National

TORONTO—Toronto police are treating the discovery of four bodies in an east-end home as a triple homicide.
While police have remain tight-lipped, they have said the case involves “family” violence and haven’t ruled out murder-suicide.
In a release, police called a news conference for 2 p.m. today to discuss three homicides.
A man was arrested and questioned by police yesterday after the bodies were found, but was released today without being charged.

WINNIPEG—A Winnipeg man who is about $3 million richer after winning part of a Lotto 6-49 prize will get to keep his identity secret, lottery officials have decided.
Normally, the Western Canada Lottery Corp. provides the media with winners’ names, place of residence, and a recent photograph. The purpose of the publicity is to show the public the lottery is above board.
But corporation spokeswoman Andrea Marantz said an exception is made in the case of people such as prison guards and detectives who do undercover work.

TORONTO—There is a media report that Conrad Black is pinning his hopes on clemency from U.S. President George W. Bush as a last-ditch effort to get out of jail early.
And the Globe and Mail said he wants his former publishing company to foot the legal bill.
Sources told the Globe that Black’s lawyers recently submitted legal bills to Sun-Times Media Group, Inc., some of which referred to work done in pursuit of a clemency plea.

OTTAWA—Canadians should not expect quick relief from the deepening economic slump from next week’s economic update, Finance minister Jim Flaherty said yesterday.
Flaherty told reporters following the government’s throne speech that no major measures to stimulate the economy or bail out the teetering auto sector will be in next week’s announcement.
“That is not a mini-budget; it’s an update,” Flaherty stressed.
The finance minister did say the update, expected Nov. 27 or 28, may contain some new measures, including initiatives to reign in government spending, however.

OTTAWA—Former Ontario premier Bob Rae formally declared his candidacy for the leadership of the federal Liberal party today, saying he won’t hide from the legacy of his recession-ravaged government of the 1990s.
“I’m running because I believe I have the judgment, the character, the values, and the experience to lead at a very difficult time in the life of our country,” said Rae, who won a Toronto seat in a byelection last March and was re-elected last month.
Two others are in the race—Dominic LeBlanc and Rae’s longtime friend, Michael Ignatieff.

HALIFAX—Hundreds of people spent the night stuck in their vehicles in Nova Scotia’s Cobequid Pass as a severe snowstorm hit the province late yesterday dumping as much at 20 cm over higher elevations.
At one point, the RCMP estimated as many as 1,500 cars were backed up along a 10-km stretch in the westbound lanes of the four-lane divided highway.
“It started as a chain reaction when a tractor-trailer started sliding off the road and another vehicle collided with it around 5 p.m. Wednesday,” said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Mark Gallagher.

OTTAWA — Bob Rae tried to turn his biggest liability — his record as NDP premier of a recession-ravaged Ontario — into an asset Thursday as he formally launched his second bid for the federal Liberal leadership.
Brandishing the slogan that he’s “ready to roll,” Rae cast himself as the only one of three declared contenders with the experience to rebuild the battered Liberal party, take on Stephen Harper’s Conservatives and manage the fallout from the global economic crisis.

OTTAWA — The new era of collegiality in the House of Commons opened Thursday with a scathing Liberal critique of the Conservative economic record.
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion began the first full day of parliamentary debate following last month’s federal election by stating that it would be “totally irresponsible” to bring down Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s minority so soon.
But in his response to the Conservative throne speech delivered a day earlier, Dion then launched a detailed attack on the Harper government’s apparent willingness to send Canada back into deficit.

The Associated Press asked several interior designers to suggest Barack Obama-style changes for the White House. Some of what they had to say about their designs via email:

THE OVAL OFFICE
Vern Yip, designer and host of HGTV’s “Deserving Design”

BRUSSELS, Belgium — The European Union gave notice Thursday it is keen to have a share of the much sought after oil, gas, mineral and fish resources in the Arctic region as the polar ice cap melts.
The move is likely to irk other Arctic players, including Canada, Russia, Norway and the United States all of which have issued territorial claims in the polar region.