Analysis: Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent will not be forgotten - CANOE

Joe Warmington, QMI Agency

Nov 2, 2014

, Last Updated: 1:07 AM ET

LONGUEIUL, Que. -- The "Forgotten Soldier" was remembered here Saturday.

But not by everyone.

If going by how many people came out to witness his funeral procession, it appeared even on his home turf, some still forgot 53-year-old Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent.

It didn't mean the airman didn't get a terrific Canadian send off.

He did. All the people supposed to be there did a wonderful job of making sure.

But regular every day people, as we saw in Ottawa and later in Hamilton, mourning over the fatal shooting of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, simply did not come out to pay their respects on Saturday in massive numbers.

It was surprising since both of these terror attacks on Canadian soldiers were at the hands of Quebec-based killers. Jammed streets would have sent a unity message.

CLICK HERE TO OPEN GALLERY: Fallen soldier Patrice Vincent laid to rest

"There is definitely something missing," said Ron Cornelow, who drove from Laval with his partner, Louise Demers to be among the dozens outside the packed church.

I also came here to pay my respects for this soldier - believed to be Canada's first fallen in the current war on ISIS, and one of a very few people in uniform to be killed on domestic soil - who was gutlessly run down by a radicalized man.

I covered this murderous attack in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu on Oct. 20 and the days that followed, and was surprised by the lack of a vigil.

Remember, the flags did not go down to half staff nationally until the second soldier was slain.

I wanted to write something here about how this time the people rallied for their forgotten son, but the sidewalks along the procession route were empty.

Closer to the church, about 100 people stood behind barriers.

It was not like this inside the church or even inside the procession. There were hundreds who participated and did an incredible job of giving Vincent's family a full regimental funeral, which was private and by invitation only.

Inside St-Antoine-de-Padoue Church, Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed how savage Vincent's murder was.

"Someone dear to you has been taken away by the revolting actions of a person motivated by a barbaric ideology, an ideology contrary to the values of justice, freedom and compassion that we share as Canadians," Harper said.

Outside, Veterans' Affairs Minister Julian Fantino called it a "beautiful tribute."

"I think it was important that he received the same service that Cpl. Cirillo received," Fantino said. "They both served their country with such honour and both died in defence of it."

Like the politicians, the military really provided a proper tribute. The pipe and drums were out, the Last Post was played and Vincent's beloved 438 Tactical Helicopter Squadron, based in St. Hubert, flew overhead in missing-man formation.

It was, after all, not just any person who died here.

So it turns out the Forgotten Soldier was remembered here Saturday, but not by enough.

Tweets from the Sun's Joe Warmington, who was in Longueuil. Click here for a mobile-friendly link.

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Battle lines drawn in Donetsk on the eve of rebel elections - Telegraph.co.uk

In elections due to start on Sunday, the leadership of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic - the two capitals of what President Vladimir Putin has called "Novorossia", or New Russia - hope to add an air of democratic legitimacy on their control of the region.

As well as a president, voters in each republic be asked to elect members of a Supreme Soviet, or parliament - a deliberate nod to the days of the USSR, when Ukraine and Russia were as one.

The results are a forgone conclusion. There are officially three candidates running to head the Donetsk People's Republic, but Alexander Zakharchenko, a former mining electrician and the current "prime minister", is all but certain to win.

But for supporters of the separatist movement, the election will br a fanfare for Novorossia's "legitimate emergence on the international arena," according to Denis Pushilin, a one-time separatist leader who now heads a consultative body in one of the movement's many opaque reshuffles.

^{A worker reads a manual for a maintenance of an armored personnel carrier which was damaged in fighting with Ukrainian government forces and placed for repair works at a factory in pro-Russian rebels' stronghold of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine}

Ukrainian and Western governments have denounced the elections as a brazen violation of September's Minsk agreement, which envisaged local elections only under a special Ukrainian law granting devolution to the region.

The idea was that separatist-held areas would remain part of Ukraine - allowing Petro Poroshenko, the new Ukrainian president, to sell the ceasefire at home as a diplomatic victory that would preserve Ukraine's territorial integrity.

The separatists' use of the phrase "national elections" - plus a recent contest for a Novorossian national anthem - makes a nonsense of that claim, leading some Ukrainian officials to believe the intention all along was to discredit Mr Poroshenko.

But besides humiliating the government in Kiev, the elections also reflect a growing realisation amongst the separatist leadership that, having won the war for now, they must now prove themselves capable of building a functioning nation.

"Our priority now is to build our state," said Mr Pushilin. "We need to get pensions and wages paid, and get businesses running again. The first stage is getting a properly elected government to do that."

The task facing the would-be state builders is indeed vast.

Donetsk, once a bustling, wealthy city of a million people resembles a ghost town, not a capital city. Shops are closed, bank machines have stopped working, and law and order is enforced in haphazard manner by camouflaged gunmen.

^{People walk past a bombed out street market near the train station in the town of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine}

State employees and pensioners have gone without any regular income for months, and in the districts nearest to the frontline near the airport, damage from continuing fighting has left many without gas or electricity.

