Conditions of Burger King's Tim Hortons takeover driven by public expectations

The conditions around the Burger King takeover of Tim Hortons were driven by public expectations and not necessarily by government, according to Industry Minister James Moore.

On CBC Radio's The House, Moore said the desire of Canadians to know about how a business transaction will affect a local franchise and its commitment to the community influences the conditions negotiated in a deal and whether they are made public.

"People actually want to know these details. It's not that the government forces this kind of detail, but very often firms, recognizing the market in which they're entering … the consumers, the public in those markets. are looking for a certain degree of detail, and that's the circumstance here," he said.

On Thursday the federal government approved Burger King's takeover of Tim Hortons, but with conditions intended to protect jobs and the coffee chain's brand.

Conditions include Canadian headquarters and no job cuts

In a statement, Industry Minister James Moore said Burger King agreed to the following conditions:

• To keep 100 per cent of Tim Hortons employees at franchises across Canada and to preserve all of Tim Hortons' charitable work.
• To accelerate the opening of new Tim Hortons restaurants in the U.S. and globally.
• To establish the headquarters of the new company in Oakville, Ont., and to list the company on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
• To manage Tim Hortons as a distinct brand, without co-branding of any locations in Canada or in the U.S.
• To maintain the Canadian franchisee rent and royalty structure at current levels for five years.
• To ensure Canadians represent at least 50 per cent of the membership of the Tim Hortons brand board of directors.

The merged company becomes the third-largest fast food company in the world, with sales totalling $23 billion annually.

Enforcing conditions

Critics of the deal had argued that the merger might lead to layoffs at Tim Hortons and cause harm to Canada's interests.

How the government will enforce these conditions is unclear. 

When asked about it on The House, Moore cited the case involving U.S. Steel in Hamilton. He said that when the company was not fulfilling the commitments it had agreed to, Ottawa took the company to court and won.

"Those conditions were then held, and those job commitments and the specificity that was outlined in that agreement was sustained and was enforced," he said.

The Canadian company Stelco was taken over by U.S. Steel in 2007. The federal government tried to fine U.S. Steel in 2009 for breaking job protection promises. 

The government settled with the company after a two-year court battle in 2011, with the guarantee that it would operate both the Lake Erie and Hamilton plant until 2015. It also had to spend $250 million in capital investment.

Currently U.S. Steel is restructuring. It sought bankruptcy protection in September. Documents filed with the bankruptcy court state that U.S. Steel Canada plans to sell its Hamilton and Nanticoke plants by next October.

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Obama condemns 'barbaric murder' of U.S. hostage in Yemen

Luke Somers, a U.S. journalist, and Pierre Korkie, a South African teacher, held by al Qaeda militants in Yemen were killed alongside 10 of their captors during a rescue attempt by U.S. and Yemeni forces, senior officials said on Saturday.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said al Qaeda militants killed Somers, 33, and another foreign national hostage during the rescue operation, which he said was only approved because of information that their lives were at imminent risk. Somers was moved from the scene of the rescue attempt but died later from his wounds, a senior official in the Yemeni president's office said.

U.S. President Barack Obama condemned the "barbaric murder" in a statement released Saturday.

"On behalf of the American people, I offer my deepest condolences to Luke's family and to his loved ones," read the statement.

"As this and previous hostage rescue operations demonstrate, the United States will spare no effort to use all of its military, intelligence and diplomatic capabilities to bring Americans home safely, wherever they are located.

"And terrorists who seek to harm our citizens will feel the long arm of American justice."

Obama said he authorized the raid on Friday to rescue Somers and other hostages held in the same location. He said the United States had used every tool at its disposal to secure Somers' release since his capture 15 months ago.

"Luke was a photojournalist who sought through his images to convey the lives of Yemenis to the outside world," Obama said.

"The callous disregard for Luke's life is more proof of the depths of AQAP's depravity, and further reason why the world must never cease in seeking to defeat their evil ideology," he said.

No news of 3 other hostages

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is seen by Washington as one of the movement's most dangerous branches, and it has worked with the Yemeni government and via drone strikes to attack its leadership in southern and eastern parts of Yemen.

Relief group Gift of the Givers identified Korkie as being among those killed in the operation.

"We received with sadness the news that Pierre was killed in an attempt by American Special Forces, in the early hours of this morning, to free hostages in Yemen," it said in a statement on its website.

Agence France-Presse reported that Korkie was a teacher who was abducted in May of last year along with his wife Yolande, who was released in January.

However, there was no new information about three other hostages — a Briton, a Turk and a Yemeni — who had previously been held alongside Somers and Korkie, a Yemeni security official told Reuters.

