Luka Magnotta had sparked worries among Toronto police

Toronto police saw alleged killer Luka Rocco Magnotta as a growing danger to society months before the grisly slaying of Chinese student Jun Lin in late May, according to correspondence obtained by CBC's the fifth estate.

Magnotta has been charged with first-degree murder in the killing and dismemberment of the Concordia University student in a case that drew international attention. The Toronto-born man pleaded not guilty. His preliminary hearing is slated to begin in March 2013.

Correspondence between the Toronto police and an online group investigating Magnotta, and later obtained by CBC's the fifth estate, shows that a detective expressed concerns about Magnotta nearly three months before Lin's death in Montreal.

"I want to find this guy more than anyone out there," a Toronto police detective told the online activists in one email dated March 9, 2012. "Trust me, I want to bring him before the courts even if just to get him psychiatric help."

Magnotta was never found or questioned by police, until he was arrested in a Berlin cafe on June 4 following a massive global manhunt.

The fifth estate also obtained exclusive interviews with members of the anonymous online group who were tracking Magnotta in late 2010 and notified authorities in early 2011 — more than a year before Lin's death — about their concerns regarding Magnotta.

The Animal Beta Project, an 11-member group of activists who pursue animal abusers, told the fifth estate and Radio-Canada's investigative program Enquete that they began investigating Magnotta in late 2010 after a video was posted on YouTube of someone killing two kittens by putting them in a sealed bag and sucking the air out with a vacuum.

Though the video was quickly removed, word about it spread and soon a hunt began for the man they dubbed the Vacuum Kitten Killer.

One member of the Animal Beta Project, who goes by the online alias Baudi Moovan, saw a post about the video in her Facebook news feed and was spurred to help try to find the killer. She joined a 4,000-strong Facebook group called "Find the Kitten Vacuumer … For Great Justice."

"I saw somebody with a complete lack of empathy," Moovan told the fifth estate's Mark Kelley about the person in the video. "And I saw somebody who wanted attention immediately."

Cat-and-mouse game

Moovan and the other Animal Beta Project members — who conceal their real names and locations because they are still in pursuit of online animal abusers — came to the conclusion that the kitten killer was Magnotta.

Jun Lin was a computer engineering student studying at Montreal's Concordia University when he was killed in late May. (Facebook/Canadian Press)

The group believes that Magnotta himself tipped off the online group by planting comments on message boards that he knew they frequented using a variety of online aliases or "sockpuppet" accounts.

"To him, this was a game," another Animal Beta Project member, who goes by the online alias John Green, told the fifth estate.

"When he initially posted the videos of the kittens in the vacuum bag, the YouTube profile name had 'liked' a video which was the opening credits to the [movie] Catch Me If You Can, which is about a person who is running away from the authorities," said Green. "And so to us, this was a cat-and-mouse game with him."

Green, Moovan and their colleagues began delving into the online trail left by Magnotta. The group was stunned to find dozens of profiles on Facebook, Myspace and Twitter, plus scores of blogs by the alleged killer painting himself as an international playboy escort and porn star. A vast number of aliases were used by Magnotta to act solely as online "fans" of Magnotta, the group says.

In seemingly desperate attempts to achieve fame and recognition, Magnotta auditioned for two reality TV shows, appeared on Naked News and was profiled in the gay bi-weekly Fab magazine. Magnotta had a clear fascination with serial killers, creating rumours he was dating Karla Homolka and then denying them.

Numerous posts appeared in online magazines and diaries about his dysfunctional childhood and struggles with mental illness.

Photo IDs location

The online sleuths suspect Magnotta joined the Facebook group "For Great Justice" under an alias, keeping an eye on the group as members tried to track him down.

The group scrutinized thousands of pictures Magnotta had uploaded to the web.

In early 2011, members of the Animal Beta Project believed they had finally caught a break with a photograph that showed Magnotta holding a cup of coffee inside a shop.

Because the cellphone picture was stamped with GPS locator data, the group was able to identify the location as Toronto's Eaton Centre and the date as Oct. 31, 2010, about a month before the kitten killing video was uploaded to YouTube.

Armed with reams of information about Magnotta and the latest find, the group contacted the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA), which reached out to the Toronto police.

In February 2011, Toronto police opened a file on Magnotta.

Though initially glad their concerns were taken seriously, the online sleuths quickly became frustrated when authorities seemed unable to find Magnotta.

"In our minds, why is it so difficult to find this person?" asked Moovan. "All they have to do is go to their system, type in the name and find them. It boggled us at times."

Authorities contacted again

Then, in late 2011, the kitten killer struck again, posting two new videos: one that showed a person feeding a live kitten to a python and another of a kitten duct-taped to a broom handle and drowned in a bathtub.

Details in this photo helped Animal Beta Project members track Magnotta to Montreal. (Flickr)

The new videos provoked a crisis of conscience among the online group investigating Magnotta.

"When the second set of videos came out again and I turned it on and I watched it, the first thing that came to my mind was 'Catch me if you can.' He was taunting us personally with these videos," says Moovan.

By early 2012, the online investigators had been tracking Magnotta for over a year and had become convinced he would move onto something much worse than killing kittens.

"We were having a conversation with what we believe was a Luka sockpuppet account on a website where videos are hosted," said Moovan. "He said, 'You guys better back off, this guy can snap on a dime and start killing humans.' "

By this spring, the online sleuths had honed their skills in tracking Magnotta down.

Using a recent photo that showed Magnotta posing outside near concrete steps below some distinct street lights, and acting on a tip that Magnotta was in Montreal, the investigators meticulously sifted through Google Street View images of the city's intersections.

The group managed to find the matching intersection in southwest Montreal.

The sleuths again contacted Montreal SPCA and police, pleading with them to act.

CBC News has also learned that the Toronto detective investigating Magnotta warned Montreal police about him months before his arrest in the Lin case.

"I still have the email I sent Montreal PD [police department] stating that yes he was only killing cats right now but that the next would be a human," the detective wrote in an email obtained by the fifth estate.

'Bigger' problem needs change

But in mid-May, someone on the web began promoting and asking questions about a new video called "1 lunatic 1 icepick." There's no evidence the video actually existed at that time.

By May 25, a video with that title appeared on an online gore site. Days later, packages containing a foot and hand arrived at the Conservative and Liberal parties' headquarters in Ottawa. Other body parts later arrived at Vancouver schools and were discovered in Montreal.

Moovan recalled her reaction to the discovery that the online video depicting the murder of Lin was real.

"When I came to the realization it was real, I was utterly devastated," she says.

An international manhunt for Magnotta led police on June 4 to an internet café in Berlin.

Members of the online group wonder if they could've done more to alert authorities, but they also worry about the future.

"When you look at the whole picture of what Luka had done, it's not just that he sucked the air out of a bag, he played with people, he manipulated his image, he was terrorizing people and he was killing defenceless creatures," says Moovan.

"It's not just some person on the internet calling the police and saying, 'Somebody killed a cat.' There's a bigger picture here that I don't think the system itself takes into consideration here and that needs to be changed."

Watch the fifth estate documentary, Hunting Magnotta, Friday. It airs on CBC-TV at 9 p.m. (9:30 in Newfoundland and Labrador).

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Chris Hall: What should be Canada's role in the Middle East?

When Canada's John Baird took to the podium at the UN Thursday to condemn the vote elevating the Palestinian Authority to a non-member observer state, it was a message few in the chamber wanted to hear.

The General Assembly, after all, was just moments away from an overwhelming endorsement of the move, thereby placing Canada in a small minority of opponents along with the U.S. and Israel.

Nor was Canada's opposition a surprise. Prime Minister Stephen Harper had earlier this week rejected the enhanced status, calling it a ''shortcut'' to statehood. His foreign affairs minister labelled it a ''unilateral'' move that would undermine negotiations with Israel for a peaceful, two-state solution.

What most wouldn't have realized as Baird spoke is that Canada's resolve to stand with Israel hardened in September at the opening of the General Assembly, while Harper waited to meet the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Sources have described the discussion as curt. Though photos of the two men meeting that day show them both smiling and shaking hands.

But it was apparently what happened immediately before their brief meeting that reinforced the prime minister's opposition to the Palestinian bid.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, in September at the UN opening session, a meeting that has since been described as 'curt.' (Paul Chiasson / Canadian Press)

Harper watched as Abbas walked through a gauntlet of world leaders who had just listened to his speech, accepting their praise and support. Few of those leaders bothered to return to the chamber to listen to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offer his rebuttal.

Insiders say the spectacle pushed Harper to bluntly warn Abbas privately that there would be further consequences from Canada if the push for enhanced status was not abandoned.

And now Baird's speech Thursday repeated the warning, this time publicly, but without elaborating.

The next steps

"As a result of this body's utterly regrettable decision to abandon policy and principle,'' Baird told the assembly on Thursday, "We will be considering all available next steps.''

There's already speculation those next steps could include a decision not to renew $300 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority, and to remove the credentials of Palestinian representatives to Canada.

Whatever the Harper government does, its staunch support of Israel is clearly set, much to the alarm of its critics.

Many see this harder line as a shift away from Canada's traditional role as both a supporter of Israel, and what retired Canadian diplomat Steve Hibbard recently called a more ''fair-minded'' approach to the issues that bedevil Mideast peace efforts.

In an article this month for the Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, Hibbard said the Harper government has undermined that approach and Canada's standing in the Middle East.

"Perhaps the most helpful step Canada could take is to use its close ties with Israel to work with Israelis and Palestinians to build mutual trust,'' he concluded.

For his part, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair thinks the Conservatives are taking an ever-hardening line against the Palestinians.

"What we have on the Canadians' side under the Conservatives is negativism," he says. "Reproach. Attack. Threats. That's not constructive. That's not a way to build for peace.''

