Harper says Keystone will spur jobs despite Obama claims

Prime Minister Stephen Harper responded Friday to U.S. President Barack Obama's dim view about whether the Keystone XL pipeline would spur significant job growth, holding firm to his belief that the project will boost employment "on both sides of the border" and bolster the continent's long-term security.

"The perspective of this government is very clear, it is very well-known by everyone in Washington, I think. And that is — first of all, our number 1 priority in Canada is the creation of jobs — this is a project that will create jobs on both sides of the border, and it is in our judgment an important project, not just for the economy, for job creation, but for the long-term energy security of North America," Harper said.

Obama has downplayed the impact the pipeline would have on job creation, describing it as a potential "blip" for the overall economy.

He said this week that he expected Keystone would create 2,000 construction jobs, and as few as 50 permanent jobs once the pipeline is completed. The president has yet to approve the project, over which he has the final say.

At a media briefing in Quebec City on Friday, Harper was pressed about what his government would do to counter Obama's comments about TransCanada's proposed pipeline through the United States.

Harper maintained that the pipeline would be a major economic driver, but he did not offer a job number on Friday, nor did he refer to a U.S. State Department report that says the Keystone pipeline will create as many as 40,000 jobs.

PM: West-east pipeline will enhance energy security

During the press conference, the prime minister told reporters projects such as a proposed pipeline to carry Alberta oil east to New Brunswick help enhance Canada's energy security.

TransCanada announced Thursday it was proceeding with the Energy East project, which would convert a natural gas pipeline to carry diluted oilsands crude through Quebec to Saint John, N.B., to be refined for domestic use and export.

Asked about possible safety concerns in Quebec, where a runaway train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded killing 47 people last month, Harper said the TransCanada project would get a rigorous "independent analysis."

"I think the reality is for anyone who looks at the business is that the absolute, safest way to transport energy products is though pipelines. That's the safest way to go," Harper said.

Harper also noted that Canada has massive energy resources, and called the Energy East project a "Pan-Canadian" strategy.

"It's important that Canadians all across the country benefit and important that we enhance our own energy security," he said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, left, opens a gate with Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume as they announce the year-round opening of Gilmour Hill in Quebec City Thursday. (Clement Allard/Canadian Press)

Eastern refineries rely on expensive crude imported from overseas from suppliers in countries that are not necessarily Canada's allies.

Harper also told the press conference that Ottawa will give $8.2 million for a project to open Gilmour Hill, a historic road leading up to the Plains of Abraham, to vehicle traffic year-round.

The Plains of Abraham, where French and English forces met in a definitive battle in 1759, is a major tourist attraction and a park in the centre of the city. Gilmour Hill is an important route for cars but is currently closed in the winter. With Friday's announcement, it will open 12 months a year starting in 2014.

With Harper for the announcement were Heritage Minister Shelly Glover, Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel and Régis Labeaume, mayor of Quebec City.

The prime minister is also scheduled to deliver a speech in Sherbrooke, Que., later this evening.

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Man with alleged Rob Ford crack video arrested, report says

The man who showed two journalists an alleged video of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine was arrested during a series of police raids in June.

The Toronto Star reported in its Friday edition that the alleged gang member was arrested during Project Traveller, which targeted drug dealers in the city's Dixon Road area of northern Etobicoke and led to charges against more than 40 people.

After a year-long investigation, police conducted dozens of raids that they say targeted a criminal organization — a street gang known as the Dixon City Bloods or Dixon Goonies — that had allegedly trafficked drugs and brought guns into Canada.

The man who showed the alleged video to reporters Robyn Doolittle and Kevin Donovan faces various drug and gun charges, including participating in a criminal organization, conspiracy and trafficking of guns and cocaine, the Star reported.

There's no word whether police are in possession of the video.

Ford has denied using crack cocaine and says the video does not exist.

Both the Star and the U.S. gossip website Gawker published stories in May claiming their journalists had viewed the alleged video, which they say shows the mayor in a well-lit room apparently smoking crack cocaine from a glass pipe.

Worldwide attention

The allegations were picked up by news organizations worldwide, mocked by U.S. comedians and led to weeks of fallout as some councillors called for Ford's resignation if the allegations were true, and several high-profile members of Ford's staff quit.

The Star and Gawker said the man had wanted to sell them the video.

Gawker raised $200,000 to buy the video from its owners through an online crowdfunding campaign dubbed the Rob Ford Crackstarter. However, after the fundraising was completed, the man who was the website's contact for securing the video said the owner told him the video was gone.

