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

NEARLY 4,000 HOMES AFFECTED BY QUEBEC FLOODS: While water levels continued their slow decline in some parts of Quebec on Wednesday, the province’s environment minister warned the situation could deteriorate this weekend because of heavy rain — as much as 20 to 40 millimetres. David Heurtel said the central Quebec region of Mauricie is expected to bear the brunt of the precipitation. Levels are expected to remain stable in flooded areas in the Greater Montreal area, where Heurtel credited the management of water flow from the Ottawa River and Great Lakes basins with preventing the situation from getting worse. Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux said 3,882 residences in the province have now been affected by the floods. Coiteux also said 2,721 people have had to leave their homes and that there have been 126 landslides. At least one person has died in the province because of the floods — a man whose car ended up in a surging river in the Gaspe region on Sunday. Authorities resumed their search Wednesday for a two-year-old girl who disappeared in the same incident. The search will continue Thursday with additional provincial police officers who are specialized in searches in water and on riverbanks.

———

HUNDREDS MORE SOLDIERS TO HELP WITH FLOODS: Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan says the military is deploying several hundred more Canadian soldiers to help with flood relief efforts in Quebec, bringing the total to 2,200 by the end of the day. The additional help comes with waters having started to recede in many parts of the waterlogged province, where more than 2,700 people have been forced from their homes over the past week. Sajjan says about 470 army reservists from Ontario have started arriving in Quebec to fill sandbags, evacuate people and provide other assistance. The reservists will join — and in some cases replace — the approximately 1,800 military personnel already on the ground. Sajjan says a naval frigate is also scheduled to arrive in Montreal on Thursday, and that about 60 to 80 members of the crew will provide assistance in the city and in Trois-Rivieres. He says the soldiers will continue to provide assistance as long as they are required by the province and municipalities.

———

REPUBLICAN PARTY CLOSES RANKS AROUND TRUMP: The Republican party is mostly closing ranks around its president, shielding Donald Trump against attacks over the historic firing of an FBI director who was investigating his campaign’s ties to Russia. Wednesday’s circling of conservative wagons following the firing of FBI director James Comey extended from cable-news chatter to the party brass. The prevailing attitude was reflected in a Fox News segment that presented the story as a partisan skirmish being blown out of proportion by the president’s enemies, with an on-screen headline that read: “Media Meltdown — Networks Slam President For Firing Comey.” Outside the White House, however, several hundred people gathered for a noon-hour protest, brandishing signs with slogans like “Special Prosecutor Now” and “Impeach Trump.” The party’s leadership in the Senate brushed off calls for a special prosecutor. Senate leader Mitch McConnell said any new investigations would only impede the current work being done. He said two investigations are already underway, in the Senate, and by the FBI — although both entities answer to Republican politicians.

———

FATHER, SON OF MISSING B.C. FAMILY FOUND DEAD: RCMP in Burnaby, B.C., say a search continues along the banks of the Fraser River in Richmond for a 36-year-old woman who went missing with two other members of her family on Sunday. Sgt. Derek Thibodeau says they are searching for the body of Yu Ling Zhang. Police say the woman’s four-year son Garrick was found inside the family’s vehicle when it was pulled from the river, while the body of her husband, Ming Dong Xu, was found nearby. The three were last seen leaving their Burnaby home Sunday afternoon in the family’s silver 2006 Honda Accord. Thibodeau says foul play is not suspected but an investigation, including a mechanical inspection of the vehicle, is continuing. He says Xu worked on Mitchell Island and was familiar with the industrial area where the vehicle was found, which may be why the family had travelled there.

———

DON MEREDITH’S PENSION GOES UNDER MICROSCOPE: The Liberal government is blaming its Conservative predecessor for the fact Don Meredith will be able to collect an annual pension now that the disgraced Ontario senator has formally resigned his seat in the upper chamber. Meredith’s resignation became official Wednesday afternoon after it arrived at Rideau Hall, putting an end to his time in the Senate. That decision provided Meredith a financial benefit, ensuring he would receive a regular annual pension payment rather than a one-time — and significantly lower — lump-sum payout. Like a number of disgraced senators before him, resigning his Senate seat ensures Meredith gets to keep a pension, which the Canadian Taxpayers Federation estimates to be worth about $24,420 a year. Were he to start collecting benefits in July 2019 at age 55 and continue to age 90, Meredith would earn about $1.1 million with cost of living increases factored in, based on the watchdog group’s calculations.

