Murphy warns Connecticut abortion law could be at risk while GOP opponent says he's fearmongering | Canada News Media
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Murphy warns Connecticut abortion law could be at risk while GOP opponent says he’s fearmongering

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While the right to abortion has been codified in Connecticut law since 1990, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy warned Wednesday night how women in the state could still be at risk if Republicans impose a national ban.

“I know that doesn’t seem possible in Connecticut. But if the Republican Party platform is put into law, then no one in Connecticut is safe,” the two-term Democrat said during a televised debate.

Even though he is favored to win reelection, Murphy echoed a key talking point Democratic congressional incumbents and challengers in much tighter races across the country have been using to capitalize on the national debate over abortion rights. That prompted Murphy’s Republican challenger, small business owner Matt Corey, to accuse Murphy of trying to scare voters.

“The state of Connecticut’s law is what it is,” he said, calling it “settled law” and that he stands by the state’s laws.

“So Senator Murphy wants to fear-monger in this election because that’s what they do in Washington. They send fear through you,” said Corey, adding how GOP leaders have said any bill that would enact a national ban on abortion would be vetoed.

But Murphy insisted that Connecticut law would be at risk if a fetus was considered a person in federal law.

“If that is indeed the law, that means that every abortion in this country would be illegal, regardless of whether you live in Connecticut, a blue state, or you live in Texas, a red state,” he said. “So I don’t think I’m fearmongering on this topic. I just think I’m reflecting what the actual Republican Party platform is.”

“I want to make sure that Connecticut families and Connecticut women get to make their own health care decisions,” he said.

Corey, who challenged Murphy six years ago and lost, then questioned Murphy’s true support for women, criticizing him for not opposing efforts to allow transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports.

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference currently has a policy of allowing transgender girls to compete in girls high school sports.

“When are men in this country going to start standing up for women’s rights? Why should women suffer?” Corey asked. “You see around the country, women are trying to stand up for what they believe in. Why should we wipe out the achievements, the scholarships, records?”

Murphy said he believes the issue of transgender student athletes should be left up to individual communities and local school boards and not the federal government. He also warned of a “campaign of fear underway in this country” to make people believe they should be scared of others with a different sexual orientation.

“There’s an epidemic of suicide and self-harm in this country amongst our gay students and transgender students,” Murphy said. “And it often happens because they are made to feel ostracized by the communities in which they live.”

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Waterloo Regional Police make arrest after walnuts stolen twice from same business

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Police say a man has been charged with possession of stolen property after thousands of dollars’ worth of walnuts were taken from a business in Cambridge, Ont., recovered by police and then stolen again weeks later.

Waterloo Regional Police say a transport truck and trailer containing walnuts were stolen on Nov. 5, 2023 from the yard of a business in the area of Eagle Street North and Hespeler Road.

They say Halton Regional Police found the trailer and walnuts in Milton, Ont., on Dec. 13 and returned the stolen goods to the business.

Waterloo police say the same trailer was targeted again less than three weeks later, when someone made off with $26,000 worth of walnuts.

Investigators say a portion of that load, valued at $11,000, was recovered in February with help from police in Hamilton.

A 68-year-old man from Kitchener, Ont., was charged with possession of stolen property over $5,000 in the case.

Waterloo police are also trying to crack another nut-theft case after a transport truck and trailer loaded with $70,000 worth of pistachios were taken from a business in Wilmot Township in January.

But they don’t have information to suggest that theft is related to the stolen walnuts.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2024.

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Ontario lacks a health-care plan for alcohol harms as sales expand: health coalition

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TORONTO – Premier Doug Ford’s government has no strategy to mitigate problems that could result from the province’s newly liberalized alcohol sales rules, a health coalition said Thursday, warning that more death, cancer diagnoses and emergency department strains are on the horizon.

The coalition, which includes the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Canadian Public Health Association, the Canadian Cancer Society and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, said the province has not responded to its request to work together to come up with a plan addressing the possible harms.

“Somebody should be paying attention to what we firmly believe is on the horizon,” said Camille Quenneville, CEO of the Ontario branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

“And there doesn’t appear to be any thought or interest in having a conversation or sitting down and figuring out how we might be able to deal with this.”

Thursday marks the province’s final stage of opening up the alcohol sales market as grocery stores that are not already selling booze can stock their shelves with beer, wine and coolers.

The province said it is spending $10 million over five years to support social responsibility and public-health efforts, although it has not provided details on what that entails.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario said it has issued new licences to just over 400 grocery stores across the province in addition to the 450 that are already licensed. It said it has issued licences to 4,707 convenience stores, which have been able to sell booze since early September.

“In a province where we’re already seeing nearly 700 emergency departments visits due to alcohol every day, and we have a health system that is under extreme strain, it just doesn’t seem logical that the government is pursuing this massive expansion without the implementation of any kind of alcohol strategy for the province to mitigate some of the harms that we know are going to be associated with this expansion,” said Ian Culbert, executive director of the Canadian Public Health Association.

The coalition says research out of British Columbia, which partially privatized alcohol sales some two decades ago, offers a guide post for what’s coming.

They point to a study that shows for every 10 per cent increase in privately owned stores selling alcohol, there was a 1.5 per cent increase in consumption.

With a 300 per cent increase in Ontario locations selling alcohol, the province could see a 45 per cent increase in booze consumption, the coalition says.

The coalition projects the number of deaths caused by alcohol could jump from 6,200 to 9,100 per year in Ontario if trends researched in B.C. hold true.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2024.

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S&P/TSX composite down nearly 400 points, U.S. stock markets also tumble

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down nearly 400 points in late-morning trading, with losses led by the technology and base metal sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 375.74 points at 24,132.05.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 355.64 points at 41,785.90. The S&P 500 index was down 82.30 points at 5,731.37, while the Nasdaq composite was down 412.59 points at 18,195.34.

The Canadian dollar traded for 71.88 cents US compared with 71.86 cents US on Wednesday.

The December crude oil contract was up 79 cents at US$69.40 per barrel and the December natural gas contract was down 11 cents at US$2.73 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$54.80 at US$2,746.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down a penny at US$4.34 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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