Meanwhile, many of the mines and factories that make up the region's industrial wealth are running at either minimal capacity or have closed down all together, facing a shortage of customers, workers, and money.

Mr Pushilin says he recognises that the new authorities face a test of legitimacy as winter closes in, but he insists that funds are already beginning to flow - though he denies that those funds come from Russia.

"We have started raising money from taxes levied on businesses and voluntary donations," he said. "I can't give you specific figures because I'm not in the finance ministry, but we are already paying some pensions."

Not everyone, however, has seen those pensions - if indeed they exist.

Ivan and Lyudmila Korotikh have been living without gas or electricity since incoming shells severed the gas main on their street in Kuibyshev district of Donetsk on September 28.

Almost every one of the bungalows on their street has shrapnel scars, and like many of their remaining neighbours, they have become almost indifferent to the constant boom of artillery exchanges at the nearby airport.

But they have not seen any pensions for at least three months, they are on the brink of poverty, dependent on aid organised by a group funded by Rinat Akhmetov, a pro-Kiev monarch.

"Last time there were four jars of pickles, some flour, sugar, that kind of thing," said Mr Korotkikh, 60, as he watched a repair team from the city gas company welding a replacement pipe into place.

"Given what has happened to other people's houses around here, we are pretty lucky. And we will consider ourselves a whole lot better off when the gas is back on," he added.

In this part of Donetsk, it is clearer than ever that talk of restoring life to normal will mean nothing until the fighting stops.

And while he denies that he gets any Kremlin funding, Mr Pushilin is unable to explain how near-crippled businesses have provided enough revenue to restore the services that used to be run by the Kiev-appointed regional government.

The factory now servicing rebel tanks, which sits on a site owned by Mr Akhmetov, once employed up to a thousand people. But while the rebel-appointed "emergency committee" that seized control of it in August has continued production of mining equipment, it has found it impossible to complete sales due to the collapse of the local banking system.

"In a word, there is no money, Workers are paid in food parcels once or twice a week," said one official of the new rebel-appointed management, who declined to give his name. "We need to sort out a banking system and a legal basis on which trade can be completed. All that will be resolved after the elections, we hope."

The would-be state-builders of the Donetsk People's Republic have come up with a number of ingenious schemes to kick-start the nascent state's economy.

Alexei Granovsky, the self-declared republic's energy minister, has come up with a plan to get round the current loss of traditional markets by selling coal to newly-annexed Crimea. The first 60,000 ton shipment is meant to depart by train and ship via Russia within ten days.

Others have suggested Soviet-style "nationalisation" of mines and factories, though without access to markets it is unclear how that would be translated into revenues.

Ominously, one solution may be in expansionism.

Mr Zakharchenko has openly stated that he intends to capture the Ukrainian-held port of Mariupol, which would give Novorossia access to the sea and also happens to be home to two of the region's largest steel works - both again owned by Mr Akhmetov.

There are signs that the separatists are making military preparations for just such a move, although rebel spokesmen prefer to talk about achieving the objective "through peaceful means".

Back in the grand Stalinist building that where Mr Pushilin has established his office, money is in as short supply as anywhere else.

"You're here about wages? Come back after the elections," one of his aides told a cleaner on Friday. "We don't have any finances."

"No one has," she replied, walking away.

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The fall of Jian Ghomeshi - Toronto Sun

The national conversation we're having about fired CBC star Jian Ghomeshi and the allegations of sexual violence made against him is an uncomfortable one.

Until last week, it had been relegated to offices and hallways inside the CBC and, through direct messages and texts, among many women across Canada.

The rumours had even penetrated into the society of Canada's elite.

Now things that were being whispered are on the front pages of the nation's newspapers and topping its broadcasts.

What was once in the shadows is now in the open.

I have never met Ghomeshi, never listened to his popular radio show – Q.

Until last week, he wasn't on my radar screen.

That has now changed. The allegations against him, none of which have been proven in court – have consumed all of us.

From school hallways after dropping the kids off, to media newsrooms, this is all people are talking and tweeting about.

Ghomeshi tried and failed to get out ahead of the story as it was about to burst into the open with news the CBC had fired him for what were for a brief time undisclosed reasons.

He suggested -- on Facebook -- the allegations he had physically abused women in his sexual relationships were being pushed by a "jilted ex-girlfriend", a campaign taken up by several other women he had had relations with which, he insisted, were consensual.

He argued sexual preferences -- in his case consensual BDSM (bondage, domination, sado-masochism) relationships -- are a "human right."

He said he had "always tried to be a good soldier and do a good job for my country."

While he was, "still in shock", he noted, "I am telling this story to you so the truth is heard. And to bring an end to the nightmare."

So far nine women -- including two who have identified themselves -- have contradicted Ghomeshi's version of their relationships, saying he was violent and sexually abusive without their consent.

The CBC appears to have ignored or downplayed internal complaints about Ghomeshi's conduct, while continuing to promote him, until finally breaking publicly with him last week, when it could no longer ignore the weight of the allegations against him.

