SAINT-EUSTACHE, Que. - Steps away from the handoff, Greg Shulkin stopped his motorized scooter, unfurled the Olympic torch from its holster and, with a little help, slowly began to walk the final few paces of the relay.
He earned boisterous applause from his parents, brothers, nieces, nephews, friends and a few hundred flag-waving supporters who gathered last week to watch the flame pass through the town of St-Eustache, near Montreal.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The presence of correctional services experts from Canada should go a long way to ensuring detainees handed over to Afghan authorities are treated humanely, says Canada's top commander in Kandahar.
In an interview, Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard also said that halts to detainee transfers this year were for "procedural" reasons, not because of issues of abuse.
EDMONTON - Rightly or wrongly, Alberta's oilsands are creating a black, tarry bull's-eye on the back of Canada's negotiating team at the international summit on climate change in Copenhagen.
Oil companies and the provincial government maintain that the development is needed and widely beneficial, and that its impacts are well-managed and wildly exaggerated. Environmental groups and many independent scientists suggest otherwise, with some going so far as to say the oilsands have turned Canada into a "corrupt petro-state."
OTTAWA - The season of peace and hope took on new meaning Saturday as the nation's capital threw a huge Christmas bash for the second coming of the Olympic torch.
It was an eclectic blend of twinkling Christmas lights, fireworks and the Olympic flame, Christmas carols mixed with thumping rock music, best wishes for a merry Yuletide alternating with exhortations to Canada's athletes to go for the gold.
TORONTO - Environmental activists across Canada sang carols, waved signs, and even stripped down to their underwear Saturday as part of a global day of action to raise awareness about climate change.
Canadians joined protesters from around the globe as UN climate talks continued in the Danish capital of Copenhagen.
ROCK CREEK - Most people can recognize when their dog is happy, but Otis, an RCMP chocolate Labrador retriever, doesn't leave anyone guessing.
Officers with the Mounties Road Safety Unit stopped a vehicle on Highway 33, about 30 kilometres east of Osoyoos, B.C., on Thursday morning.
TORONTO - The case of a Toronto teenager who has been missing since September was mentioned on America's Most Wanted Saturday night.
The high-profile crime show made a brief mention of the mysterious disappearance of Toronto teenager Mariam Makhniashvili.
OTTAWA - Gordon Grant's life might best be described by the opening line of Rafael Sabatini's swashbuckling novel Scaramouche:"He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad."
Grant, who died early Saturday in an Ottawa hospital at the age of 73, would have laughed at the reference to Gordon. He answered to Gord, Gordie, Gordo and a few strong epithets. But Gordon? Never.
VANCOUVER, B.C. - The head of the RCMP is bidding the force's complaints commissioner farewell by accusing him of creating an "inaccurate" picture that suggests the Mounties have obstructed the work of the federal police agency's independent watchdog.
The final weeks of Paul Kennedy's term as the chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP have been marked by a public squabble with RCMP Commissioner William Elliott.
TORONTO - The federal government announced steps Saturday to better safeguard foreign caregivers from abuse and exploitation, but opposition critics said the changes Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is proposing won't provide full protection.
The revised regulations stem from months of consultations with caregiver groups, and Kenney expressed hope they will allow a better life for people who come to Canada to become nannies.
PORT HURON, Mich. - Police arrested a Canadian science fiction writer after he became aggressive and refused to comply during an inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, a government official said Saturday.
Peter Watts of Toronto was detained Tuesday in Port Huron in Michigan, Customs spokesman Ron Smith told The Associated Press. Smith said Watts was trying to cross into Canada at Blue Water Bridge when his vehicle was selected for inspection.
EDMONTON - Dangerously cold temperatures have settled in across much of the Prairies and northern Ontario this weekend.
Environment Canada has issued warnings, saying the windchill could reach -50C.
CALGARY - The Calgary Zoo has been subjected to unfair criticism for a string of animal deaths at the facility, president Clement Lanthier told a news conference Saturday.
A little more than a week after a giant Central American capybara was crushed to death when a worker closed a hydraulic door on it, Lanthier said he will commission an independent review of how the facility cares for its animals.
SMITHS FALLS, Ont. - Maggie Swanson is worried about the backlash she'll be facing when she raises the price of women's blouses by 25 cents to $3.50.
She's the manager at a bustling Salvation Army Thrift Store in Smiths Falls, Ont. - the stimulus capital of Canada. Her business is thriving, but not because of the ample government money backing the building boom in her town. Her sales tend to rise when the economy tanks.
EDMONTON - A Canadian soldier who was on leave from duty in Afghanistan has been charged with sexual assault in Australia.
Sapper David Langlois-Fequet was arrested earlier this week in Byron Bay on Australia's east coast.
OTTAWA - Ottawa police have arrested a second person in an assault that left a woman in a coma.
Natalie Galipeau, 31, was trying to sell a bracelet online this August when she was attacked by someone responding to her ad.
TORONTO - It may seem an odd comparison, but Toronto mayoral hopeful George Smitherman says Ontario's largest city shares many similarities with the province's bedroom communities.
That's what the longtime M-P-P told about 400 people at a Toronto Board of Trade Luncheon yesterday.
OTTAWA - Ottawa police have identified the man charged with second-degree murder after a woman's body was found Friday.
Police say 33-year-old Mark Peter Hutt will appear in court Sunday.