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Court to rule on PM's call

A formal appeal of the 2008 federal election call is scheduled to be heard today, the second attempt by a democracy advocacy group that claims the federal government violated a law that forces fixed election dates in Canada.


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The Bluffer's Guide

What's with the dress, the dogs and the beer? I'm celebrating Victoria Day. It's the day we celebrate Queen Victoria, but it's also known in Ontario as May 2-4 weekend - thus the beer.


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Quebec gas prices distinct

Conventional wisdom says there's nothing more predictable than a jump in pump prices before a long weekend, but experts predict some relief for motorists this Victoria Day holiday.


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March roars for Canadian retailers

Canadian retailers posted their biggest sales jump in more than five years in March as consumers helped drive the country's economic recovery.


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Canada's oldest citizen, Elizabeth Buhler, who was 111 on Feb. 8, with daughters (from left) Justina, Mary and Lena.

Last links to Victorian past

She's a wisp of a woman now, just 86 pounds. She doesn't speak much and can't walk anymore. Getting wheeled outside into a waft of spring blossoms, then back to her nursing home's dining hall for a bowl of watermelon, makes a busy day for Elizabeth Buhler.


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Auditor-general Sheila Fraser, seen at a news conference last month, has been seeking the go-ahead to audit the House of Commons books, but her request was denied 10 days ago by an all-party committee of MPs.

On the trail of your tax dollars

Auditor-general Sheila Fraser never wanted to pore over every receipt submitted by Canada's 308 members of Parliament.


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Gasoline prices fall ahead of holiday weekend, except in Quebec

Conventional wisdom says there's nothing more predictable than a jump in pump prices before a long weekend, but experts predict some relief for motorists this Victoria Day holiday.


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Michael Ignatieff holds a town hall meeting in Regina, Sask.- a province in which there are few Liberal votes to be had.

Can Iggy be saved?

With the Liberal downward spiral moving inexorably closer to, if not below, the 25- per-cent threshold that separates governments-in-waiting from fringe party popularity, the difficult question has to be asked: Can Iggy be saved?


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Depression in seniors often overlooked: study

The high number of seniors who live in residential care homes and experience depression is a health concern that demands greater attention, according to a new report.


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"I've had plenty of chances to leave. I haven't done so and that doesn't mean I'm leaving now," says Alouettes GM Jim Popp (far right) with team brass.

Popp says he's sticking with Alouettes

Alouettes general manager Jim Popp said he plans to honour the final year of his contract, and isn't anticipating leaving an organization he has helped build into a perennial Canadian Football League contender.


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Will honour contract, Als' Popp says

Alouettes’ general manager Jim Popp said he plans on honouring the final year of his contract, and isn’t anticipating leaving an organization he has helped build into a perennial Canadian Football League contender.


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Western premiers open arms to China

Canada's three western Canadian premiers essentially took over responsibility yesterday for their own commercial dealings with the world's fastest growing economy and opened a trade and investment office in China's financial capital.


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Pace of home sales slows

The Canadian housing market is cooling, but the decline will be moderate, thanks to the rebound in the labour market, economists say.


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Dustin LaFortune

Man's injuries 'worse than a horror movie'

A Victoria mother is trying to fathom what could have happened to her son after his tongue and bottom lip were cut out, his face smashed and his ribs broken.


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The Montreal Alouettes confirmed Friday that veteran slotback Ben Cahoon, seen here with Anthony Calvillo, will return for the 2010 CFL season.

Cup fire drives Cahoon

at least we think he's kidding - about one day playing on the senior PGA tour. But, considering he shot an 85 yesterday in the mountains of Utah, he might not want to quit his day job.


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Saskatoon writer David Carpenter still fishes.

A hunter examines his conscience

Hunting has a bad rep these days, especially among urban folk, who are in the overwhelming majority. It results in the death of inoffensive animals and birds, something at odds with our growing eco-consciousness. Most people don't need it to keep the larder full, for grocery stores aren't hard for them to find. And - notwithstanding a few bow-hunters - it involves guns, which make most Canadians nervous.


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David Carpenter has nothing but scorn for those who blast away at animals from their pickup trucks or chase them on snowmobiles.

A hunter examines his conscience: David Carpenter's reverence for animals made it impossible for him to keep killing

Boy and man, David Carpenter, has hunted the fields, sloughs and bush of mid-Alberta and Saskatchewan, and writes expressively of the joys of the hunt. But his decision to stop did not free him from the snares of ambiguity, arguably even of hypocrisy.


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Montreal Alouettes General Manager Jim Popp waves to the crowd during the team's victory parade in Montreal December 2, 2009.

Popp could leave Alouettes

Jim Popp, the only general manager the Alouettes have had since their return to the Canadian Football League in 1996, could be in line for a position in the Washington Redskins’ personnel department, according to a western-based source.


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Jim Popp has repeatedly discovered football talent.

Als' Popp in line for NFL position

Jim Popp, the only general manager the Alouettes have had since their return to the Canadian Football League in 1996, could be in line for a position in the Washington Redskins' personnel department, according to a western-based source.


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JOSH FREED

Even our measurement system has two official languages

My son's teenage friends were comparing heights recently - one said he was 5'8" and the other 5'6". But what struck me was they were both talking about feet and inches, not metres, 40 years after Canadians went metric.