By Canadian Press

Six stories in the news for today, Oct. 25

Oct 25, 2017 | 8:40 AM

Six stories in the news for Wednesday, Oct. 25

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PREPARE MORE WOMEN FOR SKILLED TRADES, REPORT SAYS 

Recruitment efforts to get more women working in manufacturing will fail unless girls get the education and training needed for those jobs, says a new report. “Businesses are actively looking to recruit more women, but they find that few ever even apply,” said the report released Wednesday by the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, a trade and industry association. In the manufacturing sector women hold only 28 per cent of the jobs. The numbers are worse when it comes to the skilled trades, where the report says women account for just 4.5 per cent of workers.

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Meaningful Mementos

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Seasonal Sorrow

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Grief & Loss and Estate Planning Seminars

Oct 02, 2024

U.S. GROUPS DEMAND CANADIAN ACTION FOR RIGHT WHALES

An alliance of U.S. environmental groups is preparing to ask Washington to ban imports of Canadian snow crab unless Ottawa steps up its efforts to save the endangered Atlantic right whales. Kristen Monsell, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said a provision of the United States Fishermen’s Protection Act allows the White House to ban imports of fish or seafood from a country if that catch is affecting conservation efforts of an endangered species.

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WALL SAYS FALL SESSION WILL BE ‘BITTERSWEET’ 

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says preparing for the legislative session, which kicks off today with a throne speech, is “bittersweet.” That’s because it is the last sitting of the legislature for Wall, who announced his retirement in August. Wall says the fall sitting will be interesting because there are two leadership races underway — one to replace him as leader of the Saskatchewan Party and premier, and another to elect a new NDP leader. His successor will be chosen Jan. 27.

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MUSLIM FBI AGENT OUT TO RECLAIM HIS RELIGION

A Muslim FBI agent who helped Canadian authorities foil a terrorist plot says his religion is being desecrated by violent jihadis — and he wants the public to hear a different story. The keys are educating people about the true tenets of Islam and including Muslims in the fight against those who warp the faith for their own ends, said the undercover agent, who has written a candid book as Tamer Elnoury, his cover name during the Canada-U.S. operation. In 2012, he posed as a wealthy American real estate player and al-Qaida backer to halt a plan to derail a passenger train that travels from New York to Toronto.

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BABCOCK MURDER TRIAL TO HEAR ABOUT HER FINANCES

A banking specialist will continue testifying today at the trial of two men accused of killing a 23-year-old Toronto woman and disposing of her body in an incinerator. The Crown alleges that Dellen Millard, 32, of Toronto, and Mark Smich, 30, of Oakville, Ont., murdered Laura Babcock because she was the odd woman out in a love triangle. The banker is testifying about the missing woman’s financial records, which show there have been no withdrawals or cash advances since the summer of 2012.

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SENTENCING ARGUMENTS IN STORE-CLERK MURDER

A woman whose daughter was murdered as she worked in a busy Montreal grocery store is expected to deliver a victim impact statement at today’s sentencing arguments. Randy Tshilumba was convicted by a jury last Friday of premeditated murder in the stabbing death of Clemence Beaulieu-Patry in April 2016. The jurors rejected the defence’s argument the accused was not criminally responsible for his actions.

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The Canadian Press