RCMP called in over threats to Toews
OTTAWA (CP) — The RCMP say they’ve been asked to investigate threats made against Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.
The police force won’t discuss the nature of the threats nor whether they’ll actually open an investigation.
But a spokesman for the minister says threatening communication were directed at Toews, which is what prompted the call to the Mounties.
Toews has been the target of a sustained online campaign connected to the introduction of an Internet surveillance bill which critics say could violate people’s privacy.
Part of the campaign involved the publication of the minister’s divorce records, while other people are mocking the powers of the new bill by sending the minister mundane details of their lives.
HIV-positive immigrant, sex-offender deported
WINNIPEG (CP) — A Winnipeg immigrant convicted for failing to tell his sex partners he was HIV-positive has been deported.
The Canada Border Services Agency confirms that Clato Mabior was sent back to South Sudan on Wednesday.
Mabior was ordered deported in December 2010 after being convicted two years earlier on six counts of aggravated sexual assault.
Four of the convictions were overturned by the Manitoba Court of Appeal.
B.C. sled dog industry gets new regulations
VANCOUVER (CP) — The British Columbia government is bringing in another layer of protection for sled dogs, almost two years after a mass cull of the working dogs in Whistler, B.C.
The Sled Dog Code of Practice sets out standards of care for everything from health, nutrition and housing, to working conditions, transportation and euthanasia.
The code was developed by the sled dog industry, veterinarians, the B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and academics in the field of animal welfare.
The SPCA investigation into deaths of 56 dogs at Whistler in 2010 described a bloody scene where the dogs were either shot or had their throats slit over a two day period before they were buried.
PM lauds sainthood of Quebec Mohawk
OTTAWA (CP) — Prime Minister Stephen Harper is welcoming a Vatican decision to name a 17th century Mohawk woman as North America’s first aboriginal saint.
Pope Benedict has announced that Kateri Tekakwitha will be canonized on Oct. 21.
Tekakwitha is entombed in a marble shrine at St. Francis Xavier Mission in Kahnawake, Que.
She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980 in recognition of her unwavering devotion to God.
Harper said her elevation to sainthood is good news.
"This will be a great day for Canadian Catholics and a deep honour for our country," he said in a statement.
Quebec students strike over tuition hikes
QUEBEC — Tens of thousands of Quebec post-secondary students are now on strike against tuition-fee hikes.
About 31,000 students from colleges and universities have deserted their classrooms since Friday as part of an increasingly active campaign against the Charest government.
They’re upset that the government will nearly double tuition — to $3,800 from the current $2,200 — over five years. They say education is a fundamental right and the tuition increase will discourage some people from continuing their studies.
But the government notes that Quebec tuition is so low that, even with the increase, it will still be the lowest in Canada.
