By Canadian Press

Insect snacks and delayed Halloweed in parts of Quebec; In-The-News for Oct. 31

Oct 31, 2019 | 1:21 AM

In-The-News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of Oct. 31.

What we are watching in Canada …

Actress Pamela Anderson is asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take meat and milk off prison menus to help the planet and the health of federal inmates — and save taxpayers some cash, to boot.

The former “Baywatch” star makes the pitch in a letter to Trudeau as part of her work with the animal-rights group PETA. She writes that she hopes Canada embraces what she calls a “simple but effective way to reduce costs and improve lives.”

She wants Canada’s federal penitentiaries to serve vegan meals of beans, rice, lentils, pasta, vegetables and fruits, which she bills as sources of all the nutrients one would need, “at a fraction of the cost of meats and cheeses,” since most vegan ingredients don’t need to be refrigerated.

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In its most recent departmental plan, Correctional Service Canada says it provides nutrition “sufficient in quality and quantity” and in line with the Canada Food Guide.

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Also this …

The Catholic Diocese of Trois-Rivieres, Que., recently suspended a project to transform a church into a mosque after angry protests from residents.

Muslim leaders in the city northeast of Montreal had reached a deal with the local parish to buy the church for $500,000 and use it as a mosque and Islamic centre for their community.

But Bishop Luc Bouchard put a stop to the sale following public consultations during which angry citizens made their objections known.

Rene Beaudoin, a parish member and historian, says residents expressed intolerant attitudes toward Islam and they were fearful of seeing the St-Jean-de-Brebeuf church transformed into a mosque.

Beaudoin says Bouchard invoked the 2017 mass shooting of Muslims in Quebec City as justification for stopping the sale because the Bishop wanted to protect the city’s Muslim community.

Boufeldja Benabdallah, president and co-founder of Quebec City’s main mosque where the shooting occurred, says Muslims in Quebec need to be patient because they will eventually be fully welcomed into society.

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ICYMI (In case you missed it) …

Mother Nature’s scary weather forecast has spooked some Quebec towns and cities — including Montreal — into postponing trick-or-treating festivities until Friday.

What began with a handful of suburban towns opting to push back Halloween celebrations due to heavy rain and strong winds in the forecast for this evening culminated with Montreal, Longueuil and most major towns south of the city also announcing plans to postpone.

Environment Canada says the amount of rain could surpass 50 millimetres and winds could reach up to 90 kilometres per hour in the south of the province, while significant snow is expected in northwestern and central Quebec.

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante tweeted Wednesday that the rain and winds were enough to ask parents and kids to wait one more night.

The mayor of Ste-Julie, Que., Suzanne Roy, says her city has received requests in the past to move Halloween festivities due to weather, but this is the first time it’s been done.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

U.S. President Donald Trump’s top adviser for Russian and European affairs is leaving his job at the White House, a day before he’s scheduled to testify before the House impeachment investigators, a senior administration official said.

Tim Morrison owes his job at the National Security Council to Trump, but his testimony today in the House impeachment inquiry might be central to a push to remove the president from office.

A senior administration official said Wednesday that Morrison “has decided to pursue other opportunities.” The official, who was not authorized to discuss Morrison’s job and spoke only on condition of anonymity, said Morrison has been considering leaving the administration for “some time.”

Morrison has been in the spotlight since August when a government whistleblower said multiple U.S. officials had said Trump was “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.”

Now it’s his turn in the impeachment probe’s hot seat.

Morrison will be asked to explain that “sinking feeling” he got when Trump demanded that Ukraine’s president investigate former Vice-President Joe Biden and meddling in the 2016 election.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera cancelled two major international summits and said he would focus on restoring security and moving ahead in the coming days with an attempt to satisfy popular demands for better social services and a lower cost of living.

Thirteen days into a wave of protests that has left more than a dozen people dead, hundreds injured and businesses and infrastructure damaged, the streets of Santiago were mostly calm on Wednesday night after Pinera’s announcement. A few thousand people protested outside the presidential palace.

It was unclear if the relative tranquility would continue today, the first day in a long holiday weekend in Chile.

The decision to call off the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and UN global climate gatherings, planned for November and December, respectively, has dealt a major blow to Chile’s image as a regional oasis of stability and economic development.

But leaders across Chile’s political spectrum, and protesters on the streets Wednesday, mostly said they accepted Pinera’s decision, although many lamented cancelling the climate summit.

Chile has moved faster than many South American countries to reduce carbon emissions, and activists and politicians alike had high hopes for the summit.

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Weird and wild …

A Thai entrepreneur is pushing bugs as the next big thing in tasty treats.

Thatnat Chanthatham is running a $100,000-a-month business that packages all sorts of baked insects like potato chips.

His HiSo brand is selling the snack in Thailand’s ubiquitous 7-Eleven shops and in a major supermarket chain.

Until recently, demand for edible bugs was mainly in parts of Asia, Africa and South America. HiSo’s emergence comes amid growing global interest in insects as a food source.

Rural Thais have long eaten bugs as part of their diet. In big cities, street vendors catering to migrant workers sell cooked insects that under most circumstances would cause foreign tourists to whip out a can of bug spray.

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On this day in 1938 …

The day after his “War of the Worlds” broadcast had panicked radio listeners, Orson Welles expressed “deep regret,” but also bewilderment that anyone had thought the simulated Martian invasion was real.

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Kids’ health …

For a lot candy-crazed kids, Halloween is synonymous with sugar, and that makes it one of the scariest times of the year for parents fearful of encouraging bad eating habits.

Your kid may want to overdo it on Halloween night, but Ontario dietitians Chelsea Cross and Andrea D’Ambrosio are each emphatic that parents should not limit candy consumption.

Cross, who specializes in weight loss and digestive health in Guelph, Ont., says to instead focus on promoting healthy eating habits so children learn to moderate intake year-round. What you don’t want, she says, is for kids to believe some foods are “bad” or “good.”

D’Ambrosio warns that “negativity” and “fear mongering” increases desire for the very food you’re trying to restrict, and that’s why she has a “liberal candy stance” outlined in a blog post titled: “Why parents must stop restricting Halloween candy.”

“When parents encourage children to listen to their bodies, the child discovers how much they need to eat,” says Kitchener, Ont.-based D’Ambrosio of Dietetic Directions. “Conversely, when parents dictate how much the child ‘should’ eat, we slowly erode the intuitive eating skill.”

Of course, not all experts agree with such loose rules. Vancouver dietitian Ali Chernoff says kids should be limited to one candy on Halloween and ensuing days to instill moderation.

Avoid gorging Halloween night by filling tummies with a balanced meal or healthy snacks beforehand, adds Cross, and redirect kids who are fixated on candies to other festive activities like spooky stories or songs.

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The games we play …

How much are an American college athlete’s name, image and likeness worth? And who would want to pay for them?

The questions are front and centre now that the U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association, pressured by individual states that have started acting on their own, has taken a major step toward allowing athletes to make money off their fame.

Deciding to reverse the prohibition on earning money was the easy part, but determining how much athletes can make, under what circumstances and in a way that doesn’t permit abuses are bigger challenges that won’t be as simple to resolve.

Whatever they come up with, opportunities to earn huge sums of money could very well be the exception, not the rule, according to those who observe and work in the markets.

The board of governors for the U.S.’s largest governing body met Tuesday and set a January 2021 deadline to have rules and regulations finalized across three divisions covering more than 1,100 schools and 460,000 athletes.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2019.

The Canadian Press