As Latvians prepare to visit this summer’s biggest Latvian ethnic event in North America—the song festival in Toronto—they should also ready themselves for delays at the border as they enter Canada. But, says a border service spokesman, those delays should not be any greater than expected during a busy holiday season.

The 12th Latvian Song Festival in Canada is scheduled July 1-4 in downtown Toronto and occurs over two major holidays, Canada Day on July 1 and the Fourth of July in the United States.

“That weekend will be a busy, busy time,” Canada Border Services Agency spokesman Danny Yen told Latvians Online. Visitors arriving by automobile should expect on average a 20-minute delay as they enter Canada, he said.

“We do staff up for the busy times,” Yen added. However, he said the border services agency can’t predict if additional security measures might be in place because of unexpected events. Border security has become tighter since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.

Latvians traveling by automobile most likely will use one of seven main border crossings into southern Ontario, including the bridge crossing from Detroit, Mich., into Windsor, Ont., the busiest on the Canada-U.S. border, Yen said.

Other points include a tunnel from Detroit into Windsor; a crossing from Point Huron, Mich., to Point Edward, Ont.; a crossing from Buffalo, N.Y., to Fort Erie, Ont., and three bridges at Niagara Falls.

Literature about traveling to Canada includes suggestions such as carrying appropriate documentation, including U.S. passports or green cards that show a person’s citizenship status. Latvians without U.S. documentation, such as those holding Latvian passports, might check with a Canadian consulate for travel information. Further information about traveling to Canada is available from the Canada Border Services Agency’s Web site, which includes a page with hourly updates on Canada-bound and U.S.-bound border wait times.

Local officials are not ruling out arson as the cause of a series of Easter holiday fires that damaged nine buildings in the historic heart of the western Latvian city of Kuldīga, media reports say.

The fires, which are estimated to have caused about LVL 100,000 in losses, began about 5 p.m. April 12, according to the local newspaper, Kurzemnieks. The fires burned several structures considered to be of historical value.

Kuldīga has only two fire trucks, but assistance came from several neighboring towns and as far away as Jūrmala, the newspaper reported. In all, about 25 fire trucks were called to fight the blaze.

Local firefighters were called out at 5:07 p.m. to a report of a fire in a shack on Smilšu Street, Kurzemnieks reported. Soon after, reports came in that a shack between Putnu and Liepāja streets was on fire, as well the roof of the old hospital on O. Kalpaka Street. Other buildings on Putnu Street also began burning.

“It’s obvious that the fire was set intentionally,” reporter Edgars Liepiņš wrote in a story posted on the paper’s Web site. State fire officials and police are investigating, according to the national daily newspaper Diena. The cause of the fire may also have been accidental.

The fire spread because of high winds, some media reports suggest.

Although no one was hurt in the fire, two families were left homeless.

The Kuldīga City Council is expected to ask the state government for at least LVL 80,000 in assistance to repair or rebuild the structures.

A Web site that’s apparently the first to broadly discuss Latvia in the Chinese language has been established by the Latvian Embassy in the People’s Republic of China, President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga’s press office has announced.

The site was unveiled as the president continued her state visit to China.

The site, the content of which also is available in English, discusses Latvia’s diplomatic, trade and cultural relationships with China and provides consular information for those interested in traveling to Latvia.

The site may be viewed at www.latvianembassy.org.cn.