Canada report

Company makes 'neighborly' offer of flu vaccine to U.S.

A Canadian company is offering to sell 1.2-million doses of surplus flu vaccine to the United States as Americans continue to flood across the border for shots.

The U.S. administration is considering the offer from ID Biomedical as it tries to fill the shortage of supplies that could leave many people unprotected.

Some groups say the Canadian supply will run out, but Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada's chief public health officer, defended the right of ID Biomedical to sell its surplus. He said it has met all its commitments to the Canadian market.

Michele Roy, of ID Biomedical, said the vaccine would go to high-risk people if the United States decides to import it.

If it came down to a choice between vaccinating a healthy Canadian or an ailing, elderly American, the call would be an easy one, Butler-Jones said.

"That's not very neighborly - I would give it to the American who's at high risk."

U.S. residents aren't eligible for vaccine reserved for publicly funded flu shot programs paid for by the Canadian provinces and territories. Their shots come from privately purchased vaccine and they are being charged about $16.

The Ontario Court of Appeal will consider whether Steven Truscott was unjustly convicted of murder at the age of 14.

Truscott's 45-year wait to clear his name likely will drag on for at least two more years after Justice Minister Irwin Cotler referred the case to the court where evidence that wasn't presented at trial can be heard.

"There is a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred in this case," Cotler said. In 1959, Truscott, now of Guelph, Ontario, was convicted of raping and murdering a neighbor, Lynne Harper, 12. He has always maintained his innocence. His death sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1960, and he was released on parole in 1969.

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled it is legal for police to scan homes using heat-detecting equipment. The ruling overturns an Ontario Court of Appeal decision that described police infrared aerial surveillance as a technological invasion of privacy. The equipment is used to survey houses for signs of hidden marijuana-growing operations.

Canada might have to consider doubling immigration levels to help fill enormous gaps in its skilled work force, Labor Minister Joe Fontana said. Even that won't be enough to cope with the shortage of trained workers and lagging productivity, he said. Three Canadians are among an international delegation of 28 unofficial monitors from 14 countries who will oversee the U.S. presidential election. The group is organized by the NAACP and the international civil rights group Pax Christi USA. The multinational observers intend to be watchdogs of the voting process. Taking part are Barry McGrory and Joan Montgomerie, both of Toronto, and Mel Watkins of Carleton University in Ottawa.

Canada's dollar is rising higher, closing Friday at to 82.1 U.S. cents, while a U.S. dollar returned $1.218 Canadian before bank exchange fees.

The Bank of Canada's key interest rate is 2.5 percent, while the prime lending rate is 4.25 percent.

Canadian stock markets are mixed, with Toronto's composite index higher at 8,870 points and the Canadian Venture Exchange lower at 1,630 points.

Lotto 6-49: (Wednesday) 29, 30, 33, 34, 37 and 46; bonus 47. (Oct. 23) 1, 8, 13, 24, 27 and 43; bonus 36.

Alberta Premier Ralph Klein is seeking re-election for his Conservative government on Nov. 22. Voters in the oil-rich province, without a provincial sales tax and about to pay off its government debt, elected 73 Conservatives in the 83-seat Legislature in the last election. Klein seeks his fourth term. Voters will decide on a new government in British Columbia on May 17, but the ruling Liberal government of Premier Gordon Campbell lost a by-election vote to the socialist New Democrats in Surrey. The Liberals have 77 members in the 79-seat Legislature.

Nova Scotia, Canada's only province that doesn't allow Sunday shopping, isn't about to change. Polls showed strong support to end the ban, but in an election, voters decided 55 percent to 45 percent to keep stores closed on Sundays.

Jim Fox can be reached at (519) 888-4444 or canadareporthotmail.com.

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