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

TICATS CEO APOLOGIZES FOR HIRING OF BRILES: Hamilton Tiger-Cats chief executive officer Scott Mitchell says the team reversed its decision on hiring scandal-plagued coach Art Briles after feeling the heat from fans and media. Mitchell told reporters Tuesday that bringing in Briles, who was fired last year as head coach at Baylor in the wake of a sexual assault scandal that included members of the football team, was a “poor decision that in retrospect we shouldn’t have made.” The CFL club raised alarm bells when they announced the hiring of Briles as an assistant to new head coach June Jones in a statement Monday, and the move was widely criticized on social media. Less than 11 hours after the announcement, the Ticats and CFL issued a joint statement reversing the decision to hire Briles. The 61-year-old Briles was fired in May 2016 by Baylor after an investigation by a law firm found that over several years the school mishandled numerous sexual assault allegations, including some against football players. The Pepper Hamilton review also led to the departures of Baylor University President Kenneth Starr and athletic director Ian McCaw.

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HONOUR INDIGENOUS HEROES, SINCLAIR SAYS: The former chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission says tearing down tributes that are considered offensive to Indigenous Peoples would be “counterproductive” because it smacks of anger, not harmony. Sen. Murray Sinclair says the debate over whether to remove Sir John A. Macdonald’s name from Ontario schools is time that would be better spent discussing the need to honour and elevate Indigenous heroes. Sinclair’s remarks come after an Ontario teachers union passed a controversial motion calling for the rechristening of schools named after Canada’s first prime minister, accusing Macdonald of advocating Indigenous genocide. In an interview with The Canadian Press, Sinclair calls that approach a recipe for fighting and rancour. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says there are no plans to remove Macdonald’s name from buildings or sites that are in the purview of the federal government. In June, Trudeau decided to remove the name of Hector-Louis Langevin, a father of Confederation and architect of the residential school system, from the Ottawa building that houses the Prime Minister’s Office.

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TRUDEAU DEMURS ON ALLEGATIONS AGAINST MP: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is again offering no hints about how he plans to respond to allegations of sexual harassment against a member of the Liberal caucus. Darshan Kang, a Calgary MP, is facing allegations that he repeatedly harassed one of his staff members and offered her money in order to keep the claims to herself. Kang has issued a statement proclaiming his innocence, saying he is currently on medical leave as a result of the stress surrounding the allegations. Asked why he had not yet expelled Kang from caucus, Trudeau would say only that the allegations are being handled through an independent process established to deal with cases of misconduct involving parliamentarians. Sheila Malcolmson, the New Democrat critic for women’s issues, is urging Trudeau to take decisive action. Malcolmson says a prime minister who advocates a “zero tolerance” approach to sexual harassment and bills himself a feminist should not be stalling and silent on such matters.

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ONTARIO PLEDGES FUNDS TO FIGHT OPIOID OVERDOSES: Ontario is putting an additional $222 million over three years toward fighting an opioid crisis in the province. Health Minister Eric Hoskins says the funding will help add more harm reduction workers, expand the supply of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, as well as expand addiction clinics and harm reduction services. Data released today shows that 865 people died in 2016 due to opioids — a 19 per cent increase from the previous year. More than 700 doctors, nurses, harm reduction workers and academics called on the province this week to declare opioid deaths and overdoses a public health emergency, as British Columbia did last year. They say limited resources and poor data are preventing them from responding properly to a disturbing and sustained increase in overdoses. But Premier Kathleen Wynne says an emergency declaration is a time-limited process that usually involves a situation with a foreseeable end, such as a flood or fire. She says the situation with opioids has no foreseeable end, and no matter what it’s called, it is a serious public health crisis.

