News

OTTAWA – Pacific Coast shipbuilders need work now and Canada’s navy needs new ships, but both will have to wait up to two years according to an announcement made by four Conservative ministers in Ottawa.

The press conference held earlier today at a military trade-show was largely a rehash of past promises and included few details about the lengthy tendering process or funding sources.

NDP MP Denise Savoie was pleased that Conservatives finally recognize shipbuilding is the viable industry that New Democrats have always maintained it can be, but she remains sceptical.

We were shocked and deeply saddened by the unacceptable loss of life and injuries sustained as a result of the raid by Israeli forces against a flotilla of ships bringing aid to Gaza.

I join international leaders in calling for an urgent and independent investigation into this terrible incident that jeopardizes the pursuit of peace in the region.

I call on Prime Minister Harper to immediately lend Canada's voice to the rapidly growing call for this inquiry.

OTTAWA – Today’s report from the Native Women’s Association of Canada on missing and murdered aboriginal women is further evidence of the need for $10 million in promised funding, say New Democrats.

“It is essential now, in light of this report, that the government be forthcoming about its plans for the $10 million promised to this issue in Budget 2010, and how it will be used to raise awareness and implement new policies,” says Irene Mathyssen, New Democrat Critic for the Status of Women.

By: Robert Barron, Daily News

The federal parties representing Nanaimo are of two minds on initiatives to lessen the tax burden on Canadian corporations, including B.C.'s pulp and sawmills.

Nanaimo-Cowichan NDP MP Jean Crowder said Ottawa's ongoing measures to reduce Canada's corporate tax rates to be the lowest in the G8 group of countries by 2015 will likely mean average Canadians will have to pay more taxes as governments bow to corporate demands. But Nanaimo-Alberni Conservative MP James Lunney said if we don't make tax concessions to Canada's companies, they could become less competitive internationally, which would result in the loss of the taxes they pay and the jobs they provide.

By: Darrell Bellaart, Daily News

Nanaimo-Cowichan MP Jean Crowder is throwing her support behind keeping the Green's Landing wharf on Gabriola Island under federal control.

The Regional District of Nanaimo is looking to takeover the wharf to maintain access to tiny Mudge Island, if Public Works Canada chooses to proceed with divestment of the facility.

It is the main access point to Mudge from Gabriola and has been operated federally since 1959.

By: John Ward, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - The federal government has introduced legislation to extend formal Indian status to the grandchildren of aboriginal women who married non-natives - a change that could add as many as 45,000 people to the Indian registry.

The bill, introduced in the Commons on Thursday by Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl, is in response to a 2009 B.C. court judgment which ruled that a law denying Indian status to the grandchildren was discriminatory.

By: Darrell Bellaart, Daily News

International relief agency's funding pulled after 35 years amid 'anti-Semitism' charges

Nanaimo-Alberni MP James Lunney is facing criticism after refusing to meet with local members of an international aide group that lost government funding.

The federal minister responsible for the Canadian International Development Agency pulled $7 million from Kairos, a church-based group half funded by CIDA for 35 years.

University's lack of action led to decision, Strahl says

By: Angela Hall, Joe Couture and Jason Warick, Saskatchewan News Network

First Nations University of Canada (FNUC) suffered a major blow Monday as the federal government pulled $7.3 million in funding, despite an effort by First Nations leaders to make long-promised governance changes at the post-secondary institution.

With the withdrawal last week of provincial cash, the university has now lost $12.5 million -- more than half of its annual funding.

Federal Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl said in a statement his department has worked with the university to help it address "long-standing, systemic problems related to governance and financial management of the institution," but the institution delayed taking action.

By: Darrell Bellaart, Daily News

Powerful emotions overcame David Munro as he carried the Olympic flame through Hope on Sunday.

Munro is a Canadian Armed Forces veteran who lived in Nanaimo for several years. He wept as he ran through the Fraser Valley town.

The 73-year-old man was overcome by thoughts of soldiers lost while he served as a United Nations peacekeeper in international hotspots such as the Suez Canal, the Sinai Desert and the Gaza Strip.