By Canadian Press

In the news today, Nov. 12

Nov 12, 2018 | 2:15 AM

Six stories in the news for Monday, Nov. 12

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PM WARNS OF POLITICIANS’ MISUSE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says politicians need to learn how to enhance citizen engagement through the use of social media in the face of leaders using those platforms to undermine democracy. He made the comment this morning while speaking at a conference in Paris. Without mentioning any names, he suggested there are politicians who are using the technology to foster polarization in the electorate. U.S. President Donald Trump, of course, is notorious for using angry tweets to fire up his legions of followers and vent at his critics.

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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

Medicine Hat College holding event for missing and murdered Indigenous women awareness day

Apr 16, 2024

UCP MEMBER APOLOGIZES FOR COMMENTS ON LGBTQ FLAG

A member of Alberta’s United Conservative Party is apologizing for making a comparison between the rainbow LGBTQ pride flag and swastikas. John Carpay issued a statement last night to clarify remarks he made at a weekend conference in Calgary organized by the conservative news outlet Rebel Media. Carpay says he was talking about totalitarianism when he “referred in the same sentence” to the rainbow flag and the flags bearing Nazi and communist symbols. In doing so, he says he “unintentionally drew a broad comparison” between them.

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INUIT PLAN SAYS TOO MANY POLAR BEARS THREATENING PUBLIC SAFETY

There are too many polar bears in parts of Nunavut and climate change hasn’t yet affected any of them, says a draft management plan from the territorial government that contradicts much of conventional scientific thinking. The proposed plan — which is to go to public hearings in Iqaluit on Tuesday — says growing bear numbers are increasingly jeopardizing public safety and it’s time Inuit knowledge drove management policy. Polar bears killed two Inuit last summer.

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POT COMPANY HOPES TO FILL LOST MILL JOBS

A cannabis company says it plans to build a grow facility in Merritt, B.C., and replace the jobs that were lost in a sawmill closure two years ago. Emerald Plants Health Source purchased a massive chunk of land and plans to build an initial three-thousand-square-metre facility before building up to potentially more than 100-thousand square metres. Two hundred people lost their jobs when the Tolko mill closed in 2016 and the cannabis company hopes to hire more than 200 workers once it’s up and running.

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CROWD WATCHES AS BACKHOE RIPS INTO MANGLED PLANE

Crews have begun tearing into the mangled Boeing 747 cargo jet that overshot a Halifax runway last week. Dozens of people watched yesterday as a backhoe dug into the midsection of the fuselage, which buckled when the empty SkyLease Cargo plane overshot the runway at Halifax Stanfield International Airport on Wednesday. The huge plane’s landing gear collapsed and two of its engines were torn off as it skidded along for 210 metres, coming perilously close to a public road.

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VIOLA DESMOND BILL BEGINS CIRCULATION NEXT WEEK

A new $10 banknote featuring Viola Desmond’s portrait will go into circulation in a week, just over 72 years after she was ousted from the whites-only section of a movie theatre in New Glasgow, N.S. The civil rights pioneer and businesswoman is the first Canadian woman to be featured on a regularly circulating banknote, which will also show a map of Halifax’s historic north end, home to one of Canada’s oldest black communities and the site where Desmond opened her first salon.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— Quebec Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon holds a Montreal press conference about the aerospace industry.

— Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Toronto.

— Aurora Cannabis Inc. will hold a conference call to discuss first quarter results.

— First-degree murder trial in Vancouver for Garry Handlen, accused of the 1978 slaying of 12-year-old Monica Jack.

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The Canadian Press