Canadian Muslim Forum spokesperson Samah Jebbari (left) listens as President Samer Majzoub responds to a question during a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa,  Tuesday, February 21, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Highlights from the news file for Tuesday, Feb. 21

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TORIES ACCUSED OF STOKING ANTI-MUSLIM FEARS: Conservative MPs are stoking a wave of anti-Muslim sentiment by raising unfounded fears about a motion calling on the House of Commons to condemn Islamophobia, a Canadian Muslim leader said Tuesday. Samer Majzoub, president of the Canadian Muslim Forum, said the Conservatives are trying to "delegitimize" and "degrade" the Liberal motion by presenting an alternative motion of their without mentioning the word Islamophobia. A few hours after Majzoub spoke at a news conference, the Conservative motion was defeated by a vote of 165-126, with the governing Liberals using their majority to block a united opposition party front in favour of the motion. Majzoub told the news conference that Muslim Canadians are increasingly suffering prejudice and acts of hatred and that the problem can't be tackled until it's recognized for what it is: Islamophobia. Conservative MPs have argued that the Liberal motion singles out one religious group over others and could potentially curtail Canadians' freedom to criticize any aspect of Islam because it doesn't define the term Islamophobia.

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ONTARIO PC LEADER SUPPORTS ANTI-ISLAMOPHOBIA MOTION: Ontario's Progressive Conservative leader will support an anti-Islamophobia motion from a Liberal member and is encouraging his caucus to do the same. Patrick Brown's support means the Ontario motion is unlikely to garner the kind of political debate seen over a similar motion in the House of Commons. The federal motion is opposed by a number of Conservative MPs, including several leadership contenders, who say it could stifle legitimate debate about issues like Shariah law and the niqab. The Ontario motion, which is to be debated Thursday, calls on the legislature to "stand against all forms of hatred, hostility, prejudice, racism and intolerance; rebuke the notable growing tide of anti-Muslim rhetoric and sentiments; denounce hate-attacks, threats of violence and hate crimes against people of the Muslim faith (and) condemn all forms of Islamophobia." Brown wouldn't weigh in on the federal debate, but said he believes support for the bill is "pretty universal" within his caucus.

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CANADA TO GIVE ASYLUM TO 1,200 PRIMARILY YAZIDI REFUGEES: The Trudeau government is poised to announce that Canada has given safe haven to almost 400 Yazidi refugees and other survivors of Islamist extremists in the last four months and will take in about 800 more by the end of the year. The initiative is expected to cost $28 million, according to details obtained by The Canadian Press. In addition to 1,200 government-assisted refugees, the government says it also intends to facilitate private sponsorships of Yazidi refugees. The announcement comes four months after the House of Commons unanimously supported a Conservative motion that called on the government to provide asylum to an unspecified number of Yazidi women and girls. The motion recognized that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is committing genocide against the Yazidi people and holding many of the religious group's women and girls as sex slaves.

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MULRONEY SAYS FEDS MAY FACE 'ROUGH' NAFTA NEGOTIATION: Former prime minister Brian Mulroney says Ottawa may face a "rough negotiation" when it comes to NAFTA, but he believes Canada will emerge with better relationships with the United States and Mexico. Speaking before the Canadian Council for the Americas, Mulroney said U.S. President Donald Trump may be unorthodox, but he's smart, disciplined and will surprise many. "We're going to come out of this in one piece — with a strong NAFTA and a strong bilateral and trilateral relationship," he told the crowd. Trump has called the North American Free Trade Agreement the worst trade deal the United States has ever negotiated and has vowed to revisit, or even scrap the agreement in favour of protectionist measures. Mulroney, who has been friends and neighbours with Trump in Palm Beach, Fla., for years, said he felt Canada's case "was advanced enormously" by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's meeting with the president.

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TIM HORTONS PARENT COMPANY TO PAY $1.8B FOR POPEYES: The parent company of Tim Hortons and Burger King is making a move to add fried chicken to its repertoire with an offer to buy Popeyes in a friendly deal. Restaurant Brands International said Tuesday it will pay US$1.8 billion for the Louisiana-style fried chicken chain. That translates to US$79 per share in Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc., which trades on the Nasdaq composite. Will Slabaugh, a managing director at Arkansas-based Stephens Inc., said RBI plans to accelerate Popeyes' growth in the U.S. and beyond. The company currently has more than 2,600 restaurants, mostly in America, with 621 international locations. "There is no reason that this brand can't be multiple times its size in many, many years from now," said Schwartz, adding that Popeyes is currently growing at a similar pace to Burger King when RBI first acquired that fast-food chain.