What should be Canada's role?

In fact, there's no disagreement over the outcome Canada wants for the Middle East. The dispute is over how to get there, and the role this country should play.

Baird and Harper have both said they make no apologies for standing with Israel, reminding their political opponents at home that Israel is a Jewish state, in a neighbourhood of the world that's hostile to its very existence.

Foreign Minister John Baird addressing the UN on Thursday. (Bebeto Matthews / Associated Press)

In his speech Thursday, Baird advanced another argument aimed at the international community.

He sought to position the resolution granting the Palestinian Authority enhanced status as running counter to the UN's own history.

He ran through the resolutions on the Middle East dating back to 1947, recognizing that the two parties — Israelis and Palestinians — need to work collaboratively to find solutions.

"The path to peace has historically rested in direct negotiations between the two parties to resolve all outstanding issues and it remains the same today,'' Baird said. ''Solutions can only come through the two sides working together.''

The territories

It was an argument that garnered only polite applause from those in the assembly. And it left unspoken two important issues.

First, Baird avoided any direct criticism of Israel's own unilateral moves.

He made no mention of the expanded Israeli settlements in the territories, including the concern expressed two years ago by his predecessor at foreign affairs, Lawrence Cannon.

In March 2010, Cannon, who is now Canada's ambassador to France, opposed Israel's plan to build 1,600 apartments in Arab east Jerusalem.

He told the Commons foreign affairs committee that Canada firmly believes in two sovereign states living side by side in harmony.

"On expansion into East Jerusalem, we feel that this is contrary to international law and therefore condemn it. We're very concerned with what is taking place."

The other unspoken issue is that Canada's approach now mirrors the U.S. in saying essentially that the Palestinians can't achieve statehood without negotiating Israel's consent.

Adaptable

While Stephen Harper has shown an ability to adapt his foreign policy positions in other parts of the world, that's not been the case when it comes to the Middle East.

He has pushed hard to expand ties with China, for example, despite strongly expressed concerns in the past over China's human rights record.

That shift was motivated by a desire to expand foreign trade, and to open markets for Canadian business.

With Israel, the motivation is different.

It's partly political. The Conservatives won their first seats in Metro Toronto in ridings with a substantial Jewish vote. And they still have designs on another — Mount Royal in Montreal — currently held by the Liberals.

The other is an underlying view that Abbas and the Palestinian Authority are only reluctant partners in the peace process, and that today's vote on UN status is an incentive to maintaining the status quo rather than negotiating peace.

That is not a view shared by the majority of other UN members, including many European nations who supported the bid or, like Britain, abstained, only because they couldn't get a guarantee from Abbas that he wouldn't use the new status to try to challenge Israel's occupation of the West Bank before the UN's International Criminal Court.

For Stephen Harper, though, there can be no shortcuts to statehood for the Palestinians. And on that score, his government is simply not prepared to budge.

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Harper's Muskrat Falls announcement clears hurdle

An expected announcement Friday on a federal loan guarantee for the controversial Muskrat Falls plan will clear the final important hurdle to launching the hydroelectric project.

Stephen Harper pledged to support a Muskrat Falls loan guarantee during an election campaign stop in St. John's in 2011. (CBC)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is travelling to Labrador to unveil details of what is expected to be the loan guarantee that he pledged during the 2011 federal election campaign.

The guarantee effectively is the last piece of a complex puzzle that the Newfoundland and Labrador government has been assembling for years to generate power on the Churchill River and launch the $7.4-billion project.

The loan guarantee will substantially lower the costs of borrowing for the project.

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy Dunderdale has said final approval of the guarantee will clear the way for what is called sanctioning of the project, or the formal green light.

But even without the loan guarantee, Newfoundland and Labrador has been plowing ahead with Muskrat Falls, to the consternation of opponents who see the project as financially ruinous or environmentally risky.

Earlier this year, Nalcor — Newfoundland and Labrador's Crown energy corporation — began clearing forests to build roads and infrastructure for the Muskrat Falls site outside Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Nalcor has argued that costs would mount substantially if it waited a year before launching that preliminary work.

It will take several years to dam Muskrat Falls and build a generating station, which will pump out 824 megawatts of power. Much of that will be funnelled by subsea cables from Labrador to Newfoundland, with as much as 40 per cent of the power marked to head to Nova Scotia by an additional set of subsea cables.

Nova Scotia connection vital

Halifax-based Emera Inc. is a partner in the Muskrat Falls project, and will be responsible for marketing its share of the energy.

Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter, right, appeared in St. John's with then Newfoundland and Labrador premier Danny Williams to announce a tentative agreement on Muskrat Falls. (CBC)

Harper and Dunderdale will be joined by Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter. While Nova Scotia is not a partner in Muskrat Falls, Dexter's support has been critical in the development of the project.

Muskrat Falls has come in for steady criticism from a number of groups, some alleging that it has not undergone an independent review through the Public Utilities Board, which ruled this winter it could not proceed because Nalcor had turned over too little information in time for it to meet a government-imposed deadline.

Other concerns have been raised about whether Newfoundland and Labrador, which is poised to launch the most expensive project in its history, can afford the debt load that will come from the project, and whether ordinary ratepayers will in effect be footing the costs of the project.

As well, the leaders of Newfoundland's Liberal and New Democratic parties have threatened to filibuster technical legislation that will need to be introduced to clear the way for Muskrat Falls.

They have also criticized Dunderdale for setting only a couple of hours for formal legislative debate of Muskrat Falls, and at that through a private member's bill.

Cheapest option available: Dunderdale

But Dunderdale, who has said Muskrat Falls has undergone intense scrutiny by experts and the public, has consistently said Muskrat Falls represents the cheapest option to supply power to Newfoundland and Labrador consumers.

The government has launched a public relations campaign to help persuade the public that Muskrat Falls represents a stable source of renewable energy that will be cheaper than relying on alternatives, including burning oil at the Holyrood generating station the government would soon like to decommission.

Muskrat Falls has been more than three decades in the making, and is a key part of what is known as the Lower Churchill energy project. The current plan does not involve another site at Gull Island, which if developed could generate substantially more power.

Interprovincial politics have played a key role in Muskrat Falls, as Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia have partnered to find a way deliver power to other markets while bypassing Quebec.

Newfoundland and Labrador has had a strained relationship with Quebec for decades, due largely to the 65-year contract with Hydro-Quebec over the Churchill Falls generating station. Under that deal, which expires in 2041, Newfoundland and Labrador sells power at a flat, inexpensive rate to Quebec, which has been able to resell the power to other markets while keeping the profits.

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Canada recalls diplomats after Palestinians win UN vote

Canada is temporarily recalling its heads of mission to Israel and the West Bank, along with its United Nations representatives in New York and Geneva, to protest the Palestinians' successful bid on Thursday for upgraded status in the UN.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird pledged to "review the full range of its bilateral relationship" with the Palestinian Authority in the wake of the vote in New York City.

"I want to get a sense from the diplomats what they see on the ground, how they see things going, and how we can effectively respond to what could be a new reality," Baird told CBC News in an interview from New York on Friday.

Only nine countries voted against the Palestinian Authority's bid to have its status in the UN upgraded to state recognition. (CBC)

Canada was one of nine countries, including the U.S. and Israel, to oppose upgrading the UN observer status of the Palestinian Authority from "entity" to "non-member state."

In a statement released Friday morning, Baird said, "Yesterday's unilateral action does nothing to further the Middle East peace process. It will not change the reality on the streets of the West Bank or Gaza. This unilateral step is an impediment to peace.

"We again call on the Palestinian Authority and Israel to return to negotiations without preconditions, for the good of their people."

Baird objects to 'combative' Abbas speech

There has been speculation that Canada will ask the Palestinian delegation in Ottawa to leave, or not renew its $300 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority over five years.

However, the minister appeared to discount that in an interview, saying the government values its relationship and dialogue with the Palestinian delegation in Ottawa.

"Sometimes you have to work with people that you disagree with," he said. "That's the nature of diplomacy and the nature of my job."

The minister objected strongly to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's remarks before the UN voted Thursday.

"He basically accused the Israelis of some pretty heinous crimes, ethnic cleansing," Baird told CBC's Heather Hiscox.

"It was a combative speech. No tone of reconciliation. It was an opportunity for him to be magnanimous, to reach out to the Israeli government, and we're disappointed that he didn't take that opportunity."

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UN votes today on Palestinian bid for state recognition

The UN General Assembly will consider today the Palestinian Authority's bid to have its status in the UN upgraded to state recognition, forcing world governments to pick a side on the contentious and divisive issue.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is travelling to New York on Thursday to oppose any "unilateral" move by the Palestinians for statehood, and will present the country's concerns directly before the world body.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Canada favours a two-state solution in the region.

"That will not be accomplished in reality unless and until the Palestinian Authority returns to the negotiating table and is able to get a comprehensive peace agreement with Israel.… So we encourage them to do that and we will not support any other shortcuts or any other ways of trying to arrive at that solution without such a peace agreement," he told reporters on Wednesday.

The UN General Assembly is expected to vote Thursday afternoon on whether to upgrade the Palestinians' status from a non-member observer entity to a non-member observer state. While it can't confer full-member status, the recognition would be seen as a major symbolic victory.

Israel says bid won't help Palestinian quest for homeland

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas formally asked the UN a year ago to consider his application for full membership. That request has been blocked by the Security Council, but Thursday's resolution is expected to pass.

