Five stories in the news for today, Oct. 23

Five stories in the news for Monday, Oct. 23

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STATS CANADA TO RELEASE CENSUS DATA THIS WEEK

Statistics Canada will release data from the 2016 census on Wednesday, the first details from the resurrected long-form questionnaire that was axed by the former Harper government.  This week’s figures are expected to show immigrants making up a larger share of the population, with more and more of them settling in western Canada. The census will also provide details on Indigenous Peoples.

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Meaningful Mementos

Remembering Someone You've Lost at Christmas

Dec 03, 2024

Seasonal Sorrow

How Do You Get Through The Holidays When You're Grieving?

Nov 01, 2024

Upcoming Events at Oliver's

Grief & Loss and Estate Planning Seminars

Oct 02, 2024

LIBERAL MP URGES CONGRESS TO COMMIT ON NAFTA 

Veteran Liberal MP. Bob Nault says Donald Trump needs to butt out as a hovering presence over the NAFTA talks and U.S. lawmakers must come clean about what they really think of the trade deal. Nault will be taking his blunt assessment directly to Capitol Hill in the coming days. He’s leading an all-party delegation of Canadian parliamentarians south of the border this week for meetings with their legislative counterparts — first to Mexico City and later in the week, Washington.

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TESTS FIND CONTAMINANTS IN POLAR BEARS

Some previously undiscovered contaminants have been detected in polar bears around Hudson Bay. Environment Canada says the results came up in testing and complicate scientists’ understanding of the complex cocktail of chemicals the bears are exposed to as they try to adapt to a changing climate. Biologists have long known that polar bears and other arctic animals carry toxic chemicals in their bodies, but additional chemicals have been detected that scientists were not previously aware of.

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TRIAL TO BEGIN IN THE SLAYING OF A TORONTO WOMAN

Opening arguments are to begin today in the trial of two men accused in the death of a Toronto woman who vanished five years ago. Dellen Millard, 32, of Toronto and Mark Smich, 30, of Oakville, Ont., have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Laura Babcock. The 23-year-old woman’s body has never been found. Millard and Smich were charged in 2014.

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TRAVEL STARTUP RAISES IRE OF ONT AGENTS

A new website that lets travellers bypass travel agents and pocket commissions has ceased operations in Ontario after the province’s travel regulator claimed the site violates provincial laws. The dispute is the latest in a pattern of regulatory pushback against online businesses disrupting industries that have been slow to modernize. Jochem Wijnands, TRVL’s founder says it’s happening everywhere, and he points to struggles online platforms like Airbnb and Uber have faced for giving amateurs access to worlds that were previously off-limits.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS TODAY

— Statistics Canada releases the wholesale trade figures for August.

— Federal byelection in Alberta for Sturgeon River-Parkland riding.

— Sentencing for an Alberta couple who pleaded guilty to failing to provide the necessaries of life to their young daughter

— Gov. Gen. Julie Payette receives the first poppy of the 2017 National Poppy Campaign from the Royal Canadian Legion.

The Canadian Press