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BCAFN Daily News

02/22/2012

• A. First Nations Stories Dominating the News
• B. Other First Nation Stories of Interest
• C. Stories Dominating the News

 

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A. First Nations Stories Dominating the News

1- Ceremony to honour victimized women brings police, First Nations together

SUZANNE FOURNIER, The Province, February 21 - Families of missing and murdered women, over 500 First Nations leaders and Canada’s top RCMP commissioner all took part in a powerful “cedar bough cleansing” ceremony at a national justice forum in Vancouver Tuesday. Two rows of large colour photos of more than 60 missing women, lit by candles, were surrounded first by their loved ones, then encircled by men taking up the challenge to “protect and support” women and girls. The ceremony launched a three-day “national justice forum” by the Assembly of First Nations, Canada’s largest national aboriginal group, at the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver. Squamish Chief Ian Campbell, known as Xalek, called on male leaders “to honour and respect the lifegivers in our community” and help prevent the ongoing disappearance and death of hundreds of native women across Canada. Campbell drummed and sang as Salish women dressed in traditional blankets and cedar hats and headbands slowly moved around the huge Bayshore Hotel ballroom, “brushing off” everyone with cedar, water, smoke and red ochre. New RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson, along with RCMP Chief Supt. Brenda Butterworth-Carr and Assistant RCMP Commissioner Russ Mirasty from the provincial missing persons task force, all stood to be brushed with cedar.Paulson later repeated the RCMP apology of just two weeks ago, “expressing the regret of the RCMP that for not arresting Robert Pickton much sooner.” After a solemn hour-long ceremony, Campbell told the 500 quiet people, “The (missing and murdered) ladies are here with us today. “They’re looking at us. They need to know we’re OK, that it’s OK for them to move on now (to the spirit world.)” Gary Silcott, 16, stood in front of a photo of his mother Tanya Holyk, a Pickton victim, with tears coursing down his face. “This is the first time I’ve ever met my mother and I definitely felt her presence here today. “I was just stuck in one spot, talking to my mom and she was saying it’s OK. I was only nine months old when she disappeared. It was healing for me.” Lorelei Williams, 31, who lost two close relatives including her aunt Belinda Williams, an unsolved case since 1978, and her cousin Holyk to Pickton, said the ceremony was “very, very emotional, like a funeral but in a good way.” Lorelei and a dozen other women, many of them among the at least 75 children left behind by missing or murdered mothers, are learning a choreographed dance to commemorate the missing and celebrate young women. The AFN, which speaks for 800,000 aboriginal people in 633 communities, is working with the RCMP on a national protocol to address the fact that aboriginal people are disproportionately likely to become victims of violence. Paulson said he supports a new national system to track “missing First Nations girls, women and men” through CPIC, the Canadian Police Information Centre. He emphasized one of his first priorities as Canada’s top cop is to address the missing women issue. Paulson said he “supports the work of the (Oppal Missing Women Commission of) Inquiry” and “will have much more to say when the inquiry makes its recommendations.” In the meantime, said Paulson, he will work with the AFN and other aboriginal groups to liaise with appointed RCMP contacts in every province. National AFN Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo decried “the critical situation of violence, disappearance and murder of countless First Nations women and girls.” The Native Women’s Association estimates about 600 aboriginal women have gone missing or been murdered in Canada in the last 20 years, Atleo noted. Atleo said that while he supports the work of the Oppal inquiry, its increasingly police-dominated hearings “show why we need a Royal Commission, a national inquiry into violence against aboriginal children, women and men, that is aboriginal-led or receives input from First Nations.” The national justice forum has pledged to drawn up “a national action plan to end violence against indigenous women and girls in Canada” and is developing a national missing kids and child protection strategy as well.

2- New program aimed at helping First Nation communities find missing kids

Canadian Press, Feb 22 - VANCOUVER - A new effort is being launched to alert First Nations communities across Canada about what they can do to find missing aboriginal children. The help is being offered by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection and its website, www.missingkids.ca, along with the Assembly of First Nations, the federal government and the RCMP. "The stark reality that more and more First Nation youth go missing in Canada each year is unacceptable,” said AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo. "First Nation youth must be supported and nurtured to achieve their dreams and reach their full potential," he said in a statement after the initiative was announced at the AFN National Justice Forum in Vancouver. To raise awareness of the site, Atleo has done a public service announcement that will air on the Aboriginal People’s Television Network, while Missingkids.ca will send materials to about 650 band offices and 700 RCMP and First Nations police detachments across Canada. The website offers a central place for parents and communities to get help and works in conjunction with police searches for children who have disappeared. "We are living in a more complex world and our children are facing new risks," said Christy Dzikowicz, director of Missingkids.ca. "In addition to providing step-by-step guides and tools, Missingkids.ca’s specially trained staff is always there to support families in their search to find their missing child," she said. The missing children initiative is being supported by the federal government through the Department of Justice Victims Fund.

