The Wednesday news briefing: An at-a-glance survey of some top stories

Highlights from the news file for Wednesday, July 20

NATIONAL TRADE PACT ON TABLE IN WHITEHORSE: Canada’s provinces and territories are committed to freer trade within the country’s borders, says Yukon Premier Darrell Pasloski as provincial and territorial leaders gather in Whitehorse. The final touches on an elusive, renewed trade pact between the provinces, territories and the federal government are expected to be on the table during meetings of the Council of the Federation, which represents Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories. British Columbia Premier Christy Clark said the interprovincial deal is close, but only after intense negotiations.

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ATLANTIC PROVINCES WANT AGE-BASED TRANSFERS: Health ministers from the rapidly aging Atlantic Canada region say the future formula for federal health transfers should take into account how many people in each province have entered their golden years. The prickly debate over federal health transfers has been quiet in recent years, but has begun to resurface with the current funding formula set to expire at the end of the fiscal year. It’s expected to be a dominant topic at the meeting of provincial and territorial premiers beginning Wednesday in Whitehorse.

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TRUDEAU VOWS TO FIX FAULTY PAY SYSTEM: The office that advises the prime minister and his cabinet on government operations is taking over efforts to fix the dysfunctional pay system that has short-changed tens of thousands of civil servants, Justin Trudeau said Wednesday. The prime minister said it was unacceptable that a “troubling number” of civil servants have not received paycheques as a result of problems with the Phoenix system. It was revealed this week that more than 80,000 civil servants are impacted by the snafu.

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EDMONTON UNIVERSITY STUDENT CONFIRMED DEAD IN FRANCE: An Edmonton university has confirmed that one of its students was killed in last week’s truck attack in France. MacEwan University said in a release that Mykhaylo Bazelevskyy, who was 22 and also went by the first name Misha, was among those who died July 14 in Nice. The school said confirmation of his death came late Tuesday from French authorities and from his family. Bazelevskyy — who was in the School of Business — had permanent resident status in Canada, but was travelling on a Ukrainian passport. His parents still live in Ukraine, but his brother and sister-in-law live in Edmonton.

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CANADA, ALLIES FOCUS ON POST-ISIL CHALLENGES: Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan were in Washington on Wednesday with representatives from dozens of other countries to discuss the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — and what comes after. The tone from U.S. officials is that the military campaign against ISIL has been going better than expected, with the militant group on the verge of defeat in Iraq and Syria. Canada and others pledged more than $2 billion in emergency aid and long-term development for Iraq.

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B.C. TO CHANGE LAW TO PROTECT TRANSGENDER: The provincial government will specifically protect transgender people under the B.C. Human Rights Code, reversing its position about 10 days before Vancouver’s Pride Parade. Justice Minister Suzanne Anton says the code will be changed to include “gender identity or expression” among the protected grounds its covers.

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ACCUSED IN DEATHS OF MOTHER, CHILD APPEARS IN COURT: The lawyer for a man accused of killing a Calgary woman and her five-year-old daughter is hoping for a trial in a courtroom, not in the media or the public. Gavin Wolch spoke to reporters after Edward Downey appeared in court via closed-circuit television. Downey is due back in court early next month. He faces two counts of first-degree murder. 

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STATSCAN SAYS CRIMES REPORTED TO POLICE UP: The national crime rate rose three per cent in 2015 — the first increase in 12 years. There were almost 1.9 million Criminal Code incidents — excluding traffic offences — reported by police last year, about 70,000 more than in 2014, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. While the per-capita crime rate grew in 2015, it has generally been on a downward trend since the early 1990s, with the only other increase reported in 2003, the agency said.

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QUEBEC GROUP TO BEGIN TESTING ZIKA VACCINE: A Quebec City-based research team has received the green light to begin testing a Zika vaccine on humans. The Universite Laval-based group says it is the first in Canada to be authorized by Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical studies. The researchers will work in conjunction with two research centres in the United States to develop a vaccine for the mosquito-borne virus.

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CANADIAN PACIFIC NAMES KEITH CREEL AS NEXT CEO: Hunter Harrison, the plain-spoken CEO of Canadian Pacific Railway, insists he will be merely a “hired hand” who obeys orders after he takes on an advisory role and hands over the company reins to president and chief operating officer Keith Creel next year. In a widely anticipated move, Canadian Pacific announced Wednesday that Creel will succeed Harrison as CEO as of July 1, 2017. Creel, 48, has served as interim CEO for several periods when Harrison was out because of health issues in recent years.

The Canadian Press