By Canadian Press

In the news today, July 25

Jul 27, 2019 | 1:22 AM

Five stories in the news for Thursday, July 25

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FATHER OF SUSPECT IN 3 DEATHS SAYS SON IS IN PAIN

The father of a suspect in the deaths of three people in northern British Columbia says his son is in “very serious pain” and he expects a nationwide manhunt will end in the young man’s death. Alan Schmegelsky says his son, 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky, had a troubled upbringing. He struggled through his parents’ acrimonious split in 2005 and his main influences became video games and YouTube. “A normal child doesn’t travel across the country killing people. A child in some very serious pain does,” Schmegelsky said in an emotional interview Wednesday in Mill Bay, B.C., near his home in Victoria. RCMP charged Schmegelsky and his longtime friend, 19-year-old Kam McLeod, with second-degree murder Wednesday in the death of Leonard Dyck of Vancouver.

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CUT IMMIGRATION, BUILD FENCES: BERNIER

Maxime Bernier says that if he becomes prime minister, his government would slash immigration and refugee numbers, build a fence to block asylum seekers from walking across the border, and end a program that lets immigrants sponsor their families to join them. With his People’s Party of Canada barely touching two per cent in opinion polls, the Quebec MP chose to hit one of his key themes at an event in Mississauga, Ont., a western suburb of Toronto. He pledged to reduce the number of immigrants admitted to Canada each year to 100,000 or 150,000 at most, if the economy and “other circumstances” allow that many. Canada currently admits about 350,000 immigrants. Bernier said Canada must look after its own citizens first, and focus on newcomers who bring economic value to the country. He denounced “mass immigration” and “extreme multiculturalism,” saying that these policies would lead to “social conflicts and potentially violence.” These ideas have nothing to do with freedom, his speech said, but rather “a very dangerous type of social engineering.”

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NO-DEAL BORIS BREXIT BAD FOR CANADA: EXPERTS

Boris Johnson pledged a Halloween Brexit for Britain from the European Union, negotiated or not, after being sworn in Wednesday as Britain’s prime minister. With that, there is almost equal certainty that Johnson’s arrival at 10 Downing Street will roil the geopolitical and economic waters for Canada as it tries to guide its trade deal with the EU into port. With fewer than 100 days before Canada’s federal election, Johnson’s premiership injects more disruption into Canada’s relationship with two of its top allies — Britain and the U.S. — because both are now led by unpredictably populist men who appear fond of each other. Moments after being asked by Queen Elizabeth to form a government, Johnson pledged to take Britain “out of the EU on Oct. 31, no ifs or buts.”

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NEW TOP-COURT JUDGE SET TO MEET MPS, SENATORS

Canada’s soon-to-be newest member of the Supreme Court of Canada is set to publicly answer questions from federal politicians today. Justice Nicholas Kasirer is to take part this afternoon in a question-and-answer session with MPs on the House of Commons justice committee, senators from the Senate legal-affairs committee, and representatives from the Bloc Quebecois, Greens and the People’s Party of Canada. Genevieve Cartier, dean of the law faculty at the University of Sherbrooke, will moderate the back-and-forth. The special meeting comes two weeks after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nominated Kasirer to fill a vacancy created by the coming retirement of Justice Clement Gascon. Kasirer has served on the Quebec Court of Appeal for a decade, is an expert in civil law, and also spent 20 years as a professor of law at McGill University, including as dean of the law faculty.

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IRISH-BORN BACK SET FOR CANADA RUGBY DEBUT

Some two months ahead of the Rugby World Cup, Irish-born back Peter Nelson will likely figure for Canada for the first time Saturday at the Pacific Nations Cup. The Canadian men, currently ranked 21st in the world, play the 15th-ranked Americans in suburban Denver before travelling to face No. 9 Fiji on Aug. 2 and No. 13 Tonga on Aug. 8, with both games in Fiji. The 26-year-old Nelson is a former Ireland under-20 fly half/fullback who qualifies for Canada via Canadian bloodlines. He made 60 appearances for Ulster before leaving after eight seasons with the provincial club. Now he is in his first Canada camp, with a chance to quarterback the backline.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— The Supreme Court of Canada releases judgments in five applications for leave to appeal.

— Justice Minister David Lametti and former prime minister Kim Campbell, chairperson of the Supreme Court appointments advisory board, appear before the House of Commons justice committee regarding the nomination of Nicholas Kasirer to the Supreme Court of Canada.

— Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould and scientists take part in a tour aboard the Great Lakes research and survey vessel CCGS Limnos.

— Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki, commanding officer of the Alberta RCMP, to issue public apology to the family of Amber Tuccaro for how the investigation into the Indigenous woman’s homicide was handled.

— Next date for physiotherapist Stephen Witvoet, charged with 14 counts of sexual assault alleged to have occurred between 2009 and 2016.

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The Canadian Press