Cold freezes out plans for live performances on Parliament Hill

Health Canada says it has requested testing data from Claire’s Stores Inc. following reports that asbestos has been found in certain cosmetic products sold by the international retailer of youthoriented jewelry and accessories.

The federal agency said Friday that it contacted Claire’s, which confirmed that the suspect cosmetics were sold in Canada but have been removed from stores since Dec. 22.

Claire’s issued a statement on Thursday through Twitter and Facebook that said it would issue full refunds to concerned customers but the company didn’t respond to The Canadian Press’s request for further information.

The retailer’s first comments through social media, issued last week, followed a local television news report in Providence, R.I., which was contacted by a woman who works at a Rhode Island law firm that specializes in asbestos litigation.

Kristiana Warner told WPRITV that she was already working with a lab on another case and decided to have her six-year-old daughter’s makeup tested — leading to the discovery of asbestos in one product, and later in 17 samples.

Health Canada said in an emailed statement Friday that it will continue to monitor the stop sale to verify that they remain off the market and take further action if testing demonstrates a risk to health and safety.

Claire’s, which is based in the Chicago area, most recently said that nine products have been withdrawn from sale.

Mother Nature drowned out Canada Day on Parliament Hill and now has frozen out part of the plan for New Year’s Eve.

Organizers were checking the forecast every hour Friday hoping to see some improvement but the polar vortex that has turned Ottawa into a living icicle shows no sign of lifting until at least January 2.

So they’ve cancelled plans for musical entertainment and DJs for the Canada 150 closing events, but will go ahead with fireworks and a laser show scheduled for midnight.

Heritage Minister Melanie Joly said while Canadians were able to manage all the snow that fell around last New Year’s Eve to ring in Canada 150, this year the cold was proving to be too much.

“Of course it’s a bit of a disappointment with this extreme cold weather but we have to deal with it and making sure that Canadians are safe and everything is well taken care of in terms of public health we decided to modify the celebrations,” Joly said in an interview.

In a statement Friday, her department asked people to “consider the extreme weather conditions and prepare accordingly to prevent frostbite and other injuries.”

Earlier Friday, plans for the bash were in doubt altogether as the department’s website briefly listed everything as being cancelled, but a final decision wasn’t made until mid-morning.

Andrew Campbell, the senior executive director in charge of the Canada 150 secretariat, had said earlier Friday with the current forecast offering up temperatures close to -28 Celsius with 15 kilometre per hour winds, there had been concern that the equipment needed for the fireworks and multimedia light show might not work.

Hip hop artist Kardinal Offishall was among the artists scheduled to perform on Parliament Hill Sunday night. News of the party’s cancellation prompted him to post his displeasure.

“Noooooooooo!!!,” read a message on his official Twitter account. “Damn you frigid temperatures !!!! ”

The weather has already forced the cancellation of youth hockey games on the Parliament Hill Canada 150 skating rink but Campbell said public skating continues.

Members of the public will be able to skate on the rink right up until midnight on New Year’s Eve.