Ontario and Quebec signed a series of agreements on trade and the environment that are seen as pressuring the federal government to move more aggressively on those files. The B.C. attorney general has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate a polygamist community, and Stephen Harper rejected calls for an RCMP investigation into the Maxime Bernier affair. A group of high school students gathered at the U.S. embassy in Toronto to protest for the release of Canadian Omar Khadr. A recent 9-0 Supreme Court of Canada ruling said conditions under which Khadr is being held violate U.S. and international laws. “We’re in a high school, so a lot of the people are the same age that
Omar was when he was captured,” Grade 12 student Caitlin Worona said as
passing cars honked their horns in a show of support for the group. “My little sister is 15 and a half right now and I really feel that’s not fair.” Former federal NDP leader Alexa McDonough announced she won’t run in the next federal election, taking the opportunity to point out that Atlantic Canada has a particularly poor record when it comes to women seeking public office. “I hope a lot of people are thinking that it is sheer lunacy to have 32
members of Parliament in Ottawa and only one woman,” she said.
Workers in hazmat suits traveled around China spraying disinfectant as part of a government campaign to prevent disease outbreaks in the aftermath of last month’s earth quake, and safety concerns were being raised about reopened schools in Myanmar in the aftermath of last month’s cyclone. Pope Benedict told world leaders at a UN food summit that hunger
and malnutrition are “unacceptable” in a world that has enough
resources, and U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy was preparing to receive Chemo and radiation treatments. Bill Clinton was said to regret referring to a reporter who had been critical of his role in Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign as a “scumbag,” among other things.
CTV unveiled it’s fall lineup during a glitzy evening. Meanwhile Entertainment Tonight, which airs on Global, avoided mention of the fact that they’d prematurely declared the birth of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s twins. Legendary rocker Bo Diddley died at 79, and the Pittsburgh Penguins managed to stay alive.
