In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of May 11 …
What we are watching in Canada …
Drivers can expect more pain at the pumps this morning as gasoline prices push new records.
Natural Resources Canada says the average price across the country for regular gasoline hit 197.4 cents per litre on Tuesday for an all-time high.
The average price inched up slightly from 197.1 cents per litre on Monday, while prices are up more that twelve cents from a week ago.
Prices averaged about $2.23 a litre in Vancouver, while in Toronto prices averaged slightly under $2 a litre and in Edmonton the average was just under $1.30 a litre.
Gasoline prices have spiked as oil tops US$100 a barrel, in part because of supply disruptions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The higher prices also come as the reopening of the economy has led to high demand for gasoline that refiners have limited capacity to meet.
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Also this …
About four in five Canadian respondents to an online survey by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies say they are in favour of a woman’s right to an abortion if she so chooses, while 14 per cent say they are opposed.
The poll offers a picture of how Canadians feel about the issue as the United States faces turmoil over the possible overturning of the right to have an abortion.
Seventy per cent of all respondents say they are concerned about the leaked draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade, and almost half say they think the situation in the U.S. on the right to an abortion may have an effect in Canada.
Christian Bourque, Leger executive vice-president, says the high level of concern is interesting given the near-consensus shared among Canadians in supporting the right to choose.
The right to an abortion doesn’t exist in Canada in the same way it is enshrined in Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision in the U.S.
Abortion is decriminalized in Canada because of a 1988 Supreme Court decision, but no bill has ever been passed to enshrine access into law and it’s also not considered a constitutionally protected right under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The online survey of 1,534 Canadians between Friday and Sunday cannot be assigned a margin of error because internet-based polls are not considered random samples.
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And this too …
The federal government is set to launch an online portal for Canadian businesses to donate to Ukrainians who need help to get set up in Canada after fleeing war in their country.
For now, the portal is designed to accept large-scale goods and services like housing, gift cards for high-priority items, transportation and jobs.
Loblaws, Canadian Tire, Metro and Couche-Tard have already donated the equivalent of more than $400,000.
The government says the portal is being launched today after Canadian companies expressed an interest in supporting people who have been impacted by the war in Ukraine.
Canada has opened the door to an unlimited number of Ukrainians and their families to work and study here for three years before deciding their next steps.
The portal is expected to be updated regularly with lists of priority items needed for families settling in Canada.
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What we are watching in the U.S. …
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. _ The U.S. Interior Department says it will release a report Wednesday that will begin to uncover the truth about the federal government’s past oversight of Native American boarding schools.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced an initiative last June to investigate the troubled legacy of boarding schools, which the government established and supported for decades. Indigenous children routinely were taken from their communities and forced into schools that sought to strip them of their language and culture.
Catholic, Protestant and other churches also led some of the schools, backed by U.S. laws and policies.
The Interior report was prompted by the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential school sites in Canada that brought back painful memories for Indigenous communities. Haaland has said her agency’s report will identify past schools, locate known and possible burial sites at or near those schools, and uncover the names and tribal affiliations of students.
The first volume of the report will be released Wednesday. The Interior Department hasn’t said how many volumes were produced.
At least 367 boarding schools for Native Americans operated in the U.S., many of them in Oklahoma where tribes were relocated, Arizona, Alaska, New Mexico and South Dakota, according to research by the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.
Children at the schools often were subjected to military-style discipline and had their long hair cut. Early curricula focused heavily on vocational skills, including homemaking for girls. Some children never returned home.
Accounting for the number of children who died at the schools has been difficult because records weren’t always kept. Ground penetrating radar has been used in some places to search for remains.
Later this week, a U.S. House subcommittee will hear testimony on a bill to create a truth and healing commission modelled after one in Canada. Several church groups are backing the legislation.
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What we are watching in the rest of the world …
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine _ Ukraine’s natural gas pipeline operator said Wednesday it would stop Russian shipments through a key hub in the east of the country, while its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Kyiv’s military had made small gains, pushing Russian forces out of four villages near Kharkiv.
The pipeline operator said Russian shipments through its Novopskov hub, in an area controlled by Moscow-backed separatists, would be cut beginning Wednesday. It said the hub handles about a third of Russian gas passing through Ukraine to Western Europe. Russia’s state-owned natural gas giant Gazprom put the figure at about a quarter.
The move marks the first time natural gas supply has been affected by the war that began in February. It may force Russia to shift flows of its gas through territory controlled by Ukraine to reach its clients in Europe. Russia’s state energy giant Gazprom initially said it couldn’t, though preliminary flow data suggested higher rates moving through a second station in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
The operator said it was stopping the flow because of interference from “occupying forces,” including the apparent siphoning of gas. Russia could reroute shipments through Sudzha, a main hub in a northern part of the country controlled by Ukraine, it said. But Gazprom spokesperson Sergei Kupriyanov said that would be “technologically impossible” and questioned the reason given for the stoppage.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that the military was gradually pushing Russian troops away from Kharkiv, while Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba voiced what appeared to be increasing confidence _ and expanded goals, suggesting Ukraine could go beyond just forcing Russia back to areas it held before the invasion began 11 weeks ago.
