Minorities to be majorities in two Cdn cities by 2031, Statistics Cda projects

TORONTO - The proportion of visible minorities in Canada, already one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world, is set to explode in the coming decades and account for one-third of the population, Statistics Canada says. In a projection released Tuesday, Statistics Canada says that by 2031 up to 14.4 million people in Canada could be a visible minority - with so-called minorities becoming the majority in two major cities. - Read more...

Jean's Haitian homecoming: Canada's GG returns to ancestral home of Jacmel

JACMEL, Haiti - The bustling streets of a colourful Haitian coastal city ground to a standstill Tuesday as native daughter Michaelle Jean returned for a visit to her ancestral hometown. Jean wound up her emotional two-day trip to Haiti by visiting some of the places she loved as a child - many of them now reduced to rubble by a catastrophic earthquake two months ago estimated to have killed more than 200,000 people. - Read more...

Man named in police shootout, slain officer knew each other, residents say

A man suspected of trading gunfire with police in an incident that saw an officer shot and killed was identified Tuesday as 70-year-old Fred Preston, a former reeve of a small community that residents say the slain officer was raised in. Preston, of Sundridge, Ont., remained in critical condition after being shot in the gunfight with two provincial police officers Monday, the province's Special Investigation's Unit said. - Read more...

Coke charge dropped as ex-Tory MP Jaffer pleads guilty to careless driving

ORANGEVILLE, Ont. - A former Conservative MP once known for his tough stance on drugs received a "break" when cocaine possession and drunk driving charges were withdrawn in a plea bargain, an Ontario judge said Tuesday. The deal, which saw Rahim Jaffer convicted of the lesser offence of careless driving, sparked an angry exchange in the House of Commons after the opposition Liberals accused the government of hypocrisy. - Read more...

Harper government survives first budget vote in Parliament

OTTAWA - Stephen Harper's minority Conservative government has survived its first confidence test of the new session of Parliament. The House of Commons voted 214-84 on Tuesday to reject a Bloc Quebecois amendment to the federal budget. - Read more...

Key Senate post up for grabs, but Tories take a pass

OTTAWA - The Conservatives have passed up a chance to seize control of a key Senate committee that they regularly attack for stalling or watering down government bills. Now that the Tories hold more seats in the upper chamber than the Liberals, they can reconfigure committees to reflect their new power. - Read more...

Saskatchewan native leaders hand over financial control of troubled school

SASKATOON - Saskatchewan aboriginal leaders say they have agreed to hand over financial control of the troubled First Nations University of Canada to the University of Regina. Chief Guy Lonechild of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations said Tuesday that the decision could prompt Ottawa to restore some federal funding to the school. - Read more...

Changes made at Alberta Children's Hospital after report into series of errors

CALGARY - Alberta health officials say they've made changes after an independent review into a string of mistakes at a Calgary children's hospital last year, including two drug overdoses and a child given the wrong breast milk. But the head of the group that did the review says more information should be available to the public about exactly what happened and what changes were recommended. - Read more...

Harper Tories take post-Olympic bounce over Liberals, leaders fall flat: poll

OTTAWA - A new poll suggests the Conservative government has restored a crack of daylight between itself and the Liberal Opposition. The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey covering a two-week period ending Sunday puts Conservative support at 33 per cent, the Liberals at 29 and NDP at 16. - Read more...

B.C. government says Blackmore brought polygamy prosecution on himself

VANCOUVER, B.C. - A B.C. religious leader who has admitted to having multiple wives brought a highly publicized and ultimately unsuccessful prosecution upon himself by openly practising polygamy, says the provincial government. In a statement of defence filed in a civil lawsuit, the province said Winston Blackmore is to blame for his own legal troubles. - Read more...

Tories should take Jaffer lesson to heart, dump minimum sentences: experts

OTTAWA - Justice Minister Rob Nicholson should take a long, honest look at the Rahim Jaffer case and apply its lessons to the Conservative criminal justice agenda, the head of the John Howard Society said Tuesday. "It's really easy to disparage discretion for judges - until you need it," Craig Jones told The Canadian Press in an interview. - Read more...

Wife of fallen officer speaks emotionally at funeral, calls him her 'hero'

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - The wife of a Toronto-area police officer who died following a car collision while on duty gave him an emotional goodbye Tuesday, calling him her hero. Erin Ochakovsky described her husband, Peel region Const. Artem (James) Ochakovsky, as a loving husband and father and said they told each other every day how happy they were. - Read more...

Ontario doctor being sued over mastectomies wants hospital privileges back

WINDSOR, Ont. - A Windsor, Ont., doctor at the heart of a controversy over mistaken mastectomies wants her hospital privileges back. Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital is going to hold a hearing to determine whether Dr. Barbara Heartwell will be reinstated as a surgeon. - Read more...

N.L. health authority says test errors not reported to executives in timely way

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Newfoundland's largest health authority says an internal review into testing errors for cyclosporine at its biochemistry lab in St. John's shows they were not reported to executives in a timely manner. "It is a serious breach of hospital policy," Eastern Health CEO Vickie Kaminski told a news conference Tuesday. - Read more...

Federal budget child-care tax break causes new headache for feds

OTTAWA - The federal budget's key anti-poverty measure cures one headache and causes another. Changes to the tax treatment of the $100-a-month Universal Child Care Benefit to help single-parent families "will create new inequities," says the Caledon Institute of Social Policy, an Ottawa-based think-tank known for its work on social security. - Read more...

Woman spends savings in lengthy N.S. battle to preserve life of impounded dog

HALIFAX, N.S. - Francesca Rogier says she remains unbowed in her legal battle to preserve the life of a mixed-breed dog that faces euthanasia after it attacked other canines, despite exhausting $30,000 in savings on lawyers and putting her architecture career on hold. The 50-year-old resident of Eastern Chezzetcook, a rural community on the outskirts of Halifax, won a reprieve for Brindi before a provincial court judge on Tuesday. - Read more...

Invalid death certificate puts BC couple in African adoption limbo

VANCOUVER -A B.C. couple has been separated for months after its effort to adopt twin boys from Ghana turned into a bureaucratic nightmare. Andrea Bastin, a filmmaker from Bowen Island near Vancouver, has been living in the West African country since August as she tries to convince the Canadian High Commission there that the boys' mother died giving birth. - Read more...

Alberta Tory backbencher proposes tiaras to pull in tourism

CALGARY - An Alberta government backbencher is floating the idea of the province holding an international beauty pageant to pull in tourism dollars from around the world along with tiaras, high heels and sparkly gowns. Carl Benito, an Edmonton member of the legislature, first suggested the idea at a committee meeting last month. - Read more...