Lucy Somers, the photojournalist's sister, told the Associated Press that she and her father learned of her brother's death from FBI agents at early Saturday.

"We ask that all of Luke's family members be allowed to mourn in peace," she said from London.

Immediate danger

Kerry and U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel both said the decision to mount the raid was based on fears that AQAP planned to kill Somers.

"Earlier this week, AQAP released a video announcing that Luke would be murdered within 72 hours. Along with other information, there was a compelling indication that Luke's life was in immediate danger," Kerry said.

U.S. officials on Thursday said American forces had already attempted to rescue Somers, without giving further details. Yemeni officials had previously disclosed the release of six Yemenis, a Saudi and an Ethiopian hostage in a raid on Nov 25.

AQAP on Thursday released a video showing a man it said was Somers speaking to the camera and saying: "I'm looking for any help that can get me out of this situation. I'm certain that my life is in danger."

Reuters was not able to independently verify the authenticity of that video, which was reported on by SITE Monitoring.

Yemen's Defence Ministry had earlier said that a military operation had succeeded in freeing a U.S. hostage as well as killing 10 members of the al Qaeda group holding him. But Major General Ali al-Ahmadi, chief of the national security bureau in Yemen, later confirmed he had died.

The operation involved an air strike followed by a raid by U.S. and Yemeni forces, a local security official said. It took place in the Wadi Abdan Al Daqqar region of Shabwa Province in southern Yemen and targeted an al Qaeda group headed by Mubarak al-Harad.

Al Qaeda and allied Islamist militants have a strong presence in large parts of southern and eastern Yemen, an impoverished Arabian Peninsula country where the government has little control outside main cities.

'Please let him live'

Before her brother's death, Lucy Somers released an online video describing him as a romantic who "always believes the best in people." She ended with the plea: "Please let him live."

'[Somers] was so dedicated in trying to help change Yemen's future, to do good things for the people that he didn't leave the country his entire time here.'— Fuad Al Kadas

In a statement, Somers' father, Michael, also called his son "a good friend of Yemen and the Yemeni people" and asked for his safe release.

Somers was kidnapped in September 2013 as he left a supermarket in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, said Fakhri al-Arashi, chief editor of the National Yemen, where Somers worked as a copy editor and a freelance photographer during the 2011 uprising in Yemen.

Somers, who was born in Britain, earned a bachelor's degree in creative writing while attending Beloit College in Wisconsin from 2004 through 2007.

"He really wanted to understand the world," said Shawn Gillen, an English professor and chairman of Beloit College's journalism program who had Gillen as a student.

Fuad Al Kadas, who called Somers one of his best friends, said Somers spent time in Egypt before finding work in Yemen. Somers started teaching English at a Yemen school but quickly established himself as a one of the few foreign photographers in the country, he said.

"He is a great man with a kind heart who really loves the Yemeni people and the country," Al Kadas wrote in an email from Yemen. He said he last saw Somers the day before he was kidnapped.

"He was so dedicated in trying to help change Yemen's future, to do good things for the people that he didn't leave the country his entire time here," Al Kadas wrote.

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Chilling video statement by Mountie killer released by court

Court documents released Friday in the case of Justin Bourque provides insight about the Moncton Mountie killer's frame of mind when he went on a shooting rampage on June 4.

The evidence, ordered released Friday by Chief Justice David Smith, includes Bourque's three-hour video statement to police shortly after his arrest.

When the officer asks Bourque how long he had been planning the attack, he replied: "I just always had a kit that was kind of ready, you know, in case disaster did strike.

"Like I was always in the mindset, peace doesn't last forever. It never does and I just kinda had stuff ready, you know what I mean, like, except for water."

Bourque, 24, answers the officer's questions with little emotion, other than bravado as he sits loosely in a chair at the Sackville RCMP detachment, wearing blue jail-issued shirt, pants and slippers.

'I don't know what he was thinking. Obviously not very combat savvy guy.'—Justin Bourque about officer he shot

"I don't know where they get these guys," Bourque said, referring to the Mounties he shot.

He describes fatally shooting three officers and wounding two others using phrases such as, "I tagged him" and "I just kind of double tapped."

In one case, Bourque estimates he was only about six metres away when he used his high-powered rifle.

In another instance, Bourque says the officer was running when he fired at him.

"He was going to try and take me down I guess, but I don't know what he was thinking. Obviously not very combat savvy guy."

Justin Bourque had opposed the release of his videotaped police statement, expressing anger at his behaviour during the interview. (RCMP)

Asked whether he knows three people are dead, Bourque replies simply, "Mmmhmm."

