| Should the Conservatives take credit for the falling homicide rate? Posted: 20 Dec 2013 02:16 PM PST  They haven't weighed in yet but you can be sure the Conservatives will want to take credit at some point for the decline in last year's homicide rate. Statistics Canada's just-released numbers for 2012 show the 543 homicides reported to … Continue reading →
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| Salvation Army break-in leaves Sherwood Park charity short Posted: 20 Dec 2013 07:31 PM PST  A Sherwood Park Salvation Army thrift shop is trying to recoup its losses after a late-night break and enter.
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| Second storm headed for southern Ontario Posted: 20 Dec 2013 07:23 PM PST A second winter storm could make life more difficult for travellers in the Toronto area over the weekend according warnings from Environment Canada.  |
| Supreme Court strikes down anti-prostitution laws Posted: 20 Dec 2013 07:44 AM PST  Three laws governing prostitution in Canada were struck down by the Supreme Court on Friday, in a unanimous decision that found them to be unconstitutionally broad. The Supreme Court of Canada voted 9-0 to throw out laws that make it … Continue reading →
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| What is wrong with Canada’s military procurement process? Posted: 20 Dec 2013 01:33 PM PST  You can add this to the growing list of Canada's military procurement woes. As reported by the Canadian Press, on Friday, the Harper government has decided to scrap a $2-billion order for new close-combat armoured vehicles citing budget considerations. Army … Continue reading →
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| Judge slams spy agency for end-running law to intercept Canadians abroad Posted: 20 Dec 2013 02:31 PM PST  TORONTO - Canada's spy agency deliberately withheld information from the courts in an effort to do an end-run around the law when it applied for top-secret warrants to intercept the communications of Canadians abroad, a Federal Court judge said Friday.
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| Serial killer Robert Pickton files defence in lawsuits, denies everything Posted: 20 Dec 2013 01:43 PM PST  VANCOUVER - Serial killer Robert Pickton continues to deny responsibility for the years he spent hunting sex workers in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, filing statements of defence in a series of lawsuits against him. The families of several women whose DNA or remains were found on Pickton's farm launched lawsuits earlier this year targeting Pickton, his brother David, and various levels of government.
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| BlackBerry announces $ 4.4 billion loss, partnership with Foxconn Posted: 20 Dec 2013 04:40 AM PST  TORONTO - BlackBerry is reporting a massive $4.4 billion loss in the third quarter and 56 per cent drop in revenue. BlackBerry also announced it is entering in to a five-year partnership with Foxconn, the world's largest manufacturer of electronic products. Foxconn will jointly develop and manufacture certain new BlackBerry devices and manage the inventory of them. BlackBerry reported revenue of $1.2 billion, down 56 per cent in the same quarter last year.
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| Way police deal with the mentally ill at a 'turning point,' observers say Posted: 20 Dec 2013 02:22 PM PST  TORONTO - Whether the victim was a scissors-wielding mentally ill man, a soldier with post traumatic stress disorder or a teen with a knife on an empty street car, police shootings of those in crisis appear to have sparked a polarizing debate. At a time when statistics suggest one in five Canadians experiences a mental health illness in any given year, there's growing concern about how police deal with some of society's most vulnerable. While public outcry following some high-profile shootings has at times led to street protests and accusations of excessive police brutality, senior police officials say they've made the issue a priority. "I'm not going to tell you that we're perfect," says Vancouver police chief Jim Chu, who is president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.
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| Miserable weather causing Christmas travel delays Posted: 20 Dec 2013 08:39 AM PST  Here on the cusp of one of the biggest travel weekends of the year, Mother Nature is giving an early Christmas present to many travellers across the country. Unfortunately, it's one you'll probably want to re-gift. Much of the eastern … Continue reading →
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| Canada's housing market will likely simmer in 2014, despite continued demand Posted: 20 Dec 2013 02:22 PM PST  TORONTO - After months of scouring online listings and visiting half a dozen open houses, Mike Lock and his wife became discouraged, convinced that they were never going to be able to buy a home in their price range. With a budget of around $400,000, the couple was severely limited in their options in Toronto where the average house price in November was nudging $540,000 - up 11 per cent year-over-year. But last week, their offer of $385,000 for a house in east Toronto was accepted. After years of a hot streak, the real estate market in Canada appears set to cool to a simmer in 2014 with demand expected to remain relatively strong across most provinces.
