By Canadian Press

In the news today, April 9

Apr 9, 2019 | 1:30 AM

Four stories in the news for Tuesday, April 9

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FEDS SEEK TO STEM IRREGULAR MIGRATION

The Liberal government is taking steps to stem the tide of asylum seekers who’ve been crossing into Canada from the U.S. at unofficial border crossings. Tucked into this year’s 392-page omnibus budget bill, which arrived in the House of Commons on Monday evening, is a provision that would prevent anyone who has made a refugee claim in certain other countries from making another claim in Canada. The provision applies to claims made in countries with which Canada has information-sharing agreements. Only a handful of countries qualify. The United States, through which all of the irregular border crossers pass, is one of them.

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LIBERALS DEFEND TRUDEAU’S THREAT TO SUE SCHEER

Liberals are defending Justin Trudeau’s threatened libel suit against Andrew Scheer, arguing that the Conservative leader’s editing or deleting online statements proves he knows he’s gone too far in criticizing the prime minister’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair. Scheer revealed Sunday that he’d received a letter from Trudeau’s lawyer, Julian Porter, serving notice of a possible libel suit over a statement issued on March 29, in which the Conservative leader accused Trudeau of leading a campaign to politically interfere with the criminal prosecution of Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin and directing his former attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to break the law. The notice is not an actual lawsuit, just a threat that one might come — a standard first step in a defamation claim.

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IMMIGRANTS BEAR BRUNT OF QUEBEC BILLS

Immigrants and visible minorities are noticing how some of the most significant pieces of legislation introduced by the Coalition Avenir Quebec government since it took power last October have something in common — the bills disproportionately affect them. Quebec’s Bill 21, which bans some public sector employees from wearing religious symbols, has drawn widespread criticism since Minister of Immigration, Diversity and Inclusiveness Simon Jolin-Barrette tabled it last month. Haniyfa Scott, a teacher in Montreal, says it is Muslim women who wear the hijab — as she does — who will feel it the most. Transport Minister Francois Bonnardel’s Bill 17, tabled last month, overhauls a taxi industry that is heavily composed of immigrants. 

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SOME GIVE UP HAVING CHILDREN TO SAVE THE PLANET

Roy Sasano of Vancouver is among those who believe that giving up on the idea of having children will help reduce their carbon footprint and save the planet. Sasano is part of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement that believes in “refraining” from reproduction and says creating more people just adds more suffering for overselves and the Earth. Alistair Currie, with the U.K.-based charity Population Matters, says choosing to have fewer or no children is essential to ensuring people have a “decent living” on the planet in 50 years’ time. Currie says it’s hard to estimate how many people are choosing not to have children, mainly because they feel judged, although that perception is slowly changing.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— Alberta Premier Rachel Notley testifies by video before the Senate transport committee on Bill C-48, the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act.

— The Alberta Liquor and Gaming Commission appeals ruling that the government’s mark-up policy on craft beer is unconstitutional and the province must pay two out-of-province breweries $2.1 million in restitution.

— Abdulahai Hasan Sharif will appear in court today with his new lawyer on five charges of attempted murder. He is accused of stabbing an Edmonton police officer and hitting four pedestrians with a U-Haul track outside a football game in October 2017.

The Canadian Press