In the news today, Feb. 13

The SNC-Lavalin controversy shifts today to the House of Commons justice committee, where MPs will decide whether to investigate allegations of undue political arm-twisting. Jody Wilson-Raybould resigned from the federal cabinet Tuesday, leaving fresh unanswered questions about whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s aides pressured her to help engineering firm SNC-Lavalin avoid criminal prosecution. Trudeau has denied Wilson-Raybould was pressured to instruct the director of public prosecutions to negotiate a remediation agreement with SNC-Lavalin rather than pursue a criminal trial on charges of bribery and fraud related to the company’s efforts to secure government contracts in Libya.

———

SASKATCHEWAN, OTTAWA MEET IN COURT OVER CARBON TAX

Lawyers are expected to pack a Regina courtroom today to argue the constitutionality of a federally imposed carbon tax. A panel of five judges is to listen to arguments from both the Saskatchewan and federal governments as well as from 16 interveners on both sides of the dispute. Saskatchewan opposes the federal government’s plan to force a carbon tax on the province and plans to argue it is unconstitutional because it’s not applied evenly in all jurisdictions. Ottawa says the constitution gives it the power to impose a carbon price because climate change and greenhouse gas emissions are national concerns.

———

DECISION EXPECTED IN GYMNASTIC COACH’S TRIAL

A judge is expected to deliver a decision today in the sexual assault trial of a former high-ranking gymnastics coach. Dave Brubaker has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and sexual exploitation at his judge-alone trial in Sarnia, Ont. The former head coach of the women’s national team is accused of sexually assaulting a young gymnast years ago. At the beginning of the trial in October, the woman who is now in her 30s testified that Brubaker would kiss her on the lips to say hello and goodbye starting when she was 12 years old. She also said he touched her inappropriately during sports massages and spooned her in bed while taking naps before practice.

———

SCIENTISTS RECONSTRUCTING PAST CLIMATE IN B.C.

Scientists are trying to reconstruct what the environment and climate of southwest British Columbia looked like over the past two million years by studying volcanoes that erupted under the glaciers. University of British Columbia PhD student Alex Wilson says they need to understand the past in order to make predictions about what the climate will look like in the future. Wilson is studying the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt along B.C.’s Sea to Sky corridor north of Vancouver, which he says has seen warm periods and times when the volcanoes were buried under ice sheets. Up until now, scientists have only been able to look back 400,000 years to see what the climate was like by looking at ice cores in Greenland and Antarctica.

———

ARTISTIC DUO AMONG GOVERNOR GENERAL WINNERS

Artistic duo Cozic is among the eight winners of the $25,000 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts. Yvon Cozic and Monic Brassard prefer to be known as a singular artist. The collaborators are both from Sainte-Anne-de-la-Rochelle, Que. Together, they are one of several recipients of a Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award. Their self-proclaimed two-headed, four-handed artist uses found objects to create new works. Others being recognized for their body of work include Newfoundland environmental artist Marlene Creates and Toronto-based multimedia artists Andrew James Paterson and Stephen Andrews.

———

ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer will host town hall event later today in Windsor, N.S.

— A child protection hearing continues today for newborn seized on video that went viral.

— Transport Minister Marc Garneau makes an announcement today in Richmond, B.C., concerning funding for assessment and removal of abandoned boats.

— Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart marks 100 days in office by providing update he made on commitments during election campaign.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In the news today, Feb. 13

What's Trending