By Canadian Press

In the news today, Dec. 6

Dec 6, 2018 | 4:24 AM

Seven stories in the news for Thursday, Dec. 6

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FORCILLO TO LEARN IF TOP COURT WILL HEAR APPEAL

A Toronto police officer who shot a teenager on an empty streetcar five years ago finds out today if Canada’s top court will hear his case. A jury acquitted Const. James Forcillo of the second-degree murder of 18-year-old Sammy Yatim in 2016. However, jurors convicted him of attempted murder related to a second volley of bullets he fired after Yatim was down and dying. Forcillo’s lawyers argue the first and second volleys were artificially divided into discrete events. 

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CHINA DEMANDS RELEASE OF EXEC ARRESTED IN VANCOUVER

Chinese officials are demanding Canada release Huawei Technologies’ chief financial officer, who was arrested in Vancouver over the weekend and faces possible extradition to the U.S. Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters today that the Chinese government also wants Canadian officials to reveal the reasoning behind Meng Wanzhou’s arrest on Saturday. A clerk at the B.C. Supreme Court says Meng appeared in court Wednesday and a bail hearing is scheduled for Friday. Justice Department spokesman Ian McLeod says the U.S. is seeking Meng’s extradition, but couldn’t provide further details because a publication ban is in effect at Meng’s request.

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DOMESTIC HOMICIDE VICTIMS LARGELY WOMEN: REPORT

More than three quarters of Canada’s domestic homicide victims were women, according to a new report released today that said belonging to some specific demographic groups elevates the risk of a violent death even more. The report from the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative, a multi-year project studying domestic homicides with a focus on vulnerable groups, tracked data from across the country and analyzed relevant deaths between 2010 and 2015. Of the 476 people slain in a domestic homicide during that time, the report found 76 per cent of them were women or girls.

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FEDS DROP VALUES TEST FROM JOBS PROGRAM 

Contentious wording in Ottawa’s summer jobs program that tied pro-abortion beliefs to funding eligibility is being dropped after a backlash to what was styled last year as a values test. Instead, the federal Liberals have re-tooled the 2019 version of the Canada Summer Jobs program to require applicants to declare they don’t work to infringe on any Canadian’s legal rights. Labour Minister Patty Hajdu says the change — made after informal consultations over the past few months — should clear up concerns from faith-based groups who expressed outrage over this past year’s requirements.

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FIRST MINISTERS MEETING EXPECTED TO BE TENSE

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is bracing for a barrage of criticism from premiers as they sit down at a First Ministers meeting Friday in Montreal. It’s expected to be one of the most fractious gatherings of Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial leaders in decades. Many of the premiers are upset about the federal approach to pipelines, carbon taxation, environmental assessments, the General Motors plant closure in Oshawa, Ontario, and the oil price crisis. Trudeau says he’s prepared to talk with his provincial counterparts about any subject, including oil, which he calls an important economic resource.

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ONTARIO ENVIRONMENT MINISTER TO MEET WITH McKENNA

The federal environment minister is set to meet with her Ontario counterpart in Toronto today where they are expected to discuss the province’s new plan to address climate change. The Progressive Conservative government’s plan, unveiled last week, replaces the cap-and-trade system brought in by the previous Liberal regime and does not put a price on carbon. Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has urged Ontario to enact a carbon pricing plan, a federal requirement that Premier Doug Ford has consistently pushed back on.

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HALIFAX TO MARK 101 YEARS SINCE EXPLOSION

People will gather this morning to remember the many lives lost in what remains one of the worst human-made disasters in Canadian history. Today marks the 101st anniversary of the Halifax Explosion, when two wartime ships collided in the harbour and sparked a massive blast that claimed almost two-thousand lives and obliterated a section of the city. A moment of silence will be held at Fort Needham Memorial Park at 9:04 a.m. — the exact time of the explosion on December 6th, 1917.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— The Supreme Court will release its ruling in the case of Marc Cyr-Langlois. The court will determine the necessary conditions under which a breathalyzer test can be conducted, and whether a belch can throw that process into doubt.

— The trial continues today for Dennis Oland in the murder of his father.

— The trial of Const. Laurence Gary Basso continues on charges of assaulting a man outside a Halifax homeless shelter on Feb. 25.

— Statistics Canada will release its international merchandise trade figures for October.

— Maxime Bernier, leader of the newly formed People’s Party of Canada, will be in Quebec City today for a rally.

The Canadian Press