The Conservative-dominated upper chamber has decided that its secretive internal economy committee will re-examine Duffy’s controversial housing and expense claims in light of new information gleaned from recent media reports.

The Conservative-controlled committee cleared Duffy of any wrongdoing last month, while at the same time sharply criticizing the actions of two other senators who were found to have made similar inappropriate expense claims.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s chief of staff has since resigned after admitting he gave Duffy a personal cheque for more than $90,000 to reimburse his inappropriate claims.

Duffy has not spoken publicly since resigning from the Conservative caucus last Thursday but has now released a statement saying he welcomes the re-examination of his expenses and is confident the committee will find that his actions “do not merit criticism.”

In the House of Commons, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair says sending Duffy’s expenses back to the same committee that whitewashed its first report is akin to former Liberal leader Paul Martin asking Jean Chretien to investigate the sponsorship scandal.

But now that the Kingston, Ont., band’s first album in over a decade was made possible by the contributions of their devoted faithful, who in 1,597 separate contributions poured in more than 295 per cent of the band’s budget goal via PledgeMusic.com?

Well, Dillon certainly feels the love — and pressure.

“It makes you want to work harder,” the 49-year-old said in a recent telephone interview. “If we’re getting a shot at this, we’re going to give it 150 per cent. We’re going to give it a million per cent. We’re giving it ten bazillion million per cent! It’s like, these people are going out of their way to help you. They’re putting their money where their mouth is, they’re going, ‘We believe in this thing. We believe you guys can do it.’

“It just makes you go: Holy (crap), these people are really expecting something,” he added with a laugh. “It was our baby. This was it. There was one chance. And these people had invested so much and believed in us. It’s like, you can’t disappoint. Disappointment is not an option.”

And, in the eyes of the always-candid Dillon, the Headstones didn’t disappoint. With “Love + Fury,” out now, he says they’ve made the best record of a career that stretches back more than 25 years.

The band — known for no-nonsense serrated hard rock — had its greatest success in the ’90s, with a stretch of commercially successful records beginning with 1993′s platinum-selling debut “Picture of Health” followed by consecutive gold records with 1995′s “Teeth and Tissue” and 1997′s “Smile and Wave.” After two more albums, the band went on indefinite hiatus following 2002′s “The Oracle of Hi-Fi.”

There were many reasons for the breakup — a one-time heroin addict, Dillon relapsed before checking himself into rehab and disbanding the group — but they had also become drained by the constant push for airplay and record sales.

“You get the (crap) kicked out of you on the road and playing in a band for a long time, and especially in Canada,” he said. “There were a couple years, a couple decades, that weren’t that … hot.”

They reformed in 2011, brought back together in an effort to help past contributor and longtime friend Randy Kwan, who was dying of cancer and didn’t have insurance. Quickly, the quartet assembled for a tour that generated some money for the cause.

“Out of that tragedy, came nothing but an incredible, positive and creative experience,” Dillon said.

Despite its heartbreaking overtones, the cross-country trek reminded Dillon and co. how much they’d missed one another.

“It’s like lightning in a bottle — it’s just that natural chemistry,” he said. “It’s explosive when we hang out. Your senses are just heightened. We laugh a lot. Life just seems exciting, you know?

“It’s very much like a family,” he added. “We’re like brothers. You know, they have very little patience for anything that isn’t 100 per cent honest.”

When it came time to start crafting a new record, they started fresh, not bothering with most of the sketches or ideas that had built up during their break. Co-producing with his friend Chris Osti, Dillon endeavoured to claw back the layers of polish that were typically applied to the band’s white-knuckle rock and roll (he says such older records were so “weirdly polished or weirdly enhanced” that he “would always be vaguely disappointed with the final” product).

Album opener “Change My Ways” establishes the record’s Rottweiler growl, while first single “longwaytoneverland” finds Dillon spewing stylishly over a hard-charging riff. The album rarely lets up the guitar-driven intensity, though stark album closer “Midnight of this Life” is something else entirely, a piano dirge that finds Dillon softly singing some revealing lines: “It’s just the midnight of this life has proven to be the hardest to bear.”

He’s not looking for external validation this time out, he says. The Headstones had the support of their fans, and the band is happy with their album.

“I no longer look at numbers or business,” he said. “That was what killed us — we didn’t even realize we were on the treadmill. We were running so fast, and then, bam.