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BOMBARDIER LOSES OUT ON N.Y. SUBWAY CONTRACT: Bombardier says it’s been shut out of a US$3.2-billion contract to supply subway cars in New York City because of past delivery delays. The Montreal-based company says it learned last week that its bid submitted to New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority in December won’t make it to the final round. In a letter sent to employees, the president of Bombardier Transport’s Americas division said the manufacturer’s poor performance and delays “sealed the fate of our bid.” The New York transit authority declined to comment because the procurement has yet to be awarded. Its decision follows Bombardier’s problems in delivering a prototype light rail car and streetcars that have soured its relationship with Toronto transit authorities. Bombardier spokesman Eric Prud’homme says the company is disappointed by the decision but notes that the loss of the contract to supply up to 1,700 subway cars is not expected to have an impact on employment at its facilities, including its Plattsburgh, N.Y. site.

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CANADA HELPING SECURE JORDAN, LEBANON BORDERS: Canadian soldiers have been quietly helping Jordan and Lebanon reinforce their borders amid fears of Islamic State extremists sneaking in from Iraq and Syria to launch attacks in Europe and North America. Defence officials won’t say how many Canadian troops are in Jordan and Lebanon or where exactly they are located, citing operational security. But they say the Canadians are not actually located on the borders in question. Much of the assistance has come in the form of equipment to the Jordanian and Lebanese militaries, including trucks, cold-weather gear and even basics such as barbed wire and pickets. Canadian troops have also been imparting advanced warfighting skills on local forces, including teaching Jordanian counterparts how to call in airstrikes on enemy targets. The international community has long been seized with concerns about ISIL fighters entering and leaving Iraq and Syria, but fears of an exodus have increased as the group faces military defeat. The biggest fear for countries like Canada is that citizens who joined ISIL as foreign fighters will manage to return with the intent of launching terrorist attacks.

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FEDS ROLL OUT STUDENT PLACEMENT FUNDS: The federal government is making its biggest push yet into the country’s classrooms, hoping that millions in new spending will help students heading on to campuses to leave there better prepared to join the workforce. The government has been told by its economic advisory council that it needs to put more resources into what’s known as work-integrated learning, because existing efforts aren’t big enough to tackle the “real gap” that exists in worker readiness, as companies believe a “majority of graduates are unprepared for the workforce.” The details outlined in federal documents obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act provide a look at the government’s thinking on the spending and how the money could influence post-secondary education. The Liberals had promised to spend $73 million over four years to subsidize educational work placements, with funds to start flowing last year. The spending was delayed until this academic year to finalize funding deals with the employer groups. The 2016 budget predicted the money would create up to 8,700 placements over four years, but Labour Minister Patty Hajdu announced this week the funding will create up to 10,000 positions.

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REDUCE CONSUMPTION OF CARBS, NOT FAT, STUDY SUGGESTS: A large Canadian study has found that contrary to popular belief, a diet that contains a moderate amount of fat is linked to a reduced risk of premature death compared to the much-touted low-fat diet. The study by researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton also found that eating a high-carbohydrate diet is associated with an increased risk of dying early. Findings from the PURE study of more than 135,000 people in 18 countries suggest that dietary guidelines should focus on reducing carbohydrate consumption, rather than fat intake. Lead author Dr. Mahshid Dehghan says the healthiest diet would be made up of 50 to 55 per cent carbs and 35 per cent total fat, including both saturated and unsaturated fats. A second McMaster study found that eating three to four servings of fruit, vegetables and legumes per day has a similar benefit in reducing the risk of premature death as eating the currently recommended five-plus servings. Both studies were presented Tuesday at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona and are published in The Lancet.

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HOME OF MAPLE LEAFS, RAPTORS TO BE RENAMED: The name of Toronto’s Air Canada Centre will be changing next year. A source confirmed to The Canadian Press that Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment has reached a 20-year sponsorship agreement with Scotiabank that will see the home to the NHL’s Maple Leafs and NBA’s Raptors renamed Scotiabank Arena. The change will reportedly take place July 1. Air Canada held the naming rights to the arena since it opened on Feb. 19, 1999. The arena, commonly known as the ACC by Toronto’s sports fans, is also home to the Toronto Rock of Major League Lacrosse and is a top destination for major music acts.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

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

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