By so doing, the national broadcaster elevated Ghomeshi's status so that, even outside the CBC, he became a figure many may well have perceived as someone too big to fight, while his good looks, charm and celebrity status meant he was popular with the women on whom he focused his attention.

Some have made the valid point Ghomeshi is being tried and convicted in the court of public opinion, without any criminal charges laid against him, let alone convictions. (Toronto police are now investigating after two women made complaints.)

If Ghomeshi was charged criminally, he would be entitled to the presumption of innocence and he would deserve a fair trial.

Instead, in one week, he has plunged from being a national broadcasting icon to a figure of contempt in the minds of many.

Still, it was the court of public opinion that worked to Ghomeshi's advantage up to the moment the allegations against him broke into the open.

Most would agree that what consenting adults do in the bedroom is of no concern to anyone but them.

This was the principle Ghomeshi claimed was being violated as his story became public.

But his multiple accusers allege there was no consent.

Actress Lucy DeCoutere said her relationship with Ghomeshi "went from 'smooching' to 'choking' and 'slapping' in a heartbeat."

Author and lawyer Reva Seth said, he "put his hands around her throat without warning, pulled down her pants and was, 'aggressively and violently digitally penetrating me.'"

Two women who wished to remain anonymous told the Toronto Star how Ghomeshi showed them a teddy bear he would turn around before beginning his abusive behaviour, saying "Big Ears Teddy shouldn't see this."

Obviously this isn't just about consensual kinky sex.

It's about a man, who was given power and status by a government-owned broadcaster, apparently to live a life with few consequences.

These allegations go back many years. There are many of them.

How could the CBC not have known? Why didn't it act sooner? What did the CBC know and when did it know it?

We need to put these questions directly to those at the CBC who had knowledge of these controversies, and apparently did little or nothing about them until now.​ 

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Burkina Faso braces for new protest as military names interim leader - Ahram Online

Burkina Faso prepared for another day of mass protest Sunday as opposition and civil society leaders challenged moves by the military to step into the power vacuum left by the ouster of president Blaise Compaore.

The military named a high-ranking officer, Isaac Zida, to lead the country's transition on Saturday, a day after Compaore was forced to resign as plans to extend his 27-year rule exploded into violent demonstrations that saw parliament set ablaze.

Some have drawn parallels with the Arab Spring, with the developments closely watched across a continent where several other veteran heads of state are also trying to cling to power.

Zida, who beat out a rival claim by the landlocked west African nation's army chief to lead the transitional government, vowed to work closely with civil society.

But opposition and activist leaders swiftly issued a statement warning the military against a power grab, demanding instead a "democratic and civilian transition".

"The victory born from this popular uprising belongs to the people, and the task of managing the transition falls by right to the people. In no case can it be confiscated by the army," they said in a statement.

They called a new mass rally in the capital Ouagadougou on Sunday at the site now nicknamed "Revolution Square" where up to a million people had gathered earlier this week to demand Compaore's resignation.

The call appeared to have the backing of the African Union, which urged a "civilian-led and consensual transition" through free elections in the former French colony.

Zida, the second in command of the presidential guard, said he had assumed "the responsibilities of head of the transition and of head of state" to ensure a "smooth democratic transition".

The transition will be carried out "together with the other components of national life," he said, referring to the political opposition and civil leaders.

The army's endorsement was signed by General Nabere Honore Traore, who initially said he would himself assume power, a claim Zida had dismissed as "obsolete".

"The aspirations for democratic change" of the Burkina youth "will be neither betrayed, nor disappointed", said Zida, 49.

Speaking on television early Saturday, the military officer also said the ousted president was "in a safe place" and his "safety and well-being are assured".

In neighbouring Ivory Coast the presidency confirmed reports that Compaore, who left Ouagadougou on Friday according to French diplomats, was in the country.

A local resident said he saw a motorcade of around 30 cars heading for a luxury hotel in the Ivorian capital, which is also used as a semi-official residence for foreign dignitaries.

"The services of the President hotel in Yamoussoukro served him (Compaore) dinner yesterday (Friday) and breakfast this morning (Saturday)," according to a hotel employee.

The streets of Ougadougou were calm on Saturday, but residents were already gearing up for fresh protests.

"We are completely against soldiers taking power," Salif Ouedraogo, a 38-year-old insurance agent, told AFP.

"We want a civilian as head of state and tomorrow we are going to regroup at Revoluation Square to say no to military power. Even if it means that there would be bloodshed."

Opposition figures have said around 30 people were killed in Thursday's violence. AFP could only confirm four deaths.

"It's always the same people who are in power. Even though it was us, civilians, who carried out the struggle," said Adama Zongo, a trader.

Others were more positive.

"We should give (Zida) time. Those who don't want a soldier in power, who do they want?" asked Gildas Zongo, a student.

The uprising was sparked by plans to change the constitution to allow Compaore to stand once again for elections next year.

