Campus cheaters hire custom essay writers to avoid detection

Cheating on university essays has never been easier thanks to thousands of papers posted online, but anti-plagiarism software may catch the cheaters — unless they've hired a custom essay writer.

According to a survey by CBC News of 42 Canadian universities, more than 7,000 students were formally disciplined for academic cheating in 2011-12.

'These people don't care about school and like to party…. They just want to graduate and that's it.'— Custom essay writer

Plagiarism was the No. 1 offence, accounting for 50 per cent of the cases.

At least 56 Canadian universities use some form of anti-plagiarism software, but those programs may not detect a custom essay written by someone else for profit.

An essay writer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told CBC News that in the three years he has been writing custom essays, none of his clients has been caught.

"I've never had any problems," he said. "There's a loophole around this."

He said he knows how to beat that system using an online library that he said is not connected to any anti-plagiarism software.

"From this source, you just change the words a little bit around and you just submit that," he said.

Anti-plagiarism programs have limitations

Julia Christensen Hughes, dean of the College of Management and Economics at the University of Guelph, agrees that anti-plagiarism programs have their limitations.

"If a student submits their work, it compares that work to other previously submitted work, and so in that case plagiarism can be detected," she said.

"But if it's an original piece of work just written by someone else, that's not going to show up."

The essay writer said there is a huge market for his services, and finding clients is easy because there are always students with money who don't want to do the work.

"These people don't care about school and like to party," he said. "They just want to graduate and that's it."

The writer said he produces essays for more than 100 students per year and makes almost $30,000 annually.

He added that he has clients who hire him to complete an entire course, which can mean 20 assignments and a few exams, at a cost of $3,000.

"If it's a very hard assignment, I charge $500 per paper," he said. "If it's something easy, I'll do $150. That's my lowest price."

2 Manitoba universities don't use software

Two of Manitoba's largest universities, University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg, don't use any anti-plagiarism software.

Instructors at the University of Manitoba have argued that the institution should subscribe to an anti-plagiarism service because it would make it easier for them to detect plagiarized papers, said Brandy Usick, the university's director of student advocacy and accessibility.

But Usick said just having the software available wouldn't automatically make it easier.

"You still have to sift through the results and determine false positives," she said.

The software scans the paper and within 10 seconds, 400 billion websites, 200 million academic journals and 110 million university sources are checked against the paper in question.

A report called an "originality check" is generated and the professor will judge if the paper is plagiarized or not.

The University of Regina does use an anti-plagiarism program and its students are required to submit their papers to a server that links to a software account.

"Students now have to work harder to conceal plagiarism when it's going on," said Richard Kleer, the dean of arts at the University of Regina.

"They used to be lazy in the past, and we could surprise them. But now they know we're using it."

But the custom essay writer said he could beat anti-plagiarism software and make a good living writing for students.

"This is one of the jobs where there is so much demand out there," he said. "You can do whatever you want."

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Rob Ford in Ottawa to get 'fair share' of infrastructure fund

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is in Ottawa today for a gathering of 22 big city mayors, a meeting he has shunned in the past, dismissing it as "the lefty caucus."

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Ford said he has criticized the mayors' meetings in the past because of the number of people who would attend from Toronto. He said there were 22 Toronto city councillors who went to the last Federation of Canadian Municipalities gathering.

"I'm here with one person, one aide. I think that's enough," he said.

Ford said one thing he's worried about is door-to-door mail service from Canada Post, something the Crown corporation announced last year it was cutting.

"I can understand what they're trying to achieve … but I believe there are other ways you can save money and not take away this important service," he said, adding he'd try to talk to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

Ford, who is running for re-election as mayor of Canada's largest city, said on Tuesday he would attend this meeting to make sure that Toronto gets its "fair share" of a new federal infrastructure plan.

Vancouver, Montreal mayors also there

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, as chair of the group, will also speak to reporters in Ottawa after the mayors' morning session.

CBCNews.ca will carry Robertson's news conference live starting at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Wednesday's meeting will also mark the first time former Liberal MP Denis Coderre will meet his municipal counterparts since being elected Montreal mayor.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi told CBC News on Monday the mayors are expected to spend a "fair bit of time" discussing the growing housing crisis with Candice Bergen, the federal minister of state for social development.

"I'm looking forward to that discussion and continuing that discussion with the federal government about the housing crisis that we're facing across municipalities in Canada," Nenshi said in Calgary Monday.

The federal government's key infrastructure plan will also be a main topic of discussion as numerous questions remain on how the federal funds will be used to meet municipal needs.

