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As other Canadians prepared last week to celebrate the country's 131st birthday, families of the 26 men who died in the May, 1992, Westray mine explosion girded themselves for a more sombre undertaking.

From the outside there was little to distinguish the sleek Toyota Prius from any other car on the streets of Timmins, Ont. But when the driver turned the key, it was clear this was no ordinary sedan. The only sound as the Prius pulled away was the gentle hum of an electric motor.

The atmosphere was at once optimistic and wary. As they arrived in Saskatoon for last week's premiers' conference, provincial officials thought the stars were lining up for an agreement on a united front to carry them into negotiations with Ottawa on social programs.

Under a hazy sky, Helen Beath clutched a placard on the picket line outside Montreal General Hospital. Even though she retired in May after 43 years of nursing, Beath returned to the hospital last week to support her former colleagues.

Every Barbara Walters celebrity interview has a signature moment, the one where the interviewee's lower lip trembles and the tears start to flow. Devotees of the form were heartened to see that her televised session with Monica Lewinsky was no exception.

It was another Kennedy family reunion at the storied Hyannisport, Mass., island compound where they have shared so much joy and sorrow.

Finance Minister Paul Martin’s mission was clear in delivering his annual fall economic update. Douse hopes that much new spending is in the works. Dismiss the argument that Ottawa can afford a big reduction in Employment Insurance premiums.

On the crisp wintry morning after the televised leaders debate that was supposed to save his sinking election campaign, Quebec Liberal Leader Jean Charest took his remaining hopes home to the comfort of Quebec’s Eastern Townships.

The sheer cowardice of the act was chilling. Someone, it appears, waited in the dusk that comes early this time of year for Tara Singh Hayer, the editor of North America’s largest Punjabi-language newspaper, to return to his home in Surrey, B.C., at the end of the workday on Nov. 18.

Mere hours before the official reopening of its fashion floors in Toronto’s Yorkdale mall last week, there appeared perhaps the perfect illustration of Eaton’s quest to remake itself. Downstairs, the array of cosmetics and fashion accessories was deliciously tempting.

A hundred and seventy years ago in England, about 200 crimes carried the death penalty. People were publicly hanged for offences ranging from murder to the theft of food or pocket change.

The First Ministers had barely tucked into their beef consommé when Alberta Premier Ralph Klein began to denounce the federal government’s betrayal.

Alberta’s energy minister, Steve West, spent much of last week wearing a tight smile, his clenched jaw and square shoulders set as firmly as his conviction that people who blame the oilpatch for the next century’s foul weather have lost their heads.

On a balmy late-December afternoon, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was in conversation with Maclean’s at his official residence when the telephone rang for the second time. Gesturing to an aide to silence the call, Chrétien said: "Push 'Do Not Disturb.' " The aide hit the button, exclaiming: "Ah, DND.

Having a cabinet minister resign in a flurry of scandal is something no prime minister relishes.

Martin is ready to table legislation as early as February to make it easier for foreign banks to open branches here. They are now required to set up Canadian subsidiaries with enough assets to back up any deposits they take in at Canadian branches.

Shana Chetner doesn't mince words. Child pornography is sexual abuse, the youth counsellor for Greater Vancouver Mental Health Services says, and abuse leads to damaged adults. "The children are exploited and coerced," says Chetner, who has worked with troubled teenagers for nine years.

Strange things were happening to Philip Watts. When he woke in the morning he noticed a spray of brown markings on his pillow, which at first looked like coffee grounds. He soon realized they were caused by blood.