Unlike the Security Council, in the General Assembly, the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations, no one country has veto power. Most of the General Assembly's 193 member states are sympathetic to the Palestinians and this resolution to raise its status only requires a majority vote for approval.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday the UN General Assembly's recognition of an independent state of Palestine will not advance the Palestinians' quest for a homeland. (Gali Tibbon, Pool/Associated Press)

However, a country's vote in favour of the status change does not automatically imply its individual recognition of a Palestine state, something that must be done bilaterally.

The Palestinians say they need UN recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem to be able to resume negotiations with Israel. The non-member observer state status could also open the way for possible war crimes charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court.

The Palestinian Authority representative at the UN, Riyad Mansour, says he expects Thursday to be a historic day for Palestinians and for the UN. He says he is relatively confident the Palestinians have enough support in the General Assembly.

"What we are doing is honourable, is legal, is political, is multilateral, is democratic," he said.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that if the Palestinians are recognized as a non-member observer state in the UN General Assembly, it would not advance their quest for a homeland.

Netanyahu said the Palestinians will not win a state until they recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland, declare an end to their conflict with the Jewish state and agree to security arrangements that protect Israel.

France, China to pledge support

The United States is also sharply opposed to the resolution.

"No one should be under any illusion that this resolution is going to produce the results that the Palestinians claim to seek, namely to have their own state, living in peace next to Israel," said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

France, meanwhile, says it will back the Palestinian bid, as will China and a host of other nations.

Britain has said it will support the bid, provided that the Palestinians refrain from accessing the ICC, where they could challenge Israel over settlement building.

However, Mansour, said: "I don't believe that we are going to be rushing on the second day to join everything related to the United Nations, including the ICC."

With files from the CBC's Tom Parry, David Common and The Associated Press

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Neil Macdonald: The transformation of Hillary Clinton

The treadmill of American democracy being what it is, 468 members of Congress are already worrying about the midterm elections in 2014, and a tiny cadre of hyper-ambitious pols is beginning the tortuous four-year slog toward the White House.

Republicans, whose primary contests earlier this year amounted to a long-running gong show, are quarrelling over a choice many of them consider existential: Must the party find a moderate next time, in order to win over more ethnic and women voters, or nominate an unapologetic, steadfast, red-meat conservative?

One way or the other, the GOP has contenders, but no superstar.

Democrats, meanwhile, have no such angst. Not only is there is no real internal argument over which way the party should tilt, it has one figure whose mere nod would thrill millions of Americans right now.

Those would be the same Americans who watched, and cheered, and wept, as Hillary Clinton took the podium on June 7, 2008, and declared, as she conceded her party's nomination to Barack Obama, that "although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it."

Gaffe free

Since that day, there has been considerable energy expended debating whether Clinton would have done better than Obama in the White House over these past four years.

The most famous woman on the planet? (Matt Rourke / Associated Press)

Clinton herself, though, simply picked up the pieces and moved on without a single public recrimination, as she advised her supporters to do in that speech. And by almost any measure, she's grown in power and stature as a result.

By accepting Obama's offer to become his secretary of state, she chose a path that allowed her to look as close to presidential as you can look without the title, yet at the same time keep a judicious distance from partisan politics.

As required by U.S. law, Clinton was not present at her party's convention in September; when Barack Obama accepted his second nomination, she was on official business in Brunei.

Since 2009, she has not raised funds, distributed endorsements, or otherwise engaged in Washington's widely hated slanging match.

Essentially, she travelled the world gaffe-free for four years, pushing her country's interests and democratic ideals, with special care given to gender equality.

She has even managed to avoid taint, at least so far, for the apparently targeted killings of four Americans at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in September.

It's probably an understatement to say Clinton has become an icon to women worldwide; certainly, she is among the most famous women alive, if not the most famous.

The hair thing

Here in the U.S., her approval rating is a remarkable 70 per cent.

Granted, part of that is because she's perceived as above the partisan wars, but still it's an impressive figure, especially given the fact that just a few years ago, Clinton was widely derided as far too "polarizing" to be able to govern effectively.

All of which leaves her in a most enviable position: Whether to say yes to 2016.

Officially, as she prepares to relinquish her job at State, she is saying no.

"I have ruled it out," she told the Wall Street Journal recently, referring to a presidential bid. "It's important for me to step off this incredibly high wire I've been on, to take stock of the rest of my life."

In recent years, she's provoked all sorts of speculation about her intentions by gradually changing her hair from the crisp chignon she wore while striving for power to a shoulder-length, more motherly look.

But she remains a Clinton. And when it comes to U.S. presidential politics, any denial short of "I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected" is hedging.

So far, Clinton has not repeated William Tecumseh Sherman's famously categorical denial. Why would she, with the stars aligned the way they are?

The credentials

If the cyclical laws of economics hold, there is a good chance America will be enjoying a strong economic recovery, if not a boom, by the time the next election comes around, and it will have happened under a Democratic administration.

By 2016, Americans should also be fully addicted to their newest entitlement, universal health care, with Hillary Clinton having been its most prominent early advocate during her time as first lady in the early 1990s.

On defence and national security, she's a hawk, something that has earned her friends in the military and even praise from some Republicans, particularly those with whom she served in the U.S. Senate.

And the biggest demographic of all — 52 per cent of the population — would probably look kindly on the idea of electing America's first woman president.

On that score, the Republicans are utterly outclassed.

In 2008, Sarah Palin put herself forward as the woman who would pick up where Hillary left off. Clinton became her country's chief diplomat; Palin abandoned the governorship of Alaska to star in a reality show.

It is true that South Carolina's Republican Gov. Nikki Haley is telegenic, popular and effective, but she's no Clinton, either.

The fact is, Clinton will walk away from the Obama cabinet, probably sometime in the next few weeks, as a colossus in her party.

Her fundraising power, should she choose to exercise it, is beyond question. And to top it all off, she's married to a man who has just proven himself the most potent presidential stand-in in American electoral politics.

(How better to set the stage for your wife's return than play such a key role in Obama's re-election?)

In October, 2016, just before the next presidential election, Hillary Clinton will turn 69 — exactly the same age as Ronald Reagan when he won in 1980, and just four years older than Mitt Romney was this time.

For all her talk of letting go and relaxing, one suspects she still dreams of smashing right through that ceiling she cracked four years ago, and may yet do just that.

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Should the UN govern the internet?

A United Nations conference is set to debate whether the international body should play a larger role in governing the internet, stirring criticism from technology companies and rights groups who say the proposal holds potentially dire implications.

The World Conference on International Telecommunications is set to begin Monday in the United Arab Emirates, a country that has been criticized for restricting online dissent and where internet users often encounter "surf safely" warnings upon visiting government-blocked websites.

For the first time in nearly a quarter-century, the summit will update a treaty governing how the world's telecommunications infrastructure connects people in 178 signatory countries. Another key item on the agenda is a proposal that would change the way internet users pay for content online.

A long-standing campaign by member countries of the International Telecommunications Union, the group affiliated with the UN that's organizing the summit, to play a larger role in managing how the internet runs has overshadowed other aspects of the event.

'This breed of dinosaurs, with their pea-sized brains, hasn't figured out that they are dead yet because the signal hasn't travelled up their long necks.'—Vint Cerf, Google's chief internet evangelist

At the meeting next week, a group of countries including Russia are reportedly planning to push for the UN body to take over governance duties from the California-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a non-profit organization that oversees internet naming.

That proposal has garnered sometimes colourful criticism from the collection of stakeholders who have traditionally helped govern the internet, as well as from experts or activists concerned with internet freedom.

Vint Cerf, a vice-president at Google who helped design the architecture of the internet, described the campaign by ITU members in a recent interview with Reuters as "evidence that this breed of dinosaurs, with their pea-sized brains, hasn't figured out that they are dead yet because the signal hasn't travelled up their long necks."

During a speech in Ottawa last May, the organization's secretary general Hamadoun Toure dismissed notions that the ITU might take over the internet, and said he expects "a light-touch regulatory approach to emerge" as his organization updates its technical standards framework for the first time since the advent of the web.

But critics of the ITU say it's too closed-off to the public so that civil society groups would have little say on important decisions, or that an inter-governmental agency is too slow to keep up with the fast pace at which the internet moves.

Others believe the ITU as an internet regulator would help legitimize governments who are moving to control web access and restrict what users can say online.

Andy Sellars, a lawyer with the Digital Media Law Project at Harvard University, said he worries that regulating the online world through the UN group "could mean more aggressive, centralized control of the internet" and more restrictions on free speech, which together would "seriously change what we understand the internet to be."

Spate of arrests

Observers say it's unlikely the ITU campaign will succeed in the short-term because there is too much opposition, including from the United States and the European Union.

But Ron Deibert, a cybersecurity expert and director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, says the recurring push at the ITU to wield more control over the web is part of a bigger trend "towards greater state control of cyberspace and an older internationally governed system of telecommunications."

He points to the backdrop for the conference — and a long list of recent cases in which people in the Gulf region and elsewhere have been jailed for posting messages on social media — as evidence.

'A number of governments are sort of rushing to pass more laws that make more things illegal online.'—Internet censorship expert Rebecca MacKinnon

Last month in Iran, four people were arrested for posting messages on Facebook that were deemed insulting to officials. Four Kuwaitis were jailed for purportedly using Twitter to criticize the country's ruler earlier in November. And in the most publicized recent case, two women in Mumbai were arrested for posting and "liking" a comment on Facebook admonishing supporters of late nationalist Hindu politician Bal Thackeray.

Rebecca MacKinnon, an internet censorship researcher at the New America Foundation, says it's becoming easier for many governments to censor or jail people for what they say online because new laws are being enacted that "are making it harder and harder for citizens to have public conversations online about politics without repercussions," particularly in the wake of the Arab Spring, she said.

"In a lot of countries they didn't really have laws dealing with online speech before and didn't clarify what was illegal, so a number of governments are sort of rushing to pass more laws that make more things illegal online," she said.