Gawker said it would instead give the money to four Ontario charities.

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Vancouver gay-rights activists smooch at Russian consulate

Gay-rights activists in Vancouver protesting anti-gay laws in Russia have staged a kiss-in outside the Russian consulate downtown.

About 50 protesters gathered outside the consulate building to smooch, with women laying their lips on other women and men kissing other men — acts that would be deemed illegal in Russia.

"Something that is considered as gay propaganda in Russia, for us here is an act of love," Omar said.

New Russian laws ban gay pride rallies and make it illegal to talk publicly about homosexuality if it could influence minors.

The laws have already come under fire in Canada, with criticism coming from Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.

Demonstrator Winifred Tovey said she was drawn to the kiss-in in the name of global gay rights.

Protest organizer Yogi Omar said that's precisely why the demonstrators did what they did.

"I think it's important for those of us … in this much safer society to put our solidarity into the public eye," Tovey said.

CBC News contacted the Russian consulate and the embassy in Ottawa, but calls were not returned.

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Montreal-area man faces 15 charges after police standoff

The Côte-St-Luc man who barricaded himself in his home and shot at police earlier this week has been charged with 15 counts related to the negligent use of firearms.

Isidore Havis, 71, listened on the telephone from his hospital bed as the charges were listed off against him on Friday.

Havis's lawyer said his client was too confused and exhausted from his ordeal to appear in court.

The charges are related to the intentional and negligent use of firearms, according to Crown attorney Matthew Ferguson.

Havis, who is a gun collector, had about 180 guns and 40 bayonets carried out of his home by police after they subdued him with a rubber bullet following the 20-hour standoff.

Ferguson says Havis could face between four and 14 years in prison.

The 71-year-old is expected to remain under guard in hospital at least until Monday.

Next week, the Crown and defence lawyers will meet again to decide whether a bail hearing will be necessary.

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Canadian soldier charged with murder in wife's death

A Canadian soldier has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 28-year-old wife, Melissa Richmond, whose funeral is taking place this morning.

Howard Richmond, a 50-year-old a warrant officer with the Canadian Forces, made a brief court appearance on Saturday before he was remanded into custody.

Richmond looked tired and appeared to open his eyes only briefly, once to acknowledge his sister and a family friend who were in the courthouse, and another time to the judge to acknowledge that he understood the charges against him.

He will appear again before the court by video link on Tuesday.

Howard Richmond was charged in court Saturday with 1st-degree murder in the death of his wife Melissa. (Sketch by Laurie Foster-MacLeod/CBC)

The first-degree murder charge comes a day after Richmond was arrested and taken into custody.

LISTEN | Howard Richmond speaks about his wife's death before his arrest

Melissa Richmond's funeral will take place Saturday at St. George's Chapel in Petawawa.

Body found stabbed

On Friday, police also executed multiple search warrants including one at the couple's home in Winchester, Ont. They also towed Howard Richmond's truck to conduct a search for forensic evidence.

Police say they believe the suspect acted alone in Melissa Richmond's homicide.

Richmond had reported his wife Melissa was missing on July 24, saying she took a late-night drive from their Winchester, Ont. home and never returned. Her vehicle was recovered two days later in the parking lot of the nearby South Keys Shopping Centre in south Ottawa.

Police searched the area near where Melissa Richmond's body was found but didn't locate a weapon. (Judy Trinh/CBC)

Two days after that, her body was recovered from a deep ditch near a storm drain along Bank Street, near the shopping centre. She had been stabbed multiple times, police sources told CBC News.

Howard Richmond has completed six tours of duty for the Canadian Forces — three in Afghanistan, two in Bosnia and one in Cyprus.

He told CBC News on Thursday that he has received treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and that his wife of eight years was a "rock" throughout his treatment.

Friends, family shocked by arrest

Friends and family attending a visitation Friday afternoon for Melissa Richmond said they were shocked by the news of Howard Richmond's arrest.

Michelle Groulx was a guest at the couple's wedding eight years ago and was by Richmond's side when he learned of the death of his wife.

"He loved his wife completely," said Groulx. "What I was seeing was a man who was heartbroken and going through a completely normal grieving process. There was no hint, there was no 'what if.'"

Melissa Richmond, who was a dental hygienist, is Ottawa's seventh homicide victim of 2013.

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Canada criticizes Russian asylum for leaker Snowden

Canada has added its voice to those criticizing Russia for granting asylum to U.S. National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.

