a direct result of our participation in the PM's trade mission, Weatherhaven was able to secure a significant new deal with HRT, a very progressive and innovative Brazilian oil and gas company. This new opportunity, to build leadingedge sustainable exploration camps in the Amazon, will result in employment for British Columbians and create opportunities to export Canadianmade technology and services.


It's clear that Brazil is a country in fast-forward mode, with an ambitious well-financed government, and fuelled by natural resource revenues. Its large companies are becoming aggressive global players: Witness the recent acquisition of Canadian mining (Inco) and brewing companies (Labatt's) by larger, more global Brazilian competitors.


Ironically, the pace of Brazil's economic development outstrips its domestic R&D and education capabilities, which provides tremendous opportunities to Canadian companies and to our education sector to help them bridge those gaps. For instance, Canadian universities are already stepping up to meet that need. Canada has become the No. 1 destination for foreign education and training by Brazilian students.


If you don't know much about Brazil, or if your view of it is based on old stereotypes, you owe it to yourself and your children to learn more about this country. Not only won't you regret it, your children may one day tell you "Obrigado."
Ray Castelli is CEO of Vancouver-based Weatherhaven. The company recently started offering free Portuguese classes to all its Vancouver-based employees.


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Should+kids+learning+Brazilian+Portuguese/5536864/story.html#ixzz1ahJqGDZn

sábado, 1 de outubro de 2011

Só no Canadá V - reembolso do convênio sem nem mandar o recibo

Gente, mais uma da série "Só no Canadá"!

Apesar de termos saúde gratuita pelo plano do governo, é possível ter seguro adicional (normalmente oferecido pelos empregadores) para as despesas que não são cobertas, como medicamentos, acupuntura, fisio, chiropractor etc etc.  Através da minha empresa tenho um seguro desses que é uma mão na roda!

Quando vamos na farmácia eles já passam o cartãozinho do convênio e só pagamos os 20% de co-pay.  Para chiropractor e outras coisas, é preciso pegar o recibo e solicitar o reembolso.

Eu estava naquelas de juntar os recibos, mandar pelo correio e esperar o $ entrar na minha conta.  Essa semana descobri que posso mandar o pedido de reembolso pela internet.  Pensei "ótimo, assim não precisa esperar o tempo do correio".  Fui na massagem (sim, até massagem aqui é coberta pelo convênio) e entrei no site pra solicitar o reembolso.  Eis que descubro que nem um recibo escaneado é preciso mandar - é só colocar o nome do profissional, o número do registro, o valor e voilá, no dia seguinte o dinheiro entra na conta!

É outro baseado no "honour system".  Óbvio que eles falam que vc precisa guardar os recibos por 1 ano caso eles queiram fazer uma auditoria, mas é mais um exemplo em que primeiro se confia nas pessoas pra depois desconfiar.

Só no Canadá...