| Tracking down missing $3.1 billion a high point in a tough week for Tories Posted: 29 Nov 2013 12:12 PM PST  Conservative MPs finally has a good news story to take home to their constituencies this weekend. You'll recall, in May, the Tory brand took a hit when the Auditor General slammed the government for losing track of $3.1 billion earmarked … Continue reading →
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| Soon-to-be 80 Jean Chretien ready to hit the ski hills Posted: 29 Nov 2013 08:47 PM PST MONTREAL - Even with his 80th birthday fast approaching, former prime minister Jean Chretien isn't slowing down — in fact, he can't wait to get back on the ski slopes. In a brief chat with The Canadian Press on Friday, Chretien described his health as "first class." "I'm still walking a lot and I will be skiing when the ski hills open," he said while being interviewed about the death of former senator Jean-Louis Roux, a prominent member of Quebec's theatre community. Last May, Chretien was pictured doing some kite-boarding in North Carolina.  |
| Woman dragged by attacker on Vancouver park trail Posted: 29 Nov 2013 08:32 PM PST  A woman was taken to hospital in Vancouver with minor injuries Friday morning after she was dragged down a walking trail by an attacker in a park in Marpole.
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| Canada-U.S. 'Beyond the Border' project beset by delays Posted: 29 Nov 2013 05:24 PM PST  A project meant to make it easier for trade and travel across the Canada-U.S. border is behind schedule, and can't even spend the millions of dollars allocated to it, according to a status report released today.
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| Child abductor Randall Hopley labelled long-term offender Posted: 29 Nov 2013 02:48 PM PST  Convicted child abductor Randall Hopley has escaped dangerous-offender status and the indefinite prison term it carries. Hopley, who abducted three-year-old Kienan Hebert from the bedroom of his unlocked home in Sparwood, B.C., in 2011, was instead declared a long-term offender … Continue reading →
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| Watchdog probes reports of health info being shared with U.S. border services Posted: 29 Nov 2013 02:46 PM PST  TORONTO - Ontario's privacy watchdog is probing reports that private health information is being shared with U.S. border services, saying it's a matter "of grave concern" to her. Her office "will investigate the matter and ensure that the personal health information of Ontarians is not being compromised by any organizations under my jurisdiction," Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian said in an email to Ontario's New Democrats, who requested her help. Cavoukian added that she's already contacted the Health Ministry to confirm that no personal health details are being provided to U.S. border services. NDP provincial health critic France Gelinas said she's been contacted by three people who have been denied entry to the U.S. based on their personal health history.
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| Liberals ask Mounties to investigate Conservative party's role in Senate scandal Posted: 29 Nov 2013 02:56 PM PST  OTTAWA - The Liberals have written to the RCMP asking them to investigate the Conservative party's role in an alleged payment scheme involving Sen. Mike Duffy's contested living expenses. Liberal Sean Casey sent a letter Thursday to RCMP commissioner Robert Paulson asking police to look into whether someone in the party promised to pay off Duffy's expenses. Casey points to an RCMP affidavit filed in court last week, which suggests Conservative Fund Canada chairman Sen. Irving Gerstein was prepared at one point to use party funds to repay Duffy. Ultimately, Nigel Wright — Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff at the time — paid out of his own pocket when the bill — $90,000 — got too high for the party to bear.
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| Competition Bureau green lights Telus acquisition of Public Mobile Posted: 29 Nov 2013 01:57 PM PST  OTTAWA - Canada's Competition Bureau has approved the purchase of wireless startup Public Mobile and its spectrum by Telus Corp. (TSX:T), one of the industry's big three. "Specifically, it is the bureau's view that the remaining non-incumbents in southern Ontario and greater Montreal, though differentiated from Public Mobile, are likely to continue to provide effective competition post transaction," the bureau said in a release. In the areas, Telus will face competition from Rogers Communications (TSX:RCI.B) and Bell Canada (TSX:BCE), the bureau said, along with WIND and Mobilicity in southern Ontario, and Videotron Mobile in Greater Montreal. Public Mobile was one of a handful of startups that entered the market after the federal government's 2010 spectrum auction.
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| Guilty plea an important piece in the Surrey Six murders puzzle Posted: 29 Nov 2013 12:08 PM PST  It was a shocking crime even in a city that was becoming inured to the violence of a vicious drug war that would take dozens of lives in the coming years. Six men were found dead in a high-rise apartment … Continue reading →
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| Rob Ford, Doug Ford to host new show on YouTube Posted: 29 Nov 2013 06:59 AM PST  First was their long-running radio show. Then there was their short-lived (one episode) reality show on Sun News. Now, the Ford brothers are taking their brand into their own hands with plans for a new web series. On Thursday, Councillor … Continue reading →
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| Tory MP to introduce bill to give backbenchers more power: report Posted: 29 Nov 2013 10:18 AM PST  In recent months, we've heard a lot rumblings about Conservative backbenchers being upset at the amount of power yielded by the prime minister and his office. Well, according to the Huffington Post, it looks like there are actually some Tory … Continue reading →
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| Ottawa cites housing risk for imposing fee on CMHC's mortgage insurance program Posted: 29 Nov 2013 03:31 PM PST  OTTAWA - The federal government is imposing a "risk fee" on CMHC for new issuances of high-risk mortgages starting next year — a fresh indication that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is unhappy with the risk to taxpayers posed by Canada's hot housing market. The fees of 3.25 per cent applied to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. on new premiums written, as well as a charge of 10 basis points on new portfolio insurance, is expected to cost the housing agency about $50 million a year. However, officials said that at present there are no plans to pass on the costs to Canadians obtaining mortgage insurance. "We certainly don't expect it to have any impact on the availability or cost of mortgage funding," CMHC chief financial officer Brian Naish said.
