Where to celebrate Canada Day this long weekend

Canadians from coast to coast to coast and beyond will help mark the country's 146th birthday on Monday.

Events in Ottawa get underway at 9 a.m. ET and run until 10 p.m., with live music by Metric, Carly Rae Jepsen, and a special performance by Cmdr. Chris Hadfield and Ed Robertson.

CBC News will cover the celebrations in the capital live, beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET on CBC-TV, CBC News Network and CBCNews.ca.

Celebrations are also being held in London's Trafalgar Square, which CBC News Network will carry live starting at 6 a.m. ET. Canada Day in the British capital will feature live music by The Tragically Hip, The Sheepdogs, Arkells, Jann Arden and Northern Cree.

Other festivities set to take place across Canada include:

• Vancouver's Canada Place will host festivities beginning at 10 a.m. PT, with a parade at 7 p.m. and a fireworks show at 10:30 p.m.
• In Calgary, celebrations start at 10 a.m. MT, with some events relocated to Shaw Millennium Park because of flood recovery efforts in the city.
• Edmontonians will be treated to a fireworks show over the city's river valley parks and the North Saskatchewan River at 11 p.m. MT.
• In Regina, the Royal Canadian Artillery will kick off the festivities in Wascana Park at noon CT with a 21-round gun salute, and The Trews will cap off an afternoon of musical performances at 8:30 p.m.
• In Winnipeg, the entertainment begins at the Forks at 1 p.m. CT. In the evening, local indie band Imaginary Cities will team up with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra for a performance that will lead into a fireworks show at 11 p.m.
• In Toronto at Mel Lastman Square, a concert and fireworks display will be held beginning at 5 p.m. ET.
• The Old Port of Montreal will host a fireworks display at 10:15 p.m. ET, following a day of musical performances that begins at 11 a.m.
• In Quebec City, Canada Day celebrations will take place on the Plains of Abraham, with games, shows, and fireworks later in the evening.
• In Moncton, celebrations get underway with a bike ride at 11 a.m. AT, followed by a concert headlined by Colin James at Main Street and Riverfront Park, and a fireworks display at 10 p.m.
• In Dartmouth, N.S., live music by Skratch Bastid, Paper Lions, Gloryhound, The Elwins and Tokyo Police Club will begin at 5 p.m. at Alderney Landing, with a fireworks show over Halifax harbour set for 10 p.m.
• Charlottetown's Victoria Park will host events beginning at noon AT, with live music and a fireworks show at 10 p.m.
• In Yellowknife, Somba K'e Civic Plaza will host celebrations between 12:30 MT and 4 p.m.
• In Iqaluit, festivities begin with a pancake breakfast and flea market, then a Canada Day Parade.
• In St. John's, Canada Day will start with a sunrise ceremony at 6 a.m. NT at Signal Hill National Historic Site, with afternoon celebrations beginning at noon on Confederation Hill and a fireworks display scheduled for 10 p.m.

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Pakistani girl accused of blasphemy now living in Canada

A Christian girl who was falsely accused of blasphemy in Pakistan has fled to Canada, CBC News has learned.

Rimsha Masih, 14, was charged with blasphemy in 2012 for allegedly burning pages of the Qu'ran.

Muslim cleric Khalid Jadoon was arrested on suspicion of framing Rimsha Masih. (Faisal Mahmood/Reuters )

Although she was acquitted, supporters say her family decided to live in hiding after continued threats.

The family made the secret journey to Canada just weeks ago – arriving at an undisclosed location in Toronto, according to Peter Bhatti, who runs a Christian organization that is helping them settle in Canada.

Bhatti says that Masih, her parents and her brother and sister had to leave Pakistan in order to have safe, secure lives.

Their journey to Canada comes after Masih's case sparked an international outcry when she was arrested last August.

A neighbour claimed she had burned pages of the Qu'ran. Masih – said to have Down syndrome – spent 25 days in an adult prison before being freed on bail.

The incident fuelled new calls for reform of Pakistan's blasphemy laws, which have often been used to target religious minorities and to settle personal scores.

Police believe Rimsha may have been framed by a cleric who desecrated the Qu'ran himself and then tried to make it look as if the girl did it.

Bhatti said the girl and her family have been granted special permission by the federal government to live in Canada and that they are all relieved and happy. He said the 14-year-old is thriving in her new home.

"She is doing wonderful. She is studying in school, every day, she going to school, she is learning, she is starting talking more," he told CBC's Laura Lynch.

Still, Bhatti refuses to say where she is, citing worries that she could still be a target for extremists.

Officials in Immigration Minister Jason Kenney's office have refused to comment on Masih's case, citing privacy concerns.

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4 dead after mid-air crash north of Whistler

Four people are dead after a collision involving a glider and a small plane near Pemberton, B.C., north of Whistler, on Saturday afternoon around 1 p.m. PT.

Second Lt. Erin Edwards with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria said crews have recovered the bodies of the pilots and passengers from both aircraft which fell into the area of Nairn Falls Provincial Park.

Nairn Falls Provincial Park

A man who witnessed the immediate aftermath of the crash described hearing a "big bang" and then seeing a glider spiral down to the ground.

Dan Wall, who was on a bike trail near the park campground, about 50 kilometres north of Whistler, said the trees were so tall that he couldn't properly see what happened in the air.

However, after the loud noise, he and his companions saw a plane moving over the trees, and a glider falling.

"The glider hit the ground. You could hear it. You could see the debris in the air, so people started taking cover," he said.

The campground was fully occupied at the time. No campers were hurt, although an RCMP spokesman said debris fell within six metres of some campers.

The Transportation Safety Board confirmed it has sent investigators to probe the mid-air collision that killed four people and a dog near Pemberton Saturday. (Photo courtesy David Buzzard)

One of Wall's companions is a search-and-rescue volunteer, so the group headed towards the wreck of the glider. The glider came down just outside the campground, near a park maintenance area.

Wall stood back, but said there was visible fire, and witnesses grabbed small fire extinguishers from the maintenance area and started putting it out.

He did not see anyone being pulled from the gliders, but also said he didn't want to get in the way and didn't go very close.

"The glider scene was... it was pretty brutal," he said.

Wall said he did not know what happened to the small plane that he saw fly overhead after hearing the initial bang.

"Apparently, from what we heard from firefighters that arrived on scene, the plane had continued on and actually crash-landed on the opposite side of Green River, which runs alongside the campground," Wall said.

Officials with CFB Comox confirmed that four people and a dog had died as a result of the mid-air collision between a two-seat glider and a Cessna 150. The Cessna was from 100 Mile House, a community northeast of Whistler.

Officials do not know if the plane was towing the glider.

Police have notified the next of kin, but the victims' names have not been released.

The Transportation Safety Board confirmed it has sent investigators to the crash sites, and will be launching an investigation.

Witnesses at Nairn Falls Provincial Park campground area took cover as debris fell from the sky. (Photo courtesy David Buzzard)A Canadian Forces cormorant helicopter from CFB Comox was dispatched to assist with search and recovery efforts at Nairn Falls Provincial Park. (Photo courtesy David Buzzard) With files from the CBC's Theresa Lalonde and Chad Pawson and The Canadian Press

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5,000 High River flood evacuees assess damaged homes

Residents in High River, Alberta returned their homes Saturday for the first time in more than a week to find them in a variety of states.

Heather Dupont says her home was fine except for a mess that her three cats made.

Ryan Domes escaped with a flooded basement.

But Kyle Hansen's property fared worse.

His backyard was on the High Golf and Country Club and the greens are covered with water and deep layers of mud that already is showing cracks from the hot sun.

Some 5,000 residents were allowed to return to their homes to assess the damage.

Authorities ordered all 13,000 residents of the town south of Calgary to leave when the Highwood River burst over its banks, devastating the town.

The next influx of people allowed back into their homes will be in about a week and the hardest hit neighbourhoods could be five more weeks.

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Toronto pride 2013 marks milestone year

This year's gay pride celebrations unofficially mark a milestone year in many ways for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community.

This year saw the first openly gay professional baskeball player, Jason Collins came out, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to deny federal benefits to same-sex couples and Canada marked the 10th anniversary of its first same-sex marriage.

On Sunday, Ontario's Kathleen Wynne, Canada's first openly gay premier, will make history as the first sitting premier to march in Toronto's Pride Parade.

But, for some equality is still a goal, not a reality, and the struggle is far from over.

"The most important role that pride still plays is the message it sends to LGBT youth," said University of Toronto law Prof. Brenda Crossman.

CBC's Natalie Kalata takes a look at the festivities in Toronto and listens to some personal stories of the struggle for equality in the LGBT community.

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Pakistani girl accused of blasphemy now living in Canada

A Christian girl who was falsely accused of blasphemy in Pakistan has fled to Canada, CBC News has learned.

Rimsha Masih, 14, was charged with blasphemy in 2012 for allegedly burning pages of the Qu'ran.

Although she was acquitted, supporters say her family decided to live in hiding after continued threats.

The family made the secret journey to Canada just weeks ago – arriving at an undisclosed location in Toronto, according to Peter Bhatti, who runs a Christian organization that is helping them settle in Canada.

Bhatti says that Masih, her parents and her brother and sister had to leave Pakistan in order to have safe, secure lives.

Their journey to Canada comes after Masih's case sparked an international outcry when she was arrested last August.

A neighbour claimed she had burned pages of the Qu'ran. Masih – said to have Down's syndrome – spent 25 days in an adult prison before being freed on bail.

