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An expert panel has suggested that activities that boost children's "cardio-respiratory fitness" should be the focus of a federal tax credit.

The panel was appointed to advise Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservatives on a tax credit they proposedin May 2006 to fight obesity and encourage fitness among young Canadians.

The federal government let parents claim up to $500 per child, but give them an annual maximum refund of $78.50 per child.

The panel has also suggested a provision for children with disabilities. It recommended that their parents be able to claim up to $1,000 per child per year, up to and including the age of 21.

Cabinet must still give the final approval for the panel's recommendations. Ottawa plans to introduce thecredit on Jan. 1, 2007, at an expected cost of $160 million a year.

Question: Would the proposed fitness tax credit make a difference for your family and help solve the problem of childhood obesity?

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A day after conjoined twins were born in Vancouver, a U.S. obstetrician who was involved in a similar rare delivery is warning that the first day after such a birth is a "critical time."

Hospital officials said the twins were breathing on their own and stable in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Macedonia said separation is not always the answer for conjoined twins — especially those like the B.C. girls, the rare two per cent who are joined at the head.

"I will say, as a general rule, babies joined with fusions at the head and particularly with fusions of portions of the brain are some of the most challenging cases in separation that you will find," he said.

Macedonia said conjoined twins need a supportive community to thrive. The twins he delivered have now been separated and are reportedly doing fine.

Question: Should conjoined twins always be separated?

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Concerned parents continue to debate whether school bus seatbelts should become mandatory.

Transport Canada says its safety standards, in particular the close spacing of seats with padded backs, offer enough protection to passengers.

A 1999 study by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board also revealed that seatbelts could cause head and pelvis injuries along with deaths in severe crashes.

School buses carry almost three million Canadian children every day, according to the Canada Safety Council. Full Story

What do you think? Should school buses have seatbelts for all passengers?

Landing a National Football League team has always seemed a remote possibility for the city of Toronto.

After all, with a new NFL franchise estimated to be worth $1-billion US these days, who can blame the skeptics who view Toronto’s continuing fascination as mere rhetoric?

Aside from Toronto Blue Jays CEO and president Paul Godfrey’s interest in pursing a franchise since 1988, deep-pocketed business people have shied away from all the NFL talk.

That is, until recently. The September news conference where Maple Leafs mogul Larry Tanenbaum, and Rogers Communications tycoon Ted Rogers said they'd be interested in bringing the NFL to Toronto. Then a report that an unnamed Canadian consortium wanted to buy the New Orleans Saints and move them north. Then the announcement that Canada would play host to at least one regular-season NFL game in the coming years.

So, is Toronto ready for its own NFL franchise, or is this just a pipe dream for some rich idealists?

The CBC's The Fifth Estate has learned that in the past seven years Ontario clerks and retailers have claimed lottery victories nearly 200 times, a statistical anomaly according to one expert.

Through the Freedom of Information Act, the CBC has learned that retailers won close to 200 times, winning on average $500,000.

Dr. Jeffrey Rosenthal, a statistician with the University of Toronto and author of Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities, said statistically retailers should have been expected to win around 57 times.

OLG spokeswoman Teresa Roncon said the corporation has upped its security measures to prevent any possible fraud. Full Story

Do you have a story to tell about suspicious lottery sales? Send us your view.

An interim parliamentary committee report recommended the extension to 2011 of two anti-terrorism powers granted to police after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

The two provisions, preventive arrest and investigative hearings, will expire in December, five years after they were first enacted in December 2001.

Preventive arrest allows police to arrest someone they believe might commit a terrorist act.

Liberal and Conservative members on the committee argue there are enough protections for civil liberties within the existing law and that the provisions could be needed down the road.

The posistions are outlined in an interim report on the anti-terror law tabled in the House of Commons. Full Story

What do you think? Should we make changes to the anti-terror law or extend it to 2011?

Opponents of same-sex marriage are lobbying MPs on Parliament Hill Tuesday as the Harper government prepares for a free vote on the issue, expected later this year.

About a dozen religious and social conservative groups that call themselves the Defend Marriage Alliance are holding a full-day "national marriage caucus" in Ottawa, with press conferences, private meetings with MPs and public rallies.

But supporters of same-sex unions say the issue has been studied repeatedly and that opponents of C-38 are trying to keep alive an issue that most Canadians consider closed.
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Should this debate be reopened? Share your view.

An American teacher convicted of having sex with a 15-year-old student has been exiled to Canada as punishment in an unusual case that has immigration experts questioning its legality.

A U.S. judge gave Malcolm Watson a choice between serving as much as a year behind bars or agreeing to a three-year exile in Canada. Watson, a 35-year-old former teacher at Buffalo Seminary in New York state, chose Canada.

Watson already lives across the border in Fort Erie, Ont., with his Canadian wife and three children. The sentence starts Monday. Full Story

How do you think Canadian officials should react?

Iceland killed a fin whale on Sunday, breaching a global moratorium on commercial whaling.

The kill, the first since the 1980s, followed Iceland's announcement last week that it would resume commercial whaling. The government said it would permit nine fin whales and 30 minke whales to be killed by next August.

Conservation groups condemned the kill, but it was supported by Norway and Japan, both of which back commercial whaling. Full Story

Should the International Whaling Commission lift a 1986 ban on commercial hunts?

The Philadelphia Flyers made sweeping changes Sunday, allowing general manager Bob Clarke to resign and firing coach Ken Hitchcock.

The Flyers are off to their worst start in more than 15 years, and sit in the basement of the NHL standings and rank last in CBC Sports Online's power rankings.

"Over the last several weeks it has become clear that it was time to make a change," team owner Ed Snider said. "This is not easy for anyone involved, but we have to do what is best for this team."

What do you make of this changing of the guard for one of the NHL's most controversial and successful franchises?