Yahoo! News Canada - Canada Headlines

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• Greenpeace activist says piracy charge was the worst moment of Russian ordeal
• 3 skiers missing at B.C.'s Sun Peaks resort
• $109 fine for new driver taking drunk dad home
• Head of railway at centre of Lac-Megantic disaster: 'I was also a victim'
• National Defence spent $14,000 on poll about superheroes' abilities
• Federal parties in year-end fundraising frenzy as per-vote subsidy nears end
• Frustration grows as ice-storm blackout enters day 6 for tens of thousands
• GG David Johnston's New Year's message about helping others
• Canada pulls diplomatic staff from South Sudan over concerns for their safety
• Loonie falls to lowest level in nearly four years, even as U.S. dollar weakens
• Senate scandal tested federal political leaders in 2013
• Crews search river in New Hamburg, Ont., for body of five-year-old
• B.C. premier cancels Christmas trip to Kenya with son, citing 'private reasons'
• BlackBerry faces another year of uncertainty as CEO launches rescue attempt
• Latest lawsuit filed in fatal U.S. tour bus crash involving B.C. company
• Police say body found at recycling facility may have come in on a truck
• Alberta gas company pleads guilty, fined after pipeline leak

Greenpeace activist says piracy charge was the worst moment of Russian ordeal Posted: 27 Dec 2013 07:00 PM PST MONTREAL - Canadian Greenpeace activist Alexandre Paul has no doubt what the worst moment was during his harrowing ordeal in Russia. "When we knew it was going to be a charge of piracy, which meant up to 15 years in prison, and I realized my parents might not be around for that length of time," Paul told a news conference as he arrived in Montreal on Friday. Paul's return to Canada followed three months of uncertainty — two of which were spent in jail. Fellow Canadian activist Paul Ruzycki, of Port Colborne, Ont., is facing a slight delay in his own departure from Russia because his exit visa hasn't been processed.

3 skiers missing at B.C.'s Sun Peaks resort Posted: 27 Dec 2013 08:51 PM PST A desperate search is underway for two young sisters and a woman in her 40s, after they went out of bounds at Sun Peaks ski resort, 50 kilometres northeast of Kamloops.

$109 fine for new driver taking drunk dad home Posted: 27 Dec 2013 08:42 PM PST A novice Saanich driver says he's being punished for trying to do the right thing, after being fined for having no 'N' sign while driving his intoxicated father home from Victoria.

Head of railway at centre of Lac-Megantic disaster: 'I was also a victim' Posted: 27 Dec 2013 01:51 PM PST MONTREAL - The railway executive behind the company whose train smashed into Lac-Megantic wants people to know he's been suffering, too. Looking back at the year as it comes to a close, Ed Burkhardt said he's still troubled by the Quebec derailment and has thought about it every day since the July 6 catastrophe killed 47 people and destroyed part of the town. The chairman of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd. also told The Canadian Press in a recent interview that he's sustained significant personal financial losses since the disaster. "They had every reason to be very upset with what had occurred," Burkhardt said about the anger directed toward him by the people of Lac-Megantic.

National Defence spent $14,000 on poll about superheroes' abilities Posted: 27 Dec 2013 09:56 AM PST OTTAWA - Defence researchers spent almost $14,000 on a survey that asked whether superheroes can leap over skyscrapers. The study for the research arm of National Defence also asked 150 people online whether superheroes can fly through the air; The oddball questions were part of a short study completed in October to help the Canadian Forces "win the hearts and minds" of the local populations it faces when deployed overseas, such as recently in Afghanistan. The study was carried out by Toronto researcher M. Afzal Upal for Defence Research and Development Canada, or DRDC.

Federal parties in year-end fundraising frenzy as per-vote subsidy nears end Posted: 27 Dec 2013 01:49 PM PST OTTAWA - The major federal political parties are in a headlong rush to extract as much cash as possible from partisan supporters before the end of 2013. The Conservatives and Liberals have posted running fundraising totals for the fourth quarter as they push their followers toward an arbitrary Dec. 31 deadline. The Liberals are asking donors to pledge as little as $3 in their latest pitch, the NDP asked for $5 and the Conservatives, in a Dec. 22 missive, suggested $25. For the first time since Prime Minister Stephen Harper came to power in January 2006, the parties' publicized figures suggest the Conservative and Liberal fundraising machines are in a dead heat, with each raising more than $1.5 million this quarter heading into the final week.

Frustration grows as ice-storm blackout enters day 6 for tens of thousands Posted: 27 Dec 2013 07:39 PM PST TORONTO - Violent winds and changing weather could set back efforts to restore power to tens of thousands in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick who are still in the dark after last weekend's crippling ice storm, authorities said Friday. When the outage began, Walder, his parents and their dog took refuge in a nearby hotel for several nights, then stayed with a friend.

GG David Johnston's New Year's message about helping others Posted: 27 Dec 2013 08:29 AM PST The Governor General tells Canadians to "discover their giving moment" in his New Year's address to the country.

