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

Highlights from the news file for Wednesday, June 14

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GUNMAN WOUNDS U.S. LAWMAKER, THEN KILLED BY POLICE: A Republican-hating gunman who had spewed rage upon U.S. President Donald Trump and his party opened fire on a group of U.S. lawmakers Wednesday, causing a range of injuries in what appeared to be a politically motivated shooting. A senior Republican lawmaker was in critical condition. Steve Scalise is the third-ranking House Republican and the hospital treating him tweeted that his status was more precarious than described earlier by colleagues: “(Representative) Scalise was critically injured and remains in critical condition.” The scene of terror unfolded on a suburban baseball field. Standing along the third-base line, shooter James Hodgkinson sprayed gunfire at a group of congressional Republicans who were practising for their annual baseball game against Democrats. The multi-minute mayhem ended with five injured and one dead: the shooter. A more severe bloodbath was averted because Capitol Hill police were there to return gunfire, holding back the assailant, according to one politician there.

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DON’T STAY OVERLY DELAYED TRIALS, SENATORS SAY: The Liberal government needs to establish a different consequence for cases that take too long to make their way through the courts to prevent those accused of sexual assault or murder from walking free without a trial, a Senate committee says. The Supreme Court’s groundbreaking Jordan decision last summer set out a new framework for determining whether a criminal trial has been unreasonably delayed to the point where it has violated an accused’s charter rights. The high court cited a “culture of complacency” as part of the problem, and imposed a ceiling of 30 months for a case to make its way through superior courts, and 18 months for provincial courts. Wednesday’s new Senate committee report points out that a stay of proceedings is currently the only remedy for a trial that goes on too long, and recommends reduced sentences or the awarding of costs as other solutions. The Supreme Court ruling came with a transitional measure for cases already in the system, although a dissenting minority opinion argued the new time limits could lead to thousands of prosecutions being tossed out.

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DEATH TOLL RISES TO 12 IN LONDON APARTMENT BUILDING INFERNO: They banged on windows, screamed for help and dropped children from smoky floors in a desperate attempt to save them. Terrified residents of the Grenfell Tower said there was little warning of the inferno that engulfed their highrise apartment building and left 12 people dead — a toll that officials said would almost certainly rise. The blaze early Wednesday in the 24-storey building in west London’s North Kensington district also injured 74 others, 18 of them critically, and left an unknown number missing. A tenants’ group had complained for years about the risk of a fire. More than 200 firefighters worked through the night and were still finding pockets of fire inside later in the day. A huge plume of smoke wafted across the London skyline and left a burned-out hulk in the working class, multi-ethnic neighbourhood. Prime Minister Theresa May’s office said she was “deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life” in the fire. Mayor Sadiq Khan said many questions must be answered about safety for the scores of other apartment blocks around the British capital.

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SAN FRANCISCO UPS SHOOTING LEAVES 4 DEAD, INCLUDING GUNMAN: A UPS employee opened fire at a San Francisco package delivery facility on Wednesday, killing three employees and then himself as officers closed in, police and the company said. San Francisco assistant police chief Toney Chaplin said at a news conference that two others were wounded in the shooting that prompted a massive police response in an industrial neighbourhood near downtown. Police have not determined a motive. Chaplin said that the shooter was armed with an assault pistol and put the weapon to his head and pulled the trigger when police found him. A UPS statement said the shooter and all the victims were employees. Spokesman Steve Gaut told The Associated Press that the gunman opened fire inside the facility before the drivers were sent out for their daily deliveries. Neighbours said they heard up to eight rapid gunshots.

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LARGE WAVE ROLLED WHALE-WATCHING VESSEL, TSB REPORT SAYS: The Transportation Safety Board says a large, breaking wave hit a whale-watching vessel off British Columbia’s coast in October 2015, overturning the boat and dumping passengers and crew into the water. The board makes three recommendations after the fatal capsizing, including that all commercial passenger vessels operating beyond sheltered waters carry emergency radio beacons that indicate their positions. Six people, five Britons and one Australian, died in the capsizing and 21 others were rescued on Oct. 25, 2015, near the resort community of Tofino. The board also recommends that passenger vessels across Canada adopt risk-management processes that identify hazards, such as areas known to have large, breaking waves. The report says search and rescue authorities were not aware of the capsizing for 45 minutes because the crew didn’t have time to transmit a distress call and it was only by chance that they were able to activate a flare, alerting rescuers nearby. In the days after the capsizing, the board said many passengers were standing on the top deck on one side of the ship when a large wave hit the opposite side, rolling the boat and sending the passengers and crew into the water.

