B.C. Conservative leader reveals plans to address toxic drug crisis ahead of debate

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador’s return on investment for sponsoring a professional English soccer team was not quite as rosy as previously claimed.

In September, Liberal Immigration Minister Sarah Stoodley told The Canadian Press that a government website whose address was emblazoned on the jerseys of Barrow AFC saw a boost in traffic after the English side played a match against top-tier titans Chelsea FC.

She said the HomeAwaits.ca site, which offers information about moving to Newfoundland and Labrador, typically received between 50,000 and 55,0000 visitors per day and that jumped by about 1,200 after Barrow hit the pitch against Chelsea on Sept. 24.

However, after recent questioning from the Shoreline News, a community newspaper, the province has corrected the figures.

The department said this week that the figure of roughly 50,000 actually represented the total number of visitors to the site between June 22 and Sept. 28, and although the site did see a bump of 1,200 users in the day after the Chelsea game, that still didn’t match peak traffic of 9,303 more than a week before the Chelsea game.

A spokesperson said the department learned about the error a bit more than a week ago, when a reporter for the Shoreline News asked for comment about an access-to-information request detailing the correct figures.

The department said the incorrect figures cited by the minister came from an email sent from an “external vendor,” a marketing firm based in St. John’s. “Thank you for your inquiry and the opportunity to correct this information,” department spokesperson Allison King said this week after questions from The Canadian Press.

Newfoundland and Labrador announced in June that it had spent $171,000 to sponsor Barrow AFC, based in northern England. As part of the deal, the team’s yellow-and-black jerseys this year feature a large red Maple Leaf over the province’s name, as well as the HomeAwaits.ca address.

The team from Barrow-in-Furness had a banner year, which earned them a match against Chelsea in September, in the race for the English Football League cup.

Stoodley said the sponsorship was aimed at attracting more skilled workers to the province, such as doctors, nurses and social workers.

Final figures obtained by Shoreline News and shared with The Canadian Press show that of more than 58,000 people who visited the site during the period in question, about 2,254 — roughly four per cent — were from the United Kingdom.

“Home Awaits is where we direct traffic from all our international recruitment activities. That includes activities in Latin America, India, Nigeria, Philippines, U.K., Europe and other key markets,” King said in an email.

The province’s Opposition Progressive Conservative Party has called the sponsorship deal a “shockingly irresponsible waste” of taxpayer dollars.

“Even if viewers notice the tiny website address on a jersey crowded with other wording and symbols, how does advertising on a soccer jersey get people to move to Newfoundland and Labrador?” Party leader Tony Wakeham asked in a press release earlier this year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrats who control both chambers of the Virginia legislature are hoping to make good on promises made on the campaign trail, including becoming the first Southern state to expand constitutional protections for abortion access.

The House Privileges and Elections Committee advanced three proposed constitutional amendments Wednesday, including a measure to protect reproductive rights. Its members also discussed measures to repeal a now-defunct state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and ways to revise Virginia’s process to restore voting rights for people who served time for felony crimes.

“This meeting was an important next step considering the moment in history we find ourselves in,” Democratic Del. Cia Price, the committee chair, said during a news conference. “We have urgent threats to our freedoms that could impact constituents in all of the districts we serve.”

The at-times raucous meeting will pave the way for the House and Senate to take up the resolutions early next year after lawmakers tabled the measures last January. Democrats previously said the move was standard practice, given that amendments are typically introduced in odd-numbered years. But Republican Minority Leader Todd Gilbert said Wednesday the committee should not have delved into the amendments before next year’s legislative session. He said the resolutions, particularly the abortion amendment, need further vetting.

“No one who is still serving remembers it being done in this way ever,” Gilbert said after the meeting. “Certainly not for something this important. This is as big and weighty an issue as it gets.”

The Democrats’ legislative lineup comes after Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, to the dismay of voting-rights advocates, rolled back a process to restore people’s civil rights after they completed sentences for felonies. Virginia is the only state that permanently bans anyone convicted of a felony from voting unless a governor restores their rights.

“This amendment creates a process that is bounded by transparent rules and criteria that will apply to everybody — it’s not left to the discretion of a single individual,” Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, the patron of the voting rights resolution, which passed along party lines, said at the news conference.

Though Democrats have sparred with the governor over their legislative agenda, constitutional amendments put forth by lawmakers do not require his signature, allowing the Democrat-led House and Senate to bypass Youngkin’s blessing.

Instead, the General Assembly must pass proposed amendments twice in at least two years, with a legislative election sandwiched between each statehouse session. After that, the public can vote by referendum on the issues. The cumbersome process will likely hinge upon the success of all three amendments on Democrats’ ability to preserve their edge in the House and Senate, where they hold razor-thin majorities.

It’s not the first time lawmakers have attempted to champion the three amendments. Republicans in a House subcommittee killed a constitutional amendment to restore voting rights in 2022, a year after the measure passed in a Democrat-led House. The same subcommittee also struck down legislation supporting a constitutional amendment to repeal an amendment from 2006 banning marriage equality.

On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers voted 16-5 in favor of legislation protecting same-sex marriage, with four Republicans supporting the resolution.

“To say the least, voters enacted this (amendment) in 2006, and we have had 100,000 voters a year become of voting age since then,” said Del. Mark Sickles, who sponsored the amendment as one of the first openly gay men serving in the General Assembly. “Many people have changed their opinions of this as the years have passed.”

A constitutional amendment protecting abortion previously passed the Senate in 2023 but died in a Republican-led House. On Wednesday, the amendment passed on party lines.

If successful, the resolution proposed by House Majority Leader Charniele Herring would be part of a growing trend of reproductive rights-related ballot questions given to voters. Since 2022, 18 questions have gone before voters across the U.S., and they have sided with abortion rights advocates 14 times.

The voters have approved constitutional amendments ensuring the right to abortion until fetal viability in nine states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Ohio and Vermont. Voters also passed a right-to-abortion measure in Nevada in 2024, but it must be passed again in 2026 to be added to the state constitution.

As lawmakers debated the measure, roughly 18 members spoke. Mercedes Perkins, at 38 weeks pregnant, described the importance of women making decisions about their own bodies. Rhea Simon, another Virginia resident, anecdotally described how reproductive health care shaped her life.

Then all at once, more than 50 people lined up to speak against the abortion amendment.

“Let’s do the compassionate thing and care for mothers and all unborn children,” resident Sheila Furey said.

The audience gave a collective “Amen,” followed by a round of applause.

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Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

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Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.

Vancouver Canucks winger Dakota Joshua is set to make his season debut Thursday after missing time for cancer treatment.

Head coach Rick Tocchet says Joshua will slot into the lineup Thursday when Vancouver (8-3-3) hosts the New York Islanders.

The 28-year-old from Dearborn, Mich., was diagnosed with testicular cancer this summer and underwent surgery in early September.

He spoke earlier this month about his recovery, saying it had been “very hard to go through” and that he was thankful for support from his friends, family, teammates and fans.

“That was a scary time but I am very thankful and just happy to be in this position still and be able to go out there and play,,” Joshua said following Thursday’s morning skate.

The cancer diagnosis followed a career season where Joshua contributed 18 goals and 14 assists across 63 regular-season games, then added four goals and four assists in the playoffs.

Now, he’s ready to focus on contributing again.

“I expect to be good, I don’t expect a grace period. I’ve been putting the work in so I expect to come out there and make an impact as soon as possible,” he said.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be perfect right from the get-go, but it’s about putting your best foot forward and working your way to a point of perfection.”

The six-foot-three, 206-pound Joshua signed a four-year, US$13-million contract extension at the end of June.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.