The incident fuelled new calls for reform of Pakistan's blasphemy laws, which have often been used to target religious minorities and to settle personal scores.

Police believe Rimsha may have been framed by a cleric who desecrated the Qu'ran himself and then tried to make it look as if the girl did it.

Bhatti said the girl and her family have been granted special permission by the federal government to live in Canada and that they are all relieved and happy. He said the 14-year-old is thriving in her new home.

"She is doing wonderful. She is studying in school, every day, she going to school, she is learning, she is starting talking more," he told CBC's Laura Lynch.

Still, Bhatti refuses to say where she is, citing worries that she could still be a target for extremists.

Officials in Immigration Minister Jason Kenney's office have refused to comment on Masih's case, citing privacy concerns.

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How the Toronto Raptors helped spark a hoops factory

With Brampton, Ont., native Anthony Bennett making history by becoming the first Canadian No.1 NBA draft pick and with predictions that Thornhill, Ont.-born Andrew Wiggins could follow suit next year, the Greater Toronto Area seems to be building a reputation as a hoops factory for budding basketball stars.

And there could be more to come. Myck Kabongo, Kevin Pangos, Tyler Ennis and Dwight Powell are just some of the talented Toronto-area players considered to have bright futures in the league.

"You can keep going," said Leo Rautins, a television analyst for the Toronto Raptors and the former head coach for the Canadian national men's basketball team. "Right now I don't see this stopping. I think this is a cycle that's going to continue and only get better.

"You're going to consistently see Canadians at a very high level, Canadians making it to the NBA."

Over the last eight or nine years, Basketball Canada has concentrated its efforts to grow the game and offer more opportunities for development, Rautins said. But the explosion of talent may have much to do with the NBA establishing a team in Canada in 1995.

"I think the simple answer is all these kids now grew up with the NBA," Rautins said. "The NBA came in '95 and since that point everyone of these kids have seen it, tasted it, felt it. And as a result, it's been laid out for them as far as a path and a potential opportunity. And I think we're seeing the benefit to that."

Toronto and the surrounding areas, with its large population pool and the ability to offer more opportunity and more competition, would obviously have an advantage to cultivate new talent.

And with the establishment of the Toronto Raptors in 1995, Toronto-area kids had a greater source of inspiration.

"What it did was it had players looking and seeing themselves on the court," Rowan Barrett, the executive vice-president at Basketball Canada, told CBC News. "If you're a six-foot-five kid and you're in Grade 7, you're the biggest, tallest person in the building. It's maybe hard to relate, hard to understand where I fit in.

"And being able to watch these athletes 6-7", 6-8", running up and down the court, all of a sudden there was a vision for those [kids]. 'This is what I can do with this ability.' And what that did, it sparked the club environment. Just an explosion there."

Instead of kids starting to play at the age of 13 or 14, now they began at the age of six and seven, much like in hockey, Barrett said.

But having a superstar like Vince Carter join the roster drew more kids to the basketball court. Bennett himself said Carter's legendary performance at the Slam Dunk contest in 2000 and his role as a Raptor, inspired him to play.

"I definitely think a big part of it is that," said Dwayne Lubin, who coaches the local Toronto Fire basketball team. "I think when the Raptors first came, you just had your major fans. And I think Vince excited the younger group, the younger generation. He was the biggest star in basketball at that time."

This has led to a huge spike in the participation of kids and a big boom in basketball training programs, he said.

Another mini-explosion of basketball interest was sparked when Brampton, Ont.-native Tristan Thompson went fourth and Pickering, Ont.-native Cory Joseph went 29th in the first round draft of 2011.

"There was such a huge growth after Tristan and Cory. Once those guys made it through, kids got to see them on TV and being drafted. Almost the next day, parents were trying to get their kids into the gym as much as they could."

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Youth key to helping families fight stigma of mental illness, suicide

After 18-year-old Steven Hutchison took his own life in his dorm room at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., earlier this year, a lot of his close friends kept in touch with his parents.

Young people who had known the popular, ever-smiling athlete brought his mother, Myrna Hutchison, a memory book with notes from groups of his friends and told her they wanted to do something.

'What we know is that Steven struggled and suffered in silence.'—Myrna Hutchison

"It just seemed that we needed something to help get us through this," says Hutchison.

"We needed to work towards a common goal and I thought maybe we could start planning an event of some sort."

That event unfolds today on the streets of Hutchison's hometown of Arthur, Ont., north of Kitchener. More than 500 people have signed up to take part in the Get In Touch For Hutch walkathon and race.

But Get In Touch For Hutch is more than a chance for participants to lace up their running shoes and get some exercise.

Funds raised will be directed toward organizations that support youth mental health. And from it all, organizers hope they can get young people talking and lay more groundwork for removing stigmas attached to suicide and mental illness.

"What we know is that Steven struggled and suffered in silence," says his mother.

"There was an amount of personal pride there that didn't allow him to feel comfortable talking about his feelings or the pressures or everyday stresses that he may have been experiencing like we all do."

"Our ultimate goal is … to erase the stigma that's attached to that. We don't want people to feel judged or ridiculed or to be any less of the person than they truly are because they talk about their feelings or emotions."

Ultimate goal

Getting people to talk about suicide and mental illness is not always easy. People may not wish to talk about feelings of depression. Deaths by suicide are not always publicly identified as such by families, or identified in the same way that deaths from cancer or heart disease might be described.

Instead, it could perhaps be a "hunting accident." Or maybe a person's death would be described as occurring "suddenly, at home." Or maybe it was only whispered about — or not talked about at all.

Friends and teammates of Daron Richardson wore purple and sold bracelets to raise money for the Do it For Daron campaign at their high school on Feb. 8, 2011. (CBC)

Get In Touch For Hutch joins initiatives such as D.I.F.D (Do It For Daron), a foundation created after the 2010 suicide of Daron Richardson, the 14-year-old daughter of former Ottawa Senators assistant coach Luke Richardson and his wife Stephanie, in taking a more open, public approach.

And they're being driven in large part by the young people who were immediately touched by their deaths.

"To be honest, I think the initiative started with the youth and … our goal was to support that in any possible way," says Stephanie Richardson.

"When we had young people ask us, 'Would you be upset if we made helmet stickers, would you be upset if we made bracelets,' our answer was always no."

D.I.F.D. aims to increase awareness and get people talking about youth mental health, and works with the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre towards those goals. Richardson says the achievements of the initiative have been remarkable.

"I think for Luke and I, as time went on … we were determined … that this wasn't going to be ignored. Our goal was that those conversations would happen in every home, in every school, in every hockey rink and in the community at large.

"And then you saw big people step up, like the Ottawa Sens Foundation, and say we're open to this conversation, we're going to have a night."

Otttawa-area youth take part in an event in May 2011 to raise awareness about youth mental health. The youth sat in the buses to represent the three busloads of Ontario children and youth that would kill themselves that year. (Courtesy Royal Ottawa Mental Health Group)

The Richardsons, who now live in Binghamton, N.Y., where Luke is head coach of the Binghamton Senators, were back in Ottawa this week and received honorary degrees from Algonquin College.

Stephanie has taken part in various public events and was on hand in Ottawa in April when Olympian Clara Hughes announced she will do a cross-country bike ride to talk to people about mental health.

"It's pretty powerful to see people get behind it, but it's more just to create that dialogue and it became … the need for the kids to speak and use their voice and they kept doing it and I would say that it was more everybody following that lead," says Stephanie.

For Hutchison, there is the hope that the message resonating from today's event in Arthur will get people thinking differently about mental illness.

Something simple

"I think we have to find opportunities in everything we're involved in. For example … I think back about my boys going to hundreds of different arenas across Ontario and never once seeing a poster or banner about mental health support or Kids Help Phone or the crisis line," she says.

"I haven't followed up with Brock, but I wonder about even something as simple as having a magnet or a sticker in that dorm room that had the crisis line on it — if Steven had seen that, would he have taken a second thought to make a call rather than end his life the way he did?"

Both Richardson and Hutchison have seen another phenomenon emerge: because people know of their family's experiences, they approach them with stories of how suicide has touched their families.

Stephanie Richardson, wife of former Ottawa Senators assistant coach Luke Richardson, is pictured at the Scotiabank Place during the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championships in Ottawa on April 3, 2013. The Richardsons' foundation Do It For Daron was the official charity of this year's WWHC. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

"The biggest showing of support for me has been that people have started talking. People are feeling OK to get in touch with me to share their personal stories," says Hutchison.

"I know stories, two in specific, that have been shared with me just recently in that people have experienced losses through suicide 20 years or so ago and just now are having their first conversations about that."

Richardson says "what is happening is overwhelming." At Algonquin this week, students stopped on stage to thank her and her husband and tell stories of themselves or others they know seeking help.

"Because of the conversations and because of the openness of our daughter's death, there has been major change and it's not because of us. It's because each person sees [themselves] in it and they're comfortable" telling their stories.

Richardson would like to see discussions of mental health issues become mainstream in the education system, and that there be no different value placed on any death, whether it is by cancer, heart disease or suicide.

Mixed blessing

"I don't understand why the value is different…. That really does not make sense to me, but it seems … some people feel like there's a shame with it, that there's a lesser value of that person. That makes absolutely no sense to me."

Ultimately, for the Richardsons, going public about their daughter's death wasn't necessarily a choice.

"I think it just came with part of our life, with the career that my husband had," says Stephanie Richardson.

