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| December 19th, 2011 - TORONTO - Fighting and intentional head shots in hockey should be banned because of the risk to players of serious brain injury, says a doctor at the helm of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. In an editorial headlined "Stop the violence and play hockey," interim editor-in-chief Dr. Rajendra Kale writes that as a relative newcomer to Canada, he was amazed to see the skill, speed and physical fitness exhibited by players of what is arguably the country's favourite game. "Simultaneously, I was appalled by the disgraceful and uncivilized practice of fighting and causing intentional head trauma," the neurologist said in an interview from Ottawa. It doesn't seem to fit in ... I almost thought that these were two different games being played," said Kale, who moved to Canada from London more than three years ago. |
| December 15th, 2011- TORONTO - It's been a year to remember for Dwayne De Rosario. The 33-year-old attacking midfielder from Toronto was named Canadian men's soccer player of the year for the fourth time Wednesday — one final honour from a memorable, eventful 2011, "It's a huge honour," De Rosario said on a conference call. "Any time you have an opportunity to represent your country and be awarded with such a high honour it's special." The DC United star won Major League Soccer's Golden Boot as the league's leading scorer and became the first Canadian to be named MLS MVP. |
| November 21st, 2011 - The Toronto Stock Exchange was sharply lower Monday as commodity prices weakened and investors took in growing doubts that the United States can reach agreement on a solution to its deficit woes, which added to concerns about the European debt crisis. The S&P/TSX composite index shed 188.67 points to 11,703.77, with all but the defensive healthcare index in negative territory. The junior venture exchange slid 36.74 points to 1,570.93. The Canadian dollar was down 0.89 of a cent at 96.46 cents US, the lowest it has been since Oct. 7. Kicking off a week of light economic news, Statistics Canada reported Monday that wholesale sales rose 0.3 per cent in September to $48.7 billion dollars. By volume, Statistics Canada reports wholesale trade fell 0.5 per cent. Economists had expected a 0.7 per cent gain. Meanwhile, the number of Americans who bought previously occupied homes rose slightly last month but remained at depressed levels. The National Association of Realtors says home sales rose 1.4 per cent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million. |
| November 9th, 2011 - TORONTO - The CN Tower now holds a Guinness World Record for its EdgeWalk attraction — the highest external walk on a building. A certificate of the record was presented to officials Tuesday on the EdgeWalk itself, 356 metres above downtown Toronto. The attraction allows people to walk hands free along a 1.5-metre-wide ledge that surrounds the top of the tower's main pod. Walkers who venture out in groups of six are secured with a harness during their 150-metre stroll. The walk opened to the public on Aug. 1 and officials say it has attracted thrill-seekers from age 13 to 90. EdgeWalk will soon close for the year but reopens May 1. |
| November 7th, 2011 - VERONA, Italy - The Canadian equestrian community was left reeling Sunday after the sudden death of Hickstead, the legendary stallion that helped Eric Lamaze win a pair of Olympic medals at the 2008 Beijing Games. Hickstead died during a World Cup event after collapsing to the ground and writhing in pain inside a packed arena. Veterinarians attempted to revive the horse but its lifeless body was later carried out of the ring as stunned fans at the Rolex FEI event looked on. Hickstead was 15. "We finished our round, I circled and was leaving the ring, and he collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack," said an emotional Lamaze. "It is the most tragic thing that has ever happened. We had him until he was 15, and we had a great time together. |
| October 25th, 2011 - NEW YORK - Capitalism has taken root in the one of the most unlikely places in New York's financial district -- Zuccotti Park, home of the Occupy Wall Street movement. On every corner of the park, vendors sell buttons, T-shirts, wristbands and artwork, leading some to complain that the merchandising is undermining the movement. Business appears to be booming online, too. One site is selling 30 packs of Occupy Condoms for $11.99. Another has a $35 Occupy Wall Street iPhone case. Nearly 5,000 individual items were available for sale on eBay by Tuesday night. Some hard-core protesters inside the park were not pleased. |
| October 17th. 2011 - TORONTO - Fauja Singh secured a spot in the Guiness World Book of Records on Sunday at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. The 100-year-old accomplished an amazing feat, completing the gruelling 42.195-kilometre marathon and becoming the oldest person ever to complete a full-distance marathon. It took Singh over eight hours to cross the finish line — more than six hours after Kenya's Kenneth Mungara won the event for the fourth straight year — and he was the last competitor to complete the course. But his time wasn't nearly remarkable as the accomplishment itself. "Beating his original prediction, he's overjoyed," said coach and translator Harmander Singh. "Earlier, just before we came around the (final) corner, he said, 'Achieving this will be like getting married again.' |