Kuleba told the Financial Times that Ukraine initially believed victory would be the withdrawal of Russian troops to positions they occupied before the Feb. 24 invasion. But the focus shifted to the eastern industrial heartland of the Donbas after Russian forces failed to take Kyiv early in the war.
Ukraine said Tuesday that Russian forces fired seven missiles at Odesa a day earlier, hitting a shopping centre and a warehouse in the country’s largest port. One person was killed and five wounded, the military said. Images showed a burning building and debris _ including a tennis shoe _ in a heap of destruction in the city on the Black Sea.
One general has suggested Moscow’s aims include cutting Ukraine’s maritime access to both the Black and Azov seas. That would also give Russia a corridor linking it to both the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized in 2014, and Transnistria, a pro-Moscow region of Moldova.
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On this day in 1984 …
A federal law created the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, CSIS, to replace the RCMP when dealing with espionage and terrorism.
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In entertainment …
Charlotte Cardin doesn’t need to explain why she’s beaming as she sits down at the piano in her Montreal studio ahead of the Juno Awards.
There’s plenty to smile about these days, considering she holds a leading six nominations at Canada’s most prestigious music awards show this weekend, including artist of the year and single of the year for “Meaningless.”
That puts her ahead of Justin Bieber and the Weeknd, who each have five nominations heading into an industry show Saturday, when the bulk of trophies will be handed out. The televised bash for marquee categories airs Sunday on CBC.
“I’m still trying to process it,” she says, freely gesticulating near the keyboard — almost teasing that she might improvise and turn the conversation into a private concert.
“It’s rare that female artists from Quebec receive as many nominations and are able to get that platform across Canada.”
In 2021, Cardin’s debut album, “Phoenix,” made her the first Canadian female artist to spend two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian album chart since Quebec’s renowned diva Céline Dion, in September 2016.
The Junos, where she was nominated as breakthrough artist four years ago, is certain to introduce her to a whole new audience. Already, most of the stops on her 2022 international tour are sold out. “It makes me so proud to represent a female project, from Quebec but in English,” she says.
On Sunday, she’ll perform at the Junos, which airs live from Budweiser Stage in Toronto, with actor Simu Liu as host and performers that include Arcade Fire, Mustafa and Avril Lavigne.
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Did you see this?
Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children says it has identified seven probable cases of severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin.
The research and pediatric hospital, also known as SickKids, says the mysterious cases were identified between Oct. 1, 2021 and April 30, 2022 and reported to Public Health Ontario.
Dr. Upton Allen, the hospital’s division head of infectious diseases, said Tuesday that large children’s hospitals such as his regularly see children with severe hepatitis and that the overall numbers “seems to be pretty consistent with what we’ve seen before.”
“But we’re really carefully looking at those numbers in really great detail,” Allen added.
World Health Organization officials said last week they had reports of almost 300 probable cases in 20 countries. More than 100 possible cases have emerged among children in the United States, including five deaths.
Allen could not say if the seven cases singled out by SickKids are different from what they would have seen in prior years.
“What we can say is that we have cases that fit the World Health Organization case definition. But we’re not yet able to say definitively that these cases truly represent a new signal,” he said.
SickKids said its infectious disease specialists were on the lookout for youngsters with liver disease symptoms that could include new onset of dark urine, pale stool and/or jaundice, which can turn the whites of eyes a distinctive yellow colour. Other key symptoms to look out for include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and joint pain.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 11, 2022.
VANCOUVER – The federal government is urging both sides in the British Columbia port dispute to return to the table after Saturday’s collapse of mediated talks to end the lockout at container terminals that has entered its second week.
A statement issued by the office of federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon on Monday said both the port employers and the union representing more than 700 longshore supervisors “must understand the urgency of the situation.”
The statement also urged both sides to “do the work necessary to reach an agreement.”
“Canadians are counting on them,” the statement from MacKinnon’s office said.
The lockout at B.C. container terminals including those in Vancouver — Canada’s largest port — began last week after the BC Maritime Employers Association said members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Ship and Dock Foremen Local 514 began strike activity in response to a “final offer” from employers.
The union said the plan was only for an overtime ban and a refusal to implement automation technology, calling the provincewide lockout a reckless overreaction.
On Saturday, the two sides began what was scheduled to be up to three days of mediated talks, after MacKinnon spoke to both sides and said on social media that there was a “concerning lack of urgency” to resolve the dispute.
But the union said the talks lasted “less than one hour” Saturday without resolution, accusing the employers of cutting them off.
The employers denied ending the talks, saying the mediator concluded the discussions after “there was no progress made” in talks conducted separately with the association and the union.
“The BCMEA went into the meeting with open minds and seeking to achieve a negotiated settlement at the bargaining table,” a statement from the employers said.
“In a sincere effort to bring these drawn-out negotiations to a close, the BCMEA provided a competitive offer to ILWU Local 514 … the offer did not require any concessions from the union and, if accepted, would have ended this dispute.”
