In the news today, Jan. 18

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UNIFOR SPLITS WITH CANADIAN LABOUR CONGRESS

Canada’s largest private sector union says it is splitting with the Canadian Labour Congress over disagreements that include the rights of workers to choose what union should represent them. Unifor president Jerry Dias says the CLC has also been less than supportive of their concern about American-based unions “trampling on the rights” of workers. CLC president Hassan Yussuff says he is “deeply disappointed” by the Unifor decision and is committed to reuniting Canada’s labour movement.

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QUEBEC CITY NEXT STOP ON TRUDEAU TOWN HALL TOUR

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to visit a Quebec City high school today as part of his cross-country town hall tour. He has already held public meetings in the Halifax area as well as in Hamilton and London, Ont. Trudeau visited Quebec’s Charlevoix Region Wednesday, where a G7 summit will be held in June. He said the summit will be an opportunity to have “frank and open” discussions on environmental and economic issues.

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LAC-MEGANTIC DELIBERATIONS ENTER WEEK TWO

Jurors at the Lac-Megantic criminal negligence trial will deliberate for an eighth straight day today. There was no news from the jury yesterday at the trial of three men charged with criminal negligence causing death. Quebec Superior Court Justice Gaetan Dumas had sent them back to work on Tuesday, urging them to find unanimous verdicts, after they said they were at an impasse.

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GOODALE-NIELSEN MEETING CANCELLED

A meeting that was supposed to be held in Toronto today between Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has been cancelled. No reason was given in a brief news release issued late Wednesday. Transport Minister Marc Garneau was also scheduled to attend the meeting to discuss aviation security and counterterrorism.

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U.K. ‘LONELINESS MINISTER’ HIGHLIGHTS A GROWING ISSUE

The appointment of a minister of loneliness in the United Kingdom highlights an issue Canadian experts say needs to be addressed here. B.C.’s seniors’ advocate Isobel Mackenzie says whether government intervention is the right approach remains to be seen, but it at least highlights social isolation as an issue that merits discussion. Andrew Wister, director of the gerontology research centre at Simon Fraser University in B.C., said studies have found about one in five Canadians experience some degree of loneliness or social isolation.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS TODAY:

— Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan will make an announcement in Corner Brook, N.L. related to the Atlantic Fisheries Fund.

— Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard will visit Montreal to meet with Mayor Valerie Plante.

— Statistics Canada will release employment insurance data for November.

— Aboriginal groups will hold a news conference to air concerns over a proposed 10-year relicensing of Chalk River Laboratories.

— Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is in Ottawa for the third in a series of a town hall meetings across the province.

— Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Mexican counterpart Jose Antonio Gonzalez Anaya will hold a news conference in Toronto.

— CP Rail will release its financial results.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In the news today, Jan. 18

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