Canada pulls diplomatic staff from South Sudan over concerns for their safety Posted: 27 Dec 2013 09:16 AM PST OTTAWA - The Canadian government is pulling all its diplomats and staff out of South Sudan over concerns for their safety. Lynne Yelich, a Conservative minister of state, said in a release Friday that operations at Canada's office in Juba have been temporarily suspended and all staff moved to the Canadian high commission in Nairobi, Kenya. While East African leaders meeting in Kenya hailed South Sudan's announcement of a ceasefire, the alleged renegade leader of the attempted coup remains a fugitive and was not party to the deal. In a speech at the Nairobi summit, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta noted there is "a very small window of opportunity to secure peace" in South Sudan.

Loonie falls to lowest level in nearly four years, even as U.S. dollar weakens Posted: 27 Dec 2013 02:07 PM PST TORONTO - The loonie fell to its lowest level in nearly four years Friday as it failed to make headway against a weakened U.S. dollar. The Canadian dollar plummeted 0.75 of a cent to 93.42 cents US — its lowest level since February 2010. The euro strengthened following comments from Jens Weidmann, president of Germany's Bundesbank, who told a newspaper that the euro is recovering and that it is undervalued at current levels. The U.S. dollar has been gaining strength against the loonie in recent weeks amid expectations that the American economy will outpace Canada's in 2013 and 2014.

Senate scandal tested federal political leaders in 2013 Posted: 27 Dec 2013 01:04 AM PST One story dominated all federal politics stories in 2013: the Senate scandal. It let NDP Leader Tom Mulcair stand out for his pointed, careful questions, while Prime Minister Stephen Harper faltered and was forced to retreat on some points. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, improved his question period performance over the year.

Crews search river in New Hamburg, Ont., for body of five-year-old Posted: 27 Dec 2013 09:20 AM PST The search for a missing boy near the Nith River in Ontario's Waterloo region is now a recovery mission, according to police.

B.C. premier cancels Christmas trip to Kenya with son, citing 'private reasons' Posted: 27 Dec 2013 12:56 PM PST VANCOUVER - B.C. Premier Christy Clark did not go on a planned trip to Kenya with her son over the holidays. Clark mentioned the trip in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, explaining that she and 12-year-old Hamish planned to travel to the southeast African country to participate in a school construction project.

BlackBerry faces another year of uncertainty as CEO launches rescue attempt Posted: 27 Dec 2013 11:44 AM PST TORONTO - BlackBerry hopes to clean the slate again as it heads into the new year with another lease on life and a leader who believes he can do what his predecessors couldn't — save the company from a slow death. After months of painful uncertainty and dismal financial results, BlackBerry is in the hands of chairman and chief executive John Chen who hopes to navigate the company into 2014 with reinvigorated vision. The odds are stacked against him, but Chen insists he will rebuild the BlackBerry name by chasing the business customers who helped make the company a powerhouse in the smartphone industry. If the situation sounds familiar, that's because BlackBerry has been here before.

Latest lawsuit filed in fatal U.S. tour bus crash involving B.C. company Posted: 27 Dec 2013 04:11 PM PST VANCOUVER - The British Columbia-based tour company that operated a bus that crashed on a wintry Oregon highway nearly a year ago, killing nine people and injuring dozens more, is facing yet another lawsuit from a group of survivors and the estates of two dead passengers. The bus, operated by Mi Joo Tour and Travel, crashed on a highway near Pendleton, Ore., on Dec. 30, 2012. The latest lawsuit was filed earlier this week in an Oregon court by 10 survivors and the estates of two people killed in the crash. A 22-page statement of claim, which has not been tested in court, repeats previous allegations that the bus driver was speeding, was not driving safely for the conditions, and was working without adequate sleep.

Police say body found at recycling facility may have come in on a truck Posted: 27 Dec 2013 06:33 PM PST CALGARY - Police say a body found by workers at a recycling facility just outside of Calgary may have arrived there on one of the company's trucks. RCMP Staff Sgt. Kevin Reilly said the body, believed to be male, was discovered by workers at the BFI Canada facility in Rocky View County early Friday morning. Reilly said police were called and the scene was secured, adding that forensic investigators remained at the scene for much of the day. Calgary police issued a statement late Friday saying that the waste collection that had been brought to the facility came from inside Calgary.

Alberta gas company pleads guilty, fined after pipeline leak Posted: 27 Dec 2013 12:29 PM PST EDMONTON - A Calgary-based natural gas company has been assessed $350,000 in fines after pleading guilty to a pipeline leak that killed hundreds of fish and damaged a creek in northern Alberta. SemCAMS ULC pleaded guilty after a pipeline rupture released 850,000 litres of salty, chemically contaminated wastewater into a small creek and muskeg near Fox Creek, Alta., in August 2010. After an investigation lasting about 18 months, numerous charges were laid against SemCAMS under both federal and provincial legislation. At least $185,000 of the fine will be paid into the federal Environmental Damages Fund, while $15,000 of it goes to the court.

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