Biden says culture and arts change people’s attitudes. He cites social media and the old NBC TV series “Will and Grace” as examples of what helped changed attitudes on gay marriage.

Biden says, quote, “Think — behind of all that, I bet you 85 per cent of those changes, whether it’s in Hollywood or social media, are a consequence of Jewish leaders in the industry.”

Biden says the influence is immense and that those changes have been for the good.

Biden was speaking Tuesday night at a Jewish American Heritage Month reception hosted by the Democratic National Committee. He says Jewish values are an essential part of who Americans are.

The accident happened as the Canadian Pacific Rail (TSX:CP) eastbound train was rolling through an area near the village of Jansen, about 150 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon.

The company said five cars derailed, but only one leaked its contents. A total of 575 barrels hit the ground, said spokesman Ed Greenberg.

“There is one car that was leaking product,” Greenberg said. “It has been contained into the area around the car.”

The leaking car was well back in the 64-unit train and remained upright. The other four cars were on their sides.

Excavation equipment was being sent to the site to build a wall of dirt to further contain the spill.

Reeve Bruce Elke with the rural municipality of Jansen was content with the way the situation was being handled, although he noted he was seeding his farmland and had not been to the scene.

“My understanding was that it wasn’t that big a spill and everything is going well,” Elke said.

Oilspills of any sort have been increasingly under the microscope as debate rages over how best to get Canadian oil to foreign markets.

CP Rail has been increasing crude shipments as production ramps up from the oilsands and pipeline companies struggle to increase capacity quickly. Canadian National Railway (TSX:CNR) moved more than 30,000 carloads of crude to various North American markets last year and believes it can double that business in 2013.

However, in New York earlier this month, Prime Minister Stephen Harper suggested rail was a riskier way to go while stumping for U.S. approval of the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf Coast.

Tuesday’s spill marked at least the third involving a CP train in the last few months.

In April, about 20 freight cars, including two that were carrying light sweet crude oil, went off the tracks near White River, Ont., about halfway between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie. While it was initially thought that only 630 litres of oil leaked, the total was revised to about 63,000 litres.

In March, a Canadian Pacifictrain derailed in Minnesota. At the time, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said 76,000 litres leaked onto the still-frozen ground.

In January a Canadian National train collided with a road grader near the community of Paynton in Saskatchewan. Police said at the time that about 1,000 litres of oil leaked from two tankers in that crash.

Greenberg said the train that detailed Tuesday was carrying other products besides oil, but there was no indication they were hazardous.

“It was a mixed freight train, so there were other rail cars with other commodities on it.”

Firefighters from Jansen were called in as a precaution.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada was sending an investigator to the site.

Toronto Stock Exchange (12,742.43 up 129.38 points):

Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G). Miner. Up 77 cents, or 2.90 per cent, at $27.35 on 30.83 million shares. The gold sector led advancers on the main index, up 3.16 per cent to 185.89 points.

Eastern Platinum Ltd. (TSX:ELR). Miner. Unchanged at nine cents on 11.27 million shares.

Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. (TSX:COS). Oil and gas. Up 24 cents, or 1.17 per cent, at $20.81 on 8.99 million shares. The energy sector was one of the gainers, rising 1.34 per cent to 255.02 points.

Surge Energy Inc. (TSX:SGY). Oil and gas. Up 10 cents, or 2.09 per cent, at $24.89 on 8.49 million shares.

Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Transportation equipment. Down 13 cents, or 2.77 per cent, at $4.56 on 6.27 million shares.

San Gold Corp. (TSX:SGR). Miner. Unchanged at 12 cents on 6.26 million shares.

Toronto Venture Exchange (939.41 up 4.74 points):

Revolver Resources Inc. (TSXV:RZ). Miner. Unchanged at four cents on 4.41 million shares.

Madalena Ventures Inc. (TSXV:MVN). Oil and gas explorer. Unchanged at 43.5 cents on 4.08 million shares.

Companies reporting major news:

Canaccord Financial Inc. (TSX:CF). Investment company. Up 27 cents, or 4.53 per cent, at $6.23 on 181,889 shares. A 23 per cent jump in revenue and an acquisition helped the investment firm get back in the black in the fourth quarter. For the full year, Canaccord shrunk its loss as revenue also jumped 23 per cent.

DHX Media Ltd. (TSX:DHX). Entertainment. Down two cents, or 0.65 per cent, at at $3.08 on 111,976 shares. The children’s entertainment company has licensed certain rights to its programming in three separate deals with Global Movie PTE Ltd., SBP Worldwide SA and Media International Enterprises. Financial terms of the agreements weren’t disclosed.

The Nielsen company estimated that 14.3 million people watched Candice Glover’s victory over Kree Harrison in last week’s final episode of the season. Both the CBS drama “NCIS” and comedy “The Big Bang Theory” had more viewers last week.

