Tories smell new scandal over gun registry costs
Gun registry costs may heat up againOTTAWA – The former Liberal government “broke every rule in the book” when it signed a $273-million computer contract for the federal gun registry—now the subject of a “stop-work” order—and never reported the costs or terms of the deal to Parliament, a longtime Conservative gun-registry critic alleges.
…Saskatchewan Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz, who discovered the existence of the 15-year contract last fall, said that it was never reported to Parliament in government estimates on spending, or disclosed by the Treasury Board, which controls the government purse.
…A Tory source referred to the 383-page contract, which was obtained by Breitkreuz under the Access to Information Act and provided to CanWest News Service, as the “smoking gun” in the troubled saga of the Canadian Firearms Centre.
…Former Liberal public works minister Scott Brison disputed the Tory allegations Thursday. “To the best of my knowledge we were extremely vigorous” in reporting gun registry costs to Parliament, he said.
Related Story:Leaked gun registry audit angers Fraser
Opposition MPs accuse ToriesOTTAWA—Auditor General Sheila Fraser is “very upset’’ by the leak of an upcoming audit report dealing with the federal gun registry—and she says she has strong suspicions about who gave it to the media.
CBC: Coren wasn’t blacklisted
Ruth-Ellen Soles, National Post
(FYI – Ruth Ellen Soles is the CBC director of media relations)…Re: Blacklisted By The CBC, Michael Coren, May 10.
…Mr. Coren claims that he has been blacklisted by CBC. He most definitely has not been.
…He was booked for a political panel on CBC News: Sunday, but when the unit met to discuss the panel’s composition, it decided to go with another panellist instead: Deborah Grey.
Letters defending Mr. Coren:
Coren and the CBC
Published: Thursday, May 11, 2006Re: Blacklisted By The CBC, Michael Coren, May 10.
Published: Thursday, May 11, 2006..It’s a drag that someone as eloquent, sensible and talented as Michael Coren was again banned by our custodians of tolerance and diversity at CBC.
Coren and the CBC
It is about time Canadians understood how media is at times controlled in our country. (That’s the whole letter. Pithy & to the point)
Promises pump polls
…Canadian voters who bought into that whole “hidden agenda” fairy tale about the federal Tories seem to be awakening to the fact that they were fed a load of nonsense during two election campaigns.
…For the third time in less than a week a major public opinion poll has shown Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservatives riding a wave of support and opening a wide gap in popularity over the Liberals.
…Canadians aren’t accustomed to governments doing what they said they’d do—hardly surprising, given the Liberal penchant of saying anything to get elected, and then tossing aside their promises as soon as the votes were counted.
Muslim girls allowed private swim test
Religion makes ripples in pool
Montreal-area school focus for debate…MONTREAL—The decision to close a high school pool to give three Muslim girls a private swimming class is stoking debate over the place of faith in Quebec’s public institutions.
At issue is the practice known as “reasonable accommodation” for religious views, one that’s increasingly common in a city that’s home to most of Quebec’s immigrants.
…The board argues it is simply respecting provisions of a recent Supreme Court judgment on wearing Sikh kirpans (ceremonial daggers) in classrooms that set limits on restricting religious rights.
…The most recent chapter in the argument centres on a request from three Muslim students at Antoine-Brossard high school in the South Shore suburb of Brossard, who asked to be excused from swimming class because their religion rejects sharing a pool with men.
…Several Toronto public school pools offer weekly all-girl swim periods for Muslim girls whose religion prohibits them from wearing bathing suits in front of boys.
…The University of Toronto provides a 90-minute all-female swim time each Monday, Wednesday and Friday in a pool in the main athletic building, and a one-hour women’s swim period Sundays.
…During these times, blinds are drawn in the viewing gallery to prohibit observation, and only female lifeguards are on duty
