The Calgary-based company had set a deadline of today for those commitments before potentially filing regulatory applications for the development.

Grand Falls mayor Richard Keeley said surveyors sought and received permission to map out a possible route on his land.

“They’ve approached other land owners as well,” Keeley said, speaking on The Todd Veinotte Show. “And I don’t know what the reception has been.

“I’m looking at it with an open mind.”

Keeley said the company met with area mayors about a month ago, claiming it was examining three possible routes for the pipeline.

The pipeline would ship oil from Alberta to Saint John to be refined and shipped to international markets.

Hasan Rowhani’s first post-victory news conference was a study in what may make his presidency tick.

Rowhani may be hailed as a force for change, but he also appears to carry a deep and self-protective streak of pragmatism. He knows he can only push his views on outreach and detente as far as allowed by the country’s real powers, the ruling clerics and their military protectors, the Revolutionary Guard.

Many of Rowhani’s statements reflected these boundaries, which could later expand or contract depending on how much the theocracy wants to endorse his agenda.

When he appealed to treat “old wounds” with the U.S., he also echoed the ruling clerics’ position that no breakthroughs can occur as long as Washington is seen as trying to undermine their hold on power. Rowhani’s urging for greater “nuclear transparency” as a path to roll back sanctions was also punctuated by a hard-liner stance: No chance to stop the uranium enrichment labs at the heart of the stalemate with the West and its allies.

Rowhani spoke eloquently about a “new era” on the international stage but avoided direct mention of the sweeping crackdowns at home since the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.

At the end of the news conference, a spectator — whose identity was not immediately known — yelled out for the release of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has been under house arrest for more than two years. Rowhani smiled but made no comment.

“You can make any kind of promises you want,” said Merhzad Boroujerdi, director of the Middle East Studies program at Syracuse University. “At the end of the day, it’s the ruling clerics that decide whether they go anywhere.”

There is no doubt, however, that the overall tone of Rowhani’s remarks resonates well in the West. The White House and others have already signalled cautious hope that Rowhani’s presence could open new possibilities on diplomacy and efforts to break the impasse over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program after four failed negotiating rounds since last year.

If nothing else, the contrast was vivid with Ahmadinejad and his hectoring style.

“We are on a path of moderation. … We have to enhance mutual trust between Iran and other countries,” Rowhani told journalists. “We have to build trust.”

Rowhani appeared to borrow phrases from another cleric-president, reformist Mohammad Khatami, who preceded Ahmadinejad and opened a range of social and political freedoms that have been largely swept aside in the lockdown atmosphere of recent years.

“The basis of politics is constructive interaction with the world,” said Rowhani, wearing a white turban and surrounded by violet flowers — the signature colour of his campaign. “Circumstances have changed in the world by this election. … The new atmosphere will definitely be turned into a new opportunity.”

Many questions remain, though. Rowhani sidestepped the issue of Iran’s close alliance with Syrian President Bashar Assad, saying only that the efforts to end the civil war and restore stability rest with the “Syrian people.”

In Paris, Israel’s defence minister, Moshe Yaalon, underscored worries among some Israeli officials that their Western allies could hope for Rowhani-inspired breakthroughs while Iran continues “to make progress in their military nuclear project.”

Although the 64-year-old Rowhani cannot directly set key policies, he might be able to use the strength of his landslide victory and his influential connections, including with former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, to shape opinions. Rowhani served as Iran’s first nuclear envoy from 2003-2005 during a period of intense deal-making with Europeans.

Rowhani’s aides have said he proposed an accord in 2005 with then-French President Jacques Chirac to allow uranium enrichment in exchange for the highest level of monitoring by the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency. The deal did not gain support from other countries such as Britain and the U.S.

In an interview last year with the Iranian magazine Mehr Nameh, Rowhani said he also received a U.S. proposal in 2004, carried by the head of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency at the time, Mohamed ElBaradei, for direct dialogue on nuclear and other issues. Rowhani said he passed along the offer to the ruling clerics and “the decision was that we should not negotiate with the U.S.”

