Friday May 09, 2008
'Busybodies' told that Bernier's life is private
The Harper government is confident that Maxime Bernier's relationship with Julie Couillard, a woman who had biker connections, did not compromise national security, and background checks on the spouses of ministers will not be introduced as a result. From Print Edition, 09/05/08
Bill not confidence matter, Liberal senators say
Liberal senators say Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was wrong when he told reporters last week that a bill to deny tax credits to makers of violent or pornographic films and TV shows is necessarily a matter of confidence and must not be changed. From Print Edition, 09/05/08
Canada's backing of Israel unshakeable, Harper says
Prime Minister Stephen Harper used the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding yesterday to defend it against regimes who hate the Jewish people and their state.In some of his firmest language yet, the Prime Minister said Canada's support for Israel is unshakeable as Israel continues to face intimidation from other nations. From Print Edition, 09/05/08
Ottawa shirked duty to soldiers, minister says
The federal Minister of Veterans Affairs said yesterday that past governments did not do enough to help Canadian soldiers who returned from combat with service-related mental illnesses. ''Some of these people have seen atrocities they don't even want to talk about or think about, and most of them are unimaginable for the average Canadian to picture,'' Greg Thompson said. The minister made his comment a day after the Department of National Defence revealed that at least 1,500 of the 20,000 men and women who have served in Afghanistan since 2001 have suffered from ''operational stress injuries'' - an umbrella term that includes illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and addiction. From Print Edition, 09/05/08
Liberal carbon-tax plan splits NDP, Greens
A Liberal green plan that would levy taxes on carbon use while offering a matching cut on income taxes split the political parties yesterday, setting up a potential electoral battle for Canada's left-wing vote. From Print Edition, 09/05/08
Rules urged for spies in Afghanistan
Canada's spies working in Afghanistan are doing so without a rulebook, the watchdog that reviews CSIS's operations says.Eva Plunkett, Inspector-General of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, says the agents are doing ''commendable work'' but that laws governing the spy service need to be updated now that agents are being dispatched to war zones. From Print Edition, 09/05/08
Hospitals under pressure to reveal C. difficile outbreaks
Patient advocates are calling on governments across the country to force hospitals to tell the public about the outbreak of a highly contagious superbug that claimed the lives of 62 patients at one Ontario health-care institution. From Print Edition, 09/05/08
McGuinty challenges equalization
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is taking a new approach in his bitter feud with federal Conservatives, offering to chat ''adult to adult'' about Tory demands for corporate tax cuts in exchange for a discount on the province's equalization tab. From Print Edition, 09/05/08
RCMP book entire hotel for Vancouver Games
Anyone thinking of reserving downtown Vancouver hotel rooms for the 2010 Winter Olympics should scratch the landmark Blue Horizon off their list: The Mounties have slapped down their credit card to book the entire place. From Print Edition, 09/05/08
A consensus has finally emerged: The end is nigh
With the Democratic universe finally unfolding as it should, the party's leadership can exhale at last.All sides now agree that the race for the presidential nomination will be decided by early June at the latest. Even Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman agrees. From Print Edition, 09/05/08
A minefield to navigate with care
In theory, carbon taxes can play a useful role in encouraging consumers to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. People do change their behaviour in response to prices. In practice, the federal Liberals are taking political and economic risks by considering the imposition of new taxes on the carbon in all fuels. The extra revenues would be used to fund personal and corporate income-tax cuts, so the Liberals can depict these measures as a simple reshuffling of the tax system. But carbon taxes require careful calibration to make sure that they don't sideswipe domestic producers and low-income consumers. It is particularly difficult to ensure that they don't make cheap imports from the carbon-spewing developing world even more attractive when compared with the prices of Canadian products, both our exports and those we use ourselves. From Print Edition, 09/05/08
Northern towns gang up on carbon tax
Dozens of northern B.C. communities challenged Premier Gordon Campbell's groundbreaking carbon tax yesterday by backing a resolution that says the levy is unfair to northerners.About 140 voting delegates at the annual general meeting of the North Central Municipal Association supported the resolution in a blunt rebuke on the eve of a major address to the group by Mr. Campbell. From Print Edition, 09/05/08
Dobell defends his perusal of seized files in BC Rail probe
Ken Dobell, former deputy to Premier Gordon Campbell, confirmed yesterday that he handled confidential government documents that police seized in a political corruption case.And he said that when he did so, he had not signed a court undertaking that would have restricted him from talking to anyone about the documents. From Print Edition, 09/05/08
Canada needs to show it cares about most vulnerable
You have all read about international surveys ranking Vancouver as one of the best places in the world to live, work and visit.But for every one of those, you will also read about the social challenges of homelessness, drug addiction and mental health facing our city. From Print Edition, 09/05/08
A crumbling relationship that gives Olympic boosters the shivers
Native drums echoed down the swank corridors of the Pan Pacific Hotel yesterday, prelude to an event that banged yet another nail into the coffin of Premier Gordon Campbell's once-extolled ''new relationship'' with the province's aboriginal community. From Print Edition, 09/05/08
