Back to newsletter list 11/12/2007 23:40:35 (UTC) Canada | World Briefs | Business News | Sports | Weather Headlines  - Canada denounces Algiers outrage - Canadian leader angered by medical crisis - Air India families said to have been neglected
OTTAWA: CANADA CONDEMNS ALGERIA BOMBINGS Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier says Canada condemns the "cowardly attacks" perpetrated in Algiers on Tuesday, which targeted innocent victims, including students, passersby and UN employees. The minister offered Canada's condolences to the victims' families and pledged Canada's continued support for the Algerian authorities in their struggle with terrorism. Al-Qaeda's North African wing has claimed responsibility for the twin suicide car bombings. The Algerian government says 26 people were killed but hospital sources gave a death toll of 62 dead and about 100 injured. The bombings were directed against two offices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the UN Development Program. Ten UN personnel are among the dead and a number of others are missing. The world body had 40 international staff in Algeria. A statement appearing on an Arab website said the attacks were carried out by Abdul-Rahman al-Aasmi and Ami Ibrahim Abou Othman. The site showed photograps of the suicide bombers holding assault rifles. OTTAWA: PM IRATE OVER CLOSED NUCLEAR REACTOR Prime Minister Stephen Harper has expressed fury with the country's nuclear regulator for keeping shut a nuclear reactor that provides material used for cancer tests. The Chalk River reactor produces mobylybdenum used by the MDS Inc. company to make one-half of the medical isotopes used in the world. The isotopes are used in tests for cancer, heart disease and other afflictions. Mr. Harper told the House of Commons that the government has received independent advice that there are no safety problems at Chalk River. But the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission says there are and that the facility will stay closed until they're solved. The Commission says the reactor's operator, state-owned Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., failed to respect a safety provision of its licence renewal. Mr. Harper's minority Conservative government is trying to push through legislation to allow the facility to reopen for 120 days. But the official opposition party, the Liberals, refuses, calling such legislation irresponsible. Chalk River was first shut down last month. The Ontario Association of Nuclear Medicine says for each month it remains shut, 50,000 Canadians and 160,000 Americans are forced to have their tests postponed. OTTAWA: AIR INDIA FAMILIES GOT SHORT SHRIFT An interim report from a Canadian enquiry into the bombing of an Air India flight in 1985 says that Canadian diplomats who tried to help the victims' families were well-meaning but ill-equipped for the job. Commissioner John Major says that Canadians in general were slow to grasp the enormity of the tragedy. Mr. Major says the end result was that family members felt alienated from their own government and felt they had been treated like second-class citizens. All 329 passengers on board died when the p*** exploded off the coast of Ireland while en route from Toronto to New Delhi. Detailed recommendations for policy reforms will be presented in a final report next year. OTTAWA: INSTIGATOR OF MULRONEY CONTROVERSY CONCLUDES TESTIMONY Canadian German businessman and arms lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber again appeared before a Canadian parliamentary ethics committee to give information on his dealings with former Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Mr. Mulroney has acknowleged accepting $300,000 from Mr. Schreiber soon after leaving office in l993. However, Mr. Schreiber claims the payment was made while Mr. Mulroney was still prime minister. Mr. Schreiber told the committee on Tuesday that he was at the former prime minister's official residence in March l993, and that they spoke about a project involving a German-made armoured vehicle. That's three months before Mr. Mulroney left office. And it appears to contradict sworn testimony by the former prime minister in which he said he had no dealings with Mr. Schreiber. Mr. Mulroney himself appears before the House committee on Thursday. Meanwhile in Toronto, lawyers representing Mr. Mulroney asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit brought against him by Mr. Schreiber to recover the $300,000 on grounds that Ontario has no jurisdiction in the case, Mr. Schreiber's lawyers arguing the opposite. OTTAWA: RECOMMENDATIONS ON STUN GUN USE DUE The official who oversees the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will on Wednesday make 10 recommendations for the use of the Taser. The head of the Commission for public Complaints Against the RCMP, Paul Kennedy, was asked by Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day for the report. Mr. Day was prompted by the international uproar caused by the death of 40-year-old would-be Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who was Tasered by RCMP officers at Vancouver International Airport. The death called for calls for the stun gun to be banned. But RCMP Commissioner William Elliott told a Commons committee on Tuesday that such a ban could compromise the safety of both officers and the public. Mr. Elliott says the use of the Taser gives an option to prevent situations in which an individual being apprehended or an officer might be injured. WINNIPEG: BARLEY MONOPOLY CASE SET FOR FEBRUARY Federal Court of Appeal will hear the federal government's case to have overturned a lower court ruling on its attempt to abolish the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly over marketing of western-grown barley. The case is to be heard in Winnipeg on Feb. 26. A court ruled in July that the federal government had overstepped its powers by seeking to eliminate the barley monopoly through a cabinet order rather than presenting legislation that would have been debated in the House of Commons. The government said in August it would appeal. The Opposition Liberals and the NDP favour the retention of the monopoly. Growers are divided, some saying that the Board gets them higher prices, others jpreferring to