By Canadian Press

In the news today, Oct. 9

Oct 9, 2018 | 2:30 AM

Four stories in the news for Tuesday, Oct. 9

___

FLARE-UPS POSSIBLE AT IRVING REFINERY

Residents of a Saint John, N.B., neighbourhood that was the scene of a massive oil refinery explosion have been warned of possible “flare-ups” as the facility restabilizes. The City of Saint John posted on social media Monday evening that emergency management officials remained on site to monitor the Irving Oil refinery as it came back online. An explosion at the facility Monday morning rocked a residential area on the east side of the historic port city, sending flames and black smoke into the sky but causing only minor injuries. A company official told reporters there had been a malfunction in the refinery’s diesel treating unit, where sulphur is removed from diesel fuel.

___

Young minds, big ideas: Elementary students learn about urban planning with 'Box City'

1h ago

HERE'S WHAT TO KNOW

Summer pool hours extended and discounts applied as Big Marble Go Centre upgrades start

Apr 18, 2024

Medicine Hat company drawing in clients with witty signage

Apr 16, 2024

TRIAL OF BRITISH SAILOR CONTINUES TODAY

The trial of a British sailor accused in a gang rape at a Halifax-area military base continues today, after testimony from a young woman who described a harrowing scene of being virtually alone in barracks with dozens of men. She told Nova Scotia Supreme Court last week she felt “intense fear” as she frantically knocked on doors, calling out the name of a friend she had become separated from in the barracks at 12 Wing Shearwater. The woman said that’s when she realized she was effectively by herself in a building full of men. She came upon a raucous scene: hockey players scattered throughout a room, one naked lying face down on a bed. Darren Smalley, 38, is charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm and participating in a sexual assault involving one or more people in April 2015 in a case that once involved four accused.

___

HOMELESS B.C. FIRST NATION BUYS RESERVE

Thomas Smith says watching people leave their homes on British Columbia’s remote Turnour Island as a young boy is something he can’t forget even though it was more than 50 years ago. He says it’s been a long journey for members of the Tlowitsis First Nation who once lived off northern Vancouver Island. Smith says the nation bought a 257-hectare piece of rural, forested property eight kilometres south of Campbell River and plans are underway to build a community of up to 100 homes. He says the land cost $3.5 million and involved federal approval of the land as a new reserve. Smith says the first nation’s estimated 450 members have been living apart for decades, but the new village site, already named “a place to come home to,” will bring the Tlowitsis back together.

___

FEDS GIVEN AMBITIOUS PLAN FOR EI, DOCUMENTS SHOW

The Trudeau government has been given an ambitious plan for closing several gaps in the social-safety net for ill and unemployed Canadians that includes creating a new program to help those whose employment insurance or sickness benefits are about to run out. The plan is contained in a government-commissioned report and would represent a major step for a government that has previously tweaked parental and caregiver benefits, among other so-called special EI benefits, but has yet to touch the core of employment insurance — which experts say is in desperate need of reform. Specifically, the report recommended the government close gaps in the social safety net by creating a new program to catch those who exhaust sickness benefits but don’t qualify for a public disability pension.

___

ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— Football player Jerome Messam is scheduled to appear in a Calgary court today on a voyeurism charge.

— Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos will be in Chicoutimi, Que. discuss how the Government of Canada is improving the Canada Child Benefit.

— The trial for Jennifer Clark and Jeromie Clark, who are charged with criminal negligence causing death and failure to provide the necessaries of life to their 14-month-old son.

The Canadian Press