"It's a mixed blessing, but we are also very blessed that we do have therapy and we believe in it and that is very, very helpful to have medical help for ourselves."

One thing, she says, though, is that being public about suicide doesn't "take away our despair, our loss or the endless unanswered questions."

Luke Richardson, left, and Dr. Raj Bhatla, chief of psychiatry at Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, speak on the issue of teen suicide in Ottawa on Feb. 24, 2011. (Sean kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

"Being public didn't help that. It didn't make it any easier. It didn't make it any worse but it doesn't make it easier. I certainly wouldn't want someone to think if they were public that it eases that sense of despair, loss and desperation to want to answer all those unanswered questions."

Dr. Raj Bhatla, chief of psychiatry of the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, says there are a variety of ways families might cope with the suicide of a child. They need to be able to make the choices that suit them best, he says.

"It's really a private choice of the family. It's neither good nor bad to go public," Bhatla says.

"There shouldn't be a value judgment — go forward publicly or you don't go forward publicly. It's really for each individual family to make that choice. The losses remain."

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Labrador town evacuated over air quality woes from fire

Most people living in the town of Wabush evacuated the western Labrador community overnight to escape smoke from a nearby forest fire.

Town officials declared a state of emergency at approximately 9 p.m. local time on Friday, and residents were transported to nearby Labrador City.

Town officials said they were beginning a "phased" evacuation due to concerns over air quality.

As of noon Saturday, the Canadian Red Cross team registered 1,409 evacuees at the Arts and Culture Centre in Labrador City. Government officials said about 1,800 people needed to leave the mining town in the wake of forest fires that have been burning since last Sunday.

People yet to register and who have cellphone or telephone access may also call the Canadian Red Cross in St. John's, at 709-758-8416. By leaving a message, St. John's-based volunteers will reply to take registration details. Concerned family members elsewhere in the province or across Canada may also call that number.

Landlines in Wabush have been down since Friday afternoon, and 911 phone services are also affected.

BellAliant officials have spotted the damage done to their cables through helicopter reconnaissance.

Spokesperson Mark Duggan said damage was caused by a separate fire from the one threatening Wabush, adding there is still too much smoke and fire to get in to repair the damage.

Duggan said that due to limited cell phone coverage in Labrador west, there is a lot of congestion on the system, and some calls may not be getting through. He's asking people to limit their calls to emergency use only.

Duggan said he hopes to have a further update on the situation later today.

In the event of an emergency, Wabush citizens can make calls from their cellphones to 709-280-9011. Residents of Labrador City can call from a landline to another landline by dialing 709-944-7602 in an emergency. Cellphones in all of Labrador West can call 709-280-2841.

Boil water advisory

A boil water advisory was issued Saturday morning for Wabush.

Residents are advised not to use tap water for drinking, washing produce or brushing their teeth. The town advises that boiled or bottled water be used for these purposes.

Fire stays at bay

Conservation officer Chuck Porter said the fire has not moved closer to the town, and some ground crews were dispatched to combat the fire on Saturday morning.

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro said on Friday that electricity outages could strike the towns if the situation changes, but no outages had been reported as of Saturday morning.

Environment Canada has a special air quality statement in effect for Labrador West, and the area may receive 2 millimetres of rain on Saturday evening.

The airport in Wabush remains open.

The Trans-Labrador Highway remains closed, but police escorted one convoy travelling west and another heading east on Saturday morning. Only essential services and first responders are allowed into the town.

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1st-degree murder charge laid in Petawawa, Ont., slaying

A 25-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder after a stabbing attack in Petawawa, Ont., left one man dead and two women critically injured.

Brian David Goddard appeared in a Kingston, Ont., courtroom on Saturday morning via video from the Ontario Provincial Police detachment where he is being held, according to OPP Sgt. Kristine Rae.

Rae said Goddard, who has no fixed address, will be remanded in custody until his next court appearance on Tuesday in Pembroke.

RELATED:

On Friday, police received a 911 call just before 11 a.m. ET for an incident at a home on East Street at Petawawa Point, which is near the shore of the Ottawa River.

Woman chased suspect from home, she writes

Officers found a man dead, who has since been identified as 56-year-old Danny Pietersma. They also found two women, 55 and 17, with critical injuries and paramedics transported them to hospital.

They remain in two separate hospitals in Ottawa.

A woman named Karisma Pietersma, who said she was the victim's daughter, wrote on her Facebook wall she chased the suspect out of her home Friday.

She also wrote her father was killed and her mother was in surgery at an Ottawa hospital.

"RIP Dan Pietersma I love you so very much. I will miss you more than anyone will know," wrote Pietersma.

It was unclear if the three victims were found in the same home.

3-hour manhunt

Later on Friday, police launched a search for a suspect, who was believed to be armed and dangerous, with a helicopter and canine unit, as well as officers on the ground. Military police were also involved in the search.

Police watch an area near Our Lady of Sorrows school in Petawawa. (Photo courtesy of Kate Saunders/Twitter)

Residents of Petawawa, which is just less than a two-hour drive northwest of Ottawa, were told to stay inside and some schools were under lockdown.

Goddard was later arrested and assessed by paramedics. Police said he has no connection to CFB Petawawa.

The investigation continues and police are asking anyone with information to contact Upper Ottawa Valley OPP.

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Dissatisfied chiefs could form new First Nations group

Tensions between the Assembly of First Nations and some chiefs who are feeling excluded could boil over next month at a meeting where a new breakaway organization could be born.

The National Treaty Gathering at Onion Lake, Sask., is taking place July 14 to 18, at the same time the AFN is having its annual meeting in Whitehorse. People will have to choose which meeting they want to attend.

Chief Delbert Wapass, of Thunderchild First Nation in Saskatchewan, plans to attend the Onion Lake meeting and says he's excited about what it might produce.

"I know it will be something great. Everybody should be there as far as I'm concerned," he said in an interview. Wapass said he has some concerns with the AFN, particularly when it comes to trust.

"If the AFN is not stepping up and defending our rights, we have to," said Wapass.

The annual National Treaty Gathering usually attracts about 800 people. Organizers of the Idle No More protest movement have also been invited to attend this year.

A copy of the agenda shows that Grand Chief Derek Nepinak, from the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, will make a presentation on the idea of a new group currently being referred to as the National Treaty Alliance.

He will outline a proposed mission and vision statement, membership and other components, and then it will be up to attendees to discuss and debate the idea.

'I think indigenous people across the country stand firm on recognizing that change needs to happen.'— Grand Chief Derek Nepinak, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs

Nepinak said in an interview with the CBC's Julie Van Dusen that he won't speculate on the outcome of the meeting. He said he wants to see dialogue that will especially include consultation with the elders.

"It's going to come out with a strong voice for sure," he said about the meeting.

Nepinak said he has respect for the AFN and National Chief Shawn Atleo, but that in the past few years there has been too much rhetoric and not enough action.

Chiefs want focus on treaty agreements

One of his main concerns is the implementation of treaty agreements with the Crown, and he said many problems such as housing conditions and revenue sharing for natural resources stem from a failure to adhere to agreements.

He wants treaty agreements to be front and centre of discussions with the federal government and is worried that too often the issue gets folded in with other items on the agenda when Atleo meets with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. There is a general sense of feeling excluded and not being listened to, as the Idle No More protest movement demonstrated, and Nepinak said people are eager to get involved.

"We have to get past those political power vacuums that we've allowed to persist for too long, where very few people are allowed to share their ideas and their perspectives on what we need to do to move past the difficulties we face," he said.

Forming a new organization will be one option on the table, and Nepinak said whether it happens will be up to people at Onion Lake to decide.

"I think indigenous people across the country stand firm on recognizing that change needs to happen," he said.

Chief Lynn Acoose from the Sakimay First Nation in Saskatchewan said Atleo has been at the helm of the AFN at a difficult time.

"We've been waiting for things to change," she said.

Atleo met with Harper on June 20, and according to Harper's office they discussed what progress has been made since their Jan. 11 meeting. Treaty relationships were a main topic of conversation and so was education.

Atleo said he pressed Harper for clarity on commitments to treaty implementation and on timelines.

The meeting at Harper's office was not publicized, and the Prime Minister's Office only provided details about it after the media found out and asked for them.

Chief Okimaw Wallace Fox of the Onion Lake Cree Nation said he and other chiefs were not happy the AFN did not advise them of Atleo's meeting with the prime minister.

"What kind of leadership is that?" Fox told CBC News.

"We want to be included, our people's voices need to be heard, leadership needs to be heard and respected," he said.

On National Aboriginal Day on June 21, about 150 people marched from Victoria Island in the Ottawa River, where Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence held her protest hunger fast, to Parliament Hill. Some participants said the march was the beginning of a "Sovereignty Summer" that will feature a series of events.

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Ontario man accused of Mafia links faces prison in Italy

A Thunder Bay, Ont., man could be facing up to 19 years in prison in Italy if he is found guilty on charges of being associated with the 'Ndrangheta, a branch of the Italian Mafia.

Prosecutors allege that Giuseppe Bruzzese, 66, was caught on tape in a high-level meeting in an Italian laundromat with a top crime boss.

In all, four men from Thunder Bay were named in Italian arrest warrants, but Bruzzese was in Italy in 2011 at the time the warrants were issued.

In court records obtained in a joint investigation by Radio-Canada/CBC and the Toronto Star, Bruzzese is accused of being a key figure in the Thunder Bay cell of the organized crime group and is now on trial in the southern Italian region of Calabria.