France's President Francois Hollande said Paris would "contribute to calming" the situation in Burkina Faso, while Washington urged "a transfer of power in accordance with the constitution".

Compaore was only 36 when he seized power in a 1987 coup in which his former friend Thomas Sankara was ousted and assassinated.

His bid to hold on to power particularly angered young people in a country where 60 percent of the population of almost 17 million is under 25.

Many have grown up under the leadership of one man and are disillusioned by the establishment that has led a country which is languishing at 181st out of 187 countries on the UN human development index.

Known in colonial times as Upper Volta, the country won independence from France in 1960 and its name was changed to Burkina Faso ("the land of upright men") in 1984.

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Probe of space tourism rocket crash may take year - Washington Post

MOJAVE, Calif. — Billionaire Richard Branson is promising to find out what caused the crash of his Virgin Galactic prototype space tourism rocket that killed a test pilot, but federal investigators are cautioning that it may take up to a year to learn exactly what went wrong.

The crash in the California desert almost certainly dashed Branson's goal of starting suborbital flight next spring, but the mogul said that while he remained committed to civilian space travel "we are not going to push on blindly."

In grim remarks at the Mojave Air and Space Port, where the craft known as SpaceShipTwo was under development, Branson gave no details of Friday's accident and deferred to the NTSB, whose team began its first day of investigation Saturday.

"Yesterday, we fell short," he said. "We'll now comprehensively assess the results of the crash and are determined to learn from this and move forward."

He asserted that safety has always been the top priority of the program that envisions taking wealthy tourists six at a time to the edge of space for a brief experience of weightlessness and a view of Earth below.

The pilot killed in the test flight was identified Saturday as Michael Tyner Alsbury, 39, of nearby Tehachapi. The surviving pilot is Peter Siebold, 43, who parachuted to safety and was hospitalized.

Both worked for Scaled Composites, the company developing the spaceship for Virgin Galactic. Scaled Composite said Alsbury was the co-pilot for the test flight. Siebold, who was piloting SpaceShipTwo, "is alert and talking with his family and doctors," the company said in a statement.

A former colleague said Alsbury was a "home-schooled, home-brewed" pilot who earned his way up through the ranks at the company, starting as an engineer. Alsbury had also put himself through commercial pilot school and was certified as a flight instructor.

"Mike loved what he did. I think his career ended with him doing exactly that. ... That yesterday ended up in a tragedy was kind of heart-breaking for many of us," said Brian Binnie, another test pilot who worked at Scaled Composites for 14 years before leaving the company this year.

National Transportation Safety Board Acting Chairman Christopher A. Hart said investigators don't yet know how Siebold got out of the rocket ship because they haven't had a chance to interview him. He said they found an undeployed parachute at the crash site,

He said a 5-mile path of debris over an area of uninhabited desert indicates the spacecraft broke up in flight. Learning where spacecraft parts fell will help investigators determine when and how the breakup occurred.

"This will be the first time we have been in the lead of a space launch (accident) that involved persons onboard," said Hart, noting that the NTSB did participate in investigations of the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters.

Hart said test flights are usually well-documented. Investigators will review video from multiple cameras that were on the spaceship, on the mother ship, on a chase aircraft and at nearby Edwards Air Force Base. They also have six "nonvolatile" sources of information from the aircraft, and radar data to sift through, he said.

The investigation could take up to 12 months to complete, he said.

Virgin Galactic — owned by Branson's Virgin Group and Aabar Investments PJS of Abu Dhabi — plans to fly passengers to altitudes more than 62 miles above Earth. The company sells seats on each prospective journey for $250,000.

The company says that "future astronauts," as it calls customers, include Stephen Hawking, Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher and Russell Brand. The company reports receiving $90 million from about 700 prospective passengers.

On Saturday, Branson said none of that money has been spent and that anyone who wanted a refund could get it. However, he said, no one has asked, and instead someone signed up on the day of the accident in a show of support.

At 60 feet long, SpaceShipTwo featured two large windows for each of up to six passengers, one on the side and one overhead. Branson once envisioned operating flights by 2007. Last month, he talked about the first flight being next spring with his son.

Friday's flight marked the 55th for SpaceShipTwo, which was intended to be the first of a fleet of craft. This was only the fourth flight to include a brief rocket firing. The rocket fires after the spacecraft is released from the underside of a larger carrying plane. During other flights, the craft either was not released from its mother ship or functioned as a glider after release.

The spacecraft broke up after being released from a carrier aircraft at high altitude, according to Ken Brown, a photographer who witnessed the accident.

SpaceShipTwo is based on aerospace design maverick Burt Rutan's award-winning SpaceShipOne prototype, which became the first privately financed manned rocket to reach space in 2004. Three people died in a blast at the Mojave Air and Space Port in 2007 while testing a rocket motor for SpaceShipTwo.

___

John Antczak contributed to this report from Los Angeles.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Why did one of Africa's longest-serving rulers step down? - Los Angeles Times

One of Africa's longest-serving leaders, President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, announced Friday that he was stepping down after his attempt to extend his 27 years in power touched off a violent popular uprising dubbed the country's "Black Spring."

