The 60-year-old driver of the other car was not injured in the collision, which took place just before 11 a.m. Saturday.

Many witnesses on the scene informed police that the 67-year-old man could have suffered a health crisis prior to the accident, thus causing him to drive into the stationary vehicle.

Police have closed off the street until further notice.

The Journal de Montreal identified the individual in critical condition as Normand Lester, who reported for the French CBC for 20 years before penning Le Livre noir du Canada anglais in 1998, an incendiary tract against English Canada.

"March Against Monsanto" protesters say they want to call attention to the dangers posed by genetically modified food and the food giants that produce it. Marches are planned for more than 250 cities around the globe, according to organizers.

Genetically modified plants are grown from seeds that are engineered to resist insecticides and herbicides, add nutritional benefits or otherwise improve crop yields and increase the global food supply. Most corn, soybean and cotton crops grown in the United States today have been genetically modified. But some say genetically modified organisms can lead to serious health conditions and harm the environment.

Monsanto Co., based in St. Louis, said Saturday that it respects people's rights to express their opinion on the topic, but maintains that its seeds improve agriculture by helping farmers produce more from their land while conserving resources such as water and energy.

The use of GMOs has been a growing issue of contention in recent years, with health advocates pushing for mandatory labeling of genetically modified products even though the federal government and many scientists say the technology is safe.

The Food and Drug Administration does not require the labeling, but organic food companies and some consumer groups have intensified their push for labels, arguing that the modified seeds are floating from field to field and contaminating traditional crops. The groups have been bolstered by a growing network of consumers who are wary of processed and modified foods.

The Senate this week overwhelmingly rejected a bill that would allow states to require labeling of genetically modified foods.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization, a lobbying group that represents Monsanto, DuPont & Co. and other makers of genetically modified seeds, has said that it supports voluntary labeling for people who seek out such products. But it says that mandatory labeling would only mislead or confuse consumers into thinking the products aren't safe, even though the FDA has said there's no difference between GMO and organic, non-GMO foods.

However, state legislatures in Vermont and Connecticut moved ahead this month with a vote to make food companies declare genetically modified ingredients on their packages. And supermarket retailer Whole Foods Markets Inc. has said that all products in its North American stores that contain genetically modified ingredients will be labeled as such by 2018.

Whole Foods says there is growing demand for products that don't use GMOs, with sales of products with a "Non-GMO" verification label spiking between 15 per cent and 30 per cent.

The awards, handed out in Toronto Tuesday, have ruffled the pride of other Canadian cities, however.

Few were shocked when Stephen Harper was named Most Boring Canadian, as he proved duller than fellow contestants Avril Lavigne, Thomas Mulcair, Justin Bieber and the animated Royal Bank character.

Canada’s most boring event was declared to be the 64th Annual Tax Conference, Calgary Alberta, which edged out a couple of royal-related affairs and the the Maple Leafs' playoff elimination.

Embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford beat out Ryan Gosling as Least Boring Canadian.

The real controversy lay in the naming of Canada’s most boring city, which was won by Ottawa, with Abbotsford, B.C., Lethbridge, Alberta, Brampton, Ontario and Laval, Quebec also nominated.

The nominations were big news in Lethbridge and Abbotsford, where several media organizations reported on their inglorious consideration.

Boring Awards representative Albert Nerenberg explained how those cities were singled out.

“The process was not rigidly scientific. We open-nominated on Facebook, Twitter and on the web and about 17 cities were nominated. We narrowed the field down to five. Then we looked at substantiation. For example all the cities on the boring list are legendary in terms of boredom. There's a film being made in Ottawa called The City that Fun Forgot. Abbotsford is defined in the Urban Dictionary as boredom. But Ottawa clinched mainly because the government there brags about how boring it is. As well, Ottawa must have a greater marketing and entertainment budget than any other city so it's boringness is less excusable.”

The awards were inspired by Nerenberg’s Boredom documentary,

In a tweet Saturday afternoon, the organization said its "Board of Directors has voted to eliminate body-checking from Peewee hockey."

According to the vice-president of Hockey Development, Saturday’s vote was a "watershed moment" for peewee hockey.

"It’s a good decision, and a win-win for kids," Paul Carson told CTV’s News Channel in an interview from Charlottetown, P.E.I. where the annual meeting was held.

Carson said Saturday’s vote caps off a lengthy debate the national hockey association has been having.

"We did presentations at our semi-annual meetings. We did presentations with our board a couple of months ago -– really trying to position everybody with a level of comfort knowing that it’s the right move."

After longstanding disagreement over whether to allow hitting among young hockey players, federations in Alberta, Nova Scotia and Quebec have already instituted bans on hitting among their peewee players – most of whom are 11- and 12-years-old.

The issue gained momentum last year after a study showed that the rate of injury was three times higher in Alberta than in Quebec.

According to Hockey Alberta, the study indicated that a ban on checking at the peewee level

would prevent 400 concussions and more than 1,000 injuries each year in the province.

