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NEW WESTMINSTER, British Columbia - A pig farmer accused of being Canada's worst serial killer was found guilty Sunday of six counts of second-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. The verdict ended the trial of Robert 'Willie' Pickton on the first six of 26 murder charges in the deaths of women, most of them prostitutes and drug addicts from a seedy Vancouver neighborhood. Pickton, 58, was tried for the killings of Mona Wilson, Sereena Abotsway, Marnie Frey, Brenda Wolfe, Andrea Joesbury and Georgina Papin. The defense acknowledged that their remains were found on Pickton's farm...

TORONTO (CP) - Ontario youth will be learning more about global warming and climate change by watching the film "An Inconvenient Truth." Al Gore's Academy Award-winning film has been donated to hundreds of schools through a partnership between the province and the Tides Canada Foundation. Ontario Environment Minister Laurel Broten says the former U.S. vice-president's film will inspire students to "reduce their environment impact." British Columbia was the first jurisdiction in North America to have the film distributed in schools when they received the DVDs in April. Tides Canada Foundation director Tim Draimin says the film helps viewers think about...

OTTAWA - The Quebec Ministry of Education has told unlicensed Christian evangelical schools that they must teach Darwin's theory of evolution and sex education or close their doors after a school board in the Outaouais region complained the provincial curriculum was not being followed. "Quebec children are legally required to follow the provincial curriculum ... but these evangelical schools teach their own courses on creationism and sexuality that don't follow the Quebec curriculum," said Pierre Daoust, director-general of the Commission Scolaire au Coeur-des-Vallees in Thurso, Que. Mr. Daoust's complaint sparked the province-wide investigation. Quebec law requires school boards to assure...

Truly, reality has come full circle, as Indymedia unwittingly imitates Little Green Footballs: Rachel Corrie Pancake Breakfast. (Hat tip: IDF Dave.) No, it’s not a joke. The Rachel Corrie Memorial Committee of Victoria Invites you to a pancake breakfast at Denny’s Restaurant Sunday March 12 , 2006 10 am. The Public is invited to a memorial pancake breakfast at Denny’s Restaurant on Douglas Street near Finlayson, 10 am, Sunday March 12, 2006 to celebrate the life and untimely death of Rachel Corrie, Peace Activist with the International Solidarity Movement. There will be a reading of selections from Ms. Corrie’s letters...

Shootout closes Peace Arch border crossing Last Updated Tue, 24 Jan 2006 23:47:40 EST CBC News A police chase at the Canada-U.S. border forced the closure of the Peace Arch border crossing south of Vancouver on Tuesday. It also caused dozens of Canadian guards to walk off the job, fearing for their safety. The incident started when two men, both murder suspects, tried to get into Canada. Officials say the two men, 38-year-old Ishtiaq Hussain and 22-year-old Jose Antonio Barajas, are now in custody. They are wanted on murder charges in California. But the arrest didn't come easy. One of...

Oh, Canada -- you're not really going to elect a Conservative majority on Monday, are you? That's a joke, right? I know you have a great sense of humor, and certainly a well-developed sense of irony, but this is no longer funny. Maybe it's a new form of Canadian irony -- reverse irony! OK, now I get it. First, you have the courage to stand against the war in Iraq -- and then you elect a prime minister who's for it. You declare gay people have equal rights -- and then you elect a man who says they don't. You...

Prime Minister Paul Martin is set to propose what Liberals are billing as a "total ban" on handguns today, in an election-campaign bid to show his party talking tough on gun crime, especially in Toronto. Liberal sources say that the proposed ban, to be announced by Martin today in Toronto, will be sweeping — only police and select security officers would be allowed to carry handguns. More money, on top of the $1.9 million announced in November, will also be promised for community policing in areas afflicted by gun violence, the sources said. Less than a month ago, Martin stood...

A clash between religious freedom of expression and the rights of gays to protection against hate literature, has put sacred biblical scriptures denouncing homosexuality on trial. On Thursday, the province's highest court reserved its decision on a human rights case that has the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Religious Freedom Alliance backing Regina resident Hugh Owens' fight to enter the political and controversial moral debate on gay rights by citing sacred scripture. "For the Christian community this is definitely a freedom of religion issue,'' said Alliance lawyer Janet Epp Buckingham. "The Bible is Censored,'' and "The Bible Considered...

Anti-gun activist shot Scarborough man killed at site of his annual Stop Violence BBQ Natalie Alcoba National Post Friday, August 26, 2005 TORONTO - A father was gunned down last night in the same Scarborough apartment building courtyard where he weeks ago staged a ''Stop-the-Violence'' barbecue, residents said. The shooting of the man -- identified by friends as Delroy, but known as ''Sploogle'' -- happened just before 7 p.m. on the basketball courts of an apartment building at 3181 Eglinton Avenue East, near Markham Road. Police said there was an altercation, and he was shot more than once by a...

Sikh youth hair attack 'victim' admits hoax CTV.ca News Staff A Sikh youth in B.C. has apologized for inventing a story of being set upon by a group of white men who cut his hair. The 17-year-old from Richmond, a Vancouver suburb, admitted to police he made up the story. Police had already been suspicious, because the attack, which had been alleged to have occurred in broad daylight on May 26, had generated no tips from the public. "He had fabricated the entire incident," RCMP Cpl. Peter Thiessen told reporters Saturday. "The injuries that we observed on him that required...

