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By JIM FOX
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 17, 2000
Two top conservatives win elections
The leaders of Canada's two right-wing parties are now members of Parliament after decisive by-election victories.
Stockwell Day, leader of the newly formed Canadian Alliance, had a runaway win while Conservative chief Joe Clark's victory was tarnished by more defections from his party.
Day, 50, former treasurer of the Alberta government, led the pack of eight candidates in the British Columbia interior district of Okanagan-Coquihalla.
A former prime minister, Clark, 61, had his triumph in the Nova Scotia riding of Kings-Hants overshadowed on election night Monday as Quebec members of Parliament David Price and Diane St-Jacques quit to join the Liberals.
Day also becomes leader of the opposition in the Commons as he succeeds Preston Manning, former head of the now-defunct Reform Party, with 58 representatives.
The defections, along with Clark's win, take the Conservatives down to 17 members from 19 a year ago.
There's still no sign publicly of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, 80, who is receiving medical treatment at his Montreal home.
His ex-wife, Margaret Kemper, left the house last weekend after spending two days with Trudeau and his two sons, saying he was "fine" and in stable condition.
She arrived after Justin and Sacha Trudeau released a statement saying their father was "not well" and resting at home.
There has been no official word on the nature of Trudeau's illness, but friends say he's in the early stages of Parkinson's disease.
Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard will make good on a promise to promote independence for his province. Bouchard's government will launch a sovereignty blitz this fall by holding meetings and sending out 100,000 fliers. Polls show two-thirds of Quebeckers don't want another vote on leaving Canada.
Syndicated cartoonist Ben Wicks has died in Toronto of a rare form of skin cancer. Formerly with the defunct Telegram and Toronto Sun, he was 73.
More E. coli bacteria has been found in the municipal water system in Walkerton, Ontario, but medical officials say it isn't the same strain that killed six people and sickened 2,000 in May. The new bacteria doesn't cause sickness in humans.
A ceremony was held in Jacques Cartier Park in Hull, Quebec, last weekend to launch the Trans Canada Trail. Water collected from the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans bordering Canada were poured into a ceremonial vessel by relay teams that crossed the country. It marked the opening of the 9,600-mile trail, the longest recreational pathway in the world.
The Canadian dollar returns 67.50 cents in U.S. funds while the U.S. dollar is worth $1.4814 Canadian, before exchange fees.
There was no change in the Bank of Canada key interest rate of 6 percent or the 7.5 percent prime lending rate.
The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 Index is 10,557 points while the Canadian Venture Exchange index is 3,613 points.
Lotto 6-49: (Sept. 9) 9, 11, 19, 22, 24 and 42; bonus 12. (Sept. 13) 02, 10, 27, 29, 31, 49; bonus 46 (Wednesday)
A strike by 7,600 workers that closed 46 Zehrs food stores in southern Ontario ended Tuesday after five days. The members of the United Food and Commercial Workers were seeking higher wages and improved benefits. The stores are a division of the Weston-Loblaws chain.
More doctors who are demanding a more rapid solution to their labor dispute have left their jobs in small British Columbia communities. Specialist physicians in Trail and Quesnel walked off the job a day after the province's medical association agreed on hiring a mediator. Problems include overwork due to a lack of doctors and the need to upgrade equipment.
An Alberta government review committee is recommending that corporate and small business taxes be cut nearly in half. Dropping the rates to 8 percent and 3 percent, respectively, within five years would make the province more competitive internationally, it said.
Former Ontario Premier Bob Rae will try to mediate an end to the violent dispute over lobster fishing rights by natives in New Brunswick. But aboriginal fishermen vow to continue fishing for lobster out of season.