Back to newsletter list 22/03/2007 23:54:54 (UTC) Canada | World Briefs | Business News | Sports | Weather Headlines  - Security in Canadian ports deplored - Alternative U.S.-Canada border ID scheme gets test - Canadian government back in 'sponsorship' business
OTTAWA: SENATE WARNS OF LAX PORT SECURITY The Senate security and defence committee has issued its second security warning in two days, this one concerning Canada's 19 ports. Its report says there are many security gaps which terrorists could exploit to smuggle a "dirty" weapon or arms into a port. At present, inspectors check only containers which appear suspicious, but the committee says that's not good enough, suggesting instead that imaging machines that use gamma rays such as those in use in Hong Kong should be adopted to check all containers. The report says any one of the four million containers that arrive in ports could contain chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear devices that could devastate Canadian or U.S. targets. The senators also say between 1,300 and 1,500 new RCMP officers should be hired to fight organized crime in ports and that special ID cards should be issued to port workers employed in sensitive areas. The executive director of the Association of Canadian Port Authorities, Gary LeRoux, demurs, stating that great strides have been made in protecting ports but that it's impossible to check every object in every container moving around the world. On Wednesday, the same committee warned that security in airports also is wanting. WASHINGTON: PILOT PROJECT AGREED FOR BORDER ID Canada and the U.S. have agreed to set up a pilot project that could be an alternative to the U.S. plan to require that travellers show a passport while crossing by land or sea into the U.S. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary and John van Dongen, B.C.'s minister of state for intergovernmental affairs, will sign the agreement on Friday in Seattle. Canadian Public Security Minister Stockwell Day will also be present. The project to study the use of high-technology driver's licences will start early next year at border crossings between the U.S. state of Washington and British Columbia. The licences will contain proof of citizenship using special radio frequency identification chips. Mr. Day has long advocated such a solution. The earliest possible period for the passport requirement to come into effect would coincide with the beginning of the pilot project. OTTAWA: CONSERVATIVES TO START NEW 'SPONSORSHIP' PROGRAM Canada's Conservative Party government is going to launch a new sponsorship program but insists it won't resemble its infamous Liberal Party predecessor. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty earmarked $50 million for the as yet nameless program but didn't mention the item in his budget speech. The previous "sponsorship" program arose from the 1995 sovereignty referendum in Quebec which the federal side barely won . The idea of the program, which cost $50 million a year, was to sponsor events at which the Canadian flag was often displayed to shore up feelings of national unity. Most of the money was spent in Quebec. The program was notoriously corrupt and a subsequent public inquiry discovered that much of the money had been embezzled. A spokesman for Heritage Minister Bev Oda says the new program won't have a political agenda and that there won't be any requirement to fly Canadian flags at events. The government says the chief purpose is to help cultural groups who have been in desperate need of funding since the old program was terminated. OTTAWA: CANADA WILL RATIFY UN CORRUPTION CONVENTION Canada's justice minister, Rob Nicholson, says the government will modify the Criminal Code to be able to ratify and to implement the UN Convention Against Corruption. Mr. Nicholson recalled that the Convention Against Corruption addresses such problems as the bribery of civil servants and describes such corruption as a scourge for the whole world. Canada signed the Convention in May 2004, and it went into effect the following year. To ratify it Canada must amend the Criminal Code, among other things to redefine the term "civil servant." OTTAWA: ENVIRONMENTALISTS DEMAND SEAL HUNT BE CANCELLED Environmental groups joined on Thursday in a demand that the Canadian government cancel the annual coast seal hunt because of the current poor ice conditions. Organizations including the Humane Society International, Greenpeace and the Green Party of Canada warn the government that the lack of ice has already caused the death of thousands of seal pups. The pups cannot swim in their first weeks of life and there need solid ice upon which to grow and suckle. The Green Party of Canada says that one million animals have been killed in the last three years and now the seals also have to face the consequences of global warming. Canadian officials have said they're aware of the sparse ice in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence but that