The United Arab Emirates, for example, took a tougher stance against online dissent earlier this month when it passed a new law that means anyone can be imprisoned for using the web to criticize the oil-rich Gulf country's rulers or its institutions.

Deibert says some of the new laws are aimed at "downloading policing responsibilities onto the private sector," forcing technology companies or internet service providers to report forbidden behaviour by users.

He also suggests there's a growing demand for online surveillance tools – some of which are made by Western companies – which can make it easier for authorities in autocratic countries like the UAE or democracies such as Canada to track what's being said on the web and to take action as their laws allow.

In the case of Russia, which is reportedly spearheading the push to make the ITU an internet regulator, it launched a beefed-up online surveillance system on Nov. 1. According to an investigation by the CitizenLab and two other rights groups, and reported by Wired magazine, the new system could be running on software from a Canadian firm.

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Canadian scientists look for quicker E. coli, listeria tests

Canadian scientists are being asked to find faster ways to test for two dangerous bacteria that can be found in our food — E. coli and listeria.

Possible E. coli contamination was the reason behind a recent beef recall in Alberta. Listeria was the bacteria behind the outbreak that killed 22 people in 2008 in seven provinces.

Genome Canada awarded one contract for a new listeria test in October. The one for E. coli will be finalized in January.

Pierre Meulien is the president and CEO of Genome Canada.

"Hopefully we can do this much more rapidly," he said. "We're talking about what would be useful is less than an hour, maybe 15 minutes."

That's a dramatic contrast to the current sitation. It now takes 10 hours for a lab to confirm E. coli, five days for listeria. And Meulien pointed out that a genetic test can be done on site.

"So that you could many times in any particular food processing operation test a carcass, cheese, milk whatever kind of product you're in the process of making," Meulien said.

Dr. David Chalak is a veterinarian in Alberta. He's also chair of the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency, which is chipping in for part of this research. He says better testing helps industry find more foreign markets.

"Consumers in foreign countries have the same concerns as Canadians," Chalak said.

He was involved in the latest recall in Alberta, with XL Foods, and he said getting timely results can be difficult.

"When the plant is in Brooks [Alberta] and you've got to take the samples to Calgary, there is travel time. I mean a 10-hour test is when it goes on the Petri dish. So 10 hours? Don't take that literally. You're basically looking at 24 hours."

Both projects have tight deadlines. The scientists must finish their project within 18 months. Meulien hopes one day there will be similar tests for other harmful bacteria, such as C. difficile in hospitals.

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Early clues to navy spy Delisle's guilt overlooked

Canada's most active spy might have been caught almost a year sooner if the military and CSIS had followed their own mandatory security check rules, documents obtained by CBC News show.

And Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Paul Delisle might still be swapping secrets with the Russians for cash if not for a tip from the FBI in the United States, suggests information contained in three search warrants that were executed on Delisle's home, car and the ultra-secret navy intelligence facility in Halifax where Delisle worked, HMCS Trinity.

The first hint that Delisle was the central figure in a spy scandal that would rock the Canadian and allied military establishments came in the form of a letter sent to the RCMP from the FBI on Dec. 2, 2011.

"The RCMP gets a letter from Frank Figliuzzi, the FBI's Assistant Director, REDACTED implicating a Canadian military officer. His statement is corroborated by Anthony M. Buchmeier, the FBI's counter-intelligence expert witness," states one of the warrants. (Some portions of the warrants obtained by CBC have been redacted by Canadian security officials.)

The FBI makes it clear that there is one suspect: Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Delisle.

When the FBI tipped off the Mounties, Delisle was the threat assessment officer for the Canadian navy based on the East Coast. His job came with a level 3 top secret security classification — the second highest possible — that gave him access to secret information gathered by the CIA, the FBI, CSIS and British, Australian and New Zealand intelligence services.

But the warrants show that Delisle's top secret security clearance had lapsed before he was transferred to Trinity in August 2011. The transfer came after Delisle was promoted to an officer, giving him access to more classified material.

"Jeffrey Delisle's security clearance is Level III — TOP SECRET and is currently being updated. The last information request made to approve this clearance was completed on March 22, 2006," the warrants state.

A ban on publication of the warrants was lifted in Nova Scotia provincial court on Thursday after an application was made by CBC News.

The Defence Department has confirmed to CBC that level 3 security classifications are supposed to be updated every five years. Delisle's should have undergone the rigorous security process in March 2011, five months before he moved to Trinity. But that check never happened, and the warrants don't explain why.

Might have uncovered problems

If Delisle had been subjected to the mandatory screening process, his loyalty to Canada would have been tested, his devotion to the Canadian military assessed and his financial and emotional health scrutinized.

The process might have uncovered unsettling facts about Delisle that should have triggered a security review long before the five-year mandatory check.

The warrants say that Delisle was in debt in 2009, owing thousands of dollars on a government American Express card. It was a debt he couldn't pay.

"He understands that he has to repay the amount of $3,242.72 and commits to do so," states the warrant. The information came from Delisle's commanding officer at Trinity.

The documents confirm Delisle claimed he incurred the debt because his marriage was falling apart. Debt coupled with a disintegrating marriage often triggers a security review for people involved in intelligence.

But Delisle remained undetected and untested: a man responsible for providing Canadian warships around the world with daily alerts about possible terror attacks and other risks.

23 payments to Delisle

The warrants also show that Delisle's four and half years of betrayal only paid the 41-year-old sailor enough to keep his head above water.

"Between July 6, 2007, and August 1, 2011, funds of US$71,817, split in 23 payments, were transferred to Jeffrey Paul Delisle," state the warrants, which have not been tested in court.

The money was transferred via Western Union and cashed by Delisle at Money Marts. The documents say the money was sent by people in Russia and in Ireland.

The warrants name Sergey Shokolov, Fedor Vasilev, Andrey Orlov and Mary Larkin as the people who sent Delisle money orders. The warrants don't explain who they are or who they work for, state that Larkin is using a fake name.

Despite his known money problems, Delisle gave notice to his commander that he was going to vacation in Cuba and Brazil in September 2011. Even these expensive sojourns didn't raise a red flag to the military.

Delisle travelled to Brazil to meet with his Russian spymaster, who paid him $50,000. His Russian handler also offered him a new job as a go-between with other Russian agents in Canada.

Walked into Russian Embassy

When Delisle returned to Canada, a border services agent in Halifax thought the five-day trip and the amount of money Delisle carried on his return was odd. The border guard reported his suspicions to his superiors, but there is no information in the warrants to suggest the navy took action.

It had been in 2007 that Delisle walked into the Russian Embassy in Ottawa on a summer afternoon. He agreed to supply Russia with secret information for money. On the 10th of every month he would upload untold megabytes of information he had downloaded onto a USB stick while at work in Trinity.

It was only after the FBI alerted the RCMP about Delisle that the navy began his overdue security clearance check. CSIS is responsible for conducting the security on military personal.

In a surprise move, Delisle pleaded guilty in October to passing secrets to the Russians. His guilty plea means that the whole story behind the leaks will never be heard in court.

Delisle, who still holds his rank and receives a salary from the navy, will be sentenced for his crime on Jan. 12, almost a year to the day he was arrested.

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Will a new Bank of Canada governor shake up interest rates?

Mark Carney's successor as governor of the Bank of Canada is not expected to implement a radical change in interest rate policy and most likely will hold the current underlying philosophy, which includes a hawkish attitude toward inflation.

Speculation has already begun about possible candidates to replace Carney, who announced on Monday that he will step down next June to become the next governor of the Bank of England.

But it's unlikely that the new Bank of Canada governor will diverge from Carney when it comes to setting interest rates here, says Louis Gagnon, a finance professor at Queen's University School of Business.

"In this business you're either hawkish or dovish. Hawkish people are very suspicious of inflation and dovish people are slightly more accommodating. [Carney] is in the hawkish camp," Gagnon said.

"I think the Bank of Canada as an institution, not only the governor, but the body, is hawkish. I'd be very surprised if they were to select someone who has a different philosophy because that person would not sit well with that group of people."

The Bank of Canada has a two per cent target for inflation, which means that if inflation should exceed that level interest rates would be increased to keep it in check. With the Canadian economy growing slightly — the OECD yesterday predicted moderate growth for Canada in 2013 — inflation might go up as well, which means the next governor could end up raising interest rates.

The Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said in its report the Bank of Canada may need to start raising interest rates from near record lows by the latter half of 2013.

However, Gagnon said that such a move shouldn't be interpreted as a new governor having a different policy objective than his predecessor.

"If [Carney] saw that inflation rose consistently above the two per cent mark, he'd most certainly increase interest rates."

As for governor contenders, Gagnon said there's no pecking order right now and that it will be a long time before a shortlist is created.

He said the candidate must have a deep and solid understanding of the macro economy, the capital marketplace, financial markets and the overall banking system.

"Monetary policy is so crucial. It's central to everything. It establishes the short-term interest rate, which itself is the starting point of the credit marketplace.

"So credit markets take their queues from monetary authorities. And so you have to have a very, very solid understanding of all these dimensions."

The board of the Bank of Canada vets candidates for the governor's job and comes up with a short list, from which the government chooses.

Finn Poschmann, vice president of research at the C.D. Howe Institute, said that with Carney leaving after just over five years in a seven-year term there may be an incentive for the board to look for continuity.

This is one of the reasons that Tiff Macklem, the senior deputy governor at the Bank of Canada, has been suggested as a leading candidate. Macklem has been with the Bank of Canada for a number of years, and also spent time in the finance department.

"There's of course no shortage of qualified possible contenders. But with continuity an incentive if not an imperative then you look inside for an experienced hand," Poschmann said. "They don't have to look very far for someone with the right set of experiences, both through Tiff's work on previous jobs including the department of finance."

