The New Brunswick government is permanently outlawing 15-seat passenger vans for school use as it implements new safety standards in response to a road accident that killed eight people last winter.

A nickel processing plant in Long Harbour cleared an environmental hurdle yesterday as Newfoundland and Labrador announced it is releasing Vale Inco Ltd. from further environmental assessment of the $2-billion project. The mining giant wants to dispose of more than 400,000 tonnes of effluent annually - including nickel, copper and cobalt - in nearby Sandy Pond in eastern Newfoundland. The project is still the subject of a review by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Vale Inco must meet 10 conditions as part of the province's decision, including developing an environment protection plan for approval by the environment minister before construction starts. The company has said the facility would also emit 555,000 kilograms of chemicals, including sulphur dioxide, hydrogen chloride and lead, into the air every year. VALE5 (Sao Paulo) fell 0.12 real to 37.01 reais.

When he brings visitors through his workplace, Dave Perry can't help but give a personal history: ''I always say, 35 years ago when I was a kid, that's where I spent all my Saturdays - playing in the toy department,'' he says, referring to a section of the building. ''That's what it was.''

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For a once traditional PEI potato farmer, dandelions aren't a pest; they're a Japanese drink, salad and buyer-based business model

It's harder to grow a good dandelion than you think.Raymond Loo knows this firsthand, after having to play around with spacing and timing, order specialized equipment and get seeds from Ontario. But it's paid off and the Prince Edward Island farmer now has about an acre. He will be harvesting some of the weed this week.

A search is under way in New Brunswick's Miramichi Bay for a 27-year-old man who fell overboard from a pleasure craft.Others on board the boat called for help around 3:30 p.m. yesterday, Lieutenant Pat Jessup of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax said.

A police officer and a young black man have been charged after a late-night fracas outside a small-town bar that provoked allegations of racism.Adam Whynott, a three-year veteran with Halifax Regional Police who was off duty at the time of the incident, faces one count of disturbance in a public place by fighting. William Drummond faces the same charge, as well as one count of resisting a police officer.

Newfoundland government's role in search for a new president has raised the ire of academic community and left school in limbo as it prepares for new year

The government of Newfoundland and Labrador has not been able to ease the concerns of three cancer specialists who plan to leave the province if conditions don't improve.The gynecologic oncologists, who work in a field so specialized that it is practised by only about 60 people across Canada, submitted resignations that will come into effect early in October. They are the only doctors in the province performing the specialty, and their absence will cause enormous hardship, leaving about 1,200 patients in the lurch.

In its discussion paper on tax reform, published in June, New Brunswick contemplates cutting its corporate income tax rate from 13 per cent to 5 per cent, the preferential rate it levies on small business. In this option, New Brunswick would flat-tax all corporate income at the same low rate, ending the arbitrary penalty that it imposes on companies with incomes greater than $400,000 a year. The proposition is, by Canadian standards, exceptional. Governments in this country typically limit tax changes to decimal-point alterations - and take years to implement them. But the bold New Brunswick proposal begs an obvious question. Why stop at 5 per cent?

Newfoundland's Education Minister, under fire for the province's involvement in the search for a new president at Memorial University, is meeting next month with national and local faculty leaders, the latest move in a tug of war over governance.

Owners make take case to provincial Supreme Court as tenants refuse to leave

Federal Liberals are calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government to be more generous with compensation for victims of Agent Orange testing in New Brunswick.Andy Scott, the Liberal MP for Fredericton, says it's unfair that so many people have been eliminated from compensation due to the government's decision to limit payments to people still living on Feb. 6, 2006 - the date the Conservatives came to office.

North Rustico is a tiny community in Prince Edward Island known for its water sports, Canada Day celebrations and prime location on the approach to the tourist gold mine known locally as ''Anne's Land.''

For all the bitter words and stalled negotiations, the Hebron offshore oil project simply offered too rich a return to both the government and the industry for the two sides to continue warring over the details, Chevron Canada Resources Ltd. president Mark Nelson said yesterday.

The captain of a fishing vessel that sank off Newfoundland three years ago, killing four men, was fined $5,000 yesterday for violating Canada Shipping Act regulations.Shawn Ralph, skipper of the Melina and Keith II, was convicted last month on five charges, including failing to ensure the crew knew how to use lifesaving and firefighting equipment and failing to maintain a proper watch.

After a worrisome hiatus, the ocean drilling rigs are returning to Newfoundland waters this year, the most visible sign that the rapprochement between Premier Danny Williams and international oil companies extends beyond today's planned signing of the Hebron offshore deal.

Newfoundland's largest health authority has identified an additional 10 breast cancer patients who had their hormone-receptor tests sent out of province for retesting.Of those patients, Eastern Health said yesterday that three have had their results changed after the new tests. Four of the patients are still living while six are deceased.

Famous Malpeque oysters are getting smaller and declining in quality