By Canadian Press

In the news today, Aug. 14

Aug 16, 2019 | 2:21 AM

Four stories in the news for Wednesday, Aug. 14

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LIBERALS NAME CANDIDATE IN WILSON-RAYBOULD’S RIDING

The Liberals now have a candidate in the British Columbia riding of Vancouver Granville, where their biggest rival will be someone they once called their own. Taleeb Noormohamed, a 42-year-old tech entrepreneur, has been acclaimed as the Liberal vying to unseat Jody Wilson-Raybould, the former justice minister now seeking re-election as an Independent candidate. Wilson-Raybould rocked the Trudeau government earlier this year with allegations that she had been improperly pressured to end a criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. The controversy, which saw her resign from cabinet and ousted from the Liberal caucus, sent the party into a tailspin, from which its fortunes have not fully recovered.

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WHAT'S ON

Here is what's on this weekend in Medicine Hat and area: Nov. 15-17

Nov 15, 2024

LIVE UPDATES

Road construction, detours and traffic in Medicine Hat

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In the community

Medicine Hat public library screening movie to open discussion on addiction and recovery

Nov 14, 2024

RCMP ‘SITTING ON’ REPORT ABOUT ALLEGED SPYING

A civil liberties group is accusing the RCMP of sitting for two years on a watchdog report into alleged Mountie surveillance of anti-oil protesters. In a recent letter to RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, a lawyer for the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, laments the “inordinate delay” that has effectively obstructed the report’s release. The civil liberties association lodged a complaint in February 2014 with the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP. It alleged the national police force improperly collected and shared information about people and groups who peacefully opposed the planned Northern Gateway pipeline project and attended National Energy Board meetings.

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GRANDFATHER ACCUSED IN BOY’S DEATH TO LEARN FATE

A judge is expected to decide today whether a Calgary man is guilty of killing his young grandson. Allan Perdomo Lopez is charged with manslaughter in the 2015 death of five-year-old Emilio Perdomo. The trial heard that Emilio died of a blunt-force brain injury five months after he came to Canada from Mexico for a better life. The Crown played a police recording from the family minivan of the accused praying in Spanish. An English transcript of the intercept submitted by the prosecution said Perdomo Lopez was saying he “didn’t want to kill that child.” The man’s defence lawyer has said the remark was not a confession and that the Crown cherry-picked segments of the recordings to construct its story.

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POLICE IN B.C. BRING DOWN EMU WITH STUN GUN

Mounties in the Vancouver Island town of Chemainus say they had to resort to drastic measures in an effort to get an errant emu out of the way of highway traffic. Police say after several attempts to capture the animal earlier this week, they decided the best course of action was to use a conducted energy weapon to stop the 170-centimetre-tall emu from wandering back onto the road. Police say the 45-kilogram animal escaped from a nearby farm and was a safety concern for passing motorists, pedestrians and residents. After consulting with animal control officers, police say officers discharged the energy weapon on the emu, quickly secured it and took it to a nearby farm.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer will hold final news conference at conclusion of Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference.

— Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland will have a joint media availability today with her German counterpart, Heiko Maas, who is in Canada on an official visit.

— William Shrubsall, convicted of multiple sexual and violent offences against women in Canada, will be appearing in a Lockport, N.Y., court. His lawyer is arguing that his bail jumping charge should be dropped because there wasn’t sufficient effort to extradite and try him.

The Canadian Press