———

MOUNTIE RECALLS MONCTON MASSACRE CONFUSION: A Mountie remembered standing alone in a school parking lot “waiting to be shot again” after being caught in the crossfire of Justin Bourque’s shooting rampage. Const. Martine Benoit told the RCMP’s Labour Code trial Wednesday that she couldn’t recall anyone being in charge as confused officers scrambled to respond to the June 2014 Moncton massacre that left three Mounties dead and two others wounded. Benoit told Moncton provincial court that smoke billowed from her engine as Bourque fired multiple rounds into her police cruiser. She testified that another officer, Const. Eric Dubois, came to her aid and they took cover behind his car. Benoit recalled seeing blood run down Dubois’ arm as he was shot while popping up to get a better eye on Bourque. Four responding RCMP officers who testified Tuesday described a hectic, tragic scene — with one officer locking eyes with Bourque as he aimed a rifle toward him — and a lack of police firepower and training. The RCMP is accused of failing to provide members and supervisors with the appropriate information, instruction, equipment and training in an active-shooter event.

———

TRUMP EFFECT IS REAL, CONCORDIA PRESIDENT SAYS: Concordia University president Alan Shepard says the so-called Trump effect is real when it comes to enrolment in Canada. Shepard said after a speech to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations on Monday that applications from international students for this coming fall’s semester have surged. Other post-secondary schools in Canada such as the University of Toronto have also reported significant increases in applications from international students since Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president. Shepard says the political turmoil in the United States has also made prominent American academics more interested in migrating to Canada. He says prospective students and professors are reacting negatively to what he called a regressive nationalism that has taken hold in parts of the western world. Concordia’s president says the provincial and federal governments need to make moving to Canada easier in order to take full advantage of the increased international interest.

———

TORONTO MUSEUM IDENTIFIES DINOSAUR SPECIES: Scientists from the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto say they’ve identified a new species of armoured dinosaur and named it after a monster from the 1984 movie “Ghostbusters.” The museum says it acquired the skeleton of Zuul crurivastator last year, and calls it one of the most complete and best-preserved skeletons of this group of dinosaurs ever found. Officials say it includes a complete skull and tail, and preserved soft tissues. Research on the new species, which the museum says was about the size of a white rhinoceros, is published in the May 10 issue of the open-access journal Royal Society Open Science. The museum says the 75-million-year-old, plant-eating dinosaur was named after “Zuul,” the “Ghostbusters” monster, based on the features of its well-preserved skull — a short, rounded snout and prominent horns behind the eyes. Its species name, crurivastator, means “destroyer of shins,” and references the weapon-like tail club found with the skeleton.

———

‘FRED FLINTSTONE’ PUTS LIEN ON WOMAN’S VAN: They’re the modern Stone Age vehicle liens. A 75-year-old eastern Ontario woman discovered that a Fred Flintstone living on Yellow Brick Road and his daughter Pebbles had liens on her van when she tried to trade the vehicle. The woman does not want to talk to media about her ordeal, but Randy Hillier, a Progressive Conservative member of the Ontario parliament who represents her riding, raised her case in the legislature on Wednesday. “Maureen received her used vehicle information package from ServiceOntario which showed no liens on the car. However, the car dealer would not pay her because the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services had registered a lien against her valid VIN number in the names of Fred and Pebbles Flinstone,” Hillier said. Government and Consumer Services Minister Tracy MacCharles said ServiceOntario staff were doing testing and a technician used the Flintstones as test names. Hillier wondered why valid vehicle information numbers were used in the testing. He demanded to know why the matter took so long to fix. He said it took nine months to resolve the issue, but MacCharles said the woman contacted the ministry in March and the liens were discharged then.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

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

What's Trending