More than half of the awards ordered by the Alberta Human Rights Commission in recent years have not been paid to people whose rights have been violated, CBC TV reported Monday night. The report showed that over the past two years, seven complaints that ended up in a human rights hearing were deemed to have merit. But only two of those awards have been fully settled.

The federal Liberal government is using children for its own political purposes, Reformer Eric Lowther charged Tuesday. Quoting notes and documents obtained through access to information, Lowther said Ottawa endorsed a UNICEF program for a national youth vote on rights because it would reflect well on the government. "Elections Canada is asking children as young as six years old to vote for their favourite right," Lowther said during the Commons question period.

Nova Scotia's new Conservative government is backing away from an aggressive strategy aimed at helping blacks and natives break into the province's biggest law firms.

The Canadian scouting association has established a new troop in Toronto for gay youth between the ages of 18 and 26.

Ronald (Lasagna) Cross, one of the most visible native players in the 1990 Oka crisis, has died. Cross, 41, died of apparent heart failure at St-Luc Hospital on Monday night, police said. Cross was widely believed to be the Mohawk whose nose-to-nose confrontation with a Canadian soldier was caught by a photographer during the crisis. The photo was sent worldwide and came to symbolize the heightened tensions between natives and authorities.

The former admissions director of McGill University will not be able to present evidence about a prominent politician who allegedly used position and influence to gain admission to the university for someone who was unqualified, a Quebec Superior Court Judge ruled yesterday. Peggy Sheppard, who is suing McGill over a 1986 employment contract, charges in her suit that she faced pressure to admit unqualified students.

The combined deficits of Quebec's hospitals has ballooned to $350 million but Health Minister Pauline Marois says that's no shocker. "It turns out that the total is a little higher than we thought -- about $100 million more at this point -- but that isn't catastrophic," Marois said Tuesday.

The Saskatchewan government is stepping in to sort out a financial mess at the Regina Health District. An independent team of experts will review the district, which is facing a $22.5-million deficit this year, Health Minister Pat Atkinson announced Friday.

That was Ottawa's response to farmers' pleas when it released numbers Tuesday suggesting a rosier farm-income situation than Saskatchewan and Manitoba have laid out for their farmers.

A Saskatoon economist says the upcoming world trade talks may be the reason Ottawa won't give prairie farmers more funding.

Mandatory food labelling of genetically altered food might not be the answer for Canadians concerned about what they're eating, says the Consumers' Association of Canada. The association, which held a joint news conference with a crop growers' coalition Tuesday, said labels might confuse consumers instead of arming them with accurate information.

he Conference Board of Canada�s annual compensation survey will be one of the highlights of the 1999 Western Compensation and Human Resources Outlook Conference in Calgary on Monday, November 8. Canadian employees can expect healthy increases in their take-home pay next year, according to the Board�s Compensation Planning Outlook 2000, presented by Prem Benimadhu, Vice-President of the Centre for Management Effectiveness and Director of the Compensation Research Centre. Canada�s economic outlook will be the focus of a presentation by the Board�s Director of Economic Services, Paul Darby, followed by a presentation by Michael B. Percy, Dean of the Faculty of Business at the University of Alberta, about the public and social policy issues that affect employers in Western Canada.

Vancouver-based Methanex Corp. is going ahead with a suit against the U.S. government, saying it has been unable to resolve a trade dispute over the company's methanol-based gas additive. Using a clause in the North American Free Trade Agreement, Methanex is suing the U.S. State Department for $970 million.

Kraft Canada will donate $1 million to the capital campaign to purchase a more modern and efficient warehouse and food distribution centre for Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank and the Canadian Association of Food Banks.

oney's Mushrooms Ltd. today advised its employees that the Langley processing facility will close permanently on or about January 14th, 2000, affecting the 65 full and part time employees who work at the location. Some labeling activity will continue at the plant until no later than mid-April, 2000. The decision to close the facility permanently is the result of changing dynamics in the global mushroom market. Over the past two years an influx of low-cost, offshore canned mushrooms into Canada has significantly changed the nature of the processed mushroom business, driving down costs. At this time Money's can't compete with these low-cost producers.

