By Canadian Press

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

Jan 9, 2018 | 3:00 PM

Highlights from the news file for Tuesday, Jan. 9

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TRUDEAU WON’T COMMIT TO ETHICS COMMITTEE: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wouldn’t commit Tuesday to testifying at a special meeting of the House of Commons ethics committee about his controversial trip to the Aga Khan’s private island in the Bahamas. During an appearance on CBC Radio’s “Information Morning” in Halifax, Trudeau was asked directly whether he’d be willing to appear before the committee. He ducked the question, largely dismissing the idea as little more than an Opposition effort to score political points. The Conservatives want the ethics committee to summon Trudeau to testify about the December 2016 trip, which left taxpayers on the hook for more than $200,000. Ethics commissioner Mary Dawson, whose tenure ended Monday, said Trudeau violated four different provisions of the Conflict of Interest Act when he and members of his family accepted the trip, which Dawson said could be seen as a gift designed to influence the prime minister. A spokesperson for the prime minister has said Trudeau reimbursed the commercial equivalent of his and his family’s flights to and from Nassau. The prime minister has also acknowledged he should have taken precautions and cleared his family vacation prior to the trip.

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TRUDEAU DEFENDS MEETING WITH JOSHUA BOYLE: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is suggesting that security officials raised no red flags when his office arranged last month for him to meet freed hostage Joshua Boyle and his family. Trudeau says his office follows all the advice it’s given by security officials and did exactly that in the case of the Boyle family. Trudeau met with Boyle, his American wife and their three children in the prime minister’s Parliament Hill office on Dec. 18. On Dec. 30, Ottawa police laid 15 criminal charges against Boyle, including eight counts of assault, two counts of sexual assault, two counts of unlawful confinement and one count each of misleading police, uttering a death threat and administering a noxious substance. In the wake of the charges, questions have been raised about how someone alleged to have committed multiple crimes could have been granted a private meeting with Trudeau in the prime minister’s inner sanctum. The Prime Minister’s Office has said Boyle requested the meeting. It is not clear if Boyle was under police investigation at that time and Trudeau did not address that issue Tuesday in his first public comments on the meeting.

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BANNON STEPS DOWN FROM BREITBART NEWS AFTER BREAK WITH TRUMP: Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is stepping down as chairman of Breitbart News Network after a public break with U.S. President Donald Trump. Breitbart announced Tuesday that Bannon would step down as executive chairman of the conservative news site, less than a week after Bannon’s explosive criticisms of Trump and his family were published in a new book. A report on the Breitbart website quotes Bannon saying, “I’m proud of what the Breitbart team has accomplished in so short a period of time in building out a world-class news platform.” Trump lashed out at Bannon for comments made in Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” which questions the president’s fitness for office. As Trump aides called him disloyal and disgraceful, the president branded his former chief strategist on Twitter as “Sloppy Steve,” an apparent reference to Bannon’s often unkempt appearance, and declared that “he lost his mind” when he was pushed out of the White House last August.

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SOME PATRONS CALL FOR BOYCOTT OF TIM HORTONS OVER EMPLOYEE TREATMENT: Some are denouncing Tim Hortons and participating in a boycott until some Ontario franchisees and their corporate parent, Restaurant Brands International, come up with a different solution to offset the province’s minimum wage hike than clawing back employee benefits. A social media movement is encouraging people to join “No Timmies Tuesday” on Jan. 9 and instead visit independent coffee shops. The protest comes after some Ontario Tim Hortons franchisees eliminated paid breaks, fully covered health and dental plans, and/or other perks for their workers to help their businesses absorb the 20 per cent jump from an $11.60 hourly minimum wage to $14 at the start of the month. Those changes came to light after a letter from the owners of two Cobourg, Ont., franchisees — the married children of the chain’s co-founders — circulated on social media. Tim Hortons says individual franchisees are responsible for setting employee wages and benefits, while complying with applicable laws. But some franchisees argue the corporation — which controls prices — should help owners grappling with the mandated wage hike.

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QUEBEC OPPOSITION BALKS AT ISLAMOPHOBIA ACTION DAY: The head of an influential Muslim group said he’s disappointed Quebec’s main opposition parties do not support a call by his organization to make the anniversary of Quebec City’s deadly mosque shooting a day of action on Islamophobia. Last Friday, the National Council of Canadian Muslims wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking for the Jan. 29 anniversary of the mass shooting one year ago to become a national day of remembrance and action on Islamophobia. Six Muslim men were shot and killed and 19 others were wounded in an attack on the mosque during prayers last Jan. 29. Alexandre Bissonnette is to stand trial in March on six charges of first-degree murder and six of attempted murder. But this week, the province’s two main opposition parties made it clear that, while they support a commemoration, they believe Islamophobia is a loaded term. The Parti Quebecois says the term is too controversial, while the Coalition Avenir Quebec deems the word inappropriate because Quebecers “are not Islamophobic.”

