Opposition reacts to reports of Iraq threat

Canada's Opposition party in the Commons accuses the government of failing to protect allies and its own people by overlooking security warnings about Iraq.

Stockwell Day, foreign affairs critic for the Canadian Alliance, was commenting on reports that Canadian intelligence officials have been warning that Iraq has been attempting to build weapons of mass destruction.

The unclassified documents warn that Saddam Hussein appears to be developing nuclear and biological weapons, as well as long-range missiles needed to target his enemies.

Day said it is "alarming" the government did nothing with the intelligence reports. He is calling on the Liberal government to "help build a United Nations coalition against the bully from Baghdad."

Prime Minister Jean Chretien said his government is skeptical of the intelligence files of U.S. President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in making the case against Iraq and does not support any military action without "proof."

In brief

-- Montreal-based Bombardier Inc. is cutting 2,000 jobs from its aerospace division and temporarily laying off an additional 2,100 other workers due to a slower demand for business aircraft and aviation in general. There will be 915 jobs lost in Montreal, 365 in Toronto and the rest in the United States and Northern Ireland.

-- Workers at Bell Canada have ratified a pay-equity settlement that will give them cash payouts and added pension benefits totaling $178-million. The dispute was over union claims that thousands of Bell employees who are mostly female had been underpaid in the 1990s, compared with those in male-dominated positions.

-- Mounties Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli defended the force's plan to buy an $8.2-million plane. Zaccardelli said the federal police force has ordered a nine-passenger, twin-engine Italian-made Piaggio 180 Avanti. He called it "just one more aircraft" the Mounties need in their fleet.

Facts and figures

Profit warnings from corporations have driven Canadian stock exchanges lower. The Toronto exchange index closed at 6,111 points Friday while the Canadian Venture Exchange was 953 points.

Nortel Networks shares tumbled to a low of 70 cents on the Toronto exchange, down from more than $120 two years ago on warnings of declines in sales.

There is no change in the Bank of Canada key interest rate of 2.75 percent or the prime-lending rate of 4.5 percent.

The Canadian dollar dropped into the 62 cents U.S. range at midweek, but rose to 63.4 cents U.S. on Friday. The U.S. dollar returns $1.5772 Canadian before bank exchange fees.

Lotto 6-49: (Wednesday) 2, 24, 33, 34, 36, 37; bonus 48. (Sept. 21) 3, 19, 29, 34, 35, 36; bonus 11.

Regional briefs

-- The national office of the Canadian Union of Public Employees alleges more than $100,000 was diverted to Ontario division president Sid Ryan's campaign for national office of the country's largest union. Judy Darcy, national president, said police have been asked to investigate the misappropriation and diversion of the money.

-- Surgeries were canceled, cancer treatments delayed and critical-care patients airlifted out of Saskatchewan on Friday in the first day of a strike by 2,500 health-care professionals. The members of the Health Sciences Association are seeking higher pay.

-- Canada's Fisheries Department is imposing new measures to penalize vessels caught overfishing on the edge of Newfoundland's Grand Banks. Those caught breaking international fishing rules outside Canada's territorial waters will be banned from Canadian ports. A report said vessels from Spain and Portugal were responsible for most of the violations that are depleting fish stocks.

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