The employers said the offer includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term along with an average lump sum payment of $21,000 per qualified worker, but the union said it did not address staffing levels given the advent of port automation technology in terminals such as DP World’s Centerm in Vancouver.
After talks broke off, the union accused the employers of “showing flagrant disregard for the seriousness of their lockout.”
Local 514 president Frank Morena said in a statement on Saturday that the union is “calling on the actual individual employers who run the terminals to order their bargaining agent — the BCMEA — to get back to the table.”
“We believe the individual employers who actually run the terminals need to step up and order their bargaining agent to get back to the table and start negotiations and stop the confrontation,” Morena said.
No further talks are currently scheduled.
According to the Canada Labour Code, the labour minister or either party in a dispute can request a mediator to “make recommendations for settlement of the dispute or the difference.”
In addition, Section 107 of the Code gives the minister additional powers to take action that “seem likely to maintain or secure industrial peace and to promote conditions favourable to the settlement of industrial disputes,” and could direct the Canada Industrial Relations Board “to do such things as the Minister deems necessary.”
Liam McHugh-Russell, assistant professor at Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, said Section 107 “is very vague about what it allows a minister to do.”
“All it says is that the minister can refer a problem and a solution to the Labour Board. They can ask the Labour Board to try and solve the problem,” he said.
“Maybe the minister will try to do that. It remains to be seen.”
The other option if mediated talks fail — beyond the parties reaching a solution on their own — would be a legislated return to work, which would be an exception to the normal way labour negotiations operate under the Labour Code.
Parliament is not scheduled to sit this week and will return on Nov. 18.
The labour strife at B.C. ports is happening at the same time another dispute is disrupting Montreal, Canada’s second-largest port.
The employers there locked out almost 1,200 workers on Sunday night after a “final” offer was not accepted, greatly reducing operations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2024.
LONGUEUIL, Que. – A man charged with first-degree murder in the death of his partner in a Montreal suburb was out on bail for uttering threats against her when she was killed.
Shilei Du was charged today with the killing of 29-year-old Guangmei Ye in Candiac, Que., about 15 kilometres southwest of Montreal.
Sgt. Frédéric Deshaies of the Quebec provincial police says their investigators were called by local police to a home in Candiac at about noon on Sunday.
The charges filed at the Longueuil courthouse against 36-year-old Du allege the killing took place on or around Nov. 7.
According to court files, Du had previously appeared at the same courthouse for allegedly uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm against Ye on Sept. 7.
Du pleaded not guilty the following day and was released on bail one day later. He had been present in court on the uttering threats charges on Nov. 6.
Du, whose current address is listed in Montreal, was arrested on Sunday at the home where Ye was killed.
The case is scheduled to return to court on Nov. 19.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2024.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Monday on whether a law that legislators adopted more than a decade before the Civil War bans abortion and can still be enforced.
Abortion rights advocates stand an excellent chance of prevailing, given that liberal justices control the court and one of them remarked on the campaign trail that she supports abortion rights. Monday’s arguments are little more than a formality ahead of a ruling, which is expected to take weeks.
Wisconsin lawmakers passed the state’s first prohibition on abortion in 1849. That law stated that anyone who killed a fetus unless the act was to save the mother’s life was guilty of manslaughter. Legislators passed statutes about a decade later that prohibited a woman from attempting to obtain her own miscarriage. In the 1950s, lawmakers revised the law’s language to make killing an unborn child or killing the mother with the intent of destroying her unborn child a felony. The revisions allowed a doctor in consultation with two other physicians to perform an abortion to save the mother’s life.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion nationwide nullified the Wisconsin ban, but legislators never repealed it. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe two years ago, conservatives argued that the Wisconsin ban was enforceable again.
Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit challenging the law in 2022. He argued that a 1985 Wisconsin law that allows abortions before a fetus can survive outside the womb supersedes the ban. Some babies can survive with medical help after 21 weeks of gestation.
Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski, a Republican, argues the 1849 ban should be enforceable. He contends that it was never repealed and that it can co-exist with the 1985 law because that law didn’t legalize abortion at any point. Other modern-day abortion restrictions also don’t legalize the practice, he argues.
Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Schlipper ruled last year that the old ban outlaws feticide — which she defined as the killing of a fetus without the mother’s consent — but not consensual abortions. The ruling emboldened Planned Parenthood to resume offering abortions in Wisconsin after halting procedures after Roe was overturned.
Urmanski asked the state Supreme Court in February to overturn Schlipper’s ruling without waiting for lower appellate courts to rule first. The court agreed to take the case in July.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin filed a separate lawsuit in February asking the state Supreme Court to rule directly on whether a constitutional right to abortion exists in the state. The court agreed in July to take that case as well. The justices have yet to schedule oral arguments.
Persuading the court’s liberal majority to uphold the ban appears next to impossible. Liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz stated openly during her campaign that she supports abortion rights, a major departure for a judicial candidate. Usually, such candidates refrain from speaking about their personal views to avoid the appearance of bias.
The court’s three conservative justices have accused the liberals of playing politics with abortion.
