By Canadian Press

Running the Liberal numbers and determining fitness to stand trial; In-The-News for Sept. 30

Oct 2, 2019 | 2:19 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 Sept. 30.

What we are watching in Canada …

The federal Liberal election platform is out, and there’s billions in new spending which Justin Trudeau says will be  financed, in part, by new taxes on the wealthy, large international corporations, foreign housing speculators and tech giants.

There’s also lots of red ink: the platform projects a $27.4-billion deficit next year, falling to $21 billion by year 4 of what would be a second Liberal  mandate.

Trudeau will be in Toronto today talking to health care professionals about what a re-elected Liberal government would do to tackle escalating gun violence.

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Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer will start his day with an announcement in the critical suburb of Whitby, Ont., with stops planned in Toronto and nearby Scarborough and Brampton — all part of the tactically important suburban belt ringing Canada’s most populous city.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh continues to focus his efforts on the Vancouver area, and his attacks on the Liberals.

Green Leader Elizabeth May is beginning her day in Vancouver, while People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier travels to Windsor, Ont.

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Also this …

FREDERICTON — Jury selection begins today to determine if Matthew Raymond — accused of killing four people in a shooting spree in Fredericton in August 2018 — is fit to stand trial.

Justice Fred Ferguson of the Court of Queen’s Bench ruled earlier this month that the threshold to question the fitness of the accused had been met.

Fitness means that an accused understands the charges against him and can instruct a lawyer on how he wishes to be defended.

Raymond is charged with the first-degree murders of Fredericton police constables Sara Burns and Robb Costello and civilians Donnie Robichaud and Bobbie Lee Wright.

Robichaud and Wright were killed in the parking lot outside their apartment building, and the officers were killed when they responded to the shootings.

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What you may have missed …

VATICAN CITY — A Canadian artist’s sculpture has been unveiled in St. Peter’s Square by Pope Francis as part of a Mass for the World Day for Migrants and Refugees.

The work in bronze and clay by Timothy Schmalz of Kitchener, Ont., depicts more than 100 migrants and refugees from different cultural and racial backgrounds and time periods.

Schmalz, who travelled to Vatican City for the unveiling, said the sculpture, called “Angels Unawares,” was inspired by a Bible passage. It includes a pair of angel wings rising from among the crowd on a boat.

“It brings the idea that we are sacred and we are all, in a sense, worthy of human dignity and respect,” Schmalz said, adding that it was an important message to spread as people become more fearful of strangers and isolated by technology.

Schmalz said he got the commission after the Vatican learned of his sculpture depicting Jesus as a homeless person, copies of which are now touring in major cities around the world.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

WASHINGTON — Republicans are split over how U.S. President Donald Trump should respond to impeachment proceedings.

Trump’s allies fanned out across the Sunday talk shows espousing different approaches to the rough transcript and whistleblower complaint at the heart of the proceedings.

The whistleblower says Trump tried to pressure the president of Ukraine to investigate the son of Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, tried deflection by insisting the real story is a debunked conspiracy theory. Senior presidential adviser Stephen Miller claimed “deep state” figures are to blame, while Ohio congressman Jim Jordan said Biden’s son improperly profited from his father’s position, but there’s no evidence of that.

Trump himself tweeted that he should be able to meet his accuser.

A top House Democrat said he expects the whistleblower to testify “very soon.”

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

BEIJING — Chinese president and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping has led other top officials in paying respects to Mao Zedong — the founder of the communist state — ahead of a massive celebration of the People’s Republic’s 70th anniversary.

Monday’s unusual move saw Xi bow three times to Mao’s statue at the former leader’s mausoleum in the centre of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and pay his respects to Mao’s embalmed corpse that has lain in state in the hulking chamber since soon after his death in 1976.

Xi also ascended the nearby Monument to the People’s Heroes to pay further tribute on what has been designated Martyr’s Day, just ahead of Tuesday’s National Day festivities to be marked by a massive military parade through the centre of the city of 20 million people.

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The Canadian Press