"This is not something that Canada would have considered to do," Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird told The Canadian Press in an exclusive interview.

"It is an example where it does show Russia is a bit of an outlier in the G8."

Baird's comments were the first from the Canadian government following the Kremlin's decision to allow Snowden to leave the transit zone in the Moscow airport where he has been living since late June.

Russian President Vladimir Putin granted Snowden asylum for one year on the condition that he stop leaking information about the U.S. The White House said it was "extremely disappointed" by the decision not to turn him over to U.S., which wants to prosecute him for espionage.

Baird's remarks also echoed the criticism that Prime Minister Stephen Harper levelled at Putin prior to the most recent G8 summit in June in Northern Ireland.

Harper characterized the Russian leader as the outlier of the G8.

"This is G7 plus one. OK, let's be blunt. That's what this is, G7 plus one," the prime minister said at the time.

Leaker Edward Snowden claimed, in his request for temporary asylum, that he could face torture or death if returned to the U.S. (The Guardian/Associated Press)

Harper was referring to Putin's continuing support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a position that the rest of the G8 does not endorse.

Putin's apparent defiance of the U.S. in the Snowden case comes after his support of Syria has become a serious irritant in Russia's relations with the West.

Baird declined to elaborate further on the Snowden matter.

He has blasted Russia for its controversial new anti-gay law, calling it hateful and saying it could incite violence.

Baird also revealed that Russia once again found itself standing alone in the G8 when the issue of sexual minorities was raised at the previous summit in May 2012. Russia said it wouldn't agree to a statement that expressed support for the group.

"All G7 countries supported and that included centre-right governments in Germany, in France, in Canada, the United Kingdom," Baird said.

The Snowden affair and Russia's controversial law, which imposes heavy fines for spreading information about gay choices to minors, as well as banning gay pride rallies, appears to be casting a pall over next month's G20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The White House said it was reassessing whether President Barack Obama would go through with plans for a pre-G20 tete-a-tete with Putin.

A spokeswoman for Harper says Canada does not shy away from raising human-rights issues in its dealings with Russia.

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Wynne's Liberals stung in Ontario byelections

Byelections are, in the words of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, both "unpredictable" and "tough for government."

"They're… a pretty risk-free way for people to send a message to government."

It turns out Wynne was right on all counts. The byelections were tough and voters did send a message to the Liberals.

Wynne remains premier but her Liberal party — battered by the ongoing gas plant scandal and the misspending of millions of taxpayer dollars at eHealth and Ornge — is licking some new, though not necessarily fatal, political wounds.

Five Liberal strongholds and two wins to show for it: Toronto's east-end Scarborough-Guildwood and Ottawa South.

Three losses: Etobicoke-Lakeshore, London West and Windsor-Tecumseh.

The Ottawa win, if nothing else, shows the Liberals had stronger on-the-ground organization after decades of former premier Dalton McGuinty's presence in the riding.

But what do these results mean? The simple answer is not much — though there are striking parallels with the recent provincial election in British Columbia.

Questions for Hudak

In B.C. Liberal Christy Clark faced caucus resignations, byelection losses, scandals and forecasts of an NDP government.

But the polls were wrong and voters gave Clark another chance, unwilling to mark their X for NDP leader Adrian Dix.

In Ontario, Wynne is Clark and PC leader Tim Hudak is Dix.

Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak drove to London for a win that didn't happen, then turned around and headed to Etobicoke-Lakeshore. (CBC)

Wynne is more popular than Hudak and Hudak's party is more popular than him. That's a problem — even with the win in west-end Toronto and strong showings in Ottawa and Windsor — an area of the province that hasn't elected a Conservative in 50 years.

Coming in second in Windsor is almost as good as winning.

But a better showing would have calmed those in Hudak's own caucus who still haven't forgotten what happened to the party in the 2011 provincial election — the victory that wasn't, blame for which was laid at Hudak's feet.

He, like Wynne, lowered expectations for the byelections, then upped the ante at the prospect of winning in Ottawa and London. Hudak was so confident he drove to London for a win that didn't happen, then turned around and headed to Etobicoke-Lakeshore for a real victory.

In the days and weeks ahead Hudak will face questions about what happened.

NDP gains momentum

The results for the government don't come as a surprise. Liberals privately talked of one win and maybe none. So two looks pretty good.

Byelections are protest votes not referendums. Voters were protesting against McGuinty's years, not Wynne's months, as premier no matter what the opposition says.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has shown that polls calling her the 'most popular' of the three main leaders are no flukes. (CBC)

Still, there is work to do in "reading the tea leaves" of the final numbers.

