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

Highlights from the news file for Wednesday, Aug. 9

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CANADIAN PASTOR FREED IN NORTH KOREA: An Ontario church congregation is celebrating news of the release of their pastor from a North Korean prison more than two years after he was arrested in the country. A decision from North Korea’s central court freed Hyeon Soo Lim from the prison where he was serving a life sentence for anti-state activities, the country’s Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday. The pastor’s release, which came on the heels of an official visit from a Canadian government delegation, was described as “sick bail” by the news agency. No other details were provided. Lim, a pastor with the Light Korean Presbyterian Church in Mississauga, Ont., had been sentenced by a North Korean court to life in prison with hard labour for what it called crimes against the state. Word of Lim’s release drew members of his congregation to their church, just west of Toronto, where they were seen hugging and crying Wednesday morning. A Canadian delegation led by Daniel Jean, the national security adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang this week to discuss Lim’s case. Neither the prime minister’s office nor Global Affairs responded to a request for comment on Lim’s release.

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CANADIAN ARMY ENLISTED TO SHELTER ASYLUM SEEKERS: Teams of Canadian soldiers stretched canvas across the metal frames of tents at a camp site near the Quebec-U.S. border Wednesday as they helped fellow authorities cope with the crush of asylum seekers crossing into Canada. The site, located on a flat stretch of grass behind the building where asylum claimants are bused in from the border, was expected to accommodate up to 500 people. The soldiers will have no role in security matters and will not participate in law-enforcement tasks. All but a few will return to their home base once the site is completed. Earlier in the day, in nearby Hemmingford, some 40 asylum seekers sat under white tents at an impromptu reception centre that has sprung up on the Canadian side of a popular illegal border crossing. Many of the hundreds of people who are crossing the Canada-United States border into Quebec to seek asylum are of Haitian descent. In the United States, the Trump administration is considering ending a program that granted Haitians so-called “temporary protected status” following the massive earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010.

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ALBERTA TRIPLE MURDERER SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON: An Alberta man who butchered a father, his two-year-old daughter and a woman will be approaching his 100th birthday before he is eligible to apply for parole after being sentenced to life in prison. Derek Saretzky, 24, was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder in June for the 2015 deaths of Terry Blanchette, his daughter Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette and 69-year-old Hanne Meketech. A conviction of first-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. But Justice William Tilleman was asked by the Crown to make the periods of parole ineligibility consecutive, meaning Saretzky couldn’t apply for freedom for 75 years. Tilleman agreed with the request, noting that Saretzky will likely spend the rest of his life in jail. Saretzky was also sentenced to five years for causing an indignity to the little girl’s body, which is to be served concurrently.

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THREE TORONTO COPS NOT GUILTY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT: Three Toronto police officers have been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a female colleague on a night of heavy drinking, after an Ontario judge said the woman’s testimony was “fraught with problems.” Justice Anne Molloy told a Toronto court Wednesday she “looked in vain for corroboration” of the woman’s version of events on Jan. 17, 2015, but couldn’t find any evidence to support her account. Leslie Nyznik, Joshua Cabero and Sameer Kara had pleaded not guilty to a charge each of sexual assault. All three hugged supporters after the verdict was handed down. The complainant was not in court. Nyznik, the only accused to testify, said during the trial that it was the female colleague’s idea to return to a hotel room rented out by two of the accused where she instigated sex with all three men. The woman — a parking enforcement officer whose identity is protected by a publication ban — had testified she had several drinks during the course of the night and was unable to stop the men from having sex with her.

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OTTAWA SETS HEARING ON AIR TRANSAT DELAYS: Air Transat’s president has taken aim at the Liberal government’s proposed passenger bill of rights, writing that the legislation may unfairly punish airlines for delays that spiral out of control. Jean-Francois Lemay made the comment in a response last week to the Canadian Transportation Agency about an incident July 31 in which two Air Transat planes sat for hours on an Ottawa tarmac. The agency said Wednesday that it plans to hold a public hearing at the end of this month about the incident, noting in a release that broader talks about how the airline industry must respond to tarmac delays will be dealt with after Parliament approves the Liberal bill. The Liberals plan to pass their bill, known as C-49, before the end of the year with hearings on the legislation set to begin in early September even before the House of Commons officially resumes sitting after its summer break. In a statement, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said the planned passenger rights regime would create “clear and fair standards” for how airline passengers have to be treated in cases of long delays on the tarmac, overbooking, cancellations or lost or damaged baggage.

