Canada's economy grows at fastest pace in 2 years

CBC News Posted: Nov 29, 2013 9:14 AM ET Last Updated: Nov 29, 2013 9:42 AM ET

Canada's economic growth was stronger than expected in the third quarter.

Statistics Canada says the national gross domestic product grew at a 2.7 per cent annual rate, two-tenths of a point above estimates.

The pace of growth was the fastest in two years, when the economy expanded by 3.5 per cent. For comparison purposes, the U.S. economy is expanding at a 2.8 per cent annual pace.

The mining sector was a strong performer, as mining and oil and gas extraction were up 2.2 per cent in the quarter.

There were also gains in the manufacturing, retail, and wholesale trade, finance and insurance sectors. 

The loonie gained a fifth of a cent to 94.67 cents US following the release of the data.

Comments on this story are pre-moderated. Before they appear, comments are reviewed by moderators to ensure they meet our submission guidelines. Comments are open and welcome for three days after the story is published. We reserve the right to close comments before then.

Submission Policy

Note: The CBC does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comments, you acknowledge that CBC has the right to reproduce, broadcast and publicize those comments or any part thereof in any manner whatsoever. Please note that comments are moderated and published according to our submission guidelines.

Stay Connected with CBC News

Latest Business Headlines

TSX COMPOSITE

Nov 29, 2013 9:30 AM ET Nov 29, 2013 9:30 AM ET Nov 29, 2013 9:30 AM ET Nov 29, 2013 9:35 AM ET Nov 29, 2013 9:30 AM ET

Index	Last Trade	Change
TSX COMPOSITE	13371.75	0.92
DOW	16105.16	7.83
NASDAQ	4060.27	15.52
SP 500	1809.78	2.55
TSX-VENTURE	926.67	unch

The data on this site is informational only and may be delayed; it is not intended as trading or investment advice and you should not rely on it as such.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

‘Scary’ number of defibrillators inaccessible to public during an emergency

They can help increase your chance of surviving a cardiac arrest by 75 per cent, but a shocking number of Canada's Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) may be inaccessible to the public during an emergency because they are locked away or not registered with 911 personnel.

A CBC Marketplace investigation found that the potential for AEDs to save lives may be severely hampered because there are no national guidelines as to how or where the devices are kept.

There's also no government requirement that they be registered with 911. Registering devices helps 911 dispatchers direct people to the closest AED in case of an emergency.

Watch Marketplace

Watch Marketplace's episode, Shock to the System, Friday at 8 p.m. (8:30 p.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador). Join the conversation on Twitter @cbcmarketplace #defibs

About 40,000 Canadians experience sudden cardiac arrest each year: one every 12 minutes, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Eighty-five per cent of cardiac arrests in Canada happen outside of hospitals, and having an AED close by can make all the difference. The American Heart Association warns that for every minute lost before defibrillation, the survival rate decreases by seven to 10 per cent. After 12 minutes, the survival rate plummets to less than five per cent.

When CPR and an AED are both used within five minutes of a cardiac arrest, the chance of survival rises by nearly 75 per cent, according to research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

However, according to one study, fewer than eight per cent of Canadian patients who have a cardiac arrest in public will receive help from an AED before emergency medical personnel arrive, partly because there aren't enough devices available and accessible.

Toronto police officer Laurie McCann, right, used a difibrillator on runner Andrew Rosbrook, left, after Rosbrook collapsed during a Toronto marathon in 2013. (CBC)

"People who have cardiac arrest in public settings tend to do better," Dr. Laurie Morrison, a medical researcher who specializes in emergency medicine, told Marketplace co-host Tom Harrington. "At least somebody gets down and starts chest compressions and somebody else calls 911, and somebody else runs and get the AED.

"So having a cardiac arrest in a public place and not having an AED is a travesty," she said.

The full Marketplace report, Shock to the System, airs tonight at 8pm (8:30pm NT) on CBC Television.

Devices difficult to find

Toronto police officer Laurie McCann knows first-hand how important it is to have fast access to an AED in an emergency. She was on duty at a marathon in Toronto in 2013 when runner Andrew Rosbrook collapsed.

"I knew he wasn't breathing and we needed to do something fast," she said.

"There were no warning signs, no chest pains," said Rosbrook. "I considered myself to be a healthy person."

"The defibrillator was put on and with one shock, he was brought back," McCann said.

Both credit an easily accessible AED for saving Rosbrook's life.

The pair helped Marketplace investigate how difficult AEDs can be to find.

Marketplace sent teams to locate AEDs in three areas of Toronto known to be "hotspots" for cardiac arrests according to a study published this year in the journal Circulation.

In total, the Marketplace teams visited 52 locations including gyms, banks, offices, coffee shops and malls. The teams chose places where a bystander might run to get help in an emergency, or where there were high concentrations of people. Only half of the locations had AEDs.

Click on the graphic to see more on what happens after a person goes into cardiac arrest.

Security staff in many buildings did not immediately know if there was an AED on site. In buildings that did have the emergency devices, many were locked away or accessible only by building personnel, or were not registered with 911, meaning that dispatchers would be unable to direct people to them in case of an emergency.

Half of the AEDs that Marketplace teams found were not registered with 911.

"Scary, isn't it?" said Morrison. "It should be that [if you] purchase one of these devices, you couldn't put it in a building or public place without registering [the AED]," she said.

The Marketplace test is similar to defibrillator "scavenger hunts" in Seattle and Philadelphia that have helped those cities map the locations of devices. The Seattle hunt, which took place this week, offered a $10,000 US prize to the winning team, funded by the Food and Drug Administration and AED manufacturers.

No central registry

While provincial, federal and private funding is sometimes available to increase the number of AEDs in publicly accessible spaces, regulations and policies vary greatly across the country. There are no national guidelines on AEDs or central registry of devices.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a $10 million initiative to purchase AEDs for recreational facilities and hockey rinks across Canada, all of which will have to be registered with emergency personnel where local or provincial registries exist.

The Ontario government has committed almost $10 million to placing the devices in publicly funded sports and recreation facilities, and in schools with extensive sports programs.

Click on the graphic to see more on what happens after a person goes into cardiac arrest.

Manitoba passed legislation earlier this year that mandates that designated public spaces, including schools, government buildings, malls and homeless shelters, have AEDs and that all devices are registered. Manitoba is the only jurisdiction that mandates that all public places have AED devices, a law that goes into effect in January 2014.

Ontario proposed a similar law in 2010, but while it passed second reading with unanimous support, the bill died when government was prorogued in 2011.

Morrison says that registration of all devices should be mandatory across Canada. The Heart and Stroke Foundation has been pushing for the creation of a national registry.

Morrison was part of a group of researchers from University of Toronto, St. Michael's Hospital and Queen's University that looked to cardiac arrest locations to assess where AEDs should be placed.

Their study, published earlier this year, identified unregistered AEDs as a problem. "A 911 operator would not be able to direct a caller to an unregistered AED, and therefore the likelihood that it would be used in a cardiac arrest is probably low, even if it is nearby. Unregistered AEDs tend to be purchased corporately and remain under lock and key," the study reads.

The study states that in order to be effective, AEDs should be within 100 metres of the scene of a cardiac arrest, so a bystander is able to retrieve it and return within three minutes.

"The most meaningful thing out of that study for me was how little we know about the AEDs that are out there," Morrison said.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pot-smoking Mountie has uniform seized by RCMP

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer who believes he should be able to smoke medical marijuana while in uniform has had his uniform seized by fellow Mounties.

Cpl. Ronald Francis, who serves with J Division in New Brunswick, told CBC News two officers showed up at his home at Kingsclear First Nation Thursday evening.

Francis said his cousin shot video as the officers took his regular working uniform — "anything that identified me as a member of the RCMP: my work shirts, work pants, my jackets, my gloves, my hat, my cap badge."

"I worked hard for that uniform," he said. "I bled for that uniform. I cried for that uniform for 21 years... They ordered me to give the only thing that I've lived and identified with for 21 years."

His red serge uniform was not seized as it was at his girlfriend's, but he has been ordered to hand it over to the commissionaire at J Division tomorrow at noon, he said. Francis said he will follow the order.

"But they will not get back their medal for my 20 years of exemplary service with the RCMP."

'They ordered me to give the only thing that I've lived and identified with for 21 years'- Cpl. Ronald Francis

He still has his badge, as he is still a police officer, but he said he is currently on medical leave.

"It was very emotional for me," Francis told CBC-Radio's As It Happens, fighting back tears.

"I spent 20 years of my life in service to this country and stood up for the members that stand up for the Canadian public and they took one of the things that was most valuable to me 'cause I earned that uniform, like any other member of that division."

The seizure of his work clothes came after Francis was pictured smoking marijuana while wearing his red serge uniform.

RCMP officials had previously told him he could not smoke the drug while in uniform.

Francis said he knows the two officers who seized his uniform and one of them "almost broke down crying" as well.

"But I don't blame them," he stressed. "They're following orders, it's not their fault."

