Canadians 'need to know' about mechanically tenderized meat

Canadians should be aware of the possible risks from a widely used mechanical process to tenderize steaks and roasts, a U.S. food safety advocate says.

Food safety concerns made headlines in late September after a recall of beef products processed at an XL Foods plant in Brooks, Alta. At least 16 people were sickened by meat contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The Public Health Agency said evidence suggested some of the illness seemed to be caused by tenderized meat.

Supreme Court rules in Opitz’s favour, Wrzesnewskyj says Tories now playing politics with top court ruling

PARLIAMENT HILL—The governing Conservatives were accused of dragging the Supreme Court of Canada into the federal political arena Thursday after seizing on a split court decision that upheld a razor-thin Conservative win in the last election in the Toronto riding of Etobicoke-Centre, Ont., in order to attack the Liberal who went to court to challenge the results.

In a Commons statement from Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Ont.), tweets from Immigration Minister Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast, Alta.), a backbench MP’s speech in the Commons and a statement from Conservative MP Ted Opitz (Etobicoke Centre, Ont.) whose 26-vote margin of victory was upheld, majority-governing Conservative reaction to the decision included a direct quote from the court’s majority ruling that appeared to say the losing Liberal candidate attempted to disenfranchise voters by challenging the results.

Canada, Israel call for UN rapporteur's resignation

The UN special investigator on human rights in the Palestinian territories called Wednesday for a boycott of all companies that have dealings with Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem until they adhere to international rights standards and practices.

Israel, the U.S. and Canada all rejected Richard Falk's report, accusing the UN special rapporteur of bias against Israel and calling for his removal.

Split ruling a fair one

The Supreme Court’s decision on the Etobicoke Centre election results was reasonable and wise. But it wasn’t calling a halt to a dastardly attempt to steal an election and overturn the will of the people, as one side of the ensuing political commentary would have us believe. Neither was it a partisan endorsement of cheating, as the other extreme has it.

It was just four judges falling on one side of a difficult question, while three of their colleagues — including the chief justice — fell on the other.

Canada’s corporate leaders turn gloomy amid global uncertainty

OTTAWA — Canadian corporate leaders are pulling back on their business plans because of weak global economic growth and uncertain demand, according to a Bank of Canada survey.

In its autumn Business Outlook Survey, the central bank said Monday that companies “have tempered their expectations for business activity.”

“Firms are generally more circumspect about near-term investment decisions and are focusing on minimizing costs,” the bank said, adding that companies expect little change in the pace of sales growth over the next 12 months.

NDP urges freeze on foreign worker permits for B.C. mines

OTTAWA — The federal New Democratic Party on Wednesday urged the federal government to suspend issuing temporary foreign worker permits for proposed northeastern B.C. underground coal mines.

The NDP wants the freeze to continue until an investigation determines whether Canadians were given an adequate chance to show they can fill the jobs now destined for Chinese nationals.

“The Conservatives should prioritize creating jobs for Canadians and ending abuse of the temporary foreign worker program,” NDP immigration critic Jinny Sims, MP for Newton-North Delta, said in a statement.

Political parties can’t fix democracy

Is Canadian democracy sick? Anyone who watches Question Period daily would have to say it is. Democracy is on the canvas, laid low by the one-two punch of abusive prorogations and omnibus bills. The cretinous din of what passes for debate today in the House of Commons is a constant reminder that this is so.  (There are exceptions: more on that later).

Can the problems be fixed? Again, the consensus is yes. There’s no shortage of proposed remedies, geared to restoring Canadian Westminster-style democracy, or even improving it beyond what the fathers of Confederation imagined. Some are complex: Others are straightforward, and could be inserted into any party’s policy kit.

But do the parties want reform? Here, we enter trickier territory.

Scrums: Jacques Gourde does a reading on the F-35

Ever since the New Democrats heard the Minister of Public Works, Rona Ambrose, say earlier this week that, yes, the government was looking at other “options” apart from the F-35 fighter jet to replace Canada’s CF-18s, they’ve been demanding more information.

NDP MP Christine Moore quoted Ambrose as having said that no money will be spent on replacing the CF-18s “before the secretariat does all of the work necessary to independently verify the costs and the options available to replace our aging fleet.”

So, Moore wondered what those available options are.

Mayor Rob Ford wants to eliminate city watchdog offices

Under fire again from the city’s integrity commissioner and ombudsman, Mayor Rob Ford responded Thursday with a proposal: eliminate their jobs, plus the job of the lobbyist registrar.

Ford’s comments drew scorn and skepticism from councillors.

“I think that the timing is curious at best,” said Josh Colle, a centrist swing voter. “It’s a coincidence, I’m sure,” said conservative Gloria Lindsay Luby, laughing.

Feigning Free Speech on Campus

DESPITE high youth voter turnout in 2008 — 48.5 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds cast ballots that year — levels are expected to return to usual lows this year, and with that the usual hand-wringing about disengagement and apathy among young voters.

Colleges and universities are supposed to be bastions of unbridled inquiry and expression, but they probably do as much to repress free speech as any other institution in young people’s lives. In doing so, they discourage civic engagement at a time when debates over deficits and taxes should make young people pay more attention, not less.