School boards will pay price if there’s no deal, Laurel Broten says

In an unusual move that has fuelled tensions between Queen’s Park and school boards, Education Minister Laurel Broten sent a personal email to some 660 school trustees Friday urging them to sign deals with their local unions by Sept. 1 or face paying millions of dollars in extra wages from their boards’ coffers.

The personal pitch also warns trustees that Broten will go ahead with controversial plans regarding in-class testing and the hiring of supply teachers, whether or not boards agree.

Defence Minister calls on provincial governments to save Acadian Lines

The Federal Defence Minister is weighing in on the loss of the Maritimes only regional bus service.

Peter MacKay says the provincial governments need to get involved in keeping Acadian Lines from leaving the Maritimes.

“It appears that regulations at the provincial level are one of the impediments for Acadian Lines or other future bus lines so I am hopeful we'll see some willingness to be flexible and adjust certain regulations to allow continuation of a bus line in Atlantic Canada,” says MacKay

On Tuesday the company announced it will be shutting down operations at  the end of the year leaving passengers without access to their own transportation , no way to get around.

The company  says it can no longer afford to offer  inter-provincial service between Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I.
"We've worked hard over the last few years to try to implement a sustainable network, to gain flexibility in the regulatory and operational framework and obtain support to allow us to reduce our financial losses but to no avail," Groupe Orleans Express CEO Denis Andlauer said in a statement late Tuesday.

About 120 people will lose their jobs as a result of the closure.

The service is scheduled to cease operations Nov. 30, 2012.

Original Article
Source: ctvnews.ca
Author: CTV Atlantic

Trail of Pierre Poutine runs into an open Wi-Fi connection

OTTAWA — Elections Canada investigators tracking “Pierre Poutine” hit a dead end when the Internet address behind misleading robocalls in the last election led them to an open Wi-Fi connection in a private residence near Guelph.

Investigators had hoped the Internet Protocol (IP) address 99.225.28.34 would help point them to a suspect responsible for the more than 6,000 calls to non-Conservatives on election day.

Monia Mazigh What happened to the global 'war on terror'?

The first time the phrase "war on terror" was used was when George W. Bush linked the same phrase to the word "crusade". He declared in September 2001: "This crusade -- this war on terrorism -- is going to take a while..." He was talking about the response of the American administration to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He prepared the ground for the shocked American public for a long war against militant Islamists.

During the Bush era, the war on terror had several trademarks: Guantanamo Bay, the status of enemy combatant, torture, extraordinary rendition, black sites in Poland and Morocco, and of course the devastating wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Bush and his team insisted that "harsh interrogation techniques" (a.k.a. torture) can be justified in those exceptional times.

Cases of misplaced shock: Drone killings and bad soccer calls

I don't think there's anything shocking or implausible about Canadian Olympic athletes Christine Sinclair and Melissa Tancredi suggesting the ref in their soccer semifinal was in the tank for the U.S. and would wear an American jersey to bed that night. She called what amounted to a non-existent foul at a crucial point. You have to go back to 2002 to find another instance. There's no good explanation for it, which amounts to a licence to speculate on why she really made the call.

I don't think the Canadians were saying the Norwegian ref is infatuated with Americans; but rather that there's a bias at upper levels in FIFA, the Olympics and the major broadcasters for having a U.S. team in the final -- much as the NHL would doubtless prefer Stanley Cup finalists from major U.S. cities for similar commercial reasons. Officials know that and if they get a chance to bolster that bias, they may, consciously or by a more tortuous route. It's the way of the world; matters like money and audiences enter in. If you ignore those interests, you mightn't get as many choice games to officiate.

Clock ticking for private garbage collector to clean up its act

After a debut week of late trash pickups and angry homeowners, one of the mayor’s top lieutenants is warning that the slow start by Toronto’s new private collection company could jeopardize Rob Ford’s push to outsource garbage across the city.

“If these are just simply growing pains and the contractor meets his performance standards, then this will be quickly forgotten,” said Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, the mayor’s point man on garbage. “If we can’t get customer service standards up to where we’d like them to be, it’s going to be more difficult to make the case for further privatization.”

It’s Kalamazoo vs. Calgary in clash of civilizations

I confess, I have freely chatted to people walking in Nose Hill Park in Calgary. “Nice dog,” I’ll say, even when it isn’t a nice dog at all. “Gorgeous day,” I’ll offer, even when it’s not.

It’s just my harmless Toronto-type blither. I had no idea I was risking being shot to death by an excitable visiting cop from Kalamazoo who thinks “Have you been to the Stampede yet?” is a coded invitation to join the choir invisible. I would have eaten extensive American lead.

CAW: Union gaining ground at Ontario Honda plant

Canadian Auto Workers President Ken Lewenza says his labour group is drawing closer to organizing workers at a Honda assembly plant in Ontario, WardsAuto reports, while efforts to get inside two Toyota manufacturing sites are moving more slowly.

“We’re active in Honda, not so active in Toyota,” Lewenza told WardsAuto in an interview. “We’re getting some enthusiastic and strong support, but we’re not there yet.”

$31 ticket leads to a $70,000 legal bill

A Toronto doctor is appealing a $70,537 legal bill from the City of Toronto after she launched a failed class-action lawsuit over a $31 parking ticket.

The suit, which pointed the finger at the city over malfunctioning pay-and-display machines, was dismissed as being too broad for a class action.

Canada’s Emissions Deception

The federal government released an updated Canada’s Emission Trends 2012 report today. In a remarkable shift in federal rhetoric just this past week, the Harperites now appear to be more sensitive to concerns about the Enbridge pipeline and climate change more generally. But appearances can be deceiving and there is good reason to believe the current charm offensive is just a recasting of business-as-usual in recognition of just how offside the government has been on climate file.