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

TRUDEAU AND TRUMP MOVE TO HELP WOMEN IN BUSINESS: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump are teaming up to boost women in the workforce, calling female participation a key to economic growth. “In order to create economic growth and lots of very good well-paying jobs, we must ensure that our economy is a place where women can work and thrive,” Trump said Monday during roundtable talks with Trudeau and women business leaders. The pair announced the creation of a Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders, a joint initiative meant to help businesses owned by women as a way to contribute to economic growth, competitiveness and the integration of the two economies.

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OTTAWA TO CONSULT PUBLIC ON POVERTY STRATEGY: The federal government is turning to public consultations to help craft a poverty reduction strategy. Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos also plans to use the expertise of an advisory committee on poverty to produce a national proposal that the Liberals expect to deliver by this fall. The advisory committee will be made up of experts from academia, business and social services, as well as people who have lived with poverty. It will act as a sounding board to test ideas that emerge from the public consultations on ways to help those living in need.

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STORM SHUTS DOWN MUCH OF MARITIMES: A wide swath of the Maritimes was shut down Monday by a massive, slow-moving blizzard that churned out a swirling mass of snow and ice pellets as it trudged across the region — and then refused to move on. The heavy snow and powerful wind gusts — at times topping 120 kilometres per hour along the coast near Halifax — arrived in the region late Sunday and kept lashing the area throughout the day. Police in all three provinces urged drivers to stay off the roads amid white-out conditions. Public transit was shut down in several communities, and government offices were closed in Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and southern New Brunswick.

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STORM DELAYS DEBATE ON N.S. TEACHERS DISPUTE: A powerful blizzard has prompted the Nova Scotia government to postpone its plans to force a resolution to an ongoing contract dispute with teachers. The legislature was supposed to resume sitting Monday evening, but the massive storm has forced the province to delay the sitting until Tuesday. Premier Stephen McNeil’s government is to introduce a bill that will “bring an end” to the dispute that has seen teachers reject three contract offers and launch a work-to-rule campaign. The Nova Scotia Teachers Union and the opposition parties have condemned the use of legislation, saying it takes away teachers’ rights.

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EXPANDED MERCURY TESTING FOR GRASSY NARROWS: The Ontario government is conducting expanded mercury testing around the site of an old paper mill in the province’s northwest in the hopes of cleaning up an area that has left a First Nation plagued with mercury poisoning for more than 50 years. The move follows testing done by volunteers with an environmental group last year that found high levels of mercury in soil samples taken near the mill in Dryden, Ont. The Grassy Narrows community, near the Manitoba border, has dealt with mercury poisoning since the mill dumped 9,000 kilograms of the substance into the Wabigoon and English River systems during the 1960s.

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OTTAWA AND MANITOBA DISCUSS REFUGEE INFLUX: Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister says the province and the federal government are discussing options to deal with a rising number of refugees crossing the border from the United States. Pallister won’t reveal details, but says there has already been a call with the Prime Minister’s Office. He says his first concern is the security of Manitobans, but he is also concerned about people seeking refuge in the province. Many of the recent arrivals are originally from African nations and have been living in the U.S., but are worried about a crackdown on immigrants there.

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MOTHER ALLEGEDLY TRIED TO DROWN SON: A mother is facing multiple charges, including attempted murder, after police say she allegedly tried to drown her three-year-old son near a beach east of Toronto. Durham Regional Police say a person noticed a woman acting strangely with a young child around 4 p.m. last Thursday in Ajax, Ont. They say the woman allegedly held a boy under water. They say the boy was treated by paramedics and taken to a hospital, but has since been released to his father.

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SHERIFF SAYS DAMAGED DAM EVACUATION MAY NOT END SOON: The sheriff of a California county where thousands of people were evacuated as a damaged spillway on a huge dam threatened to fail says repairs may need to be made before residents are allowed to go home. But Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea didn’t say how long the fixes could take and offered no timetable for lifting the evacuation order.

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MORE TIME NEEDED TO CONSIDER TIME: An NDP backbencher who has promised to introduce legislation to get rid of daylight time says the issue is still up for debate. Thomas Dang says public consultations continue and will expand to include an online survey on the caucus website. Dang, through the NDP caucus, has promised to table a private member’s bill to do away with daylight time, which some have called an outdated and confusing concept. Dang said there are still questions to debate such as whether Alberta would adopt mountain or central standard time.

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The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

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

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