B. Other First Nation Stories of Interest

1- Spill danger remains, says first nations

Gordon Hoekstra, Vancouver Sun, February 22 - Switching the end point of the $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipe-line to Prince Rupert will not win support among first nations already opposed to the pipeline, says Coastal First Nations executive director Art Sterritt. Enbridge has said it may consider changing the end point of its controversial pipeline to Prince Rupert from Kitimat. "A spill outside of Prince Rupert would be just as damaging as it would be outside of Hartley Bay [at the entrance of Douglas Channel to Kiti-mat]," Sterritt said Sunday. Sterritt said the pipeline route to Prince Rupert along the Skeena River is treacherous, prone to rock slides and avalanches. He added that Enbridge's idea of changing the route won't get sup-port from the communities of Prince Rupert, nearby Port Edward and others on Haida Gwaii. The northwest B.C. communities passed a resolution Friday at the Skeena Queen Charlotte Regional District to oppose the pipeline and tanker traffic. Earlier last week, the City of Terrace passed a resolution 5-2 opposing the project. Enbridge CEO Pat Daniel has said he still believes Kitimat, with its out-standing harbour, is the best terminus for the pipeline, but that he is open to examining a change to Prince Rupert. He cautioned that the route to Prince Rupert has a very narrow right-of-way along an 80-kilometre stretch of the Skeena River in northern B.C. However, the proposed use of Kiti-mat - which requires bringing in ships along the 90-kilometre Douglas Channel - has come under fire from first nations, environmental groups and some communities that fear a tanker spill would devastate the marine environment. Prince Rupert, located in a sheltered harbour, is about 15 kilometres from the open ocean. "Recently, I have indicated that we will re-examine [the route] to see whether there is another way to get to Prince Rupert, but all of our engineering and environmental studies continue to point in the direction of Kitimat being the best alternative," Daniel told analysts in a conference call Friday to discuss the company's $355-million fourth-quarter earnings. "We want to make sure that we have thoroughly evaluated any and all routing opportunities," he said. The project calls for large tankers to be loaded with oil at Kitimat and shipped to Asia to open new markets for crude from the northern Alberta oilsands.

2- First Nations, Métis less likely to trust police: survey

CBC News, Feb 21 - A new survey has revealed that while the majority of people in Regina are satisfied with the city's police force, First Nations and Métis are far less likely to trust the police. The study, conducted by the University of Regina justice studies department and released on Tuesday, showed that more than three-quarters of those surveyed ranked the quality of the Regina Police Service as very good to excellent. A total of 504 people were surveyed over the phone between Aug. 15 and Sept. 1. Because the number of First Nations and Métis respondents in the random survey was less than their representation in the population, an additional 49 surveys were conducted. The survey found that most of those who said they were satisfied with Regina's police services had little to no contact with the police and held a quite contrary opinion to those that had direct contact. "Respondents who had contact with the police tended to have less overall trust and satisfaction with the RPS, or perceived the RPS less favourably than those who did not," the survey report stated in part. The survey also revealed that First Nations and Métis respondents were far more likely to express distrust in the police and dissatisfaction with the treatment they received. "First Nations and Métis respondents expressed a much lower degree of trust and confidence for all of the five questions asking about issues such as professionalism, integrity and responsiveness to the needs of the respondent‘s ethnic group," according to the report. Aboriginal respondents ranked their overall satisfaction with the police service — using a scale of one to five — at 2.14, compared to the general city ranking of 3.94. Aboriginal respondents were also more likely to report being victimized by police more than the 504 other respondents, with 67.3 per cent reporting victimization as opposed to the 26.6 per cent from the random survey sample.