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MOM AND HER TWO CHILDREN AMONG VICTIMS OF HOUSE FIRE: A mother and her two young children and an unrelated man who ran into a burning home to help those inside have been identified in a series of online tributes as the victims of a deadly house fire in southern Ontario. Authorities have declined to formally identify the two adults and two children who died in Monday’s blaze that gutted a home in Oshawa, Ont. But social media posts from family members, friends and organizations connected with the deceased have provided the names of the four who died. The Toronto Professional Fire Fighters’ Association identified three of the victims as Lindsey Bonchek and her two children, Madeline and Jackson. It described the trio as relatives of an association member. The daughter and the niece of the fourth person killed in the fire both issued emotional Facebook posts naming him as Steven MacDonald. MacDonald’s niece wrote that he died after going back into the burning home in order to rescue people inside.

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NOVA SCOTIA FIRE VICTIM EMERGES FROM COMA, RELATIVE SAYS: A Nova Scotia man has been brought out of an induced coma, two days after a fast-moving house fire killed most of his young family, including a three-month-old baby, a relative says. “He was in pretty rough shape,” said Ervin Olsen of Yarmouth, N.S., the great-grandfather of two of the four youngsters killed in the blaze early Sunday in rural Pubnico Head. The father, local fisherman Phil Prouty, came out of the coma late Monday and was speaking, but his prognosis remained unclear, Olsen said in an interview Tuesday. His granddaughter, Emma Kennedy, has stayed by her common-law partner’s side in a Yarmouth hospital, mourning the loss of their blended family and a cousin as he struggled to survive, he said. Kennedy appears to be in good health, though she remains distraught about her family’s devastating loss, he said.  A relative in Newfoundland who has launched a fundraising campaign for the family has said the victims ranged in age from an infant to a seven-year-old and included a cousin who was at the home for a sleepover.

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FOUR WORKERS FIRED AT EDMONTON PRISON: The Correctional Service of Canada has fired four workers at Edmonton Institution following allegations of harassment, intimidation and bullying of other staff. Edmonton police are also looking into possible criminal charges as a result of behaviour at the maximum-security prison. A news release Tuesday said several staff were suspended last September while the Correctional Service brought in investigators to look into the claims. Additional disciplinary hearings are pending. Correctional Service spokeswoman Veronique Rioux added that two of the fired employees worked as officers and two were managers. She said there were both men and women in the group. A workplace assessment completed last year by investigation company TLS Enterprises described the prison as a toxic environment and made dozens of recommendations for change. The Correctional Service said it has already increased training and created a confidential tip line for employees to report misconduct.

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ONTARIO SEEKS TO ALLOW TESTING OF DRIVERLESS CARS: Ontario drivers could soon find themselves motoring along the highway next to a car with no one in the driver’s seat. The province’s Liberal government is proposing to change the rules of its 10-year automated vehicle pilot project to allow for driverless testing. Currently, the testing of fully autonomous vehicles is only allowed with a driver behind the wheel, but the government is seeking public comment on a proposal to scrap that requirement. The province was the first jurisdiction in Canada to allow on-road testing of automated vehicles when the pilot project launched in 2016. There are currently seven participants, including BlackBerry’s QNX, Magna, Uber and the University of Waterloo. All of the participants have expressed interest in testing vehicles without drivers, a government spokesman said. The proposed automated vehicle changes also include allowing members of the public to drive vehicles that are less than fully automated — capable of driving automatically in limited scenarios — once they are available for purchase.

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WINNIPEGERS RESPOND TO SHARKS CRITICISM: Some prominent Winnipeggers are biting back at criticism three San Jose Sharks players have levelled against the city. Mayor Brian Bowman, Premier Bill Pallister and singer Bif Naked are among those championing Winnipeg’s charms after several NHL players dismissed the Manitoba capital as the worst city to play in. Tomas Hertl, Justin Braun and Tim Heed all cited the cold, while Braun complained that the “Internet doesn’t work ever. I don’t know if they have Wi-Fi there yet.” Bowman countered that “it is a cold dark place — when you lose” while Pallister called the players’ comments “childish and immature.” Bif Naked said Winnipeggers are used to trash talk but also called the comments unfair, while Jets coach Paul Maurice said NHL players have a good life and should have nothing to complain about. The comments emerged in a video posted by the Sharks on NBC Sports California Twitter account, where the three players were asked for their thoughts about the worst city to play in. All said it was Winnipeg.

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The Canadian Press

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