ALTERNATIVES TO GOVERNMENT RUN SCHOOLS

The more provincial governments clash with school boards and unions over education issues, the more parents consider alternatives to government-run schools. The common objection is that social outcomes such as tolerance and civic engagement would suffer if more students attended independent religious schools. In fact, recent research suggests the opposite is true.

 

LIBERALS KEEPING OPP BUSY

Two Ontario Liberals were charged Tuesday with bribery under the Election Act, potentially setting the stage for a second Liberal trial in the run-up to the 2018 election.

The charges against Pat Sorbara, the party's CEO and 2018 campaign director, and Liberal operative Gerry Lougheed stem from allegations the pair offered a would-be candidate a job or appointment to get him to step aside in a 2015 byelection in Sudbury.

 

CORRIVEAU CONVICTED

More than 10 years after being described as the "central figure" in an elaborate and lucrative sponsorship kickback scheme, a man once close to ex-prime minister Jean Chretien was convicted on three fraud-related charges.

A jury found Jacques Corriveau, 83, guilty on Tuesday after a trial in which the Crown alleged he pocketed $6.5 million by using his firm to defraud Ottawa in contracts awarded during the sponsorship program.

 

BURYING ALBERTA

EDMONTON — The legal rubber has hit the road on Alberta's promise to cap greenhouse gas emissions from the oilsands — the engine of the province's economy.

Environment Minister Shannon Phillips introduced Bill 25 in the legislature Tuesday that, if passed and enacted, will forbid oilsands industries from collectively emitting more than 100 megatonnes of greenhouse gases a year.

 

ALBERTA NDP FOUND IN CONTEMPT OF LEGISLATURE

The provincial government was rapped on the knuckles Tuesday for carbon tax radio ads it aired this past summer.

Government isn't allowed to promote legislation still making its way through the house — and Bill 20, which includes the carbon tax, had yet to be given an official thumbs-up.

It's the second time the NDP has been ruled out of order for its public communications.

 

NOTLEY'S BULLSH!T

The NDP government — facing continuing heat over its incoming carbon tax — said Monday that the provincial economy will take only a “relatively small” hit from its ambitious climate strategy, with potential greater benefits to follow.

The government released a one-page report on the first day of the fall legislature sitting saying that its climate plan — which also includes a cap on greenhouse gas emissions from the oilsands and an accelerated phase-out of coal-fired power — will slow economic growth by 0.05 per cent annually, or approximately 0.4 per cent overall by 2022.

 

CLINTON EMAIL SCANDAL EXPLAINED

Hillary Clinton is in the spotlight over the worst scandal for a presidential candidate since Watergate.

The FBI has a search warrant for Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s laptop, obtained Sunday night after new emails surfaced in the law enforcement investigation of Abedin’s husband Anthony Weiner for allegedly sexting with a minor.