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Yahoo! News Canada - Canada Headlines

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Yahoo! News Canada - Canada Headlines


Travel expenses: Are politicians only sorry when they’re caught?

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 01:51 PM PDT

PlaneWe may be reaching a tipping point when it comes to citizens' tolerance of our political class's sense of entitlement. Politicians may be starting to realize it, but they still only seem to acknowledge it when they're caught. The latest … Continue reading →


Alberta K-12 students to be taught painful legacy of Indian residential schools

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 11:03 PM PDT

EDMONTON - Alberta students are to be taught about the horrors and the painful legacy of Indian residential schools. The province has announced that all kindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum will include mandatory content on the significance of residential schools and First Nation treaties. Aboriginal Relations Minister Frank Oberle made the announcement Thursday to wild applause at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in Edmonton before hundreds of residential school survivors and their families. "Starting with the youngest members of our society, Alberta commits to residential school survivors, their families and communities, that Albertans will hear your stories and know your truths," he said.

Downtown Eastside Washington Hotel fire keeps crews busy

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:41 PM PDT

Vancouver firefighters are battling a stubborn fire at the top of the Washington Hotel, a Downtown Eastside rooming house at 177 East Hastings Street.Vancouver firefighters are battling a fire at the top of the Washington Hotel, a Downtown Eastside rooming house at 177 East Hastings Street.


Ontario cracks down on unpaid internships at prominent Canadian magazines

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 05:59 PM PDT

Why unpaid internships may become a thing of the pastThe Ontario government has fired a shot across the bow of the province's magazine sector over the use of unpaid internships. The Ministry of Labour has ordered The Walrus and Toronto Life to kill their internship programs by Friday following … Continue reading →


Container in radioactive scare was improperly secured: nuclear safety agency

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 01:36 PM PDT

Canada's nuclear safety agency says cylinders carrying radioactive material fell during unloading in Halifax because one end of a shipping container they were in wasn't properly secured to a crane. Four steel cylinders encased in concrete and each weighing 4.5 tonnes fell into the cargo hold of a ship during unloading at the Cerescorp container terminal on March 13. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.HALIFAX - Cylinders carrying radioactive material fell during unloading in Halifax because one end of a shipping container they were in wasn't properly secured to a crane, Canada's nuclear safety agency says. Four steel cylinders encased in concrete and each weighing 4.5 tonnes fell into the cargo hold of a ship during unloading at the Cerescorp container terminal on March 13. Andre Regimbald, the director general of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, said Thursday during a presentation in Ottawa that two connectors on the crane let go and the container then swung down and snapped off. "What happened is two of the lifting points on one side ... had not been properly anchored so all of 18,000 kilograms of weight was being supported by only one side," Regimbald told the commission.


Change it or drop it, elections expert says of Conservative electoral reform act

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 03:28 PM PDT

Harry Neufeld, electorial management consultant, talks to reporters after appearing before the Commons House Affairs Committee hearing witnesses on Bill-C-23 on the Fair Elections act on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Thursday March 27, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand"Either amend it or pull it," Harry Neufeld said of Bill C-23 — dubbed the Fair Elections Act — after appearing before a parliamentary committee Thursday. Neufeld, the former British Columbia chief electoral officer, was just one of five non-partisan experts in electoral process to tell MPs the legislation requires some major fixes. "My experience in 33 years in this business is that when you deny somebody the vote and they don't think there's a justified reason for it, they get really, really angry," Neufeld told reporters after an hour of blistering testimony. Following the 2011 federal election, Neufeld wrote a report for Elections Canada detailing serious irregularities in 42 per cent of cases where voters vouched for others who lacked proper identification.


Wynne distances herself from McGuinty in wake of new allegations

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 04:24 PM PDT

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynnes talks to media outside her office at Queen's Park in Toronto on Thursday, March 27, 2014. Wynne has distanced herself from her predecessor, former premier Dalton McGuinty, following police allegations one of his staffers may have committed breach of trust. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank GunnTORONTO - Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne struggled to distance herself Thursday from her predecessor Dalton McGuinty, amid explosive police allegations that his chief of staff may have committed a breach of trust in the ongoing gas plants scandal. Provincial police allege in unsealed court documents that they believe David Livingston gave an outside tech expert — the boyfriend of a senior staffer — access to 24 computers in the premier's office. According to the documents, Livingston sought high-level access to the computers to "wipe clean the hard drives" after McGuinty resigned amid controversy over the costly cancellation of two gas plants. Police believe Peter Faist, who wasn't a government employee, was the person who actually accessed the 24 computers using Wai's administrative privileges, including Miller's, Livingston's and other staffers.