3- Astronaut to inspire First Nations youth at technology conference

Stephen Hui, Perspective News.ca, February 21 - John Herrington has done what most kids only dream about. In 2002, the former NASA astronaut blasted off in the space shuttle Endeavour and spent almost 14 days in low Earth orbit. Reached by phone in Lewiston, Idaho, Herrington happily recounted his role in the sixteenth shuttle mission to the International Space Station. He told the Georgia Straight that the launch was “exciting” and “dynamic”. “It bounces around for like two minutes,” Herrington said. “You get a pretty good shaking. Then it gets really smooth. But you accelerate, and it feels like someone’s climbed on board your chest and is sitting on you—a very big person. So, it takes eight and a half minutes to get to orbit. The engines quit. You’re in this environment—you’re floating.” When Herrington returned to Earth, he had carried out three space walks lasting a combined 20 hours. A member of Oklahoma’s Chickasaw Nation, he had also become the first Native American to fly in space. On Thursday (February 23), Herrington will be in Vancouver to give the opening keynote speech and participate in a panel discussion at the 2012 Information and Communications Technology Summit. Organized by the First Nations Technology Council and the Pacific Community Networks Association, the three-day conference will be held at the Coast Plaza Hotel and Suites (1763 Comox Street). Herrington joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration after serving in the U.S. navy. As the retired naval commander tells it, he was a fixed-wing engineering test pilot and “hunted Russian submarines for a few years”. But there was a time when he couldn’t have imagined he’d actually take a ride on the Canadarm high above the Earth. “I used to play in a cardboard box and dream I was going to the moon, back in the 1960s,” said Herrington, who’s now 53 years old. “Astronauts were on TV. We were in the middle of going to the moon. So, I dreamed about it, but I never realized that I could accomplish it. So, I tell kids, ‘If there’s something you dream about doing, you can do it.’ It doesn’t happen overnight, and it takes time. It takes a lot of hard work, and it takes people in your life to help you go down this path. I was very fortunate that there were people in my life that helped make that a reality.” When he takes to the podium at the ICT Summit, Herrington plans to share stories about his journey from his birthplace of Wetumka, Oklahoma, to the International Space Station. As a rock climber who admittedly didn’t study, he got kicked out in his first year at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He ended up getting a job with a road survey crew. It was the first time Herrington saw math put into practice, and it was enough to make him decide to go back to school and become an engineer. Years later, he’s working on a PhD in education at the University of Idaho. Another thing that Herrington is planning on talking about at the conference is how the U.S. space program has been a driver of technological change that has improved our lives. Innovations in artificial hearts, cordless power tools, running shoes, and smoke detectors are among the “outgrowths” of NASA’s work, he noted. “I want to motivate kids to learn math and science in the same way I was motivated—by hands-on, real-world, practical application of the stuff they would see in a textbook,” Herrington said. “What does it really mean to them in a real-world environment?” At the Coast Plaza Hotel, Sue Hanley, coordinator of the First Nations Technology Council, noted that about 300 people from around British Columbia and as far as Nova Scotia are expected to attend this year’s ICT Summit, which has the theme of “Exploring new worlds”. The conference will kick off with a video link to Brazil, where an elder will virtually present a sacred rattle to Herrington. A Human Right CEO Kosta Grammatis, former Doig River First Nation chief Garry Oker, and Simon Fraser University cognitive scientist Steve DiPaola will join Herrington for the panel titled “Technology—What Can We Expect From the New World?” on Thursday. On Saturday (February 25), architect Douglas Cardinal will deliver the closing keynote address. Hanley told the Straight that the first ICT Summit took place in 2004 and hosted around 30 First Nations people. Today, it “really has become a First Nations conference”, she noted. The FNTC was established by the First Nations Summit in 2002 to address the digital divide affecting many First Nations in B.C. Executive director Norm Leech told the Straight that the role of the organization is to support the development of First Nations communities through technology. “There’s an opportunity to leapfrog into current technology today and skip all the growing pains of the past,” Leech said at the hotel. “So, for communities that are just now getting electricity and telephone service and cellphone service, they can leapfrog straight into the 21st century and take advantage of all the benefits that are available, from business and industry, that have been developed over the last 20 years.” Ahead of his appearance at the ICT Summit, Herrington commented that he’s not bothered by the fact that he’ll probably be telling the story of his two weeks in space for the rest of his life. As a Native American who was “blessed with the opportunity to do something absolutely remarkable”, he’s happy that his experience offers inspiration to other people with indigenous heritage. “When I first came here, I didn’t realize that was a role that I would be in,” Herrington said of joining NASA. “And when I came to that, I realized that it’s a remarkable position to be in. There are indigenous kids around the world that maybe now have the opportunity to say, ‘That guy’s just like me. If he can do it, why can’t I?’

