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

Highlights from the news file for Tuesday, March 21

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GARNEAU SAYS CANADA EXAMINING ELECTRONICS BAN: Canada’s transport minister says the federal government is taking a close look at the circumstances behind efforts in the United States and United Kingdom to ban certain electronic devices from carry-on baggage. But Marc Garneau is stopping short of saying whether Canada will follow the lead of the two countries in banning the devices from flights originating in six countries in the Middle East and Africa. The U.K. government says it is imposing the new aviation security measures on all inbound direct flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. That follows a similar U.S. ban on “any phones, laptops or tablets larger than a normal-sized mobile or smartphone” inside the aircraft cabin. The U.S. government is temporarily barring passengers on certain flights originating in eight Muslim-majority countries from bringing laptops, iPads, cameras and most other electronics in carry-on luggage. The indefinite U.S. ban, which affects nine airlines and seeks to bolster airline security, was to go into effect next week once the Transportation Security Administration informs the affected airlines.

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RCMP NAB MORE THAN 1,100 ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSERS: Data released Monday shows that the RCMP have arrested nearly half as many illegal border crossers this year as they did in all of 2016. Figures provided by the federal government show that in the first two months of this year, the RCMP intercepted 1,134 people. Statistics previously provided by the Immigration Department had revealed 2,464 were apprehended in 2016. Of those stopped so far this year, 677 were in Quebec, 161 in Manitoba and 291 in British Columbia. The only other province where Mounties stopped illegal border crossers this year was Saskatchewan, where five people were apprehended in January. The difference in the statistical approaches has created some confusion around the extent of the illegal border crossing issue and where it fits in the overall number of asylum claims being filed in Canada. In the first two months of this year, 5,520 claims for asylum have been filed in Canada, compared to 23,895 for all of last year, according to figures released Tuesday. A spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says the data released Tuesday will now be updated monthly in a bid to provide clear and consistent figures.

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SEN. DON MEREDITH’S POLITICAL FATE TO BE DETERMINED WEDNESDAY: The political future of Sen. Don Meredith will be determined behind closed doors Wednesday as the Senate ethics committee decides what, if anything, to do about his relationship with a 16-year-old. The committee will make its decision with or without Meredith in attendance, and the Senate may do the same when it is asked to vote on the committee’s recommendations. The committee is meeting amid calls for Meredith to be booted from the upper chamber after a damning report from the Senate ethics officer. The Senate has never expelled a senator, but the general feeling in the Senate is that Meredith is no longer welcome there. Experts say Sec. 18 of the Constitution gives the chamber the power to turf one of its own. That section says it and the House of Commons have the same powers as the British House of Commons, which can expel members and declare their seats vacant. Last week, Meredith publicly apologized to his family, his fellow senators, the woman in question — known only as Ms. M — and to all Canadians, hoping the contrition would be enough for him to hold on to his Senate seat. The Senate ethics report found Meredith, 52, had sex with Ms. M once before she turned 18 and twice afterward, and also engaged her in explicit online chats.

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LIBERAL ANTI-TERROR BILL COMING THIS SPRING: The federal public safety minister says the Liberals plan to introduce legislation this spring to revamp the Conservative anti-terrorism bill known as C-51. In an interview, Ralph Goodale says the package could include other measures that flow from the government’s recently concluded national security consultation. The Liberals have promised to repeal “problematic elements” of omnibus security legislation ushered in by the previous Conservative government after a gunman stormed Parliament Hill. C-51 gave the Canadian Security Intelligence Service explicit powers to disrupt terrorist threats, not just gather information about them. It also created a new offence of promoting the commission of terrorist offences and broadened the government’s no-fly list powers. The Trudeau government has committed to ensuring all CSIS warrants respect the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to preserve legitimate protest and advocacy, and to define terrorist propaganda more clearly.

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PILOT PLEADS GUILTY TO BEING IMPAIRED: A pilot who passed out in a cockpit before a scheduled flight says he is ashamed and filled with remorse. Miroslav Gronych pleaded guilty in a Calgary court Tuesday to having control and care of an aircraft while impaired. He was employed by Sunwing Airlines on a work visa from Slovakia when he was found slumped over in his seat and was escorted off the plane Dec. 31. The flight was scheduled to leave Calgary with stops in Regina and Winnipeg before continuing to Cancun, Mexico. “I can’t even describe how ashamed I am,” he told court. “My kids will be punished for my mistakes.” An agreed statement of facts read in court said police saw his pilot’s wings were pinned upside down on his uniform and a maid discovered an empty bottle of vodka in his hotel room. The statement said he was an hour late for his check-in and that he explained his tardiness by saying he had become lost going through security. Court was told Gronych struggled to hang up his coat when he got on the plane, was slurring his words and was staggering. Court also heard that passengers on the plane were told the pilot had suddenly become ill and needed to leave, but some had already seen him and suspected he was drunk. The Crown asked the judge for a one-year sentence and pointed to a similar case in the United States where the pilot received five years.

