Free Republic

Sunwing Flight 772 took off for Panama City on this morning, but was turned around after 45 minutes in the air for an emergency landing at Toronto's Pearson International Airport because of an "unruly passenger." Sunwing officials say a passenger was making threats, some of which concerned the security of the plane. Pilots activated their emergency response plan and returned to Toronto. Two U.S. F-16 fighter jets from Toledo, Ohio, were dispatched to escort the plane back to Toronto, North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) confirmed. The F-16s flew with the commercial plane out of U.S. airspace to Toronto as...

There were more than a few trembling chins, red eyes and sniffly noses as sailors filed past a crowd to board HMCS Toronto on Thursday morning. And those were just the crew members. On the jetty at HMC Dockyard, a little girl bawled as she watched her dad walk toward the gangplank. A couple embraced and indulged in a kiss that would normally be reserved for a private setting. One last whispered “I love you” and it was time to go. Two hundred and fifty-seven women and men set sail from Halifax to join NATO forces responding to the crisis...

More than 15 wasps stung Lucie Roussel's legs near her Quebec home. She became La Prairie's mayor in 2005 and recently won reelection to a third term. ... Paramedics gave her an EpiPen to treat an allergic reaction, but it didn't help, La Prairie spokeswoman Chantal Charron said. The 51-year-old mayor, who was apparently not allergic to bees, died at a nearby hospital from multiple stings and shock ... She leaves behind two teenage children — her daughter, Constance, and her son, Antonin. Her husband died several years ago from a heart attack

The Toronto mayoral race is a dead heat between the three top contenders as Mayor Rob Ford’s support of one-in-four voters remains set in concrete and Olivia Chow has dropped off sharply, a new poll suggests. The latest Forum Poll has Chow with 29% support of respondents, John Tory at 28% and Ford at 27%, all within the poll’s three percentage points margin of error. However, six-in-ten respondents still call for Ford to resign, suggesting little room for growth for the mayor’s campaign. Karen Stintz saw her support rise to 6%, while policy geek David Soknacki’s campaign has yet to...

A 78-year-old Titusville man has been convicted of bigamy and has been handed an 18-month conditional sentence for being married to two women at the same time. Robert Cassidy sat in a wheelchair in a Saint John courtroom on Tuesday for his sentencing.

After Russia orchestrated the absorption of Crimea into the Soviet Union – oops – into Russia, the Prime Minister told a German audience that Mr. Putin was a “throwback” to the USSR. “Unfortunate as it sounds,” Mr. Harper observed, “it’s increasingly apparent to me that the Cold War has never left Vladimir Putin’s mind.” Then the Prime Minister added, “we simply … cannot afford the risk of Europe going back to being a continent where people seize territory … where the bigger military powers are prepared to invade their neighbours or carve off pieces.” The economy was important, he went...

Bangor Daily News Quebec man arrested after allegedly trying to smuggle wife into US near JackmanBy Dawn Gagnon, BDN Staff Posted July 21, 2014, at 8:14 p.m. BANGOR, Maine — A Quebec man who was arrested last week after allegedly attempting to smuggle his wife into the country made his initial court appearance Monday at U.S. District Court in Bangor. Pierre Poulin, 40, of St. Martin, Quebec, is charged with encouraging and inducing illegal entry into the U.S., a federal offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He is being held...

Once, before the Senate and the scandals and the infamy, Mike Duffy was the most recognizable broadcaster in Canada, beloved by millions who relied on his insider accounts to interpret the machinations of political Ottawa. That seems a long time ago now. Since Stephen Harper fulfilled Duffy’s most ardent ambition in December 2008 and named him to the Senate — be careful what you wish for — he has been in a downward spiral of epic proportions. That spiral reached a nadir this week, which began with a report in Maclean’s magazine about legal action in Peru by a woman...

Chris Boudreau has been reeling for months after learning her son died fighting with a terrorist group overseas. Now, a self-proclaimed jihadist is urging the Calgary mother to embrace an extremist ideology she suspects was used to brainwash her son. On his blog, Abu Dujana al-Muhajir claims he was among a group of young men who left Calgary to join “various fronts of Jihad” after forming a study group at a downtown mosque. Damian Clairmont, Boudreau’s son who was also part of the group, was later killed during rebel infighting in Syria. Clairmont’s death devastated and confounded his mother, who...