Earlier this month, Hockey Alberta eliminated bodychecking in all categories of peewee hockey as part of a ban that takes effect in September.

And on May 12, Nova Scotia became the latest province to ban body checking for peewee players as well as for players in the B and C levels of the bantam and midget leagues (ages 13 through 18).

But not everyone agrees that peewee players should be banned from bodychecking. Some say the practice prepares young players for tougher games at older levels, while others contend learning to do it well can prevent injuries.

According to former Calgary Flames player Theo Fleury, learning how to check effectively was essential to his success in the NHL. "Being small and having had body checking in minor hockey I learned how 2give and take a body check. Hockey is a game of contact, leave it in," he tweeted earlier this month.

But Carson doesn’t buy that argument. In his view, the protective effect of learning to check at a young age is essentially non-existent. Research shows that the risk of injury for players who hit at a younger age is roughly equivalent as the risk for players who bodycheck later in their careers, he explained.

Carson said the focus of the game for young hockey players should be skill development. "The idea behind the game is to play the sport at level where you’re really confident skater, puck carrier, passer-receiver and shooter."

He said Saturday’s vote was not unanimous although an “overwhelming” number of board members were in favour of the ban. According to a re-tweet by the Saskatchewan Hockey Assocation, it was the only organization that cast a "no" vote.

The changes voted on by Hockey Canada in Charlottetown on Saturday are expected to take effect in the 2013-2014 season.

Stockholm police spokesman Kjell Lindgren said Saturday 19 people were detained on the sixth straight night of violence, but there had been no hurling of rocks against officers as in previous days.

In Orebro, some 163 kilometres west of Stockholm, a car and a school were set on fire, and a police station was attacked. An officer suffered an eye injury when rocks were hurled at the patrol car he was in, local police said. It was unclear whether the violence had any links to the recent events in Stockholm.

The unrest in the Stockholm suburbs, some of which are predominantly populated by immigrants, was sparked by perceived police brutality after officers shot and killed a knife-wielding man who had locked himself in his apartment.

On Friday, police said they were receiving reinforcement from other parts of the country.

Still, counter-terrorism officials said they are reviewing what -- if any -- lessons can be gleaned from the information they had leading up to the slaying Wednesday.

Authorities in the U.S. have similarly pledged to review their procedures in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, with the Boston police commissioner saying that cities should consider deploying more undercover officers and installing more surveillance cameras.

The British review comes amid an outpouring of grief over Wednesday's slaughter of 25-year-old Lee Rigby of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Rigby, who had a two-year-old son, had served in Afghanistan. Detectives say they do not believe the attackers knew him or that he was specifically targeted, but they are still investigating.

"We are looking at decisions that were made and reviewing whether anything different could have been done," said a British counter-terrorism official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the investigation. "But you can't put everyone under surveillance who comes on to the radar."

Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday that the Intelligence and Security Committee would review the work of agencies such as Britain's domestic spy agency, MI5, in the wake of the attack "as is the normal practice in these sorts of cases."

In Britain, security officials operate under the "principle of proportionality," which means there needs to a compelling reason before any type of surveillance is undertaken.

Surveillance can range from watching a person's movements to intercepting phone calls and electronic communication. The greater the level of intrusion into a person's privacy, the higher the level of government approval needed.

Although British police have not named either suspect -- both are recovering from their injuries after being shot by police after the killing -- they had been known to law enforcement officers for as long as six years, the counter-terrorism official said.

One of the suspects had been photographed at multiple raucous demonstrations by the banned extremist group al-Muhajiroun.

The extremist group, whose name means "The Emigrants" in Arabic, captured attention shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, when it organized an event celebrating the airline hijackers who slaughtered thousands in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

But attending such demonstrations, investigators say, is generally not enough to put someone under surveillance or to lead authorities to believe men or women will turn violent. Trolling the Internet for extremist sites is also no proof a person will turn to violence.

In last month's Boston Marathon bombings, which killed three people and injured more than 250, at least one of the suspects had been known to authorities.

Alleged Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, killed in a shootout with police, first came to the attention of U.S. officials in early 2011, when Russia told the FBI that he and his mother were religious extremists.

The FBI investigated them, and their names were added to a Homeland Security Department database used to help screen people entering and leaving the U.S.

But the FBI found nothing linking them to religious extremists or terrorists, and asked the Russians twice for more information. The FBI never heard back and closed its investigation in June 2011.

In the fall of that year, the Russians reached out to the CIA with the same concerns.

The CIA shared this with the FBI, and also asked that the names of Tamerlan and his mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, be entered into a massive government database of people with suspected terrorist ties.

The FBI again reached out to Russia for more information, and never heard back. Officials in Boston have said the FBI did not initially share the warnings with them, though they acknowledge they might not have uncovered or disrupted the plot based on those warnings.

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis announced last week that the Boston Police Department and mayor's office will conduct reviews of the response to the bombings. Davis told Congress that cities should look at deploying more undercover officers and installing more surveillance cameras -- but not at the expense of civil liberties.