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GILLER PRIZE CREATOR JACK RABINOVITCH HONOURED AT FUNERAL: Scotiabank Giller Prize creator Jack Rabinovitch was celebrated at his funeral on Wednesday for helping to usher in “an explosion of Canadian literary talent,” an unending quest for knowledge and his love of the written word. Former interim Liberal leader and Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae recalled his longtime friendship with Rabinovitch, which spanned a quarter-century. Rae said he came to know the beloved businessman as a philanthropist and lover of the arts, passions that led to the creation of a lasting literary legacy with the prestigious Giller Prize. Rabinovitch died Sunday at the age of 87 as a result of a “catastrophic fall” at his home last week. The award was established in 1994, a year after the death of Rabinovitch’s wife, Doris Giller, and was created as an enduring tribute to the late literary journalist. The prize awards $100,000 to the winner and $10,000 to the other finalists, and is billed as the richest fiction prize in Canada.

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HEALTH ADVOCATES EYE PORTUGAL’S DRUG POLICY: Canadian health-care experts, including B.C.’s provincial health officer, want the federal government to strongly consider Portugal’s approach to drug policy, including the decriminalization of personal possession. Portugal’s model could benefit British Columbia, said Dr. Perry Kendall, noting his province has seen increased overdose deaths from illicitly produced fentanyl — a problem moving across Canada. Portugal did not decriminalize all drugs in all circumstances, he said, noting the country’s approach removes the application of criminal law on personal possession for limited amounts while offering education and social supports. Much time and resources are currently spent chasing people around the court system, he added, but this doesn’t curb the Canadian drug supply, nor does it stop people from dying. Late last month, Health Minister Jane Philpott and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould travelled to the country along with Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam to learn more about the Portuguese approach to drugs.

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MANY IN LGBT COMMUNITY RELUCTANT TO COME OUT: A new Canadian survey on the LGBT community suggests while a majority believe society has shown a willingness to integrate people, a similar number believe there’s still much to be done to combat homophobic behaviour. The findings are part of a wide-ranging survey that was commissioned on behalf of the Fondation Jasmin Roy, a Quebec organization committed to fighting bullying, discrimination and violence against children. The study, released Wednesday, found that 13 per cent of respondents identified as LGBT, far higher than the three per cent cited by Statistics Canada. But fear of rejection or bullying leads many to keep it under wraps: 54 per cent said they didn’t come out to their work colleagues while 45 per cent kept it from their classmates. However, there are also signs that people are reflecting on gender identity and sexual orientation at a younger age (15-24 age bracket), which tends to mean they are more quickly accepted and come out. While 81 per cent of LGBT respondents agreed Canadian society has shown a willingness to integrate, 73 per cent strongly or somewhat believe much more needs to be done to combat homophobic behaviour and bullying of the community.

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CARIBOU PLAN FAILED, ENVIRONMENT GROUP SAYS: A U.S. environment group says satellite imagery proves a much lauded agreement between Canada’s logging industry and environmental groups to protect boreal caribou habitat was a failure. The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement was signed in 2010 between 19 forestry companies and six environmental groups including Greenpeace and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. The environmental groups agreed to stop boycotting the forestry companies in exchange for the companies agreeing not to do any logging on about 70 million acres of boreal forest between British Columbia and Newfoundland. However, Anthony Swift, the Canada director for the Natural Resources Defence Council based in Chicago, says satellite images analysed over the last six months show logging did not stop in at least two areas of Quebec which were supposed to be part of the moratorium region. A spokeswoman for the Forest Products Association of Canada says any logging that occurred in the region was not done by any company that signed the document.

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SEX LIVES OF YOUNG PEOPLE PROBLEMATIC, STUDY FINDS: A University of New Brunswick researcher says a new survey dispels the myth that most young people are enjoying fun, pleasurable sex lives. Lucia O’Sullivan, a psychology professor at the Fredericton university, says she found more than three-quarters of young men and women struggle with bad sex lives — with one or more “persistent and distressing” problems in sexual functioning. She says the survey of more than 400 young people aged 16 to 21 over a two-year period in New Brunswick found the number of them having painful sex is “scarily common.” O’Sullivan says the majority of young people surveyed experienced low desire and satisfaction, with men reporting erectile problems and issues controlling ejaculation while women indicated trouble reaching orgasm and pain. Unresolved, she says, the issues could develop into sexual dysfunction later in life, putting a strain on relationships. O’Sullivan, whose research focuses on sexuality and intimate relationships, says she launched the survey after a doctor at the university health centre remarked on the high number of students with erectile issues, pain and vulvar fissures.

The Canadian Press