A full transcript of Rob Ford’s statement to media

By macleans.ca - Friday, May 24, 2013 at 4:19 PM - 0 Comments

A transcript of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s statement to media Friday afternoon (video below):

Well good afternoon, everyone.

I’d like to take this opportunity to address a number of issues that have circulated in the media over the last few days. There has been a serious accusation from the Toronto Star that I use crack cocaine. I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine. As for a video, I cannot comment on a video that I have never seen or does not exist. It is most unfortunate, very unfortunate, that my colleagues and the great people of this city have been exposed to the fact that I have been judged by the media without any evidence.

This past week has not been an easy one. It has taken a great toll on my family and my friends and the great people of Toronto. For the past week, on the advice of my solicitor, I was advised not to say a word. I want to thank the people of this great city for their outpouring of support. I would like to thank and congratulate all the young men that I’ve had the opportunity to coach and improve their lives in the last ten years at Don Bosco. I will continue to support Don Bosco in spirit, and I wish them great success for their upcoming season. These kids are phenomenal kids who have bright futures, and can do anything if they put their mind to it.

I would like to assure everyone that we are continuing to fight for the taxpayers every day, and it’s business at usual at City Hall. This administration is turning the corner. And I will continue to do what the great people of this city elected me to do, and that was to keep taxes low, to improve customer service, and to reduce the size and cost of government, and invest in our infrastructure.

I would also like to thank my former chief of staff, Mark Towhey, for his service, and all the work that he has done.

Again, I’d like to repeat, I can’t thank the people enough, of Toronto, for their support and in being there and calling me and emailing me every single minute of this day.

I would also like to thank you for being here today, but most importantly folks, we have, I have, the city has, the best deputy mayor in Doug Holyday that anyone could ever ask for. I want to thank Doug for being here, and I want to thank my best friend, and I love him dearly, my brother Doug, for having to go through this nonsense.

Thank you very much.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says he does not use crack cocaine

By The Canadian Press - Friday, May 24, 2013 at 3:28 PM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – Mayor Rob Ford has broken his week-long silence to say he does not use crack cocaine.

In a statement at city hall, Ford slammed the media and those who have judged him “without any evidence.”

Ford’s statement came an hour after his executive committee publicly urged him to address the raging scandal.

Ford had spent the past week evading reporters since the American website Gawker and the Toronto Star reported viewing a cellphone video they said was taken by a drug dealer.

The outlets said the video appeared to show Ford smoking crack cocaine.

Ford said he had kept quiet on the advice of lawyer.

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Brad Wall says it’s time to scrap the Senate

By The Canadian Press - Friday, May 24, 2013 at 3:17 PM - 0 Comments

SASKATOON – Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says it’s time for the Senate to go.

Wall has been a supporter of Senate reform and his government passed a law for electing senators-in-waiting from the province.

But Wall now says it’s easier to scrap the Senate than to try to fix it.

The Senate has been recently by an expense scandal.

Senate Speaker Noel Kinsella says the RCMP is examining the claims of senators Mac Harb, Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau.

Duffy left the Conservative caucus after it was revealed that the prime minister’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, wrote Duffy a $90,000 cheque to repay the senator’s disallowed housing expenses.

Netflix’s resurrection of ‘Arrested Development’ series expected to hook more subscribers

By Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press - Friday, May 24, 2013 at 2:45 PM - 0 Comments

SAN FRANCISCO – Netflix is hoping this weekend’s release of the resurrected TV series “Arrested Development” will draw more subscribers to its Internet video service.

The award-winning show about the dysfunctional Bluth family returns Sunday, seven years after Fox cancelled the series. The revival coincides with Netflix’s own resounding comeback from a customer backlash over price increases and shareholders’ worries about rising expenses. The adversity had raised doubts about the company’s management and future.

Now, Netflix is winning back subscribers and investors with a bold attempt to establish its $8-per-month service as a home entertainment powerhouse that rivals the broadcast television networks and premium cable channels such as HBO.

Arrested Development, a comedy that won six Emmy awards during a critically acclaimed three-year run, is the third exclusive series from Netflix Inc. this year. It’s part of Netflix’s effort to add more original programming to a selection that consists primarily of old TV series and movies.

With 29.2 million U.S. subscribers — far more than the 21.9 million TV subscribers that leading cable provider Comcast Corp. has — Netflix has already reshaped home entertainment.

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Can Toronto fire Mayor Rob Ford?

