Averting a slump: it's the politics, stupid

When a startup is in its early stages, it's not always easy to determine if the product will be a hit. Dustin Curtis, the creator of online magazine platform Svbtle, initially thought two startups that are now extremely successful were stupid when he first saw them.

The British military's dependence on information technology means it could be "fatally compromised" by a cyber-attack but the government seems unprepared for such an event, lawmakers warned Wednesday. Parliament's defence committee heard evidence that cyber-attacks could disrupt military communication and information systems, radars and satellites, and leave combat units such as airplanes or ships dysfunctional.

(Nicholas Wang)

A physical relationship between a substitute teacher and a teenager in her classroom started with a kiss on the boy’s 16th birthday, the boy testified in court. Erin Osmond, 29, was charged with two accounts of sexual exploitation after the 16-year-old told RCMP he had sex with the teacher on four occasions between March and April of 2013. Osmond’s trial, which is scheduled for three days, started Monday morning in Saskatoon Queen’s Bench court. The alleged victim’s identity is protected by a publication ban.

A new program at the Canada Revenue Agency that promises to pay informants who help track down tax cheats — a first in Canada — has generated a flurry of more than 1,000 calls leading to nearly 100 active cases, the Financial Post has learned. Some 300 of the initial calls were from “informants,” according to the CRA.

VANCOUVER — Ottawa is warning it may impose tariffs on everything from orange juice to bread if the United States doesn’t change a meat-labelling policy that Canadian beef and pork industries say is costing them more than $1-billion a year. The federal government has released a long list of agriculture and other products that could be affected by Canada’s retaliation in an ongoing dispute over U.S. country-of-origin, meat-labelling rules.

LAST night, contenders for the Republican nomination for the American presidency gathered to debate. Among the topics covered, the economy received particular attention, and the leading contenders went out of their way to tout their job-creation records. This made for a few moments of cognitive dissonance, as candidates who would normally be first to cast doubt on the ability of government to do anything useful proudly boasted of the means through which they, as state governors, grew the economy.

LAST night, contenders for the Republican nomination for the American presidency gathered to debate. Among the topics covered, the economy received particular attention, and the leading contenders went out of their way to tout their job-creation records. This made for a few moments of cognitive dissonance, as candidates who would normally be first to cast doubt on the ability of government to do anything useful proudly boasted of the means through which they, as state governors, grew the economy.