"I do not endorse actions that move Boston and our nation into a police state mentality, with surveillance cameras attached to every light pole in the city," Davis said.

Britain is already one of the most heavily watched countries in the world with more than 4.3 million CCTV cameras around the country.

Europol Director Rob Wainwright cautioned against changes that could disturb the balance struck by the "principle of proportionality."

"Investigators have to prioritize their work," Wainwright told The Associated Press. "There are limited resources, but it's not just a question of resources."

Technological advances, for instance, help investigators but also have led to a deluge of data for them to sift through, he said, noting, "The more data you have, the more potential you have for suspects."

Britain, meanwhile, was bracing for potential clashes with right-wing activists, who have promised demonstrations, as well as possible copycat terror attacks in the wake of Wednesday's killing.

Some 1,200 extra police have been put on alert in London.

Wednesday's attack was captured on video by passersby and made for gruesome viewing -- one man is seen with his hands stained red with blood and holding two butcher's knives as he angrily complained about the British government and troops in foreign lands.

Analysts say the attackers wanted the publicity to inspire copycats. Already, there has been increased chatter on militant sites, they said.

"We can see the tempo being raised," said Maajid Nawaz, a former jihadist who is now with the London-based anti-extremist Quilliam Foundation. "One of the reasons why these guys acted in this theatrical way was because of the propaganda effect so others would be inspired to do the same thing."

A British government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak about the ongoing investigation, confirmed the increase in chatter since Wednesday's attack but said no specific or credible plots had been detected.

Britain's terror threat level has remained unchanged at "substantial" -- the middle of five possible rankings -- since the slaying of Rigby.

His anguished widow, Rebecca Rigby, spoke of her loss Friday at a news conference at his unit's headquarters. "I love Lee and always will," she said, sobbing.

His stepfather, Ian Rigby, read a statement on the family's behalf, including the final text the soldier had sent to his mother, who was too upset to speak.

"The last text he sent to his mum read, 'Goodnight mum, I hope you had a fantastic day today because you are the most fantastic and one in a million mum that anyone could ever wish for. Thank you for supporting me all these years, you're not just my mum, you're my best friend. So goodnight, love you loads," Ian Rigby said.

According to a report published in the Globe and Mail Saturday, 10 people who grew up with Doug Ford say, for several years in the 1980s, he was a go-to dealer for hashish.

The report describes interviews with several unidentified people who said they either purchased hash directly from Ford, supplied him with it, or witnessed him handling the drug.

The paper notes it did not find anything on the public record that shows Doug Ford was ever criminally charged for illegal drug possession or trafficking.

The paper also says Ford's brother, Randy, was involved in the drug trade, and was once charged in relation to a drug-related kidnapping.

The Fords' sister Kathy is also mentioned as the subject of media scrutiny over the years because she has been linked to a number of "bizarre, violent and sensational incidents."

Responding to questions about the Globe report Saturday, Doug Ford told CP24 that he is very upset by the story, that it is unfair, and he is meeting with advisors to discuss what action to take.

He also says he will be making a public announcement in due course.

Russian police said they arrested at least 30 gay rights campaigners and Christian Orthodox vigilantes in Moscow.

The campaigners tried to unfurl banners denouncing Kremlin-backed anti-gay legislation in front of Russia's lower house of parliament, but they were attacked by vigilantes carrying religious icons and crosses.

The lower house in January voted in favour of a bill that makes public events and dissemination of information about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to minors punishable by fines of up to $16,000.

The bill, still awaiting final approval, is part of an effort to promote traditional Russian values as opposed to Western liberalism, which the Kremlin and church see as corrupting Russian youth and contributing to a wave of protest against President Vladimir Putin's rule.

Russia decriminalized homosexuality in 1993, but homophobia remains strong in the country. Government critics and gay rights activists claim that the Kremlin and the powerful Orthodox Church encourage vigilante groups to attack gay rallies and parades.

In Kyiv, between 50 and 100 gay rights activists staged the ex-Soviet nation's first-ever gay pride parade. They held banners reading "Homosexuality is no disease" and "Human rights are my pride."

Ukraine authorities on Thursday won a court order banning the rally from going ahead in the city centre, saying it would disturb the annual Kyiv Day celebrations. The activists moved to an area outside that zone, and authorities deployed hundreds of riot policemen to prevent any attacks by opponents.

Last year, Ukraine's gay and lesbian community cancelled the event at the last minute when skinheads gathered at the planned location, intent on beating up the participants. Two leading activists were brutally beaten by radicals in subsequent weeks.

Despite condemnation from the West, the Ukrainian parliament is debating several anti-gay bills, including one that would make any public, positive depiction of homosexuality punishable by up to five years in prison.

One opposition party leader said that Mayor Applebaum – who had taken some time off to mourn his brother – should have been more present. “Politically there was something wrong. the mayor was not there, someone else had to be there,” said Projet Montreal leader Richard Bergeron.

