In the news today, Oct. 26

Eight stories in the news for Friday, Oct. 26

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SHERMAN INVESTIGATION UPDATE EXPECTED TODAY

A lawyer hired by the family of murdered billionaires Barry and Honey Sherman is expected to offer an update today on a private investigation of the case. Brian Greenspan announced earlier this week he will hold a news conference this afternoon at the headquarters of Apotex, the pharmaceutical company Barry Sherman founded. The Shermans were found dead in their Toronto mansion last December in what police have classified as a targeted double homicide.

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CANADA POST STRIKES IN SUDBURY, ONT., AND SAINT JOHN, N.B.

Canada Post employees have shifted their rotating strikes today into Sudbury, Ont., and Saint John, N.B. The job action followed walkouts Thursday in Sherbrooke, Que., Calgary, Red Deer, Alta., and Kelowna, B.C., that were all to end after one day. Nearly 9,000 members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers walked out earlier this week in the Greater Toronto Area as part of rotating strikes to back contract demands. CUPW and the postal service have been unable to reach new collective agreements for the two bargaining units in 10 months of negotiations.

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SCHOLARSHIPS HONOUR BRONCOS PLAYERS FROM ALBERTA CITY

The small Alberta city of St. Albert is set to play host to a sold-out gala honouring four victims of the fatal Humboldt Broncos bus crash. Dubbed the Jersey Gala, the event is being run by the St. Albert-Humboldt Remembrance Committee and will raise money for scholarships in the names of Logan Hunter, Jason Joseph, Conner Lukan and Stephen Wack. While much of the money raise will go to the scholarship, some of it is also being earmarked for a bronze stick sculpture and four memorial benches in the community.

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U.S. EXXON LAWSUIT TAKES AIM AT ALBERTA OILSANDS

A lawsuit filed this week in a U.S. court says ExxonMobil has dramatically underestimated the risks its oilsands assets face from efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The lawsuit, filed after a three-year investigation by the New York attorney general’s office, charges that Exxon deliberately lowballed by $30 billion the carbon costs faced by 14 different Alberta oilsands operations it runs through its subsidiary Imperial Oil. The legal action is a civil suit arguing Exxon defrauded investors by disguising its carbon liabilities.

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NOVA SCOTIA TORIES GATHER TO CHOOSE LEADER

Nova Scotia Progressive Conservatives are gathering in Halifax for a convention that will select a new party leader. The convention begins later today at the Halifax Exhibition Centre with speeches from five candidates. The leadership race started when former party leader Jamie Baillie announced he would step down as leader last November, then resigned in January amid unspecified allegations of inappropriate behaviour. A new leader will be selected Saturday.

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SEX DISCRIMINATION FELT EARLY AMONG TEENS: SURVEY

A new survey suggests that Canadian teenagers begin noticing gender-based inequality early on, with girls feeling the effects especially acutely in sports and in cyberspace. The online survey of kids aged 12 to 17 indicates that girls are far more likely than boys to say they have been victimized by sexism. Thirty-five per cent of girls reported discrimination against them because of their gender, compared to 21 per cent of boys. The survey finds that on average, teens begin noticing gender inequality for the first time at around 11 years of age.

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WILDLIFE GROUP FILES COMPLAINT FOR BEAR DEATH

The death of a female black bear that fell from a tree after being darted with a tranquilizer has prompted a wildlife group to file a complaint with the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service. A spokeswoman for the animal advocacy group The Fur-Bearers says an officer from the service responded to a complaint that a bear and her three cubs were eating berries in a residential area in Whistler. When the officer arrived, the group’s Lesley Fox says the sow was in the tree and when tranquilized the mother fell to her death.

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FERRY NAMED FOR MI’KMAQ POET LAUREATE RITA JOE

Mi’kmaq poet Rita Joe once wrote that the “beauty of my people” had been forgotten. But that is hardly the case in the city of Halifax. Later today, a ceremony will be held on the waterfront to officially unveil a new harbour ferry that has been named in her honour. The name was chosen through a public vote. Joe was also an artist, songwriter and craftswoman from Eskasoni First Nation in Cape Breton.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— The French Court of Appeal will announce whether it will uphold the decision by the investigating judges in January to drop the case against Canadian academic Hassan Diab, who is accused of involvement in the 1980 deadly of a Paris synagogue.

— Sentencing date for Andre Tamine, 64, after the Quebec man pleaded guilty in February to importing a large amount of cocaine into Australia in 2016.

— Canadian child-welfare experts, leaders and practitioners will meet in Calgary to discuss the future of child welfare in Canada.