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Events in Canada

This page deals with current events in Canada, of interest to Canada and/or involving Canadians.

March 31, 2005

• The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of Anglophones and immigrants in Quebec, making more of them eligible for English-language schooling. However, the court rejected the claim that francophones have a right, under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to place their children in English-language schools. The decisions did not strike down Bill 101. (CBC) (National Post)
• A massive fire ravages a plastics factory in Toronto's industrial west end, closing part of a major highway and keeping 150 firefighters and 45 vehicles from six fire stations on the scene throughout the night. (CBC)
• The Royal Air Force pulls out of CFB Goose Bay, ending a permanent presence it has had in Canada since the end of the Second World War. Defence planners in the United Kingdom say they cannot afford to maintain barracks and hangars in a foreign country while closing bases at home. (CBC)
• The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has ordered Montreal's CKAC-AM station to make a full apology after Psychiatrist Pierre Mailloux, host of the Doc Mailloux phone-in show referred to the Sikh people as a "gang of bozos", however, they stated that when he said "You cultural communities come from a wacko country. You live a wacko culture. Don't bring it with you. That's the message to convey" he was acting within the boundreis of "freedom of expression". (BBC)

March 30, 2005

• It was revealed by her doctor that Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi was severely beaten and probably tortured and raped in Iran. (Globe&Mail)
• Canada fell to the number two spot on The Economist' s 'best places in the world to do business'. Denmark is now number one, while the US is tied for third. (Globe&Mail)
• All three levels of government in cooperation with the private sector, will build a 52 house community in the Town of Okotoks, south of Calgary. It will be North America's first large-scale solar heating system. (Federal Government)
• The head of Interpol, an American, claims that Canada is not a 'superway' for terrorists like the US claims and that Canada is, in fact, a leader in cooperation with international policing. (Globe&Mail)
• The federal government will move the Canadian Tourism Commission, an 80 man, $80 million crown corporation, from Ottawa to Vancouver. It will be the first federal agency headquartered in British Columbia (Vancouver Sun)

March 29, 2005

• Ontario's 24,000 doctors voted on the latest offer by the government on health care. Results will be released March 30th. (CBC)
• A study on Canadian fish farms, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, has found that incidence of sea lice in salmon are 30,000 times more likely in fish farms than in the wild. (Guardian)
• The federal government announced it will give $1 billion in income assistance to farmers facing low commodity prices, bad weather, and exporting constraints. (CattleNetwork)
• Delta Air Lines outsourced its maintenance, repair and overhaul of about 200 757 & 767 Boeing aircraft to the Air Canada maintenance centre at Vancouver International Airport. (CBC BC)
• The highest Sikh authority has encouraged the Sikh-Canadian MPs to vote against the gay marriage bill in Parliament. (CBC)

March 28, 2005

• Gérard Filion, a journalist with the Montreal newspaper Le Devoir and a vocal critic of Maurice Duplessis's government, dies.(CBC)
• Newfoundland Conservative MP Loyola Hearn does not like that legislation (Atlantic Accord) to give Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia more offshore petroleum revenues is tied into 21 other motions in the federal budget; which may be defeated by the conservatives because of the Kyoto protocol considerations. (CBC)

March 27, 2005

• A riot occurred at the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre. There were no serious injuries at the facility which can house 294 men. (CBC)
• Some Canadian rock and pop stars spent the weekend playing a charity ice hockey tournament for the Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank. (CBC)

March 26, 2005

• A dozen Members of Parliament from all parties with seats in the House of Commons are spending the weekend in Europe and Australia studying electoral reform and the possibility of proportional representation in Canada. (Canadian Press)
• 2005 World Women's Curling Championship: Team Canada, skipped by Jennifer Jones ends up finishing 4th place, as they lost the 3-4 game against Dordi Nordby and Norway 12-5. (TSN)