Nortel's $400 million US expansion announced Tuesday will mean 5,000 new jobs in the fibre-optics industry worldwide. The Brampton, Ontario high-tech giant says the investment will help it meet the rising demand for telecom products for the Internet.

This morning, shareholders will likely reject Fletcher Challenge Canada Ltd.'s controversial bid to buy the pulp and paper assets of its New Zealand parent, analysts say. Fletcher Challenge Canada has offered to buy Fletcher Challenge Paper, part of Fletcher Challenge Ltd., the Auckland, N.Z.-based forest, construction and energy empire. Fletcher Challenge Canada values the deal at $2.45-billion, but many Canadian analysts say the full price is close to $3.6-billion and that's too much to pay.

First mined in 1982, Lupin was placed on care and maintenance in early 1998 due to falling gold prices and a high cost structure. A reengineering study, completed late in 1998, identified savings that helped lower costs. The new life of mine average cash operating costs are now anticipated to be at or better than $245 per ounce. Based on current reserves of 543,000 ounces and other mineralization of 221,000 ounces, the mine plan projects production through 2004. Drilling indicates additional mineralization at depth and confirmation drilling will be done once the site is back in operation. The Ulu satellite deposit, located approximately 100 miles north of Lupin, represents the potential for additional mill feed for the site.

There was a pretty significant milestone last week in the Canadian newspaper business. I refer of course to the relaunch of Prairie Dog, the gritty Regina street newspaper that has moved to a lively new biweekly format. Coincidentally, back in Toronto, the National Post was also celebrating the milestone of its first anniversary.

CBC News has obtained a copy of a federal government report which hints at what's in store for the arts. The government's response to a major review prepared by the Commons heritage committee is to be tabled Thursday morning in the House of Commons. During the past 2-1/2 years, MPs on the committee criss-crossed Canada interviewing more than 250 artists. It was the biggest review of cultural policy in the past decade.

Global Visions Film Festival

Edmonton Nov 4-7

When Sub-commandante Marcos rode out of the jungles of Chiapas more than a half decade ago, he became the most charismatic revolutionary of his time. Dressed in a black balaclava which revealed only his eyes, and with a battered forage cap on his head, he was the poster boy for the world's latest peasant uprising. It was, pundits said, the first post-modern rebellion and Marcos made use of the world's fascination with both celebrity and the Internet. A multilingual intellectual, he was more than articulate enough in a half-dozen languages to make the sufferings of the indigenous and poor of Mexico into an international cause celebre. The pipe clenched between his teeth gave him a professorial air, and he became an iconic Che-with-a-woolen-mask. The French fashion magazine Marie Claire would send a crew from the boulevards of paris to the humid jungles of Mexico to shoot Marcos on horseback, Marcos in a tent, Marcos consulting with natives, Marcos being ... well, Marcos. He was the Scarlet Pimpernel of the Mexican bush. And in A Place Called Chiapas, the latest documentary from Canadian filmmaker Nettie Wild, Marcos is both admired and questioned. While it's clear that Wild's sympathies are with him and the Zapatistas, it's equally obvious that Wild isn't afraid to ask the kind of questions that can turn the charismatic Marcos into the querulous Marcos. It is a tribute to the Vancouver filmmaker, who has travelled the world making tough, single-minded and smart documentaries, that Marcos finally agrees to a one-on-one interview with Wild after he rejected the first of her requests.

ARTS FUNDING CUTS KILL ALBERTA THEATRES

PRIVATE HOSPITAL GROUP SUES ALBERTA NEW DEMOCRATS AND THEIR LEADER; PAM BARRETT---DEFENSE FUND LAUNCHED

Labour education shows its value A celebration on the shores of Lake Huron

By Judy Rebick