Francis said the media attention since his story went public Thursday morning has been overwhelming, but he expected it. He said he was speaking out to draw attention to the need for more mental health services within the RCMP.

Francis believes the order to take his uniform came from the RCMP commissioner's office in Ottawa.

He said he was also served with documents earlier in the day by the acting district commander, ordering him to turn in his uniform, not to speak to the media, or represent the RCMP or their views.

"So basically they're trying to disavow me," he said.

"The heavy hand's coming down on me, but I knew I'd have to prepare for that," said Francis. "It's got to change before more people die."

Francis received a prescription for medical-grade marijuana on Nov. 4.

He says marijuana has helped him to calm down and reduces his PTSD symptoms.

His prescription allows for three grams a day, which he estimates to be nine to 15 joints, though he said he doesn't typically smoke that much.

Francis' story drew quick criticism from members of the RCMP and the public.

"Definitely a member that has been prescribed medicinal marijuana should not be in red serge taking his medication," said RCMP assistant commissioner Gilles Moreau. "It would not be advisable for that member, it would not portray the right message to the general public, it's definitely not something we would support or condone."

Francis said he's not at all surprised with the backlash, but he said he's exhausted all other options, and going public is the only way things will finally change internally at the RCMP.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

The twisted legacy of the Sandy Hook shootings: Neil Macdonald

Connecticut State attorney Stephen J. Sedensky's final report on the slaughter of 26 innocents at Sandy Hook Elementary School last December is an arid, spectacularly banal piece of work, the sort of thing you'd expect from someone in his profession.

Sedensky reveals the approximate number of minutes (fewer than 11) that elapsed from the moment Adam Lanza, whom he consistently calls "the shooter," began killing people until he blew his own brains out.

For some reason, he conveys the weight of all the guns and ammunition the 20-year-old Lanza carried with him (30.47 pounds), and the reason his Bushmaster rifle's shoulder strap was partially disconnected (a failed nut attachment), and even the precise dimensions of the glass window Lanza shattered when he broke into the school (35.33 by 42.5 inches).

Sedensky painstakingly sets forth all the crimes he believes Lanza committed that day. (Aside from the obvious, Lanza was guilty of carrying a pistol without a permit, and, puzzlingly, "risk of injury to a minor.")

His report lists the bizarre inventory of things investigators found in Lanza's home, along with the corpse of his mother, shot to death in her bed, and the many weapons she'd purchased for the amusement of herself and her son on the shooting range.

As you'd expect from a prosecutor in this country, though, the report is shockingly aloof from the context in which any reasonable person would read it.

Such as the fact that a young man diagnosed as mentally ill, someone who taped black plastic over his bedroom windows, who studied school shootings and had for some time been communicating with his mother only by email, could have such easy access to an arsenal, including the infamous Bushmaster assault rifle he used to hunt the schoolchildren.

In fact, seemingly unaware of the blinding ironies he was committing to paper, Sedensky writes: "Both the mother and the shooter took National Rifle Association safety courses. The mother thought it was good to learn responsibility for guns."

The 'gun grab' fallout

That, of course, would be the same safety-conscious NRA that terrified the U.S. Congress into rejecting even the mildest tightening of gun laws after the slaughter at Sandy Hook, including, yes, background checks for things like mental illness.

There will be a lot written about that sad, but utterly predictable political cowardice in a couple of weeks as the Dec. 14 anniversary of the murders approaches and news teams return to bathe retrospectively in Newtown's grief.

Mass shootings on the rise 

The average number of mass shootings in the U.S. has tripled since 2009, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told police chiefs in October.

The yearly average has increased from five per year between 2000 and 2008 to an average of 15 a year since, and these figures only reflect those shootings that resulted in five or more deaths. There have been at least 12 so far in 2013.  

And of course, the question of why Lanza did what he did will figure heavily in the coverage, even though Sedensky's report concluded the motive will probably never be known.

Much more instructive, perhaps, is what's transpiring at the other end of America, in the state of Idaho, partly as a result of Lanza's crimes.

Earlier this year, a state politician named Mark Patterson, fearing the Sandy Hook shootings might actually move Congress to action, authored a bill that would have made it a misdemeanor for Idaho police to help enforce any new federal restrictions on firearms.

Patterson, a big gun fan himself, had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

But then police discovered he had lied on his application for the permit. He hadn't told authorities about his arrest for forcible rape at age 21 in Florida, or the jail time he'd done.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder: Between 2009 and 2012, 404 people were shot and 207 people were killed in the U.S. in what are classified as mass shootings, those involving five or more deaths. The 26 killed at Sandy Hook represent the second worst school shooting in the U.S. (Associated Press)

He had also neglected to mention another rape charge in Cincinnati three years later, for which he was acquitted.

Patterson told reporters he had lost all memory of the incidents because of chemotherapy he'd undergone in 2003 after he'd contracted Hepatitis C.

He did, however, retain enough memory of the Florida incident to insist that it was a frame-up, and that the police for some reason had lied, even though he eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of assault with intent to rape, which is also a felony, and which would disqualify anyone in Idaho from obtaining a concealed weapon permit.

None of Patterson's excuses impressed the local sheriff's office, though, which informed the state legislator last month his gun permit was being revoked.

But, this being America and Idaho being Idaho, that's not how the story ends.

The NRA, which backed Patterson's bill, has seen to it that Idaho's weapons laws are as meaningless as possible.

For some reason, any elected official in Idaho is exempt from gun permit laws. Period.

So Mark Patterson won't have to give up his gun as long as he remains in office. And in some quarters, he's a hero. He's accusing the local sheriff of singling him out unfairly.

A few weeks ago, the pro-gun, ultra-conservative Freedom Outpost website carried this headline: "Mark Patterson Smeared as 'Rapist' for Standing Up Against Federal Gun Grab?"  

If that isn't the definitive epilogue to Sandy Hook at this point, I don't know what is.

Commonplace now

Indeed, a year after the outrage in Connecticut, the NRA doesn't have much to worry about. Barack Obama has effectively conceded the fight.

The president will probably have something to say on the Sandy Hook anniversary two weeks from now. But it will likely sound deflated compared to his passionate call for new gun laws in the weeks after the killings.

Local police in Maryland, in August 2013, take part in a FBI training program designed to teach as many as 50,000 local officers how to respond to mass shooters. (Patrick Semansky / Associated Press)

Actually, the president only bothers to comment anymore on the very worst mass shootings.

Of the dozen or so that have taken place in this country since Sandy Hook, the president has only spoken publicly about one, the slaughter of 12 federal public servants by a deranged ex-soldier at the Washington, D.C. Navy Yards in September.

Mass shootings have become so common in the U.S. — there have been dozens, even hundreds during Obama's time in office alone, depending on how you define the term — that their ability to shock has waned.

In any event, it seems pretty much clear by now that nothing can be done about them. America has become a nation of almost routine mass shootings and gun rights, coexisting without interference.

Adam Lanza, says Sedensky in his report, hated holidays: "He would not allow his mother to put up a Christmas tree. The mother explained it by saying that the shooter had no emotions or feelings."

Nonetheless, the doting Nancy Lanza had written her estranged, emotionless son a cheque so he could buy himself a new pistol for Christmas that year.

Sedensky explains she "worried about what would happen to the shooter if anything happened to her."

Well, she was right about that.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Black Friday now part of U.S. shopping marathon

Holiday shopping this year is a marathon, not a sprint.

More than a dozen major retailers from Target to Toys R Us opened on Thanksgiving Day and planned to stay open through Black Friday, the traditional start to the holiday shopping season. As a result, crowds formed early and often throughout the two days.

Jervis Benjamin, 8, of Wayzata, Minn. rides in a cart during Black Friday shopping - on Thursday. (Craig Lessig/Associated Press)

A Kmart store in New York City was packed with people shopping for clothing and holiday decor items on Thanksgiving night. Long checkout lines formed at a Target in Colma, Calif., on Black Friday morning. And hundreds waited outside a Kohl's in American Park, Utah, the same morning start their holiday shopping.

Meanwhile, at North Point Mall in Alpharetta, Ga., Jessica Astalos, 20, had already been shopping for six hours starting on Thanksgiving as another wave of shoppers made their way into the mall around 5:30 a.m. Friday.

"I like being around crowds of people all doing the same thing," said Dalton Mason, 22, of Stockbridge, Ga.

The start of the holiday shopping season has transformed into a two-day event. For nearly a decade, Black Friday had been the official start to the busy buying binge sandwiched between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was named Black Friday because that was traditionally when retailers turned a profit, or moved out of the red and into the black.

Crowded but civilized

But in the past few years, retailers have pushed opening times into Thanksgiving night. Some like Macy's opened on Thanksgiving for the first time this year. Others like Gap Inc., which owns Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy, opened some stores earlier on Thanksgiving than the year before. And many pushed up the discounting that used to be reserved for Black Friday into early November.

For the most part, the competition for bargains was crowded but civilized.

In Chicago, however, a police officer answering a call about alleged shoplifting at a department store shot the driver of a car that was dragging a fellow officer. The wounded driver of the car and the dragged officer were both taken to  hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening shoulder injuries, police said. Three people were arrested.

