Greta, food waste and a wild ride in a stolen pickup; In-The-News for Oct. 18

While many are expected to join her at the rally, a group of oil and gas supporters is planning a counter-rally at the same time.

Glen Carritt, who organized the United We Roll pro-pipeline convoy that travelled to Ottawa in February, said a similar convoy will start in Red Deer this morning and travel 150 kilometres north to the legislature.

He says the counter-rally is meant to be peaceful and show the pride of Alberta’s oil and gas sector.

Premier Jason Kenney has said he hopes Thunberg gets a warm welcome — even from people who disagree with her — but he won’t be meeting with her.

The teen, who started solitary weekly protests outside the Swedish parliament a year ago, has inspired millions of young people to take to the streets over climate change.

Last month, she attended a massive rally in Montreal where she called on Canada to do more to protect the environment.

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Also this …

An Alberta judge is expected to rule today whether a youth is guilty of shooting a German tourist in the head on a highway west of Calgary last year.

The teen from the Stoney Nakoda First Nation, who cannot be identified because he was 16 at the time, is charged with aggravated assault and recklessly discharging a firearm during an offence.

Provincial court Judge George Gaschler heard that Horst Stewin was driving a black SUV on the First Nations land with his family when someone in a passing car shot him.

His vehicle veered off the highway and crashed into some trees.

Stewin survived and was transported back to Germany, where doctors removed eight bullet fragments from his brain.

He is paralyzed on his right side, gets confused and has memory issues.

ICYMI (In case you missed it) …

MONTREAL — City officials are hoping to stop perfectly good food and unsold clothing from ending up in landfills.

Montreal’s point person on the environment has announced the proposed measures as part of a five-year master plan for waste management between 2020 and 2025.

Coun. Laurence Lavigne Lalonde, the executive committee member in charge of ecological transition, cited the fact that the city’s main dump is slated to shutter by 2029.

“We will prohibit large grocery chains, educational institutions and hospitals from throwing away food they no longer think is fresh,” Lavigne Lalonde said.

Montreal will also move to forbid clothing and textile companies from throwing out unsold clothes, instead encouraging them to give unsold products to community organizations or introduce them into the circular economy so they can be reused.

Clothing and food sellers could face fines if they violate the new rules.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT _ The White House acknowledges that Trump’s decision to hold up military aid to Ukraine was linked to his demand that Kyiv investigate the Democratic National Committee and the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign _ a shifting new explanation about events at the heart of the impeachment inquiry. By Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick. SENT: 1,060 words, photos, video. With TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT-UKRAINE-SONDLAND _ U.S. envoy says Giuliani was given role on Ukraine policy; TRUMP _ Trump, in Texas, bashes Democrats as “crazy,” unpatriotic; TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT-THE LATEST. For full coverage: https://apnews.com/Trumpimpeachmentinquiry

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

LONDON — After winning the support of European Union leaders for his new Brexit deal , Prime Minister Boris Johnson is back in London to try to secure backing from the fractious British Parliament.Johnson returned overnight for what is expected to be a busy Friday attempting to persuade lawmakers to vote for the divorce deal. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was up early drumming up support. He told the BBC: “We’ve got a real opportunity now to get Brexit delivered faithful to the referendum, move on as a Government, and I think as a country, and lift the clouds of Brexit.” PHOTO.

On this day in 1919 …

Pierre Elliot Trudeau was born in Montreal. Trudeau was Canada’s first prime minister born in the 20th century. He remained in office until his 1984 retirement, except for a brief period when the Conservatives held power in 1979-80. He he died of cancer in Montreal on Sept. 28, 2000.

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Weird and wild …

A British Columbia man survived a wild ride as he tried to stop his pickup truck from being stolen.

Police in Kamloops say witnesses reported seeing the vehicle topping 100 km/h as it careened down several streets, clipping a power pole and other vehicles as the owner, Francis Payette, clung to the back.

Payette says he jumped onto the back of the truck when he saw a man and a woman attempt to drive away.

He says the driver tried to dislodge him by swerving aggressively before crashing the truck into a field, where it burst into flames.

Payette was not hurt and the man and the woman were arrested at the scene.

He believes he had no choice but to leap onto the truck.

“What do you do? Say goodbye to your truck and continue (to see) them doing more crime? Or let’s put an end to this.”

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Your health …

Toronto Public Health is asking Ontario to no longer allow people to opt-out for religious or philosophical reasons — objections that some scholars claim can’t actually be traced to Biblical or academic sources.

“The truth is, no major religion objects to vaccines,” says University of Guelph philosophy professor Maya Goldenberg, who has written a book on vaccine hesitancy due in 2020.

“There are sects within the major religions, like some evangelical churches, or even sects of Judaism and other religions that have determined that they do not vaccinate but it’s not grounded in religious doctrine, it’s more about the interpretation of doctrine.”

Nor does Goldenberg believe there are philosophical objections if that’s understood to mean ideas “grounded in some kind of philosophical framework.”

Debate over the validity of non-medical exemptions has flared anew as Toronto Public Health presses the province to drop current allowances for religious and personal beliefs.

Vaccinations are a requirement to attend class in Ontario and New Brunswick, while British Columbia launched a demand this fall that students report immunization records.

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Your money …

Whether it is a nervous investor looking for a safe haven amid volatile markets or someone with a big purchase coming up and a need to keep some cash safe and easily accessible, investors need to shop around if they want to earn the best possible rate on their cash balances.

The difference in the rates may seem small, but if the cash balance is large enough, or held over a long period of time, the interest can add up.

Victoria Shinkaruk, business unit manager of banking and investing at Ratehub.ca, says if you’re just going with your bank then you’re only comparing products at one financial institution.

“In order to get the best value for the money that we work so hard for it is very important to just go on a comparison site and see what’s out there,” she said.

High-interest savings accounts offer the most flexibility, but the interest rate paid will likely be among the lowest of the options.

If you know you’re not going to need the money for a period, higher rates can be earned with a guaranteed interest certificate or term deposit, but then your money may be locked in for a period.

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Celebrity news …

NEW YORK — Stephen Colbert will be sticking around for four more years.

CBS has announced that Colbert has signed a new contract that will keep him as the “Late Show” host through at least August 2023. His current pact was set to expire next August.

Terms were not disclosed. But it’s a safe bet Colbert is in line for a healthy raise. He took over for David Letterman in 2015 and currently reigns as the most popular host on late-night television.

The “Late Show” averages nearly four million viewers each night, with a widening lead over the second-place “Tonight” show with Jimmy Fallon.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2019.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Greta, food waste and a wild ride in a stolen pickup; In-The-News for Oct. 18

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