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

Highlights from the news file for Friday, March 10

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PRIVACY CZAR WANTS STRONGER PROTECTIONS FOR CANADIANS IN U.S.:  Privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien says the Trudeau government should press the U.S. to strengthen privacy protections for Canadians. Therrien says Canada should be added to a list of designated countries under a law passed by the U.S. Congress last year. President Donald Trump recently moved to exclude non-U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents from the protections of the U.S. Privacy Act when it comes to personally identifiable information. Therrien says some people have expressed concern to his office about Trump’s decision.

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SENATOR UNDER PRESSURE TO RESIGN:  Pressure is mounting on Sen. Don Meredith to resign after engaging in a sexual relationship with a teenaged girl. Both the government and the party’s leaders in the upper chamber say Meredith should resign in the face of a damming report from the Senate ethics commissioner.  The report said Meredith violated the chamber’s code of ethics in his relationship with a vulnerable young woman. The report said Meredith acknowledged having sexual relations at least once with the woman after she turned 18.

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PAROLE ELIGIBILITY SET FOR ALBERTA WOMAN WHO KILLED DAUGHTER: A Calgary court has set parole eligibility at 18 years for an Alberta woman who drugged and killed her nine-year-old daughter. Laura Coward pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder, which carries an automatic life sentence. The court however decided how long she would have to serve a sentence before being able to apply for parole.  The court was told Coward gave her daughter Amber a toxic but non-lethal dose of a prescription sleeping medication. She mistakenly thought Amber was dead and set fire to a truck with Amber inside.

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BAIL GRANTED TO EMERYS:  Bail has been granted to prominent marijuana activists Marc and Jodie Emery.  The self-styled “Prince” and “Princess of Pot” were arrested in Toronto this week and charged with several drug-related offences. The Emerys own the Cannabis Culture brand, which is used by a chain of 19 marijuana dispensaries in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. Police say seven of the locations were searched on Thursday along with two homes in Toronto, one in Stoney Creek, Ont., and one in Vancouver.

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FEDS REACH HEALTH FUNDING DEALS WITH THREE PROVINCES:  The federal government has reached health funding agreements with Quebec, Ontario and Alberta. The deals announced Friday by Health Minister Jane Philpott leave Manitoba as the only remaining provincial holdout.  She is denying the government used a “divide-and-conquer” strategy against the premiers and their once-united front against Ottawa’s planned reductions in annual health payment increases.  

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PM SAYS THOUGHTFUL APPROACH WILL ATTRACT NATURAL RESOURCES INVESTORS:  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continued his efforts Friday to sell Canada’s natural resource sector at a major energy conference in Texas.  Trudeau predicted that increasing confidence in environmental regulators will attract foreign investment over the long run. He says resource development companies are looking for clarity when it comes to regulations and carbon-pricing plans. His comments come as foreign companies are reconsidering their investments in the costly and carbon-intensive Alberta oilsands.

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CANADIAN WORKERS MUST APPROVE OF A FREE TRADE DEAL WITH CHINA, AMBASSADOR SAYS:  Canada’s new envoy to China says the Trudeau government must sell any possible Canada-China free trade to Canadian workers in order to overcome rising anti-trade sentiment. John McCallum says he’s aware of the populist anger towards liberalized trade in the Western world. He says if negotiations are to move forward, McCallum says Canadians must see tangible economic benefits, such as new jobs.

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UN ISSUES WARNING ABOUT CANADA’S LARGEST NATIONAL PARK:  UNESCO says energy development, hydro dams and poor management are posing a threat to northern Alberta’s Wood Buffalo National Park. UNESCO says if the area is not better cared for, the park will be added to the list of World Heritage Sites in danger. The report says the overall condition of Canada’s largest national park remains good, but there’s no guarantee that will continue. UNESCO inspectors visited the park in September and October. They came at the urging of First Nations, who have long expressed concern about hydro and oilsands developments.

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M&M’S HELPED KEEP STRANDED PEOPLE GOING: Six people in northern Manitoba huddled for warmth in a stranded SUV subsisting on M&Ms for three nights until they were rescued. Three people in the SUV were caught in a snowstorm and came across a truck stuck in the snow. A front-end loader, grader and RCMP vehicles eventually reached the car on Thursday morning and took the group to a health centre to be checked out.

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CANADIAN ROCK MUSICIANS FORM SUPERGROUP:  Fans of homegrown Canadian rock will be in for a treat next month as some of the businesses biggest names are forming a group. Former Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page, Sloan’s Chris Murphy, Odds co-founder Craig Northey and Moe Berg of the Pursuit of Happiness are going to play eight shows in Ontario in April. They’ll play a 16-song set of each other’s hits, mixed in with “road stories, jokes, secrets and surprises” that recall their 25 years of friendship.

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The Canadian Press