By Canadian Press

In the news today, July 31

Jul 31, 2019 | 2:17 AM

Six stories in the news for Wednesday, July 31

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NO 5G DECISION BEFORE ELECTION: GOODALE

Canadians will have to wait until after this fall’s federal election to find out whether Chinese tech giant Huawei can provide equipment for the country’s next-generation 5G wireless network. Canada needs more information from the United States about the nature of the potential security threat the U.S. believes the state-owned company poses, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told The Canadian Press, and it likely won’t come before campaigning begins for the Oct. 21 election sometime in early September. It is unlikely for that decision to be taken before an election, Goodale said Tuesday from London after a major meeting between Canada and its Five Eyes intelligence allies — the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

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LIBERALS DENY CLAIMS OF INTERFERENCE

The choice to reach out to two former ambassadors to China was part of an effort to make sure experts were sufficiently informed, not to pressure them into toeing the line, Liberal MPs said Tuesday as they shut down opposition efforts to investigate the matter. Members of the governing party who comprise a majority on the Commons foreign affairs committee were on hand to fend off allegations that the Prime Minister’s Office had attempted to pressure two former ambassadors to China over their public statements about Canada’s ongoing dispute with the People’s Republic. David Mulroney and Guy Saint-Jacques told The Globe and Mail newspaper last week they had been contacted by an official from Global Affairs Canada. Mulroney said the official had asked him to check with Global Affairs before making future comments on China and that the request had come from the PMO.

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WETTLAUFER INQUIRY SET TO RELEASE REPORT

A public inquiry examining the case of a serial-killer nurse who preyed on elderly patients is set to deliver its report today. The report is expected to delve into the circumstances that allowed Elizabeth Wettlaufer to kill eight patients without drawing suspicion while she worked at several long-term care facilities and private homes over nearly a decade. It is also expected to make recommendations aimed at preventing similar crimes in the future. Wettlaufer is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty in 2017 to killing eight patients with insulin overdoses and attempting to kill four others. Seven of the patients she killed were residents of Caressant Care in Woodstock, Ont., the community where the report is being released today.

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TOP COURT SET TO WEIGH IN ON RAPE-SHIELD LAW

The Supreme Court is expected today to clarify the limits of Canada’s rape-shield law. At issue is just how far the law should go in protecting sexual-assault complainants from scrutiny of their sex lives. In the case before the top court, a man was initially convicted of sexually assaulting and impregnating a teenager. Ontario’s Appeal Court quashed the verdict on appeal.

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BANK OF CANADA UNLIKELY TO FOLLOW ANY FED CUT

The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its interest rate Wednesday for the first time in over a decade — a big step, though one unlikely to pull Canada’s central bank out of its holding pattern any time soon. The Bank of Canada sent signals earlier this month that the Canadian economy is very much on its own path and, at least in the short term, has no reason to follow any move by the Fed to lower rates. One thing appears certain — Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz and his team will dissect the Fed’s explanation behind the decision.

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NEW SPECIES DISCOVERED AT BURGESS SHALE

Researchers at the Royal Ontario Museum and University of Toronto have uncovered fossils of a large predatory species in 506-million-year old rocks in the Canadian Rockies. The species is named Cambroraster falcatus. Lead author Joseph Moysiuk says it’s a fearsome-looking animal with a helmet-like structure covering its head and rake-like claws. He says it’s believed to have been a predator that fed on everything from worms to small larvae in the mud at the bottom of the sea. His supervisor, Jean-Bernard Caron, says it’s a level of predation they haven’t encountered before and adds more complexity to the Burgess Shale.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers remarks to Liberal candidates for the 2019 federal election.

— Eileen E. Gillese, Commissioner of the Public Inquiry into the Safety and Security of Residents in the Long-Term Care Homes System will release her final report and recommendations in Woodstock, Ont.

— In order to educate drivers about the effects of alcohol impairment, Upper Fraser Valley Regional Detachment (UFVRD), challenges participants to navigate a pedal cart while “under the influence” of vision goggles that create the sensations of impairment at 11 a.m. at Cultus Lake Go-cart-track, 4088 Columbia Valley Highway, B.C.

— Job fair for laid-off Fort St. James workers called in the wake of a local declaration of financial crisis at 10:30 a.m. at Kwah Hall, B.C.

— Hundreds of thousands expected to pack Vancouver-area beaches for the second night of the annual, three-night Celebration of Light fireworks festival at 10 p.m. at English Bay, Denman Street at Beach Ave., B.C.

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The Canadian Press