Amid allegations that Russian-backed separatists are actively impeding the investigation into Thursday's downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine territory, the international community is expressing its anger. Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, said that he wants justice and that justice needs to start with a "credible unimpeded independent investigation" of what happened. "I'm very very disturbed by reports of the careless, even callous way in which the crash site has been treated," Baird said via a teleconference in the U.K., with reports suggesting that Russian rebels were removing bodies and evidence from the crash site and threatening international...

I often call to mind the Avalon peninsula of Newfoundland when I think of Israel, and imagine what it would be like to crowd seven million people onto the fragments of the island most familiar to visitors. And think further of what it would be like to see Carbonear or Twillingate or St. John’s under deadly attack on and off for 70 years, and further troubled by a rain of thousands of rockets and missiles fired apparently at whim, indifferent to their targets, by a remorseless enemy. Considering this, and all its struggles since its birth, I’ve long thought that...

PM Harper and Canada's Conservatives stand with Israel.

Thought it would be interesting to see what one of the actual leaders of the free world had to say about the shootdown of MH17 while the bozo in our White House was off eating burgers in Delaware and fundraising in NYC. Note, like a true leader, Harper actually makes a point in his statement: "“While we do not yet know who is responsible for this attack, we continue to condemn Russia’s military aggression and illegal occupation of Ukraine, which is at the root of the ongoing conflict in the region."

One U.S. official said Washington strongly suspected the missile that downed the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was fired by Ukrainian separatists backed by Moscow...The Netherlands declared a day of national mourning for its 154 dead. Twenty-eight passengers were Malaysian, 27 Australian, 11 Indonesian, six British, four German, four Belgian, three Filipino and one Canadian. All 15 crew were Malaysian. Nationalities of the others aboard were unclear.

The Iranian government has given notice it intends to challenge a two-year-old Canadian law that allows victims of terrorism to sue the Islamic republic for damages. After long ignoring a series of lawsuits filed by victims of Iranian-sponsored terrorist groups, Tehran now wants to participate in the Ontario court proceedings in a last-ditch attempt to have the cases thrown out. A court date has been set for December to hear Iran’s motions arguing it was never properly served notice of the civil suits and that the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act is invalid. The Toronto lawyer representing the Iranian...

TORONTO - The Stephen Harper government stands out today as the “most stalwart” and “most clear-minded” friend Israel has internationally, says Israel’s consul-general to Toronto and Western Canada. DJ Schneeweiss told the Toronto Sun in a candid interview Wednesday the Canadian government’s “full-throatedly clear” view that Israel has no choice but to respond to the indiscriminate violent attacks by Hamas is the kind of position many Israelis wish they’d see emulated by other countries around the world. “The story is a lot simpler than a lot of people would like to think ... by those who think they have to...

Rogers Communications says from now on it will require police to get a warrant before it hands over subscriber data. “After hearing feedback from our customers and reviewing the Supreme Court ruling from last month, we’ve decided that from now on we will require a court order/warrant to provide basic customer information to law enforcement agencies, except in life threatening emergencies,” the company said in a statement Wednesday. “We believe this move is better for our customers and that law enforcement agencies will still be able to protect the public.” The country’s second-largest telecom by revenue released its first-ever transparency...

Another attack on religious freedom is under way in Canada, this time against doctors in the province of Ontario. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is reviewing its human rights code guidelines, and the public response has been explosive. Many people want the College to change its present practice of permitting doctors to opt out of referring or prescribing treatments that violate their ethics or religious faith. This is not a case of liberal intellectuals and unelected leaders reducing our freedoms without the consent of the public. Judging by the slew of negative comments to stories in the...

---SNIP-- Before California enacted legislation in 2009 to create its first film and TV production incentive, the state had been asleep at the switch while Canada and other countries, as well as more than 40 states, offered lucrative incentives to lure away production jobs. Many argued the incentive would not be worth the investment, but the program has proved to be a phenomenal success in creating jobs

In a stunning rebuke of President Obama’s tepid calls for Israel to show "restraint" in response to daily rocket fire on Israeli civilian targets by Hamas terror redoubts in Gaza, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, long considered Israel’s best friend and strongest defender, all but condemned President Obama by name for what he regards as Washington’s irresolute support for Israel during its time of grave crisis. In perhaps his most strongly worded statement to date, Prime Minister Harper proclaimed that self defense is "not merely an Israeli right" to be exercised only in the abstract, but an "Israeli obligation" that...