By Canadian Press

Quebec’s pot age and Sask.’s microdistillery industry; In The News for Dec. 31

Dec 31, 2019 | 5:06 AM

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of Dec. 31.

What we are watching in Canada …

MONTREAL — Quebecers under the age of 21 won’t be able to legally buy or possess cannabis as of Wednesday, as the province’s new legal age for consuming recreational pot goes into effect.

The measure was brought in by the Coalition Avenir Quebec government earlier this fall, fulfilling an election promise to raise the age limit from 18 with a stated goal of keeping marijuana away from youth.

But public policy and public health experts have said the vast majority of younger users will likely continue to consume cannabis, and they may end up going to illegal sources to obtain the product.

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The federal law sets the minimum age at 18 but leaves it open to provinces and territories to establish their own rules.

The legal age for consumption is 19 in every other province except Alberta, where it’s 18.

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Also this …

REGINA — Saskatchewan’s growing microdistillery industry is making some one-of-a-kind, home-grown beverages.

The Last Mountain Distillery in Lumsden uses garden dill to make its popular dill-pickle vodka. There’s also Saskatoon-berry vodka and apple-pie moonshine.

Meredith and Colin Schmidt work with local producers which supply the ingredients. So does Black Fox Farm and Distillery near Saskatoon.

Former grain farmer John Cote says he and his wife wanted to show the world that they could make the best gin and whisky right in Saskatchewan.

The distillery won best cask gin at the World Gin Awards in 2017.

Fifteen microdistilleries have opened in the province in the last nine years and production is up 75 per cent this year.

The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority says they produced about half-a-million litres of spirits in 2018.

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ICYMI (in case you missed it) …

VANCOUVER — The British Columbia government and a former social worker in Kelowna, B.C., are facing a new civil lawsuit by a former child in care who accuses the social worker of stealing her money to pay off his mortgage and other personal expenses.

The allegation is just one of a string of accusations in the legal action by the one-time foster child, who details a series of failures by the authorities charged with her care, forcing her into homelessness and exposing her to sexual exploitation.

The woman, who is now 19 and living in Vancouver, cannot be named as a former child in care.

Documents filed with the B.C. Supreme Court on Dec. 20 allege she was apprehended from her mother at age three, placed in a series of unsafe and abusive homes and then had her own two children apprehended.

The statement of claim says the failure of the social worker, Robert Riley Saunders, and other provincial officials to respond to the risks and harms she faced in a timely way was “reprehensible and outrageous.”

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

Saunders could not be reached for comment and the ministry declined to comment as the matter is before the court.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas — A firearms instructor and reserve sheriff’s deputy is being credited with protecting a Texas congregation from a gunman who opened fire during Sunday services.

Jack Wilson fired a single shot at the assailant who attacked the West Freeway Church of Christin the Fort Worth-area town of White Settlement.

Two people were killed out of more than 240 congregants in the church at the time.

Authorities identified the gunman Monday as 43-year-old Keith Thomas Kinnunen of the small nearby city of River Oaks.

His motive was under investigation.

Speaking outside the church Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said authorities “can’t prevent mental illness from occurring, and we can’t prevent every crazy person from pulling a gun. But we can be prepared like this church was.”

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

PERTH, Australia — Wildfires burning across Australia’s two most-populous states Tuesday trapped residents of a seaside town in apocalyptic conditions, destroyed many properties and caused at least two fatalities.

In the southeastern town of Mallacoota, about 4,000 residents fled toward the waterside as winds pushed an emergency-level wildfire towards their homes. The town was shrouded in darkness from the smoke before turning an unnerving shade of bright red.

Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said there were plans to evacuate the trapped people by sea. There were grave fears remain for four people missing. “We can’t confirm their whereabouts,” Andrews told reporters on Tuesday.

He has requested assistance from 70 firefighters from the United States and Canada.

Victoria Emergency Services Commissioner Andrew Crisp confirmed “significant” property losses across the region.

Fire conditions worsened in Victoria and New South Wales states after oppressive heat Monday mixed with strong winds and lightning strikes.

New South Wales Police confirmed Tuesday that two men, believed to be father and son, died in a house in the wildfire-ravaged southeast town of Cobargo, while there are fears for another man missing.

The two confirmed deaths raise the toll to at least 12 in Australia’s wildfires, which also have razed more than 1,000 homes in the past few months.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Dec. 31, 2019.

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