If continuity is important, then Bank of Canada deputy governors Agathe Côté and Timothy Lane could also be up for consideration.

Another possible contender is Jean Boivin, the associate deputy minister of finance and former deputy governor of the Bank of Canada.

Don Drummond, TD Bank's former chief economist, who spent years in senior roles at the department of finance, could also be a candidate. But Drummond said on Monday that he wasn't interested in the job, Bloomberg News reported

Economic analyst Patti Croft said Julie Dickson, who heads the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada, would be her top pick.

"Her experience, expertise on the regulatory side would be a wonderful addition," Croft said. "It's something Mark Carney was very interested in. It was one of his comparative advantages and she has it in spades."

Croft also said Stephen Poloz, president and chief executive officer of Export Development Canada, who is an economist with global experience, would be a good choice.

"The important thing is there's a remarkable pool of talent they can draw from," Croft said.

With files from The Canadian Pres

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Budget Rent a Car fraud claims probed by RCMP

B.C. Attorney General Shirley Bond says provincial agencies are investigating allegations of fraud at Budget Rent a Car locations in the Vancouver area.

CBC News has spoken with Budget customers and former employees who accuse the company of grossly overcharging customers for minor repairs that sometimes aren't even done.

"There will be a fair process to look at whether the allegations are true or not," Bond said.

"It is being taken very seriously and I don't accept the fact that consumers should be treated inappropriately in this province and I expect the processes to be rigorous and examine the allegations."

Vancouver area Budget franchises are owned by Syd Belzberg, a prominent businessman who has won awards for philanthropy.

But some of his former employees claim Belzberg makes money by systematically deceiving customers.

Former employees allege Budget Rent a Car locations in the Vancouver area intentionally rip off customers. (CBC)

"We would consciously lie to people," Dylan Paul told CBC News.

"I will use the word lie and I will use the word swindle. It was by design. I had personal meetings with the owner, with the general manager, and I know how I participated in that. And a lot of times I should have just said, 'No.'"

Former employee Martin Torres tells a similar story.

"It was a big grab of money, like unbelievable — lots of money being made on a daily basis dishonestly. And you were part of it. And finally I got out," he said.

Paul, who managed Budget's downtown location, says he feels terrible about what he did.

"I've had people cry … because they can't afford [the repairs] ... and we are charging $1,000 for a windshield and it doesn't cost that," Paul told CBC News.

"And if someone did that to my wife, it would just break my heart. That was the reason I left."

Bogus charges

According to Paul, the scam was to slap customers with a bogus charge of at least $300 for minor vehicle damage.

From left to right, former employees of Budget Rent a Car shared stories about duping customers with CBC News: Martin Torres, Graeme Darbyshire, Dylan Paul and Elie Daher. (CBC)

"A car would come in and we would charge the person $1,000 for the windshield and tell them we are going to send it to get repaired," Paul said.

"Thirty minutes after that customer has left, we will rent that car to someone else … without repairing it."

The repair shop that came up with the estimates and repair bills is also owned by Belzberg, but customers were led to believe it was independent.

"We are all operating under the same business concept, business idea, which is find damages and charge people," said Elie Daher, who worked as a customer service representative for Budget's downtown location for several months.

Graeme Darbyshire, the lead customer service agent in charge of a suburban outlet, says ripping off customers was mandatory.

"It's Budget's way or the highway with everything from top to bottom — more so Syd Belzberg's way."

Darbyshire estimates as much as 70 per cent of the additional charges were unfair.

Foreigners bilked

The former employees say bilking foreigners was Budget's specialty.

"We knew one, these are foreigners so the chance of them complaining is very unlikely and two, the language barrier they don't know," said Paul.

Daher remembers an incident when his manager spotted a wealthy customer from Hong Kong and flagged her to pay more.

"We charged the lady $4,000 a week for renting the car … for a Mercedes C class," he said, adding the rental would normally cost $199 a day, or about $1,400 for seven days.

The employees all worked on commission, so the more they overcharged customers, the more they made.

"If you add up what happened with the dishonest sales tactics, the damage, the stuff like the fuel, it's easily millions of dollars," Paul said.

Belzberg has declined repeated requests for an interview with CBC News.

But his manager said in an email to CBC News he was "shocked" by the allegations made by former employees.

"We take these allegations very seriously," the email said. "We take great pride in the excellent service we give to our customers. Under no circumstances would we condone any business practices which do not serve the best interests of our customers."

The company earlier said the employee commission system for repairs had been scrapped and vehicle damage would now be assessed by an independent appraiser and repaired at an independent shop, adding that anyone caught misleading customers would be fired.

No apology

David Klein, a well-known class action lawyer, says tracking down customers who may have been overcharged could be a challenge.

Lawyer David Klein believes Budget customers have a solid case. (CBC)

"Finding all those people from all over North America can be a challenge and could be an impediment to having the matter proceed," he said.

"There are, though, enough people who are local, enough people who are right here in British Columbia, that I think a case would be viable."

The former employees who spoke to CBC News hope things will get cleaned up — but they're skeptical.

"Even now, with all this coming to light, you don't have the owner or the [general manager] come out and apologize for it," Paul said.

Budget's corporate head office in the U.S., which has the power to enforce changes in the Belzberg operation, says the allegations are being investigated.

"When this process is complete, we will then review our options with respect to taking appropriate action," the company said in a statement.

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What's the secret to Gangnam Style's success?

With Korean lyrics delivered by a cartoonish rapper riding an invisible horse, Gangnam Style was an unlikely candidate to become a worldwide phenomenon.

But on the afternoon of Nov. 24, the colourful and wacky video for PSY's pop tune became the most-watched YouTube clip of all time, racking up more than 805 million online views. (Justin Bieber's mega hit Baby previously held that title.) At last count, Gangnam Style views had surpassed 834 million.

Korean pop stars and record label executives the world over are no doubt eyeing the tune and its quirky choreography for clues on how to duplicate its success.

Experts say that while Gangnam Style has all the key elements of a pop hit – including a catchy hook – its success is the sum of many elements, producing a "fluke" that will be tough to duplicate any time soon.

"I don't think any other Korean or Asian artist is likely to repeat this," said Jason Anderson, arts writer and film critic for The Grid newspaper in Toronto.

"I think just having that kind of hit song is such a freak incident. To have a song of this scale, it doesn't create any kind of precedent. It's a scientific fluke. A kind of perfect storm of pop music comes together every once in a while to create this kind of song."

Numerous parody videos

The video for Gangnam Style, which was first posted to YouTube in July, has spawned countless parodies, with everyone from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to Britney Spears to the CBC's own Peter Mansbridge galloping and throwing an imaginary lasso to PSY's infectious synth beat.

Korean rapper PSY, right, teaches UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, how to dance to his massive hit Gangnam Style during a photo opportunity at the UN headquarters in New York. (United Nations, Eskinder Debebe/Associated Press)

"One of the surprising things about that song is that the lyrics are mostly in Korean ... [it's] proved that you can have a global song phenomenon that's not English-language lyrics," said Mark Simos, associate professor of songwriting at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, a school PSY himself once attended.

"There have been plenty of cases of songs with English lyrics breaking into international markets. Much fewer cases going the other way."

Gangnam Style is not the first international pop track to capture a global audience.

'A hit song can't have the same impact that it used to. Except in this case.'—Arts writer Jason Anderson

Some of its predecessors include Los del Rio's Macarena, a ubiquitous '90s ditty that also featured a signature dance, and Austrian musician Falco's Rock Me Amadeus, in the 1980s.

But in today's fractured pop music landscape, it's more difficult for songs – in any language – to reach the kind of critical mass that Gangnam Style has, said Anderson.

"It's got a lot to do with the way the pop music industry is these days," he said. "It's very polarized. A hit song can't have the same impact that it used to. Except in this case. Hit songs don't have that kind of penetration any more."

English-lyric hook a factor

One key element that helped is the explosion of Korean pop music – so-called "K-pop" – in recent years.

The growing base of fans of that genre inside and outside Korea likely helped give Gangnam Style a boost, said Simos.

"I would imagine that there was a pretty large Korean-speaking population that was a foundation … if you get millions of views from one constituency, that's certainly going to get you on the map and give you a chance of breaking in more globally," he said.

PSY joined Madonna and her dancers onstage to perform his hit song Gangnam Style during her MDNA concert in New York on Nov. 13. (Guy Oseary/Associated Press)

However, the fact that Gangnam Style is a rap song may have also helped it cross over to Western markets, he added.

"You have the rhythmic aspect of the lyrics to engage you there. I don't know if it would have worked as well with a sort of sweet Korean-language pop song or ballad. I'm not sure it would have swept in the same kind of way. You can kind of just listen to the [Gangnam Style] lyrics almost like like a rhythmic track."

The song also has a catchy hook with just enough English – "Heyyyy, sexy lady" – to keep those who don't understand Korean interested, he added.

"Who wouldn't want to sing that?" said Simos, adding that "the way in which it's put together [isn't] all that unusual in that style of pop music."

A 'throwback' to dance craze songs of '50s, '60s

The song's throbbing beat is in line with the European-style techno sounds that are ever-present on Top 40 charts in Western markets.

But there are also song production techniques that PSY used well within the song, said Simos. He points to a portion of Gangnam Style where the fast flashes of sound speed up to an unexpected pause before the music and the rapping reappears.

"That pause is just a little bit out of time… It doesn't come in quite where you expect it. It's a cool musical effect," said Simos. "This is not the first song where something like that happens. But he's used a lot of these kind of production and writing techniques. And it's done well and it creates an exciting dance pop song."

