| Federal leaders fail to solve the 'youth vote' problem at inaugural forum Posted: 25 Mar 2014 03:56 PM PDT  It didn't really produce any new strategies to increase the student vote. In fact, at times it turned-into an elongated series of anti-Stephen Harper diatribes. Nevertheless, 'I Vote-Je Vote' — a new initiative launched by University of Ottawa faculty students … Continue reading →
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| Suspect in Vancouver tattoo parlour attack back on streets Posted: 25 Mar 2014 09:16 PM PDT A man charged in a vicious assault on the owner of a Vancouver tattoo parlour has been released from police custody, despite a history of similar behaviour.  |
| Horner brushes off budget criticism from cabinet colleague Denis Posted: 25 Mar 2014 08:34 PM PDT  Finance Minister Doug Horner is defending how his government reports financial results in light of criticism from one of his own cabinet colleagues.
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| Quebec's Pauline Marois explains why Saskatchewan's Brad Wall is 'sneaky' Posted: 25 Mar 2014 03:52 PM PDT  MONTREAL - Quebec Premier Pauline Marois explained Tuesday why she thinks Saskatchewan's Brad Wall is "sneaky." Marois used Quebecois slang last week to describe her Prairie counterpart as a "sneaky person who always tries to trip her up." Asked about her remark, Marois said she caught Wall allegedly trying to relegate one of her recent labour proposals into the appendix of a joint document, rather than including it among the main arguments. "I have very good exchanges with all the premiers of the Canadian provinces when I'm at the Council of the Federation or another meeting," Marois told a news conference in Blainville, Que., north of Montreal.
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| Jury still out on income splitting as new minister splits hairs on issue Posted: 25 Mar 2014 03:21 PM PDT  OTTAWA - The Harper government has a new finance minister, but not necessarily new clarity on fulfilling its 2011 campaign promise on income splitting. Since taking over the finance portfolio last Wednesday, Joe Oliver hasn't repeated his predecessor's concerns about an expensive tax cut that critics say will benefit only a minority of families, and favour those at the top of the income scale. But he hasn't been unequivocal either, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper appeared to be last month when he said "income splitting has been a good policy for seniors in Canada, and it will also be a good policy for Canadian families." Asked about it on his first day at his new post last week, Oliver appeared closer to Harper's apparent position than he was to Jim Flaherty's, although he did give a nod to his predecessor's call for a closer examination by stating that he was "going to be looking at the details."
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| Catastrophic earthquake: B.C. not prepared, says report Posted: 25 Mar 2014 12:43 PM PDT  B.C. 's emergency management agency (EMBC) is not adequately prepared for a catastrophic earthquake, according to the province's auditor general Russ Jones.
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| Quebec Liberals hovering in majority territory ahead of election, poll shows Posted: 25 Mar 2014 07:35 AM PDT  Three weeks ago, the Parti Quebecois was sitting pretty atop the opinion polls with analysts predicting that they'd win a majority government. My, how things can change in politics — especially in Quebec — in just a couple of weeks. … Continue reading →
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| Bitter spring sends geese back south after stop in Winnipeg Posted: 25 Mar 2014 02:18 PM PDT  Every year thousands of Canadian geese flock to Winnipeg in the spring, making the long journey north for warmer temperatures.
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| Omar Khadr in Saskatchewan prison hospital after surgery on damaged shoulder Posted: 25 Mar 2014 08:00 PM PDT TORONTO - Canadian detainee Omar Khadr is recuperating in a secure prison hospital in Saskatchewan following surgery on his shoulder, which was badly wounded in Afghanistan 12 years ago, The Canadian Press has learned. Khadr spent two weeks recuperating after the operation at the University of Alberta hospital in Edmonton before being discharged over the weekend. His lawyer, Dennis Edney, said surgeons scraped bone and flesh to remove infected tissue that had been festering since his detention in Guantanamo Bay. "Our government has long been advised that Omar suffers from serious injuries that were not treated in Guantanamo Bay," Edney said from Edmonton.  |
| Eric Leighton didn't ask before cutting barrel, teacher says Posted: 25 Mar 2014 02:50 PM PDT  The former shop teacher in charge when an explosion killed high school student Eric Leighton in 2011 told an inquest Tuesday he had not given Leighton approval to start cutting into a barrel they were planning to use to make a barbecue.
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| Long a Tory domain, Alberta ridings offer opposition fresh hope for 2015 Posted: 25 Mar 2014 03:42 PM PDT OTTAWA - During the last federal election, Alberta wasn't exactly a favourite pit stop of the party leaders — much of the province appeared wrapped up in a bow for the Conservatives. NDP Leader Tom Mulcair is stopping in downtown Edmonton on Wednesday to mark the nomination again of aboriginal activist and educator Lewis Cardinal as the candidate there. Conservative MP Laurie Hawn, who beat Cardinal handily in 2011, is no longer running. New Democrats are hopeful changes to the boundaries and the departure of the incumbent will make a difference in Edmonton Centre.  |
| Disappearance of Alberta government scientist troubles police Posted: 25 Mar 2014 04:29 PM PDT Edmonton Police are still searching for Anina Hundsdoerfer, an Alberta government scientist, missing since Saturday afternoon.  |
| Government respects Nadon decision, but still reviewing it, Harper says Posted: 25 Mar 2014 02:50 PM PDT  THE HAGUE, Netherlands - The Conservative government intends to respect the Supreme Court's decision to deny Marc Nadon the chance to occupy the vacant Quebec seat on the high court bench, says Prime Minister Stephen Harper. But the government is still reviewing the decision about Nadon's eligibility, which Harper admitted Tuesday left him "very surprised." The Supreme Court concluded that Nadon, a semi-retired Federal Court of Appeal judge, does not meet the specific eligibility requirements for a Quebec seat on the bench as spelled out in the Supreme Court Act. The government expected the Supreme Court to find in its favour, because the possibility of a rejection had been characterized by the experts it consulted as "very hypothetical."