Later, as Bourque is signing a statement, he says: "They told me not to talk, you know, about all this stuff …  but as far as I'm concerned, you know, you guys got me."

The released evidence also includes several photos of Bourque's mobile home that reveal his infatuation with guns and munitions.

They show a 20-gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun above his bed, a self-study manual for a C7A2 automatic rifle pinned to his wall, a copy of the U.S. Army's Improvised Munitions Handbook and a propane tank with a bullet hole in it on the kitchen table.

A poster reads: "God Bless Our Assault Weapons," and a message scrawled in green marker on a white board states: "I am not a fish, I am a man."

The evidence released also includes audio of 911 calls from citizens and radio transmissions of officers under fire.

"He's shooting at me! He's shooting at me!" yells one of the officers, who was shot multiple times and later died.

Other documents include maps the Crown used during its presentation to the courtroom that show the route Bourque travelled during his rampage in the north end of the city and the 12.6-kilometre area that was locked down during the 30-hour standoff.

Shots went through tree trunks, a child-sized basketball net, an outdoor hot tub and the window of a two-storey home, the documents reveal.

A few witnesses told police they heard the whistling of bullets pass by them and believed the shots were very close to them, the documents state.

One witness said Bourque looked like a young man coming back from a paintball game as he walked calmly through the residential area.

Another reported hearing him yell, "Bring me more cops."

On June 5, at about 11:51 p.m., a Transport Canada aircraft detected a single human heat signature with an infrared camera, the documents state. An Emergency Response Team member using night vision goggles found the area and yelled for Bourque to come out with his hands up.

Bourque replied with "something along the lines of, 'OK, I give up. I'm coming out, don't shoot. I'm done,'" the documents state.

An infrared video of Bourque's arrest is also among the newly released evidence. "I know how much trouble I'm in," he stated.

Later, when asked if he wanted to contact a lawyer, he replied: "Well, isn't it life either way?"

Bourque was sentenced in October to life in prison with no chance of parole for 75 years after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.

It is the longest sentence without parole eligibility in Canadian history.

The RCMP officers who were killed on June 4 were:

• Const. Douglas James Larche, 40, from Saint John.​​​
• Const. Dave Joseph Ross, 32, from Victoriaville, Que.​
• Const. Fabrice Georges Gevaudan, 45, originally from Boulogne-Billancourt, France.

The officers who were wounded were:

• Const. Éric Stéphane J. Dubois.​
• Const. Marie Darlene Goguen.
• ​

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Christmas trees: 5 reasons to cut your own

Running through a forest of evergreens to chop down a Christmas tree not only helps the Canadian economy, but opting for a real tree over an artificial one has other advantages, too.

Shirley Brennan, president of the Canadian Christmas Tree Growers Association (CCTGA), extols the "memories and health benefits of cutting down your own tree and bringing it into your home."

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"You don't have anyone saying, 'Oh, I remember my dad going up to the attic and pulling down the Christmas tree-in-a-box,' but you remember, 'Oh, we got this tree during the snowstorm,' and you remember the family time it took to pick just the right tree."

Jack Oomen, 12, and his little sister, Avery, certainly feel that way.

"I'd way rather run through a pine forest to pick a tree than to get one at Walmart," says Jack.

Avery adds that she likes the fact that "you can look around and find the tree that's just right for you." It was her turn to pick the tree this year and she picked an eight-foot White Spruce from a hundred-acre tree farm near the family's home in Hockley Valley, Ont.

Dec. 6 is National Christmas Tree Day, and according to Shirley Brennan six million trees are sold in Canada or exported every year, with Scotts Pine and White Spruce among the most popular varieties.

Here are the top five reasons to cut your own Christmas tree, according to Brennan:

1. Real trees take carbon dioxide out of the air and release oxygen into your home.

2. Real trees create natural aromatherapy. The scent of fresh cut pine improves your mood and fights depression, says Brennan.

3. Everybody has their own idea of the perfect tree. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say, and going out to find your own is an opportunity to fulfill a creative vision.

4. Cutting your own tree is an excuse for physical exercise in the great outdoors.

5. It's also an excuse for a family to spend some time together away from their electronic devices.

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Police body cameras coming into wider use, but effectiveness uncertain

Widespread protests in the U.S. over several police shootings have refocused attention on body cameras and whether they might prevent such incidents.

A number of forces in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. already use the technology, but it's still an open question whether it can truly change how police and the public interact.

In the face of criticism of a grand jury decision not to indict New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo for the death of Eric Garner and with the shadow of the Ferguson riots still looming, U.S. President Barack Obama pledged $75 million US for 50,000 body cameras to be distributed to police departments around the country. 

