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By Canadian Press

Six stories in the news for today, Sept. 18

Sep 18, 2017 | 3:00 AM

Six stories in the news for Monday, Sept. 18

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MORNEAU PUTS SQUEEZE ON NDP OVER TAX CHANGES

Finance Minister Bill Morneau is putting the squeeze on federal New Democrats, chiding them for failing to support his proposals to end what he calls unfair tax advantages for some wealthy small business owners. In a letter to three New Democrat MPs, Morneau says he was surprised to receive a letter from them indicating that the NDP — normally a champion of reducing income inequality — supports “continued tax advantages for the wealthiest Canadians.”

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ISLAMOPHOBIA STUDY SET TO BEGIN IN PARLIAMENT 

Phase two begins this week in the House of Commons’ politically charged debate over combating Islamophobia in Canada. The heritage committee starts a study today on systemic racism and religious discrimination in Canada. It was mandated as part of a motion condemning Islamophobia that passed last spring. The debate around the motion set off showdowns between right and left wing groups on Parliament Hill and saw the Liberal MP who sponsored it receive thousands of hate-laced messages and death threats.

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PLAINTIFF IN ASSISTED DEATH CHALLENGE DIES

One of two British Columbia women challenging Ottawa’s restrictive law on medically assisted dying has finally been able to end her suffering with the help of a doctor. But Robyn Moro’s case will continue to be part of the constitutional challenge, held up as an example of the torment individuals can be forced to endure due to uncertainty over the law’s requirement that a person’s natural death must be “reasonably foreseeable.”

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20 INVESTIGATIONS INVOLVING FENTANYL FROM CHINA

The RCMP has launched at least 20 investigations involving about 70 vendors shipping fentanyl from China to Canada. The force’s director of serious organized crime Sergeant Yves Goupil says most of the shipments have been intercepted in Canada, and that’s where arrests have been made and charges will be laid. He says Mounties have met with Chinese officials twice since November 2016, and shared intelligence on about 100 seizures of the powerful opioid that’s been implicated in thousands of deaths across Canada.

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SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE ANNOUNCES LONG LIST

The Scotiabank Giller Prize will reveal the contenders for the 2017 award later this morning. Last year’s winner, Madeleine Thien, will announce the long list for the $100,000 grand prize during an event in St. John’s, N.L. The Vancouver-born, Montreal-based author was honoured for her novel “Do Not Say We Have Nothing,” which is set in China before, during and after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

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INDIGENOUS STORIES GET SPOTLIGHT AT POLARIS PRIZE 

Some of the country’s best-known Indigenous musicians and Gord Downie’s recounting of the Chanie Wenjack story are vying for the Polaris Music Prize tonight. An 11-member jury will choose a winner from the list of 10 nominees for Canadian album of the year, which also include Leonard Cohen, Feist and electronic-jazz quartet Badbadnotgood. The event will be webcast by CBC Music on Facebook and YouTube from the Carlu event hall in downtown Toronto.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS TODAY

— British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa to discuss security, climate change, innovation, trade and gender equality.

 

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press