In the news today, Jan. 29

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ONTARIO PC PRESIDENT QUITS AMID STAFF SHAKEUP

More turmoil for Ontario’s Progressive Conservative party on Sunday, with party president Rick Dykstra resigning after two years on the job. Dykstra’s resignation followed that of Patrick Brown, who quit as party leader last week amid allegations of sexual misconduct. And it came on the same day of a major shakeup that saw two key PC Party staffers — chief of Staff Alykhan Velshi and communications director Nick Bergamini — return to jobs they quit just days earlier.

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MPS CAUTIONED TO BE CAREFUL WITH ALCOHOL

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett says MPs on the cocktail circuit must be careful about their drinking as Parliament Hill looks to end inappropriate behaviour and tackle sexual misconduct. Bennett was part of a Commons committee that worked on a code of conduct designed to prevent sexual misconduct among MPs. Last month, The Canadian Press conducted a survey among female MPs, and a majority of them — 58 per cent — said they’d personally been the target of one or more forms of sexual misconduct in office.

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VIGIL TO MARK ANNIVERSARY OF QUEBEC MOSQUE SHOOTING

A vigil will be held in Quebec City tonight to mark the one-year anniversary of the mosque shooting where six men were killed. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard are both expected to attend. It was on Jan. 29, 2017, that a shooter entered the Islamic cultural centre of Quebec City and killed six men while injuring 19 others, five seriously. The gathering caps off four days of activities to commemorate the tragedy.

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TRIAL TO BEGIN IN DEATH OF TINA FONTAINE

A trial is to begin in Winnipeg today in the death of an Indigenous teenager whose body was dumped in the Red River. The death of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine in 2014 renewed calls for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women. Tina had only been in Winnipeg a couple of weeks after leaving the Sagkeeng First Nation when she was killed. Raymond Cormier, who was 53 when he was arrested in December 2015, is charged with second-degree murder.

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MURDER TRIAL TO BEGIN FOR FARMER CHARGED IN FATAL SHOOTING

Jury selection in the trial of a Saskatchewan farmer accused in the fatal shooting of an Indigenous man is to begin in Battleford, Sask., today. Gerald Stanley is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Colten Boushie. The 22-year-old was shot in August 2016 when the SUV he was riding in drove onto a farm near Biggar, Sask. An altercation ensued and the man from the Red Pheasant First Nation was shot and killed. Stanley has pleaded not guilty and is out on bail.

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LAWSUIT FILED IN DEATH OF WHEELCHAIR BOUND MAN KILLED BY TRAIN

The family of a man who was struck and killed by a train after his wheelchair allegedly got stuck at a crossing in New Brunswick has filed a lawsuit in his death. Steven Harel’s parents are suing CN Rail, the City of Moncton, a wheelchair manufacturer and a medical equipment supplier for damages related to his death in July 2016. Court documents allege the city and the railway were both aware the track was a source of accidents for wheelchair users, and failed to take corrective measures.

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CANADIAN ARTISTS CELEBRATE GRAMMY WINS

Canadian artists shone bright at the Grammy Awards in New York last night. Alessia Cara of Brampton, Ont., took home the trophy for best new artist, saying she’d been “pretend winning” Grammys in the shower since she was a kid. Nova Scotia soprano Barbara Hannigan won the best classical solo vocal album award, while The Weeknd’s “Starboy” picked up best urban contemporary album, giving the Torontonian his third golden gramophone. And Leonard Cohen won a posthumous award for best rock performance for his song “You Want It Darker.”

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SUPER MOON, KING TIDES TO PUT ON RARE SHOW

There will be a super blue blood moon this week along with a total lunar eclipse, and it should make for spectacular skywatching in Western Canada. The rare lunar show will unfold as gravitational forces churn up the strongest West Coast tides of the year, known as king or spring tides. A blue moon is a full moon that comes twice in the same month. During a lunar eclipse, the moon often appears red, prompting the moniker blood moon. A super moon appears larger because it’s six per cent closer to the earth and 14 per cent brighter — and all three events are happening Wednesday morning.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS TODAY:

— Daily Question period in the House of Commons.

— Statistics Canada releases a study on “How Temporary Were Canada’s Temporary Foreign Workers?”

— The Association Iroquois and Allied Indians and chiefs hold a press conference in Ottawa to discuss their water needs assessment study.

— The National Energy Board hears from landowners in the B.C. Lower Mainland area who’ve raised concerns with the detailed route of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project.

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The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In the news today, Jan. 29

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