Garner died in July after a confrontation with police in which he was subdued by several officers and placed in a chokehold by Pantaleo. The incident was video-recorded on a bystander's cellphone — as numerous police shootings and violent confrontations have been in recent years.

In the smartphone age, there has been no shortage of controversial police incidents caught on video, yet they continue to happen — most recently last Tuesday with the fatal police shooting of Rumain Brisbon, an unarmed black man, in Phoenix. So, will video recording the actions of police make any difference? 

Some experts think so.

Greater chance of justice

Peter Bibring of the American Civil Liberties Union has argued that the failure to indict Pantaleo is not a reason to abandon police body cameras, which are usually worn on an officer's vest, lapel or helmet or attached to glasses or headsets.

"Video evidence … provides the public with crucial information about how police operate," he wrote in a blog post on the ACLU website. "It's in large part because of the video footage that the nation is so outraged at Garner's killing. We know what happened — we may not have all the evidence the grand jury had, but we know a lot more than if no video existed."

'Video might not resolve every dispute, it might not guarantee indictments or discipline in every case where they're deserved — but the chances of justice without it seem much less.'— Peter Bibring, American Civil Liberties Union

The ACLU has endorsed the use of body cameras as a means of promoting police accountability, as long as departments adopt clear policies to protect privacy and limit how the recordings are used.

Video footage can help settle arguments over who did what and when and frees juries and investigators from having to rely solely on police testimony, says Bibring,

"Video might not resolve every dispute, it might not guarantee indictments or discipline in every case where they're deserved — but the chances of justice without it seem much less," he writes.

Fewer use-of-force events, complaints

There have been several studies that seem to indicate that when police use body cameras during an encounter, it has a "civilizing" effect on all parties.

A randomized controlled trial in Rialto, Calif., which introduced body cameras for its 50 officers in 2012 after several police misconduct scandals, found that in the 12 months that body cameras were used, there was a 60 per cent drop in use-of-force incidents and an 88 per cent drop in citizen complaints about police behaviour. Studies in Phoenix and Mesa, Ariz., had similar results.

All were based on a raw comparison of numbers and provided no details of how police and citizens actually behaved during the encounters, said Michael D. White, a criminologist at Arizona State University who reviewed these trials and others for the U.S. Department of Justice.

"You know that there was this 60 per cent reduction in the use of force, but you don't really know why," he said. "Was it driven by citizens being more compliant and co-operative? Was it driven by police officers being more respectful, which then changed the tone of the encounter? We don't know."

The reduction in complaints, for example, could be the result of people being intimidated by the presence of cameras and deciding not to report an incident when under other circumstances they would have. One of the reasons police departments like body cameras is that they reduce frivolous complaints and cut down on litigation costs, but they may also dissuade legitimate complainants.

Cameras encourage by-the-book behaviour

The studies also found that officers who use body cameras make more arrests and hand out more tickets — likely out of a fear of being reprimanded by their bosses.

'It could be that the body-worn camera is having the effect of reducing officer discretion, that is, officers are less likely to resolve things informally.'— Michael D. White, criminologist

"It could be that the body-worn camera is having the effect of reducing officer discretion, that is, officers are less likely to resolve things informally because they know they're wearing the camera and they know, 'Gee, if my supervisor reviews this, and he sees that I had the potential to make an arrest and I didn't, that may come back to bite me in the butt,'" White said.

A protester sits in the road near Times Square while rallying against a grand jury's decision not to indict the New York police officer involved in the death of Eric Garner. (Jason DeCrow/Associated Press)

The Mesa study found that officers with body cameras conducted fewer stop-and-frisks, suggesting the presence of a camera may have led them to "think more carefully about what constitutes reasonable suspicion," according to Justin Ready and Jacob T.N. Young, the authors of the study, who described their findings in Slate.

Based on sales figures from police camera vendors like Taser and Vievu, White estimates that about 5,000 U.S. police departments are currently using body cameras, but exactly when officers turn them on varies by department, some leave it to officers' discretion, others require cameras to be on in every encounter with citizens.

This has already led to problems in some jurisdictions. Police officers in Oakland, Calif., were the subject of numerous citizen complaints after they selectively turned their body cameras on or off during the 2011 Occupy Oakland protests, and in Albuquerque, N.M., a police officer involved in a fatal shooting of a 19-year-old woman was fired for not turning on his lapel camera during the incident.

Video not always objective

Even when body cameras are on, they don't necessarily provide a foolproof, objective account of the event.

"People interpret what they see on video through their own experiences," Ready and Young, both assistant professors of criminology at Arizona State University, wrote in Slate.

