Canada report

By JIM FOX

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 26, 2001

As Alliance bickers, the Liberals benefit

Canada's governing Liberals continue to ride a crest of popularity, especially Prime Minister Jean Chretien, but they can't take all the credit.

Party pollster Michael Marzolini told the party's national caucus meeting in Edmonton that some of the new support isn't solid but is the result of in-fighting by the Canadian Alliance party.

The Liberals have benefited by the public demands by Alliance members to force Stockwell Day to quit as leader, claiming he's ineffective.

Chretien's popularity rate tops out at 63 percent while the Liberals were 52 percent nationally in a recent poll, Marzolini said.

He told Liberals they would have to work to turn the support into votes, which will be a challenge with the economic slowdown.

A year ago "they were saying Stockwell Day was another Pierre Trudeau," Chretien said at a party barbecue. "Remember that I knew better, that's why I called an election."

The Alliance badly trailed the Liberals in the election but became the official Opposition in the Commons with 66 members. A dozen politicians have since quit the caucus until Day quits or they can merge with the Conservatives.

Quebeckers convinced independence key

The independence of Quebec would benefit all of Canada, Premier Bernard Landry told his Parti Quebecois Cabinet.

Canadians must stop fighting independence and embrace it as an opportunity to reform the federation, he said.

"Reorganizing Canada and creating a European confederation between Quebec and Canada would be a very good thing for everyone," he said. "We're going to try to convince our friends in the rest of Canada that this must be done."

Meanwhile, a bronze bust of the late Quebec premier Rene Levesque was unveiled Friday at the headquarters of Hydro Quebec on what would have been his 79th birthday.

News in brief

Media baron Conrad Black is bidding adieu to Canada after revoking his citizenship and selling off most of his newspapers. Black made the "painful" decision to sell his remaining half-interest in the National Post he launched in 1998 to partner CanWest Global Communications. Black gave up his citizenship because Prime Minister Chretien blocked his path to becoming a British lord by not allowing a Canadian citizen to accept a foreign honor. Black lives much of the year in England where his company publishes the Telegraph.

Public-service workers across the country held their second "workless Wednesday," leaving their jobs to back contract demands. The 77,000 members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada want a 5 percent pay raise in each of the next three years. They've been offered between 2 and 2.5 percent a year.

Facts and figures

There's little change in the Canadian dollar, valued at 64.96 cents U.S. The U.S. dollar returns $1.5395 Canadian before bank exchange fees.

The Bank of Canada interest rate is steady at 4.5 percent while the prime lending rate is 6 percent.

Stock markets were lower Friday, with the Toronto 300 Index at 7,629 points while the Canadian Venture index was 3,074 points.

Lotto 6-49: (Wednesday) 5, 13, 15, 28, 31 and 34; bonus 18. (Aug. 18) 5, 19, 26, 29, 40 and 42; bonus 14.

Regional briefs

The potentially deadly West Nile virus has crossed the border into Canada after first appearing in New York City two years ago. Two dead birds in Windsor, Ontario, a neighbor of Detroit, and one in Oakville near Toronto, were found to have died from the virus spread by mosquitoes. The virus is fatal in humans only in rare cases.

New Brunswick's worst outbreak of E. coli infection, affecting 23 people, has been linked to a restaurant in Balmoral. Dr. Wayne MacDonald, chief medical health officer, said the contamination was a one-time event. He's waiting for test results on food samples from the unnamed restaurant. Five people required hospital treatment.

British Columbia's controversy over smoking at restaurants and bars is on hold until next year. The Liberal government decided to delay a provincewide ban on smoking in public buildings that was to take effect Sept. 10. The new deadline is April 30.

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