Compaore had survived previous attempts to topple him. His departure sends an unnerving message to aging autocrats in several other African nations, who have manipulated elections or amended constitutions in order to stay in power, reports Los Angeles Times Africa correspondent Robyn Dixon.

Here is what you need to know about what is happening in Burkina Faso.

Why did protests break out in Burkina Faso?

Compaore came to power in a 1987 military coup in which his friend Thomas Sankara, a popular revolutionary figure often referred to as "Africa's Che Guevara," was ousted and killed.

Compaore's long rule was marked by a degree of stability rare in this part of Africa, and he became an influential regional power broker. But the landlocked, arid country has remained among the continent's poorest, and frustration has been building, especially among the growing number of young, urbanized residents.

An opposition coalition urged Compaore not to seek reelection for a fifth term in office next year. But a parliamentary vote was scheduled Thursday to amend the constitution to allow him to do just that. Protesters stormed the building, setting parts of it on fire, and attacked other symbols of power in the capital, Ouagadougou.

Authorities swiftly canceled the vote, declared martial law and dissolved the legislature. The army said a transitional government would be formed to prepare for next year's elections. But Compaore insisted that he would remain in office until the vote.

The plan was rejected by the opposition, which vowed to keep protesting until the president stepped down.

Crowds of demonstrators cheered the news of his resignation Friday.

What happens now?

Under Burkina Faso's constitution, the president of the National Assembly should step in as interim head of state pending elections in 60 to 90 days.

But in the absence of the legislature, Gen. Honore Traore, chief of staff of Burkina Faso's armed forces, said he would fill the power vacuum and assume the responsibilities of head of state in order to "save the life of the nation."

Traore was vague about the details of the transition, saying only that he would begin consultations with all parties with a view to restoring the constitutional order "as soon as possible."

It wasn't immediately clear whether the opposition would accept Traore, who was seen as close to the former president. A number of demonstrators told reporters that they wanted the transition to be lead by retired Gen. Kouame Lougue, a former defense minister accused of trying to topple Compaore in 2004.

"We don't trust Honore Traore, who was a lackey to Blaise Compaore," a protester who identified himself only as Souleyman told Reuters news agency.

How did the international community respond?

Burkina Faso's former colonial ruler, France, had reportedly tried to dissuade Compaore from seeking to extend his rule and promised French support if he wished to take a global role. In a statement Friday, French President Francois Hollande welcomed the former leader's resignation and called for quick elections.

The U.S. State Department had welcomed Compaore's decision to withdraw the bill that would have allowed him to run for an additional term and to form a unity government to prepare for elections.  However, it emphasized in a statement Thursday that "neither side should attempt to change the situation through extra-constitutional means."

Representatives of the African Union, the United Nations and Economic Community of West African States were expected in Burkina Faso to hold talks with all sides.

Events were also being closely watched in African capitals, where several aging autocrats still hold on to power. 

Who are Africa's longest-serving national leaders?

Compaore was in power for 27 years, but he wasn't the continent's longest-serving leader.

Paul Biya has been in office in Cameroon since 1975, serving first as prime minister and then president.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has been president of Equatorial Guinea since a coup in 1979.

Jose Eduardo dos Santos has led Angola since 1979.

Robert Mugabe has been in office in Zimbabwe since 1980, first as prime minister and then president.

Yoweri Museveni seized power in Uganda in 1986.

King Mswati III inherited the throne in Swaziland in 1986.

Times staff writer Robyn Dixon in Johannesburg, South Africa, contributed to this report.

For more international news, follow @alexzavis on Twitter

Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times

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MP Dean Del Mastro found guilty of Elections Act offences - CANOE

Joelle Kovach, QMI Agency

Oct 31, 2014

, Last Updated: 7:08 PM ET

LINDSAY, Ont. - The prime minister's former parliamentary secretary has been found guilty of Election's Act offences during his 2008 campaign.

Dean Del Mastro was convicted on Friday of overspending, under-reporting and with having filed an incorrect return to Elections Canada.

The thrust of the case came from work the Peterborough, Ont., MP contracted from voting research firm Holinshead in 2008. The prosecution claimed Del Mastro ordered $21,000 in work ─ and paid for it with a personal cheque ─ but then claimed just $1,575 when it was realized that the $21,000 put them over the campaign spending limit.

During her review of the case, Cameron dismissed much of Del Mastro's testimony. She said his claim that accuser Frank Hall of Holinshead Research had falsified e-mail correspondence wasn't credible.

"He frequently obfuscated the evidence," she said, listing 12 specific questions he would not answer during his testimony.

"I am leaded to reject Dean Del Mastro's evidence" on most issues, she told court.

Cameron concluded that Holinshead was contracted to do election, that the $21,000 cheque was for election work, and the campaign took steps to cover up the overpayment in its Elections Canada reporting.

His accountant at the time, Richard McCarthy, was found guilty on two of three charges.