“Life is too short,” he added. “If you can find great people that you like to be around, and a great project that you’re really honestly passionate about and interested in and not wasting your time and not doing (it) for money, your life is infinitely happier.”

And there’s a certain pride Dillon takes in the Headstones’ unwillingness to rest in peace.

“We’re that little pitbull that gets up and survives through decades and through illness and death and destruction and everything else,” he said. “We really love where we’re at right now.”

Of course, during Dillon’s hiatus from the Headstones he established himself as an in-demand actor, having landed regular roles on “Flashpoint” and “Durham County.” Soon, he’ll be featured as a regular player in the third season of the AMC mystery “The Killing,” while he also landed an arc on the sci-fi series “Continuum.”

He’s also about to turn 50, a milestone that he approaches with some enthusiasm.

“I’m lucky to be here,” he said. “I love every second of it. I’m turning 50, I’m shooting two television shows … and I’ve got the best rock ‘n’ roll record I’ve ever made with the guys I’ve grown up with. It’s a testament to great, really exceptional relationships and great friends.”

They are part of the new Poetic Park Plaza, that opened Wednesday, and incorporates features that represent the mountains, foothills and prairies.

The hope is to create an urban plaza where people can go to relax and enjoy some art.

There is public seating along with the art at the foot of the Louise Bridge.

BuckyBalls novelty sets contain a number of rare earth element magnets many times more powerful than traditional magnets.

Some children have needed emergency surgery to remove swallowed magnets that can attract one another while moving through the intestines.

The magnets can trap intestinal tissue between them and cause life-threatening blockages or tearing.

Distributors of BuckyBalls are voluntarily recalling the products after a Health Canada risk assessment found they pose a danger to human health and safety.

The federal department says consumers should stop using the magnet sets and contact their municipality for instructions on safe disposal or recycling.

“Canadians expect that products they find on store shelves will be safe,” Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said in a statement Wednesday. “It’s clear that some products containing small, powerful magnets pose a danger to children so we are taking action to have them removed from the marketplace.”

The adult entertainment products typically involve puzzle working, sculpture building, mental stimulation or stress relief.

Online:

Recall advisory: http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/hc-sc/2013/29247r-eng.php

The 70-year-old Emmy Award winner is profiled in Barry Avrich’s new film “Quality Balls — the David Steinberg Story,” which opens at Toronto’s Bloor Hot Docs Cinema on Friday and airs on HBO Canada and Movie Central on Saturday. He recently sat down with The Canadian Press to talk about the film.

CP: It seems you never had to change who you were throughout your career — is that a rarity in the comedy world?

DS: In those days it was. You’ve got to remember, the comedians before me — Buddy Hackett and George Burns, Milton Berle — they were all Jewish comedians and they couldn’t even keep their names because you just weren’t allowed to be that ethnic. … When I came out of Second City and people started to notice me and I was on Broadway and started to get crowds coming to see me, the agents came around and said, ‘Steinberg? There is no Steinberg who has a television show. You have to change your name,’ and I thought, ‘That’s ridiculous, I’m not going to do that,’ and they said, ‘Well, OK, you’re limiting your career.’ I thought, ‘What’s the point in my career if I have to be somebody else to start with?’ So that wasn’t difficult for me, that’s just who I was.

CP: There’s a standup bit in the film in which you tell the audience that your parents immigrated from Russia and wound up “in a worse place — Winnipeg.” But you must have a real reverence for the city.

DS: Winnipeg is an amazing place. It doesn’t look like much, it’s cold, as everyone knows, and in the summer the mosquitoes are as large as can be. But it was a great place to grow up, especially in the ’50s. Radio was incredible in Canada, so I was listening to stories that I could create pictures of in my own mind, and that, very frankly, became my standup technique. Every piece of material I had, I created a picture that the audience could see, because that’s what I grew up listening to, and that was my idea of great storytelling.

CP: It’s interesting how your pathway into the entertainment world came when you followed a group of girls into a drama class at the University of Chicago.

DS: I was just an adolescent, hormones raging, and I was interested in girls. I didn’t know if they were interested in me but they led me to the University of Chicago theatre and then I met the head of the theatre. But I could talk. I was in the coffee shop at the University of Chicago every morning, whatever was going on, I would talk about it. I had never seen a comedian, I hadn’t seen any plays at that point. … When I got to the theatre and I started to talk that way, one of the theatre guys was from Second City and he said, ‘You’re made for Second City,’ … and that’s how it all started.