"Different viewers may contextualize the event differently in terms of how it is framed in their mind, how they think it was precipitated and what they think happened in the 30 seconds before the camera started rolling."

Cameras can actually hinder some types of police work such as domestic violence calls, providing assistance to the injured or mentally ill and intervening in everyday disputes, they said.

Smartphones have made it easier to record police confrontations. The fatal police shooting of Toronto teenager Sammy Yatim on a streetcar was caught on video by a bystander. (Facebook/Canadian Press)

"The device can be a physical reminder to crime victims that they are on camera at times when they are most vulnerable and in need of privacy," they write.

The ACLU, too, has raised concerns about the potential for invasions of privacy in certain situations such as home searches as well as about the long-term storage and use of the video police collect.

"It's vital that this technology not become a back door for any kind of systematic surveillance or tracking of the public," the ACLU said in a 2013 position paper.

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Amanda Todd stood up to stalker in Facebook conversation

Amanda Todd challenged her online stalker in a conversation she had with the Dutch man alleged to have extorted her online, a Facebook security report obtained by CBC's the fifth estate shows.

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In one conversation with Todd, a 15-year-old B.C. girl who later committed suicide, the stalker identified online as Tyler Boo writes: "U already forgot who I am? The guy who last year made you change school.

"Give me 3 shows and I will disappear forever. you know I won't stop until you give me those 3 shows."

"Not gonna happen," Todd responds. "Do you wanna meet me? Come me me right now. Or are you too scared?"

Working with the Dutch TV program Zembla, CBC's the fifth estate obtained information from a Facebook report on Todd's alleged stalker that identifies at least four extensive online conversations that took place between the suspect and the B.C. teen. (Watch the full fifth estate documentary Stalking Amanda Todd: The Man in the Shadows on Friday at 9 p.m., 9:30 NL on CBC Television, or at the fifth estate website.)

Earlier this year, B.C. RCMP announced charges against Aydin Coban, a 35-year-old Dutch citizen, in connection with the online sexual extortion of Todd.

In October 2012, the teen from Port Coquitlam committed suicide after posting a video on YouTube saying she had been blackmailed by an online predator after exposing her breasts using a webcam.

In the aftermath of her suicide, Facebook began an investigation of an unidentified person who used different online platforms, including Facebook, to "solicit nude videos and images of minors," as well as to convince young girls to "appear naked during web camera chat sessions."

Todd was one of those young girls. The Facebook report identifies messages as far back as 2011 that show she was a target of the suspect.

But it also states that based on Todd's age and her claim that the abuse started when she was 11 years old, the suspect may have been tormenting young girls since 2008.

The report outlines one of the four conversations, reproduced below, which took place on Oct. 21, 2011, about a year before Todd took her own life.

The transcript below includes symbols that are commonly used in online conversation. Among those symbols, :p is a tongue sticking out, often meant in a flirty, mischievous or teasing context; xD is "Smiling hard or laughing;" IDC is "I Don't Care;" and :3 is a "Cat face or "kitty," — based on faces made by Anime characters when they say something cute, clever or sarcastic. The quotes have been reprinted exactly as they appeared during the chat.

TYLER BOO: sup camwhore, been a while :P

i didnt send the video the last time because i liked how you whined,but as you know i have your new school, new schoolmates new flash your parents havent seen etc etc blahblah you know the drill.

so 3 shows of 15 minutes and then i wont send :3

AMANDA: Oh yeah what are some names;)

TYLER BOO: lol, u already forgot who i am? the guy who last year made you change school. got your door kicked in with cops in the morning :P

and also on youtube like 6 months ago whatever, scared you a bit :P

you promised the authorities not to do be sexual on cam again because you are underage and it is considered producing of child porn….well, you have. so i can send them that and make them come to you again, send your new school and friends and family again.

you will go through the exact same thing all over.

or you can give me 3 shows and i will disappear forever. you know i wont stop until you give me those 3 shows. if u go to a new school, new bf, new friends, new whatever, i will be there again :P

i am crazy yes xD

so your answer :3

Todd had tried ignoring her stalker, but that did not stop the blackmailing. The teen's response to Tyler Boo in the Facebook chat logs shows she defiantly stood up to her online stalker.

AMANDA: do u wanna meet me ? come meet me right now.

TYLER BOO: are u drunk? xD

AMANDA: NOPE. im sober, or are u to scared f--king pedo

TYLER: year scared of u and flying 3 hours.

AMANDA: ur scared of airplanes eh ?

