Highlights from the news file for Tuesday, Aug. 30
TRUDEAU SAYS CANADA CAN HELP CHINA WITH ITS IMAGE: Justin Trudeau delivered a message to powerful business leaders in Beijing on Tuesday, shortly after his plane touched down: China needs a little more Canada. The prime minister tried to sell China on the idea that strengthening its connection to Canada would ease international concerns about the stunning rise of the economic superpower. Trudeau made the pitch during the first event of his week-long visit to China, where he aims to improve Canada’s gloomy growth prospects by deepening business ties with the rapidly growing Asian country.
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30 PEOPLE PUNISHED FOR SEXUAL MISCONDUCT IN MILITARY RANKS: The Canadian Armed Forces says it is making progress in the fight against sexual misconduct in the ranks, but much more work needs to be done. In an update Tuesday, the military said it completed 51 investigations into inappropriate sexual behaviour between April and July. As a result, 30 people had received “career-impacting” punishments ranging from fines to outright dismissal from the forces. Three more were referred to civilian authorities while the perpetrators in four cases could not be identified.
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FEDS WATCHING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE MEASURES IN MANITOBA, ONTARIO: The federal government is paying close attention to Manitoba legislation that allows a combination of paid and unpaid leave from the workplace for victims of domestic violence, according to a memo prepared for Labour Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk. The province is the first jurisdiction in Canada to allow leave as a way to seek medical attention, relocate to a safe place, attend court hearings, seek counselling and benefit from other services that are difficult to access outside weekday hours. A similar piece of proposed legislation is also before the Ontario legislature.
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ENERGY EAST HEARINGS SUSPENDED: All future National Energy Board hearings into TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline project will be suspended until the board rules on motions demanding two of three panel members resign, the federal regulatory body announced Tuesday. The board received the motions after a news report revealed the two members met with ex-Quebec premier Jean Charest, who was at the time a paid lobbyist for TransCanada. On Monday, protesters stormed a conference room in Montreal minutes before the public hearings were scheduled to take place, forcing the NEB to cancel the day’s events. The NEB also ditched Tuesday’s panel sessions “as a result of a violent disruption on the first day of proceedings and ongoing security concerns,” it said in a statement.
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IN CHINA, OFFICIALS TOIL ON CANOLA DISPUTE: Government negotiators in China are working hard to resolve a dispute that could affect Canadian canola exports, says Canada’s international trade minister. Chrystia Freeland, part of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s delegation in China, said she understands the “absolute importance” of the two countries’ trade relationship, which includes billions of dollars worth of canola shipments. The two countries disagree about what level of “dockage” — foreign material such as weeds, other crops and detritus — should be considered acceptable in Canada’s canola exports to China.
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FAMILY SAYS HEALTH OF CANADIAN WOMAN IN IRANIAN JAIL DECLINING: Relatives of a Montreal-based university professor jailed in Iran say she has been hospitalized because she can barely walk or talk. Homa Hoodfar, who is 65, was initially arrested last March, but was released on bail. She was rearrested June 6th and put in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. An Iranian news agency says she’s been indicted on unknown charges.
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DAY PAROLE EXTENDED FOR TORONTO 18 MEMBER: A man who pleaded guilty to participating in a plot to bomb targets in Toronto has had his day parole extended as the Parole Board of Canada found he has made a “strong beginning” to his period of conditional release. In January, Saad Gaya was initially granted six months of day parole, with special conditions that included avoiding contact with those involved in criminal activity and a requirement to participate in religious counselling to deal with religious extremism. The board has since reviewed his case and decided to extended his day parole up until his statutory release date, which a spokeswoman said is in January 2017.
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RARE HEARING SPOTLIGHTS IMMIGRANT DETENTIONS: A rare court hearing for a mentally ill Jamaican man who’s been in prison for five years without charge began Tuesday as activists called on the Liberal government to overhaul an immigration system that can lead to indefinite detention. At the hearing, Alvin Brown, 40, called for his release so he can access proper treatment for his schizophrenia and depression. The long incarceration, including stints in solitary confinement, has taken its toll on his mental health, especially because the prospects of freedom are so uncertain, he said. Although he became a permanent resident, the government deemed Brown inadmissible after 17 criminal convictions, most for drugs or weapons offences.
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VICTIMS IN CROSSBOW ATTACK IDENTIFIED: The three people killed in a bloody crossbow attack at a home in Toronto’s east end last week were the mother and two brothers of the accused, police said Tuesday after an Ontario court allowed the victims to be identified. Court records name the victims as Susan, Alexander and Christopher Ryan. Police spokesman Mark Pugash confirmed their relationship Tuesday afternoon. Brett Ryan, 35, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the attack that stunned a tranquil residential neighbourhood last Thursday.
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PATHOLOGIST: CAUSE OF DEATH OF BABIES FOUND IN LOCKER IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY: Ontario’s chief forensic pathologist says there’s no way to determine the cause of death for six infants whose remains were found in a Winnipeg storage locker. Michael Pollanen testified at the trial of Andrea Giesbrecht there were several ways the babies could have died — from a death in the womb to being killed after birth. He agreed with the Crown that if a newborn baby was placed in a white kitchen garbage bag, which was then sealed shut, it would be fatal. That is how most of the remains were found in the storage locker. But he said the advanced state of decomposition makes it impossible to say if that’s how the babies died.
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ALL OF TRAGICALLY HIP’S ALBUMS LAND ON BILLBOARD: Canada’s insatiable appetite for the Tragically Hip sent the rock band’s entire discography back onto the Billboard charts last week. All 17 Hip albums, ranging from their 1987 debut EP to their most recent “Man Machine Poem,” found spots on the Billboard Canadian Albums in the wake of the much-anticipated national broadcast of their final tour stop in Kingston, Ont. Topping the list was the band’s 2005 release “Yer Favourites,” a greatest hits compilation that was chosen by their fans through a vote on the band’s website.
