In the news today, March 12

Six members of an Ontario family, spanning three generations, are being remembered as wonderful, loving people after they were identified as being among those who were killed in a devastating plane crash in Ethiopia that claimed the lives of 18 Canadians. The family from Brampton, including 13-year-old Anushka Dixit and her 14-year-old sister Ashka, were travelling on the doomed Ethiopian jetliner when it crashed moments after takeoff from Addis Ababa on Sunday, a relative said. The girls and their mother, 37-year-old Kosha Vaidya, father 45-year-old Prerit Dixit, and grandparents 71-year-old Pannagesh Vaidya and 63-year-old Hansini Vaidya, were on their way to Kenya for a safari, said Manant Vaidya, Kosha’s brother.

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REPORT INTO TINA FONTAINE’S DEATH TO BE RELEASED

The Manitoba children’s advocate is to release a highly anticipated report today detailing the investigation into the death of a First Nations teen whose body was found in the Red River. Tina Fontaine, who was 15, left her home on the Sagkeeng First Nation to reconnect with her birth mother in Winnipeg in June 2014. Tina had interactions with child-welfare workers, police and the health system before her body was found wrapped in a duvet cover and weighed down by rocks that August. Her death renewed calls for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and inspired volunteer groups such as the Bear Clan Patrol, an Indigenous-led neighbourhood watch group.

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BAIL HEARING FOR YOUTH IN ONTARIO TERROR CASE

A youth facing terrorism charges in Kingston, Ont., is due in court for a bail hearing today. He was charged in late January after a Canadian police investigation sparked by a tip from the FBI and has been in custody ever since. His identity can’t be revealed under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The RCMP said the youth knowingly facilitated a terrorist activity and counselled another person to “deliver, place, discharge or detonate an explosive or other lethal device” in a public place, though they also said no specific target had been set before they moved in. The bail hearing is expected to take two days, with the second one not scheduled until the end of the month.

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COURT TO HEAR CATHOLIC SCHOOL FUNDING APPEAL

Saskatchewan’s Appeal Court is to start hearing arguments today about whether mistakes were made by a judge who ruled the province can’t fund non-Catholic students attending Catholic schools. The 2017 decision caused concern among parents and with former premier Brad Wall, who at the time warned it could lead to over-populated public schools and could threaten to empty some Catholic schools. In the ruling, Justice Donald Layh said the key issue was a policy of funding separate schools based solely on student enrolment without regard to the students’ religion. He concluded that provincial funding for non-minority-faith students attending separate schools infringes on religious neutrality and equality rights.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— The Dennis Oland defence continues today in his second-degree murder trial.

— Alton Natural Gas LP is filing an application requesting safe access to its Alton River facilities near Shubenacadie, and is seeking to remove protesters who have blocked access to the site.

— Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan attends a stone-breaking ceremony to mark rehabilitation work at the North Park Armoury in Halifax.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In the news today, March 12

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