Rowhani has not given any clear details on his advice for the current talks, which face pressure from factions in the Israel and the U.S. urging greater consideration of military options.

But Rowhani appears to favour the general contours of the reported French-backed deal for greater openness as the way to ease Western sanctions over Iran’s nuclear efforts. The sanctions have slashed oil revenue and contributed to a spike in inflation. “If sanctions have any benefits, they will only benefit Israel,” he said at the news conference.

He outlined “step by step” measures to reassure the West about Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The West suspects that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon. Iranian leaders, including Rowhani, insist Iran seeks reactors only for energy and medical applications.

Enriched uranium is used as fuel for energy and research reactors but it can be further boosted to make a nuclear warhead.

“The first step will be showing greater transparency. We are ready to show greater transparency and make clear that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s actions are totally within international frameworks,” he said. “The second step is promoting mutual confidence. We’ll take measures in both fields. The first goal is that no new sanctions are imposed. Then, that the (existing) sanctions are reduced.”

Rowhani, though, reaffirmed the positions that have contributed to the logjam in talks so far: Iran’s insistence that Washington “should recognize all of Iran’s rights, including the nuclear rights.”

He further added that any hope for one-on-one dialogue with the U.S. depends on the improbable starting point already set out by the ruling clerics. “The Americans need to specify that they will never intervene in Iran’s internal affairs,” Rowhani said.

“It’s not easy,” he said. “There is an old wound. This wound could be treated through prudence. We will not seek increasing tensions. Wisdom requires that the two nations and the two governments look to the future.”

On Syria, he said the ultimate responsibility to resolve the more than two-year-old civil war should be in the hands of the “Syrian people.”

“We are opposed to foreign intervention,” he said. “We hope peace and tranquility will return to Syria through co-operation with countries of the region and world.”

Rowhani formally takes office in August. In the meantime, it appears Ahmadinejad’s political foes could be plotting a payback, underscoring the often cutthroat nature of internal Iranian affairs.

Iran’s official news agency said a criminal court summoned Ahmadinejad over a lawsuit filed by the country’s parliament speaker and others.

The report gave no further details, but Ahmadinejad and the speaker, Ali Larijani, have waged political feuds for years. The court has set a November date for Ahmadinejad’s appearance, it said.

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Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The Scottish international scored two goals and drew a penalty kick to propel the Whitecaps to a 4-3 win over the New England Revolution Saturday night at BC Place.

With the Revolution up 2-0, Miller ran onto a ball behind New England’s defence and was pulled down by Andrew Farrell in the box, forcing an ejection and a penalty kick in the 23rd minute. Camilo converted the penalty kick for the Whitecaps’ first goal.

Miller his first goal of the game in the 39th minute when he flicked the ball over his defender and hit a shot with his left foot past New England goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth to tie the game at 2-2.

Miller ensured the victory for Vancouver 29 minutes later when he collected a through ball from Camilo and volleyed it into the top right corner.

Miller becomes the second Whitecaps player to win the honour. Camilo was named player of week during Week 3 of Vancouver’s inaugural season in 2011.

1975 — The Air Force puts the first woman on operational crew status

1976 — The first group of women enters the U.S. military academies, as directed by legislation signed by President Gerald Ford a year earlier.

1983 — About 200 Army and Air Force women are among the forces deployed to Grenada, serving on air crews, as military police and as transportation specialists

1990-91 — Some 40,000 American military women are deployed during the Gulf War operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Iraqis take two Army women prisoner

1994 — A Pentagon policy prohibits women from being assigned to ground combat units below the brigade level. Historically, brigades — which are about 3,500 troops — were based farther from the front lines, and they often included top command and support staff.

2002 — Marine Sgt. Jeannette L. Winters becomes the first U.S. servicewoman to die in the post 9-11 wars. She was killed in a refuelling tanker crash.

