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The Tuesday news briefing: An at-a-glance survey of some top stories

Apr 11, 2017 | 3:45 PM

Highlights from the news file for Tuesday, April 11

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FREELAND PUSHES RUSSIA TO CUT ASSAD LOOSE: Western countries are presenting a high-stakes ultimatum to Russia: Allow regime-change in Syria and cut loose Bashar Assad, or remain a pariah moored on the fringes of the international community. Different U.S. allies articulated different versions of that warning Tuesday, including Canada. During a G7 meeting in Italy, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland urged Russia to seize the moment as a chance to break with Assad. The twin events of a horrific chemical attack on Syrian civilians, combined with U.S. air strikes, had created new momentum in pursuing a long-term political solution to the Syrian civil war, Freeland said. “Russia needs to decide whether it wants to double down on its support of a murderous regime that is committing war crimes, or whether right now it wants to say, ‘You know what? We do not want to be associated with this, this is not where we want our country to be,’” she told a conference call. The same point was delivered with a twist of mockery from the White House. A spokesman for President Donald Trump insinuated that Russia’s behaviour of recent years had left it confined to an international alliance of losers. “Russia is isolated. They have aligned themselves with North Korea, Syria, Iran. That’s not exactly a group of countries you’re looking to hang out with,” Sean Spicer said.

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JUDGE DENIES BAIL FOR ACCUSED YAHOO HACKER: A Canadian accused in a massive hack of Yahoo emails was denied bail on Tuesday after the judge rejected his parents as supervisors. After all, Ontario Superior Court Justice Alan Whitten said in his decision, they had come to live lavish lifestyles while apparently ignoring how their son, Karim Baratov, was making so much money. Whitten was having none of the assertions from Baratov’s father, Akhmet Tokbergenov, who told court jail would “appear to be paradise” compared with how strictly he would watch his son. Baratov, 22, was arrested under the Extradition Act last month after U.S. authorities indicted him — and three others, two of them allegedly officers of Russia’s Federal Security Service — for computer hacking, economic espionage and other crimes. The breach at Yahoo affected at least a half billion user accounts, but Baratov is only accused of hacking 80 accounts. His defence lawyer, Deepak Paradkar, argued the allegations had been “inflated,” and said the young man was neither as rich nor as well-connected as has been portrayed.

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TRUDEAU’S AGA KHAN VACATION UNDER FIRE AGAIN: A media report detailing how a government technician made his way to a pricey private island in the Bahamas had Prime Minister Justin Trudeau deflecting renewed allegations Tuesday about his controversial New Year’s family vacation with the Aga Khan. Trudeau weathered a barrage of questions from interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose and Opposition House leader Candice Bergen about the latest cost estimates for the trip, which included a ride on the Aga Khan’s private helicopter. The Opposition seized on a CBC report that found a Privy Council Office technician was able to travel to the island by commercially chartered seaplane, undermining Trudeau’s own argument that the helicopter was his only option. In mid-January, shortly after the vacation was over, Trudeau told reporters in Kingston, Ont., that travel to and from the island “happens on the Aga Khan’s private helicopter.” In the weeks following, the prime minister made similar assertions in the Commons. CBC says the government’s initial $127,187 cost estimate for the trip did not include another $6,695 for the seaplane. Trudeau responded to the allegations Tuesday with his standard reply: that it was a private family vacation that he’s happy to discuss with the federal ethics commissioner.

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CBC APOLOGIZES FOR DOCU-DRAMA ‘CANADA: THE STORY OF US’: The CBC apologized Tuesday in the wake of accusations of inaccuracies in its docu-drama “Canada: The Story of Us.” Politicians in Quebec and Nova Scotia are among those who have complained about the facts in the 10-hour series. “Whenever you recount a country’s history, there will inevitably be citizens, historians and politicians who will have different points of view, and that’s certainly been the case with ‘Canada: The Story of Us,’” CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson said in a statement. Thompson added the CBC is planning to host live digital conversations about it. Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said the show was wrong to assert that the country’s first permanent European settlement was established in 1608 near what is now Quebec City. McNeil said the history of Canada started three years earlier, when French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded a settlement at Port Royal, N.S., which is part of his riding. The mayor of Annapolis Royal, N.S., also denounced the show as a disrespectful and erroneous version of what really happened when Europeans first settled in Canada. And the issue surfaced in Quebec’s legislature last week when the Opposition Parti Quebecois blasted the series during question period, saying the series will “foster offensive prejudice.”

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BOMBARDIER, SIEMENS IN RAIL MERGER TALKS, REPORT SAYS: Shares of Bombardier were up more than four per cent Tuesday, following a report that the company and German-based Siemens AG are in talks to merge their train businesses. Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources it said were familiar with the matter, reported that the proposed joint venture could be worth at least US$10.6 billion. Bombardier declined to comment and Siemens couldn’t immediately be reached. Such a deal would require approval from antitrust authorities and could face opposition from unions over concerns about potential job cuts. Bombardier shares rose nine cents at $2.31 in late morning trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Last year, Bombardier completed the sale of a 30 per cent stake in its transportation business to Quebec pension fund manager Caisse de depot for US$1.5 billion as it faced financial challenges caused in part by railway delays and the development of the CSeries commercial aircraft and Global 7000 business jet.

