What are some good Canadian papers to read online?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

Having visited the UK twice recently, I have a good idea of what the various British papers are and what their political orientations are, but what are some good Canadian papers to read?

[HeresyLives]

1. Here's a few

http://www.thestar.com/national is the biggest one in Canada, and is required by a clause from it's original owner to be liberal in outlook.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/ is the second biggest one I believe, and is slightly more center than the Star, due to new owners. Sometimes it wanders into being right of center.

http://www.nationalpost.com/ is right wing, and likely won't be around for too much longer as it's parent company is facing bankruptcy. The newspaper itself has never made a profit.

[Posteritatis]

2. Reading all three can be healthy just because you get most of the spectrum

The local papers can be surprising at times, too. I love mine (especially its political cartoonist, by far my favorite anywhere), but as a provincial paper it might lean a bit local for other readers' tastes.

[HappyCynic]

3. Local papers

I agree that the local papers should be checked out. The quality of the local papers will vary greatly depending on where you go, even within the region. If you're in Vancouver, there are two main ones with an online presence: the Vancouver Sun and the Province. The Province I consider to be a sports paper with a bit of news so unless you're deeply interested in sports, skip this one. The Vancouver Sun - Not too bad, pretty centrist. There are a number of weeklies (Georgia Strait, West Ender, etc.) that are more about local affairs and I'm not sure how extensive their web sites are. There are also a few free dailies that are entirely forgettable, in my opinion (again, not sure how much of their content is online).

A bit of a note about the National Post: I consider it the Canadian newspaper equivalent of Fox News. When it started out, I checked it out. A few months ago, I was given a copy of the paper (while waiting for an oil change) and it apparently hadn't changed. Prime example was a full page they had on Iran's history. They started with the Shah (ignoring the whole US sponsored overthrow of the democratic regime), glossed over his rule (you got the impression that he was a bit ill suited for rule - nothing about his secret police, crackdowns on protests, etc.), then right to the Islamic Revolution and suddenly things were "Death to America" and hostage taking (again, no reasons given for these attitudes/actions). If you didn't know any of the history, you'd get the impression that the whole "Death to America" thing came out of nowhere and that they're all crazy/belligerent there. So, check it out for "balance" if you want but be warned. It's a lot to stomach.

[iverglas]

4. no argument about the National Post

But it's worthwhile for a furriner to take a look for themself occasionally, just so they know what's up when they see somebody cite it.

Which they do with predictable regularity in the Guns forum at DU. ;)