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PREMIERS TO TALK REFUGEES THIS WEEK: Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister says he and other premiers will have a conference call this week to discuss the growing number of refugees crossing the border. Pallister says the aim is to co-ordinate the approaches of the provincial and federal governments in dealing with the influx of people crossing through ditches and fields — away from border stations — to seek asylum. The border community of Emerson, Man., is one of the areas that has seen a sharp increase in recent weeks. The community's reeve, Greg Janzen, says Canada should change its Safe Third Country agreement with the United States, so that refugees fleeing the U.S. can claim asylum at official border crossings. He says that would reduce the risks posed by people sneaking across unguarded border points in cold weather. Pallister was non-committal on the idea, saying there are arguments for and against changing the deal.

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U.S. TO EXPAND POOL OF PEOPLE TARGETED FOR DEPORTATION: The Trump administration is greatly expanding the number of people living in the U.S. illegally who are considered a priority for deportation, including people arrested for traffic violations, according to agency documents released Tuesday. The documents represent a sweeping rewrite of the nation's immigration enforcement priorities. The Homeland Security Department memos, signed by Secretary John Kelly, lay out that any immigrant living in the United States illegally who has been charged or convicted of any crime — and even those suspected of a crime — will now be an enforcement priority. That could include people arrested for shoplifting or minor traffic offences. The memos eliminate far more narrow guidance issued under the Obama administration that focused resources strictly on immigrants who had been convicted of serious crimes, threats to national security and recent border crossers.

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BILL ENDING NOVA SCOTIA TEACHERS' DISPUTE PASSES: The Nova Scotia government has passed legislation that ends a 16-month contract dispute with the province's 9,300 teachers. Bill 75 was passed by a vote of 33 to 17 with the Liberal majority voting unanimously for the legislation. The new law brings an end the teachers' work-to-rule campaign, which began Dec. 5. It also imposes a four-year contract that contains a three per cent salary increase and incorporates many elements included in the first two tentative agreements rejected by union members. Premier Stephen McNeil says the legislation is a necessary step to get the province's classrooms back to normal. Opposition Leader Jamie Baillie says the government has simply ensured a long and costly legal battle with the union.

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ONTARIO AG SEEKS HELP TP SPEED UP JUSTICE SYSTEM: Ontario's attorney general is calling on the federal government to help speed up the justice system by appointing more judges and making specific changes to the country's Criminal Code. Yasir Naqvi says his requests come in light of a Supreme Court of Canada decision last year on the issue of the constitutionally guaranteed right to be tried within a reasonable time. The decision — which Naqvi called a "game changer" — concluded delays must not exceed 30 months in superior courts and 18 months for cases at the provincial level. As a result, Naqvi says stays of proceedings have been granted in a number of cases in Ontario recently, including a murder case and a case of sexual assault on a child. He says changes are needed to ensure cases are getting to trial in a timely manner, and is asking the federal justice minister to consider Criminal Code reforms that will "significantly curtail" the use of preliminary inquiries in criminal cases destined for the superior court.

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ONTARIO TEACHERS DENIES ANTI-VACCINE ALLEGATIONS: A disciplinary hearing for a southwestern Ontario teacher accused of telling students they could die as a result of vaccination is hearing from a public health nurse who says she felt intimidated by the man's actions. Angela Swick, a nurse with the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit, says Timothy C. Sullivan shouted at her and her colleagues when they visited the school on March 9, 2015. Testifying at Sullivan's disciplinary hearing Tuesday, Swick said the teacher accused her of withholding information from students who were being vaccinated. The college is accusing Sullivan of professional misconduct for telling students they could die from vaccines. Sullivan says his issue is with informed consent rather than the vaccines themselves. Sullivan has been suspended with pay since April 15, 2015. He teaches in Waterford, Ont., in the Grand Erie District School Board, but his school cannot be named due to a publication ban in place to protect students' identities.

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News from © The Canadian Press, 2017