July 27, 2009

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NATIONAL

OUR BEST (AND WORST) RUN CITIES

EXCLUSIVE REPORT: Which cities provide the best services per taxpayer’s buck? Canada’s first ever study of municipal effectiveness finds some surprises. By ANDREW COYNE12 min

INTERVIEW

Q You’ve said that playing in the CFL was one of your greatest career moves, but it must have been tough showing up in 1978 after winning the Rose Bowl with the University of Washington but getting no interest from any NFL team. A: It definitely wasn’t a goal of mine to have a great college career and then go to the CFL to play. By COLIN CAMPBELL9 min

MAIL BAG

HOW NICE to read something encouraging, positive and downright complimentary about Canada (“The best place on earth,” Special Report, July 6). Why, it’s almost like bragging. Let’s have more! Alan Cogan, Halifax SO CANADIAN men have an average of 23 sexual partners and Canadian women have an average of 10 partners during their lifetimes (“Are we blushing yet?” Special Report, July 6), and this makes us a land of great lovers?

THIS WEEK

NEWSMAKERS

So much mystery attends North Korea, Asia’s only Communist dynasty, and so fraught are the geopolitics of the region, that the merest sign of health trouble for its Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il, sets off international alarms. So it was this week when South Korea’s YTN television, citing Korean and Chinese intelligence sources, reported that the 67-year-old has pancreatic cancer and, at best, five years to live.

BUSINESS

ECONOWATCH

Almost from the beginning of this economic downturn, experts have been rushing to tell us how different this one is from all others that have gone before. Yes, we’ve had stock market bubbles pop, we’ve seen the real estate market crash, we’ve seen Wall Street paralyzed by fear, and governments printing money in an effort to avert catastrophe. By STEVE MAICH7 min