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

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AID WORKERS BRACE FOR IRMA: A Canadian aid worker in Haiti says Hurricane Irma could deal a crippling blow to the impoverished country while it’s still recovering from hurricane Matthew, which struck less than a year ago. Laura Sewell of Ottawa, assistant country director in Haiti for CARE, says Haiti is less able to handle the effects of a Category 5 storm than other countries in the region. Haiti’s government issued a warning to residents along the north coast late Wednesday to seek shelter.

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FORMER ENVOY CONDEMNS SILENCE ON MYANMAR: Canada’s former religious freedom ambassador says Myanmar’s Aung Sang Suu Kyi, the once celebrated Nobel laureate, has squandered her status by not standing up for persecuted Muslims in her country. Andrew Bennett added his own damning assessment to the mounting international condemnation of Suu Kyi for not defending the persecuted Muslim minority now fleeing her country in droves. Canada awarded Suu Kyi honorary citizenship for her peaceful, pro-democracy fight, including 15 years of house arrest, against her country’s military dictatorship.

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LIBERALS APPROVE NEW BORDER BRIDGE: The federal government has given the green light for a new bridge connecting Ontario and Detroit to replace the aging Ambassador Bridge. Transport Minister Marc Garneau says the private owner of the 87-year-old bridge, the busiest border crossing between Canada and the United States, can begin building a six-lane replacement bridge. The Canadian Transit Company says on its website that it plans to spend $1 billion US on the new span.

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CLIMATE CHANGED PUSHES SKI EVENT NORTH: One of Canada’s most storied nordic ski events — the Canadian Ski Marathon — is shifting farther north as climate change is causing less snow on low-lying portions of its route. Cross-country skiers who for 51 years have slid over roughly 80 kilometres of trails between Buckingham and Montebello, will instead ski the same distance along a more wooded, higher route just south of Mont Tremblant to Montebello this winter.

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COP PLEADS GUILTY TO ASSAULT: A Toronto-area police officer pleaded guilty to assault Wednesday after siccing his K-9 unit dog on a man who was lying down awaiting arrest. York Region police Const. Michael Partridge admitted to his role in the assault that occurred on March 30, 2016 and left a man with minor injuries. Prosecutors called the officer’s actions an “excessive use of force.”

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LICENCE PLATE CASE TO BE TRIED NEXT YEAR: A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge will allow constitutional arguments in a case where the province decided a man’s personalized licence plate was offensive to women. Lorne Grabher had his licence plate with the text “GRABHER” — his last name — revoked last year after government officials agreed with a complainant that it was a “socially unacceptable slogan.” The court also set fresh dates for a trial, with the matter now scheduled for one year from now, on Sept. 5 and 6, 2018.

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ONTARIO TO REVIEW SCHOOL CURRICULUM: Ontario is looking to overhaul its school curriculum to place more emphasis on life skills such as communication, problem solving, critical thinking, creativity and what she called “global citizenship.” Premier Kathleen Wynne announced Wednesday that the government will start public consultations to modernize the curriculum.

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PARENTS, TEACHERS DEAL WITH SPLIT CLASSES: As the new academic year gets underway, students, teachers and parents are gearing up to deal with one of the education system’s more controversial elements: split-level classes. Some parents worry that integrating students from several grades, typically to offset shrinking enrolment or mitigate a surge in a particular year, leaves younger pupils behind or fails to adequately challenge more advanced ones. But educators and experts say split classes can be beneficial — and the outcome often depends on the teacher.

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DAD BARRED FROM LETTING KIDS RIDE BUS ALONE: The case of a British Columbia father who says the Children’s Ministry barred him from letting his children ride the bus alone is sparking debate about when parents should be allowed to leave their kids unsupervised. Mariana Brussoni, a population and public health professor at the University of British Columbia, says it’s important for kids to learn independence and the case highlights how “over-parenting” has become normal.

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The Canadian Press