Back to newsletter list 03/02/2007 23:08:44 (UTC) Canada | World Briefs | Business News | Sports | Weather Headlines  - Another Quebec village approves regulations for immigrants. - Quebec premier meets French leaders to promote free trade. - Seismologists see signs of impending earthquake.
SAINT-ROCH-DE-MEKINAC: ANOTHER QUEBEC VILLAGE APPROVES REGULATIONS FOR IMMIGRANTS Another village in the Canadian province of Quebec has voted to introduce regulations for potential immigrants. Village councillors in Saint-Roch-de-Mekinac voted on Friday to recognize the regulations introduced a week earlier by the nearby village of Herouxville, about 100 kilometres from Montreal. The regulations advise potential immigrants that they must learn local customs and cannot expect to conduct foreign customs such as stoning women. Both villages insist that they are not against immigrants, only against accommodating some of their customs at the expense of local traditions. Among foreign customs cited as excessive is the wearing of the Sikh ceremonial dagger known as the kirpan. Herouxville's declaration has been criticized by Quebec's Muslims leaders as showing ignorance of foreign cultures. A third Quebec village is also reported to be considering adopting Herouxville's regulations. Supporters of the regulations say that Premier Jean Charest was mistaken when he commented that Herouxville is an isolated case. There is some doubt about the validity of Herouxville's regulations under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. PARIS: QUEBEC PREMIER MEETS FRENCH LEADERS TO PROMOTE FREE TRADE The premier of the Canadian province of Quebec is using his trip to Paris to promote free trade between Canada and the European Union. Jean Charest met with French President Jacques Chirac on Friday. Afterwards, he said that Mr. Chirac was receptive to the idea. The premier also met with France's interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, who's the presidential candidate for the union of France's right-wing parties. Mr. Charest hopes to get the free trade proposal on the agenda at a Canada-Europe summit in June. Mr. Charest also declared publicly that he would like his province to have a representative on the United Nations committee devoted to environment issues like global warming. VANCOUVER: SEISMOLOGISTS SEE SIGNS OF IMPENDING EARTHQUAKE Some unusual rumbling deep within the earth could be a sign that a major earthquake might soon strike the southwestern coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Seismologists call the rumbling an episodic tremor and slip. It occurred within the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate that runs from Vancouver Island south to northern California. Seismologists admit that the possibility of a major earthquake nonetheless remains small. QUEBEC CITY: SEPARATIST PARTY LEADER REGAINS SOME SUPPORT Weakend in recent weeks by opinion polls showing weak voter support, the leader of Quebec's Parti Quebecois, Andre Boisclair, regained some strength on Saturday at a party meeting in Quebec City. The presidents of 125 party riding associations received him warmly as he outlined the focus of the party platform for the next provincial election, widely expected to be held within the next year. One newspaper in Montreal, La Presse, reported on Saturday that Premier Jean Charest was thinking about announcing an election date within the next few weeks. Mr. Boisclair said that the party should emphasize education, a cleaner environment, as well as its core belief in Quebec's sovereignty. Quebec's governing Liberal Party was elected in 2003. WINNIPEG: MANITOBA'S GOVERNING PARTY FAVOURS FEBRUARY HOLIDAY Members of the governing New Democratic Party in the Canadian province of Manitoba voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to create a new provincial holiday in February. The party is holding its annual convention this weekend. Delegates proposed making February 15 a holiday as a way of breaking the monotony that sets in at mid-winter. Some delegates proposed calling it 'pajama day.' TORONTO: RETAIL CHAINS REASSURE CANADIAN CLIENTS Two large American retail chains that recently suffered a major security breach in their computer files believe that no records dealing with Canadian customers were stolen. Last month, computer hackers stole debit card information at the U.S. headquarters of Winners and HomeSense. The stores' Canadian branches worried that the information might include data on their customers. The stores' president, Michael MacMillan, believes, however, that Canadian customers are safe. But Canada's privacy commissioner is continuing to investigate how the breach occurred. Another major retail chain, Club Monaco, has also reported a possible breach in its computer security. TORONTO: GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS REDUCING PRISON GUARD STAFF Canada's government is reported to be thinking about eliminating the positions of about 300 guards from federal prisons across the country. The Toronto newspaper, The Globe & Mail, reports that the reduction would represent about five per cent of the guards at Canada's 54 federal prisons. The newspaper says that maximum- and medium-security prisons would bear the brunt of the proposed cuts, which would take effect in 2009. TORONTO: CANADIAN COMMUNISTS HOLD CONVENTION A small group of Canadian Communists gathered in Toronto on Saturday for a communism convention aimed at defeating the Conservative Party federal government. The Communist Party of Canada has about 500 members. At one time, the party claimed to have twenty-thousand members. There are no Communist Party members in Canada's parliament.
