North America News

“Why are they doing this? One reason is because they have that same old bugaboo of a lot of debt, but also on Nov. 19 they begin hearings about their purchase of Alliance Atlantis”

- Tensions are running high in CanWest newsrooms from Montreal to Vancouver in the wake of recent layoffs at the company's television stations and fears that more cuts are ahead amid an apparent push to centralize editorial operations.

"Everybody in the newsroom has received a letter with the buyout offer," said an editor at the Vancouver Sun who didn't want to be identified.

"And in the case of the Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal - those are non-unionized newsrooms so the company can do whatever it wants to do in a non-union situation. People are very fearful not just about layoffs but for the industry; deskers are quite depressed about the future of newspapers in general." Read more

“That is a concrete change that we've made and that is one that applies to any individuals who decide to leave these jobs. The reality has changed.”

The head of an industry lobby group that is airing third-party ads praising Prime Minister Stephen Harper has quit the organization to work for the federal Conservatives. via Calgary Sun

“Every year, 40 to 50 are officially declared, or found.”

King Albert laid a wreath Sunday at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier while thousands flocked to the site of one of bloodiest battles of World War I in western Belgium to mark the anniversary of the war's ... via The Macon Telegraph

“As soon as there's a doubt ... of course there's going to be a follow up”

- Canadian military police have started using drug dogs to search troops' bags at Kandahar Air Field after being tipped about soldiers suspected of using heroin, hash and pot, say newly released documents.

Although there were no drug seizures reported, a briefing note says illegal drugs are readily available in Afghanistan and present a "temptation for Canadian troops in the form of personal use and in the form of importation for the purpose of trafficking."

The documents, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, indicate there were at least five targeted and random searches of soldiers' belongings in June and July at Kandahar Air Field. Read more

“We are paying our own debt for the future of our children with bravery and determination that befits the duty, but never with exaltation”

OTTAWA Canadians laid wreaths to honour those killed in battle and on peacekeeping missions at Remembrance Day ceremonies across the country Sunday. via The Toronto Star

“I think it will be incumbent on me and also upon members of the government not to have dealings with Mr. Mulroney until this issue is resolved”

- Brian Mulroney's stint in reputation rehab could be at an end in Canada's conservative circles.

He deftly shed the label of one of the most unpopular outgoing prime ministers in Canadian history, adopting instead the mantle of the wise, elder statesman. In the process, he caught a second wind in Tory politics.

But Mulroney's past just refused to stay in the old Tory closet, and ultimately Harper couldn't afford the liability. As he announced Friday that he would commission an independent probe into allegations of Mulroney's business dealings with controversial businessman Karlheinz Schreiber, Harper also severed ties with his former mentor. Read more

“The new generation like this book very much ... I hate injustice, I want to say so much, but I have to go home”

Australia's University of Adelaide, who was one of the judges. "Sometimes a book takes you into seriously different territory in a way that you will remember and Wolf Totem does that," he said. via Gulf Times

“It just shows that we need a number of things like our legislation to get through on violent crime, and officers on the street need all the resources we can get to them.”

Vancouver police investigating another stabbing in the city's Downtown Eastside had a surprise visitor Thursday morning: Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day. via CBC News

Karlheinz Schreiber has the dubious distinction of having been embroiled in major scandals in both Germany and Canada. via CANOE

“When you have to explain Beatles songs to your children, something is strange.”

- Talk about a party platform.

The Rhinos are back and they're hoping to lure voters with the tantalizing promise of weekly orgasms - and marijuana in every pot. The Neorhino party promises to declare Spanish as Canada's official language and pass legislation forcing Prime Minister Stephen Harper to go on a diet.

They're proud of smoking pot, they draw their political inspiration from cigar-chomping comics and rock legends, and they want to get elected so they can stick it to "The Man." Read more

- Stephane Dion is poised to unveil a central plank in the Liberal election platform: a "bold" plan for reducing poverty in Canada.

The Liberal leader is to reveal details of the plan in a speech Friday in Toronto. "It will be very bold," Dion told The Canadian Press. Dion offered few details, other than to say his plan is modelled on one instituted in 1999 by former British prime minister Tony Blair to reduce child poverty in the United Kingdom.

Blair vowed to end child poverty by 2020, with interim goals of a 25 per cent reduction in five years and a 50 per cent reduction in 10 years. His government was then compelled to develop policies to meet those targets and came within two percentage points of meeting the first five-year benchmark. Read more

“It brings it a little closer to home. It's not just memories of a cold November, rainy day, with grey skies and filled with grey-haired veterans around”

They've all worn the poppies, marched in the parades and observed a moment of silence on past Remembrance Days. via Free Republic

“The condition of the aboriginal community in Canada is a national disgrace”

Canada and the rest of the western world have failed the people of Darfur in "deplorable" fashion, actress Mia Farrow said Friday. via 900 CHML AM

“Mr. Mulroney's lawyer in Geneva related to the Airbus deal.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday announced an independent third party to review allegations made by German-Canadian Karlheinz Schreiber against Brian Mulroney. via Ottawa Citizen

“These e-mails and memos offer cover to the bureaucrats -- who might be worried about taking the blame themselves for not having informed the minister on an issue as sensitive as this one.”

The Conservative government did not read briefing material prepared by the Justice Department on the Airbus affair and cash payments to Brian Mulroney, documents suggest. via The Chronicle Herald

“I just think with all the publicity that was generated by the first trial, it would be prudent to have a jury from another pool of jurors”

A scheduling quirk could bring Canada's youngest convicted multiple killer and her co-accused ex-boyfriend in close proximity Thursday for the first time in nearly 19 months when they were both charged with ... via 900 CHML AM

“These past five years of performing at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas have been an incredibly rewarding experience for myself and my family, but I'm ready to hit the road again, with my husband and son by my side”

Canadian singing diva Celine Dion will kick off a North American arena tour next August. via 900 CHML AM

“The idea of consulting the Canadian population, I think that's an idea that merits consideration and that includes the possibility of consulting the people of Quebec”

- Prime Minister Stephen Harper is willing to bypass provincial governments - namely Quebec - and talk directly to Canadians about Senate reform but isn't willing to toss the country back into a constitutional quagmire.

In a move harkening back to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's threat to go to the people over repatriating the Constitution if the provinces couldn't agree, Harper said Canadians are demanding change to the Senate and it's time to put aside politicking and make a deal.

Without change, abolition will be the demanded course of action, he said, adding he's open to a proposition by NDP Leader Jack Layton for a referendum - to a point. Read more

The floods that forced hundreds of thousands from their homes and left a Mexican Gulf Coast state 80 percent underwater will be the most costly since Hurricane Wilma hit the tourist resorts of Cancun and ... via Houston Chronicle

The annual rate of inflation in Canada's new housing prices, a sector closely watched by the Bank of Canada for signs of overheating, declined for the 10th straight month in September, but was still positive. via Sympatico Finance