By Nicholas Köhler - Friday, May 24, 2013 at 12:38 PM - 0 Comments

(Michelle Siu/CP)

With the dismissal of his longtime aide and, until yesterday, chief of staff Mark Towhey, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is growing increasingly isolated.

Many news sources are now reporting that Ford fired Towhey, who has been at Ford’s side since his successful 2010 mayoral campaign, after Towhey pressed him to enter rehab, and balked at the mayor’s plan to arrange a party for his high school football team in the wake of the Toronto Catholic District School Board’s decision to drop him from his coaching position with the Don Bosco Eagles.

Ford’s world has been crumbling ever since Gawker and the Toronto Star published reports that a video exists showing the mayor allegedly smoking from a glass crack pipe; he is said to be most distraught, however, over the loss of his coaching job. Now Ford’s executive committee, a cabinet-like inner circle of councillors, is said to be examining ways it can govern in the mayor’s absence. Maclean’s spoke with Ryerson University politics prof Myer Siemiatycki about the options available to council in this case.

Q: First, is there any precedent for this kind of thing—a council, or executive, looking at how to bypass a troubled mayor?

A: The emphasis is on “this”? And the answer is no. The past two and half years have stretched the boundaries of what anyone who has observed city politics in this country could think was conceivable as a course of conduct on the part of a mayor. So there’s no question that we are into new territory here, unchartered waters.

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Liam Gallagher is not a fan of the new Daft Punk album

By Emily Senger - Friday, May 24, 2013 at 11:55 AM - 0 Comments

Liam Gallagher, the ornery former vocalist from Oasis, isn’t a huge Daft Punk fan. Nor is he a fan or the band’s No. 1 single “Get Lucky,” the first from the band’s latest album Random Access Memories.

Speaking to Sony’s MU streaming service, Gallagher, who now fronts the band Beady Eye, said he could write “Get Lucky” in no time.

“I’d write that in a f–king hour,” Gallagher said. ”I don’t know what the fuss is about, you know what I mean? It’s like f–k off, give me a f–king break.”

Nor is Gallagher a fan of the French electronic group’s decision to perform while wearing the trademark robot helmets, which obscure the band members faces. “Take your f–ing helmet off,” he instructed. “Let’s see what you look like sans helmet, whatever you’re called.”

Daft Punk musicians Guy Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter should be able to brush off the barrage of F-bombs pretty easily. Early sales show Random Access Memories, which was released on May 20, is on track to become the fastest-selling album of 2013, reports The Independent.

Toronto city hall working despite Rob Ford scandal, deputy mayor says

By Colin Perkel and Will Campbell, The Canadian Press - Friday, May 24, 2013 at 11:17 AM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – Calling it “urgent” that the city’s beleaguered mayor address the crack video scandal raging around him, Toronto’s deputy mayor said Friday residents are becoming increasingly concerned about the situation.

Doug Holyday said council’s executive committee would be issuing a formal statement aimed at reassuring people, and that it would also urge Mayor Rob Ford to address the week-old allegations that he smoked crack cocaine.

“If the mayor has another version, he should be out there putting that forward so the people can make a decision,” Holyday said.

“At this point it hasn’t happened, but I think the longer that goes on, the worse it gets.”

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QP Live: The Senate’s expenses, debated anew

By Nick Taylor-Vaisey - Friday, May 24, 2013 at 9:56 AM - 0 Comments

Maclean’s is your home for the daily political theatre that is Question Period, when opposition and government MPs trade barbs and take names for 45 minutes every day. Today, QP runs from 11 a.m. until just past 12 p.m. We tell you who to watch, we stream it live, and we liveblog all the action. Once a week, we’ll feature a guest blogger to sort through the madness. The whole thing only matters if you participate. Read our morning tease to catch up on the issues of the day, and then chime in on Twitter with #QP.

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Five politicians who survived their own foolishness

By Nick Taylor-Vaisey - Friday, May 24, 2013 at 9:50 AM - 0 Comments

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s alleged dalliance with crack cocaine isn’t his first flirtation with political disaster. He’s proven to be a survivor despite a rocky career at City Hall. If he survives his latest public shaming, however, Ford wouldn’t be the first politician to laugh his way to a longer career in politics. Here are five politicians who beat the odds.

1. Gordon Campbell. In January 2003, after serving as British Columbia’s premier for two years, Campbell was caught drunk driving on Maui. He’d consumed three martinis, jacked up his blood-alcohol level to twice the legal limit, and drove erratically—as well as over the speed limit. For his sins, Campbell pleaded no contest and was fined $50. He was also haunted by infamous mug shots that were released to the public. Despite calls from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for the then-premier’s resignation, Campbell went on to win successive majority governments in 2005 and 2009.

