PRESS DIGEST - Canada - March 19

19 Mar 2012 10:00

Source: reuters // Reuters

March 19 (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

- Ontario is unveiling a radical change to the way it funds the province's hospitals, tailoring their budgets to the number of patients they treat as well as the quality of service they provide.

The new funding formula will reward better-performing hospitals by giving them more money for treating patients more efficiently, according to health-care sources. It will also match funding to the population of a community as well as the age of people within that area, the sources said.

- The odds that Thomas Mulcair will be Leader of the Official Opposition by this time next week border on the prohibitive. In the unlikely event the Montreal MP does fall short at this weekend's NDP leadership convention, the one to watch is B.C. MP Nathan Cullen.

Reports in the business section:

- Canadian businesses and governments are lagging several western nations in the "Internet economy" and are being warned that they risk falling even further behind unless they take immediate and more aggressive action.

- Aveos Fleet Performance Inc, which does aircraft repairs for Air Canada, is getting out of the heavy maintenance business in a move that will result in hundreds of layoffs, says a union leader.

- A surge in sick calls from Air Canada pilots, along with morning fog and a fire at the country's largest airport, led to snarled travel schedules on one of the busiest weekends of the year.

The inconvenience to thousands of travelers highlights Air Canada's difficulties establishing peace with its employees as it appeals to Ottawa for assistance once again, this time to address what the carrier claims is an illegal job action by pilots.

NATIONAL POST

- The Mayor of London, Ontario, is vowing to hold rioters accountable for their crimes after St. Patrick's Day revelry morphed into the city's worst-ever case of civil unrest.

In five chaotic hours centered around a student district at Fanshawe College, violent crowds of as many as 1000 people tore apart fences, showered police and firefighters with bricks and bottles and set fire to a CTV news vehicle, which later exploded.

- The Canadian Forces hope to save $90 million a year by pulling out of NATO programs operating unmanned aerial vehicles as well as airborne early warning planes, according to documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen.