By Canadian Press

In the news today: Haiti’s Prime Minister to resign after transitional council formed

Mar 12, 2024 | 2:18 AM

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…

Ariel Henry bows to pressure, saying he’ll resign once a council is formed to lead crisis-hit Haiti

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry says he’ll resign once a transitional presidential council is created.

Haiti has been overwhelmed by violent gangs that some experts say have unleashed a low-scale civil war in the island country.

Henry made the announcement hours after Caribbean leaders and officials from other countries including Canada and the U-S, met in Jamaica to discuss a solution to halt Haiti’s spiralling crisis.

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It’s not yet clear who will be chosen to be Henry’s replacement.

Canada concerned as final rule for ‘Product of USA’ meat labels announced

Canada’s federal government as well as organizations representing some the nation’s beef producers warn a decision south of the border about “Product of USA” labels on meat, poultry and eggs could disrupt supply chains.

The United States Department of Agriculture announced Monday a final rule on conditions for when voluntary “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” labels may be used, stating they will be allowed for meat, poultry and egg products only when they are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says in a news release the rule, which takes effect in 2026, will ensure that when consumers see the label, they can know that every step involved, from birth to processing, was done in America.

Here’s what else we’re watching …

Quebec to present ‘restrained’ budget today

Quebec’s finance minister says the budget he is expected to present later today will be “restrained” amid what he describes as a provincial economy in stagnation.

On Monday Eric Girard told reporters south of Montreal that the billions of dollars in wage increases recently negotiated with teachers and health-care workers have further restricted the government’s spending ambitions.

Quebec’s real GDP — which is adjusted for inflation — contracted in the second quarter of 2023 by 0.4 per cent and by 0.2 per cent in the third quarter.
 

Coral reef off B.C. coast shouldn’t exist: expert

Deep sea ecologist Cherisse Du Preez says knowledge from local First Nations of “a bump on the sea floor” where the fish liked to be set off to the discovery of Canada’s only known live coral reef. 

Du Preez says she worked with the Kitasoo and Heiltsuk First Nations to search the ocean floor off B.C.’s central coast in Finlayson Channel, about 500 kilometres northwest of Vancouver.

De Preez, who’s the head of the deep-sea ecology program for the Fisheries Department, says they were on their last scheduled remote submersible dive in 2021 when they found the Lophelia coral reef. 

Farmers brace for 90% loss of B.C. stone fruit

At West Kelowna’s Paynter’s Fruit Market, owner Jennay Oliver says she won’t be offering you-pick peaches or apricots from the orchards behind her fruit stand this year.

Instead, she’ll be hoping to entice visitors to come by and pick their own tomatoes or flowers and take tours of the orchards even if they’re not producing fruit this summer.

Oliver is one of many B.C. stone-fruit farmers bracing for a near non-existent harvest this summer and trying to find new ways to manage. 

The B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association estimates harvests of peaches, apricots, nectarines and plums will be down at least 90 per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Mar. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press