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

LAB EMPLOYEE MAY HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO EBOLA: An employee at the National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease may have been exposed to the Ebola virus. Dr. John Copps says the employee was working with six infected pigs Monday and noticed a split in the seam of his protective suit during decontamination after working in the Level 4 lab in Winnipeg. The lab director said all proper emergency procedures were followed and the risk to the employee, co-workers and the community is considered to be low.

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LIBERALS NAME PANEL TO OVERHAUL ENERGY BOARD: The Liberal government has named a five-person panel to make recommendations on overhauling the national energy regulator. Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr says the group will examine the structure, role and mandate of the National Energy Board, which has become embroiled in controversy over its reviews of contested oil pipeline proposals. The panel is to report to Carr by March 31. Under the previous Conservative government, the board was given the power to do environmental assessments and public consultations under specific, limited timelines.

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INDIGENOUS VETERANS HONOUR FALLEN ANCESTORS: Indigenous people across Canada remembered ancestors and community members who fought and died in times of war as they marked National Aboriginal Veterans Day on Tuesday. It is estimated that more than 12,000 aboriginal people joined the Canadian military during the First and Second World Wars and Korea. More than 500 were killed and many more injured. There are currently more than 2,500 aboriginal people serving in the Canadian military, representing 2.7 per cent of the roughly 95,000 full- and part-time service members.

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CASE OF STAFFORD JUROR WITH PTSD RESOLVED: An Ontario woman who sought to be recognized as a victim of crime after developing post-traumatic stress disorder from serving as a juror in a horrific murder trial has reached a settlement in her legal fight with the province. The resolution came hours before the potentially precedent-setting case was to go before the Ontario Court of Appeal. The woman, who cannot be identified, was a juror in the trial of Michael Rafferty, who was convicted in 2012 of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and murdering eight-year-old Victoria Stafford, of Woodstock, Ont. The 57-year-old had argued she suffered psychological injury as a result of coming “face to face” with Rafferty’s horrific crimes and was seeking compensation as a victim of crime.

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ONTARIO PROMISES ACTION ON RISING HOME PRICES: Ontario will take steps next week to deal with rising house prices, but it will not follow British Columbia’s lead and impose a tax on foreign buyers. Finance Minister Charles Sousa says “something has to be done” to help people deal with soaring home prices in Toronto, especially first-time buyers who find it nearly impossible to save a big enough down payment to enter the market. But Sousa says he doesn’t want to do anything that would adversely affect real estate markets in neighbouring communities, and he wants more data on the impact of B.C.’s foreign buyer’s tax in Vancouver. On Tuesday, the latest data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. showed home construction slowing in B. C., with housing starts in Vancouver falling to their lowest level in more than five years.

PYTHON TRIAL HEARS CLOSING ARGUMENTS: The defence for a New Brunswick man charged with criminal negligence in the deaths of two boys says he didn’t cover a ventilation pipe above his python’s enclosure because he didn’t think the snake could fit. Jean-Claude Savoie is on trial after his African rock python escaped the enclosure in his Campbellton apartment and killed brothers Noah and Connor Barthe in August of 2013. The jury is expected to begin deliberating Wednesday.

PRINCE HARRY CONDEMNS MEDIA ‘ABUSE’ OF GIRLFRIEND: It’s the British royals versus the press — again — and Prince Harry thinks enough is enough. In a highly unusual statement, the prince on Tuesday lashed out at the media for intruding on the privacy of his new girlfriend, American actress Meghan Markle. The 32-year-old royal said the press had crossed a line with articles that had “racial undertones.” The condemnation was the latest in an often uneasy dance between Britain’s royals and an international press hungry for any tidbit about royal scandal or courtship. Both Harry and his brother, Prince William, have spoken candidly about their distrust of the media: Their mother, Princess Diana, died in a 1997 car accident while being pursued by paparazzi, and William’s wife, Kate, was relentlessly scrutinized for years before the couple married in 2011.

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The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

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

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