Six stories in the news today, March 11

Six stories in the news today, March 11, from The Canadian Press:

———

PM WRAPS UP WASHINGTON VISIT

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wraps up his visit to Washington today. He’ll lay a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery and take questions from students at American University before heading home. Trudeau was the guest of honour at a star-studded state dinner at the White House, with a guest list that included Michael J Fox, Michael Myers and Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels.

———

CLIMATE CHANGE TORCH PASSED TO TRUDEAU?

It seems that U.S. President Barack Obama has passed the climate change torch to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Obama has only 10 months left in the White House and on Thursday he used Trudeau’s state visit to Washington to stress plans to move forward on a series of initiatives on reducing greenhouse gases and finding new sources of non-carbon based energy. Trudeau has placed climate change at the heart of his domestic and foreign policy.

———

GREGOIRE-TRUDEAU DRESS DESIGNER ECSTATIC

Lucian Matis knew Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau planned on wearing one of his dresses to the White House state dinner, but he had no idea the prime minister’s wife would don two of his designs. The Toronto-based designer says he was “completely ecstatic. It was just an incredible experience,” Maris recalled in an interview.

———

SASKATCHEWAN REVIEWS HOMELESS POLICY ON BUS TICKETS

Saskatchewan Social Services Minister Donna Harpauer says the province will look into revising its policies around sending homeless people out of province if the Saskatchewan Party is re-elected next month. This, after two homeless men said they were given one-way bus tickets to B.C. from Saskatchewan. B.C. Housing Minister Rich Coleman said the two men were welcome in the province and would be taken care of.

———

MUCH OF B.C. SOUTH COAST BLASTED BY WIND STORM

Power crews are working to restore full service on B.C.’s south coast after the region was battered by winds of up to 90 km/h Thursday. More than 100,000 homes and businesses were without power at one point. The storm is blamed for the death of a woman who was struck by a tree that crashed through the bedroom roof of her suburban Vancouver home.

———

LATEST JOBLESS FIGURES OUT TODAY

The unemployment numbers for February will be released this morning by Statistics Canada. In January, there was a net loss of 5,700 jobs which helped raise the national jobless rate from 7.1 to 7.2 per cent. In Alberta, where the economy is being hammered by low oil prices, the January jobless rate stood at a 20-year high of 7.4 per cent.

———

EMPLOYERS NEED TO CHANGE YOUTH RECRUITING METHODS, EXPERTS SAY

Employers are increasingly finding that work-life balance is more important to millennials than the lure of promotion and meaningful employment. A vice-president with a human resources technology firm says those shifting priorities have unfairly branded workers born between the early 80’s to the early 2000’s as having a sense of entitlement and poor work ethic. She says it’s more about priorities than work effort.

———

ALSO IN THE NEWS TODAY:

— An application will be filed in B.C. Supreme Court to restrain people from camping on grounds adjacent to courthouse.

— Statistics Canada will releases the national balance sheet and financial flow accounts for the fourth quarter.

— NDP MP Nathan Cullen discusses the details of his proposed plan for the democratic reform process.

— Preliminary hearing in Halifax for William Sandeson, who is charged in the death of fellow Dalhousie University student Taylor Samson.