2. Maxime Bernier. Julie Couillard made headlines when she appeared with her then-boyfriend, Bernier, as he was sworn in as Minister of Foreign Affairs at Rideau Hall in August 2007. Less than a year later, Bernier resigned his post after leaving sensitive documents at Couillard’s home. It didn’t help the Quebec MP’s case that Couillard had been connected to members of the Hells Angels, a salacious detail that might have buried anyone’s political career. Bernier, however, was back in cabinet in May 2011 as Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism.

3. Richard Hatfield. New Brunswick’s longtime premier survived his share of scandals throughout his 17-year reign. He’s said to have spent over five months outside of his province in 1979, and “Disco Dick” partied at New York’s famous Studio 54 club. The controversy that sent Hatfield packing—his party lost every seat in the 1987 election—came during 1984, when police found 35 grams of marijuana in his baggage. He was acquitted on the charges. Hatfield’s career was briefly resurrected when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney appointed him to the Senate in 1990.

4. Francis Fox. Fox’s resignation from federal cabinet in 1978 involved a tangled web of intrigue. When his girlfriend sought an abortion, Fox–who was then Solicitor General of Canada—forged her then-husband’s signature on a document granting permission for the procedure. Two years later, Fox was back in cabinet, where he served in a number of roles until the Liberal government was defeated in the 1984 election. Nineteen years later, Fox was appointed to the Senate, where he served until 2011.

5. John Powell. A former mayor of Toronto, Powell killed a man in cold blood. The fatal shot to the head, however, served only to make Powell more popular. The man he shot, Anthony Anderson, was a rebel captain in 1838. The shooting was only a month out from the election that vaulted Powell to mayor.

Move over Facebook, Google wants to buy Waze now, say reports

By Emily Senger - Friday, May 24, 2013 at 9:32 AM - 0 Comments

Both Google and Facebook both want to know where you are, as the companies reportedly eye Israeli mapping app Waze.

The reports that Google is looking at a deal with Waze, an app which allows users to share real-time traffic and mapping information with other users, come after rumours earlier this month that the company was finalizing talks with Facebook to make a deal which could be worth as much as $1 billion.

The potential bidding war indicates the desire of both Google and Facebook to acquire mobile apps, as consumers increasingly use online services on their smartphones, reports Bloomberg News.

Waze already has 40 million users, reports Bloomberg.

Previously, there were also rumours that Apple was going to buy Waze, but that deal reportedly fell through in January.

Don’t bet against political survivors

By Nick Taylor-Vaisey - Friday, May 24, 2013 at 8:58 AM - 0 Comments

When you’re right smack dab in the middle of a relentless series of furious news cycles, and powerful politicians you don’t like are being accused of indiscretions that you think should cost them their jobs, there’s a point at which you start to believe it might happen. Kind of like when the Toronto Maple Leafs are ahead 4-1 with 10 minutes to go, and you start to think they might be able to win.

Until they don’t.

Anyone who’s calling for blood in Ottawa or Toronto might get their wish, but we’re reminded by a pair of National Post columnists this morning that both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his team, and Toronto Mayor Rob Ford—the former more than the latter, by a wide margin—have a good shot at emerging intact from their current conundrums.

John Ivison is inclined to believe that Harper’s telling the truth when he says he had no knowledge of his former chief of staff’s decision to cover Senator Mike Duffy’s improperly claimed expenses with a personal cheque worth $90,000. “If no new information emerges that connects the Prime Minister to the $90,000 cheque,” writes Ivison, “it may be that the scandal has crested.” And with two years before the next election, the moribund Conservatives have plenty of time to rebound.

Jonathan Kay thinks Ford will never (ever) resign from office, if only because he’s locked into an “existential struggle against left-wing Toronto snobs who always have hated everything about him.” That kind of battle doesn’t discourage a guy like Ford, says Kay. “Like all true warriors, he will keep on fighting till the very day—if it ever comes—that he is led out of City Hall in handcuffs. And even then, I’m not so sure.”

Survivors are survivors. They often outlast those furious news cycles. Then again, the news doesn’t seem to be showing any sign of letting up.

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Family remembers victim of Woolwich attack as second suspect is named

By Emily Senger - Friday, May 24, 2013 at 8:54 AM - 0 Comments

Dave Thompson/AP

The world is learning more about the soldier who was the victim of a horrific knife attack in London Wednesday, as family members spoke about Lee Rigby, a military drummer, who was just 25 years of age.

