Five stories in the news for Monday, Feb. 6
———
JUDGE TO HAND DOWN RULING IN GIESBRECHT TRIAL
A judge is expected to hand down a verdict today in the case a woman charged with disposing of the remains of six infants in a Winnipeg storage locker. Andrea Giesbrecht has pleaded not guilty to six counts of disposing of a body of a dead child. Giesbrecht was arrested in 2014 after police found the remains in garbage bags and other containers inside a U-Haul storage locker.
———
MAN WHO BEHEADED GREYHOUND PASSENGER TO ASK FOR FREEDOM TODAY
The man who beheaded and cannibalized a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba is expected to ask for his freedom today. Will Baker, formerly known as Vince Li, was found not criminally responsible for the killing of Tim McLean in 2008. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Baker has been gradually granted more freedom over the years he’s spent at a mental health facility.
———
IMAM SAYS IMPASSIONED SPEECH THAT HAS ATTRACTED A WIDE FOLLOWING CAME FROM THE HEART
An imam who spoke at the funerals for three Quebec mosque shooting victims says his words were from the heart, and that’s why they have attracted a wide following on social media. Hassan Guillet says he didn’t even prepare his impassioned speech which has been widely shared on social media and called “extraordinary” and “humane” by J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series.
———
FEDS’ HEALTH FUNDING OFFER TO PROVINCES FALLS SHORT: STUDY
A new report suggests the federal government’s offer on health funding to the provinces doesn’t provide enough cash to help them maintain services in the coming years. The study, to be released today by a University of Ottawa think tank, follows months of bitter federal-provincial talks over health funding. It concludes that Ottawa’s offer falls short for all provinces.
———
MORE PARENTAL CONTROL OF DATA CHARGES COMING?
Canada’s telecom regulator will look at ways to give parents more controls over household cellphone data charges as part of a review of its four-year-old wireless code of conduct. The C-R-T-C says questions will be raised at hearings this week about increasingly popular cellphone family plans that spread data use over a number of devices in a household. The regulator is also looking at tightening rules governing wireless service cancellation fees.
———
Coming later today:
– Trudeau government economic advisers to release new recommendations that could help shape next federal budget.
