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

Highlights from the news file for Friday, July 14

———

TRUDEAU TOUTS TRADE TO U.S. GOVERNORS: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told American governors at a meeting Friday in Rhode Island that Canada is by far America’s biggest trading partner. He added that if anything, Canada wants a thinner trading border, not a thicker one. And Trudeau noted Canada is a bigger customer than China, to the tune of $152 billion. Earlier, the Canadian government got what it wanted during the U.S. meetings — clear, public reassurances from American politicians that the North American Free Trade Agreement will be preserved. Vice-President Mike Pence promised a collaborative approach in a speech to the governors.

———

MAN GETS 4 YEARS IN DEATH OF MOUNTIE: A man was sentenced to four years in prison Friday for the death of an RCMP officer who was killed when a truck rammed her cruiser near Victoria last year. Kenneth Fenton, 29, has also been banned from driving and prohibited from owning a weapon for 10 years for the death of RCMP Const. Sarah Beckett. Provincial court Judge Ronald Lamperson said to his knowledge, it is the first case of drinking and driving causing the death of a police officer in British Columbia. Beckett, a 32-year-old mother of two boys, had recently returned from maternity leave when she was killed in Langford, a suburb of Victoria, in April 2016.

plan ahead

Sailing alerts and other tools expanding ahead of busy long weekend on BC Ferries

2h ago

dry march

March storms drench much of coastal B.C., save the Nanaimo area

17h ago

pain at the pumps

'Not looking real good:' B.C. has highest average gas price in Canada

22h ago

———

WOMAN SENTENCED FOR CONCEALING DEAD INFANTS: A Manitoba judge has sentenced a Winnipeg woman who hid the remains of six infants in a rented storage locker to 8 1/2 years. But with time served, the length goes down to seven years, eight months. Andrea Giesbrecht was found guilty earlier this year of storing the remains in plastic bins. Giesbrecht’s lawyer, Greg Brodsky, had asked that the case be tossed because it took more than two years to conclude. Judge Murray Thompson pointed out that Brodsky waited too long to request that.

———

WIND EXPECTED TO FAN B.C. WILDFIRES: Crews battling wildfires in British Columbia prepared for the worst Friday as officials predicted stronger winds over the weekend after a slight reprieve from the weather in recent days. Kevin Skrepnek, chief information officer for the BC Wildfire Service, says the forecast calls for sustained winds of 50 kilometres per hour. He says that will be a big challenge. About 180 wildfires were burning in central and southern B.C., including three around Williams Lake, where 11,000 people were on standby to leave their homes. Some rain was in the forecast for the area, but officials said showers would not be enough to douse active fires.

———

B.C. WILDFIRES RAISE LUMBER PRICES: The wildfires in the B.C. Interior that have forced some sawmills to halt operations have resulted in a boost in lumber prices at a time when forestry companies have been squeezed by softwood duties on exports to the U.S. By Friday, the benchmark price of Western spruce-pine-fir lumber rose 7.12 per cent to US$406 per thousand board feet from US$379 last Friday, according to figures from Random Lengths, which tracks lumber and panel prices. In the case of mills staying shut for months or even sustaining damage, it’s estimated prices could rise between 15 and 17 per cent.

———

DOWNIE FUND UNVEILS HALIFAX LEGACY ROOMS: Five Halifax businesses have responded to Tragically Hip rocker Gord Downie’s call on corporate Canada to do more to promote dialogue and reconciliation with Aboriginal people. The Legacy Room initiative, part of the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund, announced the locations Friday including a Halifax private school, a university, an accounting firm, a restaurant and a development firm. Charlene Bearhead, co-chairwoman of the fund, says the spaces will encourage conversations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and raise awareness of the legacy of residential schools.

———

CSIS FACES $35 MILLION LAWSUIT: Canada’s spy agency is facing questions about its workplace culture amid allegations that senior officials foster a prejudice and distrust for Muslims employees, who are seen as “essential to CSIS’ mission, but working without CSIS’ trust and respect.” The allegations are contained in a statement of claim filed Thursday in Federal Court by five employees who are seeking upwards of $35 million in damages for what they say was years of harassment condoned by supervisors. None of the allegations in the 54-page document have been tested in court.

———

ORGANIZERS CALL ON PROTESTERS TO TOPPLE STATUE: Organizers say a weekend protest calling for a statue of Halifax’s controversial founder to be toppled will proceed as planned, despite objections from some Mi’kmaq leaders. A Facebook event called “Removing Cornwallis” invites protesters to remove a large bronze statue of former governor Edward Cornwallis from atop a stone pedestal on Saturday. Members of the Nova Scotia Assembly of Mi’kmaq Chiefs agree that the statue should come down. However, they say protesters should use civic engagement, rather than force, to accomplish their goal.

———

PM OPENS OPENS SUPREME COURT TO NORTHERNERS: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has opened the process to choose the next Supreme Court justice and for the first time, candidates from the North are being specifically invited to apply. Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin is retiring this year, and tradition dictates her vacancy would be filled by a qualified judge or lawyer from one of Canada’s four western provinces, as she is from B.C. But in a statement Friday, Trudeau says the North is now being acknowledged in that tradition and so candidates from there and the West will be eligible for the post. The Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut do not have a representative on the court.

———

WOMEN IN SHELTERS MAY BE MISSING BENEFITS: Canada’s taxpayers’ advocate says the Canada Revenue Agency isn’t doing a good enough job ensuring women living in shelters with their children are aware of and receiving benefit cheques. Taxpayers’ ombudsman Sherra Profit launched a systemic examination Friday to study what kind of effort the CRA has made to reach out to shelters regarding benefits such as the Canada Child Benefit or the working income tax benefit. Profit said she has received several complaints from shelters about the lack of information from the CRA.

———

The Canadian Press