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 Martin
refuses to back PM's Quebec strategy OTTAWA AND ST. JOHN'S - Paul Martin,
the highest-ranking federal minister from Quebec who is also
considered the frontrunner in the unofficial Liberal leadership
race, refused for a third straight day yesterday to endorse Jean
Chretien's plan to set the rules for the next referendum on Quebec
secession.

 Highest
court sides with Ottawa in rape ruling The Supreme Court of Canada
yesterday ended five years of disagreement between lawmakers and the
judiciary over whether private psychiatric or medical records of
victims of sexual assault can be made available to defence lawyers.
In a near-unanimous ruling, the court upheld a law that prevents the
automatic disclosure of therapeutic records but allows trial judges
to give access only after considering the privacy right of the
alleged victim.

 Influential
Desmarais family has ties to Sudan Canada's involvement in Sudan goes
beyond one oil company and includes links to Montreal's powerful and
politically connected Desmarais family. Sudan's government has been
condemned recently by the United Nations and the United States for
sponsoring terrorism and killing its own people to keep money
flowing from local oil projects.

  Lawyer
blames groping binge on brain tumour A partner at a major Canadian law
firm, who groped a number of female colleagues during a drunken
company social event last weekend, is blaming his erratic behaviour
on a possible brain tumour. Thomas Haythe, a presiding partner of
Toronto's Tory Haythe law firm, was placed on permanent medical
leave after complaints from female staff about his inappropriate
remarks and actions during an evening of wining and dining last
Friday.

 Taber
suspect fights for his life after heart
surgery CALGARY - The teenager accused of killing one boy and
wounding another youth in last April's high-school shooting in
Taber, Alta., is fighting for his life in an Edmonton hospital after
complications from heart surgery. The lawyer for the 15-year-old boy
will ask today for an indefinite postponement of a transfer hearing
that is to determine if he will be tried in adult court.

  Broadcasting
live from underneath Saskatchewan... WATROUS, Sask. - The Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation will be sending an on-air host and
technician to an isolated Saskat-chewan transmitter site complete
with fallout shelter for New Year's Eve in case Y2K problems cause a
major breakdown in communications. The site, near Watrous, used to
function as the home of CBC radio for the Prairies before CBC
Saskatchewan was moved to Regina after 1947.

  Convicted
Ramsay refuses to resign OTTAWA - Jack Ramsay, the Reform MP
convicted of attempting to rape a 14-year-old girl, is refusing to
resign his seat in Parliament and maintained yesterday that the
sexual assault "was inappropriate, but it wasn't criminal." |
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