"There were some concerns that we had with the criteria of the Building Canada Fund. As I've said before, I think these are solvable … and if they're not solvable for 2014, let's at least fix them for 2015," Nenshi said.

The federal government recently announced the details of a 10-year, $14-billion New Building Canada Fund designed to provide both small and large communities with predictable infrastructure funding.

Of that $14 billion fund, $10 billion has been earmarked to fund provincial and territorial infrastructure projects.

Under the new plan, each province and territory will receive a base funding amount of $250 million per year, plus a per capita amount based on the 2011 census figures.

As it is, Ontario will receive $2.7 billion over 10 years from Ottawa, the most federal dollars of any province. Quebec will receive $1.7 billion and British Columbia just over $1 billion over 10 years under the new plan.

Glen Murray, Ontario's minister of infrastructure, was critical of the new plan and called on the federal government to commit more money to infrastructure spending.

"Since they collect the majority of taxes, we need them as a full partner. The Building Canada Fund might do many things, but it doesn't do much building in Canada," Murray told reporters in Toronto on Tuesday.​​

$660M for Toronto subway

How the federal dollars will be allocated is the question on the mind of anyone who intends to apply for funding under the new federal infrastructure plan.

Ford said on Tuesday that "years of under-investment" have left Toronto far behind where the city ought to be when it comes to transit and housing needs.

While cities can't apply for the new federal dollars until March 31, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced last fall that Toronto would receive $660 million for the extension of a subway line.

"This vital project will drive economic development and unlock countless opportunities," Ford said in Toronto on Tuesday.

"This is a great first step and a major achievement. But even with the Scarborough subway line, our transit system is still years behind where it needs to be."

"The city of Toronto faces unique challenges and we need the federal government to acknowledge this," Ford said.

Ford, who is a longtime friend of federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, will not be meeting with him while in Ottawa. Nor will the mayor be meeting with Harper, the Prime Minister's Office told CBC News on Tuesday.

Federal Conservatives have tried to steer clear of answering questions about the embattled mayor's use of alcohol and drugs, with the exception of cabinet minister Jason Kenney, who said Ford should "step aside."

Kenney may have rubbed Flaherty the wrong way with his comments, but he was seen as representing the concerns of his caucus colleagues at the time.

The Big City Mayors' Caucus consists of 22 mayors who are members of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, a group that represents more than 2,000 communities across the country.

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Fistfights break out in Crimea as pro-Russia, pro-Ukraine groups clash

Fistfights broke out between pro- and anti-Russian demonstrators in Ukraine's strategic Crimea region on Wednesday as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered massive military exercises just across the border.

The tests of military readiness involve most of the military units in central and western Russia, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a televised statement. He said the exercise would "check the troops' readiness for action in crisis situations that threaten the nation's military security."

He did not specifically mention the turmoil in Ukraine, which is bitterly divided between pro-European western regions and pro-Russian areas in the east and south. Three months of protests forced pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych to go into hiding over the weekend as his foes set up an interim government.

In Crimea's regional capital of Simferopol, more than 10,000 Muslim Tatars rallied in support of the interim government. Waving Ukrainian flags, they chanted "Ukraine is not Russia!"

The tensions in Crimea — a peninsula jutting into the Black Sea that is strategically critical because it is home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet — highlight the divisions that run through this country of 46 million after months of protests that ultimately forced the pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the capital. It also underscores fears that the country's mainly Russian-speaking east will not recognize the interim authorities' legitimacy.

"This is exactly what Kyiv is worried about — that the factionalism here in Crimea will break down and that Crimea will go back to Russia," CBC correspondent Susan Ormiston said from Crimea.

"Inside the parliament here, that's exactly what they're talking about this morning. Whether they want to and can go back to Russia."

Ormiston said the situation is very tense. While in the early going the crowds were of a similar size, the pro-Ukraine protesters now greatly outnumber the pro-Russia group. 

"Moments ago, I saw a crowd of 10,000 move as one, just like a mob," Ormiston said. "They tried to storm the front of the parliament here ….They also tried to retake the ground where the pro-Russian protesters were standing."

Protesters shouted and punched one another, as police and leaders of both rallies struggled to keep the two groups apart.​

'We are ready to fight for Ukraine'

Crimean Tatars took an active part in the protest movement against Yanukovych and harbour deep resentment against the Kremlin, having been deported en masse on the orders of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin during the Second World War.

"We will not let the fate of our land to be decided without us," said Nuridin Seytablaev, 54, an engineer. "We are ready to fight for Ukraine and our European future."