The fall for “Idol” is startling. Just two years ago, the show drew 29.3 million people for its season finale, more than double what it had this year. Big changes are expected for the show going forward.

The “American Idol” high water mark was the 38.1 million who watched the season conclusion in 2003.

The S-and-P/T-S-X composite index climbed 129.38 points to 12,742.23.

Volume at 4:15 p.m. Eastern Time was 416.93 (m) million shares.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 52.30 points to 15,387.58.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 was up 2.87 points at 1,669.16.

Both indexes closed at its highest level ever.

In the New York Mercantile Exchange, the gold futures contract for June slipped six dollars, 50 cents U-S to 1,377 dollars, 60 cents per ounce.

The June crude contract closed 55 cents U-S lower to 96 dollars, 16 cents per barrel.

The July contract fell 75 cents U-S to 96 dollars, 18 cents per barrel.

(The Canadian Press, The Associated Press)

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JDT

The investment firm said the profit amounted to four cents per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31 compared with loss of $31.8 million or 42 cents per diluted share a year ago.

Revenue in what was Canaccord’s fourth quarter was $218 million, up from $177.7 million.

Excluding restructuring and other one-time costs, Canaccord said it earned $15.6 million or 12 cents per diluted share in the quarter, up from $2.1 million or two cents per share a year ago.

Canaccord president and chief executive Paul Reynolds said it was a pivotal year for the firm with its acquisition and integration of Britain’s Collins Stewart Hawkpoint.

“In doing so, we eliminated significant costs, aligned staffing levels with market opportunities and grew our cross-border client services,” Reynolds said in a statement.

“Together, these activities have strengthened our business and meaningfully enhanced our operating margins since the beginning of the year.”

The acquisition of the London-based financial advisory group significantly increased Canaccord’s reach in the U.K. and the U.S., and gave it a presence in Singapore.

For the full financial year ended March 31, the company lost $18.8 million or 31 cents per share on $797.1 million in revenue. That compared with a loss of $21.3 million or 33 cents per share on $604.9 million in revenue in the previous year.

Excluding restructuring and other one-time items, the company earned $25.6 million or 14 cents per share for the year, compared with $25.2 million or 25 cents per share a year earlier when it had fewer shares outstanding.

Canaccord has wealth management and investment banking operations around the world, with offices in 13 countries.

Two union locals were granted special status last fall to challenge a bureaucrat’s ruling that the Chinese workers could be hired by HD Mining International Ltd.

Specifically, they challenged the so-called labour market opinions issued by the official from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, which cleared the way to hire the foreign workers.

They said the official was fettered by supervisors who wanted a favourable ruling.

They also said the official was unreasonable when he concluded that hiring the foreigners temporarily would not hurt Canadians’ job prospects.

The court dismissed the challenge, saying neither of those arguments holds water.

Envision Peyton Manning sitting on the bench and dissecting the last series from a variety of camera angles on his hand-held device instead of looking at still photos. Or sitting at home and pulling up real-time highlights on a Sunday afternoon.

It’s coming.

The NFL and Microsoft, through its next generation Xbox device, are combining to upgrade interactive TV viewing of pro football games in a multiyear agreement announced Tuesday. The next step after that, perhaps as early as 2014, will be bringing technology to the sidelines on tablets.

The deal is worth $400 million over five years for the NFL, according to a person familiar with the agreement. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because financial details have not been made public.

“When you think about the sidelines, what is most important for us is how you make the game of football better, make what the coaches and players do better, using technology but preserving the competition,” said Brian Rolapp, chief operating officer of NFL Media. “The challenge is how to bring technology to make it a better experience for them and for the fans.

“You can start with how we communicate with each other, whether it’s game officials or coaches. Coaches can look at formations as they develop. We’ll look at how do you do the still photos better, get more into real time? Is there a more efficient way to give replay officials a way of doing reviews better through technology?”

That’s for the future, albeit the not too distant future.

Fans will get new television viewing innovations including the ability to watch games, Skype video chat with other fans, view statistics, access highlights in real time, and gather fantasy information about players and teams — all on a single screen. For those who prefer multiple screens, fans can get an even deeper experience on mobile devices and tablets with SmartGlass technology.

“From the use of instant replay to the yellow first-down line that has become an important element of the at-home television viewing experience, the NFL is committed to leveraging technology to improve our game for coaches, players and fans,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “We’re thrilled to be teaming with a true innovator like Microsoft to shape the future of the NFL game experience both on-field, and in the living room.”

Such technology is expected to keep fans not one step but several strides ahead of what’s being presented live on TV now.

Consider that a Bears fan in Chicago could be watching his team take on the Giants at Soldier Field while conversing visually with a friend in New York on the same screen. Also on that screen could be all pertinent statistics for the game, access to NFL Red Zone and to replays from the Giants-Bears matchup.

