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© St. Petersburg Times, published December 8, 2002
The government remains committed to a firearms tracking system, even though money for the registry has been frozen because of a controversy.
Justice Minister Martin Cauchon made the commitment Friday at a ceremony marking the 13th anniversary of a shooting rampage at a Montreal university that left 14 women dead.
The gun registry was one of the changes to federal firearms laws sparked by the killings by a woman-hating gunman at Ecole Polytechnique.
Auditor General Sheila Fraser called the program a mismanaged boondoggle, with costs escalating into the billions. Under pressure, the government cut off further funding while a review is conducted.
Conservative leader Joe Clark said the program is not serving public safety and should be terminated.
At a march in Montreal, the Quebec Federation of Women said violence against women has not decreased significantly in the years since gunman Marc Lepine, who also killed himself, stalked the halls of the University of Montreal's engineering school.
A huge decorated Christmas tree now adorns Nathan Phillips Square outside Toronto City Hall. Council members unanimously approved Mayor Mel Lastman's motion to ensure it is not called a "holiday tree" as some staff members insisted. "Coniferous trees adorned with lights, decorations and stars have always been and always will be Christmas trees," Lastman said. Council member Gloria Lindsay-Luby said "staff were attempting to be inclusive by calling the tree a holiday tree and their hearts were in the right place, but they went too far in the name of political correctness."
A study shows that screening new immigrants from developing countries for latent tuberculosis and treating them if they test positive would save countries like Canada, the United States and Australia millions of dollars in medical costs later. Health Canada will examine the findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Canada's jobless rate fell to 7.5 percent in November from 7.6 percent in October because of an unexpected rebound in full-time work and manufacturing, Statistics Canada said.
The Canadian dollar is slightly lower at 63.87 cents U.S. while a U.S. dollar returns $1.5656 Canadian before bank exchange fees.
The Bank of Canada has decided against making any change to its key interest rate of 2.75 percent, while the prime lending rate remains at 4.5 percent.
Canadian stock exchanges are higher, with the Toronto index at 6,577 points and the Canadian Venture Exchange 976 points.
Lotto 6-49: (Wednesday) 1, 3, 4, 11, 34 and 40; bonus 47. (Nov. 30) 1, 2, 12, 30, 37 and 43; bonus 47.
The federal and British Columbia governments will provide $200-million each to expand Vancouver's convention center. As well, the tourism industry will add $90-million to build the new facilities adjacent to the center at Canada Place on Vancouver's harbor.
Tributes were paid to Ralph Klein on his 10th anniversary as premier of Alberta. Saying he's "having fun doing politics," Klein indicated he has no plans to retire. He is to decide in two years whether he will seek a fourth term for the Conservatives.
Quebec will need to raise taxes or slash services to maintain a balanced budget next year, Finance Minister Pauline Marois says. Those are the only options if additional grants aren't available from the federal government, she said.
Health Canada is developing national guidelines to protect people from infectious diseases in group settings. The initiative follows the death last year of 2-year-old Jeffrey Bates after an E. coli outbreak at a YMCA day care in Saint John, New Brunswick. An investigation called for national guidelines to manage intestinal diseases in day care centers and high-risk communities like homes for the elderly.