Armando Gerace, Bruzzese's lawyer, contends his client was only having coffee with a friend.

"He never committed a single crime, or act of intimidation," Gerace said. "He is putting his integrity on the line, and also he is not rich."

The other three Thunder Bay men are not facing extradition to Italy because Canada doesn't recognize alleged Mafia association as a crime.

One of the other Canadian men named in the Italian arrest warrant, Antonio Minnella, told CBC News that he has no connection to organized crime and believes the allegations are the result of mistaken identity.

Thunder Bay lawyer Christopher Watkins, who is acting as Minnella's legal adviser, said the Canadian government should intervene in the case to make sure the rights of the Thunder Bay men are protected.

"This type of evidence would not pass purview in Canada, it would certainly not be reaching a level of even a charge under a Canadian constitution," Watkins said.

Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency, calls the 'Ndrangheta a major threat not only in Italy but also in many other countries, including Canada.

In a recent report on organized crime, Europol said the 'Ndrangheta has been "long underestimated as a rural, backward organization with limited scope," but that it is now recognized as "a major threat not only in Italy but also in many other countries where it operates, including Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, U.S., Colombia and Australia."

Nicola Gratteri, the chief anti-Mafia prosecutor in Calabria, said the 'Ndrangheta is the only Mafia that is present on all continents.

"I think the foreign country where the 'Ndrangheta is the most present is in Canada," he said.

"Mostly in Ontario, especially Toronto, and also in Montreal," Gratteri added. "We have found in our research there are at least nine 'Ndrangheta localis just in Toronto. Which means there are hundreds of members, as each locali has at least 51 members."

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Forest fire puts Labrador town on evacuation notice

The mining town of Wabush in western Labrador has told its residents to be prepared for an evacuation order, as a forest fire rages on its doorstep Friday.

Mayor Ron Barron issued a warning to the town of about 2,000 late Thursday night, asking residents to prepare "to-go" kits that should include medication, a change of clothing and cash.

"It is important to note this is an advisory only, and no action is necessary at this time," Barron said in a statement.

More than 30 volunteer firefighters have been going door-to-door to notify homeowners of the advisory.

Cliffs Resources, which operates the iron ore mine in the town, has used heavy equipment to set up a fire block between the forest and the town.

Meanwhile, a fourth water bomber joined the effort Friday, with a crew flying in from Happy Valley-Goose Bay in central Labrador. Two helicopters were helping with the effort.

The town said residents should include such things as cellphone chargers, diapers, infant formula and necessities in their bags.

Pet owners have also been prepared to have cages and food ready to go should the fire take a turn toward the town.

Should an evacuation order be issued, Wabush residents are being asked to go to the Arts and Cultural Centre in nearby Labrador City, where officials are planning to set up a reception centre.

Barron said registering there is important so that officials can track locations of the town's residents.

Forest fires have been burning outside Labrador City and Wabush, as well as in land in nearby Quebec, since the weekend, and have destroyed a string of cabins.

No one has yet been injured.

Aerial crews, including water bombers and a helicopter, have tried to push back the fires with water, but weather conditions have helped fuel the blazes.

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Derailed tankers pulled from Calgary bridge

Crews in Calgary successfully removed six tanker cars that teetered on a broken rail bridge over the swollen Bow River early today.

Workers had earlier removed an oil product from the tankers, which derailed early Thursday morning when part of the bridge buckled as a Canadian Pacific Railway freight was passing over it.

CP confirmed the product — used to dilute raw oilsands bitumen — did not leak into the river.

The cars were stabilized before locomotives positioned on each end of the damaged bridge pulled them safely to each side.

Hunter Harrison, the CEO of CP, had said bridge piers at the bottom of the river failed, and that engineers blamed the failure on fast water scouring away gravel under the support.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi had chastized Canadian Pacific for the derailment, but later said the rail company had apologized for the chaos.

CP says it inspected the bridge 18 times since the flooding began, but did not send in divers for a closer look because the water was moving too fast.

The six cars were part of a train that derailed early Thursday morning when Calgary's Bonnybrook rail bridge buckled and dropped about half a metre. The cars were at risk of falling into the rapid waters of the Bow until emergency crews tethered them together, leaving them dangling over the water.

Five of the cars contained petroleum diluent, which is used to thin petroleum products, including bitumen from Alberta oilsands, for transporting through a pipeline.

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Mayor of flooded-out High River says he gets the frustration

The mayor of High River says he understands the community's frustration as officials try to plan a safe return to the flooded Alberta town.

Provincial inspectors are going house to house in the town 70 kilometres south of Calgary to determine which buildings are habitable and which will have to be condemned.

About 13,000 residents were removed from High River last Thursday as the Highwood River swamped much of the town.

The people of High River are anxious to get back in and start the rebuilding process, said Mayor Emile Blokland.

"This is their community," he said. "This is where their neighbours are, their friends are, and we'll put this town back together again."

One of the outstanding safety issues is the huge body of water that formed in town during the flood, said Calgary South East MLA Rick Fraser.

"The last thing we want is to put people in homes and say we have to evacuate because this lake decided to drain," he said.

Short-term housing is being offered at the University of Lethbridge.

Town officials said a re-entry plan would be revealed on Friday.

Cargill Meat Solutions, which employs 2,000 people in High River, could be back in production next week. Cargill's facilities weren't flooded, but the company needs access to potable water in order to resume operations.

Alberta Premier Alison Redford, who visited the meat plant on Sunday, said it's a critical part of Alberta's beef Industry.

The town is still trying to get its sewage system back on line. The provincial government has provided a pump and irrigation piping to bring their systems online.

The province has also pledged $50 million to help with the cleanup in High River.

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Boy, 2, dies after being left in car in Milton, Ont.

Police say a two-year-old Milton, Ont., boy died Wednesday after he was left for a "significant portion of the day" in a family member's car.

Police responded to the call just after 5 p.m. Wednesday in a residential area in Milton.

Halton Regional Police say the toddler's parents were at work, and the car had been driven by an extended-family member.

It's not known whether heat was a factor in the boy's death. Outside temperatures on Wednesday afternoon exceeded 30 C with high humidity. No criminal charges have been laid.

The red car, which had been parked just outside the garage of a home, was towed away late Wednesday by police.

The official cause of death will be determined after a coroner's examination on Thursday.

Halton police say the homicide squad is mandated to investigate the death of any child under the age of five.

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Parking tickets incense dad of dying child

A father who has been enduring the dread of watching his child die of cancer has lashed back at what he calls an insensitive bureaucracy that continues to leave parking tickets on his car outside a St. John's hospital.

"Having a child in this situation is a mix of sadness, of anger, of just frustration," said Robert Thornhill, whose three-year-old daughter, Erica, suffers from acute myeloid leukemia, and is being treated at the Janeway children's hospital.

Robert Thornhill shared this photograph on Facebook, depicting a sign he had left for parking officers to read outside the Health Sciences Centre. (CBC)

Thornhill — who has shared around-the-clock shifts with his wife since last August as their daughter was treated in St. John's and Toronto — said he has asked for consideration from officials who issue parking tickets outside the Health Sciences Centre.

Earlier this week, after seeing the latest parking ticket on his windshield, Thornhill — who lives in Carbonear, but has been home for only a few hours at a time since last summer — decided he had enough.

He wrote a letter for the security officers to see, put it in his car window, and posted a photograph of it on Facebook. It was shared rapidly by at least 2,000 others, many of them strangers.

"My child is upstairs dying of cancer and you have to do is write me parking tickets. You must feel some good about yourself," Thornhill wrote in the note.

"I was just angry [and] frustrated. Really frustrated," Thornhill told CBC News on Thursday.

"It's not fair that people should have to deal with this, on top of losing a child."

Parking system not working: father

Eastern Health has made changes in its parking system at the Health Sciences Centre over the last two years, largely to help patients who had to rush out to feed meters. But Thornhill said the system still doesn't work for people with family members receiving ongoing care.

Thornhill said he had been given a placard he could put in his car, but it only prevented tickets from being left on nights and weekends. He noted that tickets are not even issued at those times anyway.

Thornhill estimates that he has racked up about $500 worth of tickets. He said the fines are not his priority.

"It's not important," he said. "It's just something that adds stress."

Thornhill's daughter underwent three rounds of chemotherapy in St. John's, followed by an even more intensive round of treatment at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto.

However, the Thornhills learned last month that their daughter's cancer had returned, and were told earlier this month that there is no chance Erica will survive the disease.

"It's a parent's worst nightmare," he said.

He added few people appreciate how gruelling daily life is for parents dealing with a child with life-threatening illness.

"For most people, it's not a prolonged experience, and for most people, it's not the ending that we see," he said. "The ending is death. That's what it is — it's death. That's what we face."

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As Canadian as...? CBC readers fill in the blank

In 1972, Peter Gzowski decided that Canada needed a national simile, an answer to "As American as apple pie." So, he ran a contest on the radio: Complete the phrase "As Canadian as..."

Some 40 years later, CBC News asked readers to complete the sentence again.

The interactive below features answers gathered from CBCNews.ca blog comments and on Twitter.

The hundreds of responses fell into eight categories: general Canadiana, sports, food, people, language, media, nature and politics. Click the buttons to see answers from that category.

Use the "share this answer" button under each submission to tweet it.

The photo column on the right features Instagram photos submitted by CBC News readers. Links will open in a new window.