2005 — Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, a Kentucky National Guard soldier, becomes the first woman awarded the Silver Star for service in the war on terror. Her convoy came under attack outside Baghdad. She was cited for killing several insurgents and saving the lives of numerous convoy members.

2008 — Ann E. Dunwoody becomes the military’s first women to be promoted to general. She retired in 2012 after 38 years in the Army.

2012 — The military opens more than 14,000 jobs in smaller units closer to the front lines

2013 — Then-Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, sign order saying women must have the same opportunities as men in combat jobs. Military services begin studies to determine how and when to bring women into all jobs, probably including in at least some commando units

Details of the plans were obtained by The Associated Press. They call for requiring women and men to meet the same physical and mental standards to quality for certain infantry, armour, commando and other front-line positions across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel reviewed the plans and has ordered the services to move ahead.

The move, expected to be announced Tuesday, follows revelations of a startling number of sexual assaults in the armed forces. Earlier this year, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said the sexual assaults might be linked to the longstanding ban on women serving in combat because the disparity between the roles of men and women creates separate classes of personnel — male “warriors” versus the rest of the force.

While the sexual assault problem is more complicated than that, he said, the disparity has created a psychology that lends itself to disrespect for women.

Under the schedules military leaders delivered to Hagel, the Army will develop standards by July 2015 to allow women to train and potentially serve as Rangers, and qualified women could begin training as Navy SEALS by March 2016 if senior leaders agree. Military leaders have suggested bringing senior women from the officer and enlisted ranks into special forces units first to ensure that younger, lower-ranking women have a support system to help them get through the transition.

The Navy intends to open up its Riverine force and begin training women next month, with the goal of assigning women to the units by October. While not part of the special operations forces, the coastal Riverine squadrons do close combat and security operations in small boats. The Navy plans to have studies finished by July 2014 on allowing women to serve as SEALs, and has set October 2015 as the date when women could begin Navy boot camp with the expressed intention of becoming SEALs eventually.

U.S. Special Operations Command is co-ordinating the matter of what commando jobs could be opened to women, what exceptions might be requested and when the transition would take place.

The proposals leave the door open for continued exclusion of women from some jobs, if research and testing find that women could not be successful in sufficient numbers, but the services would have to defend such decisions to top Pentagon leaders.

Army officials plan to complete gender-neutral standards for the Ranger course by July 2015. Army Rangers are one of the service’s special operations units, but many soldiers who go through Ranger training and wear the coveted tab on their shoulders never actually serve in the 75th Ranger Regiment. To be considered a true Ranger, soldiers must serve in the regiment.

In January, then-Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey signed an order that wiped away generations of limits on where and how women could fight for their country. At the time, they asked the services to develop plans to set the change in motion.

The decision reflects a reality driven home by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where battle lines were blurred and women were propelled into jobs as medics, military police and intelligence officers that were sometimes attached, but not formally assigned, to battalions. So, even though a woman could not serve officially as a battalion infantryman going out on patrol, she could fly a helicopter supporting the unit or be part of a team supplying medical aid if troops were injured.

Of the more than 6,700 U.S. service members who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, about 150 have been women.

The order Panetta and Dempsey signed prohibits physical standards from being lowered simply to allow women to qualify for jobs closer to the battlefront. But the services are methodically reviewing and revising the standards for many jobs, including strength and stamina, in order to set minimum requirements for troops to meet regardless of their sex.

The military services are also working to determine the cost of opening certain jobs to women, particularly aboard a variety of Navy ships, including certain submarines, frigates, mine warfare and other smaller warships. Dozens of ships do not have adequate berthing or facilities for women to meet privacy needs, and would require design and construction changes.

Under a 1994 Pentagon policy, women were prohibited from being assigned to ground combat units below the brigade level. A brigade is roughly 3,500 troops split into several battalions of about 800 soldiers each. Historically, brigades were based farther from the front lines, and they often included top command and support staff.

