Chuck Guite, former federal employee and former Groupaction marketing president Jean Brault are out on bail after each one pleaded not guilty to six counts of indictment for fraud totalling $1,967,000 and conspiracy by fraudulent means.

Deputy Conservative leader Peter MacKay said the timing of the charges raises the “spectre of political interference.”

MacKay said the charges come in the wake of a demand for quick arrests by Jean Lapierre, Prime Minister Paul Martin’s new Quebec lieutenant.

Lapierre, a high-profile Liberal candidate, said the charges should be laid quickly so that Quebec voters can be assured wrongdoing is being addressed.

Monsanto
For 10 years a Saskachewan farmer, Percy Schmeiser battled genetically modified canola growing in a ditch near his farm, which lead to a bigger battle with the company that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

And now Monsanto has announced it has shelved plans for it’s genetically modified wheat.
The farmers may be losing the battle with the Monsanto but the consumer may well wind up calling the shots.

The strongest opposition came from the countries that buy Canadian wheat.

“We’ve had firm statements from customers around the world, but particularly in Europe and Asia, saying that they don’t want GM wheat,” said Patty Rosher of the Canadian Wheat Board.

Monsanto will only say that it is a “business decision based on the economics of bringing this particular product to market,” said company spokesperson Trish Jordan.

Monsanto says it hasn’t cancelled its application to sell GM wheat seed and has not ruled out selling it in the future.

A Canadian blogger
Kudos to Michelle Johnston for the mention of her blogging survey for her college course at Gospelcom.net Internet for Christians. The survey of bloggers is posted on her new blog: Dialog: Breaking the Bubble and Internet for Christians highlights the question her study asks:

We’ve all seen blogs used to talk about current events, rant about politics and religion, and generally interact with the online public—but can you use a blog to do actual ministry?…She’s already got a variety of interesting facts, surveys, and posts up on the subject. If you or your ministry are exploring the idea of ministry via a weblog or similar forum, it’ll be worth your time to read and participate in the discussion.