CP: And that’s where you started to do your satirical sermons.

DS: I did a lot of characters at Second City but the sermons seemed to strike a chord. They were very original. To be doing anything on the Bible and especially religion in those days, it was bold. I didn’t think of it as bold, I just thought, ‘This is something I know, I’m just going to trade in on it.’ And then when I started to do standup, you need to have something to start with, you have to have a way to talk to the audience, and I at least had these sermons … where you could give me any suggestion of the Old Testament and I sort of knew it, because that was my background. And from there I started to find a little bit of a story … and before long I had an act.

CP: “The Tonight Show” is a big component of this film, as is your friendship with Johnny Carson. You were on his show the second-most amount of times, next to Bob Hope. As the appearances racked up, did you get a sense of what it was doing for your career?

DS: I didn’t have a sense that I was collecting a kind of material that would be remembered or anything like that, but I did love doing ‘The Tonight Show’ because I did have that Second City background. Johnny could call me in the last minute so I could be on with him and he shared in what I did as much as I did. I would throw up a subject, we would both go at it together, and he was an incredible comedian, not just a listening host. … We were good friends, we laughed at the same things, we read the same things, and he was a sort of mentor of mine.

CP: What do you make of the late-night landscape today?

DS: “The Tonight Show” and Letterman and all of that, it’s different because there are so many late-night shows that you don’t have the tension or you don’t see that special guest that you don’t get to see anywhere else, because when you’re promoting something you go on all the shows. So it sort of diminishes from what it was with only three networks to start with, and even when there was cable, Johnny still sort of ruled. It has sort of levelled out. I think they’re all good hosts in their own way.

CP: What do you think of Jay Leno’s term ending and “The Tonight Show” going to New York City?

DS: I think going back to New York is a good idea, actually, because New York is lively and it’s a different atmosphere. L.A. is a little more laid back and you have Craig Ferguson and you have Jimmy Kimmel, you have a lot of shows in L.A. I think it’s a good idea.

CP: Jerry Seinfeld is also featured in this film, asking you about returning to standup, and we see you doing a standup special throughout the film. Is returning to standup something that you’re thinking of?

DS: Yeah, I worked out for a week in La Jolla Playhouse, which is sort of a well-known way in which to go to Broadway. … I’m sort of challenging myself by doing it. I don’t do standup, I never did jokey standup, so it’s just sort of storytelling. … So I’m exploring being onstage again.

___

Answers have been edited and condensed.

A new survey from Travelocity found 46 per cent of people feel their relationship is better after a vacation with their sweetheart.

Relationship Therapist Ashley Howe explains the attraction seems to go up when you jet off to a new location.

“When people are travelling there’s a part of your brain that kind of lights up and gets really aroused when you are in a new environment.” She explains. “So, it doesn’t really matter where you are, as long as it’s new and novel. It very much mimics the part of the brain that lights up when you’re aroused or attracted by your partner.”

Howe says taking a trip can be beneficial at any stage in a relationship whether you have been together for a long time or are just getting to know someone new.

“Within the first three months of a relationship, it’s fabulous to go on a trip and travel with the person you’re dating, because it offers a bit of a crash course in that person and in the compatibility. So it takes you a lot less time to find out the suitability of the partner.”

More than half of Canadians tell Travelocity European destinations are the most romantic places to jet off to.

Rome takes the top spot as the place they’d most like to visit next with their partner.

The municipal government has released the advisory, which applies to the lower half of the island, after problems at a water-filtration station.

Residents are advised to boil their water for at least a minute, or to use bottled water. They are also asked to avoid brushing their teeth with tap water.

However, tap water can still be used to wash dishes, take a shower or wash clothes.

The city says the advisory was prompted by abnormally low water levels as a filtration plant in the city’s west end, and discoloured water. Tests are being conducted on the water to determine whether it is, in fact, contaminated.

It’s the second major infrastructure problem in the city in less than 24 hours.

The previous evening, the city’s metro system suffered a complete shutdown at the height of rush hour because of a computer problem.

There was yet another glitch today: the city website, which carried the water advisory, appeared to be down.

Harper also says he would not have allowed Wright, who has since resigned, to give the money to Duffy had he known about it.