For 36 hours 1.3 million people in Montreal and several surrounding municipalities were deprived of clean drinking water after an error at the Atwater filtration plant.

Renovations at the largest water cleaning plant in the province required the water level in a reservoir to drop, but the water levels got so low that sediment was stirred up.

Louise Bradette said the city's Civil Security agency has begun a post-mortem investigation that is expected to last days, however she could not offer specifics about what would be examined, aside from saying that everything will be looked at from start to finish.

She did, however, respond to complaints that the city was insufficiently pro-active when it came to informing citizens of the unprecedented aquatic adventure. 

Some suggested that the city should have a system to automatically phone residents to warn them, but that too is difficult on such a scale, as only 10,000 calls can go out per hour.

One can sign up for that list, however. "There's a way you can register online with your cell phone number to be sure that if something happens again with drinkable water or something else we could reach you really fast on your cellphone with an alert message," said Bradette.

Mayor Michael Applebaum said Thursday night, in the news conference where the boil-water advisory was dropped, that it was not a problem with equipment.

"It was not a mechanical error. Now we've got to make sure how the process was done and how it was followed and were all of the measures followed in order to do a procedure of this nature," said Applebaum.

One local water experted said he's waiting anxiously for the results of the investigation.

“I personally doubt that it was an error as such. It was just something that wasn't anticipated at all. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise in a way that everyone can learn from this,” said Professor Ronald Gehr of McGill’s Civil Engineering program. “I can't imagine any treatment plant would have anticipated that this would happen.”

“The contamination came from a totally unexpected source which was at the very end of the treatment process and therefore completely safe. However since this had never been anticipated - I can't imagine any treatment plant would have anticipated that this would happen - there was no measurement device to trigger a concern,” he said.

The Liberal leader said Friday that Sen. Mac Harb did the right thing by deciding to sit as an Independent while an investigation continues into housing allowances.

"This is why I was comfortable and happy with Mac's decision to step away from the Liberal caucus," he said. "There are questions to be answered. Mr. Harb and Mr. Brazeau are having their say and they are challenging the allegations, so we will allow processes to take their place."

Harb resigned from the Liberal caucus after an independent audit found he'd improperly claimed $51,500 in Senate housing allowances.

Trudeau, who met shoppers and office workers as they went about their business at lunch Friday at a mall in Halifax, refused to say whether he thought Harb should step down from the Senate.

Harb is contesting a demand that he repay the money.

Senate Speaker Noel Kinsella says the RCMP's sensitive and international investigations unit is examining the claims of Harb and senators Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau.

Trudeau says the problem goes beyond individual senators and all the way up to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who he said was ethically irresponsible in avoiding questions about his former chief of staff's payment to Duffy.

Nigel Wright resigned Sunday as Harper's chief of staff after it emerged he had footed the $90,000 bill for Duffy's disallowed housing expenses.

Duffy has also left the Conservative caucus.

He repaid $90,000 in disallowed living expenses with the help of a secret cheque from Wright. After repaying the money, Duffy stopped co-operating with a team of independent auditors.

Duffy spoke out Thursday for the first time since the scandal erupted last week, insisting that he looks forward to a complete airing of all the facts and dismissing suggestions he should resign his Senate seat.

They propose that the city create its own asphalt production rather than buy the pothole-filling materials from private suppliers.

Mayoral hopeful Louise Harel said Friday that it would be possible to make the switch as soon as this fall, as some other Quebec towns have already paved the way by switching from private to public road material suppliers.

“It’s possible to do very quickly because many experiences have been done in other cities and certainly we can find inspiration from them,” said Harel.

Her colleague, southwest borough Mayor Benoit Dorais said that technologies developed by Permaroute and the Ecole de Technologie Superieur could be employed to have city workers steamroll ahead with in-house asphalt production.

In this system, a high-tech solvent is mixed with recycled materials taken from previous excavations and a mobile asphalt plant could even be put into use.

“It was successfully used by Crownsville and other towns and cities in Quebec, so I think the southwest borough and all the boroughs of Montreal can use that technology too,” said Dorais.

But former executive committee member Robert Libman said that the plan goes down the wrong road, creating a costly “new mega-bureaucracy to do all the road and sidewalk repairs in house.”

He said that the privatization of such services is a proven method of saving money and should be maintained.

“The blue collar workers are unionized employees,” said Libman. “That’s where the costs escalate. What if they go on strike and we are left for a few weeks without being able to do any road work?”

Libman said it would be cheaper to fix the holes in the contracting system.

“Montreal must clean up and solve the problem of collusion in the private sector and continue to outsource under this new system where everyone is squeaky clean.”

Canada Post has sent out 950,000 notices to Canadian addresses attempting to persuade residents to start taking the unwieldy piles of paper once again.

According to the missive, those who don’t take the fliers are "…missing out on mail that could save them money and keep them connected to their community.”