Associate Producer: John Bowman | Designer: Duk Han Lee | Developed by Michael Pereira and Kerry Wall

Peter Gzowski image courtesy of CBC Archives

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Toronto propane firm guilty in fatal 2008 blast

The owner of Sunrise Propane has been found guilty of environmental and workplace safety violations following an explosion in 2008 in northwest Toronto that killed a worker and forced thousands from their homes.

The company and its directors, Shay Ben-Moshe and Valery Belshov, have been convicted of nine of the 10 charges they faced, including two violations of Ontario's Health and Safety Act and seven violations of the Environmental Protection Act.

The company was cleared of one count under Ontario's Environmental Protection Act.

Sunrise employee Parminder Saini died in the Aug. 10, 2008, explosion, and firefighter Bob Leek suffered a fatal heart attack while battling the massive fire that followed. The blast at the fuel depot at 62 Murray Rd. in the Keele Street and Wilson Avenue area created a massive fireball that could be seen across the city and forced the evacuation of 12,000 people from their Downsview neighbourhood homes.

An Ontario Fire Marshal's report into the explosion found that an illegal tank-to-tank transfer was underway at the time of the explosion and that a propane leak resulted from a hose failure. The ignition source of the blast has not been identified.

The report noted that tank-to-tank and truck-to-truck transfers are both dangerous and illegal in Ontario. Sunrise had been warned about the practice prior to the explosion.

The class-action trial against Sunrise, Ben-Moshe and Belahov started in February 2012. Both directors and the company could face millions of dollars in fines at sentencing.

With files from CBC Michelle Cheung, The Canadian Press

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Man tied to Rob Ford scandal pleads guilty to manslaughter

One of the men embroiled in the crack cocaine scandal involving Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of alleged gang member Anthony Smith, avoiding a trial.

Nisar Hashimi was charged three months ago with first-degree murder in the shooting of Anthony Smith outside a Toronto nightclub.

Smith was a member of a drug-dealing gang and was photographed before his death with Ford outside a known crack den.

Smith's killer, Nisar Hashimi struck a deal Thursday, pleading guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter.

The deal means police disclosure — including wiretaps, seized cellphones and any potential video involving the mayor – will never be made part of the court record in the case.

However, media organizations including CBC News are still applying to the court to have police search warrants unsealed to see whether there is any evidence implicating Toronto's mayor in illicit drug use.

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10 tidbits about Canadians we learned from Statscan today

Statistics Canada released the second batch of figures Wednesday from its voluntary National Household Survey, looking at labour, education, workplace, commuting, work language and mobility and migration.

Some highlights:

Higher learning

• 64.8 per cent of working-age women now have a post-secondary education, compared with 63.4 per cent of men — the first time the percentage for women has bypassed that for men.
• Women accounted for 59 per cent of Canadians aged 25 to 34 with a university degree, compared with 47.3 per cent of their 55- to 64-year-old counterparts.
• Read more about education trends in Canada

Employment data

• The most common occupations for women in 2011: retail salesperson; administrative assistant; registered nurse; cashier; schoolteacher. The most common occupations for men: retail salesperson; truck driver; retail and wholesale manager; carpenter; janitor, caretaker and building superintendent.
• Canada had more than three million workers aged 55 and over in 2011, comprising 18.7 per cent of total employment, compared with 15.5 per cent in 2006.
• Employment rates were highest in Yukon (69.7 per cent), N.W.T. (66.8 per cent) and the Prairies, particularly Alberta (69 per cent) and Saskatchewan (65.1 per cent). Rates were lowest in Newfoundland and Labrador (50.7 per cent) and Nunavut (52.1 per cent).

Daily commute

• Roughly 15.4 million Canadians said they commute to work each day, with three out of four driving a vehicle and just 5.6 per cent making the trip as passengers. The data also said 1.1 million people work from home.
• Public transit was used by 12 per cent of commuters, up from 11 per cent in 2006. Of those, 63.5 per cent took a bus, 25 per cent rode the subway or elevated-rail train, 11.2 per cent took light-rail transit, streetcar or commuter train, and 0.3 per cent travelled by ferry.
• About 880,000 commuters, or 5.7 per cent, reported walking to work each day, while only 201,800 people —1.3 per cent — rode a bicycle, the same percentage as in 2006.
• Read more about the daily commute in Canada

First Nations and higher learning

• Among Aboriginal Peoples aged 25 to 64, 48.4 per cent had some sort of post-secondary education, the majority a trades certificate or college diploma. Almost 10 per cent reported having a university degree, compared with 26.5 per cent of the non-aboriginal population.
• Nearly 29 per cent of Aboriginal Peoples in the same age group reported no post-secondary education, compared with 12.1 per cent of the non-aboriginal group.

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Is Canada becoming dependent on temporary foreign workers?

Dave Kaiser owns and operates McDonald's restaurants in Cranbrook, B.C., and Fernie, near the Alberta border — two towns less than an hour's drive from each other, but with workforce challenges that stand a world apart.

In Cranbrook, Kaiser has no trouble finding local staff. But in Fernie, home to about 5,000 people and five coal mines, Kaiser said he's so desperate for workers he would "hire virtually anybody who comes in my door, if they've got a pulse."

"Here we have a ski resort town that sits next to an enormous employer that has a coal mine," Kaiser said. "There are a lot of restaurants … and there are a lot of hotels, and we're all looking for the same people. There's just not enough people to do those jobs."

It's a surprising dilemma for a country that has 1.4 million jobless people out of a total eligible workforce of 18 million, according to figures released Wednesday by Statistics Canada as part of the latest release of data from the National Household Survey, formerly the long-form census.

The permanent solution? Temporary foreign workers.

Currently, more than 330,000 workers live and work in Canada as part of the federal temporary foreign worker program — a number that has nearly tripled over the last 10 years, with the bulk of those job-seekers going west in search of work.

But B.C. has struggled to keep pace with Alberta, Saskatchewan and the territories when it comes to attracting would-be employees. Fewer than five per cent of those working in B.C. moved there in the last five years, compared with 7.6 per cent in Alberta and double-digit percentages in Yukon, N.W.T. and Nunavut, the Statcan survey shows.

Shift to low-skilled workers

The program was originally designed to attract skilled employees, agricultural workers and live-in caregivers in order to address temporary labour shortages. The emphasis shifted in 2002 to low-skilled workers, such as those in the food and beverage industry, construction and retail.

'The way the rules work, you're supposed to only have temporary foreign workers if you cannot find Canadians to fill the position.'—Jason Foster, Athabasca University

The federal government's decision to open the program to lower-skill occupations came in response to pressure from employers, said Jason Foster, an Athabasca University academic co-ordinator who has researched the program's transformation.

"There was no evidence of any particular labour shortage in those occupations at the time," Foster said. "It was simply a matter of trying to provide these employers with other labour supply options in terms of how to address their labour concerns."

Foster said Western Canada's economic boom during the early 2000s did result in labour shortages in certain industries, such as construction, but the trend was not universal. When the global recession hit in 2008, the expected drop-off in temporary foreign workers never happened.

"The way the rules work, you're supposed to only have temporary foreign workers if you cannot find Canadians to fill the position," said Foster.

"However, we now know that that didn't happen. The numbers levelled off for a year or two, and continued to rise."

That suggests employers have become addicted to the program, said labour economist Erin Weir.

"Temporary foreign workers are tied to the specific job and the specific employer," he said. "It's often very convenient for employers to have people who they know aren't going to be able to take other jobs, and have little ability to push for better wages."

Manipulating Canada's economy

Critics of the program say it undermines the natural economic forces in Canada's job market by artificially filling low-paid, low-skill positions and removing the impetus for higher wage demands.

"In some areas of the country, the need is dire for workers, they have serious trouble attracting people, and it is urgent to find people immediately," said Catherine Connelly, an associate professor at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University. "That's mostly in Alberta."

The opposite problem exists in hard-hit Ontario cities like Windsor and St. Catharines, to say nothing of Newfoundland and Labrador, which ranked dead last among all the provinces and territories in the 2011 survey with an employment rate that barely cleared 50 per cent.

"If you look at St. Catharines, there are a hundred applicants for each job," Connelly said. "They should be recruiting people from St. Catharines. Instead, they're recruiting overseas."

'If you look at St. Catharines, there are a hundred applicants for each job.'—Catherine Connelly, McMaster University

Rod Goy, dean of the British Columbia Institute of Technology's School of Construction and the Environment, said in areas such as the Alberta oilsands, employers can suddenly find themselves in urgent need of hundreds of tradespeople for short-term work.

"In construction, although it's becoming more and more of a science, we can't always tell when those critical moments will occur," Goy said.

Goy said he'd rather see employers take on local apprentices instead of hiring overseas, but only about 17 per cent of Canada's employers are currently willing to train them.

"We haven't been able to break through that number," he said. "For some reason, there are systems in place that create some kind of barrier. Either that, or there's a whole lot of perception going on that apprenticeships are costly when in fact they're not."

Wednesday's survey data also showed that trades certificate programs are struggling to attract young applicants.

There were just 67,680 adults aged 25 to 34 with a certificate in mechanic and repair technology in 2011, compared with 104,200 workers aged 55 to 64 and on the cusp of retirement — a difference of 35 per cent. The difference was 21.7 per cent for certificates in "precision production," a trade that produces machinists and welders; for the construction trades, the deficit was 6.3 per cent.

Matter of demographics

Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, defended the program's 2002 expansion as a matter of demographics: there simply are fewer young people in the country available to fill menial, entry-level jobs.

