Highlights from the news file for Monday, Oct. 31

OTTAWA UNVEILS IMMIGRATION TARGETS: Canada won’t increase the number of new immigrants being welcomed to the country next year, but is laying the foundation for a bigger boost in levels in the coming years. Numbers tabled Monday in the House of Commons show Canada will bring in 300,000 new arrivals next year — the same number that was established this year on a temporary basis to accommodate an influx of Syrian refugees. Immigration Minister John McCallum says the 300,000 number will now become the foundational figure for future growth in immigration targets.

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VADER VERDICT REDUCED TO MANSLAUGHTER: An Edmonton judge has changed his murder verdict to manslaughter in the case of Travis Vader and the two missing seniors he was convicted of killing. Justice Denny Thomas used an outdated section of the Criminal Code in his original second-degree murder verdict, and lawyers returned to court Monday to argue whether there should be a mistrial. Thomas set aside two weeks beginning Dec. 12 for a sentencing hearing. Vader was convicted last month in the deaths of Lyle and Marie McCann.

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POLICE MONITORED MONTREAL JOURNALIST: A journalist for Montreal’s La Presse newspaper was furious to learn city police had been monitoring his iPhone for months in order to find out who he was speaking with. Patrick Lagace says he learned through his employer that at least 24 surveillance warrants were issued for his phone this year as part of an internal probe into allegations that anti-gang investigators fabricated evidence. Lagace says La Presse is challenging the warrants in court.

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FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO ISSUE ECONOMIC STATEMENT: The federal government will update the country on its economic and fiscal path Tuesday in a statement that Ottawa hopes will also encourage Canadians to focus on the potential of its long-term plan — rather than dwelling on the short-term pain. The Liberals won last year’s election on a platform promising to help lift the slow-growth economy with billions worth of deficit spending. It remains to be seen Tuesday whether Ottawa’s trajectory will push the books even deeper into the red, as some of Canada’s big banks have predicted.

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PAYROLL PROBLEMS MAY BE CLEARED BY END OF YEAR: The deadline for clearing the backlog of payroll problems has passed, and the federal government is now looking to get the problem sorted out by the end of the year. Marie Lemay, deputy minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada, says there are still about 22,000 cases to be dealt with. The Phoenix payroll system left thousands of public servants with problems — some were underpaid, some were paid too much, while others weren’t paid at all.

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MAN PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN PYTHON DEATHS: A New Brunswick man now living in Montreal has pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence causing death in the case of two young boys who suffocated when a python fell on top of them while they were sleeping three years ago. A four-man, eight-woman jury has been selected in what is expected to be a two-week trial for Jean-Claude Savoie. Four-year-old Noah Barthe and his six-year-old brother Connor, died after the 45-kilogram African rock python suffocated them in Savoie’s apartment in Campbellton, N.B., in August 2013.

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CARNEY EXTENDS TERM AS BANK OF ENGLAND GOVERNOR: Bank of England governor Mark Carney will extend his term in office by one year and stay in the position through June 2019 — a move that may help settle speculation about his future. The former Bank of Canada governor has played a key role in trying to manage the British economy and stave off a possible recession as the country prepares to leave the European Union. Many of those who campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union have criticized Carney for his stark pre-vote warnings about the potential negative economic impact of Brexit.

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CLINTON CHALLENGES FBI OVER EMAILS: Hillary Clinton forcefully challenged the FBI’s new email inquiry Monday, declaring during a campaign rally in battleground Ohio, “There’s no case here.” It’s not clear whether the emails are pertinent to the FBI’s dormant investigation into whether classified information passed through Clinton’s homebrew email server. But Clinton’s comments Monday were her most pointed yet on the subject, and they underscored her campaign’s decision to fight back aggressively against the FBI’s review.

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SUSPECT DIES IN OKLAHOMA GUNFIGHT: A fierce gun battle with Oklahoma troopers left a homicide suspect dead and ended a weeklong manhunt for a man suspected in a string of violent crimes across the state. Michael Dale Vance Jr. was a suspect in the killing of two relatives and the shooting of three law enforcement officers. Police said several troopers were chasing Vance when his vehicle went off the road and he engaged officers in “a pretty fierce gun battle.”

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COSBY LAWYERS ALLEGE ACCUSERS’ MEMORIES TAINTED: Lawyers defending Bill Cosby in his Pennsylvania sexual assault case are seeking competency hearings on 13 other accusers, saying the women’s memories have been tainted by time and media coverage. Defence lawyers have hired a psychologist to review their statements. Cosby has pleaded not guilty to drugging and molesting a former Temple University employee and Toronto native in 2004. The two sides will face off in court Tuesday to determine what evidence can be used at the June trial.