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| Despite 200-300 incidents of spousal abuse, B.C. man will be out of jail in 17 months Posted: 20 Dec 2013 12:36 PM PST  A Metro Vancouver man who beat his wife between 200 and 300 times over 25 years will spend only four years in prison, the Vancouver Province reports. But he'll be out even sooner than that because of the time he … Continue reading →
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| ‘Homeless’ Vancouver man hands out cash to kind strangers Posted: 20 Dec 2013 09:08 AM PST  A man disguised as a homeless person on the streets of Vancouver has been handing out cash to the kind strangers trying to help him. Yogi Omar is one of those kind strangers. When he saw the derelict-looking man with … Continue reading →
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| Elderly patient discharged to empty house not a ‘one-off' case Posted: 20 Dec 2013 01:02 AM PST The case of an elderly Toronto-area man left by an ambulance service in an empty house may not be as isolated a case as some health-care officials are suggesting, patient advocates say.  |
| Citizenship backlog stark contrast to fast-tracked Olympic skater Posted: 20 Dec 2013 01:08 AM PST American ice dancer Piper Gilles's smooth glide to Canadian citizenship this week was in stark contrast to the growing number of landed immigrants caught in a backlog that sees them waiting as long as three years to receive their official welcome to Canada.  |
| Not only in Philadelphia: Rob Ford supporters heckle Santa Claus Posted: 20 Dec 2013 10:05 AM PST  Some marketing genius came up with a seemingly perfect way to shame embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford during the holiday season and it ended the way we all should have expected it would: A Rob Ford supporter told Santa Clause … Continue reading →
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| Prime Minister Stephen Harper says no plans to quit before 2015 election Posted: 19 Dec 2013 06:00 PM PST  OTTAWA - Stephen Harper is trying to quell speculation that he'll resign before the next election. In televised, year-end interviews with Global News and Quebec's TVA network, the prime minister said he intends to lead the Conservative party in the scheduled fall 2015 campaign. "It's kind of surreal," Harper told Global's Ottawa bureau chief, Jacques Bourbeau. He reiterated his government's commitment to balancing the budget by 2015, well ahead of most other developed countries.
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| Video: Canada's legislatures all lit up for the holidays Posted: 20 Dec 2013 03:45 AM PST  Holiday lights adorn legislatures across Canada for the festive season. Here is a look at some of the luminous displays.
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| Lawsuit filed in Washington state claims Teck toxins caused disease Posted: 20 Dec 2013 04:08 PM PST  VANCOUVER - A Washington state woman has filed a class-action lawsuit against Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B), claiming toxic pollutants from the company's smelter in southeastern British Columbia are to blame for her breast cancer diagnosis and other health ailments. Barbara Anderson is a longtime resident of Northport, Wash., a small community about 30 kilometres south of Teck's lead and zinc smelter in Trail. The lawsuit filed in the Eastern District Court says Anderson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and inflammatory bowel disease in 2010. "Teck negligently, carelessly and recklessly generated, handled, stored, treated, disposed of and failed to control and contain the metals and other toxic substances at the Trail smelter, resulting in the release of toxic substances and exposure of plaintiff and the proposed class," says the claim, filed Thursday.
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| Supreme Court strikes down Canada's anti-prostitution laws as Charter breach Posted: 20 Dec 2013 02:32 PM PST  OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada started the clock ticking Friday for Parliament to reshape social policy dealing with the world's oldest profession, as political battle lines were drawn. In a unanimous 9-0 ruling on Friday, the high court struck down the country's prostitution laws, giving Parliament a year to produce new legislation. Justice Minister Peter MacKay said the government was "concerned" by the ruling, and is "exploring all possible options to ensure the criminal law continues to address the significant harms that flow from prostitution to communities, those engaged in prostitution, and vulnerable persons." Meanwhile, Employment Minister Jason Kenney raised the spectre of judicial activism — saying legislators, not judges, should be making the law.
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| Top Canada court strikes down prostitution restrictions Posted: 20 Dec 2013 01:51 PM PST  By Randall Palmer OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's Supreme Court on Friday struck down major restrictions on prostitution, including bans on brothels and street solicitation, declaring the laws unconstitutional because they compromised the safety of sex workers. Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin dismissed the federal government's argument that it was prostitution itself, not the laws that govern it, that puts prostitutes at risk. McLachlin said a law that banned brothels - what she called "safe havens" for prostitutes - could expose them to predators. "It makes no difference that the conduct of pimps and johns is the immediate source of the harms suffered by prostitutes." Justice Minister Peter MacKay said the Conservative government was concerned with the ruling.
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| Canada to scrap C$2 billion plan to buy armored vehicles Posted: 20 Dec 2013 09:09 AM PST OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada said on Friday it was scrapping a C$2 billion ($1.9 billion) plan to buy 108 large armored troop-carrying vehicles for land forces, in part because the equipment was no longer seen as crucial. The three companies in the running were France's Nexter, Britain's BAE Systems Plc and General Dynamics Corp's Land Systems unit. The scrapped plan is the latest in a series of procurement mishaps to hit the Canadian military. The Conservative government announced in 2009 it would buy the vehicles to protect troops from mines and anti-armor weapons. ...  |
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