"We have one of the highest post-secondary education attainment levels in the industrialized world," Kelly said.

"As a result of that, we have a large number of Canadian young people who don't want to go to work in retail, or hospitality or in the service sector. They feel that somehow, that's beneath them."

Kaiser said he would rather hire Canadians than temporary foreign workers because the paperwork is simpler, but a lot depends on where the jobs are located. He couldn't get a single Canadian applicant for his Fernie restaurant, he said.

'We have a large number of Canadian young people who don't want to go to work in retail, or hospitality or in the service sector. They feel that somehow, that's beneath them.'—Dan Kelly, Canadian Federation of Independent Business

"People will move across the country for a $30-an-hour job, but they will not move across the country for a $13-, $14-, $15-an-hour job — at least that seems to be the trend," he said.

"In fact, people won't move from Cranbrook to Fernie to work in the hospitality industry, and that's only 100 kilometres."

The program came under fire earlier this year when the Royal Bank was criticized for outsourcing jobs to workers in India instead of employing Canadians.

In B.C., the public lashed out against the provincial government's support for Chinese-owned HD Mining's plan to use temporary foreign workers at its proposed Murray River coal mine in Tumbler Ridge. The company argued that temporary Chinese workers were necessary because of a lack of Canadian training in their specific work.

Ottawa responded by doing away with a rule that allowed employers to pay foreign workers up to 15 per cent less than the median wage. It also made it harder to bring in workers from outside Canada, and introduced stricter rules for applications, new fees for employers and a promise of stricter enforcement.

Foster said he's not convinced that certain industries, such as those in food services, will scale back on their dependence on temporary foreign workers.

"The program has basically given those employers a bit of a free pass," he said. "So instead of having to figure out how they can attract workers to go to their jobs instead of an oil field servicing job, or shipbuilding … they just go and get some temporary foreign workers."

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Calgary flooding forces state of emergency extension

The state of emergency in Calgary has been extended for eight more days, for a total of 21.

"We want to continue to use those powers for an appropriate amount of time," said Bruce Burrell, Calgary Emergency Management Agency director.

A state of emergency means that a municipality can circumvent bylaws, implement lane reversals on roads and buy products more easily and at pre-flood costs if the prices have risen.

As of Wednesday morning, five out of seven downtown power zones had been reenergized, though only 30 per cent of downtown buildings are ready to have power restored.

Across the city, there are still at least 11,000 people out of their homes, down from 100,000 at the peak of the crisis.

Water tables a stumbling block

"We're starting to see the water tables start to drop, which stops the continued infiltration, where as soon as you pump something up it fills back up," said Burrell.

But Burrell warned that progress is likely to slow down. He compared progress to sponges, where work done up to now was like squeezing out a damp sponge and work being done now is like dealing with a sopping wet sponge.

McLeod Trail, a major Calgary road leading into downtown, was reopened at 6:30 a.m. MT, but Memorial Drive and all bridges over Elbow River remain closed, said Burrell.

Eighty per cent of roads have been reopened across the city, said Burrell on Wednesday morning.

Community Support Centres

The city is implementing a new way for flood-affected residents to access city services.

City officials are now asking people to go to nine Community Support Centres that have been set up, rather than tape paper requests to their homes. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)

Previously, people had been told to put a sign in their window or make a 311 request if they needed to have power restored or water pumped out of their home.

Now the city is asking people to stop putting signs in their windows, and instead to access one of nine Community Support Centres that were set up Wednesday morning. Requests through the 311 phone line or app will still be processed, but Burrell suggested that the centres would be more responsive because they are in the communities where requests originate.

The centres will have representatives from Calgary police, fire, water resources, waste and recycling, development and building approvals and ATCO for utility and energy needs.

They have been set up in communities most ravaged by the floods and will be open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. MT, said Burrell.

Sewage in the Bow River

The flooding has forced the city to dump raw sewage into the Bow River.

The Bonnybrook Wastewater Treatment Plant was inundated with floodwater, say city officials.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said the city's other two plants are still operating, but municipalities downstream have been warned about the problems at Bonnybrook.

"There is some sewage discharge into the river, which is not uncommon in conditions like this, and the important thing is the folks downstream know how to deal with it, just as we're dealing with it when it comes to us from upstream."

The city says the Bonnybrook plant is not meeting provincial standards right now, and it's working with Alberta Environment on the problem.

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Rob Ford staffer 'Dave' suspended after phone call

David Price, a senior staff member in Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's office, has been suspended after a phone call to a local newspaper.

The controversy comes in response to an exclusive CBC News story reporting that Price made repeated calls to Ford's weekly radio show identifying himself only as "Dave" from various parts of the city.

The calls (there were at least six) would often praise Ford and his brother, Coun. Doug Ford, for their work at city hall. Price, a longtime friend of the Ford brothers, wasn't on the mayor's staff at the time the calls were made. His current title is director of operations and logistics.

Many news outlets, including the Toronto Sun, followed the CBC story about calls Price made to the mayor's show.

In a story published today, the Sun reports that Price called the newspaper's city hall bureau on Tuesday afternoon to complain about the headline in the newspaper's version of the story.

The caller is asked if he is the same Dave who had called the mayor's radio show. The caller doesn't give a direct answer, then hangs up.

'Admitted he made a mistake'

You can listen to the audio by clicking on the Soundcloud link embedded at the bottom of this story.

On Tuesday, the Sun asked the mayor's office about the incident. Ford apologized and later told the newspaper Price had been suspended for a week without pay.

The mayor's office also told the Sun that Price "admitted he made a mistake."

David Price, Rob Ford's director of logistics and operations, has been suspended for a week without pay. (CBC)

This isn't the first time Price, who also worked on Coun. Doug Ford's campaign in 2010, has made news.

In May, Price asked his colleagues in the mayor's office if they should try to obtain a video that is alleged to show Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine.

A senior source in the mayor's office told CBC News that Price contacted the mayor's then chief of staff Mark Towhey, asking him "hypothetically" what they would do if someone told him where the video was.

Towhey, who was fired days later, responded that police should be contacted.

The mayor has said the video doesn't exist and the video has yet to surface.

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Camper dies when tree falls on tent in Manitoba storm

A 45-year-old man was killed when a tree fell on the tent he was camping in during a storm Wednesday morning.

Emergency crews were called just before 2 a.m. to the campground at Falcon Beach in eastern Manitoba.

A large tree had fallen on a tent during a period of heavy rain and wind. There were two people in the tent at the time, RCMP said.

The 45-year-old man was transported to hospital where he was pronounced dead. His name will not be released to the public, police said.

A 44-year-old woman, also from Quebec, was treated for minor injures.

There were no other injuries reported. The weather was severe in the area at the time, with several trees reported to have been blown down, RCMP said.

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Secret tax-haven files lift veil on $32M Ontario fraud

To Time magazine, Peter Sabourin was a "venture capitalist." In the pages of Canadian Business, he became a "tax consultant." For the Financial Post, he transformed into an expert on offshore investment.

No matter the label, this much is certain: The Toronto businessman was a silver-tongued swindler, a consummate con man who left a $32-million trail of victims from North Carolina to North Bay, Ont.

Sabourin is one of the more than 550 Canadians whose names appear in the massive leak of offshore financial records revealed by CBC News and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in early April. A number of those people have dodgy pasts, but Sabourin's name stands out.

The leaked files show the inner workings of how he lured dozens of investors with the promise of heady returns from offshore ventures, and provide a cautionary tale for anyone thinking of investing offshore. Among those taken in were a navy veteran, a doctor, property developers, a farmer, nurses, a filmmaker and retirees.

"He promised amazing returns, that I cannot lose, to stick with him, he will take care of me," said Judith Laiken, a 72-year-old former photographer and filmmaker who lost all her savings, more than $800,000, to Sabourin. "I had no doubts."

'Dazzle 'em'

Sabourin was born in 1959 in Témiscaming, Que., and grew up in the eastern Toronto suburb of Scarborough. In high school, his gift for gab made him popular and convinced peers he might one day found a new religion, but it was paired with a greedy streak that saw him lose his golf clubs and typewriter playing poker with pals.

He grew tall — his driver's licence puts him at a robust 6-foot-2. The Toronto Star, profiling him in 1978 after he enrolled in basic training in the Canadian Forces, called him "big, bright and articulate." But eventually his weight soared, peaking somewhere beyond 600 pounds.

"He'd always say, 'If I can't dazzle them with brilliance, just baffle 'em with bulls--t.' That was one of his favourite sayings," childhood friend Derrick Fenwick recalled.

Sabourin dabbled at odd jobs, working at a supermarket and plowing snow, before landing a gig as a school janitor. And then, with no financial experience or training, he went from pushing brooms to pushing investments.

In the mid-1990s, he founded a company, Sabourin and Sun, that promoted moving money into Caribbean tax havens. He was quoted as an expert in offshore investing in the Financial Post and Canadian Business, cobbled together a book on the topic, and boasted his firm was 45 years old and had a dozen offices worldwide.

Between Sabourin's newspaper ads and appearances on business TV shows, middle-of-the-road investors started to notice. They attended free seminars in hotel ballrooms, where Sabourin trotted out credentialled investment experts to highlight the tax advantages of stashing cash in the Bahamas.

Those who took the bait scheduled an appointment at Sabourin and Sun's opulent offices in midtown Toronto. The Persian rugs, elegant furniture, soft music and promises of guaranteed returns above 17 per cent were the finishing touch, and they began to sign over amounts from $80,000 up to $350,000 at a time.

