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Profiles several young Canadians who are already becoming successes in various fields. Runner Nicolas Macrozanris; Golfer Eom-Ji Park; Youth activists Crystal Procyshen and Kevin King; Farmer Greg Dietrich; Kayak guide Mikael Rioux; Scholars Laura Lucier and Jonathan Sick.

Examines how the weakening Canadian dollar has impacted vacation plans of Canadians. Decision of many to stay close to home; Worries of Royal Bank of Canada chief economist John McCallum; Mounting anxiety over the exchange rate gap against the United States dollar; American destinations that are attempting to lure Canadian customers; Canadian attitudes toward the dollar's woes. INSET: Free advice.

Considers the controversy in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island over the construction of the Confederation Bridge. The bridge as a fixed link between Canada's smallest province and the mainland at Jourimain Island, New Brunswick; The feared social impact of the bridge; Economic impact; Comments from opponents and proponents of the bridge; Background on the project and the debate over it; The planned Bridgefest celebration.

Reports the arrest of two Albertans in Belgrade, Serbia on charges of terrorism, possession of weapons and explosives, and resisting arrest. Background on entrepreneur Shaun Going, his construction company Meridian Resources, and his nephew Liam Hall; Expectation that their fate is linked to that of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic in the general election on September 24, 2000.

The article focuses on beef safety, in light of the discovery last May of an Alberta cow with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, otherwise known as mad cow disease. Premier Ralph Klein proposed a wager that he would pay any resident of Japan (the most BSE-phobic of nations) $10 billion to come to Alberta and eat nothing but beef for a year. If that person got deathly sick, Klein would pay up. There were no takers for what was, after all, a pretty safe bet. Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) -- a mysterious brain illness linked to eating BSE-infected cattle parts that has killed 153 people worldwide since 1995 -- has an incubation period of at least a decade. But Klein's bravado goes to the heart of a very emotional debate: just how safe is beef in light of last May's mad cow and the discovery of a second one (also Alberta-born) in Washington state on Dec. 23? The short answer, say the experts, is yes. Tim Sly, an epidemiologist and director of the school of occupational and public health at Toronto's Ryerson University, points to the experience in Britain, where all but 10 of the known vCJD deaths occurred. Mad cow aside, there are plenty of concerns that the widespread practice of giving antibiotics to cattle may actually be promoting new strains of drug-resistant infections in animals and humans alike. But Doug Powell, scientific director of the Food Safety Network at Ontario's Guelph University, says such concerns pale beside the biggest enemy of all: food-borne illnesses that afflict up to one in four Canadians annually and are due to micro-organisms lurking in beef and poultry as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. Controlling these outbreaks, he says, largely comes down to improving sanitation practices at every stage along the food chain.

This article discusses the political climate surrounding the upcoming provincial elections in Saskatchewan. And judging by the seven provincial elections held to date this year, Canadians are in a particularly grumpy mood. In Quebec, Ontario and last week in Newfoundland, long-standing governments of various political stripes were not only defeated, but thoroughly trounced. In New Brunswick, Premier Bernard Lord fared only slightly better, as public fury over skyrocketing auto insurance rates reduced his iron grip on power to a tenuous grasp. True enough, Manitoba's Gary Doer, Nova Scotia's John Hamm and Prince Edward Island's Pat Binns were all returned to office by comfortable margins. But in each case, there was a palpable lack of enthusiasm about the exercise -- as if, given better alternatives, voters might have also opted to topple and turf. Which brings us to Saskatchewan, where a party that didn't even exist seven years ago stands an excellent chance of defeating the province's 12-year-old NDP government. The Saskatchewan Party, an amalgam of disaffected Conservatives and Liberals who formed their own "unite-the-right" movement in 1997, was brimming with confidence last week as the Nov. 5 election date approached. For all of that, the NDP cannot be written off lightly. In power for 43 of the past 59 years, it is Saskatchewan's natural governing party -- and renowned for fielding a formidable cadre of campaign foot soldiers.

Focuses on the increase in gasoline and oil prices as of August 1999. Economic benefits for oil industries; Drawbacks for Canadian consumers with their use of natural gasoline to heat homes; Possible effects of weather; The price increase as a result of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) decision to raise oil prices by cutting production; History of changes in the gasoline industry; Comments from homeowners.