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| Quebec snoozes, loses battle over Quebec.com domain name Posted: 25 Mar 2014 03:32 PM PDT  As if things weren't going badly enough for the Parti Quebecois, with its floundering re-election campaign, the provincial government just lost a battle for the right to use Quebec.com as a domain name. According to the Huffington Post, this wasn't … Continue reading →
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| Jean-Pierre Kingsley: Election bill puts right to vote at risk Posted: 25 Mar 2014 02:17 PM PDT  A change proposed by the Conservatives in their new election bill would "directly affect" some Canadians' right to vote, former chief electoral officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley says.
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| Dad woke to find gun pointing at forehead, daughter's murder trial hears Posted: 25 Mar 2014 02:09 PM PDT  The gun held by a stranger that evening in November 2010 was pointed right at his forehead, Hann Pan testified. The Crown alleges the young woman orchestrated the hit on her parents — which initially appeared to be a home invasion — because she was angry they had thwarted her relationship with Wong.
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| Student loan data on half a million people was left unsecured: watchdog Posted: 25 Mar 2014 03:03 PM PDT  OTTAWA - A portable hard drive containing personal information on more than half a million people who took out student loans was left unsecured for extended periods and lacked password protection and encryption, says the federal privacy czar. Employees handling the device were not aware of the sensitivity of the information it contained, concludes a report from interim privacy commissioner Chantal Bernier. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada acknowledged last year the drive held data on 583,000 Canada Student Loans Program borrowers from 2000 to 2006. The missing files included student names, social insurance numbers, dates of birth, contact information and loan balances, as well as the personal contact information of 250 department employees.
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| Saskatchewan farmer caught on video confronting trespassing snowmobilers with a shotgun Posted: 25 Mar 2014 01:27 PM PDT  I confess I kind of like Deryl Ring. For one thing, his Facebook page shows he owns a bullmastiff and we've had three of the big, loveable brutes. For another, he's not afraid to stand up for himself. But my admiration pretty much stops there. Because Mr. Ring decided the way to confront a couple of snowmobilers who apparently trespassed on his land was to force them to stop at gunpoint, then slap one of them around.
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| Tests rule out Ebola in case of sick Saskatchewan man, say health officials Posted: 25 Mar 2014 07:03 PM PDT  Tests on a man in a Saskatchewan hospital who was suspected of possibly having contracted Ebola during a visit to West Africa have determined he does not have the virus, federal health officials said Tuesday. Canada's deputy chief public health officer said in a release that tests at the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory confirmed the ill man does not have Ebola or any of three other hemorrhagic fevers — Lassa, Marburg or Crimean Congo virus. Dr. Gregory Taylor's statement said ruling out those four hemorrhagic viruses "significantly reduces the risk to the people who have been in close contact with the patient while the patient has exhibited symptoms." George Sharpe, chief geologist at Global Geological Services Ltd. in Saskatoon, identified the sick man as his business partner, Rod Ogilvie.
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| CN Rail, union to meet Wednesday in last push for contract Posted: 24 Mar 2014 01:39 PM PDT  By Susan Taylor TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian National Railway Co and the Teamsters union will meet in Montreal on Wednesday to make a final attempt at reaching a labor deal for some 3,000 conductors, yard workers, and traffic coordinators, the two groups said on Monday. CN Rail agreed to meet with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC-CTY) for another round of talks contingent on the union's accepting binding arbitration if negotiations failed. If the talks break down, "the parties will submit their differences to final and binding arbitration," said CN spokesman Mark Hallman. The Teamsters have agreed to meet to discuss the terms of arbitration, spokesman and negotiating team member Roland Hackl said.
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| Support for Quebec separatists sinks as election nears: poll Posted: 25 Mar 2014 10:06 AM PDT  By Randall Palmer OTTAWA (Reuters) - The governing separatist Parti Quebecois would lose next month's Quebec provincial election if it were held now, a poll released on Tuesday showed, a casualty of renewed concentration during the campaign on the issue of independence from Canada. The Leger poll, taken after last Thursday's televised leaders' debate, extended a trend that began after powerful Quebec businessman Pierre Karl Peladeau said he would run for election for the Parti Quebecois, and stated baldly that he was joining the race because he wanted the Canadian province to become a country. The Leger Internet survey, which is not fully random like a phone poll, showed 40 percent of respondents supported the Liberal Party of Quebec, which wants Canada to stay united, and 33 percent backed the Parti Quebecois, with lesser support for smaller parties. The Parti Quebecois, which currently has a minority of seats in the provincial legislature, had entered the campaign with a slight edge in support over the Liberals, but the Liberals now look set to take a majority of seats.
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