By Canadian Press

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

Jul 27, 2016 | 2:35 PM

Highlights from the news file for Wednesday, July 27

VANCOUVER HOUSING RISK NOW HIGH, CMHC SAYS: Canada’s national housing agency rang more alarm bells about Vancouver’s real estate sector after it released a report Wednesday saying there is now strong evidence of problematic conditions in the city. In a quarterly housing market assessment released Wednesday, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. increased its risk rating for Vancouver to its highest level for the first time since it began releasing the reports last year. Earlier this month, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported that the benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver was $917,800 in June, a 32 per cent jump from the same month last year.

___

TRUMP SAYS RUSSIA SHOULD FIND CLINTON’S EMAILS: Donald Trump has a message for Russia: find Hillary Clinton’s missing emails. In a Miami news conference, the Republican presidential nominee said that the 30,000 missing emails from Clinton’s private email server would reveal “some beauties” and made an extraordinary plea for a foreign power to locate them. Clinton’s campaign claims that Russia hacked computers belonging to the Democratic National Committee and released those emails on the eve of the party’s convention to benefit Trump’s candidacy.

___

SOUND OFF

SOUND OFF: Removing bathroom doors at Barriere Secondary increases safety concerns

Apr 02, 2026

Looped In

LOOPED IN WITH NIKKI OMEN: April 2, 2026

Apr 02, 2026

SOUND OFF

SOUND OFF: Kamloops deserves the full story

Apr 01, 2026

PRINCE WILLIAM AND KATE PLAN CANADIAN VISIT: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will pay a visit to Canada this fall — their second since getting married five years ago. Prince William and his wife, Kate, will visit British Columbia and Yukon later this year, Gov. Gen. David Johnston announced. “Our true Canadian pride and spirit will shine and be at the very heart of this visit so they can feel at home,” Johnston said in a statement. It’s the royal couple’s second visit to Canada. Their first, following the 2011 wedding, took them to Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Charlottetown, Summerside, Yellowknife, Calgary and Slave Lake after that community was ravaged by a forest fire.

___

SASKATCHEWAN SPILL CLEANUP: A Saskatchewan government official says booms are becoming less effective at controlling oil from the Husky Energy pipeline breach. Wes Kotyk, with the province’s Ministry of Environment, says oil on the surface is dispersing as it moves along the North Saskatchewan River, making it more difficult to skim off. There is no clean-up plan yet for oil that has sunk beneath the surface of the river because not enough is known about how this particular blend of crude behaves in water. 

___

TOOTOO RESUMES HIS MP DUTIES: Hunter Tootoo has been working through “deeply personal and private issues,” the ex-Liberal said Wednesday as he resumed his MP duties following two months off to seek treatment for alcohol addiction. Tootoo, who represents the northern riding of Nunavut, confirmed that the decision to resign his post as fisheries minister and leave the Liberal caucus was his and his alone. However, the Prime Minister’s Office suggested Wednesday it’s unlikely he’ll be invited to return to the caucus fold any time soon.

___

WIRELESS LOBBY SUES QUEBEC GOVERNMENT: A new Quebec Internet law that would ban access to some online gambling sites is unconstitutional, says Canada’s wireless telecom lobby, which filed court papers on Wednesday challenging the legislation. Rules governing the country’s telecom industry fall strictly under federal jurisdiction and Quebec’s new law violates the Telecommunications Act by forcing Internet companies to control or influence content, said Marc Choma, a spokesman for the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association. The lobby wants Quebec Superior Court to declare the new law invalid.

__

CANADIAN DEFENCES BASES A NO-GO ZONE FOR POKEMON:The Canadian Armed Forces are warning Pokemon Go players — both in and out of uniform — not to search for Pokemon on military property. A spokesperson said military police have reported “Pokemon Go occurrences” at three bases — CFB Borden and 22 Wing North Bay in Ontario, and 14 Wing Greenwood in Nova Scotia — within the first week of the game’s release.”In the interests of public safety, Pokemon Go players must refrain from attempting to access defence establishments without authorization for the purpose of searching for Pokemon,” said a statement released by Natasha Leduc, assistant public affairs officer for CFB Halifax.

__

TWO CANADIAN BORN AUTHORS ON MAN BOOKER PRIZE LONG LIST: Vancouver-born Madeleine Thien says she feels lucky and honoured to be among the novelists in contention for the prestigious Man Booker Prize. Thien and Montreal-born David Szalay were among the 13 authors named to the long list for the lucrative British literary award on Wednesday.Thien was recognized for “Do Not Say We Have Nothing” (Knopf Canada) set in China before, during and after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Hungary-based Szalay got the nod for “All That Man Is” (McClelland & Stewart.) The story is set in various European cities and offers a window into the lives of men at different stages in their lives, from their teens through old age.

___

REAGAN SHOOTER CAN LEAVE HOSPITAL: More than 35 years after he tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in an effort to impress actress Jodie Foster, John Hinckley Jr. will be allowed to leave a Washington mental hospital and live full time with his mother in Virginia, a federal judge ruled. Judge Paul Friedman wrote that Hinckley — who currently spends more than half his days at his mother’s home — is ready to live full time in the community. Friedman granted Hinckley leave from the hospital starting no sooner than Aug. 5. Doctors have said for many years that Hinckley, 61, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the shooting, is no longer plagued by the mental illness that drove him to shoot Reagan.Three others were wounded in the March 30, 1981, shooting outside a Washington hotel.

The Canadian Press