Outside court, Del Mastro said the judge got it wrong, and hinted at an appeal.

"I strongly disagree with the judge's ruling - but we'll take it one step at a time," he said,

He said he has no plans to step down as MP. "I intend to still occupy (my seat,)" he said. "I received more votes than anyone in my riding in history."

However, the Elections Act calls for anyone convicted of an offence under the act to be barred from holding office for five years from the date of conviction.

His former Conservative colleagues weren't optimistic of his future in the party.

"Dean Del Mastro has not been sitting in the conservative caucus for some time. We've been clear in the party with the standard of behavior that we expect from our caucus and the verdict today speaks for itself, Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said.

Del Mastro returns to court in Lindsay, Ont., Nov. 21.

Each conviction could result in a $2,000 fine, a year in prison or both.

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In Surrey municipal election, crowded field vies to change the guard - The Globe and Mail

It's a municipal-election ritual one participant jokingly compares with speed dating. On a rainy night, more than 20 would-be Surrey city councillors and mayors are on two levels of seating in a community hall, making pitches for support to about 250 people.

There are so many candidates at the event, each only has a maximum two minutes to speak.

More Related to this Story

It would be a routine in any municipal election, but it's especially urgent this year because Dianne Watts – once dubbed the fourth best mayor in the world by an international urban-affairs think tank – is leaving after nine years in office, raising questions about whether voters will pick a leader who will carry on with the dramatic growth agenda that has characterized her leadership.

During a hallway conversation at the all-candidates meeting, retired accountant Gary Trotter described the election as a "turning point" vote because it will designate a mayor and team of councillors to deal with crime and crowded schools – the current and future downsides of growth on Ms. Watts watch.

Every month, about 1,200 new residents move to Surrey, a city so big it could hold Vancouver, Richmond and Burnaby within its borders. Ms. Watts oversaw the creation of Surrey's downtown core, complete with a new city hall, public library, city square and plans for a performing-arts centre. There has been $5-billion in spending in the area in recent years.

"Surrey City Centre is becoming a truly urban place and it has happened so fast," says Gordon Price, head of the City Program at Simon Fraser University, which has a campus in that new downtown.

"Vancouver maintains its importance as a historical centre, financial centre and all those other things, but the [regional] growth will be south of the Fraser [River]; so, what happens there is arguably important for the future of the region."

Surrey's new mayor will have an impact beyond the city. When a Surrey mayor speaks on regional issues, people listen – a crucial point as regional mayors work out the tradeoffs required to support such transit issues as both Vancouver's proposed cross-city Broadway subway and light rail in Surrey.

The suspense is causing some anxiety in the city's business community. Anita Huberman, chief executive of the Surrey Board of Trade, says members are uneasy about how they will work with Ms. Watts's successor. "If you're a developer, are you going to be able to work with them? If you have things in the process, are things going to be stalled? From what I am hearing on the ground, that is making people nervous."

Three of seven mayoral candidates appear most competitive, based on polls. One after another, they arrived for a Globe and Mail photo shoot ahead of the community hall event in Surrey's Cloverdale area, warily keeping their distance from each other until called to pose.

City councillor Linda Hepner is the preferred successor of Ms. Watts's Surrey First party. A veteran municipal civil servant before entering elected politics, Ms. Hepner has been forced to defend the status quo while trying to finesse its problems and promise change.

Former mayor Doug McCallum is running as an experienced hand, wary about what he sees as frivolous features of the Watts era, including the city hall, and a regional economic summit that has attracted such speakers as George W. Bush and Tony Blair. He's proposing a two-year tax freeze, a 3-per-cent cut to the city's operating budget and an effort to cut debt.

And Barinder Rasode, elected to council as a Surrey First member, is now running under her One Surrey banner after breaking with Surrey First over its management of public safety, spending and community consultation. She is vowing to do better on all three, but also hold the line on taxes.

All three candidates have been pressed into debate about Surrey's reputation for crime, although a report by the local RCMP detachment this week declared emphatically that crime is declining there. Overall crime, by volume and rate, has been on the decline over the past decade and violent offences declined 19 per cent in 2013, according to the Surrey Crime Profile released by the police force. However, the report did find a 3-per-cent increase, in 2013, in property offences.

But politicians have had to respond to voters' alarm over such incidents as last year's fatal assault of a hockey mom waiting for her son outside an arena as well as the recent random attack and murder of 17-year-old Serena Vermeersch as she was walking home one evening. Suspects have been charged in both cases.

The leading candidates have proposed to hire more Mounties. Ms. Rasode has also proposed hiring 200 community-safety officers to be deployed by the end of 2015 or council would take a 10-per-cent pay cut.

Crime has dominated the campaign in Surrey in a dramatic contrast to Vancouver, where the subject has barely been raised.

It remains to be seen which mayoral candidate is ahead. Polls from the Hepner and McCallum camps have each put their candidates in the lead with Ms. Rasode third. And there's the unknown impact of low turnout. A mere 25 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots in 2011.

