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 - Officials will slaughter about 19 million chickens, turkeys and ducks in British Columbia in the latest effort to try to stop the spread of avian influenza. "We are dealing with a very serious and highly contagious disease in birds," said federal Agriculture Minister Bob Speller. Speller told a news conference the massive cull in the Fraser Valley is necessary to keep the virus from spreading. It is hoped it will eliminate the virus from the province. Saskatoon - The Saskatoon Wildlife Federation has cancelled its controversial gopher-hunting derby this year, saying weather conditions have reduced the population naturally. For the past two years, the federation has offered prizes for people who killed gophers and sent in their frozen tails, in an attempt to reduce farm crop damage blamed on a ballooning population of the rodents. Animal rights groups from around the world condemned the contest. Toronto - The leaders of Air Canada's main unions wrapped up a meeting Sunday refusing to grant more concessions to an airline they say is not on the brink of liquidation. On Friday, Hong Kong billionaire Victor Li's company, Trinity Time Investments, said it was walking away from a tentative agreement to pour $650-million into Air Canada citing several problems, including rising fuel prices and high labour costs.