Nearby, separated by police lines, Anton Lyakhov, 52, waved a Russian flag. "Only Russia can defend us from fascists in Kyiv and from Islamic radicals in Crimea."

On Tuesday, a Russian lawmaker visiting Crimea said Moscow would protect the region's Russian-speaking residents, raising concern that Russia could be trying to justify military action.

'We expect Russia and all of our partners in the region to respect Ukraine's independence, its borders, and its right to self-determination.'- Canadian Conservative MP James Bezan

Valentina Matvienko, speaker of the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, on Wednesday dismissed claims that Russia could conduct a military operation in Ukraine. "That scenario is impossible," she said.

"Russia has been stating and reiterating its stance that we have no right and cannot interfere in domestic affairs of a sovereign state," said Matvienko, a close Putin ally who was born in western Ukraine. "We are for Ukraine as a united state, and there should be no basis for separatist sentiments."

Harper joined other Western leaders Tuesday in reaching out to Ukraine's yet-to-be formed transitional government, announcing that a high-level delegation would meet with the new leadership in Kyiv. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird was to depart Wednesday with a group of parliamentarians and Ukrainian-Canadians bound for the capital.

Conservative MP James Bezan, who is secretary of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group, is part of the delegation.

"What we're experiencing in Crimea right now in is a little bit disheartening, but I think we need to continue to reach out to everyone across Ukraine regardless of their ethnicity and let them know that Canada in particular, but [also] the world, stands with a united Ukraine,' he told CBC News Network on Wednesday morning.

Bezan said that Putin's order to Russian troops was not helpful.

"We expect Russia and all of our partners in the region to respect Ukraine's independence, its borders, and its right to self-determination," he said.

Riot police force ordered disbanded

Meanwhile, Ukraine's acting interior minister on Wednesday ordered the disbandment of a feared riot police force that many accuse of attacks on protesters during the country's three-month political turmoil.

Arsen Avakov wrote on his Facebook page that he has signed a decree to disband the force known as Berkut and said more detail would be announced later.

Anti-government protesters have blamed Berkut for violent attacks against peaceful demonstrators protesting authorities' decision to ditch closer ties with the European Union and turn to Moscow instead. Those attacks galvanized long-brewing anger against police and the protests quickly grew into a massive movement, attracting crowds exceeding 100,000 and establishing an extensive tent camp in the capital's main downtown square.

Protesters march in Kyiv's Independence Square on Wednesday, part of a three-month crisis that has gripped the entire country. Duelling protests have led to scuffles in the country's east. (Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press)

The force, whose name means "golden eagle," consisted of about 5,000 officers. It was unclear Wednesday if its members would be dismissed or if they would be reassigned to other units.

Yanukovych and protest leaders signed an agreement last week to end the conflict that left more than 80 people dead in just a few days in Kyiv. Shortly after, Yanukovych fled the capital for his power base in eastern Ukraine but his exact whereabouts are unknown.

On Wednesday, Yanukovych's three predecessors as Ukraine's president issued a statement accusing Russia of "direct interference in the political life of Crimea."

The turmoil has raised concern that Ukraine is facing a split between Russian-speaking regions, which include Yanukovych's home area in the east, and the Ukrainian-speaking west.

Russian officials have voiced concerns that the protest movement in Ukraine is led by nationalists who are set on destroying the Russian culture and marginalizing the language in Russian-speaking areas.

To allay such concerns and show solidarity with their Russian-speaking countrymen, leading cultural figures in the western city of Lviv called on residents there to speak Russian on Wednesday. The call appeared to have had some effect.

"You can really hear a lot of Russian spoken on the streets of Lviv today, although it often leads to funny situations because Lviv residents hardly ever speak Russian," said Konstantin Beglov, who lives in the city and promoted the appeal on Facebook.

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Extreme heat days multiply despite global warming 'hiatus'

The number of extremely hot days has been increasing steadily globally despite a "pause" in the rise of average surface temperatures over the past 15 years, a new study has found.

"This analysis shows that not only is there no pause in the evolution of the warmest daily extremes over land but that they have continued unabated over the observational record," said the paper published Wednesday in Nature Climate Change.

"Furthermore, the available evidence suggests that the most 'extreme' extremes show the greatest change."

The average global temperature is a common measure of climate change used by scientists and policymakers, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

'The term pause, as applied to the recent evolution of global annual mean temperatures, is ill-chosen and even misleading in the context of climate change.'- Sonia Seneviratne and her research team

The panel's most recent report, released in September, noted that between 1998 and 2012, the average global temperature over land changed very little, despite an increase in the greenhouse gas concentrations that are expected to drive global temperature increases. The panel called this a "temperature hiatus" and said the temporary pause in global surface warming may have been caused by natural variability or by oceans absorbing extra heat.