conditions are better along the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador where most of the hunting takes place. OTTAWA: NEW ANTI-SCAB BILL PRESENTED Just one day after a bill to ban the use of replacement workers during strikes at businesses under federal regulation was defeated in the House of Commons, a second one was introduced. Opposition Liberal Party Member of Parliament Mario Silva has presented a private member's bill to ban "scabs." The bill would exempt essential services, such as rail service to a remote area, if the Canada Industrial Relations Board decides they are essential. The Liberal bill would allow members of management to replace strikers. Business opposed the defeated previous bill on the grounds that almost all services provided by some of Canada's biggest companies are essential and their shut-down would cause massive economic disruption. Most Liberal MPs joined the Conservatives on Wednesday evening in voting down the bill presented by a Bloc Québécois MP. TORONTO: BUDGET ACCENTS SOCIAL SPENDING Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara has presented a budget of $91.2 billion, forecasting a surplus of $310 million. The budget features several measures targeting poverty, including a $2.1-billion Ontario Child Benefit program for low-income families that have 1.3 million children. Under the program, families with a net income of $20,000 or lower will receive $250 per child, a benefit which will increase to $1,100 by 2011. The government also will raise the minimum wage to $10.25 by 2010. The province's disabled and welfare recipients will see their payments rise by two per cent. NDP leader Howard Hampton accused the governing party of making Ontario's poorest wait for action on the minimum wage, affordable housing and child care. The Conservative leader, John Tory, called the budget a "political spending buffet" aimed at buying votes. The budget is the Liberals' last during their current mandate. REGINA: GOVT. CAPS SENIORS' PRESCRIPTIONS Saskatchewan Finance Minister Andrew Thomson also presented a budget, featuring spending of $7.79 billion, a nine per cent increase over the previous year. The government will spend $35.7 million to finance a $15 cap on the cost of each drug prescription for seniors. Another program targeting post-secondary graduates offers them a $10,000 income tax exemption in each of the first five years after graduation provided they work in Saskatchewan. The government will also continue to fund the tuition freeze introduced in 2004. The budget entails a debt of more than $700 million, a state of affairs which the right-leaning Saskatchewan Party describes as "reckless" and "irresponsible." TORONTO: DEPORTED IRANIAN FAMILY BACK A nine-year-old Canadian boy is back in Canada with his Iranian parents after spending a month in a detention centre for illegal immigrants in the U.S. state of Texas. The U.S. authorities had taken the three off a flight headed to Canada during an unscheduled stop after discovering them in possession of false passports. Canada's immigration minister, Diane Finley, has granted the Yurdkhani family a temporary residence permit. The family was deported to Iran in 2005 after having lived illegally for 10 years in Canada, where the boy was born. The family's lawyer says the parents were tortured after their return to Iran.
CHINA Six-party talks to discuss the dismantling of North Korea's nuclear program broke down in Beijing on Thursday. North Korea's representative returned home after four days of fruitless discussions. The latest round of talks began on Monday amid high hopes that major progress might be made following an agreement last month. But North Korea refused to negotiate until US$25 million of its funds were returned. The funds were frozen in a Macau bank because of U.S. accusations that North Korea was involved in money laundering and counterfeiting. The money was to have been made available on Monday. No date was announced for the resumption of talks. IRAN The 10 non-permanent members of the UN Security Council are debating a draft resolution on Iran that was drawn up by the five permanent members and Germany. The resolution would impose further sanctions on Iran for its refusal to stop enriching uranium. The text repeats the injunction to stop that activity under verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The assets of 28 more groups, companies or individuals engaged in or supporting sensitive nuclear activities are to be frozen, including the state-owned Bank Sepah and the Revolutionary Guards Corp. And it calls on nations and international financial institutions not to enter into further financial transactions with Iran except for humanitarian purposes. IRAQ The Iraqi government says it has been holding secret talks for the past three months with half-a-dozen Sunni insurgent groups but that the talks haven't progressed because of the absence of a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. A senior official