In the news today, Mar. 4

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will try to shift the focus from the SNC-Lavalin affair to his preferred campaign battleground — climate change — with the release this week of the Liberal party’s first election-year ads. Radio ads will air in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick — the provinces where Ottawa is imposing a carbon tax after their conservative governments refused to levy their own price on carbon. The ads stress that the money raised from the tax will be rebated directly to residents in those provinces. Trudeau will set the stage for the ad campaign with a “climate action” rally in Toronto tonight.

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MENG WANZHOU FILES CLAIM AGAINST RCMP, CBSA

The defence team for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou has filed a notice of civil claim alleging “serious violations” of her constitutional rights, accusing officers of detaining and questioning her for three hours before notifying her of her arrest. The suit filed with the B.C. Supreme Court is against members of the Canadian Border Services Agency, the RCMP and the federal government. It seeks damages for false imprisonment based on alleged failures of government officials to comply with the rule of law upon her detention, search and interrogation at the Vancouver airport on Dec. 1.

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FEDS TO UNDERSPEND AGAIN ON MILITARY KIT

Ottawa will invest billions of dollars less in new military equipment than promised this year, raising concerns about Canada’s military readiness and the prospect it will fall short on another NATO spending target. The Trudeau government in 2017 released a defence policy that included major spending increases on new aircraft, ships, armoured vehicles and other military equipment each year for the next two decades. Yet while it’s on track to invest more in new equipment for the second year in a row, budget documents show the Defence Department will still fall short more than $2 billion on the government’s plan to spend $6.5 billion.

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RENOWNED ICE CLIMBER WORKS ON CLIMATE SCIENCE

From climbing the frozen Niagara Falls to setting world paragliding records, Will Gadd is no stranger to adventure. But rappelling deep into the bowels of the Greenland ice cap was a whole different matter. Gadd has earned a reputation as one of the world’s top ice climbers. He has records, prizes, first ascents and personal achievements from around the globe. Now he’s offering his alpine passion and skill to the research community by taking scientists into places they couldn’t reach on their own to study the impact of climate change on the high altitudes he loves.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— Indigenous Services Minister Seamus O’Regan will announce a “significant investment to protect our oceans and coastal communities.”

— Live from the International Space Station, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques will speak with students at Dalhousie University.

— RCMP Const. Yannick Frechette is scheduled to appear in Halifax court on charges of sexual assault and voyeurism.

— Former U.S. president Barack Obama delivers a speech in Winnipeg.

— Third session of the 28th legislature of Saskatchewan resumes.

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The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In the news today, Mar. 4

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