Canadian circus billionaire blasts into space

Canadian circus billionaire blasts into space

Updated: Wed Sep. 30 2009 8:54:51 AM

CTV.ca News Staff

Billionaire Guy Laliberte became Canada's first space tourist -- and the world's first space clown -- when he blasted off towards the International Space Station in clear blue skies on Wednesday morning.

Laliberte, founder of the Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil, and two astronauts are on board the Russian Soyuz TMA-16 spaceship for a 12-day trip that will end at the ISS on Oct. 2.

It was a smooth launch that happened at 07:14 GMT from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome on the Kazakh steppe.

Laliberte, seen on the cabin's in-flight camera, gave two thumbs-up minutes after blast-off. He told ground control he was feeling "super."

Friends and family looked on from the ground, breaking out into chants of "Guy! Guy!" and singing Elton John's "Rocket Man" when a loudspeaker announcement said the ship was in orbit.

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"I'm very happy for him. It's amazing," said Laliberte's partner, former model Claudia Barilla, with her young son in her arms. "Now we know he's up there."

Laliberte, 50, paid $35 million for his ticket to space. He plans to use the publicity to draw attention to the importance of access to clean water on Earth.

"I needed it to be the right time and for the right purpose," he was quoted as saying by the flight organizer, Space Adventures.

"This is the time. And the purpose is clear: to raise awareness on water issues to humankind on planet earth."

Laliberte plans to stream out a webcast during his journey, which will be carried live on www.onedrop.org on Oct. 9. He's due back on Earth on Oct. 11.

The former fire breather and stilt walker from Quebec City is on board the Soyuz with U.S. astronaut Jeffrey Williams, 51, and Russian cosmonaut Maxim Surayev, 37. They latter two will temporarily join an expanded crew of six on the ISS and will stay in orbit for 169 days.

The Soyuz team will be helping with construction of the ISS -- the largest artificial satellite, which has cost the U.S. Russia, Canada, Japan and the European Space Agency more than US$100 billion.

Laliberte has become the seventh paying space tourist to travel to the ISS. He may be one of the last for several years as NASA retires its shuttle program and turns to the Russian space agency to send U.S. astronauts to the lab.

Laliberte formed Cirque Du Soleil 25 years ago. He holds a 95 per cent stake in the company, and is worth an estimated $2.5 billion. He has promised to play the clown as much as possible while in space, donning his trademark red nose and even tickling his fellow travellers while they sleep.

"I promise I will plant as much as possible nose clowns in space," he said. "So it will be not only brilliant stars but colourful stars in the future."

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Delphi Energy to list 12 million more shares

2009-09-28 18:16 ET - Prospectus Approved

TSX bulletin 2009-1226

An additional 12 million common shares (symbol: DEE) will be listed at the opening on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. The listing will cover common shares to be sold to the public at a price of $1.25 per common share pursuant to the terms of a short-form prospectus dated Sept. 23, 2009. The closing of the offering is expected to occur prior to the opening on Sept. 30, 2009.

Delphi Energy arranges $15-million financing

2009-09-09 17:33 ET - News Release

Mr. David Reid reports

DELPHI ENERGY ANNOUNCES FINANCING

Delphi Energy Corp. has entered into a financing agreement with a syndicate of underwriters, led by National Bank Financial, to issue and sell, on a bought-deal basis, 12 million common shares of Delphi at an issue price of $1.25 each, resulting in gross proceeds of $15-million. The underwriters will have the option to acquire up to an additional 1.2 million common shares at an issue price of $1.25 per common share for additional gross proceeds of up to $1.5-million for total gross proceeds of up to $16.5-million. Proceeds of the offering will be used to finance Delphi's continuing light oil development program in Hythe and additional potential acquisition opportunities. The offering is subject to normal regulatory approvals, including approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange. Closing is expected to occur on or before Sept. 30, 2009.

Pescod Talks about ... BNK and more

BANKERS PETROLEUM
(T-BNK)
$4.68 +0.17
I guess everyone out there knows that for much of the
last part of the year, Bankers Petroleum was one of our fa-
vourite stories (although now Wavefront Energy is very close
on their heels). We thought we were safe sending out a
note on Bankers in the form we did last week—what with
Abby Badwi off speaking in Connecticut and Doug Urch at
an energy conference in Toronto. No one would note any-
thing we would write here, right? Wrong. It’s not as if
Abby took us out behind the shed for a spanking or any-
thing, but there were a few corrections that he figured peo-
ple should be aware of. His points are:
1)
Bankers had a CAPEX of $78 million in 2008 and are
planning a $50 million program this year, despite only
spending $7 million in first half of this year. 2010 he
suggests, will probably exceed $100 million. This point
is made because we has suggested that some people
even within Bankers might love being taken over by a
huge international that would allow them to throw huge
dollars at their projects in Albania, just to see what it
can do. Bankers is already and definitely doing that,
particularly next year.

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COLOSSUS MINERALS
(T-CSI)
With gold and precious metal prices coming back over
the last six months and so many junior explorers being
financed, there is lots of exploration out there these days
around the world and there have been some stunning drill-
ing results.
All of a sudden, there seems to be more and more good
gold deposits out there from drilling that has been re-
ported, but few compare with the absolutely stunning re-
sults announced from Colossus Minerals today. Not only
were the widths unbelievable, with 70 metres, but the grade
of 53 g/t gold and 20 g/t platinum and 31 g/t palladium, was
the kind of stuff an explorer can only dream of.
Huge widths, unbelievable grades, when does Colossus
get bought out? They are working in an area of Brazil
known to have rich ore that had been mined by garimpuros
for a long time, so finding stuff isn’t the surprise. The big
question remains how big this project could be.
Canaccord had recently raised their target from $5.50 to
$7.25; Thomas Weisel from $4.50 to $7.00 and we suspect
there might even be future additions.

Globe says Oilsands Quest joins upticking oil stocks

In the News

See In the News (U-BQI) Oilsands Quest Inc

The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition the massive bump in share price for Opti Canada has some of the hallmarks of a high-frequency trading blitz, say traders and analysts who cover the oil sands stock, which has swung wildly over the past two days. The Globe's Nathan Vanderklippe writes that on Wednesday, Opti closed up 34 per cent. The rapid movement was mirrored by another small oil sands player, Oilsands Quest. It is up 22 per cent over the past two trading days. Volatility also affected UTS Energy and Connacher Oil and Gas, and raised eyebrows across the oil patch, not least among those affected.

"It's interesting that the markets swing this far this fast. It puzzles all of us, I think," said Oilsands Quest executive chairman Murray Wilson. Mr. Wilson believes the jumps came from a combination of technical trading and more normal activity among long-term investors and hedge funds. Oilsands Quest is not seeking a merger or acquisition, although it is often approached, Mr. Wilson claims. "We have absolutely no specific knowledge about matters which could cause the shares in ourselves, or the rest of our peer group, to move in the manner that they have," he said.