at the ministry of national Dialogue and Reconciliation has told the Associated Press that the talks have been taking place both inside and outside the country. The official describes the negotiations as "very delicate" and as being conducted through intermediaries. The source didn't identify the Sunni groups but did say they didn't include al-Qaeda in Iraq or loyalists of the late dictator, although some senior figures in the banned Baath Party have been involved. In addition to the timetable issue, the official also says the two sides differ over federalism and Iraq's identity as an Arab nation. BRITAIN Police say they've arrested three suspects in connection with the bombing of the London transit system. Two of the three men aged 23 and 30 were arrested at Manchester Airport as they were about to board a flight to Pakistan. The third was arrested in the northern city of Leeds, where police are searching five houses in the neighbourhood of Beeston. The neighbourhood was home to three of the four suicide bombers in the transit attack. In addition to the bombers, 52 commuters died and more than 700 others were injured. The London attacks were the first suicide bombings in Europe. ITALY Italy's prime minister is facing another crisis over his country's peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. Opposition parties in Romano Prodi's coalition government are threatening to withdraw their support in a Senate vote next week. The opposition is angry that Italy agreed last week to exchange five Taliban militants in return for the release of an Italian journalist held hostage. The United States and Britain also denounced the exchange, calling it a concession to terrorists. The Taliban had threatened to kill the journalist. Last month, Mr. Prodi resigned briefly after the Senate voted against his foreign policy. BELGIUM Transatlantic air passengers are expected to benefit widely from a landmark deal that the European Union has approved with the United States. The deal eliminates barriers that closed many major American cities to European airlines, and many European cities to American air carriers. And in a major breakthrough, European airlines will be allowed within three years to buy control of their American competitors. It's expected that the new deal will largely increase competition and lower air fares. The EU transport commissioner, Jacques Barrot, predicts that transatlantic flights will increase by 50 per cent within five years. The deal was supposed to go into effect in October, but the EU decided to delay it until next March.
TORONTO: VENERABLE COFFEE FIRM LIKELY TO BE BOUGHT FROM ABROAD The Globe and Mail newspaper reports that Canadian coffee firm Van Houtte Inc. is likely to be acquired by foreign interests. The company founded in 1919 put itself up for sale in January. According to The Globe, potential domestic firms like Tim Hortons Inc. and Second Cup Ltd. have dropped out of the bidding but that such foreign companies as Sara Lee Corp. and Kraft Foods Inc. remain interested. Van Houtte employs 1,900 workers. It enjoyed $377.6 million in sales last year, two-thirds of that generated by its office supply business. MARKETS TSE Thursday: down 16 points to 13,140. The Canadian dollar: US86.34, falling 0.20 of a cent . Euro: C$1.5447, down 0.24 of a cent. West Texas Intermed: US$60.90, up $3.28.
CURLING Canada's Kelly Scott showed she's human after all at the women's world curling championship on Thursday in Japan. Her team from Kelowna, BC, suffered its first lost of the preliminary round, a 7-5 decision to Scotland. But 10-and-1 Canada remains the top playoff seed. SKATING It was a disappointing day for Canadian champion Jeff Buttle at the world figure skating championship in Tokyo. Second after the short program, Buttle fell twice in his free skate and wound up sixth. France's Brian Joubert won the gold. In other Canadian results, Chris Mabee was 13th and Emanuel Sandhu 16th. DIVING Defending champion Alexandre Despatie looked good in leading the preliminaries of the three-metre springboard competition at the world aquatic championships in Australia. Chinese divers stand second and third. China has won all four diving events at the championships. SKIING Bad weather has postponed the first races of the Canadian alpine ski championships in Whistler, BC. The men's and women's downhill events have been called off due to fog and falling snow on the course. Organziers hope to complete the races Friday.
Weather British Columbia on Friday: rain. The forecast high temperature in Vancouver 10 degrees Celsius. Yukon: snow. Northwest Territories: mix of sun, cloud. Nunavut: sunny. Whitehorse 2, Yellowknife -4, Iqaluit -20. Alberta: sunny. Saskatchewan: sunny north, rain south. Manitoba: rain. Edmonton 7, Regina 4, Winnipeg 5. Ontario, Quebec: sunny. Toronto 10, Ottawa 8, Montreal 5. New Brunswick: mis of sun, cloud. Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island: rain.
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