Trudeau’s virtual Atlantic tour and a busy sports day: In The News for Sept. 3

Trudeau is planning to unveil what he promises will be a bold recovery plan in a throne speech re-opening Parliament on September 23th.

The speech will be put to a confidence vote, which could result in the defeat of Trudeau’s minority Liberal government.

With the possibility of a fall election in mind, today’s Atlantic tour appears to have a more political flavour.

Trudeau is to be joined by local Liberal MPs as he visits businesses that have used various federal emergency aid programs to stay afloat during the health crisis.

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Also this …

A pair of newly released reports collectively argue Canada was failing to provide healthy, safe childhoods prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, setting kids up to be hit particularly hard by the global outbreak.

New rankings from the Canadian chapter of UNICEF say Canada’s children have worse physical and mental health than their peers in most other countries of comparable wealth.

The report shows Canada ranks 30th out of 38 countries when it comes to the well-being of children and youth under 18.

Meanwhile, a report from Children First Canada and the University of Calgary says the top 10 threats to childhood, which had been increasing over the past decade, are spiking further as a result of the pandemic.

These include mental illness, food insecurity, physical and sexual abuse and poverty.

Both reports argue all levels of government need to implement concrete policies to improve conditions for kids across the country.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

KENOSHA, Wis. — A curfew that’s been in place in Kenosha for more than a week after the police shooting of Jacob Blake has been lifted.

The move on Wednesday is another sign of increasing calm in the southeastern Wisconsin city that’s been the epicentre of the latest eruption over racial injustice.

The curfew was lifted a day after it was targeted as unconstitutional in a federal lawsuit and the day before former Vice-President Joe Biden planned to visit Kenosha.

The shooting of Blake, who is Black, sparked protests that resulted in buildings being burned and vandalized and in the shootings of three demonstrators, two of whom died.—

What we are watching in the rest of the world …

TOKYO — Japanese rescuers are searching for a livestock ship with 42 crew members on board that a survivor said sank during rough weather a day earlier off a southern Japanese island.

The Filipino crew member was rescued after surveillance aircraft spotted him wearing a life vest and waving while bobbing in the water.

The ship carrying 5,800 cows to China sent a distress call early Wednesday while a typhoon was blowing over the area.

The coast guard said the man told rescuers the ship capsized and sank.

The weather was clear today as the search continued.

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On this day in 1989 …

One pilot died after two jets from the Armed Forces’ Snowbirds aerobatic team touched wingtips and crashed into Lake Ontario during the annual Canadian National Exhibition air show in Toronto.

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Sports news …

It’s a busy sports day for Canada today, with the Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Raptors and four tennis players taking centre stage.

The Canucks face elimination for the second time in a row when they meet the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinal tonight in Edmonton. Vancouver is the last remaining Canadian team in the NHL playoffs, and the Canucks need a win to prevent the country’s Stanley Cup drought from officially hitting 27 years.

The reigning NBA champion Raptors are in all but a must-win situation, trailing 2-0 against the Boston Celtics heading into Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal in Florida. After a blowout loss in Game 1, the Raptors fell 102-99 in Game 2 on Tuesday.

The basketball game is part of a Boston-Toronto twin bill on Thursday. The Blue Jays and Red Sox also open a five-game series at Boston’s Fenway Park.

In tennis, an all-Canadian matchup features a pair of veterans as No. 25 seed Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., squares off against Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil.

Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No. 15 seed, takes on three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray of Great Britain. And 17-year-old Leylah Annie Fernandez of Laval, Que., faces No. 2 seed Sofia Kenin of the United States.

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Entertainment news …

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have a new home: Netflix.

Six months after detangling their work lives from the British royal family, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, have signed a multiyear deal to produce nature series, documentaries and children’s programming for the streamer.

The two, who recently relocated to Santa Barbara, California, plan to focus on stories and issues that elevate diverse voices and other issues close to their hearts.

Several projects are already in development, including a nature docu-series and a series focused on women who inspire.

“Our lives, both independent of each other and as a couple, have allowed us to understand the power of the human spirit: of courage, resilience, and the need for connection,” the pair say in a joint statement.

“Through our work with diverse communities and their environments, to shining a light on people and causes around the world, our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope.”

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ICYMI …

A new study suggests that washing your jeans could be contributing to pollution in Canada’s waters.

Researchers at the University of Toronto say they detected microfibres linked to blue jeans in aquatic environments ranging from the shallow suburban lakes of southern Ontario, to the Great Lakes and all the way up to the Arctic Archipelago.

Their findings, published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters on Wednesday, suggest that between 12 to 23 per cent of microfibres in the sediments sampled could be identified as indigo denim.

The researchers found that a pair of used jeans can release approximately 56,000 microfibres per wash.

They suggest that denim lovers follow the recommendations of clothing manufacturers and try to get as much wear out of their jeans as they can before throwing them in the washing machine.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2020

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Trudeau’s virtual Atlantic tour and a busy sports day: In The News for Sept. 3

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