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| Pot-smoking Mountie returns serge, accuses RCMP of not helping members with PTSD Posted: 29 Nov 2013 05:05 PM PST  FREDERICTON - A New Brunswick Mountie who has run afoul of a policy that says RCMP officers can't smoke medicinal marijuana while in uniform has returned his red serge and accused the government and the force of not doing enough to support RCMP members with post-traumatic stress disorder. Ron Francis wept as he arrived Friday at the RCMP headquarters in Fredericton after he said he was ordered to return the dress uniform. "Members of the RCMP are not sacrificial to the government or to the organization," Francis said. The RCMP says its officers who are prescribed medicinal marijuana should not be in red serge or regular uniform while taking their medication as it would not portray the right message to the public.
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| Video: 'It means everything' corporal says of RCMP serge Posted: 29 Nov 2013 12:58 PM PST  The New Brunswick Mountie at the centre of a debate about smoking medicinal marijuana while wearing his police uniform turned over his formal RCMP red serge Friday.
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| Wanted priest doesn't know if he'll return to Canada on child sex charges Posted: 29 Nov 2013 03:17 PM PST I don't know," Joannes Rivoire said from his home in the Avignon region when asked if he'd return to Canada to face the three charges. Rivoire seemed aware of the 1998 Canadian warrant, but didn't want to talk about it when contacted by The Canadian Press on Friday. On Thursday, RCMP in Iqaluit confirmed that they have an active arrest warrant for Rivoire going back to when he served in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, between 1968 and 1970. Former Oblate priest Eric Dejaeger is currently on trial in Iqaluit on 69 charges of child sexual abuse alleged to have occurred between 1978 and 1982.  |
| Suicide rates among soldiers flat, but expected to increase, says military doc Posted: 29 Nov 2013 03:01 PM PST  OTTAWA - Despite the suicides of three Afghan war veterans this week, a military psychiatrist says there has not been a recent increase in suicide rates among Canadian Forces members. But those numbers are expected to rise within the next decade as the stress of combat takes hold in soldiers who have returned from the fighting in Afghanistan, Col. Rakesh Jetly said Friday. That is a troubling prospect as the military grapples with the latest rash of suicides, which are shining a spotlight on the programs the military has available for dealing with cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Critics have also questioned how the Canadian Forces tracks suicides among its members, and whether the numbers paint an accurate picture.
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| Suspended Senator Patrick Brazeau takes to Twitter to look for a new job Posted: 29 Nov 2013 07:10 AM PST  It's been almost a month since Senators Pamela Wallin, Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau were suspended from the upper chamber. While Wallin and Duffy have seemingly gone 'underground', the latter has been whipping up a social media storm. On Twitter … Continue reading →
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| Flood relief boosts federal deficit to $3.8 billion in September Posted: 29 Nov 2013 05:05 PM PST  OTTAWA - The federal deficit ballooned to an outsized $3.8-billion September —one of the biggest monthly shortfalls in years — but a large chunk of that was due to providing assistance for June's flooding disaster in Alberta, the government said Friday. Ottawa's monthly accounting of its fiscal position also included another one-time transaction — a gain of about $700 million from the sale of General Motors shares — that distorted September's bottom line. Still, the Finance Department suggests the distortions from the two extraordinary events should be discounted in calculating Ottawa's underlying fiscal position. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said earlier this week he was confident that the government is on track to eliminate the deficit in 2015, despite slow growth.
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| Trudeau's Liberals take comfortable lead in Canadian poll Posted: 29 Nov 2013 11:51 AM PST  Canada's Liberals took a handsome lead in an opinion poll released on Friday, climbing ahead of both the ruling Conservatives and the left-leaning New Democrats, the second largest party in the current Parliament. The Liberals would receive 35 percent of the vote if an election were held today, nearly twice their showing in the 2011 election, and they lead in the three key battleground provinces, according to the Ipsos-Reid poll for CTV News. Support for the Conservatives fell to 29 percent, the lowest since the last election. The Conservatives won a majority of seats in Parliament in 2011 with 39.6 percent of the vote.
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| Canada's economy gathers speed, no rate move expected Posted: 29 Nov 2013 08:09 AM PST  By Louise Egan OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's economy grew at the fastest pace in two years in the third quarter but the pickup failed to quell doubts about the economy's underlying strength, and analysts still expect interest rates to stay at the current low level well into 2015. Real gross domestic product grew by 2.7 percent, annualized, in the July-September period, driven mainly by consumer spending, business inventory accumulation and signs of a rebound in business investment. The performance beat the median forecast of 2.5 percent growth in a Reuters poll and was well above the Bank of Canada's 1.8 percent estimate last month. The news could be the first sign the economy is pulling out of a slow spell to lift chronically weak inflation, which has been flagged by the Bank of Canada as the reason interest rates are now on hold for the foreseeable future.
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