Five stories in the news today, March 17

Five stories in the news today, March 17, from The Canadian Press:

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HOW TRUMP LOOMS OVER PM’s U.S. TRIP

Justin Trudeau has been tiptoeing around the edges of the presidential election before American audiences, without quite immersing his toe in U.S. political commentary. The prime minister has been asked repeatedly during his visits to Washington and New York what he thinks of the Donald Trump phenomenon and he hasn’t directly mentioned the billionaire’s name.

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TERROR SUSPECT HARKAT MAKING MINISTERIAL PLEA

Terror suspect Mohamed Harkat, facing deportation to Algeria, plans to ask Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to allow him to remain in Canada. Harkat is preparing a formal submission to Goodale requesting that he decide it would not be “contrary to the national interest” to let him continue living in Ottawa with his wife Sophie, said Barbara Jackman, one of the Algerian refugee’s lawyers.

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SHOW US THE PLAN: SAJJAN SAYS ON LIBYA

Canada would need to hear a number of things from its allies — notably a long-term strategy — before deciding to commit troops to an Italian-led training mission in Libya to counter the advance of Islamic extremists, says Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan. Signs that western allies are preparing for some kind of intervention in the North African country have been growing stronger in the last few weeks and Sajjan has already indicated that the Trudeau government is willing to consider some kind of involvement.

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QUEBEC BUDGET TABLED THIS AFTERNOON

Finance Minister Carlos Leitao is promising another balanced budget for Quebec when he tables the province’s 2016-17 economic blueprint in the national assembly this afternoon. The budget will be Leitao’s third since the Liberals took power in 2014.

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TELECOM COMPLAINTS BODY SET TO EXPAND ROLE

TV watchers are expected to get a new place to complain if they have problems with their service that the television service providers can’t seem to resolve on their own. Industry observers say the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will include television services in a new, expanded mandate for the country’s telecom complaints watchdog to be announced today.

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