Gerry Gaston Barton, wrongly convicted of rape, set to sue

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 03:40 PM PDT

Gerry Gaston Barton is suing the attorney general of Nova Scotia and the RCMP after he was wrongly convicted of rape more than four decades ago.A court date has been set in the case of Gerry Gaston Barton, a Nova Scotia man who is suing the provincial government and the RCMP over his wrongful conviction for the rape of a 14-year-old girl more than four decades ago.


Quebec election debate: Philippe Couillard takes a hit

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:34 PM PDT

Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard was leading in the polls going into Thursday's debate, but he walked out of the night wounded, after taking hits from all sides.

Engine room blaze aboard HMCS Protecteur raged for 11 hours, as vessel drifted

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 01:54 PM PDT

HMCS Protecteur is towed into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam after suffering an engine fire aboard the ship while at sea, Thursday, March 6, 2014, in Honolulu. New details are emerging about an engine room blaze that left a Canadian navy supply ship adrift in the Pacific Ocean, 700 kilometres northeast of Hawaii.The commanding officer of HMCS Protecteur says the Feb. 27 fire raged for 11 hours. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Marco GarciaVICTORIA - A dramatic engine room fire that left a Canadian navy supply ship adrift in the Pacific Ocean raged for 11 hours, knocking out power and forcing the crew to fight the blaze in the dark, says the commanding officer. The Feb. 27 fire tore through HMCS Protecteur's engine room, a space Cmdr. Jules Elbourne described as being roughly the size of a school gymnasium. Elbourne said 17 attack teams rushed in and out of the area throughout the night to fight the blaze. For two days after the blaze, Protecteur was dead in the water, about 700 kilometres northeast of Hawaii.


Canada could be Europe's alternative to Russian gas — but not any time soon

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 02:49 PM PDT

Foreign Affairs Minster John Baird holds a news conference in Ottawa, Thursday March 27, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred ChartrandCALGARY - With western sanctions threatening to tighten the taps on Russian energy exports to Europe, Canada could become an alternative supply source — but not any time soon. The Conservative government has been pushing for Canada to expand its energy export reach by building new oil pipelines to coastal waters, as well as multibillion-dollar plants that would enable natural gas to be transported by tanker overseas in an ultra-chilled liquid form. The crisis in Ukraine is adding urgency to those efforts, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Thursday in Ottawa. "I think, if anything, it underlines the importance of moving ahead responsibly on the export of not just our oil but natural gas," he said.


Ontario MPPs set to get pay increase after opposition blocks salary freeze

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 11:56 AM PDT

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne will introduce legislation Thursday aimed at making government more accountable.This doesn't look very good for Ontario's Progressive Conservatives and the New Democrats. On a day both parties should have been pouncing on the governing Liberals about a report regarding new gas plant allegations, it's them that are on the … Continue reading →


Where will Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell rank on next list of highest-paid mayors?

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 02:24 PM PDT

Brampton Mayor Susan FennellToronto politics tends to dominate the headlines, especially in southern Ontario. But beyond the circus tents at Toronto City Hall, to borrow a phrase, there are elections looming in cities across the Greater Toronto Area worth watching. Mississauga will choose … Continue reading →


Many Inuit children regularly going hungry due to food insecurity: report

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 12:12 PM PDT

Child Day Funding 20101119Making a life in northern Canada has never been easy and it's no secret food prices are astronomical compared with south of 60. But a study just released by the Council of Canadian Academies offers a picture of just how … Continue reading →


Mulcair faces grilling on NDP use of parliamentary resources for partisan ends

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 03:24 PM PDT

OTTAWA - A procedural foul-up by the NDP has left leader Tom Mulcair facing a Commons committee grilling over his party's alleged use of parliamentary resources for partisan purposes. The Conservatives took advantage of the fact that the NDP had fewer than 25 MPs in the House of Commons early Thursday to force a snap vote on a motion from Tory MP Blake Richards. Richards' motion requires Mulcair to appear before the procedure and House affairs committee to answer questions about the NDP's use of parliamentary resources to staff satellite party offices in Quebec and Saskatchewan. And they're countering with a motion of their own, asking that Prime Minister Stephen Harper also be invited to committee to explain the Conservative party's use of government resources to fund partisan activities.

