Superbug
prompts travel warning
EDMONTON -- Alberta doctors
are warning travellers about going outside Canada for medical treatment after
an Albertan was infected with a new form of antibiotic-resistant bacteria while
in an Indian hospital.
Provincial health officials
confirmed Aug 12 that it became aware this spring of one reported case of an
infection caused by a new type of "superbug" that resists antibiotic
treatment.
Dr. Gerry Predy,
the province's medical officer of health, would say only that the individual in
that case had been in a hospital in India before being infected and was
discharged after being treated in Canada. He would not say what kind of
treatment the individual had originally sought in India.
Hospitals are one of the most
common places where people acquire infections, and many antibiotic-resistant
superbugs thrive in hospital environments.
Dr. Mark Joffe,
Alberta Health Services' senior medical director, said anyone considering
travel for medical treatment anywhere in the world should weigh the risks.
Alleged spy’s
passport cancelled
OTTAWA -- Canada has
revoked the passport of an alleged Russian spy who fled after being freed on
bail in Cyprus.
A Passport Canada
spokeswoman said July 27 the agency cancelled the travel document issued to
Christopher Metsos, the accused paymaster of a
Russian espionage ring.
Cypriot officials confirmed
last month that Metsos had assumed the identity of a
dead five-year-old Canadian boy to obtain a passport, raising questions about
document security.
The officials said they
learned the details from Renata Wielgosz,
Canada's ambassador to Cyprus and Greece.
Other reports indicated Metsos had obtained the passport through the Canadian
Embassy in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Ten other people arrested
in the United States were sent back to Moscow after pleading guilty, part of a
swap for prisoners in Russia.
Bail denied in G20
case
TORONTO -- A man facing
explosives and weapons charges as part of a G20 security investigation has been
denied bail.
Byron Sonne
was arrested June 22 and accused of possessing dangerous weapons and explosives
for an unlawful purpose, among other charges.
Sonne's wife, Kristen Peterson, was also arrested but
later released on bail with the condition she have no contact with her husband
and live with her parents.
The 37-year-old Sonne also stands accused of mischief, attempted mischief
and intimidating a justice system participant.
Friends and family have
rallied around the internet security expert, with one
friend saying the charges against Sonne are a huge
misunderstanding.
Details of evidence presented
in court are under a publication ban.
Ontario eco fees
officially scrapped
TORONTO -- Ontario
Environment Minister John Gerretsen has confirmed
that the province is dropping its eco fee program, saying he takes "full
responsibility" for not doing a better job of communicating the
introduction of the new charges.
The fees, which went into
effect on July 1, applied to a wide variety of items, including batteries,
soap, fire extinguishers and paint.
The fees were
collected by manufacturers and retailers to help fund a recycling program that
diverts those potentially hazardous items from landfills.
But there was no public
warning that the eco fee would be slapped on thousands of new items this month.
"These new eco fees are
gone," Gerretsen told reporters at a news
conference last month. "That means all products added on July the 1st will
not have any fee on them. The bottom line is Stewardship Ontario could have
done a better job for rolling out the changes, and we, the Ministry of the
Environment, the government, and I as minister, could have done a better job of
helping them communicate their changes, and I take full responsibility for
that.”
Stewardship Ontario, an
industry-led organization appointed by the government to oversee the program,
collected the fees from retailers and manufacturers.
Manufactures and retailers,
in turn, determined which fees they would pass on to consumers.
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