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

QUEBEC POSTS THIRD BALANCED BUDGET IN A ROW: As governments across Canada fund services with billions in deficit spending, Quebec announced a third consecutive balanced budget Tuesday containing modest personal income tax cuts. Finance Minister Carlos Leitao’s penultimate budget before next year’s provincial election makes the elimination of a health tax retroactive to 2016 for Quebecers earning less than $134,000 a year. It also hikes the first income tax bracket that is exempt from tax to $14,890 from $11,635. In tabling the 2017-18 budget, Leitao called it prudent and said it reflects “a determination on our part to get it done.”

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NS LIBERALS PROMISE BALANCED BUDGET: Nova Scotia’s Liberal government is committing to a balanced budget for 2017-18 — its second straight year in the black, as red ink keeps flowing in other East Coast provinces. Randy Delorey confirmed during a speech to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce Tuesday that the April 27 budget will confirm the government has balanced its 2016-17 books, and will introduce a balanced budget for the year ahead. In neighbouring New Brunswick, Brian Gallant’s Liberal government has projected a $192 million deficit by the end of March 2018, while Newfoundland and Labrador is facing a $1.6 billion deficit this year and $800 million next year.

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IATA CRITICIZES ELECTRONICS DEVICE BAN: U.S. and British bans on electronic devices don’t improve airplane security and raise doubts about the credibility of the entire global security system, the head of the International Air Transport Association said Tuesday. IATA CEO Alexandre de Juniac called on governments to work with the transport industry to ensure passengers aren’t separated from their laptops, tablets and other devices. “This measure is not acceptable in the long-term and even in the short-term it is difficult to understand the effectiveness of this measure,” he said in a speech to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations. The U.S. and Britain have prohibited electronic devices of certain sizes from cabins in flights originating from some countries in the Middle East and Africa. Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau says the federal government is studying the bans.

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TRUMP TOSSES OBAMA ‘CLEAN’ ENERGY PLAN, EMBRACES COAL: Declaring “the start of a new era” in energy production, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that he said would revive the coal industry and create jobs. The move makes good on his campaign pledge to unravel former President Barack Obama’s plan to curb global warming. The order seeks to suspend, rescind or flag for review more than a half-dozen measures in an effort to boost domestic energy production in the form of fossil fuels. Environmental activists, including former vice president Al Gore, denounced the plan. But Trump said the effort would allow workers to “succeed on a level playing field for the first time in a long time.”

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COMMITTEE FORMALLY INVITES MEREDITH TO APPEAR: Embattled Sen. Don Meredith plans to appear before the Senate ethics committee next week although it’s not yet clear how he will do that, his lawyer said Tuesday. In an interview, Bill Trudell said Meredith, under fire for his sexual relationship with a teenager, could appear via video or teleconference on April 4. “The Senate (committee) announced this morning that they’ve invited him to appear,” Trudell said. “He will be honouring the invitation, but in what form is to be determined given concerns, shared by me, about his health.” The married senator is currently on sick leave following a damning report by the Senate ethics officer on his affair with a teenager.

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TOP SENATE TORY TO LOOK AT BEYAK CASE: The newly minted leader of the Conservatives in the Senate says he intends to take a second look at Sen. Lynn Beyak to see what, if any, actions the Tories should take over her comments on residential schools. Beyak doubled down this week on her comments that there was “good” done in residential schools, insisting that she had no need for additional education about residential schools or indigenous culture, citing a long-standing friendship with an “aboriginal fellow” and her experiences in northern Ontario. Beyak refused to elaborate Tuesday on the comments in a CBC interview where she described an outpouring of public support for her position. Sen. Larry Smith, who takes over as Conservative leader on Saturday, said he plans to meet the rest of his leadership team to figure out if, among other things, Beyak should be removed from the aboriginal peoples committee, given the strong emotional reaction to Beyak’s comments inside and outside the Tory caucus.

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MMIW: FIRST HEARING SET FOR WHITEHORSE IN MAY: The long-awaited national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls will hold its first hearing with families on May 29 in Whitehorse. Over the next two months, commissioners will hold a series of regional advisory meetings across the country to get input from survivors and families. The meetings — mandated in the inquiry’s terms of reference — will take place in Whitehorse, northern B.C., Saskatoon, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and Halifax. The inquiry plans to spend three days in each location meeting with families and survivors, front-line organizations and regional bodies.

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TORONTO COUNCILLOR CALLS FOR PRIDE FUNDING CUT: Amid mounting controversy over police participation in pride events across the country, a Toronto city councillor is calling for a municipal donation to Canada’s largest Pride parade to be cut after the event banned police floats from future festivities. Coun. John Campbell said about half a dozen councillors so far agree that Pride Toronto’s annual grant request, expected in April, should be voted down until the city’s Pride parade returns to its “core principals of equity and inclusivity.”

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MCMORRIS’ BROTHER SAYS SNOWBOARDER IS ‘TOUGH AS NAILS’: There were tubes in Mark McMorris’s nose and bruises around his left eye and cheek, but the Canadian snowboarding star was giving the thumbs-up and flashing a small smile in an Instagram photo posted Tuesday by his brother. The Olympic bronze medallist from Regina is confined to a Vancouver hospital bed after suffering serious injuries in a crash in the B.C. backcountry over the weekend. “Kids tough as nails,” his older brother Craig wrote in his feed on the photo-sharing app. “All good news from here on out. So much love.”

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ATTACK ON FRIENDLY B.C. CROW PROMPTS CRUELTY PROBE: The east Vancouver crow that is celebrated for his gregarious antics will remain in a bird hospital for at least another week after his caretaker says the bird was attacked. Shawn Bergman says Canuck the crow must remain under care for treatment of head and other injuries following an incident over the weekend where the bird may have been hit with a stick while hopping along the sidelines of a local soccer game. BC Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals investigator Eileen Drever says she began an investigation after receiving reports that the bird was knocked unconscious, however no one who witnessed the attack has come forward. Bergman befriended Canuck more than a year ago and the playful antics of the curious creature led to a Facebook page with thousands of followers and a dedicated social media presence.

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The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

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

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