TYLER BOO: so about them 3 shows :3

AMANDA: not gonna happen prick. so far how many people have inboxed u about this eh ?of my friends

TYLER BOO: 4 and i hope more do so i can send them the link to the video directly, faster instead of going to their pages xD

AMANDA: LOL NAMES OF THE PEOPLE PLEASE

TYLER BOO: it should be a surprise for u. can you tell more them to inbox me. a lot of them i cant message without adding as friend so would no be able to send them :P

AMANDA: ah nope :P u trying to scare and piss me off cus ur just wasteing ur f--king time and the cops are tracking ur computer where ur sending from, boy your stupid why do u think im messageing u, there is a big crowd of people watching me type behind me

TYLER BOO: u still think ur dealing with an amateur after the last time? xD

im still here :P

AMANDA: LOL IDC go for it :d

The fifth estate's Mark Kelley showed Todd's mother, Carol Todd, a transcript of the conversation her daughter had with her stalker who went by the name Tyler Boo.

"He was very persistent when you look at the kinds of conversation," Carol Todd told Kelley. "And here's Amanda, she's goading him."

Amanda Todd's mother, Carol Todd, has been speaking out to parent groups and government officials about the dark side of the internet. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

"It probably made him angrier that she was finally sticking up. She was not going to do any more pictures or she wasn't going to do anything for this guy."

In November 2011, after being sextorted by her stalker for an extended length of time, Todd posted a Facebook status update revealing her feelings about the ongoing online abuse against her.

Posted 2011-11-12 19:29:53 UTC

Status I'm so sorry, everyone who got the links from austin collins. When I was 11 years old I got a message saying 'I have all your information, I will come find you if you don't flash and do this for me' so I was scared, I said, 'one time okay' so I did it. And he said if I didn't do it again he would send to all port coquitlam. I wasn't going to do it again, so then he sent it to everyone in port coquitlam. Teachers, friends family. On christmas. So I moved, I thought new start for my messup would be good, then he followed me.. He stalked and found out my new school and friends and now you guys all got the link. Judge me, or be there for me. Wichever you guys want.. But right now I feel like shit, I feel so sad and sick.. That he's gonna do this for the rest of my life and there's nothing I can do. He made you all think he's a young boy in his teens that is going to westview when he's over 30+, he's tyler boo.. He's a sick pedofile. The best thing I can say now is, don't send it, block him, don't click it.. I really don't know what to do anymore.

Todd took her life almost a year after this Facebook post, on Oct. 10, 2012.

(Watch the full fifth estate documentary Stalking Amanda Todd: The Man in the Shadows on Friday at 9 p.m., 9:30 NL on CBC Television, or at the fifth estate website.)

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'I don't know where I went wrong': 88-year-old with Parkinson's owes $12K to CRA

The Canada Revenue Agency is demanding thousands of dollars from a B.C. senior with dementia and Parkinson's disease, after he failed to declare a foreign pension on his tax return.

Arne Sorbo, 88, forgot to declare the small Norwegian pension he receives on his 2011 tax return. The CRA discovered the mistake following a reassessment, and slapped him with a fine.

Now the retired certified general accountant (CGA), who for decades prided himself on getting the numbers just right, says he feels "rotten."

"I used to do income tax for seniors at no charge and I don't think they meant to lie. I think they're honestly trying to give a correct answer to questions, and I think the same thing applies here," said Sorbo.

"I thought my return was correct. That's what I thought. I don't know where I went wrong, or what happened."

Sorbo's tax troubles do not end there. The CRA took another look at his 2013 tax return, and deemed he could not claim a spousal deduction for his wife because she is under 65. 

In fact, his wife is 79 years old and also has dementia.

"That's unbelievable that the tax department should be that far out," said Sorbo, who now faces almost $12,000 in tax, penalties and interest.

Sorbo's son, Michael, himself a CGA, stepped in to help his father sort out the tax nightmare. However, even he says he can't get answers from the CRA. 

Michael Sorbo, a certified general accountant, is trying to help his elderly father out of a $12,000 tax tangle with the Canada Revenue Agency. (CBC)

"I keep having to open the file, write a new letter, and then get a new assessment. That's really frustrating going back to my dad and saying, 'I haven't been able to resolve this,'" he said.

Sorbo has sent the CRA a copy of his mother's passport to prove she is, indeed, over 65.

He has also asked the agency to invoke its own "fairness provision," which allows penalties to be waived for certain individuals like the elderly and the ill.

So far, Sorbo says the response from the CRA has been robotic and insensitive, and that it's nearly impossible to get the same agent on the phone twice.

The CRA has told him it will take up to 15 months to get a final decision on his father's case.

"When would it take 15 months to look at a simple fairness provision on a simple issue? Why should it take that long?" said Sorbo.

Meantime, the interest on the $12,000 penalty is growing.