market on their own. OTTAWA: RIGHTS GROUP ABANDONS TORTURE INQUIRY The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has announced it has withdrawn as an intervenor in a closed-door hearing involving three men who claim to have been tortured in Egypt and Syria. Justice Frank Iacobucci has refused to hold any of the proceedings in public for reasons of national security, which the rights group calls a dangerous precedent. Ahman Abou-Elmaati says he was tortured in Egypt and Syria, while Abdullah Almalki and Muayyed Nureddin claim to have been abused in Syria. The inquiry is considering the role of Canadian officials in their cases. EDMONTON: ALBERTA MAKES GESTURE FOR TEMPORARY WORKERS The government of the western province of Alberta says it is setting up advisory offices in Calgary and Edmonton to assist temporary foreign workers. The minister of employment, Iris Evans, says the offices will help them deal with such problems as employment standards violations and occupational health and safety issues. The minister also announced that the government is naming eight investigators who will look into complaints by temporary foreign workers and conduct inspections at the companies that engage them. Mrs. Evans says the workers fill a vital need on Alberta's labour market. The province suffers from dire labour shortages. Last month, the Alberta Federation of Labour reported that temporary workers were complaining about being paid lower wages than their Canadian counterparts, about squalid housing and being force to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars in illegal fees. MONTREAL: FEDERAL SEPARATIST REJECTS MULTICULTURALISM The leader of a federal opposition party in Canada has spoken before a Quebec commission looking into the reasonable accommodation of minorities in the mainly French-speaking province. Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe told the panel that Quebec must be exempt from Canadian multiculturalism laws so the province can protect its own culture. Mr. Duceppe said Canadian-style multiculturalism doesn't work in the province and that is why Quebec needs to integrate immigrants to secure the future of the French language and francophone culture. The Bloc favours independence for the largely French-speaking province. The special commission led by academics Charles Taylor and Gérard Bouchard has been holding public hearings around the province. Some people have expressed the opinion that the hearings have encouraged a disproportionate number of angry people to express their opinions. VANCOUVER: BORDER SERVICE MUM ON PLAN TO DEPORT CRIPPLE The Canada Border Services Agency has declined to say when or if it will try again to deport an East Indian quadraplegic. The agency has refused to say when a removal order will be enforced as a safety measure. On Monday afternoon, 1,000 supporters of Laibar Singh succeeded in blocking his entry into the departure area of Vancouver International Airport. The agency abandoned the attempt to put him on a p*** back to India to protect its agents' security. Singh came to Canada on a forged passport in 2003. In 2006, he suffered a massive stroke that left him a paraplegic. He was ordered out of the country last week after exhausting legal appeals. His supporters want the order rescinded on the humanitarian grounds that he's too sick to travel. TORONTO: FATHER KILLS GIRL WHO REFUSED HIJAB A 57-year-old Toronto man, Muhammad Parvez, has been charged with murder after telling police that he killed his 16-year-old daughter. When authorities arrived at his home, they found Nina Parvez suffering from live-threatening injuries. The girl was taken to hospital where she died. Some of the girl's school friends say she had recently rebelled against her parents by refusing to wear a hijab. Samaa Elibyari of the Canadian Council of Muslim women says there is no law in Islamic belief that forces the wearing of a hijab. In addition to the murder charges against the girl's father, her brother is charged with obstructing police.
RUSSIA Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, whom President Vladimir Putin named as his preferred successor earlier in the week, says he'd like to make the outgoing president his prime minister. As well as the deputy prime minister, Mr. Medvedev, a Putin supporter, is also the chairman of gas giant Gazprom. Thanks to Mr. Putin's endorsement, Mr. Medvedev is the favourite to win the March 2 presidential election. Mr. Putin hasn't yet responded to his successor's offer of the prime minister's position. UNITED STATES A former Central Intelligence Agency agent the use of a harsh interrogation method on a terrorist was approved at the highest level of the U.S. government. John Kiriakou, a member of the CIA team that captured Abu Zubaydah, says the use of "waterboarding" on Zubayda was justified because it persuaded him to yield information that saved many lives. "Waterboarding" induces a feeling of drowning. Zubayda told his captors about alleged Sept. 11 plotter Ramzi Binalshibh, and both their confessions led in turn to the capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, whom the U.S. considers the mastermind of the attacks. The White House spokeswoman says the CIA interrogation program approved by President George W. Bush is tough but safe. Zubayda is now one of the suspected terrorist detainees at Guantanamo, Cuba. UNITED STATES The House of Representatives has unanimously approved sanctions to punish Burma for its political repression last September. The sanctions are aimed at the country's multi-million dollar gemstone and natural gas industries. The legislation also stops the Burmese authorities from using U.S. financial institutions through third countries and freezes the assets of Burmese political and military leaders held in them. According to the UN, at least 31 people were killed and 74 are missing when the military suppressed demonstrations led by Buddhist monks. PERU The Supreme Court has found former President Alberto Fujimori guilty of an abuse of confidence stemming from an illegal search in 2000 and sentenced him to six years in prison. Fujimori was president from 1990 to 2000 before he fled to Japan as his government collapsed. He faces seven human rights and corruption charges in multiple trials.