The horse dance is also a key element. Gangnam Style is a throwback to the dance craze songs of the '50s and '60s such as the twist, said Simos.

"Look at the 900 or so imitations of [Gangnam Style] that have sort of sprung up. That particular dance and the moves, that's a lot of what's gone viral," he said.

'Not your typical pop star'

The character PSY himself is an affable "anti-pop star," said Simos.

"There is no doubt that part of the charm of the video is the quirky character that is not your typical pop star. Not in his looks —he's kind of nerdy. And the dance itself is a little nerdy," he said. "Some of the charm of that is going against type."

The song's lyrics poke fun at the posh district of Gangnam in Seoul, South Korea. The four-minute video is a barrage of glossy, ridiculous scenes ranging from the South Korean rapper riding a children's carousel to PSY emphatically rapping while seated on a toilet — the kind of quirky clips that tend to go viral online, said Simos.

'It's the fact that he's both adopting pop culture and mocking [it] at the same time.'—Mark Simos, songwriting professor at Berklee College of Music

"It sort of looks like a spoiled rich guy trying to act really hip, and being a little hapless about it … It's the fact that he's both adopting pop culture and mocking [it] at the same time," he said.

"In a way, it's a very ironic video. The kind of thing that plays really well on YouTube."

Ken McLeod, an associate professor of music history and culture at the University of Toronto, said this kind of pop music sensation could be duplicated, but it's highly unlikely.

"Everyone once in a while, there's a song like Nena's 99 Luftballons that catches people's imagination," he said. "People don't understand, but they like something about it… It will happen again, but it won't happen tomorrow."

With files from CBC News and the Associated Press

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Household flame retardants potentially ineffective, dangerous

Some chemical flame retardants used in home furnishings may not help in a house fire, and can pose health hazards, a CBC investigation has found.

A probe conducted by Marketplace tested the effectiveness of chemical retardants in upholstered furniture and also examined their potential health risks. Previous research has cast doubt on the retardants' ability to slow or stop fires, particularly in furniture foam.

Environmental and health researchers are also concerned that some of the chemicals are linked to a wide range of health problems.

Flame retardants are found in a wide array of household items, including upholstered furniture, electronics and children's toys. The problem, says fire scientist Vyto Babrauskas, is that these supposed lifesavers have no benefit for the average consumer.

"It's a really sad situation, because [consumers] get enough fire-retardant put in there to do toxic harm to the environment, to the people, and yet it's not enough to do any good in terms of quenching the fire," he says. "Flame retardants in the home do not help. That is regrettable, but true."

Chemical industry's 'blatant falsehoods'

The problem isn't that fire retardants don't work, Babrauskas says, but that household items typically don't contain enough retardants to do the job.

Marketplace conducted a test using one chair containing foam with fire retardants and another without, but both burned at similar rates. (CBC)

In 1987, Babrauskas led a study that found flame retardants can vastly increase escape time from a fire.

Chemical manufacturers point to this study as proof that flame retardants save lives, but Babrauskas says the claims are a "blatant falsehood" and that the industry is "totally misrepresenting what we had done."

The original test evaluated flame retardants for military use, meaning there was far more fire retardant than used in household items.

Flame retardants can work very well, but only when used in very large amounts, Babrauskas explains. The problem is that more retardants add up to a larger price tag.

'[Consumers] get an ineffective amount of fire retardant put into the furniture.'—Fire scientist Vyto Babrauskas

"If you are some sort of institution or military … you have a very deep pocketbook, and you can buy exceedingly wonderful fire retardants that completely stop the fire dead in its tracks," he says.

"That is not what Mr. and Mrs. Consumer get when they go to their local shop and buy some furniture or consumer articles. If they buy furniture which has fire retardants in it, they get an ineffective amount of fire retardant put into the furniture."

But even small amounts can create a big danger when they burn. Smoke from burning fire retardants can contain elevated amounts of carbon monoxide as well as dioxins and furans, toxic chemicals that can cause immune disorders, liver problems, skin lesions and certain types of cancer.

Dangers in dust

Toxic smoke is just one of the potential threats from chemical flame retardants, since tests have found they pose potential health risks even if they aren't burning.

"It's a tremendous problem … that these are really noxious chemicals that are being put in [furniture]," Babrauskas says. "If you have a sofa with that type of a foam, every time you sit up and down on it, you're basically beating some of the material out of the foam."

Flame retardants can end up in household dust, which researchers say is a major route of exposure. And some flame retardant chemicals bioaccumulate, meaning they gradually build up in the body.

Retardants are found on so many household products that they're nearly unavoidable.

University of Toronto chemist Miriam Diamond has found traces of chemical retardants all over Toronto homes.

"We found them everywhere, everywhere from the kettle, to the computer, TV, couches, chairs, the backing on your carpet," she says. "They're in every room, in every location."

A study released Wednesday also found that that chlorinated Tris, a retardant banned from baby pyjamas in 1977, was the most common retardant in couches tested in the U.S.

Some chemicals banned

Diamond was also surprised to find potentially toxic retardants in children's toys.

A recent U.S. study found that children with higher levels of an older class of flame retardant chemicals called PBDEs, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers, showed lower IQs, shorter attention spans and weaker motor skills than those with lower levels.

Studies have found young children tend to harbour the highest levels of such chemicals since they tend to play on carpets and furniture, increasing their exposure. Some classes of toxic flame retardants, like many other chemicals, are also transferable through breast milk.

PBDEs and similar retardants are also linked to altered thyroid functions in pregnant women, as well as increased difficulty in conception.

The Canadian government has already banned two classes of PBDEs, but critics say that more action is needed. Environment Canada has announced it plans to ban a third class of PBDE by 2012, but legislation hasn't been introduced.

As older chemicals have been banned or phased out, a new generation of flame retardant chemicals has come into increasing use. Environmental and health researchers worry that new chemicals have not undergone enough toxicological scrutiny to properly assess their safety.

Watch Marketplace's episode, Burned, Friday at 8 p.m. (8:30 p.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador) for more on the potential dangers of flame retardants.

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Ex-astronaut Marc Garneau to launch Liberal leadership bid

Former astronaut and Montreal MP Marc Garneau is widely expected to announce Wednesday that he will be a candidate for the Liberal leadership.

It would be hard to imagine why Garneau would hold two news conferences, one in the morning in his riding, and then one mid-afternoon in Ottawa, if he's not running.

When someone tweeted to ask whether Garneau would be "window dressing" in a contest where he will run against Justin Trudeau, he answered, "Do you really think I would take on a huge personal commitment to be window dressing?"

Garneau will add another kind of celebrity to a race that's been dominated by Trudeau, who is often referred to as the "rock star candidate."

What other leadership contender has two high schools named after him, as Garneau does? Who else was once asked by the Montreal Alouettes to try out for their team, as he revealed on Twitter during the Grey Cup furor.

Garneau, born in Quebec City and a Royal Military College graduate, became a naval officer after getting his doctorate in engineering. In the mid-80s he became one of six Canadian astronauts (out of a field of 4,000 serious applicants) and flew his first shuttle mission in 1984. His biography on his website says he's logged 644 hours in space.

In 2001, he became head of the Canadian Space Agency and left in 2005 to enter politics. He lost his first election in 2006, but in 2008 won the riding of Westmount-Ville-Marie. He is the Liberal House Leader and the party critic for science, industry and technology. In his political career, he has championed the idea of a commissioner for children and young people.

Garneau becomes the third sitting MP to enter the race, after Justin Trudeau and B.C. MP Joyce Murray.

Garneau has 'intellectual heft'

One supporter says he is attracted to Garneau because of his "intellectual heft." A Liberal insider says that if Trudeau falls flat on his face, then Garneau will be there as a solid, credible candidate, and a household name to boot.

At 63, Garneau qualifies as an early boomer, a member of a political age-cohort that ranges from Bill and Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, Bob Rae and a number of his seatmates on the Liberal bench. There is a sense of the headiness of what it was like coming of age in the 60s as he relates how he crossed the Atlantic in an 18-metre yacht with 12 others in 1969, the same year, he notes, as Woodstock and the moon landing.

His 8000 Twitter followers don't compare to Trudeau's nearly 170,000, but nothing humanizes him more than some of his tweets, as he obligingly answers questions about life in space. Is there a special space toilet, how does the shuttle's vacuum cleaner work when the shuttle's flying in a vacuum, is there a Velcro strip inside the helmet to aid in nose-scratching? (Answers: yes, it just does, and no).

The other candidates who have declared their leadership bid or their interest are former MP Martha Hall Findlay, Ottawa lawyer David Bertschi, Deborah Coyne, Vancouver lawyer Alex Burton, retired air force colonel Karen McCrimmon, senior government economist Jonathan Mousley, B.C lawyer David Merner, and Toronto lawyer George Takach.

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What's next for Toronto Mayor Rob Ford?

A ruling by an Ontario court judge that forces Rob Ford to vacate the Toronto mayoralty has opened up a legal and political quandary in Canada's largest municipality.

Having found that Ford had violated provincial conflict of interest rules for municipal politicians, Ontario Superior Court Justice Charles T. Hackland gave the mayor two weeks in office before the ruling takes effect, saying the decision "will necessitate administrative changes in the City of Toronto."

But if yesterday is any indication, those two weeks will be filled with intense legal speculation about whether Ford will seek a stay of the Hackland ruling while an appeal is heard, not to mention political intrigue as Ford opponents and supporters jockey to figure out how to replace him.

If he does go, there are currently two options on the table: appoint a caretaker mayor to fill the remaining two years of the term or call a byelection. And while it is early days yet, some councillors, including some previously loyal Ford supporters, are beginning to make their preferences heard.