Clearly, it was a mistake to anoint Ken Coran as the Liberal candidate in London West.

The premier will "wear" that decision since she hand-picked the former president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation — a choice that upset local Liberals who keenly remember how Coran worked to get a New Democrat elected in the 2012 byelection in Kitchener-Waterloo.

Meanwhile, the NDP wins in London and Windsor provide leader Andrea Horwath with more momentum. Horwath has shown the Liberals that polls calling her the "most popular" of the three main party leaders are no flukes, making her hard to ignore in whatever future talks she has with Wynne.

Game changer in Toronto

In Windsor, Jeewen Gill, a first-time candidate with years of backroom experience, never was election-ready and was simply overwhelmed by the much more experienced and popular New Democrat Percy Hatfield.

There were better choices but Queen's Park Liberals, aware of the push-back in London, decided not to intervene.

The Scarborough-Guildwood race was closer than most Liberals had expected, though they believed all along that Mitzie Hunter, with her ties to Toronto's CivicAction group, would be able to win.

In the west-end Toronto riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore the battle was between two city councillors: PC Doug Holyday and Liberal Peter Milczyn.

Milczyn was expected to hold the riding against the original Conservative candidate, a Toronto police officer. But a change of plan — dropping the cop in favour of the popular Holyday — was a game changer.

Doug Holyday's ties to Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and his city councillor brother, Doug, proved too much for the Liberals in Etobicoke-Lakeshore. (CBC)

Holyday's ties to Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and his city councillor brother, Doug, proved too much for Milczyn.

The Fords' message — that Holyday will do at Queen's Park what they have done at City Hall — was simple, straight-forward and understood by voters.

'Kicked but not booted'

The Liberals will use these byelections, now in the history books, to try to turn the page on the past and prepare for the future and a likely spring provincial election.

They know they got — as one senior Liberal put it — "kicked but not booted" by the voters.

"We've got to do better," he told me, confident that Wynne can do just that.

But between now and the next election Wynne has a lot of work to do.

The legislature resumes Sept. 9 and Liberals now expect a "hellish" time with an emboldened opposition even more determined to finish what they began in these byelections.

Wynne, though, cannot be underestimated.

In 1999 she took on an incumbent Conservative cabinet minister in the Toronto riding of Don Valley West. She was told she didn't have a chance, but won.

In 2007 she was challenged by the well-known and respected Conservative John Tory. Many wrote her political obit, but Wynne held the riding.

Flash forward to the Liberal leadership race and again Wynne was told she could not win, but did.

Based on the byelection results Hudak will can be expected to continue to push Horwath to withdraw her support of the Wynne government.

But as one senior Conservative put it, based on Kathleen Wynne's track record, "Tim should be careful what he wishes for."

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Ontario opposition leaders trumpet wins after byelections

Ontario's NDP and Progressive Conservative leaders both claimed last night's provincial byelections were a success, a day after the parties took three of five ridings from the ruling Liberals.

The NDP, led by Andrea Horwath, took two of five seats up for grabs that were all previously held by Liberals.

The Progressive Conservatives, headed by Tim Hudak, earned their first win in Toronto since 1999.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath was happy her party picked up two seats in last night's Ontario byelections. (Canadian Press)

In a Thursday morning news conference, Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said she would be surprised if the Liberal minority government makes it to the scheduled end of its mandate in 2015.

At the same time, she was coy about whether she would bring the government down, saying the party would take it a day at a time.

She said she was "over the moon" about the results — victories for Percy Hatfield in Windsor-Tecumseh and Peggy Sattler in London West.

It was a bad night for the Liberals, she said.

"They went from five very strong seats that were held by high-profile cabinet ministers to barely holding on to two seats."

'We broke through'

Hudak trumpeted the win of Conservative candidate Doug Holyday in Etobicoke-Lakeshore as the Conservatives first win in Toronto since 1999.

"We broke through…We're going to take more Toronto and GTA seats," said Hudak, who spoke Thursday morning with Holyday by his side.

Pressed by the assembled media about winning only one seat, Hudak repeatedly noted that the Conservatives received the most votes across both Ontario and Toronto in both byelections.

He congratulated the NDP, but characterized their support as a union-supported protest vote that won't work as well in a full general election.

Holyday said he wouldn't have run for the Tories if he didn't think Hudak is the right leader, and blamed losses in Ottawa South and London West on the Liberals' calling a byelection in the middle of the summer.

The Liberals held onto two seats.

