Former cabinet minister Cauchon makes late entry into Liberal leadership race

OTTAWA - Former cabinet minister Martin Cauchon is making a late entry into the already crowded federal Liberal leadership race.
Cauchon submitted his nomination papers and $75,000 entry fee just hours before the party's registration deadline of midnight Sunday.
Assuming everything is in order and is verified by the party in the next day or two, Cauchon will become the ninth candidate seeking to lead the once-mighty party out of the political wilderness.
He is expected to officially launch his campaign later in the week, just in time for Sunday's first leadership debate in Vancouver.
Cauchon, who as justice minister spearheaded the move to decriminalize marijuana and legalize same-sex marriage, will likely position himself as a champion of progressive Liberalism amid a leadership field that has so far shown a pronounced rightward tilt.
He waded into the fray before Christmas, blasting front-runner Justin Trudeau for calling the Chretien-era long-gun registry a failure and urging leadership contenders to have the "backbone" to stick with traditional Liberal principles.
Cauchon retired from politics in 2004; his attempt at a comeback in 2011 in his old Montreal riding of Outremont was thwarted by Tom Mulcair, now NDP leader.
He will be the third candidate from Quebec in the current contest, along with Trudeau and fellow Montreal MP Marc Garneau, Canada's first astronaut.
The other candidates who've been officially confirmed by the party are: Vancouver MP Joyce Murray, former Toronto MP Martha Hall Findlay, Toronto lawyers George Takach and Deborah Coyne, retired Canadian Forces officer Karen McCrimmon and Ottawa lawyer David Bertschi.
Cauchon's last-minute entry could prove problematic. Trudeau, who launched his campaign in early October, is widely perceived to have a huge head start, both in terms of fundraising and recruiting supporters. The others have been stumping the country, drumming up support, since at least November.
Murray, who advocates one-time electoral co-operation with the NDP and Greens, has already established herself as the lone left-wing voice and has garnered support from some prominent progressive Liberals, such as former cabinet minister Lloyd Axworthy.
However, Cauchon is a respected figure in the party, particularly among Chretien loyalists, and still has time to make his mark during five crucial debates.
The contest will culminate with the election of a new leader on April 14.

Read More..

Ravens-Patriots redux for AFC title after New England beats Houston 41-28

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Tom Brady became the winningest quarterback in post-season play, throwing for three touchdowns Sunday to beat Houston 41-28 and lift the New England Patriots into the AFC championship game.
Brady got his 17th victory, surpassing his childhood hero, Joe Montana, by throwing for 344 yards. Seldom-used running back Shane Vereen scored three times, twice on receptions.
If Brady can lead the Patriots (13-4) past Baltimore (12-6) in next Sunday's conference title game, then win the Super Bowl, he'll equal the 49ers' Hall of Famer for NFL championships.
The Patriots and Ravens are meeting for the AFC title for the second straight year. Baltimore, which stunned top-seeded Denver in double overtime Saturday, lost 23-20 at Gillette Stadium last January.
Houston (13-5) performed far better than in a 42-14 loss here last month. But the Texans couldn't slow down Brady.

Read More..

Thousands converge on Eiffel Tower in mass protest against gay marriage

PARIS - Holding aloft ancient flags and young children, hundreds of thousands of people converged Sunday on the Eiffel Tower to protest the French president's plan to legalize gay marriage and thus allow same-sex couples to adopt and conceive children.
The opposition to President Francois Hollande's plan has underscored divisions among the secular-but-Catholic French, especially more traditional rural areas versus urban enclaves. But while polls show the majority of French still support legalizing gay marriage, that backing gets more lukewarm when children come into play.
The protest march started at three points across Paris, filling boulevards throughout the city as demonstrators walked six kilometres (3 miles) to the grounds of France's most recognizable monument. Paris police estimated the crowd at 340,000, making it one of the largest demonstrations in Paris since an education protest in 1984.
"This law is going to lead to a change of civilization that we don't want," said Philippe Javaloyes, a literature teacher who bused in with 300 people from Franche Comte in the far east. "We have nothing against different ways of living, but we think that a child must grow up with a mother and a father."
Public opposition spearheaded by religious leaders has chipped away at the popularity of Hollande's plan in recent months. About 52 per cent of French favour legalizing gay marriage, according to a survey released Sunday, down from as high as 65 per cent in August.
French civil unions, allowed since 1999, are at least as popular among heterosexuals as among gay and lesbian couples. But that law has no provisions for adoption or assisted reproduction, which are at the heart of the latest debate.
Hollande's Socialist Party has sidestepped the debate on assisted reproduction, promising to examine it in March after party members split on including it in the latest proposal. That hasn't assuaged the concerns of many in Sunday's protest, however, who fear it's only a matter of time.
"They're talking about putting into national identity cards Parent 1, Parent 2, Parent 3, Parent 4. Mom, dad and the kids are going to be wiped off the map, and that's going to be bad for any country, any civilization," said Melissa Michel, a Franco-American mother of five who was among a group from the south of France on a train reserved specifically for the protest.
Support for gay marriage — and especially adoption by same-sex couples — has been particularly tenuous outside Paris, and people from hundreds of miles from the French capital marched Sunday beneath regional flags with emblems dating back to the Middle Ages, chanting "Daddy, Mommy."
If the French parliament approves the plan, France would become the 12th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, and the biggest so far in terms of economic and diplomatic influence.
Harlem Desir, the leader of Hollande's Socialist Party, said the protest would not affect the proposal's progress. The Socialists control Parliament, where the bill is expected to be introduced on Tuesday, with a vote following public debate at the end of January.
"The right to protest is protected in our country, but the Socialists are determined to give the legal right to marry and adopt to all those who love each other," he said. "This is the first time in decades in our country that the right and the extreme right are coming into the streets together to deny new rights to the French.

Read More..