In the news today, April 15

The Archbishop of Toronto said the fire that heavily damaged Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is a tragic event that has touched people everywhere. Thomas Cardinal Collins pointed out that the fire has come in the week before Easter, the holiest time of the year for Christians. In Montreal, the bells of the city’s Notre-Dame Basilica rang out in solidarity this afternoon as the Paris landmark was consumed by flames. Pastor Miguel Castellanos said in a post on the Montreal church’s Facebook page that he’s in shock over the news of the fire at Notre Dame de Paris, which he described as a jewel of architecture and an exceptional cultural, historical and religious symbol.

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INDIGENOUS CANNABIS ENTREPRENEURS FACE OBSTACLES

Lewis Mitchell, a former police chief on the Mohawk territory of Akwesasne, chuckled when asked if he thought he would have trouble finding customers when his first batch of cannabis is ready for sale around summertime. But he does not believe the customers will be from his community. It has been six months since the federal Liberal government legalized marijuana in Canada, leaving it up to the provinces to manage sale and distribution. First Nations people have jumped in on the action, but reserve politics and jurisdictional issues have complicated legalization in Indigenous communities. Akwesasne is a glaring example.

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BROTHER OF BRONCO SURVIVOR IN WEEKEND CRASH

The family of paralyzed Humboldt Broncos player Ryan Straschnitzki is hoping their run of bad luck ends with three vehicle accidents. Straschnitzki’s 16-year-old brother, Jett, was driving a car that was hit over the weekend in Airdrie, Alta. He wasn’t injured but he and his parents were shaken. Tom Straschnitzki says the teen called late Saturday after the vehicle he had been driving was hit by an alleged impaired driver. Jett was upset, particularly because of what happened to his older brother, said the father.

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APPEAL TODAY FOR WOMAN WHO PLOTTED MALL MASSACRE

Nova Scotia’s top court will hear the appeal today of an American woman who plotted a Valentine’s Day shooting spree at a Halifax mall. Lindsay Souvannarath was jailed in April last year after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in a 2015 plan to shoot people at the Halifax Shopping Centre food court. The 26-year-old woman has argued in provincial Appeal Court documents that her sentence of life imprisonment with no chance of parole for 10 years should be revised to a fixed sentence of 12 to 14 years. The Chicago-area woman has provided five grounds for appeal, including suggesting that the presiding judge committed an error by imposing a burden on her to prove she was remorseful and had renounced anti-social beliefs.

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CANADIAN SENT TO US PRISON FOR RISKY TUNNEL SCHEME

A Canadian cab driver has been sentenced to 16 months in a U.S. prison for sending desperate immigrants through a risky international tunnel under the Detroit River. Juan Garcia-Jimenez wept and apologized Monday in federal court in Detroit. Besides prison, he was fined $8,680, the amount of money paid by nine people who were caught last year when they emerged on foot on the Detroit side of a railroad tunnel.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— Albertans go to the polls today

— The Parliament Budget Officer releases a report on its website titled “Bill C-266: Increasing the duration of parole ineligibility.”

— Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tours the Communitech startup space, and makes an innovation and technology jobs announcement.

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The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In the news today, April 15

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