Brenda Martin returned to Canada after spending two years in a Mexican prison. More than 100 legal experts signed an open letter saying that the federal government’s “misleading” claims about why it rejected the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples did “a grave disservice to the cause of human rights,” and the prime minister said that the death of 500 ducks in a toxic tar-sands wastewater pond was hurting Canada’s international image. Troops in Afghanistan began talking with the Taliban, and the Conservatives and Greens raised five times as much money as the Liberals and the Bloc, respectively, during the first three months of the year. Parliament approved legislation to let the government set mandatory minimum amounts of biofuel in gasoline and diesel fuel.
High food prices, caused partly by biofuel production, were hitting Afghanistan particularly hard, where the cost of wheat flour has shot up 75 per cent in three months. A conference on investment in Palestinian territories got underway in London, and the U.S. was increasingly concerned about Iran’s nuclear program. Police made their way through the home of an Austrian man looking for more dungeons, and the Olympic torch made its way through Hong Kong. RIM was rumoured to be developing an “iPhone killer.”
We reviewed Iron Man, Standard Operating Procedure, Fugitive Pieces, Made of Honor, The Band’s Visit, London To Brighton, and Taxi To The Dark Side. Rick McGinnis wrote about American Idol for reasons not even he fully understands.
