Windsor balks at swingers’ advances
…WINDSOR – The owners of a Toronto swingers club are looking to take their business to Windsor, but even the local adult entertainment czar is reluctant to welcome a partner-swapping venue to the city.
…Wicked Club, Ontario’s only on-premises swingers club, is looking to open a location in Windsor within a year to address demand in the area and the United States, said co-owner Shlomo Ben Zion yesterday.
…But Rob Katzman, founder of Katzman Enterprises, which runs several downtown Windsor adult entertainment venues, said he would not collaborate with Wicked Club or allow swinging in one of his clubs.
“..The truth is, we’re intimidated by the idea,” he said. “We’re not sure a swingers club has a place in Windsor. It may have a place in Toronto, but not here.”
…Although the Supreme Court ruled that consenting adults who engage in sexual activities such as partner swapping, voyeurism and exhibitionism behind closed doors are not committing indecent acts—thus legalizing swingers clubs—Mr. Katzman said he is committed to respecting the views of Windsor police and city officials.
Ottawa set to vote on extending Afghan mission
…The House of Commons is set to vote Wednesday on whether to extend Canada’s mission in Afghanistan by two more years.
…The Harper government caught opposition parties by surprise Monday with a motion to keep Canadian troops in the war torn country until February 2009.
…Harper has until now brushed off calls for a full-scale debate and vote by legislators on the mission.
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..Reports say that MPs have agreed to a six-hour debate and then a vote on the motion on Wednesday.…(CTV’s Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife said) “More importantly, it’s about politics. The Conservatives are worried about the Liberal leadership race; they’re afraid that the next leader may pull the plug on Liberal support for Afghanistan, so they want to get it over now.”
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Parliament to vote Wednesday on extending Afghanistan mission…The snap preparations for a vote on the controversial mission comes after two Canadian soldiers were injured while on patrol in Kandahar Monday, and shortly after four soldiers were killed in a road-side bomb attack several weeks ago.
…The Liberals, who sent Canadian soldiers to Afghanistan shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, are in the midst of a leadership race and are deeply divided on the issue.
…The New Democrats are the party most likely to oppose redeployment. NDP foreign affairs critic Alexa McDonough has just returned from Afghanistan and will present a preliminary report on the Canadian mission to her caucus on Wednesday, NDP sources said.
Leaked details not accurate: Auditor
…OTTAWA (CP) – Auditor General Sheila Fraser isn’t happy some of her findings about the federal gun registry were leaked to the media, but she and her officials see no need to call in the police.
…“In our opinion there has been no breach of the law that would require us to report the incident to the RCMP,” Fraser told the Commons public accounts committee on Monday. “Rather there has been a breach of the government security policy.”
…Fraser said there were “important inaccuracies” in the details of the story, leading her to believe the information was obtained verbally, rather than from a printed copy of the report.
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Feds will deregister long guns, shotguns: CTV
…The federal government is set to make big changes to Canada’s controversial gun registry, CTV News has learned.
…Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day is expected to announce changes Tuesday to the registry that would include an amnesty for rifles and shotgun owners.
…That would mean that only handguns and semi-automatic weapons will be placed on the list.
Keep troops away from our border: Grit
…OTTAWA—An American initiative to put National Guard troops on its Mexican border has no place on Canada’s edge of the country, politicians and a binational tourism organization warned yesterday.
…Liberal interim leader and former foreign affairs minister Bill Graham said congressmen and senators from northern states would agree that there is no call for such action up north.
…“I would be horrified if that were the case, and I believe that our American colleagues in Congress would be equally horrified,” Graham told reporters yesterday.
…A director with a binational tourism organization agrees with Graham, but worries that such rhetoric around the Mexican border will inevitably turn some U.S. politicians’ gaze toward Canada.
Clinton urges caution with private health-care
…TORONTO—They were in town to discuss economics and humanity but it was Canada’s health-care system the audience wanted advice about.
…Asked about the growing interest by some for a privatization of the health-care system, former U.S. president Bill Clinton said Monday night that Canadians should think long and hard before making any move.
…“Whatever you do, there’s no such thing as a perfect system,” the charismatic leader told the approximately 250 dinner guests, which included Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and businessman Conrad Black, attending the inaugural World Leaders Forum.
