What’s New: In Brief (November 16, 2009)

The Saskatchewan government is introducing legislation to ban texting and talking on hand-held cell phones while driving.
June Draude, Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) minister, introduced the new law on Nov. 12 in the legislative assembly.
“Using a cell phone to talk or text is a dangerous distraction,” Draude said in a release. “Recent research found that a person who is texting while driving is 23 times more likely to be involved in a collision than a non-distracted driver.”
The new law prohibits all drivers from using hand-held cell phones to talk, text, email or surf the Internet while driving.
Experienced drivers will be allowed to use hands-free devices while driving. New drivers, meaning drivers in Saskatchewan’s graduated driver’s licensing program, cannot use cell phones of any type while operating a motor vehicle.
If passed during the current fall legislative sitting, the new law will take effect on Jan. 1, 2010.

Global conservation organization WWF and insurer RSA have announced an international partnership focussing on researching insurance risks of environmental change.
As part of the three-year global partnership, RSA is supporting major conservation projects around the world, including support of WWF-Canada’s national marine conservation program.
Climate change is opening up new areas of the Arctic to resource extraction, commercial shipping and fishing and placing increasing pressure on conservation of marine ecosystems along Canadian coastlines, RSA said in a release.
As part of the partnership, RSA is sponsoring WWF-Canada to research and map sensitive areas to help understand and mitigate risks and promote the use of resources in a more sustainable way.