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.
Ottawa - A national sex offender registry came into existence Wednesday, but past offenders who have already finished serving sentences won't be listed on it unless they commit new crimes. The $2-million project has been in the works since February 2002. That's when the federal government gave in to years of lobbying and agreed to establish a registry that would require sex offenders being released from jail to let police know their whereabouts. Those convicted of serious sex crimes might have to continue updating police about where they're living for the rest of their lives Vancouver - More thieves have robbed Salvation Army Christmas kettles than usual in B.C. and Ontario this year ? including one brazen criminal who set an empty pot outside a shopping mall to collect money for himself. In the past two weeks in British Columbia alone, thieves snatched kettles in Nanaimo and Kamloops, while another robbery attempt was foiled in Burnaby on Tuesday. Among the robberies in Ontario, two kettles containing about $400 were taken from an 86-year-old volunteer at an Ottawa mall on Dec. 9. She said it was the first time she had been robbed in 29 years of collecting donations. Ottawa - Prime Minister Paul Martin admits he should have been more focused and disciplined during his first 12 months as prime minister, saying he labelled too many issues as top government priorities.