Karl Goerndt, a 75-year-old retired engineer attending the candidates' forum, said people are being forced to consider change in the post-Watts era. "But they don't know how to change," he said. "It's going to be an interesting election."

Follow Ian Bailey on Twitter: @ianabailey

People gather on the plaza outside Surrey's new city hall during the official opening on April 26, 2014. (Darryl Dyck for The Globe and Mail)

1. Downtown

Surrey has a new, $150-million city hall as part of a new downtown that has come together since 2005. It includes a destination public library and city square and will include a new performing arts centre. It's all alongside a SkyTrain station that provides a link to the rest of the region. Nearby is the Surrey campus of Simon Fraser University, located in the iconic Surrey Central City Building.

2. Transit

The region's SkyTrain system arrived in Surrey in 1990. There are now four stations. Looking forward, there's a consensus among the leading mayoral candidates that Surrey needs some form of light-rapid transit, one that would make it easier to move between the six urban centres. There has been talk of a 27-kilometre LRT network – something less imposing than SkyTrain.

3. Population

British Columbia's fastest-growing city – about 1,000 new residents a month – is expected to overtake Vancouver and become the province's largest city by 2041. Its current population is about 509,610. It's a diverse, young community, with more than 27 per cent of its residents under the age of 19 and more than 43 per cent speaking a language other than English at home. The city has one of Canada's most vibrant Indo-Canadian communities.

Surrey mayor Dianne Watts announced in 2014 she wouldn't seek re-election in the Nov. 15, 2014 vote. (Darryl Dyck for The Globe and Mail)

4. Political heft

Being the mayor of Surrey gives the person who holds that job a prominent platform for weighing in on regional issues – a timely opportunity given the wrangling over billions of dollars for transit projects on the agenda. The office has been a political training ground for one former premier – Bill Vander Zalm – and almost a second: When former premier Gordon Campbell announced his departure in 2010, Surrey mayor Dianne Watts was seen as a credible contender for the leadership.

– Ian Bailey

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Virgin Galactic crash: Branson vows to continue space project - BBC News

1 November 2014 Last updated at 08:48

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David Willis reports from the Mojave desert on the final moments of SpaceShipTwo

Sir Richard Branson has vowed to continue his space tourism venture despite the fatal crash of a Virgin Galactic rocket ship in the US.

One pilot died and the other was badly injured when SpaceShipTwo exploded in California's Mojave Desert on Friday.

Investigators are on their way to the crash site, north of Los Angeles.

Mr Branson, founder of the Virgin Group and a long-time advocate of commercial space travel, said he was "shocked and saddened" but would "persevere".

Virgin had hoped to launch commercially in 2015. It has already taken more than 700 flight bookings at $250,000 (£156,000) each, with Mr Branson pledging to travel on the first flight.

'Serious anomaly'

SpaceShipTwo was flying its first test flight for nine months when it crashed shortly after take-off near the town of Bakersfield, California.

In a statement, the company said SpaceShipTwo experienced "a serious anomaly" after the craft separated from its launcher, an aircraft called WhiteKnightTwo.

WhiteKnightTwo landed safely.

It later emerged that the space craft was burning a new type of of rocket fuel never before used in flight, although officials said it had undergone extensive ground testing.

Sir Richard said Virgin Galactic would co-operate fully with the authorities involved in the investigation.

Officials with the US National Transportation Safety Board will begin their investigation on Saturday morning, which will probably take several days.

The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating, officials said.

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Eyewitness Ken Brown: "It burned for a time and then just exploded"

'Space is hard'

In a blog post, Mr Branson said everyone involved in the project was "deeply saddened".

"All our thoughts are with the families of everyone affected by this tragic event," he wrote.

He said that he was flying to California, describing it as "one of the most difficult trips I have ever had to make".

"Space is hard - but worth it. We will persevere and move forward together," he added.

George Whitesides, chief executive of Virgin Galactic, echoed Mr Branson's comments at a California news conference.

"The future rests in many ways on hard days like this, but we believe we owe it to the team to understand this and to move forward. And that is what we'll do."

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"Space is hard, and today was a tough day", Virgin Galactic chief executive George Whitesides told a news conference in California

Wreckage from the crash was scattered across the Mojave desert, north-east of Los Angeles. Police secured the site amid fears that some of the debris could be explosive.

Both pilots were employed by Scaled Composites, the company that designed the craft. One was pronounced dead at the scene while the other was transported to a local hospital in an unknown condition.

The spacecraft had been carried into the air by WhiteKnightTwo before being released at an altitude of 45,000 feet (13,700m) for a test of its rocket engine. It crashed shortly afterwards.

Celebrities including Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher and Leonardo Di Caprio are among those said to have signed up for the flights, the Los Angeles Times reports.

It was the second accident this week involving a commercial space company in the US.

On Tuesday, an unmanned supply rocket called Antares exploded shortly after its launch from Virginia. It was carrying cargo to the International Space Station.

