CP Rail work stoppage to end, possible Liberal-NDP deal : In The News for March 22

In a statement issued early Tuesday morning, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference spokesperson Dave Fulton said while arbitration was not the preferred method, TCRC was able to negotiate terms and conditions that were in the best interest of its members, with wages and pensions still stumbling blocks.

He noted the decision to agree to final and binding arbitration was not taken lightly.

CP President and CEO Keith Creel said in a statement the railway company is pleased to have reached the agreement to enter into binding arbitration, enabling it “to resume our essential services for our customers and the North American supply chain.”

The statement added CP will immediately begin working with customers to resume normal train operations across Canada as soon as possible.

The two sides had been meeting in Calgary with the help of federal mediators.

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Also this …

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to speak with the media later this morning.

The Prime Minister’s Office has not revealed the focus of the availability, but follows reports the Liberals and New Democrats have reached a tentative deal to keep the Liberal minority government in power through to 2025.

The CBC and the Globe and Mail cite unnamed sources saying New Democrat members of Parliament still need to approve the deal, which would see the Liberals acting on national pharmacare and dental care, which are key priorities for the NDP.

Sources confirmed to The Canadian Press that a Liberal caucus meeting took place Monday night, but would not comment on the reports that said Trudeau held an unannounced meeting with the Liberal cabinet before meeting with the caucus.

Interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen issued a news statement Monday night in response to the media reports of the tentative deal, which she referred to as a “coalition.”

The CBC is reporting the tentative deal is what is known as a “confidence and supply” agreement, and not a formal coalition.

This kind of agreement, which is a version of the deal the B.C. NDP struck with the Greens in that province in 2017, generally involves an opposition party agreeing to support the government on confidence motions and budget or appropriation votes for a certain period of time.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

WASHINGTON _ Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson will face senators’ questions for the first time Tuesday as Democrats push to quickly confirm the only Black female justice in the court’s 233-year history.

Jackson, a federal appeals court judge, sat and silently listened to more than four hours of senators’ opening statements on Monday, the first of four days of Judiciary Committee hearings on her nomination. As senators begin 30-minute rounds of grilling on Tuesday, she will respond to their specific points, including charges by some Republicans that she has been too lenient in sentencing on criminal matters.

In her own 12-minute statement, Jackson didn’t mention specific cases but told the committee that she would “apply the laws to the facts of the case before me, without fear or favour, consistent with my judicial oath,” if she were to be confirmed.

Jackson, 51, thanked God and professed love for “our country and the Constitution.” She stressed that she has been independent, deciding cases “from a neutral posture” in her nine years as a federal judge.

While Republicans promised pointed questions, Democrats were full of praise for President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee. Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said that to be first, “often, you have to be the best, in some ways the bravest.”

Biden chose Jackson in February, fulfilling a campaign pledge to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court for the first time in American history. She would take the seat of Justice Stephen Breyer, who announced in January that he would retire after 28 years on the court.

Jackson would be the third Black justice, after Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas, and the sixth woman.

Barring unexpected developments, Democrats who control the Senate by the slimmest of margins hope to wrap up Jackson’s confirmation before Easter, even though Breyer is not leaving the court until after the current session ends this summer. Democratic leaders are hoping for some Republican support, but can confirm her with the support of only Democrats in the 50-50 Senate as Vice President Kamala Harris can cast a tiebreaking vote.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

LVIV, Ukraine _ Civilians making the dangerous escape from Ukraine’s embattled southern port hub of Mariupol described fleeing through street-to-street gun battles and past unburied corpses as a steady Russian bombardment tried to pound the city into submission.

While Russian forces carried on with the siege after the city’s defenders refused demands to surrender, the Kremlin’s ground offensives in other parts of the country were advancing slowly or not at all, knocked back by lethal hit-and-run attacks by the Ukrainians.

The Ukrainian army said early Tuesday that it had forced Russian troops out of a strategically important Kyiv suburb following a fierce battle. The regained territory allowed Ukrainian forces to retake control of a key highway to the west and block Russian troops from surrounding Kyiv from the northwest.

But Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Russian forces battling toward Kyiv were able to partially take other northwest suburbs, Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin, some of which had been under attack almost since Russia’s military invaded late last month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces are increasingly concentrating their air power and artillery on Ukraine’s cities and the civilians living there, killing uncounted numbers and sending millions fleeing.

A senior U.S. defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the military’s assessment, said Russia had increased air sorties over the past two days, carrying out as many as 300 in the past 24 hours, and has fired more than 1,100 missiles into Ukraine since the invasion began.

In a video address Monday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed those who have fought back against Russia.

“There is no need to organize resistance,” Zelenskyy said. “Resistance for Ukrainians is part of their soul.”

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On this day in 1894 …

The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association won the first Stanley Cup championship game. The Triple-A’s beat the visiting Ottawa Capitals 3-1 to take the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association tournament in five games. The trophy was donated a year earlier by Gov. Gen. Lord Stanley of Preston to the Canadian amateur hockey champions. He said his sons had enjoyed playing hockey on the rink at their Rideau Hall home. The Stanley Cup is the oldest pro sports competition in North America.

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In entertainment …

NEW YORK _ An iconic image of Marilyn Monroe created by Andy Warhol is coming to auction, with Christie’s auction house estimating the price at around $200 million.

The silkscreen image known as “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn,” a close-up of Monroe with her hair in yellow, her eyeshadow blue and her lips red, is slated to be part of a week of sales in May, Christie’s said Monday.

If it met the sale estimate, the 1964 painting would be the most expensive 20th-century artwork to be auctioned, Christie’s said.

The proceeds of the sale would go to the Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation Zurich, which is putting the painting up for auction.

The foundation aims to help children with health care and educational programs.

Warhol created more than one image of Monroe; this particular painting has been exhibited in museums around the world.

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Did you see this?

OTTAWA _ What will it take for the federal government to lift COVID-19 vaccine mandates? Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says it’s complicated.

Conservative and NDP members of the House of Commons health committee hammered the minister with questions about a timeline, a benchmark, or a set of conditions that would trigger an end to vaccine requirements for travellers and federal employees.

“(Canadians) want to know what it will take for the mandates to end,” Conservative critic Michael Barrett told the committee Monday.

Duclos had no single answer, instead giving a long list of indicators the federal government is watching.

The decision, he said, will be based on everything from the vaccination rate, hospital capacity, and domestic and international epidemiology to the impact of long-COVID, the economy, and other social impacts.

While mandates are reviewed on a weekly basis, he said it would be “irresponsible” to answer whether there is a specific plan to end federal public health mandates.

“To be responsible means that you need to follow the evidence, the science and the precautionary principle and adjust or analyze policies as things evolve,” he said.

Opposition parties have increasingly called for more transparency about how the federal government makes public health decisions under its jurisdiction.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 22, 2022.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

CP Rail work stoppage to end, possible Liberal-NDP deal : In The News for March 22

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