Presents an interview with Winnepeg's entomologist Taz Stuart about his views on mosquito control and malathion. His preference for eliminating mosquitoes without chemicals by going biological with predators and attacking larvae in the water; Why the city had to spray with malathion.

Presents an interview with David Butler-Jones, Canada's first chief public health officer. The next time Canadians are confronted with a deadly threat like SARS, you'll be seeing a lot of David Butler-Jones in the news. The 51-year-old former family physician recently became the country's first chief public health officer, heading up a new agency based in Winnipeg. What's the next big threat? We're working with our colleagues internationally toward better surveillance. Laboratories around the world are trying to understand what makes these pandemic strains so deadly. But I do lose sleep sometimes wondering if we're doing all the things we need to do. The greatest risk is the smallpox virus, because of its ability to spread and the severity of the disease. Childhood obesity: what needs to be done?

This is an article that profiles John Stanton, president of the Running Room retail chain in Canada.John Stanton is spreading the word. "You need to think of exercise as a celebration of good health," the president of the Running Room retail chain tells a group of 60 novice runners at one of his stores in St. Albert, 10 km north of Edmonton. With that, Stanton, a veteran of 56 marathons, joins the group for a two-kilometre run. Twenty-one years ago, Stanton was a self-described couch potato who puffed more than two packs a day and carried 238 pounds on a five-foot-nine frame. The turning point came when Stanton's son, Jason, then 11, convinced him to take part in a 2.5-km fun run. Stanton, the author of two running books, acknowledges the clinics attract customers.

Canadians Ronald Siegmund and Robert Lawrence went to an Alberta registry office in downtown Calgary in August 2003 with a request to apply for a marriage licence. When refused, they lodged a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission, claiming they had been discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation. Gay bashing is something the couple have long endured. In 2002, Lawrence, a provincial employee, launched a legal challenge that helped convince the Alberta government to extend survivor pension benefits to same-sex partners. For months afterwards, says Lawrence, he and Siegmund received death threats. Undaunted, the couple decided it was time to take another public stance, this time in support of gay marriage. Both men believe that if their reasons for wanting to get married were properly understood, the majority of Canadians would support them. It has to do with ensuring they have the same legal status as heterosexual spouses, including full pension and health-care benefits as well as a say in medical decisions should one of them become incapable of giving informed consent for treatment.

For 31 months, William Sampson endured solitary confinement in a windowless Saudi Arabian prison where the constant glare from a ceiling light turned his life into a seemingly endless, mind-numbing day. According to documents released under the Access to Information Act last week, Sampson told visiting Canadian emissaries on two different occasions that he'd been beaten. Back in Ottawa, though, the official line was to repeat Saudi assurances that Sampson was not being mistreated--in an attempt to secure royal clemency. It was finally granted, and on Aug. 8 Sampson was released along with a group of other foreigners. That happy news, however, also set off a chorus of second-guessing. Opposition critics accused the Canadian government of taking a kid glove approach toward the Saudi regime--and perhaps prolonging the amount of time Sampson languished in jail. The released documents revealed that Sampson told Canadian diplomats as early as October 2001 that he had been physically abused during his first 10 months in prison, and that he blamed one of the beatings for provoking a heart attack. Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham rejected criticism of Ottawa's handling of the case, and defended his decision to repeat -- though not explicitly endorse -- Saudi assertions that no abuse occurred.

Focuses on Reginald Bibby, who tracks religious trends in Canada. Mention of his book 'Restless Gods: The Renaissance of Religion in Canada'; His conclusion that most Canadians hunger for a more spiritual life; Possibility of reactivating inactive members of Canada's mainstream religious groups; Signs that religious groups are finding a way to respond to the spiritual needs of youth.

Profiles Bernadette McDonald, who is known as Canada's first lady of mountain climbing. Details of her experience in the mountains; Biographical background on McDonald; Career highlights, which include founder and vice president of Mountain Culture at the Banff Centre.

Reports the results of a survey taken by `Maclean's' magazine and CBC News to determine the attitudes Canadians had towards sex in 1997. The high rates of sexual activity in Newfoundland; Findings that people who go out alot have a lower rate of sexual activity; Percentage of people practicing safe sex; Comments.