Due to an increase in population, Ontario could be getting 15 new federal ridings.

The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario says public hearings will be held this fall on the proposed new electoral map.

 The proposed new electoral districts are located in Brampton, Cambridge, Durham, Hamilton, Markham, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Simcoe, Toronto and York.

Despite a slight population decline, the commission says the 10 electoral districts in northern Ontario should remain as a minimum for effective representation.

 Ontario's population grew from 11.41 million in the 2001 census to 12.85 million in the 2011 census.

 Under the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, the commission's main aim in redrawing boundaries is to divide the province into electoral districts as close to the average population as reasonably
possible.

    (The Canadian Press)

A central Ontario couple has won $25 million in last Friday's Lotto Max draw.

Orillia residents Susannah and Ron Higgs picked up their $25 million cheque on Monday in Toronto.

Ron, 59, who works for a steel manufacturer, and Susannah, 56, who works for an engineering company, have played the same Lotto Max numbers for more than two years.

This is not the first time the Higgs have won the lottery.  Back in 2000, the couple won $10,000 with an Instant Crossword
ticket received in a Christmas stocking.

They have already decided to give away more than $12 million of their windfall to family, which Susannah Higgs says is giving them ``great joy.''

 The Canadian Press

A man and a woman wanted for fraudulent telemarketing schemes south of the border have been arrested in Toronto

Toronto Police Service Fugitive Squad found them at their homes in Toronto and Concord.

It's alleged that 56-year-old Paul Price and 49-year-old Elissa Wells made unsolicited telephone calls to the U.S.

Police say they are believed to have defrauded tens of thousands of consumers of over $10 million.

They are being held in custody awaiting extradition proceedings.

The governing Liberals have introduced controversial legislation that will force new contracts on thousands of Ontario teachers.

The bill would rein in wages and cut benefits, as well as give the government the power to ban lockouts and strikes.

Education Minister Laurel Broten says it will ensure that the school year is free of labour disruptions, but three unions that oppose the bill say it's completely unnecessary.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation has postponed strike votes, saying it's making progress bargaining with school boards.

Union president Ken Coran says the school year is not in jeopardy and never was.

The New Democrats say they won't support the bill, but the Conservatives say they will, putting to rest any doubts about whether the bill will pass.

Opposition Leader Tim Hudak says he'd prefer a legislated wage freeze for all public-sector workers, but he'll take what he can get.
    ...

Toronto Police have released the security camera images of the suspect of a sexual assault investigation.

Investigators say a man entered through a woman's bedroom window through a ground-floor window of a low-rise apartment building in the Black Creek Drive and Trethewey Drive area.

She was sleeping when he is alleged to have sexually assaulted her. She woke up to find him sitting on her bed. He then fled.

He is described as black with short black hair. Anyone with information is asked to contact Toronto Police or Crime Stoppers.

When was the last time you mailed an actual letter?

Judging by Canada Post's second quarter results, probably not recently.

The company reported a loss of $10 million dollars or $4 million after taxes.

They say that's  because of lower volume, which went  down by 4.4 per cent or 31 million pieces.

An arrest has been made in the Hua Guang Liu murder case.

Peel Police have charged 40-year-old Chung Qi Jiang with second degree murder.

Liu's remains were found in Mississauga in Hewick Meadows Park and the Credit River and in Scarborough earlier this month.

41-year-old Liu owned a spa in the east end and was a mother of three.

Jiang is Liu's ex-boyfriend and a Canadian Citizen.

He was arrested in toronto on Sunday.

Lt.-Gen. Thomas Lawson has been named as Canada's next new chief of the defence staff, the country's top military post.
   
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Lawson, the current deputy commander of NORAD - the North American Aerospace Defense Command - will formally succeed Gen. Walt Natynczyk within weeks.
   
Lawson is an air force officer and one-time commander of the Royal Military College.
   
He graduated from the college in 1979 and also commanded an air squadron and Canadian Forces Base Trenton during his career.
   
He became deputy commander at NORAD in July 2011.
   
Natynczyk has held the chief's job since July 2008.
   
(The Canadian Press)

A 32-year-old woman is in life-threatening condition after she was stabbed near Dixon Rd and Kipling Ave.

Police were called to a residence in the area at about 6 a.m. Monday.

The victim's roommate, a 34-year-old woman, has been arrested.

Don't close the pool just yet.
   
Fall is just around the corner, there have been some cooler days
lately, but summer weather will drag into September in most of
Canada, says the Weather Network.
   
Eastern Manitoba to Newfoundland, southern Alberta and partsof
Saskatchewan can expect above average temperatures to continue as
the fall season begins, says Chris Scott, director of meteorology at
the Weather Network.
   
``We think there will be a little bit of a hangover, a nice
afterglow from the warmth of the summer that will carry over into at
least the start of the fall season,'' Scott said in an interview.
   
That doesn't mean Vancouver, Winnipeg and Edmonton won't see warm
days ahead, but the larger western cities will all have closer to
normal fall temperatures, says Scott.
   
In the North, the Weather Network says fall temperatures and
precipitation will be mostly in ...

A new tropical storm warning has been issued along Louisiana's Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Isaac approaches.

Already in effect is a hurricane warning that covers a roughly 300-mile (480-kilometre) stretch of the Gulf Coast in four states from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle. Tropical storm warnings are also in effect for many areas along Florida's Gulf Coast.

So far, Isaac has brought drenching rain to Tampa, Florida, the site of the Republican National Convention, which was scheduled to begin Monday. But the storm is expected to hit the Gulf Coast on Tuesday or Wednesday as a hurricane. It was seven years ago on Wednesday that New Orleans was devastated by hurricane Katrina, which was a Category-Five.

The storm prompted airlines to cancel more than 600 flights over the weekend in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Only minor damage was reported in south Florida after Isaac left
8 dead in Haiti ...

A strong magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of El Salvador and a tsunami warning was issued but there were no immediate reports of damages or injuries, authorities said early Monday.

A tsunami warning was in effect for Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and Mexico after the quake struck at 10:37 p.m. Sunday. But David Walsh, an oceanographer with the Pacific Tsunami Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, said a minor, 20-centimetre (7.8-inch) swell was registered off Acajutla, El Salvador.

The quake was located 86 miles (138 kilometres) south-southwest of San Miguel, the U.S. Geological Survey reported on its website. The temblor took place at a depth of 32.9 miles (53 kilometres).

Alfonso Lara of El Salvador's Civil Protection agency said authorities were alerted to the threat of a tsunami. ``We are doing a general monitoring of the entire coast through our technicians and representatives,'' he said.

The ...

No shortage of debate is expected at Queen's Park on Monday, as MPP's come back to work a full 2 weeks early.

The Progressive Conservatives say they want some changes to proposed legislation that would force new contracts on thousands of Ontario teachers.

The bill would impose an agreement reached with English Catholic teachers on all remaining teachers and school boards who haven't signed on, as well as ban strikes and lockouts.

But Tory education critic Lisa MacLeod says the agreement weakens the authority of principals and school boards to make calls on hiring and diagnostic tests.

In a letter to Education Minister Laurel Broten, MacLeod says she'll propose the amendments to the legislation if it passes first reading and goes to committee.

The minority Liberals will introduce the bill next week, saying it's necessary to rein in wages and cut benefits to help eliminate a $15-billion deficit.

But they ...