Mitzie Hunter kept the Toronto-area riding of Scarborough-Guildwood in Liberal hands and John Fraser will succeed former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty in Ottawa South.

Deputy Premier Deb Matthews conceded that the scandal surrounding the costly cancellation of two Ontario gas plants had taken its toll.

"I think people sent us a message loud and clear that they expect better," Matthews told CBC News on Thursday morning.

Wynne is expected to speak to the media at 11:45 a.m. ET.

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6 points in the government's case for Senate reform

The government filed hundreds of documents with the Supreme Court of Canada Thursday, asking the top court for an opinion about its proposed Senate reform bill.

The package includes consulting the provinces on Senate nominees and imposing term limits on their tenure. Here are some of the things that can be learned by going through the documents.

1) Almost as soon as the Senate was established in 1867, people started wanting to reform it.

"Senate reform has never been far from the surface of Canadian history and politics," the government's court filings say, adding that a mere 10 years after Confederation the fledging House of Commons unanimously passed a motion to study Senate reform. As far back as 1926, a book was written titled The Unreformed Senate of Canada, to be followed by various bills, royal commissions, white papers, and reports, as well as the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords.

2) The government is not asking the Supreme Court if it can have an elected Senate, or if it can impose a 9-year term on senators or even if it can abolish the Senate.

Instead, it is asking the court what the rules actually are about changing the Constitution.The government admits this is a formidable task, but points out that so much angst ("the culmination of a long and difficult process") went into drafting an amending formula when the Constitution was repatriated in 1982, it is "unfathomable" it resulted in making change impossible without the bound-to-fail process of asking all 10 provinces to agree.

3) When it comes to constitutional matters, the Harper Conservatives are not orginalists.

Unlike some U.S. Republicans, rather than trying to discern the exact meaning of what the Fathers of Confederation had in mind ("an exercise fraught with peril"), the government dismisses "slavish adherence to original intent," and, as an example, points out the act recognizing same-sex marriage passed constitutional muster because thoughts on marriage changed between 1867 and 2005.

4) Electing senators who are loyal to their parties won't make them less independent.

Without any irony, the government observes that 95 per cent of all Senate appointees have been from the prime minister of the day's own political party. Plus, most have been "individuals who have held elected public office or run for such an office in the past."

5) Senators never really had 'jobs for life'

Even though the new Minister of State ( Democratic Reform) Pierre Poilievre said Thursday senators used to have "jobs for life" before being forced to retire at age 75, the court filings point out that since 1965 most have stayed on the job on average for a decade, so limiting them to nine-year terms won't be much of a change.

6) Elected senators may not be a better class of people than appointed ones.

Even though the government seems to smile upon elected senators – five elected in Alberta have sat or are sitting in the Upper House — the court filings note, perhaps a little dryly, "The Alberta Senate nominee process has not produced senators whose professional and life experience varies significantly from [appointed] senators."

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Man with alleged Rob Ford crack video arrested, report says

The man who showed two journalists an alleged video of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine was arrested during a series of police raids in June.

The Toronto Star reported in its Friday edition that the alleged gang member was arrested during Project Traveller, which targeted drug dealers in the city's Dixon Road area of northern Etobicoke and led to charges against more than 40 people.

After a year-long investigation, police conducted dozens of raids that they say targeted a criminal organization — a street gang known as the Dixon City Bloods or Dixon Goonies — that had allegedly trafficked drugs and brought guns into Canada.

The man who showed the alleged video to reporters Robyn Doolittle and Kevin Donovan faces various drug and gun charges, including participating in a criminal organization, conspiracy and trafficking of guns and cocaine, the Star reported.

There's no word whether police are in possession of the video.

Ford has denied using crack cocaine and says the video does not exist.

Both the Star and the U.S. gossip website Gawker published stories in May claiming their journalists had viewed the alleged video, which they say shows the mayor in a well-lit room apparently smoking crack cocaine from a glass pipe.

Worldwide attention

The allegations were picked up by news organizations worldwide, mocked by U.S. comedians and led to weeks of fallout as some councillors called for Ford's resignation if the allegations were true, and several high-profile members of Ford's staff quit.

The Star and Gawker said the man had wanted to sell them the video.

Gawker raised $200,000 to buy the video from its owners through an online crowdfunding campaign dubbed the Rob Ford Crackstarter. However, after the fundraising was completed, the man who was the website's contact for securing the video said the owner told him the video was gone.

Gawker said it would instead give the money to four Ontario charities.

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