Five stories in the news today, Sept. 1

Five stories in the news today from The Canadian Press

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WORK TO BEGIN ON INQUIRY INTO MISSING, MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN

Marion Buller,the judge who will lead a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women, formally begins work today as chief commissioner of the inquiry that will examine disproportionately high rates of violence against aboriginal women and girls. Buller is a member of Saskatchewan’s Mistawasis First Nation and was British Columbia’s first female aboriginal judge.

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CANADA TO OPEN NEW VISA OFFICES IN CHINA

Canada’s ambassador to China says the government will announce that seven additional visa offices will open in the Asian country. Speaking Thursday at the Great Wall of China, Guy Saint-Jacques said that until now, visa offices have been limited to cities where Canada had a diplomatic presence. He said Chinese tourist travel to Canada went up 24 per cent in the first six months of this year, helping make China the third source of visitors after the U.S. and the U.K.

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VOTERS CAST BALLOTS TODAY IN ONTARIO BYELECTION

Voters head to the polls in a tight provincial byelection race today in east Toronto’s Scarborough-Rouge River riding. The race has been dominated by controversy over the Ontario government’s sex-ed curriculum. Elements of the new curriculum are deeply unpopular in pockets of the province, particularly among some religious communities and new Canadians.

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POLL: 4 OUT OF 5 PARENTS CAN’T ESTIMATE TUITION COSTS

A new CIBC poll suggests four out of five parents aren’t able to accurately estimate university tuition fees, with many also not understanding how RESPs work. Moreover, 37 per cent of parents said they had no idea how much to budget for non-tuition expenses, such as books, supplies, groceries and accommodation.

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SECOND MILK PRICE HIKE TAKES EFFECT

A second industrial milk price increase this year is set to take effect today, which restaurateurs say will likely lead to higher food prices. In July, the Canadian Dairy Commission decided to raise the price of industrial milk — which is processed into yogurt, ice cream, cheese and butter — by 2.76 per cent. That’s on top of a 2.2 per cent hike in February.

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