The "hiatus" was used by some lobbyists to argue that climate change is not an urgent problem.

However, based on their results, the Swiss, Australian and Canadian authors of the new paper argue that in fact, global average temperatures can hide trends in extreme temperatures.

The average global temperature is a common measure of climate change used by scientists and policymakers, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (iStock)

The new study, led by Sonia Seneviratne of the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Science in Zurich, looked at existing temperature data and tracked the number of extremely hot days (days when the temperature was hotter than it was 90 per cent of the time for that day of the year) each year from 1997 and 2012 compared to the average for 1979 to 2010. The study, whose co-authors included Environment Canada scientist Brigitte Mueller, then mapped the amount of land area where the number of hot days exceeded a certain cutoff e.g. there were 10 or 30 or 50 more hot days than normal.

What they found was that the amount of land area affected by each threshold level of extreme heat increased steadily over time.

In their commentary, they argued that extreme heat events, rather than average temperatures, have a greater impact on human health, agriculture, ecosystems and infrastructure.

"We highlight that the term pause, as applied to the recent evolution of global annual mean temperatures," the researchers wrote, "is ill-chosen and even misleading in the context of climate change."

The paper noted that extremely warm temperatures can be amplified by phenomena such as melting ice and snow in the Arctic or drying soil in temperate regions – different factors than those that affect average global temperatures.

The researchers suggest that the average temperatures have likely held steady despite an increase in extreme summer heat due to a cooling of ocean surface temperatures and a cooling of winter temperatures in boreal regions.

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African boy, 7, walks 100 km to safety after parents slain

Ibrahim Adamou's parents had just been killed in front of him. He wasn't sure whether any of his five siblings had survived the attack by Christian militiamen who opened fire on his family of herders as they journeyed on foot in the Central African Republic countryside.

The 7-year-old just knew he had to keep running.

Covering 100 kilometers barefoot and alone, he slept under the thick cover of banana trees at night and followed the red rutted paths by day, not entirely sure where he was going, with nothing to eat.

Finally he encountered peacekeepers who gave him some cookies and pointed the way to Carnot, where a Catholic church was sheltering some 800 Muslims, including many ethnic Peuls like Ibrahim. With the help of a Christian man on a motorcycle who risked his life by giving the boy a lift, Ibrahim arrived at the church early Monday.

"When we got to a checkpoint, the militia fighters told the man, `Leave the boy here and we will kill him'," Ibrahim recounted softly. "But the man said, `If you are going to kill him, you must kill me too' and then they let us pass."

What is even more remarkable about Ibrahim's story is that there are at least six other children under the age of 10 with a nearly identical story in Carnot. In the nearly three months since the country erupted in violence between Christians and Muslims, leaving many hundreds dead, children appear to be in many cases the only survivors.

The Peul are a nomadic community of herders who span West and Central Africa. They often travel great distances on foot — a habit that probably enabled these children to make the journey alone.

Many, like Ibrahim's family, came under attack as they were fleeing west from violence earlier this month. The survivors are only now making their way to Carnot.

"Unfortunately after fleeing they fell upon a spot where violence also had erupted," said Dramane Kone, project coordinator in Carnot for Doctors Without Borders, which has treated some of the children for malnutrition.

The refugees at the church may not be safe much longer.

The armed Christian gangs outside the concrete-walled compound have ordered them to leave the country within a week or face death. The fighters have brought in gasoline and threatened to burn the church to the ground.

Ibrahim was brought to the church after the man on the motorcycle hid the boy in his home for several days. Scores of fellow Peul came to hear what news the youngster had brought from the countryside, gathering around him as he wolfed down a bowl of porridge.

Sitting on a bench outside the priest's quarters, his tiny legs too short to touch the ground, the boy seemed overwhelmed by the attention and pulled the hood of his adult-size gray sweatshirt tight around his tiny bird-like face.

The other refugees gave him what coins they had so that he could pay someone to cook meals for him at the mission. The priests said he is welcome as long as he likes, though he was clearly on his own in a sea of strangers.

On Sunday just before Mass, four more new arrivals gathered on the steps of the church. One child was inconsolable and sobbed against a tree as other little boys tried to cheer him up.

