Canadian media beefing up new Chinese

OTTAWA (AFP) - TV broadcaster and the cable industry's premier Shaw Communications announced Tuesday the upcoming launch of a newspaper in Canada Mandarin Chinese to meet the growing demand.

"Global National Mandarin 'The evening newscast of 30 minutes is set to launch the Chinese New Year (January 23), providing viewers with' the biggest news from across Canada and around the world," the companies said in a joint statement.

Initially it will be released in Vancouver and Calgary, but will rely on correspondents in every major Canadian city, as well as Washington, London, Prague and New Delhi.

"As Canada's multicultural communities grow, the demand for cultural content is increasing," said Peter Bissonnette, President of Shaw Communications.

Canada Renews Opposition to Kyoto vows Costs

DURBAN, South Africa (AFP) - Canada confirmed Monday he would not sign new commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, a cornerstone of the fight against global warming.

"Canada has made it clear this year that Canada will not make a commitment to a second Kyoto period," Environment Minister Peter Kent said in a briefing to reporters on the sidelines of Canadian negotiations on global climate in Durban.

"Our fixation, our commitment is to Copenhagen and Cancun agreements, he said referring to agreements which, unlike the legally binding Kyoto curbs on greenhouse gas emissions, promote a voluntary approach.

"We believe eventually a new agreement that includes all major emitters in the world both in developed and developing world is the only way to materially reduce megatonnes annually so that we can work to prevent global warming reaching or exceeding two (degrees). "The goal set by a core group of countries at the Copenhagen Summit in 2009, rough, and supported at the climate conference last year in Cancun, Mexico, set a goal of limiting warming to two degrees  .

Canada's lawyers exempt from money-laundering laws

B.C. Supreme Court ruling strikes down sections of federal law

Canada's lawyers are now exempt from the federal government's anti-money laundering and terrorist financing laws.

The B.C. Supreme Court has struck down sections of the law relating to lawyers as unconstitutional.

The law requires financial institutions and others, including lawyers, to keep records on money transactions in an attempt to stop terrorists and criminals from using cash.

Canada's 14 law societies challenged the law saying it infringed on solicitor-client confidentiality.

'It shouldn't be applied to us, because we would have to basically create evidence against our own clients.'

—Lawyer John Hunter

Lawyers for the attorney general of Canada argued during the trial last May that the legislation is valid and part of the country's international obligation.

But B.C. Supreme Court Justice Laura Gerow concluded the law infringes on lawyers and has ordered that they and their firms be excluded.

The charter infringement puts lawyers and their clients' liberty interests in jeopardy by collecting information about clients, and making that information available to the government, Gerow said in her ruling.

"In my view, reading down the act to exclude legal counsel and legal firms is appropriate, as this remedy respects both Parliament's objectives of controlling money laundering and terrorist financing ... and the charter rights of lawyers and their clients," Gerow concluded.

Strict professional rules in place

John Hunter, lawyer for the Federation of Law Societies, said Wednesday the ruling applies to lawyers across the country because Canada's attorney general agreed the legal action would be a test case.

Hunter said the law societies challenged the legislation because lawyers felt it intruded far too much on the lawyer-client relationship, especially when lawyers have strict rules on money that have the same effect as the government laws.

"It shouldn't be applied to us, because we would have to basically create evidence against our own clients. Constitutionally that can't be done. There's an independence issue here that's important for clients."