HeraldLink - Canada

Published Friday, May 10, 1996, in the Miami Herald.

From Herald Wire Services

IN THE NEWS

Sexual orientation added to Rights Act

OTTAWA -- The House of Commons voted Thursday to add ``sexual orientation'' to the Canadian Human Rights Act, two words that have resulted in acrimonious debate and division within the parties.

MPs voted 153-76 in favor of Bill C-33 during a free vote. The bill fulfills a decade-old promise by successive governments to outlaw discrimination against homosexuals.

Society matron not guilty in shooting

CALGARY -- Dorothy Joudrie, whose high-society marriage mixed wealth and privilege with abuse and alcoholism, was found not guilty Thursday by reason of mental illness of trying to kill her husband rather than face a divorce.

Joudrie, 61, shot her estranged husband, oil executive Earl Joudrie, 62, six times in January 1995 at her Calgary home.

But her lawyer argued she was in a robot-like state, unaware of what she was doing.

Income tax increase avoided

QUEBEC -- Finance Minister Bernard Landry looked ahead to sovereignty Thursday, tabling a budget he says will prepare Quebec's finances for independence but also signaling that he's serious about deficit reduction.

Landry spared Quebecers income tax increases but targeted big business as he announced the province's deficit would be chopped to $3.3 billion this year from $4 billion.

The province has come under strong pressure from bond-rating agencies to clean up its finances.

Ottawa may join sovereignty case today

QUEBEC -- Ottawa will likely announce today whether it will join a court case that challenges Quebec's right to unilaterally declare its sovereignty.

``It should be [Friday] because it's the deadline,'' said Stephane Dion, federal intergovernmental affairs minister.

The court case, initiated by Quebec City lawyer Guy Bertrand, was a major topic of discussion between Dion and his provincial counterpart Jacques Brassard on Thursday.

The Parti Quebecois government wants the case, which begins Monday in Quebec Superior Court, thrown out. It has warned that Ottawa's involvement would be considered a challenge to Quebec's right to decide its own political future.
IN BUSINESS

Cautious investors leave market unchanged

TORONTO -- Canadian stocks closed little changed as investors waited for more signs of whether economic growth will drive up interest rates, analysts said.

Seagram Co. and BCE Inc. helped lift the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 Composite Index, while Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan and Alcan Aluminium offset the gains.

The TSE closed up 0.39 points to 5161.20.

The U.S. dollar closed Thursday at C$1.3673. The Canadian dollar closed Thursday at U.S. 73.14 cents.

During May-September, The Herald publishes Canadian news every Thursday and Sunday, and on other days as space allows. A daily Canadian report will resume in October.

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