The Tuesday news briefing: An at-a-glance survey of some top stories

Highlights from the news file for Tuesday, March 7

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MANITOBA MP ENTERS NDP LEADERSHIP RACE: Although Niki Ashton is the only woman seeking the NDP’s top job, she says her candidacy involves much more than just her gender. Ashton, a 34-year-old bilingual MP from Manitoba, announced her second bid for the helm of the federal New Democrats on Tuesday at a space for community activists in downtown Ottawa. Gender-based politics is sadly still an issue in 2017, Ashton said, noting she made her announcement on the eve of International Women’s Day because it is important to highlight ongoing struggles for justice and equality. Ashton also took a clear stance against pipeline projects, including Energy East, and said there is a need to build a “carbon-free economy.” The campaign to replace Tom Mulcair runs until October and currently has three other contenders: B.C.’s Peter Julian, Ontario’s Charlie Angus and Quebec’s Guy Caron. The candidates are set to debate each other for the first time in Ottawa on Sunday.

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MORNEAU SAYS FEDERAL BUDGET COMING MARCH 22: Finance Minister Bill Morneau will introduce the federal government’s latest budget on March 22 — his first amid the economic uncertainty of the Donald Trump era. Morneau made the announcement Tuesday during question period, billing the 2017 budget as one that will “create jobs and invest in our communities,” as well as “ensure our success in the economy of the future.” The budget, the Liberal government’s second since the 2015 election, will land as Ottawa and corporate Canada scramble to assess the risks of possible and unpredictable policy actions from the country’s top trading partner. There are fears of negative economic fallout for Canada from the decisions of the Trump administration, and it’s unclear whether Morneau’s budget will account for the unknowns.

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CROWN APPEALING TAXI DRIVER’S SEXUAL ASSAULT ACQUITTAL: The Crown is appealing the acquittal of a Halifax cab driver accused of sexually assaulting a woman who was found intoxicated, unconscious and partially naked in his car. Denise Smith, deputy director of the province’s Public Prosecution Service, said Judge Gregory Lenehan made multiple legal mistakes when he found 40-year-old Bassam Al-Rawi not guilty. Smith issued a statement Tuesday saying the grounds for an appeal were “solid.” Al-Rawi was charged after police found a woman, in her 20s, passed out and partially clothed in his car in the early hours of May 23, 2015. The judge who acquitted Al-Rawi said a person is incapable of consent if they are unconscious or are so intoxicated that they are unable to understand or perceive their situation. “This does not mean, however, that an intoxicated person cannot give consent to sexual activity,” he said. “Clearly, a drunk can consent.” That comment has prompted condemnation of the judge by some citizens, a critical news release from sexual assault centres across the province, and anger from the woman at the centre of the trial.

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WIKILEAKS PUBLISHES DOCUMENTS PURPORTEDLY FROM CIA: WikiLeaks published thousands of documents Tuesday described as secret files about CIA hacking tools the government employs to break into users’ computers, mobile phones and even smart TVs from companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung. The documents describe clandestine methods for bypassing or defeating encryption, antivirus tools and other protective security features intended to keep the private information of citizens and corporations safe from prying eyes. U.S. government employees, including U.S. President Donald Trump, use many of the same products and Internet services purportedly compromised by the tools. The documents describe CIA efforts — co-operating with friendly foreign governments and the U.S. National Security Agency — to subvert the world’s most popular technology platforms, including Apple’s iPhones and iPads, Google’s Android phones and the Microsoft Windows operating system for desktop computers and laptops. WikiLeaks has a long track record of releasing top secret government documents, and experts who sifted through the material said it appeared legitimate.

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KURDS ASK CANADA FOR MORE DIPLOMATIC PRESENCE: Canada is being asked to upgrade its diplomatic footprint in northern Iraq, as the Kurdish government presses for closer economic and political ties to accompany Canada’s sizable military presence. The request comes as the Liberal government beefs up the number of diplomats deployed in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon and plans to appoint the first full-time ambassador to Baghdad in 26 years. Canada currently has a trade office in the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Erbil, but the Kurds’ top diplomat says his government wants to see it upgraded to a consulate general. One expert on Middle Eastern politics says while expanding Canada’s diplomatic representation in Iraq is long overdue, the government should proceed with caution when it comes to the Kurds. While the Kurds have been strong allies in the fight against ISIL, Thomas Juneau of the University of Ottawa says Canada risks being caught in the middle if they try to separate from the rest of Iraq.

