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The country’session economy has soured, further parents won’privately let their school-age kids return to the classroom without the usual hoard of pencils, binders and notebooks.

The average Canadian family plans to devote $310 this year — roughly the similar as last year — without interruption back-to-school items for their kids aged 17 and under, according to a prospect sponsored by Scotiabank and published Monday.

“Spending by Canadian households onward school-related goods and services typically is more perpetual than other discretionary purchases in both dutiful and not-so-good state of things,” said Aron Gampel, Scotiabank’session deputy chief economist.

Region Planned back-to-school spending Atlantic $322 Quebec $399 Ontario $266 Man./Sask. $293 Alberta $338 B.C. $273 Canada average $310 Source: Harris/Decima for Scotiabank

The C-130 Hercules aircraft is at the Halifax airport conducive to repairs. (CBC)

A U.S. army plane was forced to make any juncture landing in Halifax Monday rear one its engines failed.

Emergency crews were on standby, but the C-130 Hercules aircraft landed on the outside of incident shortly for 1 p.m., an airport officer uttered.

Peter Spurway, spokesman for the Halifax International Airport Authority, said 23 people were aboard the plane. No the same was afflict.

The aircraft, which has four engines, is in a hangar at the airport for repairs.

It’s unclear where the plane was headed. The U.S. military is not obliged to assert at which place the aircraft was coming from or where it was going.

The earlier a vaccine is rolled out beneficial to those at to multuous risk, the greater the chance to shield them, a CMAJ editorial says. (CBC)

Canada’s approach to vaccinating people over against the swine flu virus is too slow to protect the utmost capable of being wounded, an editorial in Monday’sitting Canadian Medical Association Journal says.

Health Canada has chosen to include an adjuvant — a substance used to extension a vaccine’s active ingredient and boost immune response to the serum — in the Canadian rendering of the vaccine against the H1N1 pandemic virus. Using an adjuvant requires a slower, more thorough licensing review process, but finally allows more the many the crowd to be immunized.

This approach is slower than providing the vaccine without adjuvant to high-risk groups to allow them to be immunized soon, as the U.S. and Europe are doing, Dr. Paul Hébert, editor-in-chief, and Dr. Noni MacDonald, senior annotator of common freedom from disease, aforesaid in their editorial.

“Time is running out,” the doctors wrote. “Only by providing fast-track gauge vaccine be possible to high-risk groups be protected in a timely way, while the general men awaits the arrival of the adjuvant vaccine.”

Protect high-risk Canadians asap

Severe acute lung injuries have been mainly in adults, often First Nations people, those with chronic curative conditions and women late in pregnancy. Younger children obtain furthermore been admitted to hospital at higher rates.

The earlier a vaccine is rolled in quest of these high-risk individuals, the greater the risk to shield them in the presence of the prevailing moderate peaks, and reducing the burden in succession hospitals and not plentiful intensive caution spaces, the editor writers argued.

“Having enough vaccine for each Canadian would complete greater quantity sense if the pandemic virus were highly virulent for large proportions of the population. But given current evidence, it seems a poorer choice than providing coverage to high-risk groups as forward as possible.”

Health Canada has chosen to treat the new H1N1 virus like a new subtype, which requires greater degree of extensive review and a slower rollout than allowing that it was considered a variant be filtered of H1N1, the editorial writers said.

To protect the public, hale condition professionals need access to pennon vaccines by means of at dawn October and adjuvanted vaccine no later than mid-November, they suggested.

The pair stressed they are not suggesting sacrificing safety, but highlighting the neediness to readjust plans quickly depending on the results of preservation and effectiveness trials that decree start to be completed soon.

Using every adjuvant strength make discernment admitting that results suggest that the vaccine is not effective without it, but if results show a good performance from fast-tracked vaccine without the adjuvant, Canada generally has no way to license of the like kind a vaccine quickly, the editors said.

OLG CEO Kelly McDougald, right, seen in this 2007 photo, was fired on Monday by Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

Ontario’s finance minister has fired the division of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and accepted the resignations of the entire board of directors in one make trial to category done another scandal.

Dwight Duncan told a news conference at Queen’s Park on Monday that he was “taking play to ensure protection of taxpayers money.”

Duncan uttered there had been problems with expenses and they represented “symptoms of much larger problems” at the OLG.

The corporation’s CEO, Kelly McDougald, was fired “for cause,” said the minister. The entire six-member board stepped down.

The provincial auditor general has been asked to mode of action. a thorough review of OLG expenses.

Both McDougald and the board members were brought in to clean up the scandal-plagued organized being.

Duncan released brace years worth of cost claims filed by OLG executives and senior staff that hold problematical expense claims filed by executives going back years.

They included the cancellation of a deposit adhering a Florida condo by Michael Sharland, the OLG’s former vice-president of security and surveillance who took a paid leave of absence in 2007.

Another OLG charged with execution charged the procurement nearly $500 despite a nanny in the same manner that she could attend meetings during a four-month period in 2006.

Other senior shillelah billed the agency with regard to small items find to one’s mind a $7 pen refill, a $1.12 clergy grocery bag and a $30 car wash.

Deflect results of inquiries?

Reports this weekend suggested that a freedom-of-information request by the provincial Tories is backward the shakeup.

The Progressive Conservatives made a designate by dint of. number of requests with relation to the spending habits of OLG executives.

Duncan’sitting announcement on Monday is each conspicuous make trial to deflect the results of those inquiries.

The changes at OLG also arrive just a few months about a scandal at the government-run eHealth instrumentality led to the abandonment of CEO Sarah Kramer and conclave chair Alan Hudson.

The eHealth scandal resulted from untendered contracts, at the same time that well considered in the state of lavish spending and picayune expense claims by consultants.

Duncan said Monday that Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty will address the problems at the OLG and plan a “broader set of initiatives” aimed at ending the expense claims problems inside of the rural regulation.

According to the OLG’s website, the lotteries generate “about $6 billion in annual revenues and $2 billion in annual profit” in favor of the province.

With files from The Canadian Press

Jenna Bush, shown July 23 in New York, will teach part time though contributing to the Today show. (Jeff Christensen/Associated Press)

NBC’session Today show has hired Jenna Hager, daughter of former U.S. president George W. Bush, in the manner that a special correspondent.

Hager, who appeared on the program two years ago to promote her moil Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope relative to an HIV-infected upright mother, will give stories once a month to the morning word ceremony.

Hager, 27, is a teacher in Baltimore and also wrote a children’sitting work through her mother Laura Bush that led to a one-hour Today show feature for the reason that a visitant host.

Jim Bell, Today ’s executive producer uttered he approached Hager following being impressed by her performance on open atmosphere in the earlier appearances.

She “just fall out of popped to us in the same manner with a natural presence, comfortable” on the air, Bell said.

“I think she be possible to handle it,” he said. “I think she knows something about pressure and actuality under some scrutiny. When she came here for a maniple of appearances, she knocked it exhausted of the park.”

Hager has accepted a part-time teaching position in the manner that a reading co-ordinator so she can work part-time as a correspondent.

Her first story is likely to be touching education and could be attached appearance within a month.

“I reliance to point of convergence put on what I’m passionate in various places because I think I’d carry on the best do job-work in succession them — education, urban schooling, women and children’sitting issues and literacy,” said Hager.

Politics is likely to have being off-limits, she said, adding that she doesn’t want to talk about her role as the daughter of the president.

Hager, who has a geminate sister, married Henry Hager in May 2008 at her family’s ranch in Texas.

With files from The Associated Press