In The News for April 18, 2023: Did you miss out on the new federal benefits?

Macdonald finds only 44 per cent of people who were likely eligible for the top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit actually received it, while just over half have received the Canada Dental Benefit.

That means the federal government spent less than it previously allocated for the measures.

Macdonald says the federal government could have eased the requirements for applying, or at the very least, better informed Canadians about the programs.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says it and the Canada Revenue Agency did a wide range of marketing and outreach activities to raise awareness of the housing benefit.

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Also this …

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston is asking people to pause for a moment of silence today at noon and again on Wednesday to remember the 22 people killed three years ago during the worst mass shooting in Canadian history.

Houston issued a statement saying the impact of the tragedy in northern and central Nova Scotia on April 18-19, 2020, is still being felt.

Flags at the provincial legislature and all provincial government buildings will fly at half-mast from today at sunrise until sunset on Wednesday.

As well, the premier is encouraging all citizens, businesses and community organizations that fly flags to lower them to half-mast during that time.

Last month, a public inquiry released a 3,000-page final report that highlighted a litany of mistakes made by the Mounties during their response to the shootings, and it called on Ottawa to rethink the RCMP’s central role in policing.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

Norfolk Southern’s CEO is set to testify before an Ohio Senate rail safety panel on Tuesday, more than two months after a fiery train derailment rocked the village of East Palestine.

Alan Shaw has promised millions of dollars to help the Ohio-Pennsylvania border community recover but also faces a lawsuit from Ohio’s Attorney General Dave Yost over costs for the toxic chemical spill cleanup and environmental damage. The federal government has also sued the railroad.

Shaw previously testified before the Pennsylvania legislature as well as Congress over the derailment, but now faces Ohio lawmakers, who recently passed a state transportation budget that would impose new rail safety measures on Norfolk Southern and other railroads travelling through their state.

Whether they’re allowed to do so, however, remains a point of debate. The Ohio Railroad Association, a trade group, has argued that several of the measures are preempted by federal law. Legislators say the General Assembly can put statewide safeguards in place to help protect constituents.

No one was injured during the Feb. 3 derailment, but half of the nearly 5,000 East Palestine residents were evacuated for days. Many say they continue to suffer from health problems because of an intentional toxic chemical release and burn, which was conducted to prevent uncontrolled explosions after the derailment.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

Iran’s president on Tuesday reiterated threats against Israel while marking the country’s annual Army Day, though he stayed away from criticizing Saudi Arabia as Tehran seeks a détente with the kingdom.

The comments by Ebrahim Raisi came as fighter jets and helicopters flew overhead in Tehran, and as Iranian submarines sailed across its waters during a ceremony carried live by state television.

The day celebrates Iran’s regular military, not its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, whose expeditionary forces operate across the wider Mideast and aid Iranian-allied militia groups like Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The Guard also routinely has tense encounters with the U.S. Navy.

Speaking at the ceremony, Raisi threatened Israel, which is suspected of carrying out a series of attacks targeting Iran since the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers.

In March, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after seven years of tensions, a diplomatic agreement reached in China. In the time since, Saudi Arabia also has been involved in a prisoner swap with Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, with hopes such a deal could see an end to that country’s yearslong proxy war.

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And this …

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the headquarters of Russian troops fighting in Ukraine early Tuesday, his second trip to the Russian-held territories there since March.

A video released by the Kremlin and broadcast by Russian state television showed Putin visiting the command post for Russian forces in the southern Kherson region. It showed Putin arriving by helicopter to receive reports from the top military brass about the combat situation.

The Russian leader then moved by helicopter to the headquarters of the Russian National Guard of the eastern Luhansk region to hear a report from commanders.

In both locations, Putin congratulated the military on Orthodox Easter, which was celebrated Sunday and presented them with icons.

Russia annexed the Kherson and Luhansk regions along with the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions in September in a move that was rejected by much of the world as illegal.

On this day in 1945 …

Canadian forces completed the liberation of northeastern Holland from the Nazis.

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In entertainment …

Michelle Yeoh says she is looking for new challenges including as a producer, as she credited perseverance, hard work and passion for her historic Oscar win last month.

Yeoh became the first Asian to win the Academy Award for best actress Oscar for her performance as a laundromat owner in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Back in Malaysia to celebrate her mother’s birthday, Yeoh said Tuesday she felt a sense of relief after clinching the award. She says it’s been a roller coaster ride of “not knowing, wanting, hoping, wishing.” She says there were far too few representations of Asians in the Oscar and her victory was a “beacon of hope” to Asian women.

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Did you see this?

Health Canada is warning consumers to stop using the BabyTeddy 7-in-1 Convertible Baby Crib Wooden Baby Cot because of injury and poisoning risks.

The department says the slats of the crib can break, trapping or injuring a baby. It also says the gold paint on the crib contains a “higher than allowable” amount of lead.

The convertible crib was sold on Amazon.ca. The online retailer says that 58 of the cribs were sold in Canada.

Health Canada says it has not received any reports of injuries or illness in this country.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Tuesday, April 18, 2023

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In The News for April 18, 2023: Did you miss out on the new federal benefits?

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