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CHINESE SEEK CANADIAN REAL ESTATE FOR EDUCATION: The top reason why foreign buyers from China want to get into the Canadian housing market is education, not investment, according to data from a popular global real estate listings website. Figures released today by the Chinese website Juwai.com in partnership with Sotheby’s International Realty Canada found that schooling was the primary motivation for potential Chinese homebuyers who viewed property listings in major Canadian cities in 2016. It found that housing needed for educational purposes was the most cited reason why 46 per cent of Chinese users were looking at properties in Montreal, followed by 44 per cent in Vancouver, 41 per cent in Toronto and nine per cent in Calgary. The second most common motivator for the interested homebuyers was “own use,” which could mean the home would be used as a second or third property. This was followed by investment purposes.

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CANADA POSTS THIRD-STRAIGHT TRADE SURPLUS: The country kicked off the year with a third-straight monthly trade surplus — the first time that has happened since 2014 — due in large part to stronger sales in motor vehicles and from the agri-food sector, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. Canada’s merchandise trade balance with the world widened to $807 million in January, as exports increased 0.5 per cent to hit a record $46.5 billion, the agency said. Peter Hall, chief economist with Export Development Canada, said the 0.5 per cent increase for January on its own was decent. But when viewed in the context of the solid growth the economy has seen in recent months, he called it “great news.” On top of motor-vehicle exports, which saw a gain of 7.7 per cent in January, Hall also underlined recent strength in sales of farm, fishing and food products. The agri-food industry saw a 12.8 per cent gain, including a 38.4 per cent boost in canola exports to China.

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JEWISH CENTRES IN TORONTO, LONDON, ONT., THREATENED: Jewish community centres in Toronto and London, Ont., were among several across North America that received bomb threats on Tuesday. Police say the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre in Toronto was evacuated out of “an abundance of caution” in light of threats made in New York, Oregon, Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida, Maryland. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs says a bomb threat made against the London Jewish Community Centre was the second it has received in the past two months. Both facilities reopened after police provided the all clear. Toronto Mayor John Tory visited the Jewish community centre targeted by the threat, calling the incident “very traumatizing.” In the U.S., the Anti-Defamation League and several Jewish community centres across the country got a round of bomb threats Tuesday, including five in New York City. U.S. federal officials have been investigating more than 120 threats against Jewish organizations in three dozen states since Jan. 9 and a rash of vandalism at Jewish cemeteries. None of the threats have resulted in physical injury.

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MISSING, MURDERED INQUIRY MUST SUPPORT FAMILIES, ADVOCATES SAY: Families of missing and murdered women are still in the dark about how they can participate in the upcoming national inquiry, a coalition of Manitoba family members said Tuesday. The long-promised inquiry is scheduled to start formal hearings in May, but coalition co-chair Hilda Anderson-Pyrz said relatives of the missing and murdered are still unsure about travel costs, as well as emotional support and other victims services. She said the inquiry’s final report is due in December 2018 but that deadline may have to be pushed back. “We’re more about doing it properly than a timeline. That’s what the families want, they want it done properly, and to be inclusive of everyone who wants to tell their story to the commission.” The inquiry has a mandate to examine the systemic causes of violence against indigenous women and girls, and why the rate of reported violence against indigenous women is more than triple that involving non-aboriginal women. Interim findings are due in November.

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B.C. BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT DROPS BLOOD-RELATION PLAYER POLICY: A First Nations basketball tournament in British Columbia has dropped its strict blood-relation player policy that prevented a Haitian-born man from competing with his village team. Peter Haugan, the director of Prince Rupert’s All-Native Basketball Tournament, says player eligibility will now be determined by a status card that confirms the player’s Indigenous community of origin. He says Josiah Wilson will now be able to represent Bella Bella’s Heiltsuk Nation Wolfpack at the 2018 tournament in Prince Rupert. The 22-year-old was adopted as a child by an aboriginal family, but was denied entry in the tournament for the past two years because he didn’t meet rules for family-line origins that trace back to grandparents. Haugan says Wilson’s case was set to be heard by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, but the hearing has been cancelled.

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