David Shukman, BBC science editor

Even as details emerge of what went wrong, this is clearly a massive setback to a company hoping to pioneer a new industry of space tourism. Confidence is everything and this will not encourage the long list of celebrity and millionaire customers waiting for their first flight.

An innovative design combined with a new type of rocket motor make the development exceptionally hard. Despite an endless series of delays to its spacecraft, Virgin Galactic has over the years managed to maintain some very optimistic public relations and positive media coverage.

I interviewed Sir Richard Branson when he first announced the venture, and his enthusiasm and determination were undoubted. But his most recent promises of launching the first passenger trip by the end of this year had already started to look unrealistic some months ago.

This accident will delay plans even further. Space is never easy, and making it routine is even harder.

Will crash set back space tourism?

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Ottawa attack: Was Michael Zehaf-Bibeau a terrorist? - CBC.ca

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair's comments that the deadly actions taken by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau should not be characterized as terrorism has sparked a debate among his political rivals and highlighted a controversy often ignited when using such terms. 

"We cannot look at an act of violence on its own and immediately declare it is terrorism or not, we have to take into account context — motivation and intent, victim, perpetrator, etc," said James Forest, professor and director of the graduate program in security studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. "And as with many things in life, different aspects of context will undoubtedly be interpreted differently by different people."

For his part, Mulcair suggested Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, had committed a "criminal act" and that based on the shooter's past, there wasn't enough evidence to describe his actions as terrorism.

"When you look at the history of the individual, attempts to get help, even to be in prison to get help if that turns out to be the case, I think that we're not in the presence of a terrorist act in the sense that we would understand it," Mulcair said.

The remarks were immediately seized upon by Conservative MPs, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who said there was "no contradiction in individuals who may have a series of personal financial and mental difficulties, and also be engaged in terrorist jihadist activities." 

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau agreed and referenced the RCMP, who have said Zehaf-Bibeau's actions were motivated by political ideology.  A source familiar with the investigation has told CBC News that a video recovered by the RCMP appears to show Zehaf-Bibeau making specific reference to Canada's foreign policy as motivation for his actions and that he praises Allah in the recording. 

But is this an incidental factor, as Mulcair suggested, and is the real root of Zehaf-Bibeau's motivation his major dependency and mental health issues?

Lorne Dawson, a University of Waterloo sociology professor and co-director of the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society, says no.

Lashed out in 'politically significant way'

While acknowledging  Zehaf-Bibeau's drug and mental health issues, Dawson pointed out that he also decided to lash out in a "very politically significant way — at least symbolically."

"It may be wise in the end to interpret him as yet another victim of jihadi terrorist groups, since they are purposefully seeking to exploit the vulnerabilities of people like him. But his actions constitute terrorism in their nature and their consequences, whether he fully understood that or not."

Forest agreed that Zehaf-Bibeau's personal issues don't mitigate whether he committed a terrorist act. 

"When an individual commits a non-terrorist act of homicide, do we call it something other than murder if it turns out he/she also had major drug issues, mental health issues, etc. at the time of their crime?"

"The fact that there was a political ideology motivating the attack separates it from other kinds of murderous violence that stem from homicidal lunacy, passion, profit or personal revenge," Forest said.

Whatever mental distress Zehaf-Bibeau was suffering, it doesn't exclude the reality of what he did and what he specifically attacked, said Michael Zekulin, a political science professor who studies terrorism and radicalization at the University of Calgary.

Justin Bourque, 24, of Moncton, could be facing three consecutive life sentences, with no chance of parole for 75 years for the fatal shooting of three RCMP officers. Experts don't agree on whether his actions should be considered terrorist acts. (Facebook)

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"This is a political statement, a symbolic statement. If he's simply mentally distressed and wants to kill people, he could have killed people at the shelter he was staying at, he could have gone to a mall, he could have shot people in the street. He specifically went to and targeted a member of the Canadian military and then he moved specifically to the institutions of government."

What about Bourque?

Under Canada's Criminal Code, terrorism is defined as a violent act committed "in part for a political, religious or ideological purpose, objective or cause" with the intention of  "intimidating the public, or a segment of the public, with regard to its security, including its economic security, or compelling a person, a government or a domestic or an international organization to do or to refrain from doing any act."

Bur how one defines an "ideological purpose" and whether other acts should also be considered terrorism is often debatable.

For example, there's the case of Justin Bourque, who fatally gunned down three RCMP officers in Moncton, N.B. earlier this year. He was charged with first-degree murder, but no terrorism-related offences, even though his sentencing hearing heard that he was trying to start a rebellion against what he considered to be an oppressive corrupt government that he insisted was squelching the freedom of most Canadians.

Zekulin acknowledged that Bourque's case is a grey area, and that different experts would split on how to classify his actions.

"But the argument here is, where is the greater political statement? With him at this this point, it is less clear or less cut and dry as it is with both Mr.[Martin] Couture-Rouleau or Mr. Zehaf-Bibeau." 

"I would still look at [Bourque's case] more as the personal [motivation] of 'I hate the police, I hate government.' It's not an effort to impact or effect large-scale political change."

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