Ruritanians, revolt – small states have earned freedom

OTTAWA — Canada has established an Office of Religious Freedom — to be headed by a public servant lauded for his “deep convictions” — to promote freedom of religion around the world. The announcement, which stems from a Conservative election promise nearly two years ago, was made Tuesday by Prime Minister Stephen Harper at a mosque, in Vaughn, Ont. Harper announced that the office, located within the department of Foreign Affairs, will be headed by an “ambassador” — Andrew Bennett.

By Mike Konczal One of the fascinating things about Rand Paul's election and the rise of a new more libertarian mindset in the popular conscience will be a newfound focus on the idea of "economic freedom." I've been thinking of this especially in light of the Democratic Strategist's forum on what "freedom" means for the left and the right.

Months after a Toronto woman filed a human rights complaint against a Muslim barber who would not give her a haircut, the issue has been quietly resolved. During a closed-door mediation session Friday, Faith McGregor and barbershop owner Omar Mahrouk came to an “arrangement” that satisfied them both, thus putting the controversial complaint to rest. Ms. McGregor filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal last June after she entered Terminal Barbershop on a whim and was denied a haircut because it is against the barbers’ religion to touch a woman.

MAPLE, ONT. — Andrew P. W. Bennett, Canada’s first ambassador of religious freedom, is a Christian academic studying toward a theology degree in Ottawa, an expert on Scottish devolution, and a government policy analyst with experience in the Privy Council, Export Development Canada and Natural Resources Canada. With four staff and a $5-million annual budget, his new role is to promote freedom of religion, belief and conscience around the world by ensuring it is reflected in Canada’s foreign policy.

We wish him luck: Dear Colleagues, In my New Year message, I said 2013 would test our resolve to move further and faster to support top quality journalism in a rapidly changing media landscape. I now want to set out in detail how we propose to reshape the FT for the digital age. We need to do less in certain areas and more in others, we need to be much more nimble, and we need to reshape our teams.

OTTAWA — The federal Opposition on Monday called on the Harper government to stop credit card companies from charging businesses higher fees for using premium cards. The call came as a federal competition tribunal prepared to rule on whether Visa and MasterCard are engaging in anti-competitive behaviour. Small business groups hope the tribunal will recommend that Ottawa forbid the major credit card companies from forcing retailers to accept cards that carry higher payment processing fees.

Small investors, the bedrock of the United States stock market, are being buffeted by the steep drops on Wall Street or bailing altogether as they worry about their money’s survival.