By Canadian Press

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

Jul 28, 2016 | 3:00 PM

Highlights from the news file for Thursday, July 28

TORONTO COP SENTENCED TO 6 YEARS: A Toronto police officer was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday for gunning down a troubled teen on an empty streetcar in July 2013. The incident sparked public outrage in the city after a cellphone video of the shooting went viral. Murmurs rippled through the courtroom as Justice Edward Then delivered his sentence to Const. James Forcillo. The parents of 18-year-old Sammy Yatim looked at Forcillo, then turned to one another in silence. But outside the courtroom, Sahar Bahadi, Yatim’s mother, said she remained outraged.

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FEDERAL PAY DELAYS TO BE FIXED: It will take months and millions of dollars for the federal government to resolve the issues with its new Phoenix pay system. Deputy public services minister Marie Lemay says about 1,100 of the more than 80,000 problem files have been closed, including paying 486 civil servants who have been without a paycheque for months. But officials estimate it will take until the end of October and cost between $15 and $20 million to fix the problem with the system. More than 80,000 workers have been overpaid, underpaid or missed entire paycheques since Phoenix launched in February.

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FAMILIES NOT GETTING FULL STORY ON JAIL DEATHS: Canada’s correctional investigator says families with relatives who die in federal jails aren’t consistently getting the full story of what happened, sometimes waiting for a year or more for heavily censored reports. Howard Sapers provided some of the preliminary findings from his agency’s year-long study Thursday during a talk at the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law meeting being held in Halifax. He told the gathering of judges and lawyers that his investigators looked at uncensored investigations and compared them with what families receive, and concluded that most of the information should have been provided in writing or through oral briefings.

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SASKATCHEWAN COMMUNITIES DEAL WITH OIL SPILL: Several communities along the North Saskatchewan River have had a precautionary boil-water advisory lifted after the quality of water from a former reservoir was better than expected. The region covering the city of Melfort, a number of outlying communities and many rural users normally uses the river as a source of drinking water, but had to close their intake because of the oil spill from a Husky Energy pipeline upstream. Crews are still working to contain up to 250-thousand litres of oil that leaked from the pipeline near Maidstone a week ago.

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CLINTON TO ACCEPT DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION: It’s Hillary Clinton’s turn. After three days of Democratic stars, including a pair of presidents, asserting she is ready for the White House, Clinton must make that case for herself on her nominating convention’s final night. The first woman to lead a major U.S. political party toward the White House, Clinton will be greeted by a crowd of cheering delegates eager to see history made in the November election. But her real audience will be millions of voters who may welcome her experience but question her character.

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OFFICIALS SILENT ON TOOTOO ALLEGATIONS: Officials for both Hunter Tootoo and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are keeping mum about published allegations against the embattled former fisheries minister. Tootoo’s office refused to comment Thursday about a Globe and Mail report that cited anonymous sources who say the Nunavut MP was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Tootoo abruptly quit both his cabinet post and the Liberal caucus late in May to seek treatment for an alcohol problem. But the muted response of the Prime Minister’s Office fuelled speculation that there was more to the story.

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B.C. TAX WILL HELP RENTERS, FIRST-TIME BUYERS: A new tax on foreign home buyers in Metro Vancouver is already being earmarked to fund B.C. government housing initiatives that will be announced in the coming months. Housing Minister Rich Coleman and Finance Minister Mike de Jong say housing initiatives for renters, low-income earners and first-time buyers are set to roll out in the fall. Coleman says the government wants to offer builders, local governments and first-time buyers incentives to invest in property projects. Legislation introduced this week would impose a property transfer tax of 15 per cent on foreign nationals who buy property in Metro Vancouver.

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LOBLAW PROBING COIN MACHINE ACCURACY: Canada’s largest grocery chain says it’s trying to verify the accuracy of the coin-counting kiosks in its stores after TD Bank got rid of similar machines from its branches over allegations that they’ve been nickel-and-diming customers. The coin-counting machines located in Loblaw stores are owned and operated by U.S.-based Coinstar, the same company that owned and operated the machines that TD Bank pulled from its Canadian branches in May. Last month, a class-action lawsuit was filed against TD on behalf of everyone who used the coin-counting machines at the bank’s branches between Jan. 1, 2013, and May 25, 2016.

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BATON ROUGE HONOURS FALLEN OFFICERS: Hundreds of people gathered at a Baton Rouge church Thursday for a vigil honouring three law enforcement officers who were killed during a shootout with a lone gunman outside a convenience store. Authorities say the gunman was targeting police officers in the July 17 shooting. The ambush happened during a period of racial tension in the city, following the death of a black man in a struggle with white police officers. Police Officer Matthew Gerald, Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Garafola, and Officer Montrell Jackson were shot and killed by Gavin Long, an Army veteran from Kansas City, Mo.

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WITNESSES SLAIN; WOMAN CHARGED: Prosecutors have charged a St. Louis woman with arranging the deaths of two 16-year-old boys who were potential witnesses in a murder case against her teenage son — a case that initially fell apart because other witnesses refused to testify. Latashia Mopkins, 38, faces two counts each of first-degree murder and murder conspiracy. Her brother, nephew and a third man also face murder charges in the deaths of one or both of the two teenage witnesses, and prosecutors reinstated the original murder charge against her son, Tyrell Davidson.

The Canadian Press