Six stories in the news for Thursday, Oct. 27
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TRUDEAU NAMES NINE NEW INDEPENDENT SENATORS
Justin Trudeau will name nine, new, non-partisan senators Thursday, bringing him within reach of his goal to transform the discredited Senate into a more reputable, independent chamber of sober second thought. The five women and four men hail from a wide variety of backgrounds, from an art historian to a renowned human rights lawyer to a conservationist, The Canadian Press has learned. They are the first senators to be chosen under an arm’s length process that saw more than 2,700 Canadians apply to fill the 21 vacancies in the 105-seat upper house.
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NDP PLANS PUSH ON FIRST NATIONS CHILD WELFARE
The New Democrats plan to introduce a motion today calling on the Trudeau government to comply with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal which has ruled that the government discriminates against First Nations children. At issue is delivery of child welfare services on reserves. The tribunal has issued two compliance orders to compel the Liberals to act.
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POLICE TO SEND TEXTS IN SEARCH FOR WITNESSES
Some cellphone users will be getting a couple of texts today as provincial police in Ontario unveil an innovative technique to identify potential witnesses in an ongoing homicide investigation. The body of 65-year-old Frederick Hatch was discovered near Erin, Ont., on Dec. 17, 2015, and investigators have been searching for suspects ever since. Police say they’ve identified cellphone numbers that were in use in the area at the time Hatch was last seen and will send two text messages — one in English and one in French — to those phones today.
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FEDS PUSHED TO MAKE MENTAL HEALTH A PRIORITY
The Trudeau government is being urged to make mental health a top priority as it negotiates a new health accord with the provinces and territories. Dr. Catherine Zahn, president of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, says mental illness afflicts some 6.7 million Canadians — roughly 20 per cent of the population — and costs the economy an estimated $51 billion each year. Zahn wants the health accord to explicitly earmark funds for research aimed at determining the biological origins of conditions like addiction, depression, schizophrenia, autism and dementia.
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FIRST NATIONS TO FILE LAWSUITS AGAINST LNG PROJECT
Two First Nations and an environmental group are set to file lawsuits today in an attempt to halt a liquefied natural gas project proposed for British Columbia’s northern coast. The federal government granted the 36-billion dollar Pacific NorthWest LNG project conditional approval last month. But the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs and the Gitwilgyoots Tribe say First Nations were not properly consulted on the project, and they are filing separate lawsuits asking the Federal Court to reverse the approval.
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CORRIVEAU JURY TO GET FINAL INSTRUCTIONS FROM JUDGE
The jury hearing the case of ex-federal Liberal organizer Jacques Corriveau is to receive final instructions from the judge today. Corriveau is charged with fraud against the government, forgery and laundering proceeds of crime. The Crown alleged Corriveau, 83, set up a kickback system on contracts awarded during the sponsorship program and used his Pluri Design Canada Inc. firm to defraud the federal government.
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