The Vancouver Sun, a broadsheet daily paper first published in 1912, has the largest circulation in the province of British Columbia.

To combat harshness of life north of 60, Ottawa promotes natural resources development – and work it creates – as cure for what ails region
 
Stephen Harper shifted tone last week on his seventh annual foray to the Far North, talking less about national sovereignty and more about job creation. With most Canadians aware the north is not under any great foreign threat, the PM used the trip to focus more on northerners, promoting his ubiquitous jobs and growth strategy.
 
The region, which accounts for 40 per cent of Canada’s land mass, is becoming ever more high profile, with gradual melting opening up more economic opportunities. Resource exploitation, tour-ism and shipping are set to expand, and are bound to shine a bigger spotlight on those living in the region.
 
Northern residents are spread out across a vast terrain, with a population no bigger than that of Kelowna, at 117,000. More than half are aboriginal. Read the rest of this entry »

The Vancouver Sun, a broadsheet daily paper first published in 1912, has the largest circulation in the province of British Columbia.

MONTREAL - The party considered the front-runner in the Quebec election is poised to shut down what’s left of Canada’s asbestos industry, following its lengthy and controversial decline.
 
The Parti Quebecois says it would start by cancelling a $58 million loan, promised by the current Liberal government, to help reopen what would be the country’s last asbestos mine.
 
It would then hold consultations with several hundred workers around Asbestos, Que., about diversifying the regional economy and finding replacements for an industry that, according to PQ Leader Pauline Marois, is a relic from another era.
 
Documented links between asbestos and cancer have prompted much of the developed world to stop using it in construction materials. Now Marois says all signs point to a ban. ”All the trends are headed there. We know the health studies illustrate that,” Marois said Wednesday, referring to the links with cancer. Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html
 
ROUYN-NORANDA, Q.C. – Pauline Marois announced Wednesday that if she becomes Quebec premier after the provincial election next Tuesday, Quebec will get out of the asbestos mining and exporting business.
 
Marois indicated her mind is made up but said she would first hold hearings before a Quebec national assembly committee to hear what those affected have to say. “I think it is important to hear the workers and their families,” she told reporters. She also wants to hear from entrepreneurs in the Asbestos region who can expect government aid for diversification projects to replace the last jobs.
 
She said she has “very great confidence” in local entrepreneurs, who could draw on a $58-million loan of government money the Charest government committed for the reopening of the underground Jeffrey Mine in the town of Asbestos.
 
She plans to cancel that loan. Late on a Friday afternoon, just before the July 1 weekend, in the town of Asbestos, Yvon Vallières, intergovernmental affairs minister and the outgoing Liberal MNA for Richmond riding, announced the government was lending $58 million to reopen the Jeffry Mine. Read the rest of this entry »

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

STOCKHOLM—Global warming has resulted in a rush to exploit Arctic resources — and Greenpeace is determined to thwart that stampede. Employing the same daredevil tactics it has used against nuclear testing and commercial whaling, the environmental group is now set on preventing oil companies from profiting from global warming by drilling for oil near the Arctic’s shrinking ice cap.

The campaign took off in May 2010, when oil was still gushing from a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico. At the time, Greenpeace was startled by reports that a small Scottish energy firm was proceeding with plans to drill for oil and gas in iceberg-laden waters off western Greenland.

“It felt slightly surreal,” recalled Ben Ayliffe, now the head of Greenpeace’s campaign against oil drilling the Arctic. “After what happened in the Gulf of Mexico, how can anyone respond to that by going to drill in similar depths in a place called Iceberg Alley?”

Greenpeace quickly arranged to get a ship to Greenland, where four activists attached themselves to a drilling rig for two days until a storm forced them to abandon the protest. Read the rest of this entry »

“Because our North, and all the wealth it contains, will be a critical part of
Canada’s future. And in an uncertain world where demand for resources is growing,
where any number of civilian needs can suddenly come upon us, and where conflicts
and potential conflicts remain ever present, you, our men and women in uniform,
are here to literally stand on guard for the true North, strong and free.

And I believe our country’s greatest dreams are to be found in our highest
latitudes. For us, the North is more than just a great land. The North is
Canada’s call to greatness.” (Prime Minister Stephen Harper)

Churchill, Manitoba – August 24, 2012

Thank you very much. Thank you, first of all, Peter, for that kind introduction, and also for the fine job you’re doing as Minister of National Defence, leading the department and the members of the Canadian Forces.

Greetings as well to all of my colleagues who have been with me all of this week, to Minister Leona Aglukkaq, to Minister John Duncan, and to Member of Parliament Ryan Leef.

General Natynczyk, always good to see you, and let me use this opportunity in front of so many of your people here to thank you and to congratulate you on over four years of fine service as Chief of Defence Staff of Canada. Read the rest of this entry »

 Northern Ontario’s First Nations Voice: http://wawataynews.ca/

First Nations in northern Ontario fear the loss of their already limited reserve lands should new federal legislation allowing private property on reserves pass, says a Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) deputy grand chief.
 
Les Louttit, who held the housing and infrastructure portfolio during the last executive council before being reelected, said there is a big risk that First Nations right across Canada would end up losing land should there be private property on reserve.
 
“There are pros and cons to the proposed legislation, but I think we know from experiences elsewhere that there is the risk of expropriation of those private lands into non-Aboriginal ownership,” Louttit said. “It would continue to erode the size of the community proper, the reserve lands,” he said. “There is that danger.”
 
On the positive side, Louttit said that private property would allow community members to use their land as collateral for getting a mortgage, which could help alleviate the huge backlog of homes needed in NAN communities. Read the rest of this entry »

 The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Health Minister Deb Matthews isn’t the only Ontario Liberal cabinet minster under siege. Flying under that radar is a storm of pressure on Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci.
 
The Liberals’ decision in March to sell off the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission has put him in the eye of Hurricane North. The ONTC supplies bus and rail service to northeastern Ontario, and it runs a communications company that provides phone and Internet service.
 
The century-old agency was founded to facilitate the boom in mining and forestry, but times have changed, and Bartolucci says the $100-million annual subsidy, which means each passenger ride on the Northlander train is subsidized by $400, is no longer feasible when the government faces a $15-billion deficit.
 
Bus service will be contracted out so transportation to Toronto remains available, which is important for those who need access to health-care facilities in southern Ontario. Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.nugget.ca/

“When I think about it, strapping Bartolucci to the cow catcher might
be more fun than a flogging or getting him to resign. Can anyone help
arrange it?” (John R. Hunt – August 22, 2012)

A distinguished member of the North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce has advocated the immediate resignation of Rick Bartolucci. No doubt you have heard of this politician who enjoys a special place in the hearts of all North Bay citizens.
 
I would cheerfully advocate a public flogging knowing full well that it might make my readers chuckle, but it will never happen. 
Throwing verbal mud at Dalton McGuinty and his favourite Northern boy is great fun, but does not accomplish much.
 
This provincial government is amazing. It allowed the refinery at Timmins to close and send ore from the Kidd Creek mine to Quebec. Allowed is the wrong word. Ontario’s energy prices are so ridiculous the mining company had to do something.
 
Now the government is going to sell Ontera, which is the communications branch of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission. It used to be the most profitable part of the Crown corporation. Read the rest of this entry »