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Ottawa Star www.OttawaStar.com • August 29, 2013 • Volume 1, Issue 5
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Political solution best way for Syria: Canada By Terry Pedwell, The Canadian Press
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HELSEA, Que.—A political solution remains the best way to end the civil war in Syria, says Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, even in the face of what he calls “overwhelming’’ evidence of a chemical weapons attack against civilians in that country. Canada wants to ensure it has all the facts before deciding how to respond to allegations that chemical weapons killed as many as 1,300 people this week outside Damascus, Baird said. “Our first response is to validate the use of these chemical weapons,’’ he said. “The evidence is increasingly building up, and it’s overwhelming.’’ Women light candles during a vigil against the Syrian chemical weapons, in front UN headquarters in Beirut. AP Photo/Hussein Malla
Quebec bares its intolerance towards religious minority By Sid Arya Perhaps Ronald Reagan said it best—‘Here they go again.’ In the aftermath of the widely-condemned ban on turbans by the Quebec Soccer Federation – which had the full implicit backing of the Marois administration – the PQ govern-
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ment has upped the ante in their cynical and draconian stance against religious and cultural tolerance in the province, through their possible legislation of the Charter of Quebec Values. This controversial proposal which may be presented in the legislature in the near future seeks to ban, with extreme prejudice, religious symbols such as kippas, hijabs, burkhas, turbans and ‘ostentatious crosses’ for public-sector workers. The official line is that the policy is a secular one in seeking to drive a hard line between private religious faith and the public duties of civil servants. However, any secularist credentials the act claims to be based on are further invalidated by the fact that there is no banning of the crucifix above the Speaker’s chair in the National Assembly. The PQ claims the crucifix is more than a religious symbol, but rather, an important historical piece of the province’s Catholic identity. They seem to be blissfully ignoring the fact that the Assembly crucifix was installed by the Maurice Duplessis administration, five decades after the legislative body came to be, as part of a pact of accommodation with the Catholic Continued on page 11
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Trudeau’s pot admission is calculated play for voters But as with any calculated risk, the outcome of his manoeuvre is far from certain
By Doug Firby CALGARY, Troy Media—A huge political gamble? Or an opportunistic move? The one thing we know for certain is that Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s admission that he took a few “puffs” of pot—even during his term as a Member of Parliament—is not an offthe-cuff, reckless comment. Instead, it is a daring, calculated move that pits Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s stodgy old conservatives against the nominally more attuned, youth-focused liberal electorate in a battle for the hearts of core Canadians.
Liberal Party of Canada Leader Justin Trudeau. Photo: Justin.ca.
You don’t have to support the decriminalization of pot to be fascinated by this high-stakes chess game. If you love watching political strategy on a Continued on page 5