Last year the military opened up about 14,500 combat positions to women, most of them in the Army, by allowing them to serve in many jobs at the battalion level. The January order lifted the last barrier to women serving in combat, but allows the services to argue to keep some jobs closed.

The bulk of the nearly 240,000 jobs currently closed to women are in the Army, including those in infantry, armour, combat engineer and artillery units that are often close to the battlefront. Similar jobs in the Marine Corps are also closed.

Army officials have laid out a rolling schedule of dates in 2015 to develop gender-neutral standards for specific jobs, beginning with July for engineers, followed by field artillery in March and the infantry and armour jobs no later than September.

Women make up about 14 per cent of the 1.4 million active U.S. military personnel. More than 280,000 women have been sent to Iraq, Afghanistan or neighbouring nations in support of the wars

Frank Hall, who ran an Ottawa-based polling firm that did work for Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro, has written to both the Commons Speaker and the prime minister saying Del Mastro has abused his parliamentary privileges.

Hall says if Del Mastro is allowed to slander his good name in Parliament, then all witnesses who could help Elections Canada root out election fraud will be intimidated.

Del Mastro gave an impassioned speech in the Commons last week that accused Elections Canada of malice and contempt in its ongoing investigation of alleged campaign overspending.

The Peterborough, Ont., MP also accused his former pollster Hall — by name — of having ulterior motives in assisting Elections Canada.

Three other Conservative MPs — Shelly Glover, James Bezan and Jeff Watson — are all battling the elections watchdog over their 2011 campaign expense returns.

Coming home from Texas with their season on the line in 2011 was one thing. They were at the end of their first year together — LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh still trying to figure it all out and clearly a long way from it.

But this season they were the NBA’s best team, one that lost three games in three months and made losing three times in one series look unlikely, if not downright unimaginable.

The San Antonio Spurs can finish Miami off Tuesday night in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, reaffirming themselves as one of the league’s greatest franchises.

If so, the Heat’s Big Three once again go from celebrated to devastated.

“We’re going to see if we’re a better team than we were our first year together,” James said.

The Spurs took a 3-2 lead with their 114-104 victory Sunday night. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were all brilliant again, and Danny Green added to what could become one of the most out-of-nowhere finals MVP campaigns ever.

One more victory makes the Spurs 5-0 in the NBA Finals, keeping pace with Michael Jordan’s 6-0 Chicago Bulls as the only teams to make it here multiple times and never lose.

“We understand Game 6 is huge,” Parker said. “Obviously, you want to finish in the first opportunity you get. We understand that Miami is going to come out with a lot more energy, and they’re going to play better at home. They’re going to shoot the ball better. Their crowd is going to be behind them.”

None of that mattered two years ago.

Clearly reeling and their psyches shaken after dropping two straight games in Dallas, the Heat were blitzed early in Game 6. They never recovered, Bosh inconsolable as he made his way back to the locker room afterward while the Mavericks celebrated at centre court.

James had to endure the criticisms that came with not getting it done in the finals, a story line that was put to rest last year but will be back again if the Heat don’t manage to put together consecutive victories.

“We challenge ourselves to see if we’re a better team than we were,” Wade said. “Same position no matter how we got to it.”

The Heat would also host Game 7 on Thursday. They’re trying to join the 1988 and 2010 Los Angeles Lakers and 1994 Houston Rockets as the only teams to rally from 3-2 down by winning the final two on their home floor since the NBA Finals went to a 2-3-2 format in 1985.

Of course, the Heat — who won 27 in a row during the second-longest winning streak in league history — haven’t put together consecutive victories now in close to a month.

“We’re in a position where it’s a must-win and everything that we’ve done all year comes to this point, and we have to win,” Heat guard Ray Allen said. “We’ve found ourselves in so many situations this year, and we’ve thrived in tough moments because this is a tough team. We will be ready for Game 6.”

So will the Spurs, and the Heat know it.

“I’m sure this team, they’ve been here before many times. They understand winning that last game is one of the hardest things you’re going to do. And we understand it as well,” Wade said.

“But you know what? It’s the game; we’ve got to play it. I like our chances, just like they like their chances, in this series and in Game 6. We’ll see. We’ll see which team, which style is going to prevail.”

Their four titles have made the Spurs respected but never beloved. Their first, in 1999, came following a 50-game lockout season, and they certainly weren’t the team to help the NBA regain its jilted fan base.

Victories in 2003 over New Jersey, 2005 over Detroit and 2007 over James’ Cleveland Cavaliers were all low-rated, lukewarm-interest series in which the Spurs were supposed to win and did, just not in a way that erased the idea that they had boring players with a boring brand of basketball.

Win this one, though, and they will surely get their due. They would be knocking off the league’s winningest team and the game’s best player, with Duncan at 37 and Ginobili soon to be 36, behind a more wide-open offence that has helped Green break Allen’s finals record for 3-pointers.

Not that they’re thinking about that, or anything else beyond Game 6 at this point.

“We’ll reflect back and let it hit us when it’s over. We still have a lot more work to do. There’s still some business to be done. We have to carry it out and finish it,” said Green, who was cut previously by the Cavaliers and Spurs and now has made 25 3-pointers in the first five games.

It looked as though the game was finally passing by the Spurs last year, when the young Oklahoma City Thunder blew by them with four straight victories after San Antonio had taken a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

The Heat routed the Thunder for the championship and the Spurs brought back essentially the same team, believing another year in their system for players like Green and Kawhi Leonard was a better option than seeking out some quick-fix outsider.

That’s almost always been the Spurs’ way, and it’s on the verge of again being the model for an NBA title — at the expense of the Miami one that once appeared to be the way champions would be built.

“I think every one of us wants this very badly from the top on down,” Duncan said. “We’re trying to play that way.”

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Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

The four-time Tony Award host and former “Doogie Howser, M.D.” will star on Broadway in the spring as the gender-bent rock chanteuse at the centre of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” the cult musical that was made into a cult movie.

The rest of the creative team members, cast, dates and the theatre will be announced later.

Written by John Cameron Mitchell and composer Stephen Trask, “Hedwig” was an unlikely hit fashioned out of a strange story: a tale of obsession, glam rock, a botched sex-change operation and a quest for identity.

Mitchell starred in an off-Broadway production that played for two years starting in 1998 in the dilapidated ballroom of an ancient Greenwich Village hotel and reprised the role in a 2001 film version. In a statement, Mitchell said: “Who better to pass the wig to but the finest entertainer of his generation?”

Harris, the 40-year-old “How I Met Your Mother” star, has featured in three Broadway productions, including “Assassins,” ”Proof” and as the exuberant master of ceremonies in “Cabaret.”

In a statement, Harris said: “I am simultaneously ecstatic and terrified to be stepping into Hedwig’s heels. It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime role and I can’t wait to begin the journey.”

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Mark Kennedy is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

Const. Bill Bentley is accused of lying six times to the public inquiry in 2009, and his trial has now started after a week of pre-trial motions.

The amateur video of a confrontation was played at the trial that shows four RCMP officers arrive at Vancouver’s airport, and, within seconds, stun Dziekanski with a Taser.

Bentley wrote in his notes and told homicide investigators that Dziekanski screamed and came at the officers before the Taser was used and that two officers physically brought Dziekanski to the ground.

But the video contradicted Bentley’s claims, and he is now accused of lying when he attempted to explain those discrepancies at the inquiry.

During the inquiry, Bentley said the note about Dziekanski screaming was accurate because Dziekanski did start screaming once he was stunned, and he claimed he didn’t know why he told investigators that two officers brought Dziekanski down.

