B.C. Premier Christy Clark is rejecting British billionaire Richard Branson's invitation for an 'au-naturel' kitesurfing date.

The Virgin Atlantic Founder  was in Vancouver last week to launch his airline's Vancouver to London service.  Upon returning to England, he wrote a somewhat creepy blog post asking Clark to join him on the waters.

"One thing though, I forgot to tell her about the dress code! Well, here it is," Branson wrote aside a picture of a naked woman on his back.

On Tuesday, Clark called Branson's comments inappropriate.

"I didn't think it was very respectful," Clark told reporters in Victoria.

"Lots of young women I hope want to run for politics.  I think when you meet with the CEO of a billion dollar company who wants to do business with your province, you can get a little bit more respectful treatment than that."

Comments on Branson's webpage, about the post, ranged from reactions of disgust to reactions of  hero-worship.

"Disgusting, sexist and tasteless," Kate

A picture released by the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network shows people at the burial on May 26 of people killed in the central Syrian city of Houla.Foreign affairs minister John Baird announced Tuesday, that Canada is joining the international community by expelling its Syrian diplomats, following killings in the town of Houla that took the lives of more than 100 men, women and children.

Nobody is questioning the expulsion, but some are questioning the timing.

Syrian-Canadian Maher Arar -- for one -- is wondering why, 14 months after the start of the uprising and after 13,000 alleged deaths at the hands of the Assad regime, Ottawa is waiting until now to act.

Arar, who was detained and tortured in Syria as a terrorist suspect for more than a year after being extradited by American officials, says Canada is doing "too little too late."

"The Syrian [Canadian] community — at least the majority — have been asking the Canadian government since the last year to expel the Syrian diplomats from the Embassy," he told Yahoo! Canada News in an interview, Tuesday.

"People forget that [the Houla incident] is not the first time children are

News outlets are reporting that an Ottawa coroner has confirmed a package delivered Tuesday to the Conservative Party of Canada's headquarters in downtown Ottawa contained a human foot.

Authorities say they were called to the Tory offices at Albert Street at 11:20am.

"Upon arrival, officers noted that the ... package had blood stains on it," the Ottawa Police Service said in a release, according to the Globe and Mail.

"The Hazmat Unit and Emergency Operations section were called and upon further inspection of the package it was determined that there was possibly a human foot in the box," the police said.

CBC News is reporting that the package was delivered through Canada Post and police will be tracking its origin.

Meanwhile, the RCMP and Montreal police are also investigating the discovery of a human torso in a pile of garbage in the Côte-des-Neiges borough, west of Décarie Boulevard and checking to see if there is any link to the package found in Ottawa.

Statistics Canada released new census figures, Tuesday, telling us what we already knew: Canada is turning grey.

The cover of the 2011 Census package is seen in Ottawa on Thursday, May 5, 2011. Statistics Canada opened up its data to the public for free in early February. In addition to being able to access all census figures ??? and not just key highlights as in years past ??? Canadians can also now download information from the CANSIM database, the agency's key portal, at no charge. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

According to the new data, the number of seniors aged 65 and over increased 14.1 per cent between 2006 and 2011, a rate that was more than double the 5.9 per cent increase for the Canadian population as a whole.

But the news isn't all bad.

It appears Canada might be in the midst of a baby boom - or at least a baby bump.

StatsCan claims the number of babies and toddlers under the age of four was up 11 per cent from 2006. That's the biggest growth in the category since the actual "Baby Boom" following the Second World War.

"The population is getting older, on average, in Canada," Statistics Canada senior demographer Laurent Martel told the Globe and Mail.

"But obviously we're showing today, at the same time we have population aging we can have an increase in the number of young kids."

Martel said the increase is due to a higher fertility rate in Canada — going from 1.5 in

Virgin Atlantic Founder Richard Branson was in Vancouver last week to launch his airline's Vancouver to London service.

It seems he's 'taken a fancy' to B.C. premier Christy Clark.

Branson wrote a blog post Monday asking Clark to go kite surfing with him.  Interestingly, the blog includes a picture a topless woman on Branson's back.

Here's the blog post:

When in British Columbia a few days ago, the delightful Premier Christy Clark accepted my invite to come for a kitesurf ride on my back.

One thing though - I forgot to tell her about the dress code! Well, here it is.

The offer still stands Christy!

24 Hours Vancouver notes the post is in response to Clark telling the British billionaire about B.C.'s beautiful kite surfing waters.

But Clark's office was not at all pleased with Branson's musings.

"Obviously Branson's brashness knows no limits. Or taste for that matter," Sara McIntyre, told the Vancouver Province.

The post was also met with mixed reaction on Twitter with some calling

Another poll, this one by Forum Research, has the NDP poised to form a minority government in the next election.

According to Forum's Lorne Bozinoff, however, the poll, commissioned by the National Post,  has some greater meaning.

Bozinoff suggests that the Canadian public is on a distinct tilt to the left,  signifying that concern over wealth distribution has traction beyond the Occupy tents and protest parades.

The poll claims a wide majority of Canadians — more than three-quarters — think Canada suffers from an income gap, where the rich are getting too rich and the poor are getting too poor.

Regionally, Albertans were the least likely to worry about an income gap (63 per cent did), compared with 89 per cent in Atlantic Canada, 80 per cent in British Columbia, 78 per cent in Ontario, 77 per cent in the Prairies and 76 per cent in Quebec.

"A lot of what we see and hear about these days is the '1 per cent' versus the '99 per cent' and this poll is a perfect reflection of that,"

If you're seeking some sort of federal appointment, you might want to consider running for the Conservatives in the next election.

PostMedia News is reporting that 35 of the 141 Tory candidates who lost at the polls last election received jobs in places such as the Prime Minister's Office, Health Canada, ministers' offices or on boards and agencies such as the Quebec Port Authority.

Among the 'lucky winners' are four candidates who were appointed to the Senate, two to overseas diplomatic positions in France, 14 to agencies or boards and 14 became political staff to ministers and MPs.

A spokesman for Stephen Harper told PostMedia that each one of the candidates received the job on merit and not partisan affiliation.

"Partisan affiliation should not qualify someone for consideration, nor should it exclude someone from consideration," Carl Vallée said in an email.

"It shouldn't be a surprise that people with the determination and guts to run to be an elected member of Parliament would

Members of  the  Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) recently marched on Parliament Hill donning 'Stephen Harper Hates Me'  T-shirts.

While 'hate' is probably too strong of a word, they might just be on to something.

On Monday, Labour Minister Lisa Raitt will table back-to-work legislation in the House of Commons to end a six-day strike by 4,800 Canadian Pacific workers.

This is hardly the first time the Conservative government has intervened in a high profile labour dispute involving unions.  Much to the chagrin of 'big labour,' the Tories have introduced six other such bills since forming the government in 2006.

To add fuel to the labour fire, the government is also in the midst of  cutting 29,600 public sector union jobs between now and 2015.

Some union leaders have dubbed these events: 'Harper's war on labour.'

If it is a war, the Harper government appears to have the hammer.

Unions, at this point in time, don't have a lot of power in Canada.

In July, shortly after the Harper