The letter urges residents to rip off their no-flyer sticker and return a postage-paid card to a marketing service provider named Lowe-Martin in Ottawa in order to start receiving the paper notices again.

One marketing professor said that Canada Post is likely just trying to make more money by delivering more flyers.

“I think Canada Post is hurting for business,” said Concordia University Marketing Expert Brent Pearce. “I'm assuming this is all part of Canada Post's trying to restructure to make themselves more viable.”

Canada Post has defended the initiative as an opportunity to update their no-flyer lists.

“The program was implemented in 1997 and quite frankly we had not maintained the database,” said Anick Losier of Canada Post.

At the moment, Alfredsson believes the Penguins are a cut above.

"I think they would be the favourite to play either of those two teams," Alfredsson said. "They have skill, speed, they're well-coached and a lot of experience as well. So they're going to be a tough team to beat."

Certainly too tough for the Senators.

James Neal recorded his first playoff hat trick and Pittsburgh reached the conference finals for the first time since 2009 with a 6-2 dismantling of Ottawa on Friday night, winning the best-of-seven series in five games.

The Penguins improved to 8-3 in the post-season. Eight more wins and they'll hoist the Cup for the fourth time in franchise history.

"The further you go, the tougher it gets," Penguins defenceman Doug Murray said. "Every player starts smelling the end result."

Certainly it's wafting through the Pittsburgh dressing room after the Penguins dominated one of the NHL's best defensive teams, rolling up 22 goals in five games, including 12 in the last five periods.

"We got to our game a lot," Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. "The depth we showed, different guys chipping in. The whole way through we didn't have many lulls where we lost momentum at any point."

Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Brenden Morrow also scored, and Tomas Vokoun made 29 saves as top-seeded Pittsburgh ended Ottawa's season for the third time in five years.

Milan Michalek and Kyle Turris scored for the Senators. Craig Anderson stopped 27 shots, but Ottawa simply couldn't keep up.

"I hope (the Penguins) don't bill us for the clinic," Senators coach Paul MacLean said. "But they really showed the step you have to take to continue to play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs."

The Penguins expected desperation from a team trying to extend its season for at least another 48 hours. Instead, the Senators offered only resignation.

Outskated, outshot and outworked from the opening faceoff, Ottawa put up little resistance.

"We gave them too many freebie chances and you're not going to beat a team like that when they get as many chances as they had," Senators forward Jason Spezza said.

The series win was the seventh for the Penguins under coach Dan Bylsma but the first deciding victory to come on home ice. Pittsburgh had gone 0-6 at home in potential series enders, something Bylsma's players insisted was an anomaly.

Pittsburgh made sure a trip to Canada for Game 6 wouldn't be necessary, turning Alfredsson into a prophet of sorts. The NHL's longest-tenured captain said the Senators "probably" couldn't rally to win the series after a 7-3 home loss in Game 4 on Wednesday night.

Alfredsson clarified his remarks Thursday, insisting his team still had a chance, but it didn't take long Friday night for slim to turn into none.

"We weren't able to slow them down," Alfredsson said.

Sluggish from the opening faceoff, the Senators slogged through the game's first 10 minutes, long enough for Morrow to pay immediate dividends in his return to the lineup.

The veteran forward was scratched from Game 4 in favour of rookie Beau Bennett but appeared re-energized after the night off. He got his second goal of the playoffs 6:25 into the first period, scoring the type of goal the Penguins expected when they acquired the 34-year-old from Dallas just before the trade deadline.

Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke beat a Senator to a loose puck along the halfboards then zipped a cross-ice pass to defenceman Mark Eaton. Morrow skated to the net and lifted his stick up to draw Eaton's attention. Eaton patiently waited for Morrow to get in front of the crease before throwing a puck toward the net that deflected off Morrow's skate and into the net.

The goal was held up on review and the Senators found themselves in familiar position: trailing.

Ottawa came into the game having led for just 17 minutes in regulation during the entire series, all in Game 4 before Pittsburgh buried the Senators with a four-goal outburst in the third period.

This time, the deluge came a little earlier.

Neal scored for the third time in two games when he poked in an idle rebound on the power play to put Pittsburgh up 2-0 7:38 into the second period. Letang followed with a wrist shot over Anderson's glove at the end of a 3-on-2 break to make it 3-0.

Michalek briefly made it competitive with a beautiful deke around Vokoun to pull the Senators to 3-1 with 3:48 left in the second but Malkin scored his fourth goal of the playoffs on a breakaway just before the intermission to restore the three-goal lead.

Ottawa hadn't overcome a deficit bigger than one goal in the post-season and Neal ensured there would be no meltdown by the Penguins. A pair of sizzling wrist shots in the third period gave him his first career playoff hat trick and sent the Penguins roaring into hockey's final four.

NOTES: Pittsburgh went 1 for 3 on the power play and improved to 6-0 when it outscores an opponent on special teams in the post-season. ... Ottawa is 0-6 in franchise history when it falls behind 3-1 in a series.

