Canada begins winding up Afghan deployment
Canada's jobless rate up
Canadian gun registry touted
OTTAWA: AFGHANISTAN MISSION ALREADY WINDING DOWN
Canada's defence department says preparations have started for the withdrawal of Canadian soldiers from Afghanistan. Parliament has mandated an end to the Canadian military's combat role in 2011 and the Conservative Party government has promised to honour that deadline. Defence Minister Peter MacKay suggests some Canadian soldiers might stay in Afghanistan after 2011 for non-combat duty. That could include humanitarian aid and protecting civilian reconstruction efforts. The United States, which has the most troops in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led force, has been urging Canada to leave its troops in Afghanistan beyond the 2011 deadline. Canada has about 2,800 soldiers there.
OTTAWA: ECONOMY BLEEDS JOBS
The Canadian economy lost more than 43,000 jobs last month. Statistics Canada says the job losses drove the unemployment rate up two-tenths of a percentage point to 8.6 per cent. The development reverses much of the job gains reported in August and September. The figures would be even worse had not more than 27,000 people become self-employed.
OTTAWA: GUN REGISTRY REPORTED USEFUL
The annual report from the Commissioner of Firearms has been tabled in Parliament, just two days after the House of Commons voted in second reading in favour of a bill that would abolish the registry for rifles and shotguns. The report for 2008 says the country's firearms registration program has set an international standard and is widely copied. The document reveals 3.4 million checks of its online registry by Canadian police departments, up from 2.5 million in 2007. The report says the system contributes to public safety by holding gun owners accountable for their weapons and by helping trace stolen guns back to their rightful owners. Critics of the system claim it targets hunters and farmers while doing nothing to deter criminals. But the report cites specific cases in which dangerous individuals were arrested using data from the registry. Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan refused to make the report public until after Wednesday's vote, claiming there is nothing new in it.
VANCOUVER: JUDGE WILL CONDUCT SALMON INQUIRY
The federal government has named Supreme Court of British Columbia Justice Bruce Cohen to lead a judicial inquiry into the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye salmon fisheries this year. He'll have the power to compel testimony and to make recommendations. The regional minister for B.C., Stockwell Day, says Justice Cohen will hear from all involved in the catastrophe but didn't promise to carry out all the eventual recommendations. The collapse of stocks forced the closure of commercial as well as aboriginal sockeye fisheries on the river. Natives rely on the fish to supplement their winter diets. Scientists suspect a variety of causes of the collapse, including disease caused by salmon farms, predators, climate change and a change of food supply.
EDMONTON: ALBERTA LEADER FACES LEADERSHIP REVIEW
The premier of the oil-rich Canadian province of Alberta, Ed Stelmach, faces a critical test of his leadership this weekend when his Progressive Conservative party holds a leadership review. Mr. Stelmach's popularity has been affected by a slow economy and a loss of many jobs, especially in the oil sector. He blames the situation on the ongoing global financial crisis and weak oil markets. Mr. Stelmach will not indicate how much support he thinks he needs to continue as party leader. He has been serving as Alberta premier since December 2006.
UNITED STATES
President Barack Obama has urged Americans not to leap to conclusions about Thursday's killings at a U.S. Army base in Texas until all the facts are known. He also has decreed a period of mourning and ordered that flags on federal buildings be flown at half-mast until Nov. 11, Veterans Day. Thirteen soldiers were killed and more than 30 wounded when a shooter opened fire at Fort Hood. The suspect is 39-year-old Maj. Nadal Malik Hasan. The psychiatrist is in hospital in stable condition but unconscious with multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators are searching for a motive for the murders. Maj. Hasan's brother says he was resisting being deployed to Afghanistan.
UN
The United Nations General Assembly is calling on Israel and the Palestinians to investigate alleged war crimes during the three-week military conflict in Gaza that began in late December 2008. The resolution calls on the Security Council to act if either side fails to launch credible investigations within three months. The Assembly endorses a report by an expert panel which concluded that both Israel and Palestinian militants committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. Both Israel and the Palestinians have criticized the report. An estimated 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the Israeli military offensive against Gaza.
SOMALIA
Spain says it won't yield to blackmail by releasing two accused Somali pirates. Deputy Defence Minister Constantino Mendez says the situation is not negotiable. The alleged pirates are accused of hijacking a Spanish fishing boat in the Indian Ocean on Oct. 2. On Thursday, the captain of a captured Spanish trawler with a crew of 33 said its captors had sent three of them onto land and threaten to kill them unless the two Somalis held in Madrid are freed. The captain also told Spanish television that the hijackers were consuming drugs, fighting among themselves and were equipped with a variety of small arms.
MONTREAL: AIR CANADA TURNS PROFIT DESPITE DOWNTURN
Air Canada has announced a third-quarter profit of $277 million, or $2.44 a share, for the quarter ending Sept. 30. That compares with a loss of $132 million a year earlier. CEO Calin Rovinescu says the airline is seeing small signs of improvement but doesn't expect a full recovery of its revenues for at least a year. Mr. Rovinescu explained that Air Canada's recovery will be slower than that of its competitors that focus on leisure travellers because its key business market will take longer to return to the normal levels of 2007.
MARKETS
TMX on Friday: 11.243, up 62. Canadian dollar: US92. Euro: C$1.59. Oil: $77.64, down $1.98.
OLYMPICS
Alberta's cowboy culture got a nod today as the 2010 Olympic
flame was loaded onto a chuckwagon and brought into Grande Prairie
amid cheering fans. Champion chuckwagon driver Kelly Sutherland
brought the flame into town. The flame is on a 106-day journey
across Canada before opening the Games in Vancouver on February
12th.
SWIMMING
Brent Hayden has set another Canadian record. The Vancouver swimmer
captured a silver medal in the 100-metre freestyle at a World Cup
today in Moscow, lowering his own Canadian short-course record in
the process.
Weather
British Columbia on Saturday: rain south, cloud north, high C9 Vancouver. Yukon: mix sun cloud snow. Northwest Territories, Nunavut: snow. Whitehorse -1, Yellowknife -3, Iqaluit -5. Prairies: sun. Edmonton 7, Regina, Winnipeg 10. Ontario: sun north, mix sun cloud south, Quebec: mix sun cloud. Toronto 13, Ottawa 8, Montreal 12. Maritimes: sun. Newfoundland and Labrador: rain. Fredericton 2, Halifax, Charlottetown 3, St. John's 5.
