In the news today, Feb. 26

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has won his do-or-die bid to capture a British Columbia seat in the House of Commons. The victory in the riding of Burnaby South tightens Singh’s shaky grip on the reins of the federal New Democrats. However, the challenge ahead is underscored by the simultaneous loss to the Liberals of the Montreal riding that launched the party’s 2011 orange wave that swept Quebec. Outremont was a longtime Liberal stronghold until 2007, when former NDP leader Tom Mulcair scored an upset byelection victory. In the third byelection Monday, the Conservatives easily hung onto the Ontario riding of York-Simcoe.

———

KHADR BACK IN COURT TO ASK FOR SENTENCE TO EXPIRE

Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr is to ask Alberta’s youth court today to declare his eight-year sentence to have expired. The sentence, which was imposed in 2010 by a military commission in the United States, would have ended last October had he remained in custody. But the clock stopped ticking when an Alberta judge freed him on bail in May 2015 pending Khadr’s appeal of a military commission conviction for war crimes — a years-long process that has no end in sight. His lawyer, Nate Whitling, has said that the youth court judge has the authority to terminate the sentence and say it’s over.

———

TRUDEAU LIFTS RESTRICTIONS ON WILSON-RAYBOULD

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is waiving both solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidentiality for his former attorney general, paving the way for Jody Wilson-Raybould to finally tell her side of the SNC-Lavalin saga to the House of Commons justice committee and the ethics commissioner. An order-in-council published Monday evening lifts both confidentiality restrictions on Wilson-Raybould and anyone she talked to about her role in deciding whether to prosecute SNC-Lavalin for bribery and fraud. Wilson-Raybould may appear at the House of Commons justice committee as early as Wednesday to explain what type of pressure she felt she was under not to pursue a criminal prosecution of the Quebec engineering giant, and allow the firm to negotiate a remediation agreement instead.

———

NEW ONTARIO HEALTH-CARE PLAN TO BE UNVEILED

Ontarians are set to learn the government’s plans today for an overhaul of the health-care system. Health Minister Christine Elliott is set to introduce legislation this afternoon and will make an announcement on it this morning. A leaked draft version of the bill that the NDP revealed late last month showed that Ontario was planning a health “super agency.” That draft legislation indicated the government could roll local health integration networks, Cancer Care Ontario, eHealth Ontario and other government health agencies under the super agency umbrella. Elliott says there have been changes since the draft bill was leaked.

———

ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— The deputy minister of Global Affairs Canada, along with senior officials from the auditor general’s office, will testify on physical security at Canada’s missions abroad.

— Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada, Andriy Shevchenko, will provide a briefing to the Commons defence committee.

— George Weston Ltd. will discuss its fourth-quarter results in a conference call with analysts.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In the news today, Feb. 26

What's Trending