The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Montreal - Despite a year that brought SARS, forest fires, a hurricane and one mad cow, no scourge will keep Canadians from opening their wallets to spend big this Christmas, a poll suggests. A Leger Marketing survey indicates Canadians plan to spend an average of $575 on gifts during the holiday season. The figure is down $20 from a similar Leger poll conducted in 2001. Ottawa - A personal vacation last summer to Quebec by French President Jacques Chirac cost Canadian taxpayers nearly $200,000. Security for the president totalled $184,000, said documents obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. Chirac and his wife chose North Hatley for his vacation Aug. 2-19. The president's vacation was the subject of controversy in France because it took place during a heatwave that killed thousands of French seniors. Kabul - Children with "realistic" replica handguns can be seen almost everywhere in Kabul, and they have become a serious safety concern for Canadian soldiers as they patrol the streets of the Afghan capital. From a distance, it's impossible to tell the toy from the real thing. "The guns are very realistic," said Maj. Jamie Morse, the Deputy Commanding Officer at Camp Julien, the largest Canadian Forces base in Afghanistan. "It's a real concern for us all."
