Alberta Premier Alison Redford is opening an office in Ottawa, hoping to build stronger ties with a federal government rooted in her backyard.Ms. Redford announced the initiative in a throne speech Thursday, saying it’s part of her province’s effort to reach outside its borders. The move comes as Alberta pursues major pipeline projects and presses for a national energy strategy. More related to this story “What we have understood, as a federal government and a provincial government, is we want to work together to advance Alberta’s interests. And we have had, as you’ll know since I became premier, a real focused effort on ensuring that we’re working well with our federal colleagues,” Ms. Redford told reporters, later adding: “What that has meant is an awful ... Continue reading →

The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION Group who took Tories to court accused of rabble-rousing over robocalls By: The Canadian Press Posted: 5:11 PM | Comments: 0 (including replies) OTTAWA - The Council of Canadians is being accused of "stirring up strife" for asking the Federal Court to review the election results in a handful of tightly contested ridings. The accusation is levelled in new court filings that say the group is more concerned with attacking the Conservatives and raising money than getting to the bottom of the so-called robocalls affair. Conservative party lawyers called the council's conduct improper, unseemly and a clear abuse of the court's process. The council has asked the Federal Court to review the May 2011 election results in seven ridings ... Continue reading →

Make text: Larger | Smaller The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION Federal government appeals court ruling that said it broke wheat board law By: The Canadian Press 05/23/2012 9:48 AM OTTAWA - The Federal Court of Appeal will allow an appeal of a ruling that said the federal government broke the law with its plan to strip the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly over western wheat and barley sales. The Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board and others, including the board's former directors, had asked the Federal Court of Appeal to quash Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz's motion to appeal a lower court's decision. On Wednesday, however, the federal appeals court said it would allow Ritz's appeal to be heard. It's the latest legal step in a ... Continue reading →

The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION Attorney general tries to stop retired aboriginal Mountie's human-rights hearing By: Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press Posted: 11:36 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies) | Last Modified: 1:42 PM OTTAWA - The Harper government is trying to block the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal from hearing a retired aboriginal Mountie's complaints about the alleged discrimination and harassment he faced over the course of his long RCMP career. Attorney General Rob Nicholson has asked the Federal Court for a judicial review of a decision to refer Greg Morrison Blain's complaint to the tribunal, arguing it was made in error. Blain was a member of the RCMP from July 1992 until he retired in January. He is now chief of the Ashcroft ... Continue reading →

The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION Tory MPs ask Federal Court to toss request to review election results By: The Canadian Press Posted: 2:44 PM | Comments: 0 (including replies) OTTAWA - Seven Conservative MPs who narrowly won their seats in the last election are asking the Federal Court to toss out a request to review the results in their ridings. Conservative Party lawyer Arthur Hamilton has filed motions on behalf of the seven MPs asking that the cases be thrown out. The almost identically worded motions call the cases frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of process. They also claim the applications for judicial review were filed too late and don't contain any specific allegations that could furnish grounds to overturn the election results. The ... Continue reading →

OTTAWA — The Conservatives have taken some Canadian environmental charities to task for accepting money from wealthy foreign donors to finance their campaigns against oil and gas projects. But tax returns filed to the Canada Revenue Agency show most of the foreign money that fills the coffers of Canadian charities does not go to the environmental groups now in Tory crosshairs. An analysis by The Canadian Press of charities’ annual tax returns found only one of the top 10 foreign-funded charities could be considered a conservation group. That group is Ducks Unlimited Canada. Tax returns show it has reported receiving more than $33 million over the years from foreign sources, making it the fifth-largest recipient of money from outside the country. Ducks Unlimited Canada says ... Continue reading →