At the Carnot Catholic church, there are at least six other children under 10 who are in the same position as Adamou. (Steve Niko/AP)

Nourou, 10, said he spent two days being hidden by Christians, who then brought him to the church. Tears rolled down his face, some of them spilling from a crusted eye badly wounded in an anti-Balaka attack.

Beside him was another Peul boy named Ahamat, believed to be about 8. He couldn't say for sure how many days he had spent walking or when he last ate. The Muslim men who welcomed him asked about his village and then shook their heads in disbelief. It is some 300 kilometers away.

"My mother and father were killed along the way, but I kept going," he said.

When he heard motorcycles on the road, he would hide in the woods. When the roads were empty, he just kept walking, asking anyone he could where he could find the peacekeepers who were guarding Muslims.

By the end of their first day at the church, Ahamat, Nourou and Ibrahim had formed a band of brothers, brought together by sorrow.

At night they cry for their mothers on a well-worn mattress. During the day, they play in the dirt with the other boys and chase each other around the courtyard.

A community leader shaved their heads to indicate they are in mourning for their parents, making them nearly indistinguishable with their little old man faces and knobby knees.

In some cases, the children arriving in Carnot were saved by the most unlikely of people. It was an armed anti-Balaka militiaman who brought several of the boys to the church after spotting them on the edge of town.

"He left them at the door and just said that he felt sorry for the poor boys," said the priest, the Rev. Justin Nary. "Apparently he had a heart."

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Conrad Black stripped of Order of Canada

Former media baron and convicted fraudster Conrad Black has been stripped of the Order of Canada by Gov. Gen. David Johnston.

The 11-member advisory council for the order, which made the removal recommendation to Johnston late Friday, reviewed Black's membership in the order following his 2007 convictions for fraud and obstruction of justice in the United States.

Black was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1990.

In November, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed an application by Black to address the advisory council on whether the honour should be terminated.

Black, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, will also be removed from the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. The largely ceremonial council is made up of current and former cabinet ministers, as well as other notable Canadians, who are appointed to advise the Queen.

Gov. Gen. David Johnston has removed Conrad Black as an officer of the Order of Canada, an honour presented to him in 1990. (Mark Blinch/Reuters)

The Governor General's office said in a release that both decisions were effective immediately.

The Prime Minister's Office told CBC News it had no comment on the decisions and the release "speaks for itself."

Black now becomes the sixth person to have lost Order of Canada honours. Those previous to him include:

• ​Garth Drabinsky (2012). 
• Steve Fonyo (2009). 
• T. Sher Singh (2009).
• David Ahenakew (2005). 
• Alan Eagleson (1999).

Black has been involved in a string of legal battles related to his U.S. convictions on fraud and obstruction of justice charges from when he was the head of the Hollinger newspaper business.

Black has argued repeatedly that the U.S. case against him was the result of an unfair prosecution, pointing to the fact that an appeals court later tossed two of the three fraud convictions against him and two other Hollinger executives.

In the end, he served 37 months of a 42-month sentence in a Florida prison and returned to Canada in May 2012.

He returned under a special temporary permit given that he is no longer a citizen, having renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2001 so he could accept a peerage in the British House of Lords.

Black is also currently fighting a tax court judgment that deemed him to be a Canadian resident in 2002 who owed taxes for that year.

Black, who now lives in Toronto, is a columnist for the National Post and co-hosts a current affairs talk show called The Zoomer on Vision TV.

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L'Isle-Verte to honour victims of fire with special mass

Almost 1,000 people will pack a church in L'Isle-Verte, Que., Saturday morning for a commemorative mass to remember the 24 people who died, and eight who are still missing after a fire burned down a seniors residence.

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church has been closed to the public while about 50 volunteers from L'Isle-Verte and neighbouring towns prepare for the Roman Catholic ceremony.

'To have this mass open to the province and to the country ... is very good '—Gilles Frigon, parish priest

Political leaders such as Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Gov. Gen. David Johnston and Quebec Premier Pauline Marois will attend the service, along with security officers from the Quebec provincial police and RCMP.

L'Isle-Verte's Mayor Ursule Thériault said she plans to take advantage of Harper's presence to ask for help from the federal government.

"All types of aid for this catastrophe will be welcome," Thériault said.

Parish priest Gilles Frigon said the ceremony will be broadcast so that everyone can grieve.

"To have this mass open to the province and to the country is very good — good for us and also very good for those who are offering us their sympathies," Frigon said.

Messages of condolences, as well as a board with pictures of the victims, will be displayed in the church — a way for people in the community to deal with their pain, said one health-care worker.