4- Grand Chief of Canadian First Nations Visits Israeli Parliament

Elad Benari & Hezki Ezra, First Perspective.ca, Feb 21 - The heads of the largest native tribe in Canada, the First Nations, visited Israel’s Knesset on Tuesday. They were led by Grand Chief David Harper from the province of Manitoba, who personally heads the Cree tribal nation, and the purpose of the group’s visit was to express support for Israel. First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada. There are currently over 630 recognized First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The total population of First Nations is nearly 700,000. Among the First Nations delegation who visited Israel's parliament were representatives from the indigenous peoples of Australia, the Fiji Islands, Samoa and Greenland, as well as Inuit natives, a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples who live in the Arctic regions of Canada, spokeswoman from the group told Arutz Sheva. Their visit to Israel was organized by a Knesset lobby which strives to promote relations with Christian communities around the world. The natives toured the Knesset and met with the Deputy Minister for Development of the Negev and Galilee, Ayoob Kara. “I’m here to say that we support Israel and that we personally invite the Deputy Minister to northern Canada when he comes there, and we’ll show our full support with other chiefs,” Grand Chief Harper told the cameras after the tour. “I’ve come here before and I’ve been blessed, and I know I’ll be more blessed this time,” Harper added. Deputy Minister Kara stressed the importance of the relations with Canada’s native population. “They know how important Israel is for the liberal side of the world,” he said. “Israel is at the front of the fighting against the Islamization led by Iran. It is important that the entire world come to Jerusalem and be part of Israel for a few days. G-d will bless everyone who supports Israel.” Other visitors to the Knesset were deeply impressed by the presence of the delegation. A number of security personnel in the building, noted with a smile, however, "Israel is at the center of the world, and Jerusalem is the beating heart of Israel. It is not really a surprise that the peoples of the world can recognize this, and would want to come to visit and gain the blessing of being here."

5- Shannen’s Dream to be voted on in House of Commons

Wawatay News, Feb 21 - A motion calling for the federal government to support Shannen’s Dream will be voted on in the House of Commons on Feb. 27. All parties have expressed their support for the motion, which would increase funding of on-reserve schools at least to the level provinces run schools. Motion 202 was first introduced by NDP MP Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay) in September 2010 and then re-introduced in October 2011, following the last federal election. The motion calls for the government to “declare that all First Nation children have an equal right to high quality culturally-relevant education” and “implement policies to make the First Nation education system, at a minimum, of equal quality to provincial school systems.” The motion was nicknamed in honour of Shannen Koostachin, a 15-year-old Attawapiskat youth who initiated the biggest letter writing campaign in Canada urging the federal government to build a new school in her community. She died tragically in a car accident in 2010. Shannen’s Dream is a campaign named in her honour and aims at ensuring that all First Nations in Canada have “safe and comfy” schools. The motion was debated in the House of Commons on Feb. 17, with several MP’s who support the motion highlighting the statistics and reports showing that educational standards and facilities in First Nations communities are drastically below those off reserve. Angus said that the poor standards of on-reserve education is the result of decades of systemic negligence and abuse. “This was never a priority until children made it a priority,” he said, referring to Shannen. “That is what makes today's motion different.” Angus highlighted that Shannen was recently selected by CBC’s George Stroumboulopoulos as one of five teenage girls in history who made in difference alongside Joan of Arc, Anne Frank and Mary Shelley. “Shannen did not want to make history,” he said. “She did not set out to be a hero. She wanted to be on a volleyball team. She wanted to have a locker. She wanted to write notes in the classroom. She had a dream that she could have what she called ‘a comfy school.’” Conservative MP Greg Rickford (Kenora) said he and his party will support the motion. “This motion…represents a relationship here in this place between all parties,” said the parliamentary secretary to the minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. “It demands partnerships here in this place and non-partisan, substantive discussions about how we can work with First Nation communities, First Nation leadership and organizations and the provinces to improve the fortunes of First Nation students and the education they receive.” The vote for the motion will come just weeks after Shannen’s Dream spokesperson Chelsea Edwards, a 16-year-old from Attawapiskat, was among six First Nations youth ambassadors who spoke to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child on Feb. 6 about the inequalities facing Aboriginal youth in Canada.