TORONTO: BIOVAIL AGREE TO HUGE CLASS-ACTION SETTLEMENT Canadian pharmaceutical firm Biovail Corp. and its founder Eugene Melnyk have agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit launched in New York by investors four years for US$138 million. One of the plaintiffs is the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which says the settlement is the second-biggest securities suit filed against a Canadian firm after the US$2.4 billion to which Nortel Networks Corp. accepted to pay in 2006. The plaintiffs had accused Biovail of making misleading statement about a blood-pressure drug to boost the company's stock in 2002 and 2003. The settlement includes no admission of wrongdoing. Biovail remains under inquiry by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged securities violations. The company has itself brought a suit against a group of hedge funds, analysts and investment firms that are alleged to have conspired to drive its share price down. MONTREAL: PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVES TO BE UPGRADED Via Rail says it has awarded a contract worth $101.5 million over five years to have 53 locomotives rebuilt. The contract has gone to CAD Railway Services Ltd. a subsidiary of Global Railway Industries Ltd. The money will come from the almost $700 million which the federal government announced over five years for the state-owned national passenger rail service. Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon says the investment will be good for the environment and make Via service more punctual. The refurbishing will affect 70 per cent of Via's locomotives. OTTAWA: RULES OF SELF-REGULATING PROFESSIONS SAID TO NEED REVISION The federal Competition Bureau has recommended that self-regulating professions examine their rules to see whether they serve the public good and foster competition. The Competition Commissioner, Sheridan Scott, says rules are needed but removing some existing ones could benefit consumers and the economy. Mr. Scott says professions are more regulated in Canada than elsewhere and the situation may be compromising the country's productivity. The Bureau's study of the question cites advertising regulations that restrict comparative advertising, a situation that could affect the consumers' ability to make informed decisions. Also mentioned are suggested prices and rules governing fee structures which can inhibit price competition. The cites as well limits on who can offer certain professional services, limits that force consumers to pay more or to pay for more services than they need. MONTREAL: FALLEN INVESTMENT HOUSE BOSS GUILTY Quebec Court has found Vincent Lacroix, the former president of the Norbourg investment firm, guilty of 51 charges of defrauding thousands of investors of millions of dollars. Lacroix was charged after Quebec's securities regulator alleged that he filed 115 false financial reports. More than 9,000 investors lost about $130 million of the $205 million administered by Norbourg. MARKETS TSX on Tuesday: 13,724, down 217. Canadian dollar: US98.58 US, losing 0.83 of a cent. Euro: C$1.4856, up 0.52 of a cent. Light sweet crude: US$90.02, up $2.16.
SWIMMING Synchronized swimming veterans Marie-Pier Boudreau-Gagnon of Riviere-du-Loup, QC., and Jessika Dubuc of Montreal will lead the Canadian team at an Olympic qualifying event in Beijing. Canada named its nine-member team Tuesday to compete April 16-20 for a spot in the 2008 Games, which will also be held in Beijing in August. RUGBY Rugby Canada has named a five-man panel to decide who will coach the Canadian men's team. Ric Suggitt's contract expires at the end of the month and Rugby Canada has opted to post the job while inviting Suggitt to reapply if he so desires.
Weather British Columbia on Wednesday: rain south, mix of sun, cloud north, high 5 Celsius Vancouver. Yukon: mix of sun, cloud. Northwest Territories: sun. Nunavut: snow. Whitehorse -6, Yellowknife -25, Iqaluit -19. Alberta: sun south, mix of sun, cloud north. Saskatchewan, Manitoba: snow. Edmonton -1, Regina -6, Winnipeg -9. Ontario: snow. Quebec: mix of sun, cloud. Toronto 0, Ottawa -4, Montreal -2. Atlantic Canada: snow. Fredericton, Charlottetown -1, Halifax 1, St. John's -2
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