But he's also part of another surprise: Benskin, it turns out, owes a whopping unpaid provincial tax bill in the order of $58,000.

The Quebec government has started recouping its tax debt by garnishing Benskin's $160,000 MP salary.

The Conservatives have called for Benskin to step down and his leader Thomas Mulcair has stripped him of his role as official languages critic.

Benskin, an accomplished actor and former head of the Black Theatre Workshop, is offering contrition.

"The life of an artist isn't always easy. I have had lean periods," he said. "I have lived in precarious conditions, not knowing what the future had in store for me, sometimes without a contract for several weeks, or even months. I have had to juggle bills,” he said.

"My situation has prevented me from fulfilling all of my tax obligations and I am truly sorry."

When interviewed by CTV Montreal, several random voters in the Jeanne-Le Ber area – and area centred mainly around St. Henri - appeared unimpressed that their MP had such a bad track record.

“I think he wasn’t very well vetted by the party,” said one man. “I don’t see how you get involved in politics knowing that you have that kind of situation in your life because it’s going to come out.”

Another woman agreed. “You should have a pristine state when you start out in politics because whatever you did in the past will come back to haunt you.”

Last year Benskin introduced private member's Bill C-427, that would have allowed Canadians to pay taxes based on an average of several years annual incomes, in order to facilitate payments for artists and others whose earnings vary greatly from year to year.

The proposal was shot down by the ruling Conservatives.

Benskin’s name came up twice in parliament Friday.

Industry Minister Christian Paradis tossed the name back at an opponent with questions about the senate expenses scandal, suggesting that Mulcair had not punished Benskin sufficiently.

The twister that devastated Moore, Okla., was the 74th presidential disaster declared in the Sooner state in the past 60 years. Only much-larger and more-populous California and Texas have had more.

The state is No. 1 in tornado disasters and No. 3 for flooding, according to a database of presidential disaster declarations handled by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And those figures don't include drought, which is handled by a different agency.

The explanation is partly atmospheric conditions that trigger twisters and flooding, partly where people live and how they build their homes, and partly politics and bureaucratic skill, according to disaster experts. Even one of the state's U.S. senators said recently that because of the way federal guidelines are written, Oklahoma is getting disaster aid more often than it needs.

Of the 25 U.S. counties that have been declared disasters the most times since 1953, nine are in Oklahoma, the highest total of any state.

Oklahoma County has been on the disaster list 38 times, more than the entire state of New Jersey. Caddo County, just west of the Oklahoma City metro area, has been named a federal disaster area nine times since 2007, with a litany of woe that includes twisters, floods, ice storms, a blizzard and violent winds.

"Things happen around here," Tulsa, Okla.-based disaster consultant Ann Patton said. "Of course, sometimes it can make you stronger."

When disaster declarations are measured on a per-person basis, Oklahoma gets nearly three times the national average. When they are computed based on how much land is in a state, it gets twice the national average, according to an analysis of FEMA records.

The atmospheric explanation is pretty basic: "Oklahoma really is the bull's-eye for awful tornadoes," said Mike Lindell, director of the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center at Texas A&M University.

Oklahoma is in a particularly busy and dangerous section of Tornado Alley, the cluster of states in the nation's midsection that are especially twister-prone.

If you map all the nation's tornadoes in May -- the busiest tornado month -- they form a circular blob 100 miles across over central Oklahoma. That's because low-pressure systems rush south down the Rocky Mountains and collide with warm, moist air, forming nasty thunderstorms that often spawn tornadoes, said Harold Brooks, a research meteorologist at the Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla.

"Welcome to the sweet spot of severe thunderstorms," Brooks said.

Texas, Kansas and Florida get more tornadoes than Oklahoma does, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But Oklahoma gets more of the biggest ones -- the EF5s, like the one that smashed Moore. That's why the storm lab and the National Weather Service storm prediction centre are in Oklahoma, Lindell said.

With severe thunderstorms, you can get both tornadoes and flooding. Oklahoma has been declared a disaster 35 times because of tornadoes and 44 times because of flooding. In some instances, a combination tornado-and-flood disaster was declared.

The FEMA database looks only at how often catastrophes are declared and aid is shipped, not at how much total money is given out.

Tornadoes generally occur more frequently than hurricanes and earthquakes but usually don't cause as much damage. Oklahoma City officials estimate the Moore tornado caused up to $2 billion in damage, while state officials say it may exceed the figures for the 2011 Joplin, Mo., tornado. At $2.8 billion, Joplin is the nation's costliest tornado since 1950, according to NOAA.

Yet NOAA's National Hurricane Center lists more than 30 hurricanes that caused more than $2.8 billion damage when adjusted for inflation. Hurricanes tend to hit broader areas, last longer and strike the more densely populated coast, where property values are higher.

Another explanation for Oklahoma's role as Disaster Central is urban sprawl, which puts more people in the path of disasters. Moore, with 56,000 people, boomed by more than one-third between 2000 and 2010. As more such suburbs pop up and grow, the chances of homes being hit increases.