6- Lawyer disbarred in fee grab

Alexandra Paul, Winnipeg Free Press, Feb 22 - His law career finished after being disbarred for overcharging residential school victims, Howard Tennenhouse was anything but contrite as he lashed out at the fate he had been dealt Tuesday. In a call to the Free Press after the Law Society of Manitoba meted out his punishment, the former lawyer, who pleaded guilty to professional misconduct, argued he was the real victim of the case, not his clients. He criticized the law society, the federal residential school compensation agency and the media -- and even suggested his clients were somehow responsible for his troubles. "What I'm upset about is I had to (be) disbarred and slammed in the media as someone who was stealing from the Indians, when that's not what I did," Tennenhouse said in a telephone interview. He said his clients knew what he was doing. "These individuals are not as vulnerable or as foolish as the law society seems to think because they are unsophisticated," Tennenhouse said. "I still have an excellent reputation on the reserves where I work." According to an agreed statement of facts, Tennenhouse took more than $950,000 in extra fees from 55 former residential school students. In residential school cases, lawyers for victims are paid a standard 15 per cent by Ottawa, apart from the settlements. Tennenhouse ran into trouble when he topped that 15 per cent off with another 15 per cent directly from clients' settlements in the absence, and in some cases in defiance, of orders not to do so. The Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat, which sets the fees, tried to discipline him and last year reported him to the law society. The federal government is in the midst of a $5-billion settlement agreement compensating some of the 80,000 First Nations and Inuit children who were forcibly removed from their homes to attend residential schools. Sandy Bay Chief Irvin McIvor said Tennenhouse intimidated a lot of his former clients, many of whom live on the Ojibwa First Nation 165 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. McIvor said he was so frustrated with the lawyer he ordered him off the First Nation, only to later discover Tennenhouse had hired representatives to return to the reserve when he couldn't. As part of his guilty plea, Tennenhouse has pledged to pay back every penny of extra fees. The law society will start to send out cheques next week that will average about $20,000 apiece. "From Day 1, the message was this kind of victimization will not be tolerated," law society executive director Allan Fineblit said. "And nobody who has lost money here will be out of pocket. That money will begin to flow immediately to them," Tennenhouse has repaid about half the $951,109.30 he agreed he owed. The law society is getting the rest by effectively garnisheeing fees from cases Tennenhouse was forced to give up with the loss of his licence. As well, Tennenhouse was ordered to pay $57,512 to cover the legal costs the society spent to disbar him. The case wrapped up after a brief hearing before a three-person disciplinary panel. The guilty plea was entered, the panel adjourned briefly and returned to disbar the lawyer Tuesday morning. Tennenhouse did not attend the hearing that ended his career, which began in 1980. His name was protected under a cloak of confidentiality until the law society's disciplinary hearing on his misconduct charges.

7- Ottawa’s relationship with Assembly of First Nations makes some natives uneasy

Gloria Galloway, Globe and Mail, February 21 - Manitoba chiefs have joined those in Saskatchewan in condemning an action plan to improve the lives of native people, saying it was crafted without their input by the Assembly of First Nations and the federal government. The rejection strikes another blow at attempts by AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo to forge a new relationship with Ottawa. Many native leaders are wary of government intentions as they prepare to fight for a share of revenues from resources that lie within their traditional territories and as Prime Minister Stephen Harper promotes the construction of a pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to the Pacific across first-nations lands. In a letter to Mr. Atleo, Grand Chief Derek Nepinak of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs says the federal Conservative government and the AFN have been developing plans and statements that were not approved by the first nations in his province. Specifically, Mr. Nepinak objects to an “outcome statement” that was released at the end of a meeting in January between the chiefs and Mr. Harper. That statement endorsed a joint action plan launched last summer by the AFN and Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan that lays out broad steps for promoting first-nations prosperity. The chiefs who attended the January meeting “were adamantly opposed to any joint messages/statements or action plans being developed by the AFN and the [government] as key outcomes of this gathering,” wrote Mr. Nepinak in his letter dated last Friday, a copy of which was obtained by The Globe and Mail. Mr. Nepinak said Tuesday he was concerned that his letter had been given to the media. “I don’t know what value politicizing the matter really brings to the discussion,” he said in a telephone interview. However, many chiefs across Canada have expressed unease that the AFN has developed too close a relationship with Ottawa, said the Manitoba Grand Chief. It must be made clear, he said, that the support of the AFN for any initiative does not mean the initiative has the support of the first nations themselves. “When we look at a joint action plan made between our national chief and [Mr.] Duncan, we have to consider the tremendous imbalance in power,” he said. “The federal government has the ability to create policy and law that could impede aboriginal treaty rights at the grassroots level. Mr. Atleo responded to Mr. Nepinak in a letter Tuesday saying he fully agreed that first-nations leaders alone could make decisions in matters affecting their people. He also said the joint action plan stems from a strategic plan developed by the AFN executive, made up of representatives of all the regions, and that its elements have been supported by national resolutions. “Let me provide absolute certainty that work references in the joint action plan or in the outcome statement in no way purports to suggest agreement of any first nations,” Mr. Atleo wrote. The salvos aimed at the national chief also come in the months before he faces re-election in July. Some first-nations officials have been circulating a series of e-mails, written on the day of the January meeting, that show the outcome statement being sent from a communications aide within the Prime Minister’s Office, to Mr. Harper’s associate director of communications, to the communications director for Mr. Duncan, and then to the AFN. They say the e-mails suggest that the statement was actually written within the PMO without AFN input. AFN officials say that is not the case. The statement, they said, was drafted during advance discussions between the AFN and the government and it was simply meant to reflect talks between members of the AFN executive, Mr. Duncan and the PMO.

