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 - Quebec homosexuals should have the same rights as gays in Ontario and British Columbia and be allowed to legally marry, lawyers for a same-sex couple told a court Monday. "The issue in Quebec is no different than anywhere else," Colin Irving told the Quebec Court of Appeal. "In this day and age. . . it is no longer acceptable to single out gays." About 2,500 gay couples have tied the knot since such marriages were made legal by court rulings in Ontario and British Columbia. Ottawa - The problem of long waits for medical service will likely top the agenda when Canada's new medicare guardian, the national health council, holds its first meeting this week. "The whole issue of waiting is probably the highest priority issue with the public," said Michael Decter, chairman of the council. Montreal - Canada's forest industry announced Monday it will give $1 million to several conservation groups to help preserve the country's boreal forest. The Forest Products Association of Canada, representing most of the pulp and paper industry, said it will give the money to the World Wildlife Fund, Ducks Unlimited Canada, and the Canadian Boreal Initiative. The World Wildlife Fund will identify forests of "high conservation value" that it hopes provincial governments will designate as off limits to tree cutting, roads and power lines.