NDP MP slammed after 9/11 conspiracy theorist's event appears on website

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 03:43 PM PDT

OTTAWA - An NDP MP is coming under fire for allowing her website to publicize a speech given by a 9/11 conspiracy theorist. Megan Leslie's events page includes a listing for San Francisco architect Richard Gage's presentation March 31 in Halifax, part of a cross-Canada tour.

Nature group buys private land to preserve endangered B.C. grasslands

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 02:02 PM PDT

Part of the Sage and Sparrow Conservation Area near Osoyoos, B.C., is shown in a handout photo.A non-profit conservation group has bought a huge tract of private land in southern British Columbia to preserve the province's disappearing grasslands. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Nature Conservancy of CanadaVANCOUVER - A huge tract of endangered grasslands in southern British Columbia will be preserved, after it was bought from private landowners by a non-profit conservation group. The Nature Conservancy of Canada said the new Sage and Sparrow Conservation Area near Osoyoos, B.C., is home to more than 30 species at risk — including sage thrashers, an extremely threatened bird species with only a handful of breeding pairs remaining in Canada. "It weighs as much as a Hershey's Kiss," Barb Pryce, area director for the group, said Thursday as the group announced the new conservation area.


P.E.I. home burns as firefighters spend three hours driving through blizzard

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 02:43 PM PDT

A pedestrian battles the high winds and blowing snow as he walks in downtown Halifax on Wednesday, March 26, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew VaughanNEW GLASGOW, P.E.I. - A crew of firefighters spent three hours trying to reach a burning home in central P.E.I. on Wednesday, only to be thwarted by huge drifts created by the intense blizzard that left much of Atlantic Canada paralyzed. New Glasgow fire Chief Jason Peters said the lone occupant of the home managed to escape to her car, where she called for help from her cellphone.


Referendum talk again features prominently in Quebec leaders' debate

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 08:58 PM PDT

From left, Quebec Solidaire Leader Francoise David, Coalition Avenir du Quebec Leader Francois Legault, Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois, and Liberal leader Philippe Couillard pose for a photograph prior to the leaders' debate Thursday, Thursday, March 20, 2014 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul ChiassonMONTREAL - The possibility of an independence referendum again featured prominently Thursday as Quebec's political leaders clashed in their second televised debate in a week. Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard accused his Parti Quebecois counterpart, Pauline Marois, of failing to come clean with Quebecers on the referendum issue. Polls repeatedly suggest that a majority of Quebecers do not want a plebiscite and Couillard's strategy was similar to his approach in last week's debate: try to cast the PQ as a party that fosters political uncertainty at the expense of economic prosperity. Marois countered with the argument she repeatedly used last week — that there will be no such vote until Quebecers are ready for one.


Canada regulator seeks wiretap powers for insider-trading cases

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 01:33 PM PDT

By Cameron French TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's largest capital markets regulator is pushing for an amendment to the country's Criminal Code that would allow investigators to use wiretaps to investigate insider trading. Such a step would give Canadian investigators a tool that their U.S. counterparts already have, and one that Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) Chairman Howard Wetston said on Thursday is needed to successfully prosecute a crime where proving intent is key. The OSC is the largest and most influential of Canada's provincial and territorial securities regulators, and has jurisdiction over the Toronto Stock Exchange. "In my opinion, we are missing a key tool that would assist in more effectively enforcing provisions against insider trading," he said in a speech to a Toronto business audience.

Flagging small Canadian miners hope for a boost from medical pot

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 01:40 PM PDT

Marijuana plants are displayed for sale at Canna Pi medical marijuana dispensary in SeattleBy Nicole Mordant VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Looking for ways to boost their flagging fortunes, a handful of tiny Canadian mining exploration companies are considering swapping their hard hats and shovels for bongs and baggies. In the past couple of months, nearly a dozen of these so-called junior miners, hard hit by a downturn in the mining industry, have announced they might branch out into Canada's budding medical marijuana industry. The announcements from Satori Resources Inc, which owns a moribund gold project in Manitoba, and Victory Ventures Inc, which has staked mineral claims in British Columbia, have propelled these rock-bottom penny stocks upward. Until now, the medical marijuana industry has consisted mostly of small-scale home-grown operations.


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