Rigby was married and had a two-year-old son Jack, whom he was looking forward to spending the weekend with, his wife Rebecca told reporters Friday. “I love Lee and always will. I am proud to be his wife and he was due to come up this weekend so we could continue our future together as a family,” she said. “He was a devoted father to our son Jack and we will both miss him terribly.”

Lee Rigby

Rigby was a drummer with the Royal Fusiliers regiment had served in Cyprus and Afghanistan. His wife and stepfather expressed disbelief that he would die on the streets of London, just steps outside the army base where he was posted.

As the family gave a tearful press conference Friday, elsewhere, the second suspect in the attack against Rigby was named as Michael Adebowale, 22, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The other suspect involved in the attack, in which onlookers watched two men hit Rigby with a car outside the Woolwich army barracks in southeast London and then stab him, was identified the day before as Michael Olumide Adebolajo, 28.

Video taken by onlookers shows one of the men justifying the attack as Rigby lay on the ground, saying it was retribution for the crimes enacted upon Muslims by the British military.

Both of the suspects allegedly involved in the attack were gunned down by police and remain in hospital under police guard. They remain too badly injured to speak to police at this time, reports The Guardian.

Both men who have been identified are British citizens of Nigerian descent, reports say.

In total, four people have been arrested by police during their investigation into the attack: three men, aged 29, 22 and 28, and a 29-year-old woman.

Federal Court upholds 2011 election results in ‘robocall’ ridings

By The Canadian Press - Friday, May 24, 2013 at 7:00 AM - 0 Comments

OTTAWA – Fraud was definitely a factor in the rash of misleading robocalls that bedevilled voters in six federal ridings in the 2011 election, but not enough of one to justify overturning the results, a Federal Court judge has decided.

The ruling, released late Thursday, left both sides in the dispute — the Conservative party in one corner, the voters who fielded the calls in the other — claiming victory of a sort.

Though fraud was at play as a result of the robocalls, the scale didn’t justify wiping out the results of voting, Federal Court Judge Richard Mosley concluded.

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Boil water advisory affecting 1.3 people in Montreal lifted

By The Canadian Press - Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 11:39 PM - 0 Comments

MONTREAL – A huge boil-water advisory affecting 1.3 million people in Montreal, described by local officials as unprecedented in the recorded history of the city, was lifted late Thursday.

City officials ended the two-day-old advisory at 10:15 p.m., after tests concluded the water quality was fine.

Mayor Michael Applebaum said the warning had been issued as a precaution after an abnormal drop in levels inside a filtration plant under renovation.

“You can drink the water,” Applebaum told a news conference.

“If you open your tap and see it’s a little bit brown, just let the tap run for a bit.”

Applebaum said the city is now trying to determine what happened to cause the water volume to drop at the Atwater plant, the second-biggest in the country.

The mayor was making his first public appearance in days. He had planned to take the week off while mourning the death of his brother following a lengthy illness. Applebaum thanked the media and public for respecting his family’s privacy.

Officials had feared the water might be contaminated by sediments that trickled into the system. They said the tests confirmed Thursday that it was free of e-Coli and other serious bacteria.

Locals had been venting their frustration for two days. Many found relief in dark humour about the state of affairs in their scandal-plagued city.

One lengthy La Presse newspaper column bitterly decried the quality of governance in the city, before concluding with a joke: at least the mayor doesn’t smoke crack.

The advisory, which followed repeated subway disruptions and reports of corruption in the city, resulted in a flurry of comments on Twitter. Many struck a humorous note: “Even the water is corrupt in Montreal,” tweeted a number of people, including Marcel Carrier.

There were also jokes that drew parallels between brown envelopes, like the kind being described at the Charbonneau inquiry, and the brown water.

The incident started at the west-end Atwater station. It was shut down around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday after levels dropped, causing sediments to enter the supply.

City officials had said from the start that the advisory was a preventive measure. They said Montrealers were able to drink the water after it had been boiled for a minute.

“We have no indication that any citizens were affected by drinking the water that circulated,” said Christian Dubois, the municipal public-safety director, earlier Thursday.

“But we’re not taking any risks.”

The advisory resulted in a surge in demand for bottled water. Several Montreal grocery stores said they were running out.

One major grocery chain said the demand for bottled water underwent an astronomical increase _ by about 25 to 50 times _ since the advisory came into effect.

The company told The Canadian Press that it had sent 40 trucks to Montreal carrying a total of one million water bottles to deal with the demand.