March 25, 2005

• The C. difficile strain of bacteria, which killed over 100 people in Montreal in 2004, has appeared in a Toronto hospital. (CBC)
• The Canadian team in the 2005 World Women's Curling Championship enters the playoff rounds in third place with an 8-3 record and will play fourth place Norway (7-4) on Saturday. Sweden (11-0) and the U.S. (10-1) finished in first and second place, respectively. (TSN) (World Curling Federation)
• Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney has inflamed pancreas which is a complication from lung surgery. His condition is improving and the outlook is positive. (CTV)

March 24, 2005

• The federal government has included a $100 million contribution to the 2005 budget for fighting pine bark beetle infestions in Canfor Corp. and West Fraser Timber Co. timber lands in British Columbia and Alberta. (Bloomberg) (Globe & Mail)
• A team of Canadians are starting a climb of Mount Everest. They plan to play a game of hockey against a Russian team at 5,400 metres near a base camp. (CBC)
• Prime Minister Paul Martin announced the appointments of Roméo Dallaire of Quebec, Jim Cowan of Nova Scotia, Art Eggleton of Ontario, Nancy Ruth of Ontario, Lillian Dyck of Saskatchewan, Robert Peterson of Saskatchewan, Grant Mitchell of Alberta, Elaine McCoy of Alberta and Claudette Tardif of Alberta to the Senate. This marks the first appointments to the Senate by Prime Minister Martin. (PM's Website)
• The Conservative Party will oppose the budget if amendments to control greenhouse gas emissions are included. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper considers the attempt by the government to impose fines without parliamentary approval is "completely unacceptable." (CBC)
• Jeremy Hinzman is denied refugee status by the Immigration and Refugee Board in Toronto. Hinzman deserted the U.S. military service and calls the Iraq war illegal. (CTV)
• 2005 World Women's Curling Championship: Canada clinches a playoff spot with an 11-10 win over Norway skipped by Dordi Nordby. (TSN)

March 23, 2005

• British Columbia Lions announce that they have purchased the FieldTurf surface used by the Montreal Expos during their final season at Olympic Stadium, and will install it at B.C. Place for the 2005 Canadian Football League season. (CP)
• Police issued a warrant for Jim Mercier a former owner of an Alberta skydiving school. Mercier failed to show up to an inquiry in the death of an 18-year-old student when her parachute failed to open during a jump. (CBC)
• The Haida Nation has set up blockades to stop logging operations in British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Islands. They wish to be consulted on the sale of Crown timber rights to Brascan Corporation. (CBC)
• Canada can learn from Dutch hospitals on how to control the spread of superbugs. This comes after a CBC investigation indicated a lack of compliance with safety standards could be contributing to the deaths of 8,000 Canadians a year. (CBC)
• 2005 World Women's Curling Championship: Canada wins 11-4 over Italy's Diana Gaspari but loses 10-7 to the United States, skipped by Cassandra Johnson. Canada sits at 7-3 (TSN)

March 22, 2005

• The Department of Fisheries announced that a 2 month seal hunt will be permitted in the Atlantic starting 29 March 2005. Over 300,000 pups, and about a million seals overall, will be allowed to be culled. (BBC) (Reuters)
• A federal report by the House of Commons fisheries committee states that the Fraser River is near a crisis. A third of the 2004 salmon run went missing and the report blames rising water temperatures and illegal overfishing. (CBC BC)
• In Athens, Greece, a 16 year old girl from Duncan, BC, was arrested on Sunday, and released on Tuesday pending trial, for violating an antiquity law by holding an ancient ruin for a picture. While the teen admits possessing the stone she claims ignorance of the law banning such possession. (Vancouver Sun)
• RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli provided an update on the investigations findings of the Rochfort Bridge massacre. He said police were prepared, a risk assessment had been done and there is no way to "plan for or manage the insane behaviours of an individual." However, changes would likely be made after a review of the shootings and Commissioner Zaccardelli called for a judicial review of how past charges against Roszko were dropped. (CTV)
• The young girl who was thrown onto a busy highway by her late father less than three weeks ago was released from hospital today. Although she will wear a neck brace and require therapy she is expected to make a full recovery. (CTV)
• At the 2005 World Women's Curli

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