C. Stories Dominating the News

1- NDP membership hits record ahead of convention

Meagan Fitzpatrick, CBC News, Feb 22 - The NDP says its membership has reached a record high of 128,351 in advance of next month's leadership convention, thanks largely to big gains in Ontario and Quebec. Close to 45,000 Canadians have joined the NDP since October, according to figures released Tuesday. Saturday was the last day people could join the party and still vote in the leadership convention next month. "We're thrilled with the growth we've seen since the start of this leadership race and it reflects the historic growth we saw in the May 2011 election," said Sally Housser, the interim deputy national director. "I think it's really exciting for all the people that enjoy the democratic process to have nearly 130,000 who now have the opportunity to vote for the next leader of the Official Opposition." The NDP had 83,824 members in October, but that total, provided by the NDP Tuesday, does not include more than 2,400 people who were previously identified as "federal" members. The total number of NDP members in September, before the federal members were distributed among the provinces, was 86,545. When the NDP reported the February figures on Tuesday, the provincial totals included those redistributed members, but there was no breakdown to show how many were redistributed members and how many were new members. The seven leadership candidates and their supporters have been working hard since the fall to sell memberships. Ontario added the most members – 14,535 – followed by Quebec, where membership rose to 12,266 from just 1,695, a net gain of about 10,500. British Columbia still leads the country, with 38,735 members, up from 30,000. Nathan Cullen, the MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley is the only candidate running for the leadership from that province. Nova Scotia has 3, 844 members, up from 1,300, Manitoba is up 1,749, Alberta by1,216 and Saskatchewan by 2,335. Candidates have been recruiting members so they can cast ballots for them at the leadership convention on March 24 in Toronto. Every member of the party gets a vote, which means selling memberships has been a critical part of candidates' campaigns up to now. "All of the candidates have been working hard in each one of the provinces, so I don't think you can say necessarily that one candidate owns a province or not," Housser said. "Everyone has been working hard all over the place." All seven candidates had been holding back from releasing statistics on the memberships they've sold, but a member of Brian Topp's campaign spoke out Tuesday. Ethan Cox said Topp and his supporters are responsible for more than 2,000 of the memberships sold in Quebec since January.

2- Greek deal greeted with cautious optimism

AP, Feb 22 - Optimism over a long-awaited €130 billion ($170 billion) Greek bailout deal was muted Tuesday after concerns about the hurdles facing the new bailout measures. Greece will still have to implement the harsh austerity measures required by the deal, which could be difficult depending on the results of April's general election. Greece is entering its fifth year of recession, and at the worst, the new program would push the country even deeper into recession and see it default on its debts down the line. The bailout must also be approved by the Dutch and German parliaments, which remain skeptical about the wisdom of continuing to fund Greece's debt problems. European stock markets traded lower as optimism over the deal quickly fizzled. "It's not an easy (program), it's an ambitious one," said Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, adding there were significant risks that Greece's economy might not grow as much as hoped. The bailout plan assumes Greece's economy will continue to contract until late 2013. The deal "closes the door to an uncontrolled default that would be chaos for Greece and Greek people," said Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission. As part of the deal, Greece faces severe austerity measures that are expected to be unpopular among the Greek people. At the same time, the European Central Bank and the national central banks in the countries that use the euro will forgo profits on their Greek debt holdings, again reducing the costs for Greece. "It's a very good accord in the sense that it is equitably divvied up," said French Finance Minister Francois Baroin. "The Greeks have made their efforts. The Europeans are playing their supporting role, in their role as creditors. ... And the private sector part goes beyond" what could be expected.