By Canadian Press

In the news today: Freezing rain expected in southern B.C. after snowy start to week

Jan 19, 2024 | 1:18 AM

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…

Snow-battered B.C. expected to see freezing rain

Heavy snow earlier in the week is expected to turn into freezing rain today in parts of Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Fraser Canyon.

Environment Canada says the freezing rain could last into the afternoon and potentially later in some areas.

Between 10 and 20 centimetres of snow is forecast on Vancouver Island, with a “prolonged period of freezing rain” inland expected to follow.

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Allow CSIS to share threat info: business council

A group representing key Canadian businesses wants legislative changes that would allow Canada’s spy agency to share threat intelligence with companies to help them take timely protective measures.

The Business Council of Canada is also urging the federal government to borrow a U.S. idea and create a new body that would ensure the intelligence is securely and broadly shared across the Canadian economy.

Business council president and CEO Goldy Hyder argues for the new approach in a submission to a federal consultation on possible changes to the legislation governing the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

The government says the CSIS Act does not provide the spy service with sufficient authority to disclose classified intelligence to provinces, territories, Indigenous governments or municipalities.

Here’s what else we’re watching …

Trudeau reflects on his father in Nunavut

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s doing something in Nunavut he rarely does in public, which is to reflect on his father.

Trudeau is in Iqaluit to mark the signing of an agreement to hand over powers to the territorial government when it comes to their management of land, fresh water and the resources each contain.

Joining the prime minister on his trip is his youngest child, nine-year-old Hadrien, whom Trudeau pointed out during a signing ceremony before Inuit and other territorial leaders Thursday, reflecting on how his late father brought him to the region as a kid.

Trudeau acknowledged the impact those trips had on his life, saying they “helped shape his love for Canada” and telling a community gathering held after the ceremony that it’s not every day he reflects on the legacy of his late father, former Liberal prime minster Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

Fight carries on for the truth in Glen Assoun case

For Sean MacDonald, the push to restart a criminal investigation into police destruction of evidence in the Glen Assoun wrongful conviction case matters both for personal reasons and for the precedent it could set.

The defence lawyer, who teamed with Phil Campbell in the long battle to prove Assoun’s innocence, said the ordeal took a huge health toll on the Nova Scotia man, whom he first met in 2006 as he languished in prison for the 1995 murder of Brenda Way.

“Glen suffered and continued to suffer up until the day that he died,” MacDonald said in an interview Wednesday, referring to Assoun’s death last June at the age of 67.

Assoun spent almost 17 years in jail and five years under strict bail conditions before being acquitted of the killing in 2019. Four months after his acquittal, the province’s Supreme Court released the federal investigation of the case, which revealed that an RCMP constable’s evidence — both electronic and paper files — pointing toward alternative suspects had been deleted or was missing.

Sex assault trial expected to begin in Calgary

A judge is expected to decide today whether a man accused of sexually assaulting vulnerable women in Calgary will have one trial or seven separate ones.

Richard Robert Mantha, 59, faces numerous charges that include kidnapping, threats causing bodily harm, sexual assault with a weapon and administering a noxious substance.

He was denied bail last summer and has been in custody since he was arrested in April 2023.

The French-language trial was set to begin on Monday, but his lawyer has asked for the case to be split into seven trials.

Parole hearing expected for Young Canadians worker

A parole hearing is scheduled today for a man sentenced to 10 years in prison for decades of sex offences against members of a young people’s performance group.

Philip Heerema pleaded guilty to eight charges in 2018, including sexual assault, sexual exploitation, luring and making child pornography, after his trial had already entered its third week.

Heerema resigned in 2014 from The Young Canadians School of Performing Arts in Calgary when police began investigating several complaints.

The six victims were male students between the ages of 15 and 17 who were at the school between 1992 and 2013.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 19, 2024.

The Canadian Press