The earlier openings and sales were met with some resistance. Some workers' rights groups had planned protests on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday because they opposed having retail employees miss family meals at home. Some shoppers had said they would not venture out on Thanksgiving because they believe it's a sacred holiday meant to spend with family and friends.

And Curtis Akins, 51, openly lamented the early openings on Friday as his wife shopped. By 5 a.m. Friday, he was sitting on a bench — looking slightly exhausted — inside a mall in Atlanta's northern suburbs as his wife looked for deals. "I think it's going to end because it's taking away from the traditional Thanksgiving," he said of the Black Friday tradition.

Double-day shopping

But that sentiment didn't stop others from taking advantage of the earlier openings and sales. "We like to shop this time of night … We're having a ball," said Rosanne Scrom as she left the Target store in Clifton Park, N.Y., at 5 a.m. Friday.

The reception to the double-day holiday shopping start has led some retail experts to question how much further Black Friday will creep into Thanksgiving. Some now even refer to the holiday as Black Thanksgiving or Gray Thursday. "Black Friday is now Gray Friday," said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a retail consultancy.

It's unclear whether or not the early openings will lead shoppers to spend more over the two days or simply spread sales between the two days. Last year, sales on Thanksgiving were $810 million last year, an increase of 55 per cent from the previous year as more stores opened on the holiday, according to Chicago research firm ShopperTrak. But sales dropped 1.8 per cent to $11.2 billion on Black Friday, though it still was the biggest shopping day last year.

Sales figures for this year's Thanksgiving and Black Friday will trickle out in the next couple days, but some big chains already are proclaiming early Friday morning that the start to the holiday shopping season had gotten off to a successful start.

Most Wal-Mart stores are open 24 hours, but the world's largest retailer started its holiday shopping sales events at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving, two hours earlier than last year. Wal-Mart said that customers bought 2.8 million towels, two million TVs, 1.4 million tablets, 300,000 bicycles and 1.9 million dolls.

Waiting for an Xbox One

Wal-Mart also noted that one million customers took advantage of its one-hour guarantee program, which allows shoppers who are inside a Wal-Mart store within one hour of a doorbuster sales event to buy that product and either take it home that day or by Christmas.

Rival Target, which opened at an hour earlier this year at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, also said that traffic starting in the early morning hours of Thanksgiving on Target.com and at its stores later in the day was "strong."

At a Target in Brooklyn in New York City, about 25 people waited in line at about 5 hours ahead of the 8 p.m. opening on Thanksgiving. Theresa Alcantaro, 35, a crossing guard, was waiting with her 12-year-old son to buy an Xbox One video game system. She was missing a gathering of 40 family members but said she would meet up after shopping.

"Honestly, if I can get a good deal, I do not mind," she said about shopping on Thanksgiving. "I see my family every day. They understand."

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Black Friday deals no guarantee of retail bonanza

Canadian retailers are pulling out more stops this year to lure bargain-hunting shoppers on Black Friday, but the promotional blitz may not reap the bottom line rewards many stores are hoping for.

From B.C. to the Atlantic provinces, malls are opening before sunrise tomorrow as the U.S. shopping phenomenon pegged to the day after American Thanksgiving makes further inroads north of the border.

'Very simply, the consumer in Canada hasn't really become comfortable with the concept.'- Ryan Brain

But as much as retailers are hoping shoppers will be in a buoyant mood this far ahead of the traditional Christmas shopping season, there's no guarantee their purchases will have a significant impact on retailers' fortunes.

"Very simply, the consumer in Canada hasn't really become comfortable with the concept," says Ryan Brain, a partner and consumer expert with consulting giant Deloitte Canada in Toronto.

Brain sees a couple of reasons why Canadian shoppers have not fully embraced the Black Friday phenomenon.

"We haven't grown with the concept here in Canada, so like anything, it perhaps will take some time," he says.

But another key factor is that Canadian consumers are turning more and more to retailers' websites rather than just heading out to a store.

Online shopping is increasing "to such a degree in popularity that it's really the customer that dictates when they shop, how they shop, what they want," says Brain.

"The notion of a Black Friday just doesn't really mean much if you're totally in control of the shopping experience."

Trying to take control

Retailers, however, are doing what they can to exercise some control over the consumer dollar by offering shoppers plenty of opportunities to go to stores in search of Black Friday deals across Canada. In some cases, the retailers and shopping mall managers have ramped up their Black Friday strategy significantly over last year.

Shopping centres across the country that are managed by Cadillac Fairview are opening a few hours earlier tomorrow in response to what company officials considered was a good pilot project at nine properties — mostly in Ontario — a year ago.

"It was very successful," says Wendy Greenwood, director of marketing for Cadillac Fairview's Ontario portfolio.

Some U.S. shoppers like Lorinda Haines of Nunica, Mich., are willing to camp out for days ahead of Black Friday. Haines had her tent pitched in front of Best Buy in Muskegon, Mich., on Nov. 25, four days ahead of this year's Black Friday. (Natalie Kolb/Muskegon Chronicle/Associated Press)

"Our traffic was up an average of 22 per cent and this year we expanded the program nationally."

That means centres will be opening generally at 7 a.m. (8 a.m. in Quebec) tomorrow. While in Toronto, the flagship Eaton Centre downtown will open at 6 a.m.

The first 100 shoppers to arrive at the guest services desk at each centre will also receive a $10 card that can be used at any store in any Cadillac Fairview property.

This year's early openings are something of an evolution for the company. A few years ago, it would receive a few requests for early openings on Black Friday from U.S. retailers operating stores in their centres.

"But we've now found even our Canadian retailers just love Black Friday," Greenwood says. "They like to kick-start the holiday shopping season early. It helps to keep the dollars in Canada, keep people shopping locally instead of going across the border on Black Friday, because it's a big shopping day in the U.S."

'Significant sales occasion'

At Future Shop stores across Canada, doors will open tomorrow at 6 a.m. (8 a.m. in Quebec), the same time as they would open on Boxing Day and a Black Friday first for the electronics retailer.

Communications manager Elliott Chun says Black Friday has become a "very significant sales occasion" for Future Shop.

Chun wouldn't disclose specific figures, but said the company is "seeing double-digit growth in terms of our sales when you look at both the Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday," which falls on Dec. 2 this year.

Cyber Monday is another American marketing term, designed to encourage consumers to shop online for even more prospective bargains on the first Monday after U.S. Thanksgiving.

'Every year there seems to be a heightened interest for Black Friday.'- Elliott Chun

Chun says the move to earlier Black Friday openings this year was prompted by the "year over year foot traffic, web traffic and sales increases we're seeing since 2009."

"Every year there seems to be a heightened interest for Black Friday."

Other retailers also appear to pulling out more stops with Black Friday promotions this year.

At RedFlagDeals.com, a website and app for bargain hunters, a "Black Friday and Cyber Monday" page is chock full of flyers for major retailers like Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

Spokesperson Fiona Story says the website has been seeing "exponential growth" since it started offering Black Friday deals about five years ago. At that time, there were just two Black Friday deals from Canadian retailers.

"We're now looking at 200 deals as of last year … and we expect that number to grow as well," she says.

What about Boxing Day?

Story says she expects growth "could approach Boxing Day level in terms of retailers getting involved. But Boxing Day is still really the largest one in Canada. It will still be smaller than that but we are seeing it start to catch up a bit more."

Still, for all the efforts retailers are putting into trying to lure customers, there is no guarantee their bottom lines will be significantly bolstered once all the Black Friday sales have been tallied.

The arrival of Target and other U.S. retailers in Canada has ratcheted up competion in the Canadian retail landscape. (Dave Chidley/Canadian Press)

Marion Chan, principal of TrendSpotter Consulting in Toronto, says that within the retail landscape of Canada, competition has "just been ratcheted up so much" with the arrival of so many U.S. retailers.

"The big push is promotion, promotion, promotion and all that is doing is just driving down the profit margins of everybody involved." 

"It's great for the consumer," Chan says. "But it's not so great for the overall economy. Our retail economy … can't survive on this kind of constant promotion and so to have yet one more day when they're going to slash their prices, something's going to have to give."

In her mind, that means retailers "can't have both Black Friday and Boxing Day."

She's not sure Black Friday is the day for Canadians because "it doesn't mean anything to us," and doesn't seem to have much context beyond being a big kickoff day for holiday shopping in the U.S.

"Canadians will vote with their dollars," she says.

"If consumers come out in droves for these Black Friday sales, then we know they want it, but it's not going to help our retail economy at all."

21.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

Senate expense committee questioning Deloitte auditors

The Senate committee that dealt with Mike Duffy's ineligible expense claims — claims that are now the subject of an RCMP investigation — is meeting this morning to question three Deloitte auditors about potential interference in their audit.

But two of the main players in the controversy won't be there.

Allegations in RCMP documents released last Wednesday suggest Conservative Senator Irving Gerstein tried to manipulate the Duffy audit by directly calling Michael Runia, a partner at Deloitte.

