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

MAN AND WOMAN CHARGED IN EDMONTON TODDLER’S DEATH: A man and a woman have been charged in the death of a toddler whose body was found outside a church in Edmonton. Joey Crier, 26, and Tasha Mack, 25, each face one count of second-degree murder, criminal negligence causing death, failing to provide the necessities and assault. Crier is also charged with assault causing bodily harm. They appeared in court Monday via closed-circuit television and the case was put over to May 8. Edmonton police say both of the accused were guardians of the toddler. Police did not release the boy’s name but a Facebook group titled R.I.P. Anthony Joseph Raine has hundreds of posts. The boy’s aunt, Brandi Raine, confirmed to The Canadian Press that police had informed the family it was Anthony who was found dead outside the Good Shepherd Anglican Church on Friday.

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OLD GUARD RALLIES AROUND MACRON FOR FRENCH RUNOFF: France’s established parties are rallying around the man who helped shut them out of the presidential runoff, maverick centrist Emmanuel Macron — an alliance of convenience aimed at keeping far-right Marine Le Pen out of the Elysee Palace. Support for Macron also poured in Monday from the seat of the European Union, as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Jewish and Muslim groups troubled by Le Pen’s nationalist vision. European stock markets surged, and France’s main index hit its highest level since early 2008, as investors gambled that the rise of populism around the world — and its associated unpredictability in policymaking — may have peaked. It is now up to French voters to decide whether to entrust Macron with this nuclear-armed nation in the May 7 presidential runoff. Polls consider him the front-runner but that’s no guarantee that the French will come together to stop Le Pen the way they stopped her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, from reaching the presidency in 2002.

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ONTARIO TO LAUNCH BASIC PILOT PROJECT: Ontario is launching a basic income pilot project this spring, aimed at providing financial stability for low-income residents during a time of precarious work and a changing economy. Premier Kathleen Wynne announced the details of the province’s three-year project during a speech in Hamilton on Monday. The pilot will launch in the Hamilton area — including in Brantford, Ont., and Brant County — and the Thunder Bay, Ont., area late this spring, and in Lindsay, Ont., this fall, with a minimum payment of nearly $17,000 for an eligible single person. In order to qualify, a single person would need to make less than $34,000 and a couple would need to make less than $48,000, a spokesperson for Ontario’s minister of community and social services said. The pilot is open to people aged 18 to 64. Other jurisdictions, including Finland, Kenya and the Netherlands, have launched basic income experiments in recent years.

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FREELAND SAYS ISRAELI SECURITY IS KEY IN ISIL FIGHT: Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says ensuring the security of Israel is a core component of Canada’s Middle East strategy, including the fight against Islamic State militants. Freeland is delivering that message at a major meeting of the World Jewish Congress in New York. The minister calls the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant a “death cult” that will be defeated. She says part of that strategy is shoring up Lebanon and Jordan — countries facing a massive influx of Syrian refugees displaced by fighting between various factions in that country’s long civil war. She also cited Canada’s participation in the anti-ISIL multinational naval mission known as Command Task Force 150 as part of Canada’s contribution to Israel’s security. The speech is one of Freeland’s first major public pronouncements on Israel since she replaced Stephane Dion in the portfolio in January.

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RED CROSS SAYS $323M RAISED FOR FORT MCMURRAY: The Canadian Red Cross says three-quarters of the $323 million raised since a massive wildfire struck Fort McMurray has been spent or committed. The fire, nicknamed “the beast” because it was so fierce and unpredictable, forced 88,000 to flee the northeastern Alberta city and destroyed about 10 per cent of its structures. The Red Cross says $244 million has been spent or committed to date, with $183 million of that going toward individuals and families. Funds have also been set aside to help community organizations and small businesses. The charity raised $189 million in donations on its own, bolstered by $104 million in matching funds from Ottawa and $30 million from the Alberta government. Conrad Sauve, president and CEO of the Canadian Red Cross, says the wildfire was a defining moment for the organization.

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EXTRA EI BENEFIT SPENDING TOPS $1 BILLION: A federal program designed to give extra financial help to out-of-work Canadians in the hardest-hit economic regions of the country has blown past Liberal budget estimates with more than $1 billion in payouts. The payments to date are double what the government anticipated it would spend to provide extra weeks of employment insurance benefits to workers in 15 regions smarting from a sharp downturn in energy prices. When the plan was set up last year, the government initially estimated that 235,000 people would use the extra benefits. By October, just over three months into the program, the take-up rate was almost half of forecast numbers. Now, six months later, Employment and Social Development Canada says there have more than 267,000 claims for the extra weeks as of the middle of April, with benefits totalling almost $1.06 billion. The department said a report is coming in September with a revised cost for the program as part of the chief actuary’s review of EI premiums.

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CANADA WAITING FOR SOFTWOOD LUMBER TARIFFS: Ottawa has talked with provinces about helping Canada’s forestry sector, but won’t act swiftly once the U.S. imposes duties on softwood lumber imports, says a government source. “Any determination really can’t be made until we’ve seen what the rate and penalty will be,” said an official who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly. It took the federal government more than a year to announce the first of two aid packages after duties were imposed in 2001. It first gave more than $300 million in late 2002 and then $1.5 billion in November 2005, with $900 million for loan insurance to help financially strapped exporters that had more than $5 billion tied up in duties. The U.S. Commerce Department is slated to announce Tuesday preliminary countervailing duties on Canadian imports. A decision on anti-dumping duties is expected to follow on June 23.

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MANITOBA FAMILIES OF MISSING, MURDERED SAY HEARING MUST START SOON: A coalition that represents Manitoba family members says national hearings into missing and murdered indigenous women must begin soon despite the uncertainty surrounding the process. An open letter signed by officials with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and the Manitoba Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Coalition says the hearings, slated to begin at the end of May, have been long in coming and families are anxious. “Indigenous families, women and girls cannot afford a ‘pause’ in your process. We have heard directly from families of (missing and murdered indigenous women) they are quickly losing hope that your inquiry will actually be relevant to them,” states the letter, dated last Wednesday. Inquiry officials announced April 13 that they were postponing a series of regional advisory meetings, which were supposed to help determine what issues should be covered when the formal hearings get underway. Since then, the Manitoba coalition said there has been no communication. The group is also worried many family members may have a hard time being included in the hearings.

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MONTREAL COUPLE WINS $55-MILLION LOTTERY: A Montreal couple who won $55 million in a lottery jackpot hid the winning ticket in their daughter’s toy box over the weekend. Nathalie Langlais and Gilles Rosnen picked up their winnings at Loto-Quebec headquarters in Montreal on Monday, three days after the Lotto Max draw. Langlais said she found out about the windfall when she checked her electronic device on Saturday morning. “I didn’t understand what was going on because the lovely music was playing that we all like,” she told a news conference. “I’d heard it before for amounts like $17 or $22. Then I saw $55 come up on the screen. I thought, well that’s not too bad. Then I saw three zeros. $55,000. I thought, that’s excellent, but then I realized $55,000 doesn’t exist in the Lotto Max. Then I saw three more zeros.” Langlais, 52, works in communications and said she doesn’t intend to on leaving work just yet. She said she plans to spend the money on her extended family and on vacations.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

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

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