Angel >> Santa's elves Kids might be sending good wishes to Santa, but moms and dads looking to thank someone for setting their little ones' hearts aglow on Christmas morning should look east to China, where labourers (children and adults alike) are busy working overtime to put goodies under your trees. According to CBC's Marketplace, two-thirds of toys sold in Canada--including Disney, Mattel and Toronto-based Irwin Toy products--are manufactured in China, where toy-factory workers average 30 cents an hour and work up to 17 hours a day, maybe more during the Christmas rush.

Insect >> Gun nuts With the Jan. 1, 2001 deadline for firearm registration fast approaching, millions of Canadian gun owners are refusing to register for permits, incensed at the federal government's violation of their cherished property rights. Instead, gun-shop owners have noted their customers bulk-buying ammunition before the impending deadline. Meanwhile, estimates of the total number of gun-toting Northerners differ dramatically, with the government claiming around three million and the National Firearm Association putting the number closer to eight million. We can only wonder whether the opposition party's secret agenda included its own red-neck army.