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HALL OF FAME CFL COACH MATTHEWS DIES AT AGE 77: They called him “The Don,” and with good reason. A larger-than-life character with a sharp wit who thrived in the spotlight, Don Matthews took wicked pleasure in keeping people around him on edge with his abrasive, no-nonsense style. The Hall of Famer, who died Wednesday at the age of 77, was one of the most prolific coaches in CFL history with 231 wins and 10 Grey Cups on his resume. Players traditionally loved suiting up for him because of his reputation for creating a winning atmosphere and protecting his athletes. While known for being a “player’s coach,” he could also be ruthless when it came to making tough personnel decisions and he wasn’t afraid to bench a veteran or cut him outright if he wasn’t producing. “It’s that balance and to do that you must be brilliant,” said running back/slotback Mike (Pinball) Clemons, who won two Grey Cups over three seasons playing for Matthews in Toronto. “Some people try to be a player’s coach but they let it go too far and the players run the roost.”

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LA LOCHE SHOOTING WISHED HIS KILLED HIMSELF, HEARING TOLD: A teenager who killed four people and injured seven in the northern Saskatchewan community of La Loche told a case worker that he wished he had killed himself. Christopher Hales told the teen’s sentencing hearing Wednesday that the youth also told him that he got “an extreme scary rush” after pulling the trigger. Hales works at the youth detention centre where the teen has been held since shortly after the January 2016 shooting. Hales told court that the teen slipped a note under the door of his room that said “F–k life” and showed a picture of a stick figure shooting itself in the head. Hales said the teen told him: “I should have shot myself when I had the chance.” The teen pleaded guilty last fall to killing brothers Dayne and Drayden Fontaine in a home before shooting up the high school where teacher Adam Wood and teacher’s aide Marie Janvier died. The sentencing hearing is to determine if he should be sentenced as an adult or a youth.

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MP SAYS RCMP SHOULD HANDLE THUNDER BAY, ONT., DEATHS: Ontario NDP MP Charlie Angus wants Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to ask the Mounties to investigate the deaths of two indigenous young people in Thunder Bay, Ont. In a letter to the minister, Angus says First Nations leaders have also asked the RCMP to intervene in the investigations. The body of a 17-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy were found less than two weeks apart in local waterways. On Tuesday, Goodale said municipal policing falls within Ontario’s jurisdiction, adding Ottawa would “respond constructively” if local authorities were to express the need for federal support. Indigenous leaders say children are dying in urban centres like Thunder Bay because they are placed at risk, far from their families, in order to seek education and health care services not offered in remote communities. Last year, an Ontario inquest explored the circumstances surrounding the deaths of seven First Nations high school students that occurred between 2000 and 2011 — all while they were living in Thunder Bay.

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SPA’S ‘NO MALE GENITALS’ RULE IGNITES TRANSGENDER DEBATE: Controversy over a female-only spa’s “no male genitals” policy has reignited debate over the rights of transgender people to access traditionally gender-exclusive spaces, even as the federal government pushes stronger protections prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression. The uproar over Toronto’s Body Blitz Spa prompted a flurry of complaints on social media, with longtime regular Shelley Marshall among those vowing to boycott the luxurious retreat. Marshall says she tried to bring her transgender friend to the spa last year but was told she would only be welcome at the bathing suit-optional facility if she had undergone sex reassignment surgery. On Wednesday, “Orphan Black” star Tatiana Maslany added her voice to the protest, tweeting that until the spa “changes its policies and is an inclusive space for all women, I’ll no longer be going.” Body Blitz refused to comment on the issue, but released a statement insisting it supports the LGBTQ community. “However, because Body Blitz Spa is a single-sex facility with full nudity, we are not like other facilities. We recognize that this is an important discussion for single-sex facilities to have and we will seek to find a satisfactory resolution,” reads the statement.

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TREATY 7 CHIEFS TO LEAD STAMPEDE PARADE: The Calgary Stampede will have not one but seven parade marshals this year. Chiefs of the Treaty 7 First Nations in southern Alberta have been chosen to ride at the head of the parade on July 7. They include three chiefs from the Blackfoot Confederacy, three from the Stoney Nakoda Nations and the chief of the Tsuut’ina Nation. Some 1,800 First Nations people took part in the first Calgary Stampede 105 years ago, president and chairman David Sibbald said Wednesday. “We have had a strong relationship since the beginning of this great festival and we would like to build on that relationship going forward, making our connection even stronger,” he said. Chief Darcy Dixon with the Bearspaw First Nation west of Calgary said the organizer of the first Stampede made a point of making sure indigenous people were able to participate. “It wasn’t until 1912 that we had a person by the name of Guy Weadick who actually went to bat for the nations to talk to the politicians, so that the Indian agents would allow us to travel freely into our own country from the reservations we were put on,” he said.

The Canadian Press