As for the mayor, Ford has said he will appeal the decision at a divisional court. But in order to remain mayor while the appeal is going forward, he would likely also have to apply for a stay of proceedings.

Ford's legal team could either ask that of Hackland, the lower court judge who made the initial decision, or the court they are appealing to.

"They'd have to make the tactical decision, who's more likely to hear them out," Stephen D'Agostino, who specializes in municipal law, told CBC News. "Part of the consideration is going to be what are the chances on appeal.

"If it looks like it's a pretty iffy appeal, the court might say, 'We'll hear the appeal but you're out [of office].' On the other hand, if it's controversial but looks like it's a good appeal, a court might be more cautious."

Appeal could take months

If a stay was granted, Ford would continue to be mayor for the duration of the appeal and legal process, which could be several months. His term is supposed to end in December 2014.

Yet there seem to be differing opinions over whether such a stay would be granted. John Mascarin, a municipal law expert who had predicted the judge's ruling, suggested on Monday that Ford would get a stay.

But D'Agostino told CBC News that he believes granting a stay to Ford would be unprecedented.

"I've been involved in conflict of interest work for 15-odd years," he said. "I've never seen it done.

"The normal appeal rules would allow someone to apply to court to stay the decision that's being appealed, but I have never seen it done," D'Agostino said.

If a stay is not granted, the City of Toronto Act states that city council would have 60 days to either fill the vacancy by appointing somone to be mayor or by passing a bylaw requiring a byelection be held to fill the vacancy.

The Globe and Mail reported that council had earlier passed a bylaw that would ensure that only an elected councillor could be appointed mayor under these circumstances, but it's unclear whether that bylaw would supercede the provincial act governing municipalities should there be a challenge.

Confusion over when Ford can run again

Still, there seems to be some confusion surrounding part of the judge's ruling. In one of the last paragraphs, Hackland wrote that he would not disqualify Ford from running for or holding office "beyond the current term."

The question is what the judge meant by "beyond the current term" and whether that refers to Ford's term as mayor, scheduled to end in December 2014, or whether he could run again immediately if a byelection were to be called.

Mascarin said that he believes Hackland clearly meant to bar Ford from running for office until the current council term is over in 2014.

But Alan Lenczner, the lawyer who represented Ford in the conflict hearing, told CBC News in an email that he believes the mayor can run in a byelection if one is called ahead of the 2014 municipal election.

D'Agostino said that it's unclear what Hackland meant. "If I just read that one paragraph, I'd walk away saying that the court meant to the end of the term — as in an election term.

"But because I read the whole decision, I read that and it kind of jarred me because there's no real discussion about that, it just sort of comes out of the blue. It's really a well-worded, well-thought-out decision, and I would have anticipated some discussion on it. So that's what I'm left with, a bit of a question mark."

It is possible the two sides may call the judge's assistant to set up court time or a conference call with the judge for clarification.

As for council's option to appoint someone to fill the mayoral void, the provincial act doesn't specify who that person should be — meaning it could be anyone of voting age, and not necessarily someone from city council.

Adding another twist, if a stay is not granted, and Ford is booted out of office, it's possible he could be reinstated if the appeal court sides with him, meaning the person who had replaced him as mayor would in turn be replaced by Ford at some future date.

Byelection would cost $7M

Meanwhile, many city council members were cautious in their remarks about the possible mayoral vacancy and which option they might consider — a $7-million byelection or the appointment of an interim mayor until 2014.

Some took to Twitter to say that Ford was entitled to his appeal process, while others were raising names of those who might succeed the mayor.

Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday told CBC News that he'd favour an appointment if that person's agenda was similar to the mayor's. He later said he wouldn't rule out a run himself if a byelection were called.

Coun. Mike Del Grande, another Ford supporter on council, told the Globe and Mail that he would like to see the fiscally conservative Holyday in that post if council was to go the appointment route.

But Coun. Paula Fletcher told the Globe and Mail that she thought two years is too long for a "caretaker" to run the city.

The ruling has already prompted some to reconsider their political future. Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti, a loyal Ford supporter, quit the mayor's executive committee, saying his constituents have asked him to put some distance between himself and the embattled mayor.

With files from The Canadian Press

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Tories and NDP hold on to seats in tight byelections

The Conservative Party won two of three federal byelections Monday night, holding on to its seats in Calgary Centre and Durham, Ont., while the NDP kept its seat in Victoria.

None of the ridings had been expected to change party hands, though two of them turned into close races.

NDP candidate Murray Rankin won in Victoria, holding off a surprising challenge from the Green Party's Donald Galloway.

Rankin won with 37.2 per cent of the vote to Galloway's 34.3, in a race that seesawed throughout the night.

"We knew this would be a tough fight," said federal NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, who was on hand in Victoria to congratulate the newest member of his caucus.

The NDP is a party at the centre of Canadian life, and one that is on the move, Rankin said. "I see the faces of a great national party, steadfast in our determination to build a better Canada."

In Calgary Centre, the Conservative Party held on to what has traditionally been one of its safest ridings in the country. Tory candidate Joan Crockatt won with 36.9 per cent of the vote to Liberal Harvey Locke's 32.7 per cent.

"Conservative support in Calgary Centre remains strong and growing," the beaming victor maintained after arriving to a cheering throng at her campaign headquarters.

"It was a nail biting evening but I'm a new candidate, I'm not an incumbent and byelections are always challenging for a majority government."

Byelections do tend to be hard on sitting governments, but Calgary Centre wasn't supposed to be a problem for the Harper Conservatives.

The riding hadn't seen a three-way race since Reformers and Progressive Conservatives were fighting for the right to roast a Liberal in the early 1990s. Locke's second-place finish matched the Liberal party's 1993 high-water mark in Calgary Centre.

Quoting a line from the Leonard Cohen song "Anthem" -- "There is a crack in everything; that's how the light gets in" -- Locke said, "I think we made a crack."

Liberals, Greens challenge Tory dominance

The combined conservative vote Calgary Centre hadn't fallen below 50 per cent since 1972.

But Crockatt's vocal support for the upstart Wildrose party in the last Alberta election appeared to divide the local conservative base, with some openly defecting to support Locke.

"I think that the question for me as a Liberal that has been answered tonight is can a Liberal run competitively in Calgary and the answer is unquestionably, yes."

It seemed the Greens' Chris Turner was the deciding factor, with a strong showing that likely took votes away from the Liberals in a riding that's been painted Tory blue since the riding was formed in 1968.

"We were defeated at the polls, but we did not lose anything today," Turner said in a statement.

Turner's strong campaign may have been aided in the final stretch by Liberal gaffes elsewhere.

First, Liberal MP David McGuinty was quoted calling Alberta MPs "shills" for the oil industry and suggesting they "go home" and run for town council if they want to be so parochial.

Then a November 2010, French-language interview by Justin Trudeau, the Liberal leadership heir apparent, surfaced in which he stated that "Canada isn't doing well right now because it's Albertans who control our community and socio-democratic agenda."

Trudeau apologized but not before federal Conservatives had a field day, stalling Liberal momentum in Calgary Centre and making the Green option -- and a welcome Liberal-Green vote split for Crockatt -- more viable.

Conservative candidate Joan Crockatt speaks to supporters following her win in Calgary Centre on Monday evening. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)

Martha Hall Findlay, another Liberal leadership hopeful who, like Trudeau, spent time in the riding during the byelection, said Monday that perceptions of Calgary's political uniformity are changing.

"I've been involved with Calgary long enough to know it's not something that's all of a sudden changed," she said.

"I think what has changed is that there is a sense that maybe there's an opportunity for a representation that actually reflects who Calgarians are."

Comfortable win in Durham

Conservative Erin O'Toole was the runaway winner in Durham, Ont., retaining the Tory seat in the riding northeast of Toronto with 50.7 per cent and all polls reporting. The seat had been held by onetime Conservative MP and cabinet minister Bev Oda before she resigned in July under a public uproar about her ministerial expenses.

O'Toole said Oda's spending controversies weren't a major concern for voters he met while campaigning.

"That came up less and less as we got our message out and as people got to know me as a candidate and realized I'm from this community," said O'Toole, whose father John is a member of the Ontario legislature.

Here's a quick look at the results in all three three contests:

Calgary Centre

What: A Tory stronghold that sits next to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's riding.

Why: Veteran Conservative MP Lee Richardson resigned to take a post as chief of staff to Alberta Premier Alison Redford.

Main candidates:

• Joan Crockatt, Conservative (36.9 per cent).
• Harvey Locke, Liberal (32.7 per cent).
• Chris Turner, Green (25.6 per cent).
• Dan Meades, NDP (3.8 per cent).

Voter turnout: 29.4 per cent.

Victoria

What: A Vancouver Island riding once held by Sir John A. Macdonald, but more recently held for more than 10 years by the Liberals until it was won by the NDP in 2006.

Why: New Democrat Denise Savoie resigned due to health issues.

Main candidates:

• Murray Rankin, NDP (37.2 per cent).
• Donald Galloway, Green (34.3 per cent).
• Dale Gann, Conservative (14.4 per cent).
• Paul Summerville, Liberal. (13.2 per cent).

Voter turnout: 43.9 per cent.

Durham

What: A riding northeast of Toronto that was held for more than a decade by the Liberals, but has been Conservative since 2004.

Why: Former Conservative cabinet minister Bev Oda resigned last summer after a series of controversies.

Main Candidates:

• Erin O'Toole, Conservative (50.7 per cent).
• Larry O'Connor, NDP (26.3 per cent).
• Grant Humes, Liberal (17.3 per cent).
• Virginia Ervin, Green (4.1 per cent).

Voter turnout: 35.8 per cent.

