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.
Edmonton - The Alberta government plans to spend millions of dollars this winter to shield consumers from spikes in natural gas prices, Energy Minister Murray Smith announced Wednesday. He said the program could see the average household receive a credit of about $35 on its January gas bill if the natural gas price rises above $5.50 per gigajoule. The rebates will be financed through the province's new stability fund, which was created this year from surplus non-renewable resource revenue. CFB Valcartier, Que. - Changing Canadian culture is hindering the army's ability to work as a team, a Senate defence committee heard Wednesday. Col. Jocelyn Lacroix, the commander who will lead Canadian troops in Afghanistan next year, says more individualism among young Canadians makes it harder to turn them into good soldiers. Lacroix said new recruits need extra training to turn them into team players. Instead, Canada's army has diminishing time and money for training. Ottawa - Health gaps, overcrowded housing and higher dropout rates dog aboriginal people even off reserves, says a new survey. Results of the 2001 Aboriginal Peoples Survey of 117,000 North American Indian, Inuit and Metis people released Wednesday by Statistics Canada suggest living standards have improved but still lag for those off reserves.
