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

FIRST NATIONS TO GET MORE CONTROL OVER MONEY: First Nations leaders say they’ll be able to do more projects and build more homes because of changes that give them more control over financial resources. The federal government says First Nations will now be able to carry funding from year-to-year, instead of having to return money if a project wasn’t completed within a fiscal year. Assembly of First Nations Chief Perry Bellegarde says the problem was projects often didn’t get approved until late in a fiscal year. Bellegarde says First Nations would then panic about spending the money properly or losing it and that meant projects wouldn’t get finished. Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett says Ottawa will also work with First Nations on a new approach to funding essential services, such as fire, emergency services and potable water. The AFN says those services are underfunded and that causes critical problems in many communities.

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PACIFIC NORTHWEST LNG NOT GOING AHEAD: Petronas and its partners have cancelled the $36-billion Pacific NorthWest liquefied natural gas megaproject they had planned to build in British Columbia. Anuar Taib, chief executive of Petronas’s oil and gas production division, said Tuesday the decision to scrap the project came after a careful review of changes in market conditions. “We are disappointed that the extremely challenging environment brought about by the prolonged depressed prices and shifts in the energy industry have led us to this decision,” Taib said in a statement. LNG prices have been hit by a global oversupply as numerous projects have come online, challenging the economics of the project and others that have been proposed in the province. The consortium has spent billions developing the natural gas fields in the B.C. after buying Progress Energy Canada, but it would have required even more, including an $11.4-billion LNG terminal in Port Edward, B.C.

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MAN FACING EIGHT CHARGES IN MONTREAL STABBING: A Montreal man has been charged with first-degree murder and seven other counts in the stabbing of a pregnant woman and the death of the newborn. Sofiane Ghazi, 37, appeared in court by videoconference this afternoon. One of the charges is attempted murder in connection with his partner, the woman who was stabbed early Monday. The baby was delivered by emergency C-section after the attack but later died in hospital. Ghazi also faces charges of vehicle theft, uttering threats, armed robbery and three of breaking his conditions.

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WETTLAUFER GUILTY OF MISCONDUCT, NURSES’ COLLEGE RULES: An Ontario nurse who killed eight seniors in her care has been found guilty of professional misconduct and had her certification revoked by the province’s nursing regulator. “This is the most egregious and disgraceful conduct this panel has ever considered,” said Grace Fox, the chair of the five-person disciplinary panel at the College of Nurses of Ontario that heard Elizabeth Wettlaufer’s case. In June, Wettlaufer pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of eight seniors, attempted murder of four others and aggravated assault of two more people, all by way of insulin overdoses, between 2007 and 2016. She confessed to the murders while at a psychiatric hospital in Toronto in the fall before detailing the crimes to police in Woodstock, Ont. The disciplinary panel deemed Wettlaufer’s conduct unprofessional, dishonourable and disgraceful. Wettlaufer was not present at the hearing in Toronto. She is serving a sentence of life in prison with no chance for parole for 25 years.

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B.C. RANCHERS TALLYING WILDFIRE LOSSES: Ranchers in the centre of British Columbia’s cattle country are facing “heartbreak” as they return to scorched fields, dead and displaced livestock and damaged infrastructure following weeks of wildfires. General manager of the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association Kevin Boon said the process of tallying losses has just begun and could take some time because the extreme heat of the wildfires would leave little evidence of a carcass. He said it’s expected hundreds if not thousands of cattle were killed or injured by the fires. Generations of infrastructure like barns and equipment have been lost in some cases, and kilometres of fencing will also need to be replaced. The devastation is expected to take an emotional toll on ranchers who have seen their livelihoods disappear in an instant, Boon said, and it will continue to have long-term effects beyond the immediate costs of rebuilding. The fires have disrupted breeding season, meaning calving next spring will be either delayed or significantly reduced, he added.

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KUSHNER, MANAFORT MEET WITH CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATORS: Two key members of U.S. President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign met Tuesday with congressional investigators probing Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Trump associates. Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner returned to Capitol Hill for a second day of private meetings, this time for a closed-door conversation with lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee. Separately, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort met with bipartisan staff of the Senate intelligence committee and “answered their questions fully,” his spokesman, Jason Maloni, said. Manafort’s discussion with the committee staff was confined to his recollection of a June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower, according to two people familiar with the interview. Both demanded anonymity to discuss details because the interview occurred behind closed doors. Both Manafort and Kushner have faced scrutiny about attending the Trump Tower meeting because it was described in emails to Donald Trump Jr. as part of a Russian government effort to aid Trump’s presidential campaign.

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CANADA URGED TO STEP UP PRESSURE ON TURKEY: The federal government is being urged to step up the pressure on Turkey amid concerns about an ever-expanding crackdown on human rights advocates, journalists and opposition members inside the country. Canadian officials have been voicing their concern about the situation in the country ever since the chair of Amnesty International Turkey, Taner Kilic, was arrested last month. The most recent was Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, who took the Turkish government to task last week for the large number of people who have been detained. The comments were unusually direct given Canada and Turkey are both members of the NATO military alliance. But Alex Neve, the head of Amnesty International’s Canada branch, says other countries have been more forceful, and he’s hoping Canada will follow suit. The starting point would be to explicitly call for the release of Kilic and other human rights advocates, Neve says, which Freeland has yet to do.

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POLICE INVESTIGATE THEFT OF HISTORICAL PLAQUES: Edmonton police are investigating the theft of metal plaques from a city neighbourhood that honour military heroes and some of the grimmest battles from Canada’s history. The Griesbach Community League says more than 15 metal plaques have been removed from the residential community that used be an army base. Some of the plaques tell the stories of soldiers from Alberta who were awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration for gallantry. Another tells the story of the Second World War battle of Ortona, a bloody battle for a town in Italy that cost Canada more than 2,300 casualties, including troops from the Loyal Edmonton Regiment. One of the plaques has information about the involvement of Canadian soldiers in the First World War battle of the Somme in France. Brad Tilley, president of the Griesbach Community League, says the plaques were pried off their stands and people are worried the thieves will melt them down for scrap.

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CANADA’S MASSE SETS WORLD BACKSTROKE RECORD: Around this time last year, Kylie Masse might not have pictured herself as a world champion and record holder. That all changed at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Still riding the momentum from the bronze medal she won at the 2016 Games, Masse roared to victory in the 100-metre backstroke in a world-record time Tuesday at the world swimming championships in Budapest, Hungary. In the process she became Canada’s first female world champion swimmer. Masse powered to the wall in a time of 58.10 seconds, edging the previous long-course backstroke record of 58.12 seconds set by British swimmer Gemma Spofforth at the 2009 world championships in Rome. “I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet,” Masse said in a conference call Tuesday. It’s been a lot of excitement and joy for Masse over the last year. She followed up her bronze in Rio with silver medals in the 100 backstroke and the 4×100 relay at the 2016 short-course world championships in Windsor, Ont., near her hometown of LaSalle before her record-breaking performance at Budapest’s Duna Arena.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

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

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