Catholic Church Argues It Doesn't Have to Show Up in Court Because Religious Freedom

When Emily Herx first took time off work for in vitro fertilization treatment, her boss offered what sounded like words of support: "You are in my prayers." Soon those words took on a more sinister meaning. The Indiana grade school where Herx was teaching English was Catholic. And after church officials were alerted that Herx was undergoing IVF—making her, in the words of one monsignor, "a grave, immoral sinner"—it took them less than two weeks to fire her.

Alain Saulnier, Ex-CBC Exec, Says Broadcaster ‘In Danger Of Disappearing Forever'

As protesters marched on Sunday to oppose funding cuts to CBC/Radio-Canada, a former executive at the broadcaster is warning it’s “truly in danger of disappearing forever.”

Alan Saulnier says years of successive governments playing politics with the CBC’s budget has left the broadcaster vulnerable.

In an editorial in the Toronto Star, Saulnier says both Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Prime Minister Jean Chrietien in their day used threats to the CBC’s funding to pressure the network into more favourable news coverage.

Number Of Homeless Children In America Surges To All-Time High: Report

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The number of homeless children in the U.S. has surged in recent years to an all-time high, amounting to one child in every 30, according to a comprehensive state-by-state report that blames the nation's high poverty rate, the lack of affordable housing and the impacts of pervasive domestic violence.

Titled "America's Youngest Outcasts," the report being issued Monday by the National Center on Family Homelessness calculates that nearly 2.5 million American children were homeless at some point in 2013. The number is based on the Department of Education's latest count of 1.3 million homeless children in public schools, supplemented by estimates of homeless pre-school children not counted by the DOE.

Mideast Conflict: Palestinian Bus Driver Found Hanged In Jerusalem Bus

JERUSALEM, Nov 17 (Reuters) - A Palestinian bus driver was found hanged in his vehicle on Monday, an incident that led to stone-throwing protests by Palestinians suspecting foul play but which Israeli police, citing autopsy results, termed a suicide.

Youssef al-Ramouni, 32, was found dead at the start of the route he was supposed to have driven late on Sunday, in a district of Jerusalem close to Jewish settlements and Palestinian neighborhoods.

Harper has been losing friends for a decade, now he’s losing his base

Conrad Black says Stephen Harper has “run out of steam.”

Among moguls, that’s code for a guy who doesn’t know what to do anymore but likes the job a lot. And yes, this is the same Conrad Black who founded the National Post to advance the fortunes of the Conservative Party.

John Ralston Saul thinks Mussolini would have admired the way Stephen Harper does business. Ralston Saul is one of the country’s great public intellectuals, a man at the very centre of the cultural establishment.

MPs like ‘kings, queens in their little domains,’ contribute to ‘culture of silence’: Clancy

An arm’s-length process needs to be established to deal with allegations of misconduct or harassment—sexual and otherwise—on Parliament Hill, say experts, as the culture on the Hill is more conducive to inappropriate behaviour than the average workplace.

“The combination of power and testosterone often leads, unfortunately, to poor judgment, especially in a system where there has been no real process to date,” said Nancy Peckford, executive director of Equal Voice Canada, a multi-partisan organization focused on getting more women elected.

Most families lose out in Harper's new tax plan

Heading into the 2015 election season, the Harper government recently unveiled a bundle of what have been referred to as "family-focused" tax cuts. However, with several figures and complex lingo to sift through, many families across Canada are wondering what types of families these policies are going to benefit and how.

The plans are worth approximately $4.6 billion annually and incorporate income-splitting for families with children under 18. Firstly, the Universal Child Care Benefit will increase from $60 per month to $160 per month for youth under six years old. If your child is aged 7-17 your benefit will be $60.

Trans Mountain Pipeline: Big Bucks for US Investors, Peanuts for Us

Kinder Morgan, the Texas-based multinational that owns and operates the Trans Mountain Pipeline System, claims Trans Mountain is a significant contributor to federal and provincial income tax revenues. The company is relying on this as proof it deserves a public licence to triple its pipeline capacity in Western Canada.

Pouring tax revenues into Canada is not the story Kinder Morgan tells its U.S.-based shareholders. Promoting Trans Mountain south of the border, Kinder Morgan boasts of tax refunds -- two in the past five years. From 2009 to 2013 Trans Mountain's combined federal and provincial Canadian corporate tax contribution averaged just $1.5 million per year.

Dean Del Mastro legal fees subsidized by taxpayers

Canadians subsidized the legal fees of Dean Del Mastro, the former parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, through a fundraiser organized by his riding association that allowed it to provide tax receipts to contributors.

Political contributions are eligible for a tax credit of up to $650, depending on the amount contributed. A spokeswoman for the commissioner of Canada elections says there are no guidelines for how a riding association spends its money outside of an election period. That means the Peterborough Conservatives broke no rules.

Edwin and Elise Britton battle Canada Revenue Agency over $18K tax bill

It was Benjamin Franklin who said, "in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

But in the case of Calgary residents Elise and Edwin Britton, an $18,000 tax bill from the Canada Revenue Agency that questioned their Canadian residency for tax purposes came as quite a surprise.

The family went to China in 2004 after Edwin Britton accepted a two-year contract with an English training school there.