Between 1970 and 1985, Tulsa County was declared a flood disaster about nine times, said Patton, the disaster consultant. Then the city moved more than 1,000 buildings out of harm's way and diverted water. There hasn't been major flooding since, she said.

Oklahoma is the leading state when it comes to safe rooms, which probably saved lives in Moore, according to FEMA. Yet some areas haven't developed wisely to avoid disasters and "don't respect the power of nature," Patton said.

Several disaster experts also say Oklahoma is particularly adept at working the bureaucracy to obtain federal aid.

Having the president declare your community a federal disaster area is a complicated process that needs to be followed precisely. A governor must request a presidential declaration in writing through FEMA, which rates the disaster based on a number of factors. It is up to the president to make the decision, and then it's up to FEMA to get the aid flowing.

The presidential decision involves many factors, including the political clout of the region's congressional delegation and how good a case the governor makes, said University of Delaware political science professor Richard Sylves, who studies disaster declarations. Oklahoma is so experienced at this process that its governors and emergency managers know how to make it run smoothly, he said.

"Some people get disaster declarations simply because they've got an influential political delegation," Lindell said of the process in general.

The irony, said Kathleen Tierney, who heads the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado, is that Oklahoma's current two senators have often opposed special disaster relief funding bills for other parts of the country, such as one earlier this year for the Northeast after Superstorm Sandy.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has criticized the FEMA formula for declaring disasters, saying it rewards smaller states and punishes bigger ones for catastrophes of the same size.

During a hearing last month, Coburn told Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano: "Oklahoma had 22 FEMA grants last year. I'm thankful that the federal government is helping Oklahoma out, but in a lot of those, we weren't overwhelmed and we could have taken and dealt with it. And some states that may be in much worse budget shape than we are had twice as much but got no help from the federal government on like-minded events. "

Joseph Nimmich, FEMA associate administrator for disaster response, said Thursday that politics has absolutely nothing to do with Oklahoma's many disaster declarations: "It's purely a natural occurrence."

Paula Broadwell told WSOC-TV in Charlotte on Thursday that she credited her husband and friends for standing by her as she rebuilds her life six months after her relationship with the married Petraeus was revealed by an FBI investigation and ignited a political firestorm. TV crews camped out front of her family home for days and Broadwell went into seclusion. The couple has two young children.

"I have remorse for the harm, sadness that this has caused in my family and other families and for causes that we belong to," Broadwell said. "I'm blessed with family, community. That's been a great part of my rehabilitation and wonderful organizations that realize that even if you've made mistakes you can pick up dust off and move on."

Broadwell spoke briefly last month with a reporter outside a Charlotte prayer breakfast, but Thursday was her first in-depth media interview since the scandal broke. Broadwell is a U.S. Army reserve officer who met then-Gen. Petraeus while researching a book about his wartime leadership in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The affair came to light after Broadwell sent vaguely threatening emails to a Florida socialite she viewed as a rival for his attention. That woman, Jill Kelley, showed the emails to an acquaintance who is an FBI agent.

For his part, Petraeus made similar comments in March in a speech at an event for soldiers in California, saying he was sorry for the affair and the pain it caused his wife, family, friends and supporters.

"Needless to say, I join you keenly aware that I am regarded in a different light now than I was a year ago," said Petraeus, who retired as a four-star general before being named by President Barack Obama to head the CIA in 2011. "I am also keenly aware that the reason for my recent journey was my own doing."

Broadwell spends much of her time now working with local organizations in the Charlotte area that help returning veterans with finding jobs and housing. Broadwell said working with soldiers struggling to overcome visible and invisible wounds serves as therapy for her, as well.

"I'm not focused on the past, I'm not dwelling on it," she said. "It was a devastating thing for our family and we still have some healing to do, but we're very focused now on how can we continue to contribute and use this for the greater good, too."

On Friday a judge refused to grant bail to Michael Belanger on charges related to luring, incitement to sexual touching, sexual interference and possession of child pornography.

Belanger was arrested on May 10 and his bail hearing was held on Friday May 24.

During the interim, police seized and searched his computer and say they found evidence he abused many children.

However they say they found evidence that Belanger contacted another 40 people, mostly girls aged 14 to 17, throughout Canada and possibly Jamaica.

Officers say he posed as a teenage boy, using multiple pseudonyms including Michael Adam Jones, Jake Williams, Ben Donaldson and Jonathan Cruise.

Police say Belanger would send his alleged victims friendship requests through Facebook, MSN Messenger or Skype, then begin a seduction campaign with the goal of getting them to strip or perform sexual acts on camera.

"There are four identified victims that were met, eight more that are waiting to be met, that we know of, so 12 total and then investigators are expecting 40 or more," said Prosecutor Caroline Dufour.

Belanger, 62, has been a leader with Scouts Canada for 30 years.