"We have many people who are coming to see us.… People are willing to cry, tell us their stories, and look for help," said Pierre-Paul Malenfant, a health and social services co-ordinator at the Bas Saint-Laurent Health Agency.

Media coverage of Saturday's mass will be limited out of respect for the families involved, organizers said. Radio-Canada will transmit video and audio of the mass, sharing with other media.

So far, 24 people have been confirmed dead, and eight people are still considered missing.

Police said the search was suspended on Friday until they get a warrant, after investigators combing through the site found clues they believe could indicate the spot where the fire may have started.

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Rob Ford reportedly ticketed for jaywalking in B.C.

Rob Ford has travelled to Vancouver but controversy has followed the embattled Toronto mayor.

Media reports say Ford was ticketed for jaywalking Friday night.

The Toronto Sun quoted Ford as saying he was walking across the street near his hotel when an officer told him he had crossed on a red light and had jaywalked and was being ticketed for $109.

Tyler Wilson says he saw Toronto Mayor Rob Ford speaking with police at this Shell gas station near North Road and Lougheed Highway in Coquitlam on Friday night. (CBC)

Witness Tyler Wilson told CBC News he saw the controversial mayor speaking with police at a Shell gas station in in Coquitlam, B.C. near North Road and Lougheed Highway.

RCMP would not immediately comment to The Canadian Press about the reports. A spokesman for Ford could not immediately be reached for comment.

Ford is reportedly in Vancouver for the funeral of a friend's mother.

Ford appeared unhappy with the turn of events, telling the Sun he was shocked and that "they went out of their way to do this."

Still, a ticket for jaywalking would seem to be the least of Ford's troubles.

Earlier this week an ex-boyfriend of Ford's sister filed a lawsuit claiming the mayor conspired to have him attacked in jail to prevent his illicit behaviours from becoming publicly known.

Scott MacIntyre alleges in his statement of claim that Ford arranged for jail staff to facilitate the beating.

MacIntyre was jailed in early 2012 after pleading guilty to a charge of threatening the mayor.

It was there in March 2012 that he was brutally beaten, more than a year before the Toronto Star and U.S. website Gawker reported on the existence of a video appearing to show the mayor smoking crack cocaine.

None of MacIntyre's allegations have been proven in court, and Ford's lawyer, Dennis Morris, says "They're without fact or foundation."

The mayor, however, has admitted to consuming too much alcohol on occasion, as well as smoking crack cocaine, likely in a "drunken stupor," and to smoking marijuana.

One of his friends, Alexander Lisi, is facing drug charges as well as an extortion charge for alleged attempts to retrieve the notorious crack video.

Toward the end of last year as Ford became a punchline for relentless gags by late night comics, his embarrassing behaviour finally prompted city councillors to strip him of most of his mayoral powers.

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5 unforgettable Super Bowl halftime shows

Some would call the Super Bowl halftime show one of the most difficult musical gigs ever, even for a performer at the top of his or her game.

There are so many tricky factors to consider. For starters, you've got wildly ambitious artistic egos who plan eye-popping, stadium-sized and full concert-style shows. Then, you have the intense pressure of pleasing the massive and diverse audiences at the stadium and at home.

Add in mind-boggling logistics and high potential for serious technical issues, given that the ground crew has mere minutes to set up (and later tear down) the stage and set, all without damaging the field of play.

Still, successful past acts can attest to the incredible rewards of delivering a blockbuster Super Bowl performance: a reinvigorated reputation for music veterans, sold-out followup concerts for touring acts and general love from the football-watching public.

As recent Grammy-winner Bruno Mars — and his invited guests the Red Hot Chili Peppers — prep for their stint in the spotlight this weekend, we take a look at some of the most memorable Super Bowl halftime shows ever.

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2004: Janet Jackson & Justin Timberlake
(New England Patriots vs. Carolina Panthers)

(Mobile users can watch here)

Where else could we start but with the most memorable halftime show of the modern era? This 2004 MTV-produced set (does anyone remember that Jessica Simpson, P. Diddy, Nelly and Kid Rock also performed?) will live forever in infamy thanks to Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" when Justin Timberlake intentionally tore away part of her costume and exposed her right breast as he sang the words "I'm gonna have you naked by the end of this song" from his hit Rock Your Body.

Jackson noted afterward that her red lace bra was supposed to remain intact during the risqué reveal. Despite the explanation and her apology, the damage was done.

Along with introducing millions to a sensual body decoration (nipple shields), the incident dubbed Nipplegate led to a protracted, years-long legal battle over the U.S. broadcast regulator's levying of large fines against CBS. The NFL vowed never again to hire MTV and many networks instituted a five-second delay for live performances. The fiasco also resulted in a blacklisting of Jackson's music across some U.S. radio networks — a strike on her career that persisted for years — while "Teflon Timberlake" emerged relatively unscathed.