IRAQ Iraq suffered its worst single bombing in four years on Saturday when a suicide bomber exploded a truck carrying one tonne of explosives in a crowded market in Baghdad. The blast killed 135 people and injured 226 others. The explosion occurred in a mainly Shi'ite Muslim area. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blamed the attack on Sunni militants supporting former president Saddam Hussein. Mr. al-Maliki has promised a crackdown on all sectarian violence in Baghdad, and U.S. President George W. Bush has ordered twenty-one thousand more troops to the city. Another suicide bomber on the same day killed one person and injured 16 others in the northern city of Kirkuk. In Samarra, nine people were killed, including six police commandos. GAZA CITY Palestinian leaders from the Hamas and Fatah factions were trying to implement a new truce on Saturday after fighting in the Gaza Strip raged overnight and into the morning, leaving eight wounded and shattering a brief ceasefire. Sixty people have been killed in the past week in the deadliest factional fighting since Hamas won a general election last year. The two rival factions have been unable to arrange a working unity government. BRITAIN Britain has confirmed that a turkey farm has the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu virus. It's the first time that the deadly virus has appeared in Britain. Scientists say that the strain is similar to one found in Hungary last month. Hungary slaughtered almost ten thousand birds to cope with the outbreak, the first in the European Union in about six months. In the past two years, 13 European Union nations have reported bird flu outbreaks. On Saturday, Norway ordered that all poultry must be kept out of contact with migratory birds that might be carrying the disease from Britain. On the same day, the World Health Organization reported the first human death from bird flu in sub-Saharan Africa. A woman in Nigeria died last month. In the last four years, bird flu has killed 165 people worldwide. CHINA China's president, Hu Jintao, on Saturday praised Zambia as an important country in southern Africa as he arrived in Lusaka for a two-day state visit. Zambia was the first country in the region to open diplomatic relations with China 42 years ago. Zambia's president, Levy Mwanawasa, expressed his hope that China and Taiwan would unite one day. The two leaders announced further Chinese investment in local copper mines, the cancellation of each other's debts, and more Chinese aid to ease Zambia's poverty. But some Zambians criticize Chinese companies for paying low wages to local workers and ignoring safety standards. Mr. Hu is on an eight-nation tour of Africa. On Friday, he announced a greater level of cooperation with Sudan, including nearly five million American dollars in aid to the Darfur region. INDONESIA Flooding continued to wreak havoc on Saturday in the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, where more than forty thousand people were forced to flee their homes the day before as a result of the worst rains in five years. Heavy continual rains flooded thousands of homes, government buildings and stores. Electricity and fresh water supplies were cut. Water levels receded slightly on Saturday in the city, but rose in surrounding regions, blocking several main roads. Service is stopped on the railway network. Rain falling on the hills south of the city might cause further flooding as seasonal rains are expected to continue for another two weeks. SPAIN A huge demonstration was held in Madrid on Saturday to protest the government's peace negotiations with the Basque separatist group ETA. The demonstration was called by leaders of the opposition Popular Party. The crowd estimated by police to number close to two hundred thousand people waved flags and signs calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whom they blamed for promoting the peace negotiations. ETA declared a ceasefire almost one year ago, raising hope that it might negotiate an end to many years of violent attacks to press for a Basque homeland. But ETA has lost its goodwill in December when it claimed responsibility for a bombing in a parking lot at Madrid airport in which two Ecuadorans were killed. ITALY A homosexual couple formally registered a civil union in the Italian city of Padua on Saturday in advance of legislation legalizing such unions. Italy's government is planning to introduce a bill later this month to recognize unmarried couples' rights regardless of their sexual orientation. The bill is strongly opposed by the Vatican and by right-wing political parties. Padua is the second Italian city after Bologna to issue certificates to couples that recognize their legal status on the sole basis of 'ties of affection.' INDIA At least 19 labourers were crushed to death on Saturday when a wall that they were building collapsed near India's financial capital, Mumbai. The number of workers at the site at the time of the collapse was not immediately known. Other workers might be trapped. At least six workers were reported saved. PHILIPPINES Some 15 government officials, including a senior politician, were detained under unclear circumstances while on a peace mission on Saturday in the southern Philippines. Defence Undersecretary *** Santos, Major General Mohamad Ben Dolorfino along with 13 other soldiers and peace negotiators were reported held captive by members of the Moro National Liberation Front in Panamao town on the island of Jolo. But in a telephone interview, General Dolorfino denied that his party had been taken hostage, saying that they had remained to negotiate.