| October 4th. 2011 - OTTAWA - Canada's economy will grow for the rest of this year and into the next, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Monday. "I'm reasonably confident that we're going to have modest growth in Canada during the rest of this year and into next year," he told CTV in an interview in which he also said he did not see further economic stimulus being needed in Canada at this point. |
| September 19/2011 - OTTAWA - The Harper government is paying a high-powered management consultant firm almost $90,000 a day for advice on how to save money. Deloitte Inc. was hired on Aug. 15 on a $19.8-million contract to advise the federal cabinet and senior officials on finding enough savings to balance the books by 2014. The contract, which runs until March 31, is to advise "senior and elected officials on public and private sector best practices in improving productivity and achieving operational efficiencies." There is also an option for a one-year extension. The federal government invited a select group of 20 "pre-qualified" firms to bid on the work on July 11, rather than use a fully open tendering process. Documents describing the work required were supplied directly to the invited bidders, rather than posted on a tendering website for anyone to see. |
| September 12/2011 - MOSCOW - The only member of a top Russian hockey team to survive a plane crash that killed 44 people died Monday of his injuries in a Moscow hospital. The Vishnevsky hospital said 26-year-old Alexander Galimov died of the severe burns that covered about 90 per cent of his body, despite the best efforts of doctors in its burn unit, considered one of the best in Russia. The crash Wednesday of a chartered Yak-42 jet outside the western city of Yaroslavl took the lives of 37 players, coaches and staff of the local Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey club. The only other person to survive, flight crew member Alexander Sizov, remained in intensive care at Moscow's Sklifosovsky hospital. |
| September 6th, 2011 - LONDON, England - Canadian authors Esi Edugyan and Patrick deWitt have made the short list for the Man Booker Prize, Britain's most prestigious literary award. Victoria-based Edugyan is in the running for the prize — worth 50,000 pounds (about $80,000 Cdn) — for her second novel, "Half-Blood Blues." It's about black jazz musicians trying to survive in Europe during the Second World War. Vancouver Island native deWitt, who now lives in the U.S., is a nominee for his second novel, "The Sisters Brothers," a comical western set amid the 1850s California gold rush. A total of six novelists made the Booker short list, announced Tuesday morning in London. They include multiple Booker finalist Julian Barnes for the memory-haunted "The Sense of an Ending," and Stephen Kelman's debut novel, "Pigeon English." |
| September 1st, 2011 - TORONTO - The NHL's summer of sadness continued Wednesday after recently retired player Wade Belak was found dead in Toronto, becoming the third enforcer to die in a harrowing span of four months. He was 35. Belak's body was discovered at a downtown hotel and condo complex early Wednesday afternoon. Specific details of his death were not immediately available, but there have been media reports that he took his own life. The news struck a tragic chord around the hockey world, particularly in the wake of the recent deaths of New York Rangers forward Derek Boogaard and Winnipeg Jets forward Rick Rypien. "As everyone knows there have been some real losses that we've experienced over the years, but it never seemed like there was three in a row like this," said Pat Quinn, who coached Belak when he played in Toronto. "Anybody that's around this game, you feel like it's part of your big family, and that includes the fans and all the people that support these players and get to know them. We've lost a lot in the last three months. |
| August 31st, 2011 - TORONTO - About a thousand people have gathered at a downtown cathedral to remember Toronto's ninth Catholic archbishop. Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic died Friday after a lengthy illness at age 81. Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Ontario Lt.-Gov. David Onley, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion are among the dignitaries attending his funeral at St. Michael’s Cathedral. Ambrozic served as archbishop of Toronto from 1990 to 2006. He was a priest for 56 years and a bishop for 35. In January 1998, former pope John Paul nominated him as Cardinal, which allowed him to take part in the conclave of 2005 that elected Pope Benedict. Ambrozic served on a number of Vatican committees related to immigration, culture, worship and the economy. He also hosted World Youth Day in 2002, the largest gathering of Catholic youth in Canadian history. |