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1993: Michael Jackson
(Dallas Cowboys vs. Buffalo Bills)

(Mobile users can watch here)

It was another Jackson, the late King of Pop, who — at the height of his career — delivered a watershed Super Bowl halftime show that ushered in the larger-than-life extravaganzas we know and expect today.

Seemingly zipping from one end of the Rose Bowl to another (courtesy of video effects, smoke and a few talented impersonators), Michael Jackson ultimately made his dramatic debut at midfield: standing motionless for well over a minute as masses of screaming fans welcomed him.

The crisp and passionate performance that followed ran through a medley of his hits — including Jam, Billie Jean, Black or White, We Are The World and Heal the World — and also included the unspooling of children's drawings by the stadium audience, a gigantic inflatable globe and the arrival of thousands of children joining Jackson onstage. It was a legendary gig that demonstrated just how commanding a performer he was.

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2002: U2
(New England Patriots vs. St. Louis Rams)

(Mobile users can watch here)

Coming just months after the Sept. 11 attacks, the 2002 Super Bowl required a halftime act that could tread a delicate line in providing massive spectacle in an uplifting yet still respectful manner. Led by showy frontman Bono, activist rockers U2 turned out to be a perfect choice.

With a set list that included Beautiful Day, MLK and Where The Streets Have No Name, the Irish lads offered an invigorating performance that leaned on their stadium tour experience but also provided a moving tribute to the Sept. 11 victims, whose names scrolled up a large screen stretched out behind the band.

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2009: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
(Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals)

(Mobile users can watch here)

There's a reason Bruce Springsteen continues to hover atop those annual "best live act" lists to this day. Simply put, the Boss knows how to rock a crowd, from New Jersey to Helsinki.

Springsteen showcased his famed magnetism and proudly shared the spotlight with his crackerjack E Street Band during their high-energy 2009 Super Bowl halftime performance. And when the Boss commands you "step away from the guacamole dip, put the chicken fingers down and turn your television all the way up," you just do it.

Springsteen and the E Street Band joyfully ripped through Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, Born to Run, Working on a Dream and Glory Days, offering a taste of the incredible musicianship and charismatic connection with stage-side fans you'd see at one of their concerts. And that power knee slide into an onstage camera? That was just pure rock 'n' roll.

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2007: Prince
(Indianapolis Colts vs. Chicago Bears)

(Mobile users can watch here)

A catalog of hit songs can provide a major boost for a halftime performer, but Prince didn't just rely on his own admittedly fabulous tracks during his 2007 Super Bowl set.

Sure, the Funky One tore up the stage with favourites like Let's Go Crazy, 1999 and an epic rendition of Purple Rain, but it was his unexpected, high-octane covers — a popular and anticipated highlight of his concerts — that sent music-lovers into a frenzy.

With ferocious guitar solos and his adept integration of We Will Rock You, Proud Mary, All Along the Watchtower and Best of You (by the Foo Fighters) into a jam-packed medley, Prince served up a truly amazing performance that many tout as the best Super Bowl halftime show ever.

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We would be remiss if we didn't extend honourable mentions to these artists, who also turned in notable Super Bowl efforts: Paul McCartney, Beyoncé, the Rolling Stones and Madonna.

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As a bonus, here are three Super Bowl halftime duds that will have you wondering: "What were they thinking?"

1988: Elvis Presto
(San Francisco 49ers vs. Cincinnati Bengals)

(Mobile users can watch here)

Random, bizarre, and incredibly awkward, the 1988 Super Bowl halftime entertainment featured an Elvis impersonator/magician named Elvis Presto leading an arena-sized card trick set to strange music.

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1995: Patti LaBelle and Tony Bennett
(San Francisco 49ers vs. San Diego Chargers)

(Mobile users can watch here)

Sponsored performances should only go so far. As proof: the 1995 Super Bowl halftime show promotion of Disneyland's new Indiana Jones theme park ride. Featuring a Harrison Ford lookalike in a ridiculous skit where he chases a football trophy, this horrible idea was made even worse by wasting the incredible musical talents of Patti LaBelle and Tony Bennett.

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1991: New Kids on the Block
(New York Giants vs. Buffalo Bills)

(Mobile users can watch here)

You can't really blame New Kids on the Block — the boy band was on top of the world when it was enlisted as Super Bowl entertainment. But because the U.S. was embroiled in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, halftime show producer Disney had the bright idea to mash up the bubbly group's performance with It's a Small World and a tribute to America's armed forces.