Lowe’s is offering US$205 million for the assets of Orchard Supply Hardware Stores, which has locations about one-third the size of Lowe’s typical big box stores.

Orchard locations have about 3,200 square metres of selling space compared with 10,170 square metres for Lowe’s.

“It is conceivable that Lowe’s might test an Orchard Supply store format in Canada, operated under the Lowe’s brand,” Keith Howlett, an analyst at Desjardins Capital Markets, said Monday after the Lowe’s announcement.

A similar strategy of operating multiple formats has been used for years by Canada’s largest home improvement retailer, Rona Inc. (TSX:RON), which rejected a takeover overture from Lowe’s last year.

Rona’s big box stores range from 6,000 to 14,900 sq. m, but it also has affiliated locations under various banners operating mid-sized building centres ranging from 460 to 5,600 sq. m. and smaller hardware stores with less than 1,000 sq. m.

Orchard Supply filed a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on Monday, so the offer from Lowe’s will become the “stalking horse” bid for an auction. Such a bid sets the floor for an auction process that lets competitors make better offers.

The Lowe’s bid must survive the auction and receive bankruptcy court approval. The companies expect the deal to close in about three months.

Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW), which operates primarily big box stores, already runs 110 stores in California and expects to add at least 60 of Orchard’s locations in that state.

It plans to have Orchard operate as a separate, stand alone business, retaining the Orchard brand. Lowe’s chairman and CEO Robert Niblock said in a statement that Orchard’s business has potential but also has been burdened with high debt.

“Strategically, the acquisition will provide us with immediate access to Orchard’s high density, prime locations in attractive markets in California, where Lowe’s is currently underpenetrated, and will enable us to participate more fully in California’s economic recovery,” Niblock said.

Lowe’s, which is No. 2 to Home Depot (NYSE:HD) in the United States and globally, attempted to expand in Canada by acquiring Rona of Boucherville, Que., which has with more than 800 locations of various size.

Lowe’s unofficially bid $1.8-billion bid for Rona last year but backed away after it met stiff resistance from Rona’s board, Quebec politicians and the independent dealership owners that operate under Rona’s brands.

Since then, Rona’s shares have fallen below the $14.50 per share that Lowe’s had indicated it would pay. Rona shares are currently worth about $10 per share but have traded as low as $9.25 last fall.

Under a new CEO, Rona (TSX:RON) is focused on improving its efficiency but Howlett says a transaction of some type, including asset sale or joint venture with Lowe’s, remains a “distinct possibility.”

“We remain of the opinion that home improvement square footage in Canada requires rationalization and/or co-ordination,” Howlett wrote Monday.

One potential roadblock to a new offer could be Rona’s network of independent merchants, many of whom opposed Lowe’s interest in Rona last August. A spokesman for the Rona affiliates couldn’t be reached Monday for comment.

Scot Ciccarelli of RBC Capital Markets said Lowe’s plans to use Orchard to expand its presence in metro areas in California where its penetration lags Home Depot.

“We view this acquisition as a modest positive for Lowe’s given our view that one of the key reasons for its underperformance relative to Home Depot is the differences in real estate locations between the two retailers, and our belief that the majority of professional contractor business occurs in major metros areas,” the analyst wrote.

Orchard’s EBITDA margin is about 3.6 per cent compared to about 10.5 per cent for Lower’s.

Ciccarelli doesn’t believe Home Depot will submit a competing bid because it indicated only last week that it was focused on improving the productivity of its current stores instead of acquisitions or adding new store formats.

Orchard Supply filed its bankruptcy petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe’s Cos. Inc. said Monday it will acquire at least 60 of Orchard’s 91 stores, and alternative bids must top Lowe’s offer by at least $12 million. Lowe’s also will assume responsibility for money owed to nearly all of Orchard’s suppliers.

San Jose-based Orchard was spun off from Sears Holdings Corp. in January 2012, and most of its locations are in densely populated California markets.

— with files from The Associated Press