By Canadian Press

No-strike hooky, Mike Tyson and travelling with your pet; In-The-News for Oct. 8

Oct 8, 2019 | 2:19 AM

In-The-News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of Oct. 8.

What we are watching in Canada …

The only English-language debate to feature all six federal party leaders devolved into crosstalk and mudslinging as they tried to break the impasse in voting intentions that has persisted through three weeks of campaigning.

As the incumbent prime minister, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau inevitably bore the brunt of the attacks, with the sharpest coming from Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, who called him “a phoney and a fraud.”

After a set-to between Trudeau and Scheer over who has the better climate-change policy, the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh told viewers they don’t have to choose between “Mr. Delay and Mr. Deny.”

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Elizabeth May, whose Green party is fighting with the NDP for third place, framed the choice differently.

“At this point, Mr. Scheer, with all due respect, you’re not going to be prime minister,” she said bluntly at one point.

She predicted that Trudeau’s Liberals will win at least a minority government so “voting for Green MPs is your very best guarantee, Canada, that you don’t get the government you least want.”

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Also this …

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario says Dr. Brian Christopher Thicke faces allegations that he touched a patient’s breasts in a sexual manner.

Ontario’s medical regulator will hear sexual abuse allegations against the doctor identified as the father of late TV star Alan Thicke.

The alleged incidents happened in 1993 and 1995, when the complainant came to him for a pilot’s medical exam.

She initially complained about the incident in 2015, but the college decided not to refer the case to its discipline committee.

It was ordered to reconsider after the complainant appealed to the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board, which described the college’s decision as “unreasonable.”

Restrictions were placed on Thicke’s practice in early 2018 and he allowed his medical registration to lapse several months later.

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ICYMI (In case you missed it) …

MONTREAL — Quebec won’t legislate to prevent retail workers from welcoming their customers with “bonjour-hi,”

Quebec’s immigration minister made the announcement three days after he raised the possibility of outlawing the bilingual greeting.

Simon Jolin-Barrette, who is also minister responsible for the French language, said the government will work to encourage retailers to greet customers in French, but he shut the door on the idea of forcing them by law.

The bilingual greeting has been widely adopted by retail workers in Montreal in an effort to welcome a diverse clientele, but it has also become a sore point among those who fear the gradual erosion of the French language in the province’s largest city.

On Friday, Jolin-Barrette said the province was looking for a way to ban the greeting as a way of building on two unanimous motions passed in the legislature calling on store clerks to stick to a simple “bonjour.”

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

The judge who gave a hug and Bible to a former Dallas police officer after she was sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing her neighbour says she watched the woman change during her trial and wants her to live a purposeful life.

Judge Tammy Kemp said she had never previously acknowledged her Christian faith to a defendant or given one a Bible, but Amber Guyger said she didn’t have one at the end of her trial for the September 2018 killing of her upstairs neighbour, Botham Jean.

Kemp said she felt her actions were appropriate since the trial was over and the former officer told her she didn’t know how to begin seeking God’s forgiveness.

“She asked me if I thought that God could forgive her and I said, ‘Yes, God can forgive you and has,'” Kemp said.

“If she wanted to start with the Bible, I didn’t want her to go back to the jail and to sink into doubt and self-pity and become bitter,” she said. “Because she still has a lot of life ahead of her following her sentence and I would hope that she could live it purposefully.”

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

President Donald Trump says his decision to abandon Kurdish fighters in Syria is a fulfillment of a campaign promise to withdraw from “endless war” in the Middle East.

But Republican critics and others say he is sacrificing a U.S. ally and undermining American credibility.

Trump declared U.S. troops would step aside for an expected Turkish attack on the Kurds, who have fought alongside Americans for years, but he then threatened to destroy the Turks’ economy if they went too far.

Even Trump’s staunchest Republican congressional allies expressed outrage at the prospect of abandoning Syrian Kurds who had fought the Islamic State group with American arms and advice. It was the latest example of Trump’s approach to foreign policy that critics condemn as impulsive, that he sometimes reverses and that frequently is untethered to the advice of his national security aides.

“A catastrophic mistake,” said Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the No. 3 House Republican leader. “Shot in the arm to the bad guys,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Trump said he understood criticism from fellow GOP leaders but disagreed. He said he could also name supporters, but he didn’t.

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On this day in 1951 …

Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip arrived in Montreal to start a cross-Canada tour.

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Weird and wild …

TORONTO — A strike by education workers that was averted at the last minute in Ontario created an unexpected problem — for police.

Police north of Toronto said they were tied up with calls about kids who were missing from schools, likely because their parents kept them home thinking the buildings would be closed.

York Regional Police pleaded parents to call their schools and let staff know if they kept their kids home.

The education workers had threatened to walk off the job Monday, leading dozens of school boards to say they’d have to close their doors in the event of a strike.

The strike was averted when the union and the province reached a tentative agreement late Sunday evening.

A spokesman for York police said the schools have a protocol which requires schools to reach out to parents if their kids don’t show up to class and, if they can’t reach parents, they call police.

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Your travel …

Hotels across Canada are increasingly courting travellers with pets by offering luxe amenities ranging from customized bedding, canine room service, pet-sitting and souvenirs from their stay.

Many Fairmont Hotels welcome pets for a fee of $50 per night, while owners may face extra charges for cleaning costs or violating policies about leaving pets unattended in the room.

At the chain’s Vancouver location, perks include a welcome mat in the room, bowls with bottled water, specialty treats, a brochure of pet-friendly activities and a special in-room menu featuring such delicacies as prime rib bones with gravy lacquer for $12.

In Montreal, the Loews Hotel Vogue accepts both cats and dogs for a $25 fee, providing pet-sitting and walking services so guests can explore the city freely.

For more adventurous animals, there’s also Storeytown Cottages, about a one-hour drive southeast of Miramichi, N.B., where pooches can float down the river in a customized tube with an insert to protect against claw-induced punctures.

Owner Christine Bray said Storeytown Cottages added the $25 “Tailwaggers’ Retreat” package because so many guests wanted to bring their pets, so they thought they should offer a “little extra something,” including a souvenir bandana that says “Ruffin’ it on the River.”

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Celebrity news …

Mike Tyson is ready to talk your ears off about MMA.

The former heavyweight champion is set to join the Professional Fighters League as host of the new series “Mike Tyson’s New Fight Game: The PFL,”

It will debut this week on the league’s YouTube channel and other digital platforms before the playoffs start Friday.

Tyson will conduct interviews with fighters, and musicians, entertainers and other famous fans of mixed martial arts.

The PFL is a tournament-based organization that kicks off the playoffs this week.

Tyson can add TV host to an entertainment tableau highlighted by a scene-stealing stint in “The Hangover .” He voiced himself in an animated show on the Cartoon Network and even starred in a one-man show on Broadway . He hosted a podcast and founded his own cannabis company.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2019.

The Canadian Press