"There was quite a lot of people, and there were older people," said Margaret Stevenson, whose late companion Roland Grittani Sr. was a navy veteran in his 80s when he forked over $150,000, ultimately losing most of it.

Hunted him in British Virgin Islands

One of Sabourin's first marks, and the first investor to cry foul, was Laiken, the artist and filmmaker from Montreal who had recently come into a minor fortune from a divorce settlement and an inheritance, but was worried about the tax consequences ("I was so innocent that I didn't realize … those two sources are not taxable," she said.)

Sabourin set up Laiken with an ostensible offshore stock-trading account at a brokerage he claimed was based in the British Virgin Islands. But Laiken gradually noticed her account was in a shambles. An order to sell 1,000 shares in Yahoo would be posted to the account as a buy. Inconsistencies multiplied in her account statements, totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars. When she called Sabourin to sort it out, he couldn't be reached.

Judith Laiken, who now lives in Ottawa, was driven into poverty when Sabourin defrauded her of all she had — more than $800,000. (CBC)

Eventually, Laiken decided to fly down to the brokerage's offices in the British Virgin Islands to fix the mess.

"I was expecting to see a dark room full of servers and traders sitting at an array of desks with computers, like the floor of the stock exchange," she recalled, "and that I would get to the bottom of it."

Instead, there was a "ramshackle" three-storey building, and no sign of Sabourin's brokerage.

The building housed a company called Commonwealth Trust Limited. Founded in the mid-1990s by Toronto millionaire Tom Ward, CTL, as it was known, was a so-called registering agent, a company that set up and then administered thousands of British Virgin Island corporations on behalf of foreigners. Many of those companies were mere shells; CTL was their mailbox.

Sabourin had become one CTL's "master clients," a sort of wholesaling intermediary who would round up customers in Canada looking to incorporate companies in the British Virgin Islands. In all, the leaked tax-haven files show he used CTL to form 240 corporations there for his clients as part of his sham offshore investment scheme. But apart from those paper identities, he had no presence in the Caribbean locale.

When Laiken couldn't find the man to whom she had handed all her savings, she grew incensed. She stood outside CTL's offices and "screamed as loud as I could" and threatened to call the government's fraud investigators. "I could hardly talk, I was so hoarse," she recollected.

Finally, Tom Ward emerged, spoke to her and got in touch with Sabourin, who was back in Canada. The self-declared offshore guru emailed Laiken that afternoon. "Don't be shouting fraud," he pleaded. "We obviously started out with some major hiccups but we can get past it — no question."

Six months later, Laiken sued.

'Jacked around'

Slowly but surely, Sabourin's difficulties multiplied. Word got out about the Laiken lawsuit. Another pair of investors sued. Eventually, the Ontario Securities Commission launched an investigation.

Through it all, however, the offshore files show that CTL never dumped its master client, even as it became one of his victims.

"We got 'jacked around' again," CTL boss Ward wrote to an employee at one point, when Sabourin and Sun owed $11,000 for services but was stalling on sending a cheque.

By late 2003, Sabourin and Sun's tab for offshore services had run up to at least $60,000. CTL went to court to enforce the debt, and even went after Sabourin's bank accounts. Internal documents show CTL was worried "that there is a high probability" Sabourin and Sun would commit fraud to avoid payment — "if this has not happened already."

Finally, in 2006, the British Virgin Islands' financial regulators came knocking, asking for information on Sabourin and Sun as part of the Ontario Securities Commission investigation.

But through all of this, CTL kept up business with Sabourin and Sun, administering its client companies and even signing new "terms of engagement" in 2007 to do business together.

"It's stunning that people would continue to do this with the knowledge that they were impressed with by that time," said lawyer Peter Jervis, who represented Laiken in her lawsuit. "They should have had a very clear picture of the problems back in 1999 when Mrs. Laiken visited them….

"It doesn't appear that they care at all about investors who might be misled by what Mr. Sabourin was up to, using the facilities they were providing."

Ward, for his part, said in an email that he didn't oversee the day-to-day operations of his company at the time and was "unaware" it had had "further dealings with Sabourin and Sun" after the initial troubles. CTL suffered, too, because it was owed a substantial sum by Sabourin, Ward wrote.

Fallout

Laiken, the Montreal-born photographer and filmmaker, was awarded $1.2 million in damages and interest in 2007. In a parallel court case, two more Sabourin victims got $1.8 million. In 2010, the Ontario Securities Commission awarded a group of investors $29.1 million in fines and restitution, the second-highest penalty it has ever meted out.

Only a small fraction of that has been collected from what assets Sabourin left behind. He hasn't been seen since before the court judgments came down against him. The last his family heard from him was two years ago, when his mother died. He called to find out whether she had left him anything in her will; she hadn't. The Ontario Provincial Police are still investigating, as well, but wouldn't say anything more.

"Peter was basing all his stuff on the greed of people," said Marian, who asked to withhold her last name because she still has concerns about the man who took more than $250,000 of her and her farmer husband's retirement money. "And I've come to realize that most people are greedy. It's a hard lesson to learn. It really is."

If you have more information on this story, or other investigative tips to pass on, please email investigations@cbc.ca.

CTL Concerns (PDF)
CTL Concerns (Text)

With files from CBC's Annie Burns-Pieper

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Deluged Canmore, Alta., declares state of emergency

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Canmore, Alta., has declared a local state of emergency because heavy rainfall made the banks of a creek that runs through the town unstable.

About 40 homes south of the pedestrian bridge over Cougar Creek were evacuated at 2 a.m. MT on Thursday, Canmore Mayor John Borrowman said.

"The situation is actually bad and getting worse," he said. "Now some of the smaller creeks are starting to flood."

A Canmore resident watches the rising Cougar Creek early Thursday morning. (Courtesy John E. Marriott)

The evacuees were taken in at the town's civic centre and at two local hotels.

Other residents are being alerted to be ready to move if necessary.

Power is out at various locations throughout the town, officials said.

Both the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 1A are closed to eastbound and westbound traffic at Cougar Creek.

"We do not advise travel this way," said Canmore RCMP Const. Jeff Jantz.

"Don't come."

Crews are using heavy machinery to try to redirect some of the water surging into the Bow River, he said.

Another 50 to 60 millimetres of rain is forecast in the area before the skies are expected to clear later on Friday.

Canmore is about 100 kilometres west of Calgary.

High River, Black Diamond

High River, about 70 kilometres south of Calgary, also declared a state of emergency early Thursday morning after the Highwood River started overflowing its banks.

Officials are encouraging residents in the Wallaceville area of town to leave their homes. Campers in George Lane Park have also been told to leave.

The town's emergency operations centre is open, and crews have been called in to begin sandbagging.

A flood warning has also been issued for Kananaskis Country west and south of Calgary, as the Sheep River threatens to burst its banks in the Okotoks area.

That river also flows through the towns of Turner Valley and Black Diamond, where some residents of low-lying areas are being told to leave their homes.

The Oilfields Arena in Black Diamond is being has been opened as a reception centre.

The hamlet of Bragg Creek, 44 km west of Calgary on the edge of K-Country, is also in a state of emergency as the Elbow River surges over its banks.

Officials in Calgary activated the city's municipal emergency plan late Thursday morning in anticipation of the heavy flows in the Elbow and Bow rivers reaching the city.

In southwest Alberta, parts of the Crowsnest Pass are being evacuated because of high water levels.

Some residents of Blairmore, about 240 km southwest of Calgary, are being asked to leave their homes.

A reception centre has been set up at the sports complex in the neighbouring community of Coleman.

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Top court dismisses final appeal in Rob Ford conflict case

The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected an application to hear a final appeal in Mayor Rob Ford's conflict of interest case, a legal matter that could have ousted him from his job.

As is customary, the Supreme Court gave no reasons for dismissing the appeal, but legal experts — including the lawyer who filed the application himself — had acknowledged the odds of reviving the conflict of interest case were a long shot.

The court only accepted 12 per cent of appeal requests made last year.

Toronto resident Paul Magder filed an application in an Ontario court last year, alleging that Ford had violated conflict of interest legislation when he participated in a council vote that absolved his need to pay back funds donated to his private football foundation.

The controversy had begun two years before the application was filed, when Toronto's integrity commissioner recommended to council in August 2010 that Ford pay back the donations that had been improperly solicited on letterhead with official city markings. Council adopted her recommendations.

In January 2012, the integrity commissioner informed council that Ford had not provided proof of reimbursement. That preceded the vote that occurred days later, which resulted in council deciding to drop the issue and take no further action. Magder filed his application in March 2012.

Ford testified in court that he never read the legislation he was accused of violating, nor the materials that the city gives to its elected officials explaining their obligations in declaring conflicts.

In November of last year, a Superior Court justice found that Ford had violated conflict of interest rules and ordered the mayor removed from office.

Ford appealed the matter and a Divisional Court subsequently overturned the removal order in January.

But the day that Ford won the appeal, Clayton Ruby, the lawyer for the Toronto resident who filed the application, indicated that he would ask the Supreme Court of Canada to hear an appeal.

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Yemeni activist mulls stay in Canada after coming out as gay

An internationally known youth activist who was involved in the 2011 Yemeni revolution has a new and possibly more dangerous battle on his hands.

Ala'a Jarban is in Montreal at a training program, weighing whether to stay in Canada or return to the Middle Eastern country where he faces numerous death threats and the possibility of the death penalty by stoning for coming out as gay.