SUDBURY: NICKEL WORKERS RATIFY NEW CONTRACT About one thousand workers at Xstrata Nickel's operations in Sudbury, Ontario, have overwhelmingly voted to accept a new three-year contract. The contract includes annual wage increases over the next three years, signing bonuses, improved benefits, and salary adjustments whenever the world price of nickel goes up. The average worker at the operations now earns between CDN$28 and CDN$30 an hour. The contract is the first since Xstrata PLC---an Anglo-Swiss mining giant---acquired the Sudbury operations from Falconbridge last year.
HOCKEY The Montreal Canadiens lost to the New York Islanders, 4-2, on Saturday. The Islanders scored three goals in the third period. Montreal has just six wins in its last 17 games. The Edmonton Oilers beat Colorado, 3-2. On Friday, the Calgary Flames beat Columbus, 6-2, helped by Jarome Iginla, who scored a goal and had two assists in his first game back after missing 11 games because of an injury. In other hockey news, a road in Edmonton, Alberta, is being renamed the Mark Messier Trail in honour of the former player on the Edmonton Oilers team. Only one other player, his former teammate, Wayne Gretzky, has a road named after him in Edmonton. BASKETBALL The Toronto Raptors beat Atlanta, 103-91, on Friday, to move into first place in the Atlantic Division. Chris Bosh scored 26 points and Morris Peterson had 21 for Toronto. BASEBALL Canadian Justin Morneau has agreed to a one-year contract with the Minnesota Twins worth US$4.5 million. The amount is at the midpoint between the $5 million that the reigning American League Most Valuable Player had asked for and the $4 million that the Twins offered. Morneau, a 25-year-old from New Westminster, British Columbia, hit .321 last year with 34 homers and 130 RBIs. He won the MVP award by 14 points over New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. The Toronto Blue Jays signed left-fielder Reed Johnson, right-fielder Alex Rios and pitcher Scott Downs to one-year contracts on Friday. LACROSSE The Toronto Rock won their first game of the National Lacrosse season on Friday, beating the Buffalo Bandits, 14-10. Toronto now has one victory and three defeats. FREESTYLE SKIING Canadian Etienne Dugal-Tessier was fourth and his compatriot Jean-*** Therrien was fifth in the men's individual mogul event at the Noram freestyle ski competition in Val Sainte-Come, Quebec, on Saturday. American Bryon Wilson won the event. In women's moguls, Canadian Nathalie Bazin was fourth. American Kayla Snyderman was first. TRACK AND FIELD Canadian hurdler Perdita Felicien finished fourth in the women's 60-metre hurdles at the one hundredth Millrose Games in New York on Saturday. American Gail Devers was first in a time of 7.86. Another Canadian, Priscilla Lopes, was fifth. In the women's mile walk, Canadian Rachel Lavallee was second and her compatriot Rebecca Johnstone was third. In the men's 100 metres, Canadian Maurice Green stumbled after 25 metres and failed to finish.
Weather Here is Canada's weather on Sunday. British Columbia will have showers. The high temperature in Vancouver will be eight degrees Celsius. The Yukon: overcast. Whitehorse, minus seven. Northwest Territories: sunny. Yellowknife, minus 25. Nunavut: snow blizzard. Iqaluit, minus 11. Alberta: snow flurries. Edmonton, minus 12. Saskatchewan: sunny. Regina, minus 22. Manitoba: sunny. Winnipeg, minus 25. Ontario: variable cloudiness. Toronto, minus 13. Ottawa, minus ten. Quebec: snow flurries. Montreal, minus ten. New Brunswick: mainly sunny. Fredericton, minus six. Nova Scotia: variable cloudiness. Halifax, minus four. Prince Edward Island: variable cloudiness. Charlottetown, minus five. Newfoundland: windy. St. John's, minus four.
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