Montreal did not wind up distributing bottled water because there was no need, according to city officials.

“There isn’t a water shortage,” said city spokesperson Valerie De Gagne.

“Water-filtration plants are working at full capacity.”

The city was still preparing for the worst mid-day Thursday, preparing a “gameplan” in case the advisory had been extended, she said.

The impact was being felt at coffee shops, which had to turn away customers. It also prompted a more urgent call to action among advocates for the homeless.

One youth shelter, Dans la rue, recognized the potential impact on the poor.

“As soon as (the shelter’s team) learned about it, they went to get large water bottles,” said group spokeswoman Dorothy Massimo.

The shelter, which serves about 150 meals per day, uses water coolers.

Massimo said the shelter had enough water to last another day.

CRTC hits Alberta’s Wildrose Party with $90,000 fine for robocalls in 2011, 2012

By The Canadian Press - Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 9:48 PM - 0 Comments

EDMONTON – Alberta’s Opposition Wildrose Party says it has paid a $90,000 penalty imposed by federal regulators for violating automated phone call rules.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission says Wildrose broke the rules in 2011 and before, during and after the April 2012 provincial election.

Wildrose party president David Yager says the company that made the automated calls assured the party that it was following the rules.

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Abrupt departure for Mayor Rob Ford’s chief of staff amid ‘crack video’ scandal

By The Canadian Press - Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 9:44 PM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – The chief of staff to embattled Mayor Rob Ford was escorted by security from city hall premises Thursday amid swirling allegations the mayor had been caught on videotape smoking crack cocaine.

Mark Towhey, one of Ford’s closest advisers whose background is in crisis management, refused to explain his sudden departure after more than a year in the position.

“I am no longer the chief of staff,” Towhey said as he left the building. “I did not resign.”

Ford himself remained silent again Thursday before leaving city hall late in the afternoon.

His office also did little to explain why the mayor was replacing Towhey, who had been his adviser when he ran for the office.

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PM says he could have accepted Nigel Wright’s resignation sooner

By The Canadian Press - Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 9:43 PM - 0 Comments

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper acknowledged for the first time Thursday that “perhaps” he could have responded more quickly to the news that his trusted chief of staff had footed the $90,000 bill for Sen. Mike Duffy’s disallowed housing expenses.

Harper conceded that he could have accepted the resignation of former right-hand man Nigel Wright earlier than he ultimately did — four days after Harper and the rest of Canada learned the stunning news about the personal cheque Wright wrote the senator.

Related link: David Tkachuk on Mike Duffy, Nigel Wright and the Senate

Harper has insisted that he was neither informed nor consulted about the arrangement, but until now, he has never explained why the Prime Minister’s Office stood so staunchly by Wright in the days that immediately followed the stunning revelation.

“He should have told me earlier; that’s why I accepted his resignation,” Harper said. “Upon reflection, should I have reached that conclusion earlier? Perhaps.”

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Ban on gay Boy Scouts lifted in historic vote

By Emily Senger - Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 7:09 PM - 0 Comments

Getty Images

A 103-year-old ban on gay youths joining the Boy Scouts has been lifted following a vote by delegates at the group’s annual general meeting in Grapevine, Texas.

More than 1,400 scout leaders from around the United States voted on the decision, according to the New York Times, with the proposed change garnering the support of more than 60 per cent of voters.

The discussion about whether to the lift the ban on openly gay scout members had been ongoing, with an earlier scheduled vote in February postponed so that 1,400 members could vote in a secret ballot, rather than just the national executive board. The organization’s ban on openly gay leaders remains in place.

The issue has been a divisive one in the organization, as many Boy Scout troops are at least partially funded by Christian groups, which oppose homosexuality. Ahead of today’s vote, opponents and proponents gathered for a rallies in Grapevine in an attempt to sway voters.

The push to allow gay membership had gained some high-profile supporters, including President Barack Obama.

The Mormon church and the Catholic Church — two major sponsors of the Boy Scouts –  had said they would not pull support for the organization, as long as the ban was lifted for gay scout members only and did not extend to gay scout leaders.

In March, Canadian pop star Carly Rae Jepsen cancelled a scheduled gig at the Boy Scouts of America Jamboree over the organization’s anti-gay policies. Rock band Train also cancelled a scheduled appearance at the same show.