“I learned of this after stories appeared in the media last week speculating on the source of Mr. Duffy’s repayments,” Harper told a news conference Wednesday in Peru, where he is on a trade mission.

“Immediately upon learning that the source was indeed my chief of staff, Nigel Wright, I immediately asked that that information be released publicly. That is what I knew.”

Harper continued: “I was not consulted, I was not asked to sign off on any such thing,” he said.

“Had I obviously been consulted, more importantly I would not have agreed, and it is obviously for those reasons that I accepted Mr. Wright’s resignation.”

It’s the first time Harper himself has directly answered questions about the Senate expenses scandal since news of the payment surfaced last week.

The payment allowed Duffy to stop co-operating with an external audit of his expenses — an audit that has since been referred back to a Senate committee for review.

Wright resigned Sunday, and Duffy quit the Conservative caucus last Thursday, after the details of their transaction began to emerge.

The arrangement between the two is also under investigation by the federal ethics commissioner.

Harper said when he learned Duffy had repaid the expenses, he assumed — like most Canadians — that it had been from the senator’s own pocket.

“That’s how it should have been,” Harper said. “I know Mr. Wright assisted him, or did this for him, because he wanted to see the taxpayers reimbursed.”

Striker Melissa Tancredi returns for the first time since the 2012 Olympics and joins 13 other members of that bronze-winning team.

The June 2 sellout game at BMO Field in Toronto will effectively be a rematch of the semifinal loss to the United States that kept Canada out of the gold-medal game.

Coach John Herdman says it was important to blend youth and experience, but the weight seems to be on the experience side.

The United States has also announced its roster and Carli Lloyd will be rejoining the team for the first time since breaking her shoulder in March.

The eight-time Pro Bowl player announced his retirement on his Twitter account Wednesday. In a statement, he said, “After spending a lot of time this spring thinking about my NFL future, I have made a decision to retire.”

“Although I could continue playing, I’m not sure I would bring a level of performance or passion that’s up to my standards,” he said. “When considering this, along with the fact that I could retire after a 13-year career wearing only one jersey for such a storied franchise, my decision became pretty clear.”

Urlacher was the face of the Bears’ franchise and leaves as one of the game’s great linebackers. In March, he and the Bears were unable to reach a contract agreement and he became a free agent.

He started 180 games from 2000 through 2012, and recorded a team-record 1,779 tackles. He has 41 1/2 sacks, 22 interceptions, 16 fumble recoveries and 11 forced fumbles. He was the AP’s defensive player of the year in 2005 and helped the 2006 team to the Super Bowl.

Last year, he was slowed by a knee problem and then missed the final four games with a hamstring injury.

He had posted pictures on Twitter indicating he was working his way back into shape before the split with the Bears, but when they announced he would not be back, it was hardly a surprise.

Urlacher told the team’s flagship radio station at the time that he was not shocked and that the offer he received was “more like an ultimatum” in which they were telling him, “Sign this contract or we are going to move on.”

The split with Urlacher was one of many moves in a busy off-season for the Bears.

They fired coach Lovie Smith after a second straight late collapse left them out of the playoffs for the fifth time in six years even though they did finish with 10 wins.

They replaced him with the offensive-minded Marc Trestman, hoping he could get the most out of quarterback Jay Cutler, and revamped their offensive line.

On defence, the only starting linebacker returning is Lance Briggs. Veteran free agent acquisition D.J. Williams and second-round draft pick Jon Bostic are expected to compete for the middle linebacker job with Urlacher gone.

A safety with lightning speed, the 6-foot-4 Urlacher initially lined up at strong side linebacker for the Bears but lost the job to Roosevelt Colvin. He made the switch to middle linebacker during his first season when Barry Minter was injured and went on to become the NFL’s defensive rookie of the year, the start of a long run that saw him anchor a defence that consistently ranked among the league’s best.

But he clearly wasn’t his old explosive self last year. The speed and quickness that allowed him to wreak havoc for years simply wasn’t there.

Urlacher sprained his medial collateral ligament and partially sprained the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the 2011 regular-season finale against Minnesota and hasn’t been the same since then.

He barely participated in training camp, had an arthroscopic procedure in mid-August to relieve the swelling, and spent most of the season trying to regain his old form.

Then, he came up lame in coverage on the second-to-last snap of the Bears’ overtime loss to Seattle in early December, an injury that ended his season and, ultimately, his career.