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

Highlights from the news file for Thursday, May 4

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PRINCE PHILIP REMEMBERED FONDLY: News of Prince Philip’s retirement from public life has sparked fond memories of his glamour and gaffes as Canadian royal watchers recall the visits of a man who transitioned from rebellious modern monarch to royal elder statesman while staunchly supporting dozens of causes. Buckingham Palace released a statement Thursday saying that Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, would retire from royal duties this fall. The palace said Philip, 95, made the decision himself with the full support of the Queen. The royal has suffered from heart disease and other ailments in recent years but has nonetheless maintained a vigorous public schedule.

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SUPREME COURT TO HEAR BORDER-BEER CASE: The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear a Crown appeal of a New Brunswick ruling overturning a ban on bringing alcohol across provincial boundaries. A provincial court judge last year threw out all charges against a man who was ticketed for importing 14 cases of beer and three bottles of liquor from a Quebec border town. Judge Ronald LeBlanc said the original framers of the Constitution never intended that laws should blatantly block the free flow of goods. The New Brunswick Court of Appeal declined to hear the Crown’s appeal. As usual, the Supreme Court gave no reasons Thursday for its decision to hear the case.

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WOMAN WHO GAVE PIGS WATER NOT GUILTY OF MISCHIEF: An Ontario judge has ruled a Toronto woman who gave water to pigs on a truck headed to an abattoir didn’t break the law since she didn’t harm the animals or prevent them from being slaughtered. Anita Krajnc also did not intend to hurt the pigs or cause the slaughterhouse to reject them, Justice David Harris said in finding the activist not guilty on a mischief charge Thursday. Court heard that on June 22, 2015, Krajnc was dumping liquid from a water bottle into a truck carrying pigs in Burlington, Ont., as the vehicle approached a slaughterhouse.

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N.S. POLICE CHIEF CHARGED WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT: A Nova Scotia police chief has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenaged girl. The province’s Serious Incident Response Team said Thursday it learned of allegations against 53-year-old in Bridgewater police chief John Collyer from the RCMP in August, but it required some time to collect all of the evidence. Officials said the girl was 17 at the time of the alleged offence in the Bridgewater area on Nova Scotia’s south shore. Collyer was placed on administrative leave by Bridgewater’s police commission in August.

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FINANCE MINISTER TOLD SUPER HORNET LIKELY CHEAPER THAN F-35: Federal officials told Finance Minister Bill Morneau last year that it would probably be cheaper to buy Super Hornet fighter jets than F-35 stealth fighters. But using publicly available information, officials pegged the average cost of a Super Hornet at between $88 million and $110 million. That’s compared with between $110 million and $144 million for an F-35. The Liberal government plans to buy 18 Super Hornets on an interim basis before replacing Canada’s aging CF-18s.

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TWO QUESTIONED IN CANADIAN’S DEATH IN BELIZE RELEASED: Two people who were questioned by Belize police in the deaths of a Canadian woman and her American boyfriend have been released. The mother of the American man says the U.S. embassy in Belize told her both people being questioned were released and no one is currently in custody. Char DeVoursney also says the Federal Bureau of Investigation is in the country helping with the homicide investigation into the deaths of her son, Drew DeVoursney, and his Canadian girlfriend, Francesca Matus.

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THINK TANK QUESTIONS INFRASTRUCTURE BANK: Researchers at a think tank headed by Canada’s former parliamentary budget watchdog are poking holes in the federal government’s plan to create a new infrastructure financing agency. Kevin Page’s team at the University of Ottawa says the Trudeau government hasn’t shown a solid business case for its new infrastructure bank, which is designed to attract private dollars to finance public goods. The Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy says the Liberals could build more infrastructure by simply borrowing cash at interest rates lower than those offered to the private sector and passing on the savings to cities and provinces.

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CANADIAN EXPORTS HIT RECORD HIGH IN MARCH: Statistics Canada says the energy and consumer goods sectors helped Canadian exports rise to a record high in March as the country’s trade deficit narrowed to $135 million. Economists had expected a deficit of $800 million, according to Thomson Reuters. The shortfall followed a revised deficit of $1.1 billion for February compared with an initial reading of a deficit of $972 million for the month. Gains in eight of 11 sectors in March helped exports rise 3.8 per cent to $47.0 billion, while volumes gained 2.5 per cent and prices increased 1.3 per cent.

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RCMP EYES EXPANDED MEDIA PROTECTIONS: Newly disclosed documents say the RCMP is eyeing a policy change for organized crime probes to better protect the rights of journalists. The possible move follows revelations in Quebec about surveillance of reporters by provincial and municipal police. Under a 2003 federal directive, the RCMP must take special care in national security investigations involving sensitive spheres such as the media, politics, academia, religion and unions. Internal RCMP notes say the Mounties are looking at applying the directive to all of the police force’s federal investigations, including those involving organized crime.

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FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ADDRESS FINAL RALLIES: French candidate Marine Le Pen gave a fiery speech Thursday at her final presidential campaign rally, with an appeal to desperate farmers, the jobless and those wary of the powers-that-be. Ahead of Sunday’s presidential runoff, the far-right Le Pen painted herself as the “voice of the people.” French centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron held his last campaign rally in southwestern France, calling on voters from the left and the right to choose his reformist, pro-European platform. Macron promised to “give strength back to the country” and “build a more efficient and fair society.”

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