With files from CBC's Hannah Thibedeau and The Canadian Press

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Rob Ford in football mode despite sport-related political fall

One day after a judge's ruling ordered him out of office, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will try to enjoy a day drenched in football, a sport he loves but that played a key role in the conflict of interest case that led to his political fall.

Justice Charles T. Hackland ruled Monday that Ford's council seat be vacated in the case that began when Ford solicited donations for his football foundation using city letterhead.

On Monday evening, hours after the ruling to oust Ford made international headlines and sparked a media frenzy at Toronto City Hall, Ford was seen wrapped in a hooded sweatshirt against near-zero temperatures while running a practice of the high school team he coaches, the Don Bosco Eagles.

Tuesday's front page of the Toronto Sun continued the Ford-football theme, featuring a cartoon caricature of Ford tumbling head over heels Charlie Brown-style after a missed kick under the headline: "Good Grief." Playing the role of Lucy and snatching the football away at the last second was Hackland.

On Tuesday morning, Ford will help the city celebrate the Toronto Argonauts' Grey Cup win with a downtown parade that will end in a celebration at city hall. Ford will join the city to revel in Sunday's victory, even though he officially has only 13 days left in office, pending any possible appeals or stay applications.

Ford's team plays in Metro Bowl tonight

On Tuesday night, Ford's team plays in the Metro Bowl, the citywide high school championship, which will be played on the same Rogers Centre field where the Argos captured the CFL championship.

In recent weeks, Ford has been criticized for leaving council meetings to coach his team. Earlier this month, football landed Ford in hot water again when he called the Toronto Transit Commission boss to request that a bus pick up his team after a near brawl broke out on the field. Paying passengers were asked to leave the bus in inclement weather to make the trip. TTC boss Andy Byford was not happy about the incident.

Things won't get any easier for Ford when city council meets Tuesday. Squabbling is sure to ensue as the budget process gets underway, as will the political manoeuvring as council members try to prepare for a possible future without Ford as mayor.

But like a quarterback back whose team needs a big play to save the game, Ford the football fan has vowed to continue fighting.

Ford has said he will contest Hackland's decision using every legal option available to him. He has also vowed to run again as soon as possible, whether that's in a byelection or in the next municipal election in 2014.

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Bombardier signs record $7.8B jet deal with VistaJet

Bombardier Inc. has made the biggest sale of business aircraft in its history, potentially worth up to $7.8 billion if all options are exercised, the Montreal-based company announced Tuesday.

VistaJet, a private European company that provides luxury chartered flights, has placed firm orders for 56 Bombardier Global jets valued at $3.1 billion and acquired options for a further 86 Global jets.

'We are thrilled VistaJet has again chosen to grow their fleet with the industry-leading Global family.'—Steve Ridolfi, president of Bombardier Business Aircraft

VistaJet currently operates a fleet of Bombardier aircraft based in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and West Africa.

The new purchase is part of VistaJet's goal of making business aviation more accessible to emerging markets, said VistaJet chairman Thomas Flehr, who founded the company in 2004.

"This order is the most significant milestone for VistaJet and is a testimony to our successful strategy that focuses on global coverage," Flehr said in a joint statement by the companies.

"Our customers need to fly point-to-point across the globe, and in many instances at short notice."

Steve Ridolfi, president of Bombardier Business Aircraft, said it was also a historic order for Bombardier.

"It goes without saying that we are thrilled VistaJet has again chosen to grow their fleet with the industry-leading Global family," Ridolfi said.

VistaJet has placed firm orders for 25 Global 5000s, 25 Global 6000s and six Global 8000 jets. Deliveries will begin in 2014.

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'Useless' breast cancer test touted across country

Medical clinics across the country are touting the benefits of a diagnostic test for breast cancer that medical experts say is useless.

A CBC News investigation has identified dozens of clinics offering thermography for breast examinations.

Proponents of the test believe it can detect breast cancer years earlier than mammography.

Gillian Bromfield, senior manager of cancer control policy at the Canadian Cancer Society, says thermography tests fail to detect most cancers and generate false positives. (CBC)

But medical authorities worldwide say there is no proof that thermography actually works as a diagnostic tool for cancer.

They say false positives from thermography tests are gumming up the system, resulting in patients worrying about the results of tests that have no value. Alternatively, the tests may be giving others a false sense of security about their health.

"It's not effective at detecting breast cancers," said Gillian Bromfield, senior manager of cancer control policy at the Canadian Cancer Society.

"It misses the large majority of breast cancers and, on top of that, it also detects cancers when there actually are none."

Regardless, some Canadian clinics continue to make startling — and unproven — claims about the benefits of thermography.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sent out warning letters to those making similar assertions south of the border, but there has been no such action in this country.

Heat-sensitive imagery

Thermography uses a heat-sensitive infrared camera to take images of the body.

Those images are then assessed elsewhere, often in the U.S. After a wait of several days, patients are informed of their test results.

The service is provided at dozens of facilities coast to coast in Canada.

Claims used to promote the service are not accepted by the mainstream medical community.

Health Scan Digital Thermography Clinic, for example, offers the test in Ontario.

The company's website makes a number of assertions about thermography:

• "Earliest method of possible breast cancer detection known."
• "Can detect a pathologic state of the breast up to 10 years before a cancerous tumour can be found by any other method."

Stamina Clinic in Lethbridge, Alta., says thermography is not a substitute for mammography, but "can be an invaluable tool for earlier detection of breast disease" — especially for women in their 20s and 30s.

Thermography is offered by dozens of clinics across the country. (CBC)

"Thermography is a vital screening tool for younger women (20-45 years) whose denser breast tissue makes it more difficult for mammography to be effective," the clinic notes on its website.

"There is a rise in breast disease in younger women and thermography offers a safe alternative without harmful effects of radiation for this age group."

Integrated Health Clinic in Fort Langley, B.C., says in promotional text that "thermography's role in breast cancer and other breast disorders is to help in early detection" and monitoring of physiology that is considered abnormal.

"It is used as part of an early detection program to give women of all ages the opportunity to increase their chances of detecting breast disease at an early stage," the company's website notes.

And thousands of kilometres away, in St. John's, Avalon Laser Health offers thermography scans at $215 a pop.

A CBC News undercover reporter went to the clinic to have the test, and was informed by the nurse of the benefits of thermography over mammography.

Avalon Laser Health later removed text on its website dealing with thermography's role in screening for breast cancer after being questioned about those claims by the CBC.

Contacted afterward, the clinic said the nurse provided the wrong information.

Test is 'actually useless'

Medical experts take issue with claims trumpeting the benefits of thermography in diagnosing breast disease.

Nancy Wadden, a St. John's doctor who chairs the mammography accreditation program of the Canadian Association of Radiologists, says women are paying big money for a test that is "actually useless."

Nancy Wadden chairs the mammography accreditation program of the Canadian Association of Radiologists. She says the "useless" thermography tests add to waiting times for women who actually need treatment. (CBC)

Wadden says that women who actually need treatment face longer wait times because of women who register false positives after thermography.

"These women have a significant number of false positives, so then they are coming and they are clogging up my ultrasound list and my mammogram list and then displacing the people who really need to have the test, who are waiting there," Wadden said.

"Their length of time to get a diagnosis is prolonged, because we've got people who have had this useless test that has given a false positive result."

Regulatory action south of the border

In the U.S., regulators have sent warning letters to those making unproven claims about thermography.

In April 2011, the Food and Drug Administration sent one of those letters to Peter Leando, president of Florida-based Meditherm Inc.

The FDA took issue with how the company was marketing its Med2000 thermography device, specifically objecting to the claim that it could "increase your chances of detecting breast cancer in its earliest stages."

The health regulator also took issue with the claim that the device was "FDA approved."

Peter Leando, president of Florida-based Meditherm Inc., says thermography provides an early warning. (CBC)

In an interview with CBC News, Leando downplayed the warning letter.

"That was in relation to some wording on a website which they weren't happy about," he said.

"And that wording was changed immediately. I think the wording was related to 'accurate,' and something else. And we just changed the words so that it wouldn't be likely to mislead anybody into thinking that it was accurate in the detection of breast cancer. We've got to make sure that nobody actually makes claims as far as a stand-alone diagnostic test."

Leando says the Meditherm system is used by roughly 100 locations in Canada, and about 4,000 worldwide.

Australia recently removed the Med2000 from the country's medical device registry. Leando, however, says the firm deregistered it voluntarily.

Leando says criticisms of thermography — such as those coming from the Canadian Cancer Society — ignore its role as a type of early warning system for "suspicious changes," and detecting abnormalities.

"So that's the whole role of thermography, in giving us the opportunity to intervene, to treat, to actually do something before there is a tumour that is dense enough to be seen with mammography or ultrasound," Leando says.

Meditherm's website continues to reference thermography's role in breast cancer and other breast disorders: "to help in early detection and monitoring of abnormal physiology and the establishment of risk factors for the development or existence of cancer."

Health Canada role

Asked about its role in the thermography debate, Health Canada says it approves medical devices and prohibits false or misleading advertising of health claims.

A federal spokeswoman says Health Canada takes action if a manufacturer makes misleading claims.

But she says it's up to the provinces to take action against clinics that are doing the same thing.

Breast cancer survivor Linda Venus believes there should be more stringent oversight of thermography. (CBC )

Meanwhile, there is no evidence that Health Canada has gone after any manufacturers producing devices related to thermography.

That's not good enough for breast cancer survivor Linda Venus, who says there should be more stringent oversight of thermography.

The Winnipeg woman calls the current situation "a vacuum in the regulatory structure of the health system that is supposed to protect us from scoundrels, basically."

Venus says the issue needs to be addressed.

"They are allowed to be there, and there is no governing body anywhere that can prevent them from being there," she said.

"And providing women with false information — and in some cases, false hope."

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