Plus — and perhaps as significant as anything to the NFL given the popularity of fantasy football — real-time updated stats from around the league. Call it seamless fantasy integration with the real product.

“This partnership will redefine NFL experiences through exclusive and interactive content that you will find only on Xbox,” said Don Mattrick, president of the IEB Division at Microsoft. “For fans, the NFL on Xbox will provide the most complete way to enjoy live football by bringing the first fully integrated fantasy football experience to the TV.”

Branding of Microsoft products on the hoods of the referee’s on-field instant replay station and other sideline areas will begin this season. In coming years, coaches or co-ordinators figure to have Surface tablets to aid in-game planning and for play calling.

The prospect presents enough competitive challenges that the NFL’s competition committee will discuss guidelines for their use before making any recommendations to the owners next year or beyond.

“Anything we do will go through the proper approval processes,” Rolapp said. “Whatever we do, it’s of paramount importance it enhances the competition. We have some gospel points we will not break.”

The company unveiled the Xbox One, a next-generation entertainment console that promises to be the one system households will need for games, television, movies and other entertainment. It will go on sale later this year.

Don Mattrick, Microsoft’s president of interactive entertainment business, said the company has spent the past four years working on the “all-in-one home entertainment system.”

The console was demonstrated Tuesday at Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash., headquarters using voice control to seamlessly switch back and forth between watching live TV, listening to music, watching a movie, browsing the Internet, as well as simultaneously running apps.

Microsoft executives touted the Xbox One as a replacement for the set-top box from your cable provider. It has its own guide and you can change channels by voice command.

Senior Vice-President Yusuf Mehdi demonstrated how the console switched quickly between channels after saying show names like “Mary and Martha” or “Watch MTV.” His voice command of “What’s on HBO?” brought up the channel guide for HBO.

“No more memorizing channels or hunting for the remote control,” Mehdi said.

The interface for the TV goes well beyond the functionality in Nintendo’s Wii U, which still requires users to press buttons to change the input source on the TV. Xbox One seamlessly switched between games, movies and TV shows with a single voice command.

“You can switch to your game like it’s a TV channel flip,” said Marc Whitten, Microsoft’s chief production officer of interactive entertainment business. He called it a “lag-free instant experience.”

Microsoft also unveiled a new version of its camera-based Kinect system with better motion and voice detection. It showed how users can watch live sports on TV while getting updates on fantasy leagues on a split screen. In an effort to stay ahead of rivals, Microsoft said new content for the popular “Call of Duty” game can be downloaded on the Xbox One before any other system.

Microsoft says more games will be shown at next month’s E3 video game conference in Los Angeles.

It’s been eight years since the launch of the Xbox 360. The original Xbox debuted in 2001, and its high-definition successor premiered in 2005.

For the past two years, Microsoft has led the gaming industry in console sales with the Xbox 360.

In recent years, Microsoft expanded the scope of the Xbox 360 beyond just games, adding streaming media apps and the family-friendly Kinect system.

Xbox has been the exclusive home to such popular gaming franchises as sci-fi first-person shooter “Halo,” racing simulator “Forza” and alien shoot-’em-up “Gears of War.” In recent years, Microsoft expanded the scope of the Xbox 360 beyond just games, adding streaming media apps and the camera-based Kinect system.

Nintendo kicked off the next generation of gaming in November with the launch of the Wii U, the successor to the popular Wii system. The Wii U features an innovative tablet-like controller, though its graphics is on par with the previous-generation Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3. Nintendo said the console sold just 3.45 million units by the end of March, well below expectations.

Sony was next, teasing plans for its upcoming PlayStation 4 — without showing the actual box — at a February event in New York. The reaction to that console, which featured richer graphics and more social features, was mixed.

Microsoft didn’t waste any time showing off the Xbox One console, new Kinect sensor and Xbox controller at the beginning of Tuesday’s presentation.

Microsoft’s stock fell 6 cents to $35.02 in early afternoon trading Tuesday.

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AP Business Writer Ryan Nakashima in Los Angeles and AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay in New York contributed to this story.

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Online:

http://www.xbox.com

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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang.

Blue Wolf Capital Partners and Atlas Holdings say they expect to close the deal with Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (TSX:BAM.A) in about three weeks.

They didn’t disclose financial details.

Twin Rivers makes specialty papers and lumber products from its operations in Edmunston and Plaster Rock, N.B., as well as Madawaska, Me.

The two U.S. companies have already invested jointly in a pulp mill in Pictou, N.S., and an integrated pulp and paper business in Glens Falls, N.Y.

Separately, Atlas employs about 5,000 people at 30 locations in North America, Europe and Asia while Blue Wolf owns seven U.S. companies.