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SASKATCHEWAN BUDGET TANKS ON PRICE OF OIL
The plunging price of oil is pushing the Saskatchewan government's budget further into the red.
Finance Minister Kevin Doherty says the government is now forecasting a deficit of $427 million for the current fiscal year, up $165 million from the mid-year forecast.
Doherty says the government was able to control spending, aside from $100 million to cover forest fire costs.
Revenue at third quarter was down $428 million from when the budget was tabled last March, largely because revenue from non-renewable resources is down $617 million.
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NO NATIONAL CARBON TAX FOR WALL
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says he won't sign off on a national carbon tax that could see families pay, on average, as much as $1,200 more per year in taxes.
Wall made the comments Monday, just days before a meeting of the premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Vancouver.
He says in a struggling economy, this move doesn't make sense right now.
Wall says if the economy was booming he may be in favour of something similar to this, but only on a provincial scale and only for those heavy users.
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MANITOBA PREMIER RALLIES PARTY FAITHFUL
Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger has told about 250 NDP faithful the party is ready for the upcoming election, even as more signs are showing of dissent within the party.
Selinger touted the government's policies on the economy, the environment and other files at a breakfast fundraiser Monday in Winnipeg and said the party still has many goals it wants to accomplish.
He was applauded as he listed his plans to accommodate Syrian refugees, help a national inquiry into missing and murdered women and relocate rail lines in the capital.
But the NDP appears to still be a party working to be united — the Winnipeg Free Press, citing unnamed sources, says tension boiled over in a caucus meeting last week in which backbencher Dave Gaudreau walked out after telling Selinger that voters hate him.
Selinger says disagreements within caucus are part of politics and Gaudreau will not be disciplined.
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EDMONTON DRY CLEANER SENTENCED FOR USING TOXIC SUBSTANCE
An Edmonton dry cleaner has been given house arrest for using a toxic substance in his business.
Environment Canada says it's the first time a dry cleaner has been given jail time for violating the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
Ali Khair-Eldin, owner of First Class Cleaners and Todd Cleaners, pleaded guilty to unlawfully importing and using tetracholorethylene, also known as perc.
The synthetic chemical, used as a dry-cleaning and metal-cleaning solvent, is listed as a toxic substance by the government and is no longer produced in Canada.
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RCMP DOCUMENTS ALLEGE FORMER WINNIPEG MAYOR GOT CHEQUES FROM CONSTRUCTION FIRM
Newly unsealed RCMP documents suggest the owner of the company that built Winnipeg's new police headquarters wrote cheques to former mayor Sam Katz.
The search warrant papers were filed days before police raided Caspian Construction in December 2014.
Mounties allege Caspian forged, inflated and manipulated invoices for work on the headquarters.
The documents say a former accounting employee from Caspian told investigators that Katz had received two personal cheques from the company's owner worth as much as six thousand dollars each.
CTV Winnipeg contacted Katz, who said the cheques were for tickets and had absolutely nothing to do with the police headquarters project.
The owner of Caspian Construction told CTV he strongly disputes all allegations.
None of the allegations in the documents has been proven in court.
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ALBERTA CHARITIES HIT HARD BY PLUNGING OIL PRICE
Alberta's economic downturn is putting pressure on charities that help people in need.
Demand at food banks in Calgary, Edmonton and Fort McMurray is up, swollen by growing numbers of the unemployed.
The Salvation Army says demand for food and other services, especially in smaller communities, is up by about 30 per cent from last year.
The non-profit STARS air ambulance service says it may not sell all of the tickets for its annual fundraising lottery for the first time in 23 years.
STARS, which is partly funded by the province, depends on the lottery for about one-third of its budget.
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The Canadian Press
