By Canadian Press

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

May 31, 2017 | 2:45 PM

Highlights from the news file for Wednesday, June 7

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ANNUAL DEFENCE SPENDING TO GROW BY $13.9B: Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Wednesday that annual defence spending in Canada in 10 years will be $14 billion higher than it is now. The Liberal government’s much-anticipated defence policy update promised to steadily ramp up annual spending on the military to the point where it will be $13.9 billion higher by 2026-27, adding a total of $60 billion over the next two decades. The money will be used to put another 5,000 troops in uniform and add new modern capabilities, such as letting the military conduct cyberattacks and to buy armed drones for unmanned airstrikes.

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DEFENCE PLAN CALLS FOR DRONE AND CYBER ATTACKS: Canada will add hundreds of new elite special forces commandos, wage offensive cyber warfare and deploy armed drones to international battlefields as part of its military response to global security threats. The new defence review released Wednesday identifies a wide range of harrowing and borderless threats, including the “grey zone” of hybrid warfare, ever-present terrorism and climate change. Some of Canada’s military operations will include government-sanctioned cyber attacks and drone strikes on foreign threats.

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INNU LEADER ISSUES PLEA FOR HELP: An aboriginal leader in Labrador who recently lost his 16-year-old son to suicide is calling on the federal and provincial governments to dramatically alter the way they treat Innu youth with substance abuse problems. Simeon Tshakapesh, deputy grand chief of the Innu Nation, has written an intensely raw account of how the Innu of Labrador have suffered over the years, and he says the province’s Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development failed his son, Thunderheart, who died on May 24.

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COSBY ACCUSER TESTIFIES IN SEX ASSAULT TRIAL: The woman who accuses Bill Cosby of drugging and molesting her more than a decade ago stood by her story at his sex-crimes trial Wednesday. Andrea Constand brushed off suggestions she and Cosby had a romantic relationship before the 2004 encounter at his suburban Philadelphia home. And she explained away numerous phone calls they had afterward by saying she was merely returning Cosby’s messages about the women’s basketball squad at Temple University, where he was a powerful member of the board of trustees and she was director of team operations.

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“POWERLESS” AS THREE COPS HAD SEX WITH HER, COMPLAINANT TESTIFIES: A female parking enforcement officer is telling a court she felt powerless and unable to move or speak when three Toronto police officers had sex with her against her wishes after a long night of partying. The woman, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, is testifying at the trial of Joshua Cabero, Leslie Nyznik, and Sameer Kara, who have all pleaded not guilty to sexual assault in connection with the alleged incident. The woman said she ended up in a hotel room with the trio, periodically blacking out. She said she was at the whim of the three officers, who took turns having sex with her against her wishes.

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NEWS RULES FOR MONTREAL CALECHES: Montreal will table new regulations to protect the welfare of horses working in the city’s controversial horse-drawn carriage industry, Mayor Denis Coderre announced Wednesday. Coderre said the rules will include limits on how long the horses can work and in what temperatures. There will be new rules for drivers, who will have to follow a dress code and complete a course focusing on customer service and tourism. They will also have to report any accidents or incidents involving the horses.

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TRUDEAU AIMING TO FILL CLIMATE VOID: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spent the last five days quietly calling up allies in Europe and Asia as he seeks to forge ahead with climate change policies and international co-operation in a world of “America First.” Following President Donald Trump’s announcement last week that the U.S. was pulling out of the Paris climate change agreement, Trudeau initiated phone calls with four of the other G7 leaders. In the space of five days, he spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

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COMEY SAYS TRUMP ASKED FOR LOYALTY: President Donald Trump repeatedly pressured the head of the FBI to ease up on an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, according to the advance copy of testimony to be delivered Thursday. The prepared text of James Comey’s opening remarks laid out no less than five instances where the president allegedly exerted pressure before firing the FBI director. Trump allegedly told Comey to, “let this go,” on investigating former presidential adviser Michael Flynn; repeatedly demanded his loyalty; and asked him to “lift the cloud” over the White House.

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B.C. LEGISLATURE CALLED BACK: Politicians have been called back to the British Columbia legislature on June 22, setting the stage for a possible change in the provincial government. Premier Christy Clark has said she expects to lose a confidence vote in the house after the New Democrats and Greens reached an agreement to allow the NDP to form a minority government. No party won a majority of seats in a provincial election last month. The Liberals won 43 seats in the 87-seat legislature, with the NDP winning 41 seats and the Greens three.

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NEW ASTRONAUTS TO BE ANNOUNCED WITHIN 4 WEEKS: Canadians will find out within the next month the identity of the country’s two newest astronauts. A Canadian Space Agency official says in an email the latest additions to the Canadian astronaut corps will be announced within the next four weeks. The agency’s fourth recruitment campaign received thousands of applications, but the field has been whittled down to five women and 12 men. The 12 Canadian astronauts selected from the three previous campaigns have taken part in 16 space missions.

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The Canadian Press

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