The Canada Report

Departing deputy prime minister considers ambassador offer

Deputy Prime Minister John Manley is leaving federal politics but is said to be considering an offer to become the Canadian ambassador to Washington.

Manley, 53, who is also Canada's finance minister, said he wants to move on to new challenges and will leave the Cabinet once Paul Martin takes over as prime minister on Dec. 12.

Martin was elected by the Liberals to succeed retiring Prime Minister Jean Chretien and offered the ambassador job to Manley who told him he "wanted to reflect on it (before making a decision)."

A former tax lawyer, Manley was briefly involved in the Liberal leadership race to replace Chretien but dropped out early when he realized he couldn't defeat Martin.

In recent years, Manley developed a close working relationship with Tom Ridge, the American homeland security chief.

Manley said he has been considering his future for some time, especially since there is speculation he might be considered to become secretary-general of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

There's another snag in the proposal to merge Canada's two right-wing parties.

Conservative politician John Herron, of Fundy-Royal, said he wouldn't run for such a group because he doesn't believe it would be progressive enough.

Herron said he will stay and fight for the old Progressive Conservative Party if delegates reject the proposed merger with the Canadian Alliance at the ratification vote next Saturday.

He said his worst suspicions were confirmed when Saskatchewan Canadian Alliance Member of Parliament Larry Spencer suggested homosexuality should be outlawed.

The comments confirmed fears among some Conservatives that the new party would be branded as intolerant.

Prime minister-in-waiting Paul Martin has started reorganizing the top office of the land by appointing Tim Murphy, a former member of the Provincial Parliament, to be his chief of staff. Martin also named former federal Cabinet Minister Francis Fox, a member of his transition committee, to be principal secretary.

Quebec Health Minister Philippe Couillard says he was only doing his job when he criticized a Montreal hospital director whose body was found a day later in what police say was probably suicide. The body of Leon Lafleur, 56, head of the St-Charles Borromee Hospital, was discovered in a motel. Before his death, Lafleur defended the hospital from allegations that a disabled woman was repeatedly the target of verbal abuse by orderlies.

Health Minister Anne McLellan says she remains committed to a national home care program as recommended in a report on Canada's health care system.

While Roy Romanow's royal commission report on the future of Medicare is now a year old, McLellan denied that its recommendations have been forgotten. Home care is a priority and under active negotiation, she said.

Canada's dollar has moved higher to 77.03 cents while a U.S. dollar returns $1.2981 Canadian, before bank exchange fees.

The currency has been under pressure after reports pointed to a shaky economy and speculation the Bank of Canada might cut interest rates on Tuesday.

The Bank of Canada's key interest rate is unchanged at 2.75 percent and the prime lending rate is 4.5 percent.

Canadian stock exchanges were higher, with the Toronto index at 7,874 points and the Canadian Venture Exchange 1,676 points on Friday.

Lotto 6-49: (Wednesday) 3, 5, 7, 25, 40 and 47; bonus 42. (Nov. 22) 2, 16, 25, 34, 37 and 48; bonus 13.

James Driskell of Winnipeg was freed from prison after 12 years while federal officials determine whether he was wrongly convicted of murder. Judge John Scurfield ordered Driskell released, saying he has "very serious concerns with the accuracy of the conviction." Driskell was convicted in 1991 for the murder of his friend, Perry Harder. DNA tests have now determined that hair samples used to convict him were wrongly identified.

Terry Curtis, 48, accused of beating New Brunswick Member of Parliament Andy Scott, was ordered to undergo a 30-day psychiatric assessment. He was arrested for assaulting Scott and making death threats over the politician's support for same-sex marriages. Scott was taken to a hospital in Fredericton and treated after the incident at his office last weekend.

British Columbia's forest industry was the top producer of ultra-toxic dioxins and furans, three environmental groups say after studying federal government data. Officials of Norske Canada, named in the report as the worst polluter, accused the groups of fear-mongering. They said the groups used two-year-old data and that things have improved since then.

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