A weekly scrap collection from off the business beat:
CEOs don't necessarily make bad dads@
(AP) _ You might think big shot CEOs have little time to spend with their kids, but many of them are making an effort worth more than a goofy tie this Father's Day.
According to a new survey of chief executive officers at Fortune 1000 companies, 80 per cent of CEO dads said they spend as much or more time with their kids than their father spent with them.
Nearly 70 per cent said they would leave a late meeting to see their child in an event like a play or piano recital, and 59 per cent knew the names of their kids' three best friends.
The survey revealed some room for improvement, however. Nearly three-quarters of CEO dads admitted to missing an important milestone in their child's life and 62 per cent regretted it. Less than half knew their kid's bedtime.
While nine out of ten CEOs said they wanted to spend more time with their kids, just under half said they were doing what was best for their children's future. That should earn dad a thoughtful gift or two this Sunday.
The nonscientific survey, conducted by Ericho Communications, was sent to all the Fortune 1000 CEOs and 11 per cent were returned by CEOs identified as parents. Another 39 per cent of the responses resulted from follow-up phone calls.
Toronto aims to attract more gay tourists@
(CP) _ Just days before Toronto kicks off its annual Pride Week celebrations the city's tourism board has announced it's going all out in an effort to attract gay travellers from the United States.
Tourism Toronto said Friday it has launched a "Gay Marketing Advisory Group" comprised of 12 local community leaders that will help sell the city to foreigners.
"The gay travel market is one of the fastest-growing segments and is a $55 billion industry. This represents a major opportunity for Toronto," said David Whitaker, president and CEO of Tourism Toronto.
"Toronto offers a great deal to gay visitors, who tend to travel more often, stay longer and spend more in a destination."
The tourism board said it has boosted its marketing budget designated to gay travellers by 50 per cent to $300,000, targeting cities like New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Plans include buying advertising in restaurants, bars and local gay publications, as well as sponsoring events.
Tourism Toronto said that research has found that U.S. gay travellers are far more likely to hold passports. The board said that 71 per cent of travellers that identified themselves as gay held a valid passport, almost three times the U.S. average of 24 per cent.
Nearly half of Canadians expect to be a victim of ID theft@
(CP) _ As identity theft continues to plague the international community, a survey suggests that nearly one in 15 Canadians has been a victim while nearly half thought they'd probably become one in the future.
The poll, conducted by SOM on behalf of telephone assistance company Sigma Assistel, found that Canadians suffered losses of $16.3 million from the crime.
But 60 per cent of those polled said they'd made efforts to protect themselves with actions such as buying a shredder (45 per cent), installing a house alarm (30 per cent), or renting a safety deposit box (30 per cent).
Some hadn't made any efforts to stop the theft because they either didn't feel the need to (38 per cent), didn't know enough about it or how to protect themselves (28 per cent) or didn't think it was possible to prevent it (18 per cent).
Sigma Assistel suggested several ways that Canadians could protect themselves from identity theft.
The company suggests included never confirming bank card PIN codes, credit card numbers, social insurance number, or driver's license information by telephone or e-mail unless the user initiated the request themselves.
Collect your mail every day, the company also suggested, because personal information is easily accessible through unlocked mailboxes.
Sigma Assistel also suggested using a credit card with a low credit limit to buy products and services online.
The national identity theft survey was conducted by SOM through 1,510 interviews with a maximum margin of error of 2.6 per cent, or 19 times out of 20.