Gerstein and Runia aren't invited to Thursday's internal economy committee meeting, however.

"The people from Deloitte who are appearing tomorrow at the Senate hearing are the ones who were invited," said Vital Adam, Deloitte senior manager, in an email to CBC News.

Conservative Senator Gerald Comeau, chair of the committee, says the committee wants to know whether there was interference in the auditing process, and if so, who did it and what was the nature of the interference.

The audit went ahead as planned. But Conservative senators on the internal economy committee changed a report prepared by Senate staff to soften the language and entirely remove criticism of Duffy for his spending.

A spokeswoman for Deloitte said the review "was conducted by a team of highly professional and objective forensic accountants."

'Work through senior contacts at Deloitte'

The RCMP affidavit says Gerstein called a contact at Deloitte on behalf of the Prime Minister's Office to try to have Deloitte drop Duffy from the investigation.

Referring to emails between PMO staff, RCMP Cpl. Greg Horton alleges they argued the issue would be closed once Duffy repayed the approximately $90,000 in inappropriate expenses.

"Today I asked Sen. Gerstein to actually work through senior contacts at Deloitte and with Sen. [Marjory] LeBreton," Nigel Wright​, then-chief of staff to Prime Minister​ Stephen Harper, wrote on March 1, 2013.

In an email to then-PMO lawyer Benjamin Perrin, Wright went on to say he and the senators were pushing for Deloitte to find there was no longer a need for an audit into Duffy's primary residence.

Duffy was one of four senators who had expense and travel claims referred to Deloitte for investigation. The long-time Ottawa resident was claiming secondary housing expenses for his home in a suburb just west of Ottawa.

"The outcome we are pushing for is for Deloitte to report publicly that IF Kanata were the primary residence then the amount owing would be the $90,000 figure and that since Sen. Duffy has committed to repay this amount then Deloitte's work in determining the primary residence is no longer needed," Wright wrote.

'Troubling'

Senator James Cowan, Liberal leader in the Senate, said Tuesday he wants Gerstein to to appear before the committee on Thursday.

The Senate committee that dealt with Mike Duffy's ineligible expense claims meets Thursday to question three Deloitte auditors about potential interference in their audit. But two main players, including Senator Irving Gerstein, won't be there. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

"I think the more troubling thing from my point of view with respect to Senator Gerstein was that he would have contacted the audit firm that was conducting the audit on behalf of the Senate," he said.

Liberal Senator George Furey said he'll wait to hear from the auditors, but noted there are allegations in the affidavit that raise questions.

"There are concerns raised that I find very troublesome," Furey said.

In the House of Commons Wednesday, the opposition grilled Harper about Gerstein's involvement.

"The RCMP says Irving Gerstein called Deloitte twice to interfere with their audit of Mike Duffy's expenses. He tried to back-channel audit information and then pressed on hoping that Nigel Wright's $90,000 payment would make the audit go away. So will the prime minister please explain to Canadians why Senator Gerstein still enjoys his complete confidence?" Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said.

Harper returned to familiar lines, pointing out only two people are known to be under investigation by the RCMP.

"What is at issue here is that Mr. Duffy made claims to repay inappropriate expenses when he in fact had not done that. That was actually done by Mr. Wright ... and that information was not properly disclosed to me or to others," he said.

Seven times the opposition asked why Gerstein is still a senator and why he's still in the Conservative caucus and seven times the Prime Minister gave a similar answer: "two individuals are under investigation as it should be."

The committee's executive met late Tuesday and agreed to open the normally closed-door meeting to the public.

21.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

New Snowden docs show Canada let U.S. spy at G20

Top secret documents retrieved by U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden show that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government allowed the largest American spy agency to conduct widespread surveillance in Canada during the 2010 G8 and G20 summits.

The documents are being reported exclusively by CBC News.

The briefing notes, stamped "Top Secret," show the U.S. turned its Ottawa embassy into a security command post during a six-day spying operation by the National Security Agency while U.S. President Barack Obama and 25 other foreign heads of government were on Canadian soil in June of 2010.

The covert U.S. operation was no secret to Canadian authorities.

An NSA briefing note describes the American agency's operational plans at the Toronto summit meeting and notes they were "closely co-ordinated with the Canadian partner."

The NSA and its Canadian "partner," the Communications Security Establishment Canada, gather foreign intelligence for their respective governments by covertly intercepting phone calls and hacking into computer systems around the world.

The secret documents do not reveal the precise targets of so much espionage by the NSA — and possibly its Canadian partner — during the Toronto summit.

But both the U.S. and Canadian intelligence agencies have been implicated with their British counterpart in hacking the phone calls and emails of foreign politicians and diplomats attending the G20 summit in London in 2009 — a scant few months before the Toronto gathering of the same world leaders.

Secret documents released by U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden have provided new insight about the level of U.S. and Canadian spying on allies and foreign diplomats. (The Guardian/Associated Press)

Notably, the secret NSA briefing document describes part of the U.S. eavesdropping agency's mandate at the Toronto summit as "providing support to policymakers."

Documents previously released by Snowden, a former NSA contractor who has sought and received asylum in Russia, suggested that support at other international gatherings included spying on the foreign delegations to get an unfair advantage in any negotiations or policy debates at the summit.

It was those documents that first exposed the spying on world leaders at the London summit.

More recently, Snowden's trove of classified information revealed Canada's eavesdropping agency had hacked into phones and computers in the Brazilian government's department of mines, a story that touched off a political firestorm both in that country and in Ottawa.

The documents have rocked political capitals around the world. NSA spies on everyone from leaders of U.S. allies to millions of Americans. Personal information has been scooped up by the agency's penetration of major internet and phone companies.

Economic and political espionage

The spying at the Toronto summit in 2010 fits a pattern of economic and political espionage by the powerful U.S. intelligence agency and its partners such as Canada.

That espionage was conducted to secure meeting sites and protect leaders against terrorist threats posed by al-Qaeda but also to forward the policy goals of the United States and Canada.

The G20 summit in Toronto had a lot on its agenda that would have been of acute interest to the NSA and Canada.

The world was still struggling to climb out of the great recession of 2008. Leaders were debating a wide array of possible measures including a global tax on banks, an idea strongly opposed by both the U.S. and Canadian governments. That notion was eventually scotched.

The secret NSA documents list all the main agenda items for the G20 in Toronto — international development, banking reform, countering trade protectionism, and so on — with the U.S. snooping agency promising to support "U.S. policy goals."

Whatever the intelligence goals of the NSA during the Toronto summit, international security experts question whether the NSA spying operation at the G20 in Toronto was even legal.

"If CSEC tasked NSA to conduct spying activities on Canadians within Canada that CSEC itself was not authorized to take, then I am comfortable saying that would be an unlawful undertaking by CSEC," says Craig Forcese, an expert in national security at University of Ottawa's faculty of law.

By law, CSEC cannot target anyone in Canada without a warrant, including world leaders and foreign diplomats at a G20 summit.

But, the Canadian eavesdropping agency is also prohibited by international agreement from getting the NSA to do the spying or anything that would be illegal for CSEC.

Canada's 'Five Eyes' partners

The NSA isn't Canada's only partner in the covert surveillance business.

They are part of a multinational partnership that includes sister organizations in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand — the so-called "Five Eyes."

CSEC has roughly 2,000 employees and an annual budget of about $450 million. It will soon move into a new Ottawa headquarters costing taxpayers more than $1.2 billion, the most expensive federal government building ever constructed.

By comparison, the NSA is the largest intelligence agency in the U.S., with a budget of over $40 billion and employing about 40,000 people. It is currently building what is believed to be one of the largest and most powerful computers in the world.

CSEC is comparatively much smaller but has become a formidable and sophisticated surveillance outlet. Canadian eavesdroppers are also integral to the Five Eyes partnership around the world.

The documents obtained by the CBC do not indicate what, if any, role CSEC played in spying at the G20 in Toronto.

But the briefing notes make it clear that the agency's co-operation would be absolutely vital to ensuring access to the telecommunications systems that would have been used by espionage targets during the summits.

A protester jumps on a burnt-out car as a police car burns in the background during an anti-G20 demonstration June 26, 2010 in Toronto. Top secret NSA briefing notes predicted vandalism by "issue-based extremists" was a more likely threat than al-Qaeda-type terrorists during the event. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)

Much of the secret G20 document is devoted to security details at the summit, although it notes: "The intelligence community assesses there is no specific, credible information that al-Qa'ida or other Islamic extremists are targeting" the event.

No matter. The NSA warns the more likely security threat would come from "issue-based extremists" conducting acts of vandalism.

They got that right.

Protest marches by about 10,000 turned the Toronto G20 into an historic melee of arrests by more than 20,000 police in what would become one of the largest and most expensive security operations in Canadian history.

By the time the tear gas had cleared and the investigations were complete, law enforcement agencies stood accused of mass-violations of civil rights.

Add to that dubious legacy illegal spying by an American intelligence agency with the blessing of the Canadian government.

