Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau depart Ottawa on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017, en route to Washington, D.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
October 10, 2017 - 1:45 PM
Highlights from the news file for Tuesday, Oct. 10
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FREELAND SAYS CANADA FACES UNCERTAINTY GOING INTO NAFTA TALKS: Canada finds itself navigating the most uncertain moment in international relations since the end of the Second World War, says Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland. Freeland made the remark Tuesday in Washington during a panel discussion at a women-in-business summit organized by Fortune magazine. She was being asked about recent comments by the head of the U.S. Senate foreign relations committee. Republican lawmaker Bob Corker suggested that people in the White House must constantly babysit Donald Trump to prevent chaos.
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POLL INDICATES MOST DON'T WANT 'CANADA FIRST' POLICY: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau headed to Washington Tuesday to further strengthen the ties between Canada and the U.S. just as a new poll suggests Canadians don't want this country heading down the same path as its southern neighbour. Ekos and the Canadian Press surveyed 4,839 Canadians via telephone between Sept. 15 and Oct. 1. The results suggest Canada favours a more open approach — 60 per cent of those asked don't want a "Canada First" foreign policy that mirrors the "America First" rallying cry that put Trump in office.
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ABOUT 12,000 SEARS CANADA EMPLOYEES TO LOSE JOBS: Sears Canada Inc. is seeking court approval to liquidate its roughly 130 remaining stores, leaving approximately 12,000 employees without a job. The embattled retailer, which has been operating under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act since June, said Tuesday that it had failed to find a buyer that would allow it to continue as a going concern. The court overseeing Sears Canada's operations is expected to hear a motion Friday seeking approval for the liquidation and wind down of the business.
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DOCUMENTS SUGGEST CANADIAN TERRORIST HAS MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES: A Canadian teen who pleaded guilty in a terror plot to attack New York City landmarks suffered from drug addiction and mental health issues, according to newly released court documents. Letters from both his lawyers and a New York prosecutor filed with an American court show Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, of Mississauga, Ont., struggled with drug addiction that played a role in his relapse while in prison. On Friday, officials in the U.S. released details of El Bahnasawy's guilty plea to multiple terrorism-related charges, which was heard by a New York court last October.
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'60S SCOOP SETTLEMENT CONCERNS METIS: The president of the Metis National Council says he is disappointed the federal government did not alert his organization about a settlement reached over the '60s Scoop, which saw Indigenous children removed from their homes and placed into the foster system. The federal government announced last week a compensation package including up to $750 million in compensation for victims classified as status Indian and Inuit. Metis National Council President Clement Chartier tells The Canadian Press his organization has received many calls since then from Metis people affected by the '60s Scoop who want to know how their experience will be dealt with.
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CENSUS DATA GIVE GLIMPSE AT LOW ON-RESERVE INCOME: Preliminary income data from last year's census is providing a glimpse at the depth of poverty faced by Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Available figures showing that four-fifths of reserves reported median individual incomes that fell below the poverty line. The figures provide the start of a baseline from which to measure the efforts of the Trudeau government to boost economic outcomes for Aboriginal Peoples, with Statistics Canada filling in the remaining details later this month.
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PARENTS MOVING TO STOP SAFE INJECTION SITE: Parents opposed to a supervised safe injection site near a Montreal elementary school are ready to go to court in a last-minute effort to stop it from opening. They have hired well-known civil liberties lawyer Julius Grey who said Tuesday he's ready to seek an injunction or another court ruling against the centre if need be. But he is hopeful an agreement can still be worked out before Sunday when the injection site is scheduled to open. A spokeswoman for the school said parents are against the site being located 200 metres from the Marguerite-Bourgeoys school.
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ECUADOREAN VILLAGERS FACE OFF AGAINST CHEVRON IN COURT: Two groups of Indigenous Ecuadorian villagers, backed by some star power from legendary British rocker Roger Waters, faced off briefly against oil giant Chevron in a Canadian court Tuesday as they fight to collect on a US$9.5-billion judgment awarded to them. But as with almost every other step of the long-running legal battle, the case was delayed a day at the request of one of the groups to allow their new lawyer to get up to speed. The first issue Ontario's top court needs to sort out is whether the villagers must come up with almost $1 million as a security deposit before they can appeal a ruling that went against them.
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POLICE SAY SEPARATIST HUNT COMMENT NOT CRIMINAL: Police say a well-known political commentator who joked on TV about hunting Quebec separatists didn't commit any crime. Luc Lavoie, a one-time spokesman for Brian Mulroney and a longtime former Quebecor executive, made the comment a week ago. Groupe TVA suspended Lavoie last Wednesday after complaints were filed with Quebec provincial police. A spokeswoman for the force said Tuesday police analyzed the comments and did not believe any criminal offence was committed.
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MORE DEATHS IN CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES: A fire official says two more people have died in Sonoma County, raising the total number of people killed in wildfires in Northern California to 15. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Chief Ken Pimlott said Tuesday at least 2,000 homes, businesses and other structures have been destroyed. He says it would be up to local authorities to release the names of the victims once their families have been notified.
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News from © The Canadian Press, 2017