"It drags on and on, and I don't know if they want you to pay the balance, so they sort of wear you down."

CBC News contacted the CRA to discuss the Sorbos' case, but the agency declined to comment due to confidentiality issues. 

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Falling oil price could make green alternatives less attractive: Don Pittis

Most people like it when gas pump prices fall. But in a selfish way, I liked it when fuel prices were rising. It made me feel smart.

It's not because of my investments in the oil industry. Just the opposite. We made a family investment in green technology, and made out like bandits. Now the question is, with oil prices falling, will the economic advantages of green investing start to disappear?

Our green investment wasn't as dramatic as taking a stake in a windmill or putting solar panels on the roof. 

But five years ago, we bought a "clean diesel" wagon that at the time produced less carbon per kilometre than any non-hybrid internal combustion car. And boy did that investment pay off.

Rising fuel price crunch

Using Ontario government statistics, instead of my own less reliable memory, diesel was selling for about 80 cents a litre when we bought the car in 2009. The data shows that over that time, fuel costs rose by more than 10 cents each year, peaking at just under $1.50 a litre this spring.

So whatever advantage we thought we were buying back in 2009, every time fuel got dearer that green decision looked better and better.

But now that oil prices are falling, does that economic motivation disappear? Not just for efficient cars, but for green energy in general? It's happened before.

In the 1970s, small Japanese imports swept the North American market because of the oil crisis, but people soon turned back to gas guzzlers. (Honda/Associated Press)

"There was an initial wave of interest [in green energy] in the aftermath of the oil shocks in the 1970s," says Mark Winfield, a York University professor who studies the political economy of energy. "Interest in renewables at that stage did fall off once the price began to fall again."

It was also in the wake of the OPEC crisis in the '70s that the Honda Civic, much tinier than the current model, arrived in Canada as consumers demanded more fuel-efficient cars. There too, as oil prices fell from their highs, people strayed back to gas guzzlers.

According to the Washington Post, Americans are turning back toward Hummers and SUVs as gas prices plunge in some places below $2 a U.S. gallon or 60 cents Cdn a litre. "That's not good for Tesla," says the Post, referring to the luxury all-electric car company own by entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Switching to Hummers?

Low gas prices may mean people are not choosing cars with the best fuel economy just now, but Winfield says new North American fleet economy rules means even big cars will still be greener.

"Because of climate change concerns we've locked in fuel economy," says Winfield. "Both the U.S. and Canada have adopted standards that preclude going backwards to gas guzzlers."

As for green electricity, the price of oil will only have a small impact, says Winfield. "We don't actually burn much oil for electricity generation purposes."

Instead, alternative power sources like wind and solar are in direct competition with natural gas and coal, which are already cheap. The plunging costs of green alternatives, especially solar, means they are quickly getting to the point where they will be competitive even without special subsidies he says.

In our family, we're hoping our car lasts a few more years. But when the day to get a new one arrives, we'll still buy the most fuel-efficient car that fits our needs and our budget, even if gas is cheap.  

Climate change may not yet be priced into the cost of oil, but in our circles, at least, showing you care about the future of the world inherited by people's children and grandchildren means a greener car pays off in status. 

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Orion Mars-mission lifts off on time for 4½-hour test flight

NASA's new Orion spacecraft circled the planet Friday on a high-stakes test flight meant to usher in a new era of human exploration leading ultimately to Mars.

The unmanned journey began with a sunrise liftoff witnessed by thousands of NASA guests. Parts of the spacecraft peeled away exactly as planned, falling back toward Earth as onboard cameras provided stunning views of our blue, cloud-covered planet.

Orion's debut will be brief — just 4½ hours from launch to splashdown, with two orbits of Earth. But for the first time in 42 years, NASA is sending a spacecraft built for humans farther than a couple hundred miles from Earth. The previous time was the Apollo 17 moon shot.

And it's NASA's first new vehicle for space travel since the shuttle.

"Very exciting," NASA's Orion program manager, Mark Geyer, pleased by the successful jettison tests during the flight's early minutes. "We still have a bunch to go."

'A new era of American space exploration'

NASA is now "one step closer" to putting humans aboard Orion, said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Jr. He called it "Day one of the Mars era."

Sluggish rocket valves and wind halted the launch Thursday, but everything went NASA's way Friday as the Delta IV rocket carried Orion into orbit. The first-stage boosters detached and fell away into the Atlantic as the spacecraft soared from Florida to South Africa and beyond.

NASA launch commentator Mike Curie fed the enthusiasm in the gathered crowds, calling it "the dawn of Orion in a new era of American space exploration!"