On May 29, the 23-year-old recent Sana'a University graduate posted a blog entry boldly proclaiming himself as homosexual in a country where that is illegal. An online furor erupted and Jarban became known as the only openly gay person in Yemen.

Ala'a Jarban became one of the first openly gay men in Yemen when he posted a blog entry in late May. (Twitter)

The activist is currently in Montreal, where he's in the middle of a three-week training program on human rights.

"I feel lost at the moment, so confused," said Jarban. "I barely log into the internet. I deactivated my Facebook because I can't deal with it anymore, the death threats, the hate messages. It's so unbearable. I can't think properly at the moment but I have to sort this out."

Weeks before Jarban came out to his online followers and friends, he left the house where he lived with his family, knowing his typically conservative relatives would not accept the announcement. Despite knowing the intense backlash he would face, Jarban felt compelled to do it.

"For me personally, it was difficult to live a life, having to act like somebody who was not me every single day," he said on the phone from Montreal.

Revolution must tackle discrimination

Jarban took part in months-long protests in Yemen that led to the ousting of President Ali Abdullah Saleh after 33 years of rule. He witnessed the deaths of dozens of people both in person and on television as the government cracked down on anti-government demonstrators.

But Jarban is not satisfied with the achievements of the Arab Spring.

"I personally believe that it's not a revolution unless we revolutionize every aspect of the society, where human rights are truly implemented and acceptance, not discrimination exists," he said.

Even before Jarban arrived in Canada, the Yemeni diaspora community heard word of his controversial blog and his impending arrival in the country.

Toronto-based author and journalism professor Kamal al-Solaylee, who has been communicating with Jarban in recent weeks, knows all too well the dangers facing the LGBT community in the Middle East. His book, Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes, delves into the challenges he faced as a young gay growing up in Yemen, Egypt and Lebanon.

"It's somewhere between idealist and suicidal," said al-Solaylee of Jarban's pronouncement. "But it's very brave move. It's an extremely brave decision especially since he posted it while he was still in Yemen."

Danger of returning

While al-Solaylee says Jarban faces a political threat if he returns, perhaps more harrowing is the danger from the community, who may not only shun or ostracize the young man but could pose a very serious physical threat.

"I genuinely believe he is danger physically," said al-Solaylee.

While sodomy carries the death penalty by stoning in Yemen, reports suggest the extreme punishment has not been used in recent years, according to Death Penalty Worldwide.

However, it's extremely rare for a Yemeni to come out as gay, even though a thriving underground LGBT community exists.

Al-Solaylee notes he came out from the comfort of Canada, as a Canadian — and doesn't fear repercussions when returning to the Middle East because of his status as an author and former journalist at the Globe and Mail, but that's not the case for Jarban.

The Yemeni man urged Jarban not to become a martyr, fearing the country is still not ready to accept homosexuality.

Ala'a Jarban has been in Montreal on a three-week training program on human rights. (Photo submitted)

"It's dangerous to think that just because people have been in the streets fighting for their rights that they are ready accept… that society is generally also ready to move on either sexual minority rights or even gender rights completely yet," he said.

He noted there's a large diasporic gay Arabic community living in the West that's been instrumental to helping those in the Middle East with advice, support and occasionally the immigration process.

99.9% chance of acceptance

An expert on refugee claims in Canada says that Jarban would likely win a claim, if he so chooses to stay.

"If he's concerned about whether or not he will win ... he doesn't have to worry one bit," said Chris Morrissey, co-founder of Vancouver-based grassroots group Rainbow Refugee Committee. "His chances are 99.9 per cent of winning."

Not only that, but he'd benefit from recent changes to Canada's refugee law that have drastically sped up the process, netting him a hearing almost immediately, said Morrissey.

Key to making a refugee claim in Canada would be establishing his credibility and proving he is gay, says Morrissey.

As Jarban ponders his next move while finishing the last two weeks of his human rights training course, he's also enjoying a strange and novel experience.

"It's so wonderful to be in a place where you feel accepted, like I could hold my boyfriend or a girl could hold her girlfriend and kiss and nobody would find that disgusting or they would actually find that beautiful," said Jarban.

"It's an amazing feeling that I can't describe," he said. "It's amazing to be accepted, to feel accepted as well."

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Explosion flattens fireworks factory southwest of Montreal

A blast this morning at a fireworks factory in Coteau-du-lac, Que., levelled a building and sent a massive plume of black smoke into the air visible for kilometres.

The explosion happened just before 9 a.m. ET today at the factory located just off Highway 20, about 50 kilometres from Montreal.

Québec provincial police said there were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths

Fire crews are on the scene, and the building is still burning. Fireworks could be seen detonating within the cloud of smoke.

Highway 20 is closed in both directions at the scene. Emergency crews also set up a perimeter 500 metres around the burning building.

The cause of the fire isn't yet known.

Via Rail tweeted that it had reopened the tracks after confirming that one train travelling between Quebec City and Ottawa had earlier been held up at Les Cèdres because of the explosion.

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How open is Ottawa's new 'open data' website?

Maybe you need some demographic information before you start a small business. Or maybe you have to finish a high school project on Canadian immigration trends. Or perhaps you want to make a map showing pollution across the country.

Any of those projects could get a little bit easier after Tuesday's launch of the federal government's revamped data.gc.ca portal.

Treasury Board President Tony Clement touted the revamped site, calling it Canada's "new natural resource." But that new window into federal data tables, statistics and other information available online is getting mixed early reviews and arrives at the same time as the government faces controversy over just how open it actually is.

Tracey Lauriault, a post-doctoral fellow at the geomatics and cartographic research centre at Carleton University in Ottawa and co-author of a blog on Canadian data issues, says the federal government "has not been too bad" when it comes to open data.

This revamped portal comes three years after the government launched its first site, which was designed to create a more searchable way to find data that had already been released.

Lauriault welcomes the revamp, particularly the new licencing provisions that gives users greater freedom around how they use, reuse or resell the information.

"The new portal is a good thing," she says. "It'll make things easier for people to find data on a number of issues related to Canadians and the government administration."

But Lauriault, who also co-founded CivicAccess.ca, a national group advocating for access to public data, stops short of considering the revamped portal a sign of overall increased openness from the federal government.

More access

"It's very, very difficult for people like myself to fully consider this being a much more open government," she says. "It means more access to data, yes. But does it mean open government? I'm not so sure.

Treasury Board President Tony Clement, a 'new natural resource.' (Canadian Press)

"Not if you're muzzling science, not if you're cancelling the census, not if you're practically closing and undermining your archive, not if you're turning off monitoring stations, not if you're not disclosing data related to projects like pipelines."

David Eaves, a Vancouver-based public policy expert, moderated five roundtables hosted by the federal government ahead of the portal relaunch. He says it's nice to see the government taking the issue of open data seriously and that it's "continuing to try to find ways to share certain types of information more with the public."

"I think they have a strong agenda that's around Canadian businesses and organizations to be more efficient and more effective, and so I think they're kind of focused on that."

Still, he says "the record speaks for itself" when it comes to problems the government has around sharing information. And while he welcomes the revamped portal, he doesn't think it should relieve the government from the pressure it faces in other areas.

Open data is hardly a new concept, in Canada or around the world.

Tuesday's announcement, in fact, came the same day leaders of the G8 nations, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, committed to a set of common standards for publicly accessible data.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Martin Tisné, director of policy at Omidyar Network in the U.K., the philanthropic investment firm established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, said that the data charter would be a "historic move and a genuine breakthrough for the growing movement to open up government and private sector data."

But he, too, had some caveats, noting that the charter is only a first step if countries and citizens are to reap any benefits.

'Real champions'

"First, of course, we need to see governments meet not just the letter but also the spirit of the charter," Tisné wrote. "Opening up data should cut across all G8 priorities, including tax, transparency on extractive industries, aid and land deals.

"Information that is released as open data and is fully searchable will enable governments and civil society to crack down on tax evasion," he argued.

In Canada, Lauriault says, the "real champions" of sharing data have been cities and municipalities. Places such as Nanaimo, Edmonton and Toronto have led the way.

"Now we have 37 cities across the country that have opened up their data access. And they've done a much more concerted effort I think at a … grassroots municipal level at making the administration generally more open."

While the data available through the revamped federal portal covers everything from permanent residency to woodland caribou habitat, Lauriault says there are other areas that aren't up for such easy access.

"What we haven't seen at the federal government yet are really solid data sets related to government transparency, government accountability."

Also lacking, she says, is an inventory of government data and administrative data from agencies such as Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. Nor does the information that is available allow for consistent cross-country comparisons among neighbourhoods, wards or smaller georgraphic areas.

"Are they releasing more information? Yes," says Lauriault. "Is the information organized in such a way we can do national analysis and compare them? No."

Still, she sees potential for Canadians to tap into the portal for everything from information for a student project on immigration to demographics that could help a small business get off the ground.

Long-term potential

In the longer term, Lauriault also sees potential for more "evidence-based" decision-making on public policy issues, particularly if organizations such as social planning councils take advantage of the portal.

"It's one thing to share the data, but citizens will really benefit if the government actually listens to evidence-based decision-making based on research and outcomes based on the use of those government data. That's what we hope to see in the long term."

Eaves sees a similar potential down the road.

"My hope is that longer term it will have a bigger impact on Canadians although they may not actually visit the data portal themselves but they will use something or benefit from a policy that made use of data that was available on the portal."

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