Scouts Canada told CTV Montreal that Belanger had passed a background check as recently as 2011. They have now suspended him and notified parents but they also believe that none of the young people he worked with were harmed in any way.

Police are asking anybody with any other information of Belanger's possible misdeeds to call 911.

The fourth weekend repair blitz, which would have seen several lanes shut down between May 24 to May 26, has been postponed to the weekend of June 29 and 30.

Night closures will remain in effect, however, as two of three lanes will be closed overnight Friday and Saturday from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.

“There are serious accusations from the Toronto Star that I use crack cocaine,” Ford told reporters at city hall on Friday afternoon. “I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine.”

It’s been more than a week since reports of the alleged video first surfaced on U.S. website Gawker, and later in the Toronto Star.

Both media outlets said they had viewed a video that appears to show the mayor smoking crack cocaine.

The existence and content of the video has not been verified by CTV News.

Last week, Ford called the allegations “ridiculous,” but said little else about the matter.

The mayor said Friday he was advised by his lawyer to “not say a word.”

“I cannot comment on a video that I have never seen or does not exist,” he said.

He said it was “most unfortunate” the he has been “judged by the media without any evidence.”

Ford added that the intense media scrutiny during the past week has taken a toll on him and his family, and he thanked his supporters.

The mayor also briefly addressed his dismissal from his duties as a volunteer high school football coach. The Toronto Catholic District School Board announced this week that Ford will no longer coach the Don Bosco Eagles, but stressed that the decision had nothing to do with the video allegations.

The school board said Ford was let go because he made disparaging remarks about the players and the school in a March media interview.

The mayor said Friday he will continue to support the team and wished the young players success in the upcoming season.

“These kids are phenomenal kids who have bright futures and can do anything if they put their mind to it.”

Following his statement, the mayor refused to take questions, but his brother, Coun. Doug Ford, agreed to answer a limited number of questions from the crush of reporters who gathered at city hall.

“He does not have an addiction to crack cocaine and I think he was really clear on that,” Doug Ford said.

“There was one news organization that accused, and has an accusation, of a video that does not exist or we haven’t seen. Very simple” he said. “So, until then, we’ll deal from there.”

Councillors react to Ford’s statement

Ford’s statement came shortly after members of his inner circle released a letter assuring residents that despite the controversy that’s surrounded the mayor over the last week, city business continues without interruption.

The open letter, signed by six members of Ford’s executive committee, urged the mayor to speak to the allegations as the controversy around the reports continued to intensify.

“We ask the Mayor to definitely address the allegations before him,” the letter reads. “The allegations need to be addressed openly and transparently. We are encouraging the Mayor to address this matter so that we can continue to focus on serving the people of Toronto.”

Following Ford’s statement, executive committee member Jaye Robinson said while she’s pleased that Ford finally addressed the allegations, she is not sure if his response was forceful enough.

“I’m not sure if he went far enough” Robinson told CTV’s Power Play on Friday. “I’m not sure if it was comprehensive as some might have liked it to be.”

Robinson, who was one of the signatories on the letter, said she’s uncertain if Ford’s statement will help quell the controversy.

“What we do know is we’d like the disruptions at city hall to end."

Deputy mayor Doug Holyday, who was personally thanked by Ford during his statement, said he doubts the heightened media attention directed at the mayor will subside anytime soon.

“I don’t imagine the matter is going to go away,” he said shortly after Ford spoke.

Executive committee member Peter Milczyn said he’s happy Ford finally broke his silence.

“I appreciate that not everyone is going to believe him, but at this point that wasn’t really the issue,” Milczyn told CP24. “The issue was he needed to come out and address it, he couldn’t just stay silent.”

Meanwhile, other councillors criticized Ford for not taking reporters’ questions and for being vague when addressing the allegations levied against him.

“He is unable to govern the city anymore,” Coun. Glen De Baeremaeker told reporters. “He has no legitimacy.”

Ford's chief of staff fired

Meanwhile, more details have emerged about the firing of the mayor’s chief of staff, Mark Towhey.

Towhey, who was the third chief of staff to serve Mayor Ford since he took office, was fired Thursday after he reportedly urged Ford to “get help,” according a source quoted by multiple media reports.

As Towhey was escorted out of city hall Thursday afternoon, he was asked what advice he had for Ford and replied his advice was confidential.

Towhey said little else, but confirmed he was no longer in the position and had not resigned.

On Friday, Ford thanked Towhey “for all the work he has done.”

Crowdfunding initiative hits snag

In another development to the saga, a crowdfunding initiative to raise $200,000 to purchase the alleged video of Ford has hit a snag, after Gawker reported it has not been able to contact the seller since last Sunday.

Gawker’s John Cook warned contributors to the fund -- dubbed “Crackstarter”-- that his confidence in completing the deal has “diminished.”

The fund had accumulated over $167,000 by Friday evening, with at least one donor pledging $10,000.

Doug Ford criticized Gawker Friday, calling the website’s initiative “disgusting.”