Canadians

BRAMPTON, Ontario - A Toronto man was found guilty yesterday of taking part in the activities of a terrorist group whose bold, if ill-formed, plans included the goal of decapitating Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The defendant was the first of 11 suspects to be tried in the case. The man, who was the test case for Canada's first anti-terrorism law, introduced in 2001, cannot be named because he was a juvenile when charged. He was among 18 people, now known as the Toronto 18, who were arrested after a series of police raids in June 2006.

Her rage brought her worldwide fame, multiplatinum sales and Grammy Awards. With 1995's Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette paired explicit, angry lyrics with grunge-laced pop-rock that echoed her bitterness. The once-innocuous Canadian dance-pop star managed to strike a chord with a generation and become an unlikely superstar. Vitriolic smashes such as "You Oughta Know," "You Learn" and "Ironic" became anthems. Now thirteen years later, after five albums that more or less recast her as an even-tempered romantic, Morissette still can't escape that "angry girl" image.

Ferris, Baker Watts Inc., the conservative regional brokerage with Baltimore roots dating to 1900, closed yesterday its sale to a division of Royal Bank of Canada in an all-stock deal valued at more than $230 million. The sale was approved by Ferris' employee shareholders in a meeting yesterday morning in Washington. The deal combines the firm's 300 brokers spread among 42 branch offices in eight states with the 4,000 brokers and financial advisers in the wealth management division of Canada's largest bank.

Lorie Kane was among those who were sad to see the McDonald's LPGA Championship move from DuPont Country Club in Wilmington, Del., to Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace three years ago. The 43-year-old Canadian, seven years removed from her last victory, got over some of that melancholy in yesterday's opening round of the 2008 LPGA Championship. Kane, who had missed the cut in five straight tournaments earlier this year and seven of the 11 events in which she played, made six birdies and no bogeys to share the lead at 6-under-par 66 with Emily Bastel.

Legg Mason Inc. reported yesterday that it would take a $90 million charge in the fiscal third quarter - and a 15-cent hit to its earnings per share - as the company undertook the biggest bailout by a money manager related to debt sold by structured investment vehicles (SIVs). The Baltimore money manager pumped $1.1 billion into two foreign money market funds to prevent losses. The move follows an earlier cash infusion of $100 million and an arrangement for letters of credit to back up money funds offered by the company.

Doug Morrison saw the snow outside his Edmonton, Alberta, bedroom window one recent morning and knew this was the time. Three hours later, he was on a plane to Palm Springs, Calif. By lunchtime, the 49-year-old Canadian bureaucrat was checking out a two-bedroom condominium on a golf course, priced to sell at $322,500. Later that afternoon, Morrison pondered the deal as he dined in shirtsleeves at a sidewalk table. "There's Christmas music and it's 70 degrees," he said as music played softly from the restaurant's speakers.

WASHINGTON -- Canadian researchers furnished the strongest evidence to date linking the popular diabetes drug Avandia to an increased risk of heart attack in a scientific study released yesterday. Compared with other diabetes pills, Avandia's use was associated with a 60 percent higher risk of heart failure, 40 percent higher risk of heart attack and 30 percent higher risk of death in patients 65 and older, the researchers found. "The risks associated with these drugs may outweigh the benefits, at least for older populations," said Dr. Lorraine L. Lipscombe, the lead author of the study and a researcher at a health research agency funded by the Ontario government.

OTTAWA -- Canadian airlines are balking at a U.S. Department of Homeland Security plan that would require them to turn over information about passengers flying over the United States to another country. The proposal, which appears at odds with Canada's privacy laws, would mostly involve Canadians who join the annual winter exodus to Mexico, Cuba and the Caribbean. It is also viewed by the Canadian airline industry as a rejection of several costly measures already taken by the Canadian government to assuage U.S. concerns about air safety.

The Canadian company that controls Maryland's major thoroughbred tracks agreed yesterday to buy the remaining interest in Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park for $18.3 million, officially ending local stewardship of the state's storied jockey club. Magna Entertainment Corp., a debt-laden company struggling to reverse its money-losing operations, exercised its option to acquire the outstanding 49 percent stake in the 264-year-old Maryland Jockey Club, the umbrella organization for the two racetracks and the training center in Bowie.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., the state-controlled power generator and oil producer, has agreed to buy Canada's PrimeWest Energy Trust for about $4 billion in the biggest-ever North American takeover by a United Arab Emirates company. Persian Gulf states, flush with cash from burgeoning oil revenue, are buying overseas assets at a record pace. PrimeWest, based in Calgary, Alberta, would be Abu Dhabi National's sixth overseas acquisition since November. The deal would give Abu Dhabi National, also known as Taqa, daily production of oil and gas equivalent to more than 61,000 barrels of oil in Canada and the United States, the companies said in statement yesterday.