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'Phenomenal' oil and gas rights sale sets stage for exploration push in B.C.

British Columbia has raked in a record-breaking $610-million in an oil and gas rights sale, the latest in a series of windfalls driven by a rush of natural gas producers looking to lock up land in the northeastern part of the province. The tally from the one-day sale smashes the old record of $441-million set in May, and puts B.C.'s total land sale proceeds so far this year at $1.58-billion. That surpasses last year's record mark of $1.04-billion, and ranks as among the biggest to date in Canada.

'You don't care about me,' Omar Khadr sobs in interview tapes

A teenage Omar Khadr sobs uncontrollably as Canadian spy agents question him at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in interrogation footage released by his lawyers Tuesday.

Police probing reports of man targeting aboriginal women with date-rape drug

Vancouver police have confirmed they are investigating reports that a man using a date-rape drug has been targeting aboriginal women in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. A man has been preying on the women at a particular bar and spiking their drinks, Marlene George, a longtime community worker at the Carnegie Centre, told CBC News on Tuesday.

Breaking Ground as the First Native North American Professional Team Owner

In May, Styres paid $5.5 million to buy a 60 percent controlling share of the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League, and an undisclosed price for the Americans. He says he thinks he is the first individual American Indian - known in Canada as First Nations people - to own a major professional sports franchise. The Mohegan Tribe owns the Connecticut Sun of the W.N.B.A. "He's one of the truly successful First Nations entrepreneurs in Canada," said Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, an aboriginal advocacy organization representing 630 communities. "It's made it possible for him to give back to his community in a very significant way."

Barenaked Ladies singer faces drug charge in N.Y.

Steven Page, along with two women, were arrested after police found cocaine and marijuana in a Fayetteville, N.Y., apartment, according to a Syracuse-area radio station's website, 9WSYR.com. Page and one of the women were apparently arrested Friday after police discovered a car with an open door in the driveway of a home. While they were investigating the vehicle, officers observed a man and a woman sitting at a kitc

Vancouver power outage could take days to repair: BC Hydro

A fire Monday morning knocked out power to skyscrapers and buildings throughout Vancouver's downtown core, causing traffic nightmares in the city and Internet woes all over North America. Power was cut to more than 2,200 Hydro customers, many of them major employers in the city.

U.S. Soldiers No Longer Find Haven in Canada

The Canadian government's effort to remove Mr. Glass contrasts with the warm reception given to deserters and draft avoiders from the United States during the war in Vietnam. And although the war in Iraq has very little support among Canadians, the situation of Mr. Glass and others who abandoned their military positions provokes a wide range of responses. For American soldiers seeking an escape, Canada is no longer a guaranteed haven.

The Culture of Meat

Food safety scares as well as animal welfare, human health and environmental concerns have no doubt given Canadians many reasons to rethink where our meat comes from. There's just one problem: meat that may be safer (that which is healthier, more humanely produced and has less of an overall ecological impact) is not always readily available. This is especially the case in British Columbia. Prior to October 2007, it was legal for a British Columbian to show up at a farm and purchase meat from a farmer. That choice is no longer afforded to anyone because all meat sold in the province must now be processed at a federally or provincially licensed facility.

Climate-change goals fall short at G8

Hopes have dimmed for stronger action on climate change - a central goal of this week's G8 summit in Japan - with countries such as the United States and Canada resisting calls for the group to set hard midterm targets for reducing emissions. There's a sense here that, besides some modest steps, leaders are already looking beyond this summit to next year's UN climate-change talks, and the successor to U.S. President George W. Bush.

A buyer's market in Vancouver still no bargain

According to The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, Canada's most expensive market is in "a buyer's phase," but the cost of an average detached home is still $305,878 higher than the national average. The Canadian Real Estate Association lists the average price in May 2008 for a property in Canada as $318, 761, where houses in Vancouver are listed at an average of $624,639. According to the numbers from June 2008 released by REBGV, a typical detached residential property in Greater Vancouver sells for $765,654. That's a change of seven per cent over one year and 89.5 per cent over five years. A typical apartment will cost $388,722, a change of 7.8 per cent over one year and 105.2% over five years.

Harper's apology to First Nations puts pressure on Bush

Canada's residential-schools apology has opened the possibility that U.S. President George W. Bush may do the same in his final months of office, says Republican Senator Sam Brownback. In an interview with The Globe and Mail, the senior senator from Kansas said Canada's apology has increased the pressure on Washington, and he expressed hope that Prime Minister Stephen Harper will raise the issue directly with the President. Mr. Brownback has already secured the support of his Senate colleagues for a historic, broadly worded apology to native Americans. The three-page apology was added as an amendment in February to legislation dealing with Indian health care. It now must be approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and then ultimately the President.

Secret Factories for 2010

Organizers of the 2010 Olympics refuse to tell the public where gear for the games and Olympics-branded products are made, though critics say such secrecy makes it far harder to expose sweatshops in the Olympic supply chain.

Outrage brews as Ottawa set to honour Morgentaler

The divisive debate about abortion rights in Canada is poised to erupt once again as Henry Morgentaler, the country's best-known abortion-rights crusader, is expected to be named to the Order of Canada. Even before the official announcement, Dr. Morgentaler's name attached to the highest honour in the land ignited a firestorm of controversy yesterday, with online blogs, people opposed to abortion and pro-choice supporters wading into the Order of Canada committee's decision.

Canada: Our foreign policy myth

As Canada turns 141 years old tomorrow, few beliefs and values are held more strongly in common by Canadians than their thoughts of their country on the international stage. They have been seduced by mythology. The reality of Canada's foreign policy - the country's official face to the world - for the most part is starkly different from the altruistic image of Canada with which its citizens are in love.

Will Canada Last?

What will it take persuade Canadians that if they do not act soon to reverse the course of their nation, there will be nothing left to save? I am talking, of course, about so-called "deep integration" and its official expression, the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP).