Golden arches and a sick singer; In-The-News is a little squirrely for Sept. 27

Thunberg will be given the key to the city from Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante during her visit, but the Liberals have not said whether Trudeau will meet with her.

Elizabeth May is also scheduled to be at the march.

The exception is Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, who’s spending the day in the suburbs of Vancouver for an announcement and campaign stops with candidates in Maple Ridge and Richmond, but not marching anywhere.

Trudeau praised the “extraordinary amount of mobilization” by young people across Canada and around the world who have been pressuring for action on climate change, and pitched himself as the best person to lead the charge.

“We know protecting our nature, protecting our land for future generations, protecting our waters in partnership with Indigenous Peoples, is about fighting climate change and protecting our future,” he said.

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Also this …

SURREY, B.C. — We should learn more today about the search for two killers that gripped much of the country this summer.

The RCMP say the will release the findings of their investigation into the deaths of University of British Columbia botany lecturer Leonard Dyck as well as American Chynna Deese and her Australian boyfriend Lucas Fowler. All three were killed in northern B.C.

The two suspects, 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky and 19-year-old Kam McLeod, were found dead of self-inflicted gunshot wounds on Aug. 7 in the wilderness of northern Manitoba.

The manhunt for the two began on July 23 when police announced Schmegelsky and McLeod were suspects in the deaths.

The young men had initially been considered missing persons when a truck and camper they were driving was found burned a few kilometres from where Dyck’s body was discovered at a highway pullout on July 15.

The bodies of Deese and Fowler were found near the Alaska Highway, 470 kilometres from where Dyck’s body was discovered, on July 19.

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ICYMI (In case you missed it) …

McDonald’s is looking at plant-based burgers.

The company says it will sell the PLT, or the plant, lettuce and tomato burger for 12 weeks in 28 restaurants in Southwestern Ontario by the end of the month. McDonald’s says it developed a special recipe using burgers from Beyond Meat.

The small-market test is rolling out about six months after rival Burger King began testing the plant-based Impossible Foods burger, a rival to Beyond Meat. It’s now selling the Impossible Whopper nationwide because of strong demand from customers.

Shares of Beyond Meat Inc. rose more than 11 per cent to close at $154.34.

The burgers aren’t really aimed at vegans or vegetarians, but at meat eaters who perceive plant-based eating as healthier and more environmentally conscious.

McDonald’s says the PLT will be grilled on the same grill used for meat and eggs.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

“Who’s the person that gave the whistleblower the information? Because that’s close to spy. You know what we used to do in the old days, when we were smart, right? The spies and treason? We used to handle it a little differently than we do now.”

President Donald Trump lashed out at the person who gave information to a whistleblower who has accused the president of abusing the nation’s highest office for political gain, saying that individual is “close to a spy” who could have committed treason — an act punishable by death.

Trump’s comments led several Democratic House committee chairman to warn the president against “witness intimidation.”

In a formal complaint filed with the intelligence community’s inspector general, the whistleblower said “I was not a direct witness to most of the events described” but had received information over the past four months from multiple U.S. government officials alleging that Trump “is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.”

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged the United States on Thursday to “cease this policy of maximum pressure” on his nation.

He says it was driving the possibility of negotiations even further away.

“Cease this policy of maximum pressure and pursue a policy of dialogue and logic and reason,” Rouhani said. Moving in that direction, he said, “would be a different set of circumstances and a different atmosphere.”

Rouhani stuck to his insistence that U.S. sanctions must be lifted before he would talk with U.S. President Donald Trump, although he did not explicitly rule out such a meeting if they remain in place.

He spoke about discussions with the leaders of France, Japan and Pakistan about trying to promote talks, and he made clear that such contacts are continuing.

Iran has been accused by the U.S., Britain, France and Germany of carrying out drone and missile strikes against key oil facilities in Saudi Arabia on Sept. 14 that temporarily knocked out nearly 6 per cent of daily global crude production and rattled oil markets.

Rouhani again denied any Iranian involvement.

“As we say in Persian,” he said, “we’re not the top end of the onion or the bottom of it, so we have nothing to do with it.”

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On this day in 1990 …

Prime Minister Brian Mulroney made a last-ditch effort to move the controversial goods and services tax legislation through the Liberal-dominated Senate.

Drawing on a never-before-used section of the constitution, Mulroney received permission from the Queen to increase the size of the Upper House to 112 members from 104.

The bill was passed and the GST kicked in on Jan. 1, 1991.

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Weird and wild …

PULASKI, Va. — It’s the rodent version of Lassie.

Police in Virginia say a woman was led down a trail by a squirrel and the animal tugged at her leg to help its injured baby.

Pulaski police say on their Facebook page that officers got a call last week from a woman who told them a squirrel approached her on a trail, blocked her path and led her to the baby squirrel with an injured leg.

Tia Powell told police that when she tried to walk away, the squirrel tugged on her pants leg. That’s when she realized a cat was ready to attack the squirrels, so she called police and a friend.

The news release says responding officers found the squirrels sitting with the two women, who got them back in their tree.

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Your money …

TORONTO — Legal experts say dying without a will is a selfish decision that can add financial hardship to families suffering with grief.

“When you don’t do anything and there is a problem you’re leaving it to somebody else to solve the problem and that’s no kindness to the people that are grieving a person’s death,” says David Freedman, associate law professor at Queen’s University.

More than half of Canadians don’t have wills. Some people don’t like considering their death while others carry misconceptions about how their estate will be distributed.

Among the big errors is assuming that all assets will go to the surviving spouse if there are children.

Failing to have someone in charge of the estate can also tear families apart, says Tim Hewson, president of Legalwills.ca.

Having a will makes it simpler and less expensive to settle the estate and avoid the family arguments that sometimes end up in court, says Quebec notary Benoit Rivet.

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Celebrity buzz…

MONTREAL — Canadian superstar singer Celine Dion is having issues with her throat.

Dion is postponing four Montreal performances of her Courage World Tour.

She is suffering from a throat virus and is on doctor’s orders to take a week off to recover.

The shows scheduled at Montreal’s Bell Centre through next have been postponed to dates later in November.

The concert promoter says Dion is hoping to be well enough to perform her two other Montreal Bell Centre dates, on Oct. 4 and 5.

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The games we play …

GRAND COULEE, Sask. — People across the country are coming to the aid of a Saskatchewan minor hockey team whose recent fundraising bottle drive was put offside by a thief.

Players with the Grand Coulee Bulldogs went door-to-door with their parents last week in search of bottles and cans, with the goal of raising funds to drive down the cost of hockey fees.

Mayor Wally Botkin tells radio station CJME that following an afternoon of sorting, the team figured it had about $4,000 worth of material that was loaded into a trailer.

Botkin says when the parents went to take the valuable cargo to a recycler, they discovered it had been stolen.

He says hockey associations and individuals far and wide have responded to the team’s plight by offering to do their own bottle drives to supplement the Bulldogs’ costs.

“The response has been tremendous.”

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2019.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Golden arches and a sick singer; In-The-News is a little squirrely for Sept. 27

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