CBC contacted the Canadian and U.S. governments for comment, and answers to specific questions.

U.S. State Department officials would not comment directly on the spying issue. Instead they pointed to the fact President Obama has ordered a review of all NSA operations in the wake of the Snowden revelations.

In Canada, officials at CSEC offered no comment .

21.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pot-smoking Mountie can't smoke in uniform, RCMP says

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer with a medical marijuana prescription thinks he should be able to smoke the drug while in uniform, but the RCMP says he can't smoke marijuana while in red serge or while wearing his regular working uniform.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gilles Moreau said any officer with a medical marijuana prescription can take their medication, but should not do so in while in their uniform. (CBC)

Cpl. Ronald Francis serves with J Division in New Brunswick, and received a prescription for medical-grade marijuana on Nov. 4.

'There's no policy in the RCMP that prevents me from smoking marijuana. There's no policy in the RCMP that says I cannot smoke in public. I have the right to smoke it in my red serge.'-Cpl. Ronald Francis

Francis told CBC News marijuana has helped him to calm down and reduces his PTSD symptoms. His prescription allows for three grams a day, which he estimates to be nine to 15 joints, though he said he doesn't typically smoke that much.

"I get up in the morning, have my coffee and the marijuana. I go at lunchtime, have a marijuana joint, and then again in the evening. That would be my medical regime. But that may change with my tolerance to THC. It may take two joints in the morning, I don't know," said Francis.

"I'm just building up my immunity to THC levels, if I was to smoke two I'd probably get stoned to the point that I'm just totally relaxed. I'm still functional. But your nervous system is relaxed, and that makes a big difference," he said.

Cpl. Francis said his choice to switch to medical marijuana was a health decision. (CBC)

Francis, who is currently assigned to administrative duties, said smoking marijuana has no negative effect on his ability to be a police officer and that he intends to continue smoking on the job.

"There's no policy in the RCMP that prevents me from smoking marijuana. There's no policy in the RCMP that says I cannot smoke in public. I have the right to smoke it in my red serge."

RCMP says officers 'should not be in red serge' while smoking marijuana

But while the RCMP accepts that Francis's prescription gives him the right to consume marijuana, the force takes issue with members smoking in public or in uniform.

"Definitely a member that has been prescribed medicinal marijuana should not be in red serge taking his medication," said RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gilles Moreau. "It would not be advisable for that member, it would not portray the right message to the general public, it's definitely not something we would support or condone."

Moreau said the RCMP has a duty to accommodate members' medical needs, but also has to consider the effect on other members and on public perceptions.

"Because this is relatively new for active members of the RCMP, we are looking at the internal policies to see, how do we set it up? To say, OK, if somebody is prescribed medical marijuana and they have to take it two or three times a day and have to take it at work, where is this going to take place? If it takes place outside, it has to respect the individual but also their co-workers, and it has to respect the Canadian population at large by taking it in a respectful way."

The RCMP has the right to challenge medical treatments it considers inappropriate, and to seek a second medical opinion, Moreau said, adding that RCMP will evaluate any member who obtains a medical marijuana prescription.

If they are found to be impaired in judgment or motor skills, the RCMP will place limits on the police functions they're permitted to perform, he said.

Turned to marijuana after trying anti-depressants

Francis said he experienced stress on the job early in his career, while serving the First Nation in Davis Inlet and in his own community of Kingsclear First Nation. He began to seek treatment for mental distress eight years ago. 

At first, his doctors prescribed anti-depressants, but he did not feel any significant improvement.

"I started to self-medicate with alcohol. And I said no, this is not me. Why am I doing this? And I was going through treatment for PTSD at the time, and the RCMP did provide treatment, and I thank the RCMP for that."

But Francis began to read about alternative treatments, including marijuana, and he eventually left the doctor he was seeing at the occupational stress injury clinic. He switched to a different doctor, who gave him the marijuana prescription.

"When I explored it as a treatment for my PTSD, I had to really make a moral decision about it. Because the RCMP and law enforcement, they seem so anti-marijuana, and that's a hard thing to overcome, so I had to make that decision for my own health. It wasn't based on my career or anything.

"It was for my own health. In doing that I realized that I have to come first. The organization doesn't come first, Ron Francis comes first. For my own health. And I'm glad I did that," he said.

Take our poll!

Should a medicated RCMP officer be able to smoke medical marijuana while in uniform?

21.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

Comet Ison has risky encounter with sun today

If the stars align, a large comet rocketing towards the sun will be putting on a show to delight more than just the world's astronomers.

The comet Ison has been on stargazers' radar since late last year when it was seen hurtling towards the sun and showing every sign of passing very close to the centre of the solar system.

Those predictions will come to pass today at around 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. eastern time, when Ison is expected to be just 1.2 million kilometres from the sun.

Astronomers say the intense heat from its brush with solar energy may cause Ison to disintegrate in mid course. If it survives intact and begins its trajectory away from the sun, however, experts said sky watchers may have a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks.

Paul Delaney, professor of physics and astronomy at Toronto's York University, said Ison's size and proximity to the sun could usher in a spectacular light show for those willing to wake up early and examine the pre-dawn skies.

Comets are little more than vast chunks of rock that fall towards earth from the outer solar system. Delaney said that within the centre of those rock masses is a nucleus of volatile material that reacts to heat.

While several dozen comets travel near Earth every year, Delaney said many of them don't come within close range of the sun. Those that do, he added, are often too small to become visible to the naked eye.

Ison appears to be a different beast, he said, explaining that a comet becomes visible when the material contained in its nucleus becomes heated and begins emitting gas.

"The comet becomes surrounded by this sort of gas cloud, and this gas cloud can end up being literally tens of thousands of kilometres in diameter," Delaney said in a telephone interview.

"It can trail material behind it for literally millions of kilometres, meaning that we've now got this object which has got a very large surface area to reflect light. And that's what gives us a really terrific show here on Earth."

Comets that pass close to the sun — often known as sun-grazing comets — are often too small to have much impact for stargazers, he said.

But Ison itself has a nucleus of approximately two kilometres wide, making it comparatively large for one with such close proximity to the sun.

Ison's relative size means it's likely to produce a similarly large gas cloud, Delaney said.

"As it rounds the sun and gets heated to nearly 2,700 degrees Celsius — it will really be roasted — all of the volatile materials trapped within have the potential of outgasing," he said. "And if that happens the comet gets bigger, the tail gets longer, and the comet gets that much brighter."

Delaney said Ison's light show won't begin for several days after it's brush with the sun — assuming it hasn't been incinerated altogether.

Canadians hoping for a glimpse of Ison can start looking for it on Saturday or Sunday morning if they're willing to train their eyes on the sky about half an hour before sunrise, he said.

Ison is likely to appear in the east as a particularly bright point of light with a trailing tail, he said, adding its visibility will improve throughout next week.

"Over the ensuing few days, the comet will climb higher and further away from the sun and into darker, background skies. And then, if Ison is going to live up to expectations, you'll see a really good show."

Click here or on the graphic below to open up an enlargeable version

21.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

Shipbuilding, tax havens come under auditor general's spotlight

The federal government's $39.6 billion national shipbuilding procurement strategy will be in the public spotlight on Tuesday when Auditor General Michael Ferguson tables his annual fall report.

The Canadian navy will retire its aging supply ships and will have to wait at least 18 months before new ones arrive, federal and military officials confirmed last month.

The gap is the result of a bottleneck in the federal government's national shipbuilding strategy which will be at the centre of Ferguson's audit on Tuesday.

The audit report will be tabled in the House of Commons at 10 a.m. ET and will be followed by a news conference 90 minutes later.

CBC News will carry the auditor general's news conference live starting at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The fall audit will examine not only how the federal government has managed the acquisition of military ships to support the financial restructuring of its naval fleet, but it will also look at how the Canada Revenue Agency followed up on a list it received in 2007 of possible Canadians with offshore banking accounts, and whether Transport Canada has adequately overseen the management of rail safety risks, among other things.

Earlier this year, the largest ever leak of data from offshore tax havens included a list with the names of hundreds of Canadians on it. 

CBC News was part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists group that was given access to the data from 10 locales, involving 130,000 people.

Since the train derailment in Lac-Mégantic last July, the federal government has taken steps to increase rail safety and the transportation of dangerous goods across the country.​ 

Transport Minister Lisa Raitt announced two weeks ago that the federal government will require railway companies to inform the communities their trains run through of the dangerous goods they are carrying.

The 2013 fall report of the Auditor General will contain the following nine chapters:

• Follow-up Audit on Internal Controls over Financial Reporting.
• Access to Online Services.
• National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS).
• Canada's Food Recall System.
• Preventing Illegal Entry into Canada.
• Emergency Management on Reserves.
• Oversight of Rail Safety by Transport Canada.
• Disaster Relief for Producers — Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
• Offshore Banking — Canada Revenue Agency.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

CBC partners with Rogers in landmark NHL rights deal

Saturday night will remain Hockey Night in Canada on CBC.