NASA aimed for a peak altitude of nearly 5,800 kilometres on Orion's second lap around the planet, in order to give the capsule the necessary momentum for a scorchingly high-speed re-entry over the Pacific. Engineers want to see how the heat shield — the largest of its kind ever built — holds up when Orion comes back through the atmosphere travelling 32,186.88 km/h and enduring 2,204 C temperatures.

The atmosphere at Kennedy Space Center was reminiscent of the shuttle-flying days, but considerably more upbeat than that last mission in 2011.

Orion essentially flying on autopilot

Astronaut Rex Walheim was aboard that final shuttle flight and among the dozens of spacefliers on hand for Orion's historic send-off. He talked up Orion's future in sending crews to Mars and the importance of becoming a multiplanetary species.

"You have that excitement back here at the Kennedy Space Center and it's tinged with even more excitement with what's coming down the road," Walheim said.

'You have that excitement back here at the Kennedy Space Center and it's tinged with even more excitement with what's coming down the road.'- Astronaut Rex Walheim

In Houston, NASA's Mission Control took over the entire operation once Orion was aloft. The flight program was loaded into Orion's computers well in advance, allowing the spacecraft to fly essentially on autopilot. Flight controllers — all shuttle veterans — could intervene in the event of an emergency breakdown.

And in the Pacific off the Mexican Baja coast, Navy ships waited for Orion's return.

The spacecraft is rigged with 1,200 sensors to gauge everything from heat to vibration to radiation. At 3.3 metres tall with a five-metre base, Orion is bigger than the old-time Apollo capsules and, obviously, more advanced.

NASA deliberately kept astronauts off this first Orion.

Managers want to test the riskiest parts of the spacecraft — the heat shield, parachutes, various jettisoning components — before committing to a crew. In addition, on-board computers were going to endure the high-radiation Van Allen belts; engineers wondered whether they might falter.

Crew expected to fly on Orion in 2021

Friday's Orion — serial number 001 — lacked seats, cockpit displays and life-support equipment for obvious reasons. Instead, bundles of toys and memorabilia were on board: bits of moon dust; the crew patch worn by Sally Ride, America's first spacewoman; a Capt. James Kirk collector's doll owned by Star Trek actor William Shatner, and more.

The Delta IV Heavy rocket with the Orion spacecraft lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Friday. (Steve Nesius/Reuters)

Lockheed Martin Corp. already has begun work on a second Orion, and plans to eventually build a fleet of the capsules. The earliest that astronauts might fly on an Orion is 2021. An asteroid redirected to lunar orbit is intended for the first stop in the 2020s, followed by Mars in the 2030s.

The company handled the $370 million US test flight for NASA from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, opting for the Delta IV rocket this time given its heft. It's the most powerful unmanned rocket in the U.S. right now. The entire rocket and capsule, topped by a launch abort tower, stretched nearly 74 metres and weighed 1.6 million pounds — an "incredible monster," according to Bolden.

To push Orion farther out on future flights, NASA is developing a megarocket known as Space Launch System or SLS. The first Orion-SLS combo will fly around 2018, again without a crew to shake out the rocket.

NASA's last trip beyond low-Earth orbit in a vessel built for people was the three-man Apollo 17 in December 1972. Orion will be capable of carrying four astronauts on long hauls and as many as six on three-week hikes.

Bolden, a former astronaut and now NASA's No. 1, called Mars "the ultimate destination of this generation," but said his three young granddaughters think otherwise, telling him, "Don't get hung up on Mars because there are other places to go once we get there."

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Mom tells CBC she was punched in stomach, baby almost stolen: 2 minors charged

Multiple charges have been laid against a 14-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl after a mother said two young people tried to snatch her baby last night in suburban Toronto, police said.

The incident occurred around 11 p.m. ET in the Guildwood Parkway and Livingston Road area of Scarborough.

The 25-year-old mother told CBC News she was walking home from a nearby GO Train station with her year-old baby when she was followed by two people and eventually attacked. 

The mother, who didn't want her name used, says she was punched in the abdomen and hit with some sort of sharp object, she said.

At one point, the suspects attempted to take her baby from her, but she was able to hold on, she said. 

After failing to snatch her baby, the pair stole her backpack, which contained her wedding ring, before fleeing. 

The woman reported the attack to police shortly after it happened. Officers arrested the suspects about an hour later and recovered the stolen property. 

The mother was treated for minor injuries, and her baby is doing fine. 

The 14-year-old and 12-year-old are expected to appear in court Friday morning, each charged with abduction, robbery and several lesser charges that police declined to reveal.

Police said the two young people are also suspected in an earlier robbery, believed to have occurred around 7 p.m. Thursday in the Scarborough area.

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