Perhaps it was a blessing then that host broadcaster ABC switched to news coverage of Operation Desert Storm during halftime and the New Kids' Super Bowl gig was relegated to the Disney Channel as they performed live (and completely after the game itself on the main network).

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Keystone XL supporters, detractors clash over U.S. pipeline report

The Conservative government received some much-needed good news this week in the form of the U.S. State Department's massive and benign final assessment of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

Ever since Stephen Harper called American approval of the $5.4-billion pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast a "no-brainer" back in September 2011, a lot has been riding on the eventual vindication of the prime minister's thinking.

By January 2012, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver had elevated pipeline politics — and the diversification of the country's foreign energy markets — to "an urgent matter of Canada's national interest."

Throw in the steady stream of Canadian supplicants to Washington on the Keystone file, a multi-million-dollar government ad campaign aimed at U.S. decision makers and consumers and, most recently, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird's impolitic push for U.S. President Barack Obama to make up his mind, and the whole saga is taking on the aura of a slow-motion policy sink hole.

Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver says Keystone's 'benefits to the U.S. and Canada are clear.' (Frank Gunn/Associated Press)

With 2014 shaping up as the year the Conservatives need to find some pre-election traction on their bedrock — dare we say, keystone — energy policies, the State Department assessment buttresses many of the government's long-standing arguments.

"The benefits to the U.S. and Canada are clear," Oliver said Friday after the pipeline study was released.

"We await a timely decision on this project."

He'd best not hold his breath.

Eight other U.S. federal agencies have 90 days to comment on the State Department report and the president can then ruminate for as long as his political calculus deems necessary.

"The file has been caught up in a political dynamic that goes beyond a rational exchange of numbers," said David McLaughlin, a former president of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy and chief of staff to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

Environmentalists ignore U.S. findings

Certainly the environmental movement is talking past the State report as though it was just another partisan news release.

"If President Barrack Obama truly wants to be able to tell his kids he did everything he could to combat climate change, then he must reject this pipeline because it is a fuse to one of the largest carbon bombs on the planet," Mike Hudema of Greenpeace Canada said in a release late Friday.

The U.S. State Department report on the Keystone XL pipeline is "good news" for the project, says David McLaughlin. (Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press)

The report says nothing of the sort.

Against that incendiary rhetoric, the Conservative Party of Canada responded with its own jeering web advertisement Friday within minutes of the State report's release.

"Now American billionaires are using their wealth to attack our oil industry," says the minute-long Conservative ad. "The distortion of facts and hysterical fear-mongering has to stop."

The ad was apparently in response to U.S. billionaire Tom Steyer, who has been a vocal opponent of Keystone XL.

And so while the State report should give the Harper government critical credibility on a key file, the benefits may be diluted in a political swamp.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, a supporter of the Keystone project, said the State report shows opposition to the pipeline "is not scientific, it's political."

"It is a failing of our prime minister to actually make a proper case for the Keystone XL pipeline by demonstrating that you cannot separate the economy and the environment."

New Democrats, who oppose Keystone, made much the same allegation.

"The Conservative government's bumbling approach to oil sands development has given Canada a black eye and hurt our relationship with our closest ally," said NDP energy critic Peter Julian.

Harper's approach

What is emerging is a consensus among pipeline supporters and detractors alike that the Harper government's take-no-prisoners approach to promoting energy extraction has built a cage of its own.

McLaughlin is among those who note that Canada hasn't provided Obama much of an incentive, let alone political cover, to act.

If the president has "punted," the Keystone decision — to use Harper's recent description — the prime minister has repeatedly punted regulations on oil and gas sector emissions his government first promised in 2007.

Conservatives have also torched some environmentalists as being akin to terrorists, reduced environmental assessments and loudly derided an NDP cap-and-trade proposal as a job-killing tax grab.

Against that stands a U.S. State Department report that, in McLaughlin's assessment, is "good news for the (Keystone XL) project."

"There's now a clear environmental impact assessment on emissions and climate that shows it's not as negative as many environmental groups have pointed out," he said.

"But until and unless we can turn the Obama administration to Canada's corner in terms of making a positive argument that will cause the president some (domestic) political difficulty ... we have to look back over the years and say, have we invested enough political capital in return?"

McLaughlin sees it as a rhetorical question, given the current impasse — a question the State Department report can't answer.

"In that sense, I don't think anything politically has changed from yesterday to today." 

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