The NHL confirmed Tuesday that CBC has secured English-language rights to games in a sub-licensing agreement with Rogers Communications. 

The 12-year, $5.2-billion deal through 2025-26 between the NHL and Rogers is the largest media rights agreement in league history and subject to approval by its board of governors at a meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif., on Dec. 9-10.

"The NHL is extremely excited about the power and potential of this groundbreaking partnership," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. 

CBC has been the home of Hockey Night since 1952. It is committed to 320 hours of prime-time hockey, including games in the choice Saturday night time slot and the Stanley Cup final for the next four years. 

"The CBC was prepared to do a fiscally responsible deal to preserve hockey on Saturday nights and to help the NHL to build the hockey brand through a variety of significant events and outreach activities," CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix said.

Rogers retains three exclusive windows to broadcast any game involving a Canadian team on Wednesdays, Saturdays, including CBC, and Sundays.

"Canadians are passionate about hockey and, through this landmark partnership with the NHL, we'll be able to bring hockey fans more games and more content on their platform of choice," Rogers Communications president and CEO Nadir Mohamed said.  

The NHL was seeking to capitalize on a surge in popularity following a lengthy lockout that resulted in a 48-game season in 2013.

It signed a 10-year rights deal with NBC for U.S. broadcasts in 2011.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Why Iran is making nice with the West: Nahlah Ayed

Negotiations go nowhere. War always returns. The U.S. and Iran are arch-enemies.

For many in the Middle East, these are indisputable axioms as sure as the sun rising. No surprise then that in some quarters news of the nuclear deal between leading Western powers and Iran was as welcome as an earthquake.

For some, any détente involving Tehran and Washington threatens to upend the modicum of order in a region that doesn't normally cope well with change.

Under that order Iran played its role best as the birthplace of the "death to America" chant. For those accustomed to that thinking, dialogue between the U.S. and Iran seems unnatural — and unwelcome — after 34 years of dependable acrimony.

Naturally, the most obvious concern about this deal — certainly for Israel, as well as the Gulf Arab countries — is the nuclear threat that Iran represents for them.

Their continuing narrative, until Tehran proves otherwise, is that its regime cannot be trusted to curb its nuclear ambitions and that, deal or no deal, Iran wants nothing more than to develop an arsenal that would make it the region's indisputable strongman.

In such circumstances, these skeptics argue, dialogue isn't a firm enough approach.

Underlying their cool reaction, however, are more intriguing regional concerns about power and influence — and about the kind of change that threatens a geopolitical order that has lasted a third of a century.

Saudis upset

The weekend deal has unsettled long-time U.S. ally Saudi Arabia in particular.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has called the Iran deal a historic mistake. He and the Saudis have been the main skeptics, urging the West not to trust Tehran. (Seth Wenig / Associated Press)

That wasn't immediately obvious in the terse, official statement it released Tuesday, saying the interim arrangement agreed to on Sunday could be a "preliminary step towards a comprehensive solution to the Iranian nuclear program."

Saudi officials, though, have made it clear the kingdom isn't pleased, equally by the deal as by how it was achieved — in secret, back-channel talks for months between the U.S. and Iran, hosted by Oman and never revealed even to Washington's closest allies.

There's a clear sense among the Saudi leadership that it has been slighted. That its opinion matters less and less to the U.S., and that its Shia Muslim rival, Iran, has gained — and will continue to gain — undue influence at its expense.

The real Saudi concern is that in the long term the U.S. may have much more to gain from a good relationship with Iran than a bad one — comfortable and familiar as that was.

And they're probably right.

Side benefits

For that to happen, however, the nuclear issue has to truly be put to rest.

As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said shortly after the interim deal was sealed, Iran must prove what it says: that it only wants a peaceful nuclear program.

The deal must be implemented, trust must be built.

That won't be easy. But the dividends for the U.S. and the West could be enormous.

To understand how, it helps to see the Middle East the way Shia Muslim Iran and Sunni Muslim Saudi see it — as a battleground, constantly caught in a power struggle between two powers vying for regional supremacy.

Generally, U.S. policy has tended to align with the Saudi position.

Tilting that slightly, to find common ground with Iran on nuclear restraint, could open a route for the U.S. to address some of the region's other most pressing problems.

For example, Iran has sway with the Syrian regime. It is also deeply wrapped up in the fate and role of the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah, and therefore Lebanon itself and the group's archrival, Israel.

Perhaps one day (and this clearly won't happen overnight) those are issues on which the U.S. and Iran could come to some kind of understanding.

It is why Sunday's breakthrough could eventually bring seismic change to the region.

Self-preservation

As for this deal, Iran's leadership could be the biggest beneficiary.

Its ruling clerics have clearly chosen to believe that a rapprochement with the West (and a solution to the nuclear issue, even an interim one) is a wise choice. Because it's ultimately an investment in self-preservation.

The changes they've allowed — the election of relative moderate Hassan Rouhani as president, the beginnings of an open relationship with the West and a deal that has led to the easing of sanctions — have taken pressure off the Iranian regime, both from inside and out. Pressure that must have felt threatening to the regime's existence.

It wasn't that long ago that Iran was touting its nuclear program, with photos like this of then president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visiting its enrichment facilities. (handout/Reuters)

Internally, the change has generated hope for a (very young) populace that has had enough of its international isolation.

And it undoubtedly helps stave off the kind of unrest Iran witnessed following the re-election of the anti-West Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009, the kind of turmoil that unseated other long-standing regimes in nearby Arab countries.

In other words, the deal helps preserve the Iranian regime. It's why Hezbollah and the Syrian government applauded it. It gives Iran (and them) some breathing room.

But the deal does come with a price for Iran.

Today, and in the coming months, it costs it progress on its nuclear program. In the future, it may cost much more — maybe even co-operation with the U.S. on regional crises.

Whether Tehran will be willing to pay that price for self-preservation remains to be seen.

Still, that any of this was even a possibility after 34 years of confrontation is a huge shift indeed for the Middle East.

And if it works, the region changes in another important way.

It will have witnessed a rarity: a seemingly intractable problem solved through diplomacy and negotiation, even between arch-enemies.

Hard to believe in a region that detests change. That there was an opportunity for it to happen at all is the historic part.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

How the Liberals won the great byelection showdown

Cue the excuses and the spin.

The Conservatives nearly lost their safe Manitoba seat of Brandon-Souris Monday night and the NDP failed to take either one of the Liberal strongholds in Toronto (Toronto-Centre) and Montreal (Bourassa) while losing substantial ground in Manitoba.  

And before the losers start explaining that byelections are simply opportunities to send the governing party "a message" and that they don't really matter, remember the words of Prime Minister Stephen Harper earlier this month:

"Don't let anyone tell you this byelection doesn't matter — there's a lot on the line," he told Brandon voters in a letter.

Indeed there was — leadership. 

A supporter of Liberal Rolf Dinsdale reacts after Conservative candidate Larry Maguire extended his lead during a tight race in the Brandon-Souris byelection in Manitoba. (Trevor Hagan/The Canadian Press)

This was the first opportunity for all three parties to gauge the impact of the Senate scandal and another chance to test the appeal of NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, neither of whom has led their parties in a general election.

When the prime minister called the byelections he could scarcely have imagined his party would come so close to losing Brandon and see the Liberals in the other Manitoba riding up for grabs, Provencher, do as well as they did.

'Don't let anyone tell you this byelection doesn't matter — there's a lot on the line.'- Prime Minister Stephen Harper

For the Conservatives, the Brandon result probably has many lessons, as it began with a messy nomination race that left many supporters feeling as though the party was rigging the race to install Larry Maguire, the local MLA since 1999. (The mayor of Killarney, a card-carrying Conservative, was angry enough to quit the party and run against Rolf Dinsdale for the Liberal nomination.)

It was also an example, perhaps, of the dangers of intervening so much in a local election when you are a prime minister trying to face down a (Senate) scandal in Ottawa.

Harper personally stepped in to save the riding late last week when he penned a letter directly to voters in Brandon. He poured scorn on Dinsdale for returning to his hometown only to run in the byelection, and he aimed his ire at Trudeau for his plan to legalize marijuana.

Harper also got as close to Brandon as is seemly for a prime minister during a byelection by travelling to Winnipeg last week to attend a Jets game and cut the ribbon on a nine-kilometre stretch of new road. All the while, the Conservative Party produced a national radio attack ad again focused on Trudeau.

The entire effect was to make it clear that the Conservatives see the Liberals and not the NDP as their primary threat. But with all that firepower spent, they undoubtedly expected a better return.

The other Manitoba riding

Things went better for the Conservatives in Provencher, where former cabinet minister Vic Toews last won with 70 per cent of the vote.

Conservative candidate Ted Falk followed the party's time-tested practice of avoiding debates and keeping public appearances to a bare minimum.

But then Falk marked Bullying Awareness Week by asking a local gay teenager whether he'd really been bullied.

Federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, right, made several trips to the riding of Toronto Centre to campaign with star Liberal candidate Chrystia Freeland. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)

Last February, Evan Wiens was promoting a gay-straight alliance at his school when students were caught on tape making derogatory comments. Falk questioned whether the taunts had been staged.

The NDP and Liberal candidates both called on Falk to apologize, to no avail. Falk won the election handily Monday night, but the story in Provencher is the drop in NDP support from 18 per cent of the vote in 2011 to eight per cent yesterday, while the Liberals increased their vote to 30 per cent from seven.

When the byelections were called, the Liberals only had 61 members in Brandon-Souris and 66 in Provencher. They now have roughly 300 and 150 respectively.

Those aren't robust numbers, but the party would be hard-pressed to remember the last time hundreds of Manitobans signed up to become Liberals.

Explaining why the Liberals did as well as they did in these Prairie ridings is more difficult. Sure, the Dinsdale name is a factor. Rolf Dinsdale's father, Walter, was the Conservative MP in Brandon for 30 years.

But when local Conservative screw-ups and the Senate scandal prompted voters to consider an alternative, that tossed open the door for both the NDP and the Liberals.

Mulcair and Trudeau each made several visits to Brandon as well as stops in Provencher, where they attracted large crowds.

People are always curious about the alternatives, but in this case they appear to have preferred the Liberals.

Even the NDP candidate in Brandon, Cory Szczepanski, told the Winnipeg Free Press, "I knew I had an uphill battle, I just didn't expect it would be against a Liberal."

'Not from here'

In Brandon, the NDP were probably hobbled when the provincial NDP government hiked the PST. But Manitoba voters have been good in the past at distinguishing between provincial and federal New Democrats.

So it may be here that we are seeing proof of the Trudeau effect on people outside the party.

Yet in Toronto-Centre, Trudeau had to work far harder than anyone expected to keep the long-held riding Liberal.

He showed up every few days to help his candidate Chrystia Freeland in one of the country's safest Liberal seats.

Now though, the NDP is nipping at the party's heels thanks to it borrowing a successful Conservative "you're not from here" strategy.

Author and journalist Freeland is originally from Alberta and spent 10 years outside Canada before returning to Toronto to run. And she had to rely on others to get noticed while mainstreeting, including her friends former prime minister Paul Martin and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.

The NDP marketed its candidate, Linda McQuaig, also a well-known author and journalist as "From Toronto. For Toronto." The party also obtained celebrity endorsements and produced slick campaign videos.

For Mulcair, this was a chance to see how well his leadership skills, widely praised by pundits for his prosecution-like handling of the Senate scandal, played with regular Canadians.

But from the outset, he downplayed expectations for Bourassa, in suburban Montreal, calling it a "Liberal fortress."

Of course he is also fond of telling people his riding of Outremont was also a Liberal fortress until he won it in a 2007 byelection.

The NDP wanted to show Quebecers that Mulcair has what it takes to follow through on what Jack Layton achieved in 2011, when his late-hour surge ended up taking 58 of the province's 75 seats.

Instead, the NDP result stayed the same while the Liberal share of the vote grew at the expense of the Bloc Québécois.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

China aims to put robot rover on moon next month

China will land its first probe on the moon in early December which will deploy a buggy to explore its surface, an official said on Tuesday, marking a major milestone in the country's space ambitions.

China has already photographed the surface of the moon to prepare for the landing, said a spokesman for the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence.

In 2007, China launched its first moon orbiter, the Chang'e One orbiter, named after a lunar goddess, which took images of the surface and analyzed the distribution of elements.

The lunar explorer buggy was named "Yutu" in a public vote. "Yutu" means jade rabbit, a reference to Chang'e pet rabbit in folklore.

"Chang'e Three's mission requires mastering many key technologies. The technical difficulties and the risks involved in carrying out the mission will be high," spokesman Wu Zhijian told a news conference, carried live on state television.

"In taking on the mission to land on the moon, Chang'e Three will help China fulfill it's lunar exploration dream, it's space dream and the Chinese dream," said Wu.

Scientists will aim to carry out a soft landing and the buggy will rove around on the moon's surface. Scientists will also and test deep space communication technologies, Wu added.

Advancing China's space program has been a priority for the leadership, with President Xi Jinping calling for China to establish itself as a space superpower.

Scientists have discussed the possibility of sending a man to the moon some time after 2020.

China successfully completed its latest manned space mission in June, when three astronauts spent 15 days in orbit and docked with an experimental space laboratory critical in Beijing's quest to build a working space station by 2020.

China is still far from catching up with the established space superpowers, the United States and Russia, which decades ago learned the docking techniques China is only now mastering.

Russia successfully carried out its first soft landing of a lunar probe in 1966.

Beijing insists its space program is for peaceful purposes, but the U.S. Defence Department has highlighted China's increasing space capabilities and said it was pursuing a variety of activities aimed at preventing its adversaries from using space-based assets during a crisis.

China says it will share the technological achievements of its manned space programme with other nations, especially developing ones, and will offer to train astronauts from other countries.

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Krokodil hunt: Tracking the elusive, 'flesh-eating' street drug

If headlines in the past few weeks are to be believed, a "Flesh-eating 'zombie' drug" that could devour users "from the inside out" is finding its way onto American streets. Then came reports suggesting that "krokodil," a cheap and highly addictive homemade substitute for heroin that surfaced first in Russia about 10 years ago, had appeared in Ontario's Niagara region.

But so far, neither the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency nor Health Canada has identified krokodil, also known as desomorphine, in any samples they've analyzed since the DEA found two instances of it in 2004.

'When you have new drugs like this, it's very difficult to get a sense of their presence early on.'- Matthew Young

And police in Niagara are now saying the reported cases of the drug — an ugly concoction of codeine mixed with common products such as gasoline, lighter fluid, paint thinner or industrial cleaning oil — haven't been medically confirmed.

Krokodil is named for the Russian word for crocodile and its tendency to turn users' skin rough and scaly. The injectable opioid can cause brain damage and severe tissue damage, sometimes leading to gangrene, amputations and even death. It has also been linked to pneumonia, blood poisoning, meningitis, liver and kidney problems, rotting gums and bone infections.

The horrific health problems the drug has caused among the well over 100,000 users in Russia and Ukraine have been well documented by researchers in publications such as the International Journal of Drug Policy. But so far there is no solid, official proof that krokodil has reached Canada.

The recent news reports about the drug coupled with the lack of hard evidence to back them up underline how difficult it is for health and law enforcement officials to keep up with the evolving mix of street drugs.

"When you have new drugs like this, it's very difficult to get a sense of their presence early on," says Matthew Young, a senior research and policy analyst at the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse in Ottawa.

The drugs are too new to be asked about in surveys, and so attention turns to whether there have been seizures or samples confirmed in labs. And then, suggests Young, people consider any anecdotal information that may be circulating.

'A lot of hype'

"New drugs tend to have come along with a lot of hype attached to it, especially when there are images like there are out there on the internet that are associated with [krokodil]," Young says.

In this case, the images and videos posted online out of Russia are disturbing, showing krokodil users suffering everything from gaping lesions to exposed bone.

"The harms associated with krokodil are extreme and unprecedented," say the authors of a report that appeared in the International Journal of Drug Policy earlier this year.

But when it comes to definitive proof from official channels that the drug is actually on the street on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, there is none.

In the U.S., where the headlines about krokodil have been almost apocalyptic, the DEA is "very concerned about the possible appearance" of the drug, special agent Joseph Moses said in an interview from Washington.

"But to date, none of our forensic laboratories has analyzed an exhibit found to contain desomorphine."

A sample sent recently to the DEA's forensic laboratory in Chicago turned out to be heroin.

"We get a lot of calls about this … because it's such a gruesome imagery, with the area surrounding the point of injection dying," said Moses. "We have a lot of people who want to call it a trend, but we aren't seeing it."

No samples identified

The DEA did identify two samples as desomorphine in 2004, but have made no similar identifications since then.

In Canada, Health Canada is aware of reports of desomorphine, the department said in an email.

A man checks with his lips the temperature of syringe with heroin injection at a flat in the Russian town of Tver, 170 kilometres northwest of Moscow, on Nov. 13, 2010. Use of krokodil, a substitute for heroin, emerged in Russia about a decade ago. (Reuters)

"To date, Health Canada's drug analysis service has not received any samples that have been identified as containing desomorphine."

Late last week, the Canadian Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use, which is co-ordinated by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, issued a bulletin noting that there had been "no confirmed reports" of desomorphine in Canada in the past two months.

"It is possible that some unconfirmed reports were made after observing severe wounds at injection sites among intravenous (IV) drug users," the bulletin said.

While krokodil has been on the centre's radar screen, Young said in an interview before the bulletin was issued that he was skeptical of reports it had surfaced in Niagara.

"I don't see the motivation there for opioid users to go towards a dirtier, even less safe alternative to what they currently have."

More reports

In Niagara, word of krokodil surfaced about a year ago at AIDS Niagara, through its StreetWorks outreach and harm reduction program that works with drug users.

StreetWorks co-ordinator Rhonda Thompson says a woman came into their offices and "was very adamant" that she had seen krokodil in Niagara.

