Highlights from the news file for Friday, July 22
SHOOTING IN MUNICH MALL: Munich police warned people to stay inside and avoid public places Friday as they hunted for the shooter or shooters who opened fire at a shopping mall, killing at least eight people. Members of Germany’s elite anti-terrorism force were on their way to the scene of the shooting, which police say occurred near a McDonald’s restaurant. Witnesses reported seeing three men with firearms near the Olympia Einkaufszentrum mall. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada is closely monitoring the situation.
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WALL DEFENDS PIPELINES AFTER SPILL: Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is defending oil pipelines as the city of North Battleford copes with a spill of unknown cause that has forced it to shut down its water intake plant on the North Saskatchewan River. Wall says if pipelines don’t move oil, then railway tankers will have to be used and Wall says rail spill are often “more intense” than pipeline mishaps. Husky Energy says up to 250,000 litres of crude has leaked from its pipeline near Maidstone.
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PREMIERS WANT MORE HEALTH-CARE CASH: Canada’s 13 premiers all agree on the need for more health-care cash from Ottawa, but not on how much they might have to compromise to get it. Health is the focus of the final day of the summer meeting of the provincial and territorial leaders. They have been asking the federal Liberals to increase their share of the funding to 25 per cent from about 20 per cent.
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INFLATION RATE AT 1.5 PER CENT: Statistics Canada says the country’s annual inflation rate rang in at 1.5 per cent last month. It says lower fuel prices helped to offset higher consumer costs for cars, electricity and air travel. Shelter and household items registered the biggest gains of the major categories of Statistics Canada’s consumer price index. Newfoundland and Labrador had the highest inflation rate of any province in June at 2.4 per cent.
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HIP BEGIN FAREWELL TOUR: Fans are preparing to say goodbye to the Tragically Hip as the iconic Canadian band kicks off a cross-country tour in Victoria on Friday night. The tour is likely to be the band’s last because frontman Gord Downie has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Some fans have travelled from as far away as California to see the band for a last time, while others paid up to $1,400 for two tickets online.
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POLICE SEEK WITNESSES TO TORONTO SHOOTING: Toronto police and a victim’s family are asking for the public’s help in solving a deadly shooting that took place at a nightclub hosting an after-party for rapper Drake’s music festival last year. Det. Omar Khan says he knows there are more people out there with information on the shooting at the Muzik nightclub that killed 23-year-old Duvel Hibbert and 26-year-old Ariela Navarro-Fenoy on Aug. 4, 2015.
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WAR RESISTERS WANT TO STAY IN CANADA: American soldiers who fled to Canada rather than fight in Iraq joined activists and a Liberal backbencher on Friday to urge the government of Justin Trudeau to end legal action against them and grant them residency status. Bolstered by a recent British report that found no justification for the bloody U.S.-led invasion, the war resisters pleaded for the Liberal government to make good on promises to end their state of limbo.
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SYRIAN REFUGEE POLL LOOKED AT TERRORISM: Newly released polling information shows the Liberal government sought to probe whether Canadians linked their Syrian refugee plan with increased risks of terrorism. A government survey of people’s attitudes towards a program to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees in a matter of months also tacked on three explicit questions about terrorism. Pollsters then cross-referenced that data with opinions about the program.
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BIEBER UNDER FIRE OVER LIONS: Canadian pop star Justin Bieber is in hot water over reports that he appeared with young lions at two Toronto events. Toronto Animal Services said Friday it has sent the singer a notice of violation after receiving two complaints that he “exhibited” lions. It said one complaint relates to Bieber being seen with a white lion cub, the other with a “juvenile lion.” Exotic cats such as lions and tigers are banned under a city bylaw.
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ANNUAL CAPELIN ROLL: There’s something fishy going on in Newfoundland. It’s the annual capelin roll. It’s attracting thousands of people to two rocky beaches north of St. John’s, where tens of thousands of small, silvery fish wriggle ashore to spawn in a writhing mass. People scoop them up to eat, or use as fertilizer.
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