Canada report

By JIM FOX

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 21, 2001

Deputy premier favored to replace exiting Bouchard

A separatist hard-liner is poised to take over in Quebec after the resignation of Premier Lucien Bouchard.

Support is growing for the leadership bid by Finance Minister and Deputy Premier Bernard Landry, although he hasn't confirmed he'll attempt to replace Bouchard.

The Parti Quebecois premier, who remains in his position until a successor is chosen in about three months, cited personal reasons for resigning. Observers say he's quitting because of recent tensions with party members seeking the separation of Quebec from Canada.

Public Security Minister Serge Menard called Landry "the best candidate to attain our two main objectives: to continue governing under difficult circumstances and to convince the population that sovereignty is necessary."

In brief

Al Waxman, 65, the police lieutenant in the Cagney & Lacey TV series, has died in Toronto after heart bypass surgery. A star of radio, TV, film and theater, Waxman had a heart attack in 1987. He is survived by his journalist wife, Sara; his daughter, Tobaron; and son, Adam.

Ontario Premier Mike Harris could be among the witnesses called to testify at the second phase of an inquiry into the E. coli bacteria outbreak that killed seven people in Walkerton, Ontario. The inquiry will consider whether government policies or cutbacks led to the contamination of the municipal water supply last year.

Future Shop is making a "friendly" $200-million bid for Chapters bookstores. The surprise deal counters a hostile bid by financier Gerry Schwartz, whose wife, Heather Reisman, runs competitor Indigo bookstores.

Facts and figures

Canada's inflation rate is unchanged at 3.2 percent, the highest in 10 years because of high gasoline and natural gas prices.

After dropping below 66 cents U.S., the Canadian dollar edged higher Friday to 66.10 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returned $1.5128 Canadian before bank exchange fees.

The key interest rate of 6 percent and the 7.5 percent prime lending rate didn't change.

Stock markets were higher, with the Toronto 300 Index at 9,051 points Friday and the Canadian Venture Exchange at 3,110 points.

Lotto 6-49: (Wednesday) 3, 9, 11, 28, 29 and 47; bonus 37. (Jan. 13) 3, 5, 33, 40, 45 and 46; bonus 21.

Regional briefs

British Columbia Premier Ujjal Dosanjh said he is reconsidering offering energy rebates of $125 to $200 per person because of the power situation in California. The state's private power utilities owe millions of dollars to British Columbia Hydro and their inability to pay might affect the timing of a rebate, he said. The rebates are a way to ease soaring energy prices.

Canadian Alliance Leader Stockwell Day said he regrets playing a role in a libel suit that cost Alberta taxpayers $792,000 but insisted he acted in good faith. Lorne Goddard, a Red Deer lawyer and school trustee, sued Day when he was Alberta's treasurer in June 1999 for criticizing him in a letter to a newspaper for defending a man in a child pornography case.

In the east: The Supreme Court will hear an appeal concerning the New Brunswick government's decision to fire Judge Jocelyne Moreau-Berube. She was removed from the provincial court bench for questioning the honesty of Acadians. The latest attempt to sell a troubled Cape Breton steel mill to a Swiss company collapsed, putting hundreds out of work.

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