"You kind of have to take these things with a grain of salt. It was only report from one client."

Then about three weeks ago, another person came into their office and said two people were in a Niagara Health System hospital because of the effects of injecting krokodil.

Another person also turned up at the StreetWorks' Niagara Falls office and, Thompson says, showed their nurse wounds on his arm that weren't abscesses "like we're used to seeing.

'Maybe these are just old-fashioned staph infections — who knows — but it certainly needs to be looked at.'- Rhonda Thompson

"It's more like they're ulcers that go deep into the soft tissue," says Thompson.

"He said it felt like burning, and his symptoms started to develop a week after he started using this particular purchase of heroin. He thought he was buying heroin and he's never had any experience ... in the past where these sorts of ulcers and lesions were happening."

In a separate interview with CBC Radio's As it Happens on Friday, Thompson said there have been about a dozen cases of unusual wounds and "pretty significant" soft tissue damage among drug users in the region in the past two months.

Thompson spoke with staff at Niagara Regional Police (NRP), who issued a public statement that krokodil had been reported in Niagara Region. Police later said the reported cases had not been medically confirmed.

The Niagara Health System also said it had no confirmation of krokodil.

"Reports that we have treated patients at the Niagara Health System for conditions related to krokodil are unconfirmed," David Barry, manager of outpatient addiction services at the NHS, said in an emailed statement.

"We will continue working closely with our community partners to ensure we are doing everything we can to educate people about the health risks of using krokodil or other drugs."

Other possibilities

One of problems for the krokodil hunters is that the harm the drug can do to the body can resemble other types of infections or health conditions.

"The symptoms associated with krokodil can be mistaken with the complications that long-term users of injectable drugs like heroin can develop through infections from reusing needles and exposing themselves to all sorts of bacteria," NRP said in a release.

Thompson also wondered if what was observed in Niagara might have been the result of infections not specific to krokodil.

"I find it very hard to believe that little old Niagara would be the only one experiencing this, if this is in fact what it is. Maybe these are just old-fashioned staph infections — who knows — but it certainly needs to be looked at."

Young says he will continue to be on the lookout for any evidence krokodil may be in Canada.

"There's no indication that this drug will not come here. We're keeping an eye out for it. I just think that the conditions aren't really ripe for a drug such as this making its way to Canada," Young says.

"We can't say with any 100 per cent certainty that it's not here either. We can only say we have no confirmed reports."

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

4 storylines to watch in today's byelections

Voters in three provinces are casting ballots in four federal byelections.

Monday's byelections have taken on greater significance thanks to hotly contested races between the opposition NDP and Liberals in Ontario and Quebec and the controversy over the expenses scandal in the Senate.

Here are four things to know about the races as voters go to the polls.

1. Tory split raises Liberal hopes in Brandon-Souris

This byelection should have been a shoo-in for Tory candidate Larry Maguire, a prominent provincial MLA running in a Conservative stronghold.

But a controversial nomination process disqualified two potential candidates because of incomplete paperwork.

CBC byelection coverage tonight

Return to CBCNews.ca after polls close at 9:30 p.m. ET (8:30 p.m. CT) for full coverage of the results.

When to vote

Bourassa (Quebec):  9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. ET

Brandon-Souris (Manitoba): 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. CT

Provencher (Manitoba):  8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. CT

Toronto Centre (Ontario):  9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. ET

More information and where to vote in your riding at Elections Canada's website.

Maguire was acclaimed and that soured many Conservatives, one of whom left the party to run as a Liberal candidate. (He didn't win the nomination.)

Maguire has since been criticized for not attending two of the four candidates' debates and for a series of attack ads against his Liberal opponent Rolf Dinsdale, whom Maguire paints as a parachute candidate from Toronto, even though Dinsdale's father was the Progressive Conservative MP in the riding for more than three decades.

The Senate scandal in Ottawa isn't helping Maguire either.

Many voters say they're not happy with the Harper government and want to send a message. A byelection is a safe way to do that.

The federal party leaders sense that, and have made this race a priority.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has been here three times, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair has visited twice and several federal Conservative cabinet ministers have made the trek to the riding.

Kelly Saunders, a political scientist at Brandon University, says this race could be a game-changer and foreshadow what could happen in the 2015 general election.

"This is Western Canada, where the Liberals haven't been able to build up much support. If they can win this seat in a safe Tory riding like Brandon-Souris, they will use that to build momentum. For Conservatives, they won't be able to take things for granted as they maybe have in the past," she says.

2. Liberals, NDP square off in Montreal

Voters in North Montreal's diverse Bourassa riding are choosing a new MP to replace Denis Coderre, who stepped down to run for municipal office and is the city's newly elected mayor.

Both of the perceived lead candidates were born in Haiti, which is seen as an advantage in a federal district where one in every five voters identifies as Haitian.

Though the district is comprised of varied ethnic groups and socio-economic statuses, employment is the dominating priority for voters, as the average annual income in Bourassa is $26,000 and the unemployment rate exceeds 13 per cent.

To replace Coderre, the Liberals chose six-year Quebec National Assembly MLA Emmanuel Dubourg.

"We will set up a roundtable consisting of elected municipal, provincial and federal governments to address issues of youth employment, as well as safety," said Dubourg. "The district's police commander said that the biggest problem he sees is domestic violence."

Dubourg's main opponent is the NDP's Stéphane Moraille, a former singer in the musical group Bran Van 3000.

"The NDP wants to introduce a tax credit for hiring young people," said Moraille. "We are on a crusade against the costs of credit cards that eat away at incomes. We want to attract investors to employ people."

The Bloc Québécois candidate, Daniel Duranleau, has also tried to appeal to the Haitian community in this historically federalist riding by promoting the work of the Quebec government during Haiti's 2010 earthquake.

"The Quebec government was very proactive and Ottawa worked at a much slower pace. In the end, those who have suffered are the people," said Duranleau.

The Conservative candidate, Mahmoud Rida, was absent during the candidates' debate.

The Green Party's candidate was former NHL player Georges Laraque, but he dropped out to address criminal fraud charges and was replaced by Danny Polifroni.

3. Media stars lead polls in Toronto Centre

The race for former interim Liberal leader Bob Rae's riding of Toronto Centre will likely be decided by two journalists. The riding has been Liberal red for 20 years and was vacated by Rae in June.

Polling suggests Liberal candidate and former Wall Street Journal reporter Chrystia Freeland is leading NDP candidate Linda McQuaig, an author and journalist. Veteran reporter John Deverell is running for the Green Party. 

McQuaig, a former Toronto Star columnist, was visited in her riding by Mulcair on Friday.

"It's a Liberal stronghold. We've known that since the beginning," Mulcair said while campaigning at a downtown subway station. "But people want to send the message that there is an option, that they're tired of alternating between Liberal corruption and Conservative corruption."

Trudeau has also visited what he hopes will remain his party's riding. Freeland has said the big issues for residents are the economy and jobs.

"People keep coming back to that," Freeland said. "A lot of people are worried about how Canadian politics is working."

At least one analyst believes the unfolding scandal in Ottawa might overshadow local issues at the ballot box.

"I would say the Senate scandal is now reverberating, so that's going to have an effect," said University of Toronto professor Nelson Wiseman. "Then the question becomes: is it going to benefit the NDP or the Liberals?"

Interest in the byelection appears high in Toronto Centre, with hundreds packing a high school gym last week. Conservative candidate Geoff Pollock told the crowd that if elected his party would "continue to create jobs, and that's something this government has done under the leadership of Stephen Harper."

But people here seem to be more concerned with the lack of affordable housing, public transit and federal subsidies.

"I hear constantly about the housing crisis in downtown Toronto — that is the number one issue," McQuaig said. "People are just overwhelmed by the lack of decent housing."

4. Conservatives appear safe in Manitoba stronghold

Manitoba's Provencher is widely expected to remain Conservative territory.

The longtime Tory stronghold was most recently represented by former cabinet minister Vic Toews, who retired from politics in July after almost 13 years as the area's MP.

The campaign leading up to Monday's vote has been relatively quiet compared to Manitoba's other byelection race in Brandon-Souris.

For the most part, Conservative candidate Ted Falk kept a low profile. He did not participate in any public debates, prompting his opponents to accuse him of hiding.

"We're busy trying to get the message out to our constituents," Falk told CBC News on Thursday, after a reporter tracked him down at a public event following numerous interview requests.

Still, polls and political observers, as well as many voters in the area, suggest he's the one to beat.

"Most of the area is Conservative-minded," said Frank Toews, a resident of Steinbach, Man.

But Falk caused a stir at the end of the campaign when he suggested in a newspaper interview that an openly gay teenager in Steinbach may have staged his own bullying incident earlier this year for a CBC News report about Manitoba's anti-bullying legislation.

Evan Wiens, 17, said he was hurt by Falk's suggestion and called on him to apologize.

Falk has stood by his questioning, but said he is "100 per cent against bullying."

21.48 | 0 komentar | Read More