SASKATOON, SK, May 18, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Saskatchewan man has been charged and ordered to pay $17,500 in damages to several homosexuals as a result of a flyer he distributed in Regina, containing warnings against the dangers of a homosexual lifestyle that a human rights tribunal ruled was “hate speech.” On May 2, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal ordered William Whatcott to pay homosexual Guy Taylor $2,500 and $5,000 each to homosexuals Brenden Wallace, James Komar and Kathy Hamre for damages. The four had sued Whatcott for a flyer he had distributed in mailboxes between September 2001 and April...

Special Report Mad Court Disease Canada’s Judicial Virus Will Soon Target Christians by Rory Leishman TOUCHSTONE March, 2005 ~ Volume 18, Issue 2 Last fall, quite a number of liberals in the United States vowed to emigrate to Canada if George W. Bush were re-elected, but few have shown up. There is better reason to anticipate a flight in reverse—by Canadian Christians -seeking refuge in the United States from the oppressive edicts of Canada’s judges. Canada used to have an exemplary record of respect for human rights. That ended, ironically, with adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms...

n Eagan man's conservative blog has become the talk of Canada, where a publication ban left many people hungry for news of a government scandal. Edward Morrissey, 42, began posting allegations of corruption in the Canadian Liberal Party late Saturday on his Captain's Quarters blog, a web log, which he runs as a hobby. It defies a ban, instituted by a federal judge, Justice John Gomery, that severely limits what Canadians can publish about the investigation into allegations of money laundering and kickbacks in a government program from the 1990s. The scandal dominated national politics for a year and led...

MONTREAL — Canada's highest court gave its blessing to homosexual "marriage" yesterday, but protected religious organizations from being forced to sanction same-sex unions. The long-awaited decision permits the ruling Liberal Party to proceed with legislation to legalize the unions, making Canada the third nation to recognize homosexual unions, after with the Netherlands and Belgium. It's unlikely that Canadian "marriages" will be recognized as legal anywhere in the United States, including Massachusetts, which allows same-sex "marriage," but only for its residents or same-sex couples who plan to live in Massachusetts. A U.S. federal court already has ruled that Canadian same-sex "marriages"...

NELSON, B.C. - A community in the B.C. Interior has become a flashpoint for American anger over its plans to honour draft dodgers and deserters who fled to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War. The City of Nelson had announced earlier this month it would erect a bronze monument and hold a two-day festival in July 2006 in tribute to the war resisters. Then the FOX-TV network picked up the story, sparking widespread indignation across the U.S. Dr. Juergen Dankwort was a Vietnam-era conscientious objector who came to Canada, and he says the people of Nelson should stand firm on...

We are engaged in the hottest political debate of our time; that is, whether marriage should be redefined to include same-sex couples or other alternatives. Everything from morality, legal benefits, the impact on children, public schools, government and private businesses have been discussed in the media. Incredibly, almost no attention has been focused on the very real threats to our civil and religious liberties. Specifically, the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status given to thousands of churches, nursing homes, schools, ministries, universities and radio stations may be at risk if an organization "discriminates" against a legally protected status, such as same-sex marriage. What...

Same Sex Marriage is the Battle, not the War Advocates of same sex marriage have been preparing their arguments for years. The public ignored the issue as a fringe movement that would never make significant headway, so many religious and political leaders were caught off guard when a series of court rulings rapidly made it a hot public issue. It is no surprise then that much of the reasoning used in the political arena to oppose gay marriage has been disappointing and less effective than desired. Secular Citizens Caught between the staunch advocates for and against same sex marriage are...

Sometimes, protesters prove their opponents' point. In Canada last month, a dozen masked men wearing military camouflage burst into a Christian meeting at a Calgary, Alberta, hotel. They beat sticks together, hoisted signs, and roared slogans, drowning out a speech by Rev. Tristan Emmanuel on "Christophobia" and the actions taken against Christians for their unpopular views on homosexuality. "Haters!" screamed the self-proclaimed "Gay Militia" into the faces of men and women who had been meeting peacefully. "Bigots! ... What you are doing is a hate crime!" The raucous invasion lasted 10 to 15 minutes, said Jim Blake, regional director of...

A bill introduced by Canadian parliament member Svend Robinson that would make free speech against homosexuals a crime passed in the House of Commons. The "Chill Bill," or C-250, passed by a vote of 140-110 on Wednesday despite objections from the religious community that religious speech would be limited by the law if they speak out against homosexuality. If it becomes law, then the "Chill Bill," which is also known as the "Bible As Hate Literature" bill, would ban speech that would be used in condemnation of homosexuality or homosexual acts. This is similar to the anti-hate speech law in...

American talk-show host Conan O'Brien turned out to be Conan the Barbarian on his road show into Canada this week. His NBC program threw oil and matches down our national fault line Thursday night with crude jokes about French Canadians. The show featured a puppet called Triumph the Insult Dog, which wandered around Quebec City's winter carnival, sporting a French beret. It stopped Quebecers in the street and said stuff like: "So you're French and Canadian, yes? So you're obnoxious and dull?" Also: "You're in North America. ... Learn the language!" Thanks for the insults, Conan. Somehow you forgot to...

Why A Naked Bike Ride? Every day we are bombarded with countless messages demanding our obedience to the corporate dictates of a consumption dependent society. Little regard is paid to the future of our planet and generations left with a legacy of waste and environmental contamination. How many countless times each day do our media masters spin the same message: Unless you buy this, you are not worthy. Unless you look like this you should be ashamed. By cruising naked down the spending frenzy capitals of the world, we are saying.NO! ...a fancy new car is not a mark of...