Dec 31 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories from
selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these
stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** A group of leading Canadian tech entrepreneurs has told
the Liberal government they need help recruiting top foreign
talent and finding customers - not handouts - if they were to
replace BlackBerry BB.TO and Nortel Networks NRTLQN.UL as
Canadian-based tech giants. They asked the government to back
down on an election pledge to increase taxation of stock
options.
** The Conservative Party is vowing to use any means
necessary, including a Senate blockade, to keep the Liberal
government from forcing through electoral-reform legislation
without first holding a referendum.
** Montreal-based daily La Presse is scrapping its
Monday-to-Friday printed papers starting Jan. 1, ending a
131-year run of publishing hard-copy news throughout the week.
NATIONAL POST
** After a string of bad investments, China Investment
Corp(CIC) CIC.UL has shut down its Toronto office and is
opening a new one in New York, part of a quiet retreat from
Canadian natural resources by China's state-controlled entities.
** An earthquake hit southern British Columbia just before
midnight Tuesday, rattling buildings, shaking beds and swaying
light fixtures. The earthquake was moderate, between magnitude
4.3 and 4.8, with its epicentre near Sidney on Vancouver Island.
** Jaskaran Sidhu, a 47-year-old man from Alberta, is facing
charges for "belligerent" behaviour and alleged assault on a
flight attendant on board an Air Canada AC.TO flight to
India. He was arrested in Toronto after the plane bound for New
Delhi turned around just off the east coast and returned to
Toronto.