Mike Duffy says he won’t quit Senate in first public comments since expense scandal

By The Canadian Press - Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 6:56 PM - 0 Comments

OTTAWA – Mike Duffy is blowing off any talk of his voluntary resignation from the Senate amid an expense scandal that has reached all the way to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Duffy spoke out Thursday, his first public comments since resigning from the Conservative caucus last week after it was revealed he had made inappropriate expense claims and then paid them off with a $90,000 “gift” from Stephen Harper’s chief of staff.

A number of Conservative MPs, including Heritage Minister James Moore, have said Duffy should quit his $132,000-a-year appointment.

But the former broadcaster, pursued by a gaggle of reporters and TV cameras out the Senate’s front doors, literally blew out air in apparent exasperation when asked if he felt he should resign.

“I’m doing my job. So I’ll see you at work next week,” Duffy said. Continue…

Rob Ford’s chief of staff out of office as ‘crack video’ scandal swirls

By The Canadian Press - Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 2:22 PM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – The chief of staff to embattled Mayor Rob Ford was escorted by security from city hall premises Thursday as allegations the mayor had been caught on videotape smoking crack cocaine continued to swirl.

Mark Towhey said he did not resign but his departure had not come as a shock to him.

“The mayor and I spoke about it this afternoon,” Towhey said as reporters trailed him through the underground parking lot.

Towhey refused to elaborate on the conversation or say what advice he had given Ford about the alleged cellphone video.

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CNN announces details about Strombo’s new Friday night show

By Jessica Allen - Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 2:13 PM - 0 Comments

CNN has released new information about Stroumboulopoulos, their new Friday night show hosted by the CBC’s George Stroumboulopoulos.

“The new talk show will explore the worlds of art, pop culture, politics, tech news and sports, through the eyes and the words of their most interesting figures,” promises CNN. “George Stroumboulopoulos is praised for being a masterful interviewer, whose intimate style keeps guests at ease and audiences intrigued.”

The show, which will have an initial 10-week run, “will bring viewers compelling interviews with Keanu Reeves, Martin Short, Betty White, Bill Maher, Sharon Stone, as well as author Eckhardt Tolle, and filmmaker Werner Herzog among others”

Stroumboulopoulos premieres on June 9th in a good time slot–10:00 p.m., right after Anthony Bourdain’s popular Parts Unknown. Beginning on June 14, however, episodes will air in their regular time slot of 11:00 p.m.

CNN says the show’s first guests will include rapper Wiz Khalifa, actress Ellen Page and Walking Dead comic book author Robert Kirkman.

What we know about the Woolwich attack in London

By Emily Senger - Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 1:42 PM - 0 Comments

Sang Tan/AP

A British soldier was killed Wednesday after he stepped off the Woolwich army barracks in southeast London. Horrified spectators looked on as two men reportedly attacked the soldier, hitting him with a car and then using a meat cleaver and knives to stab and cut him. During their attack, the men reportedly claimed to be acting in the interests of Islam, seeking revenge for British military action in Muslim countries.

Here’s what is known:

Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the attacks Thursday. In a speech outside 10 Downing Street after an emergency meeting, Cameron said: “What happened in Woolwich yesterday has sickened us all. The people who did this were trying to divide us. They should know something like this will only bring us together, make us stronger.” He went on to say that the attack was “a betrayal of Islam and of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country.”

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QP Live: Mike Duffy Week continues in the Commons

By Nick Taylor-Vaisey - Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 11:17 AM - 0 Comments

Maclean’s is your home for the daily political theatre that is Question Period, when opposition and government MPs trade barbs and take names for 45 minutes every day. Today, QP runs from 2 p.m. until just past 3 p.m. We tell you who to watch, we stream it live, and we liveblog all the action. Once a week, we’ll feature a guest blogger to sort through the madness. The whole thing only matters if you participate. Read our morning tease to catch up on the issues of the day, and then chime in on Twitter with #QP.

Continue…

Second suspect in Bosma killing charged with first-degree murder

By The Canadian Press - Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 10:47 AM - 0 Comments

Mark Smich is seen with his lawyer during his court appearance, Thursday. (Courtroom sketch by Marianne Boucher/CITYNEWS)

HAMILTON – A second suspect has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Tim Bosma, a Hamilton father who took two men on a test drive and never returned.

Mark Smich, 25, appeared in court today in Hamilton.

Lawyer Tom Dungey says Smich will plead not guilty, adding, “We will be defending this case vigorously.”

Smich’s next court appearance was set for June 13, the same day the other suspect in the case is to appear.

Dellen Millard, 27, is charged with first-degree murder as well as forcible confinement and theft of a vehicle. His lawyer has said his client will also plead not guilty. Continue…