Police question student pilot, others

Canadian authorities continue to question 21 Pakistanis suspected of having al-Qaida terrorist links and who are illegally in the country.

Some of them attempted to obtain schematics and drawings of Toronto's CN Tower and other landmarks and were engaged in other suspicious activity, police said.

Those in custody include student pilot Anwar ur Rehman Mohammed, who regularly flew over the Toronto-area Pickering Nuclear Power Plant. Two others were detained on a beach at 4 a.m. near the power plant on Lake Ontario.

They entered Canada in the past few years with student visas to study computer science at the Ottawa Business College.

Immigration officials said the school, which has since closed, had issued false documents allowing students to obtain visas. As well, the government had provided student loans to those apprehended.

Meanwhile, Canada shares U.S. fears about a potential revival of al-Qaida terrorism, including the chance of air hijackings in Canada, Deputy Prime Minister John Manley said.

Manley said he spoke with Tom Ridge, U.S. homeland security chief, about fears terrorists might again try to use planes "as bombs." Although there is no indication of an immediate threat, Canadians shouldn't think they're exempt from such dangers, he said.

The United States has been given 100 days to prove its claims that Canadian softwood exports threaten the American lumber industry.

The order by a North American Free Trade Agreement panel was hailed as "the beginning of the end" of the trade dispute.

In a unanimous binding ruling, the panel said the International Trade Commission in Washington has failed to show that Canadian timber pricing practices have hurt or threatened U.S. producers.

International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew said the decision bolsters Canada's legal case against U.S. duties that total about 27 percent on Canadian softwood. It also adds to a growing list of favorable panel rulings from both NAFTA and the World Trade Organization.

- Ontario's Conservative Premier Ernie Eves, with power blackouts and SARS behind him, set Oct. 2 as the date for a provincial election. Polls give Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty a comfortable lead, while third is the New Democrats' Howard Hampton. Eves promises to relieve seniors of all education taxes and is offering up to $500 a year in home mortgage interest deductions, a first for Canada.

- An elderly Ottawa man has died of complications from the West Nile virus, becoming the second person in Canada this year to succumb to the illness spread by infected mosquitoes. The other death was in Windsor, Ontario. Last year Canada had 400 cases of the virus, mostly in southern Ontario, with 21 deaths, two in Quebec.

- Thousands of people have again fled from their homes in Kelowna, British Columbia, as the Okanagan Mountain Park wildfire was whipped by strong winds. Two weeks ago, the fire destroyed 240 homes and forced 30,000 people out of the area. The blaze, which was started by lightning Aug. 16, covers about 89 square miles and is only 60 percent contained.

There's speculation that Newfoundland Premier Roger Grimes is about to set the date for a provincial election. He summoned his Liberal Caucus for a meeting today, which could set the date as early as the last week of September, the same week elections will be held in Prince Edward Island. Polls show the Conservatives lead with 54 percent support to the Liberals' 36 percent and 6 percent for the New Democrats.

A frustrated Alberta Premier Ralph Klein told a visiting Japanese dignitary that he was upset over Japan's continued refusal to accept Canadian beef after one case of mad cow disease was found earlier this year. Klein also says he is so certain Canadian beef is safe he would pay anyone from Japan $10-billion if he or she were to contract the disease after eating nothing but beef for a year.

Canada's central bank trimmed its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 2.75 percent as commercial banks lowered the prime-lending rate to 4.5 percent.

The dollar rose to a two-month high of 73.01 cents U.S. on Friday while the U.S. dollar returned $1.3696 Canadian before bank exchange fees.

The jobless rate jumped to 8 percent in August from 7.8 percent in July.

Canadian stock exchanges were higher, with the Toronto index at 7,612 points and the Canadian Venture Exchange, 1,342 points on Friday.

Lotto 6-49: (Wednesday) 13, 15, 16, 18, 26 and 33; bonus 9; (Aug. 30) 3, 6, 37, 38, 45 and 47; bonus 11.

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