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FUNERAL SET FOR SLAIN SEVEN-YEAR-OLD ONTARIO BOY: As police scour the country for an Ontario man accused of killing his seven-year-old stepson, the child’s family is preparing to lay him to rest. The family of Nathan Dumas says the boy’s funeral will be held Friday not far from his home in St. Catharines, Ont. The funeral will take place exactly a week before what would have been Nathan’s eighth birthday and a week to the day since police allege he was fatally injured by his stepfather. Niagara regional police allege 43-year-old Justin Kuijer attacked the boy Friday morning, causing undisclosed injuries that led to his death in hospital the next day. They allege Kuijer also stabbed an employee of a local RBC branch moments after the attack on Nathan, sending her to hospital. An obituary for Nathan makes no mention of the manner in which the boy died, but focuses instead on how his family remembers him. “Nathan was truly a kind, loving boy with a big heart, full of compassion for everyone and everything. He was always quick to help anyone who may have been in need,” the obituary reads. Nathan is survived by his mother and younger siblings, the obituary states, adding that his little brother looked up to him as a “best buddy” while his baby sister will be told growing up “what an amazing big brother she had.”

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SKILLS TRAINING A MAJOR THEME IN 2017 BUDGET: Skills and training are expected to be a major theme of Wednesday’s federal budget, but the opposition parties are hoping the document will show the Liberals have done some learning of their own. Last year, with the Liberals still glowing from their 2015 election win, Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s maiden budget read like a longer — and more expensive — version of their platform. Now, they plan to emphasize lifelong learning, with a focus on reassuring and helping those who fear being left behind by the government’s big plans for economic innovation. The Liberal government’s political rivals, however, want to see more results for the money. Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is running up “massive deficits” and Canadians are worried about how to pay the bill. New Democrat MP Alexandre Boulerice says his party wants the Liberals to raise revenues by closing tax loopholes that benefit the rich, and use that extra money to invest more in social programs and public services.

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CHARGES STAYED IN QUEBEC ANTI-MAFIA BUST: The Crown has stayed charges against 36 people who were arrested in a massive anti-Mafia bust in Quebec on suspicion of arson, kidnapping and drug- and weapons-related offences. A federal prosecutor said Tuesday her office conducted an exhaustive review of the charges in the RCMP-led Project Clemenza and used its discretion to end the proceedings. Sabrina Delli Fraine told reporters that numerous factors played a part in the decision, including a recent Supreme Court ruling that set strict time limits for cases to get to trial. At the time of the first wave of arrests, the RCMP proudly boasted about the tactic, which saw more than one million private PIN to PIN BlackBerry messages intercepted between 2010 and 2012 and analyzed. But the prosecutor remained intentionally vague in her responses Tuesday, speaking of unprecedented legal questions. “They are legal proceedings that raise questions that are complex, complicated and without precedent that led us to make the decisions we made,” Delli Fraine said. Given that police and prosecutors worked on the investigation over several years, the decision to stay the charges was made after much reflection, she said. Clemenza was the biggest anti-Mafia police sweep by federal authorities since its takedown of the Rizzuto crime family during Operation Colisee in 2006.

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SUPREME COURT TO RULE ON OLAND BAIL QUESTION: The Supreme Court of Canada will rule this week whether New Brunswick’s Court of Appeal was wrong in denying bail to Dennis Oland while he was awaiting an appeal of his second-degree murder conviction. “This is a big deal. It has been decades since the Supreme Court of Canada has taken on the issue of bail pending appeal,” said Nicole O’Byrne, a law professor at the University of New Brunswick. “This case gives the court the opportunity to come in and clarify the law.” Oland, 49, was denied bail by the New Brunswick Court of Appeal early last year following his conviction in the murder of his father, well-known businessman Richard Oland. The 69-year-old was bludgeoned to death in his Saint John office in 2011. But Dennis Oland was subsequently granted bail by the same court last October, when his lawyers appealed his conviction and a new trial was ordered. He had spent 11 months in prison. A new trial is not expected until at least 2018. Even though Dennis Oland had been released on bail, his lawyers proceeded with arguments before the Supreme Court in an effort to get clarity on the issue of bail pending appeal in murder cases. They say it is rare in Canada — finding none in New Brunswick and only 34 cases in Canada. Lawyer Alan Gold told the court that his client does not want to be “haunted” by the prospect of another unsuccessful bail hearing if his second murder trial takes an “unfortunate turn.”

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FRESHII FOUNDER WOOING SUBWAY FRANCHISEES: Freshii has made an ostentatious bid to lure franchisees away from rival Subway as it looks to more than triple its footprint over the next two years. Matthew Corrin, founder and CEO of the Toronto-based restaurant chain, released an open letter Tuesday to Subway franchisees with a “sincere proposal” to convert some of their submarine shops into Freshii outlets. “This is not a takedown,” Corrin said in an interview. Subway, which operates more than 44,000 restaurants in 112 countries, could prosper if it unloaded 14,000 locations, Corrin said. He estimates willing franchisees can make the switch for US$75,000 per store. “What that requires is Subway’s blessing,” he said. Subway, a private company headquartered in Milford, Conn., did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. In February, a month after it went public, Freshii announced it would enter the United Kingdom in its efforts to grow to 840 locations worldwide by the end of 2019. The unique pitch comes at a time when Subway has found itself fighting reports by the CBC that said samples of its chicken products based on testing showed that they contained on average between 42.8 per cent and 53.6 per cent chicken DNA. Subway has disputed the reports. It also comes ahead of Freshii’s first financial report this week.