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LEITCH SAYS SHE WOULD ROLL BACK LIBERAL POT PLAN: Marijuana is a “dangerous drug,” Conservative leadership hopeful Kellie Leitch said Tuesday as she promised to undo the Liberal government’s efforts to legalize it, should she become her party’s leader and eventually prime minister. There are too many public health and safety concerns surrounding marijuana for it to be legal, Leitch told The Canadian Press as the government prepares to table legislation later this week to legalize and regulate its sale. Political Ottawa has been buzzing for weeks about what will be in the bill, expected Thursday. One key task-force recommendation that the government could act on is imposing an age limit of 18 on those who seek to buy it. “Look, I will be reviewing it, but I’m a pediatric orthopedic surgeon — I have personal views on this that I feel very strongly about,” Leitch said in a roundtable interview. “I don’t think that we should be legalizing this drug; this is a dangerous drug and I don’t want it in the hands of children.” Scientific evidence shows the drug can have damaging effects on the brains of those under the age of 25 and should only be available from pharmacies for patients with prescriptions, Leitch added. In an August submission to the federally appointed task force on marijuana, the Canadian Medical Association recommended a minimum age of 21, as well as limits on quantities and potency for those aged 21-25 to discourage use and sharing among underage friends.

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MYSTERY SHROUDS NEW AIR SECURITY MEASURES: Transport Minister Marc Garneau says the federal Liberal government has imposed new airline security measures on certain Canada-bound flights — but he’s providing precious few other details. Garneau made the announcement Tuesday after the government’s weekly cabinet meeting. He says the measures will ensure greater security on flights coming to Canada “from certain countries,” but is saying little else. Garneau says the measures will be in place until further notice. The decision comes after the U.S. and Britain last month moved to prohibit certain electronic devices from airline cabins on flights originating from some countries in the Middle East and Africa. Canada has not followed suit on that measure, and Garneau says such devices continue to be permitted on airline cabins. He says the latest decision is based on the government’s “evaluation of risk” and that similar measures have been put in place in past years on flights from other continents.

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ONTARIO MOVING TO ADDRESS OVERDOSE DATA GAP: Ontario is moving to overhaul the way it collects and analyzes data on opioid overdoses and deaths in an effort to get a better understanding of the extent of the problem in the province, officials said Tuesday. “We are making significant efforts to completely turn our investigative process for opioid and other drug-related deaths on its head,” said Chief Coroner Dr. Dirk Huyer. Police forces and health units across the province have complained about the lack of timely data, and many are struggling to come up with their own methods to track the use of the deadly opioid fentanyl. The most recent data on opioid-related deaths in Ontario is from 2015, when 548 people died, according to the Office of the Chief Coroner. Of those, 166 deaths were related to fentanyl. At the moment, the coroner’s office has to search back through its files to create statistics on overdose deaths, but under the new system that information will be proactively collected and standardized so it can be analyzed more quickly and consistently, Huyer said. That information, he said, will include the type of drug, whether it was prescribed or illicit, a detailed history of the person’s health and if that person used opioids previously.

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B.C. ELECTION STARTS AS UNOFFICIAL CAMPAIGN ENDS: British Columbia’s Liberal party began its bid for a fifth straight majority government on Tuesday as Christy Clark touted her government’s record on job creation and balanced budgets while warning the opposition parties would risk economic growth with higher taxes and deficits. The campaign has been underway unofficially for weeks with the Liberals, NDP and Greens releasing platform details for an election that polls suggest will be a tight battle. Clark has tried to make NDP Leader John Horgan’s judgment an issue, accusing the New Democrats of siding with fringe advocates over the mainstream interests that drive job creation. The Liberal leader visited the lieutenant-governor to formally start the election and emerged to remind voters that British Columbia has Canada’s fastest-growing economy, which she argued would be at risk by higher taxes and deficits if the NDP is elected. Horgan has attacked Clark on social policies, arguing too many people have been left behind by a Liberal government that is out-of-touch after 16 years in power, as he promotes a daycare program that would cost $10 a day and a significant increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

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FIRED HEALTH WORKER’S SISTER SLAMS PREMIER: The sister of a British Columbia government health worker who took his own life after being falsely accused of wrongdoing hopes Premier Christy Clark’s “callous and cynical” response becomes a key issue in the provincial election campaign. Linda Kayfish was commenting Tuesday after last week’s release of an ombudsman’s report that found eight health workers, including her brother Roderick MacIsaac, were wrongly fired in 2012 after allegations of inappropriate conduct involving government drug research. Kayfish held a news conference on Tuesday about two hours before Clark officially launched the election campaign, where she repeated she plays no role in hiring or firing government employees. Kayfish said Clark’s apology to the legislature in 2012 failed to completely clear her brother’s name, even though the government was aware the firings were inappropriate. She said the unfounded accusations led to her brother’s suicide, about four months after he was fired. Jay Chalke’s report said the eight workers were dismissed after a flawed and rushed investigation and didn’t deserve the personal, financial and professional harm they suffered. He found the premier and other officials did not direct the dismissals, but were aware of them.

The Canadian Press