Canadian health care wait times are on the rise according to research by the Fraser Institute published Mon. Oct. 15. In 2007, the average wait time across Canada was 18.3 weeks from the time a patient saw their family doctor to when they received necessary treatment. The best province was Ontario with an average of 15 weeks, and the worst was Saskatchewan with 27.2 weeks. The numbers are up from 17.8 weeks in 2006.
Vatican official fights claims
A Vatican official was caught on video tape making sexual advances to a young man earlier this week.
Monsignor Tommaso Stenico had been suspended in accordance with Vatican teachings that homosexuality is a sin. Stenico insists that he was only pretending to be gay while attempting to study homosexual behaviour. He was trying to further his work as a psychoanalyst in order to “help clean up the church” he said in an interview with La Repubblica newspaper. Stenico promised that he has never been gay and is in fact heterosexual, although he has maintained his vow of celibacy.
Rice wants Palestine to be a state
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will hold a peace conference next month. “Frankly, it’s time for the establishment of a Palestinian state,” she said in the Globe and Mail. Israeli officials are hoping for a vague document outlining the final peace deal. Palestinians explained they would not be attending unless a detailed outline and a specific timeline were completed before the conference set to take place in Annapolis, Maryland. Issues to be addressed are Jerusalem, refugees, borders and settlements.
Protesting voting and Burkas
An angry crowd of protesters gathered around Calgary City Hall Sun., Oct. 14 to protest Canadian legislation allowing women to wear burkas that cover their faces while voting. A white supremacist group of 15 neo-Nazis handed out pamphlets, chanted and carried black flags with a white pride symbol. Later a crowd of 60 counter protesters arrived at the scene and conflict arose. Seven police stood in between the groups as a precaution. The protest came to an end after three hours with the white supremacists asking for police assistance in getting to cabs and safely leaving the area. Only one member of each party was arrested and they are each to be charged with assault.