The Wednesday news briefing: An at-a-glance survey of some top stories

Highlights from the news file for Wednesday, Feb. 7

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POLICE-LINKED DEATHS SPARK ANGER, SORROW: Indigenous people in northern Ontario are grieving and angry after the police killing of a young man and the death of an ailing older woman. In the first incident, Timmins police shot and killed 21-year-old Joey Knapaysweet on Saturday. The death of Agnes Sutherland, 62, occurred after she had sought help at the Timmins District Hospital. The province’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, is probing both deaths.

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TRIAL HEARS TEEN GIRL HAD SPOKEN OF OLDER MAN: A social worker who dealt with a 15-year-old girl not long before the teen’s body was found in a river in Winnipeg says the girl had talked about hanging out with a much older man. Kim Chute, who picked up Tina Fontaine from a hospital on Aug. 8, 2014, testified at Raymond Cormier’s second-degree murder trial that Tina talked about a friend named Sebastian who was 62 years old. Tina’s boyfriend told the trial earlier this week that Cormier, who is 55, went by the name Sebastian.

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FAMILY OF MAN KILLED DURING ARREST SUES MONTREAL: Lawyers for the family of Pierre Coriolan say they’re suing the City of Montreal, alleging police used unnecessary force in their efforts to arrest the 58-year-old in June 2017. Lawyers representing Coriolan’s sisters say a cellphone video that allegedly captures the interaction reveals officers used disproportionate force. They also say the sisters released the video to spark a conversation about the use of police force.

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OTTAWA REVIEWING CHOPPER SALE TO PHILIPPINES: The federal government is taking a second look at plans to sell 16 Canadian-made helicopters to the Philippine military, as concerns mount about how the aircraft will be used. The Liberals initially defended the deal by saying the choppers would be used for search-and-rescue missions and disaster relief. But the international trade minister announced Wednesday that he had ordered a review, after a senior member of the Philippine military said the craft would be used for “internal security operations.”

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SHORT ‘IMPLEMENTATION PHASE’ PLANNED FOR POT: Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says people shouldn’t “jump to conclusions” about when they’ll be able to buy marijuana legally, as a key federal bill makes its way through Parliament. Goodale said Wednesday that there will be a short implementation phase after the bill passes. He said the “major, major change in law” will require “some reorientation in the system.”

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PROSECUTOR INVESTIGATING NANAIMO THREATS: A special prosecutor has been appointed after the mayor of Nanaimo, B.C., says threats were uttered against him and another councillor at city hall. Mayor Bill McKay said he was contacted by RCMP on Jan. 31 about alleged verbal threats made against him and Coun. Dianne Brennan. McKay was not present for the threats, but police told him a witness contacted them about the threats that allegedly occurred earlier in the day.

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WINE WAR COULD COST B.C. BUSINESSES MILLIONS: An advocate for British Columbia’s wine industry says Alberta’s sudden ban on their products will hurt small, family-owned farms the most. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley announced Tuesday her province is banning B.C. wine amid a spat between the two provinces over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. The president of the B.C. Wine Institute says Alberta is the second biggest market for the provincial industry, after B.C. itself.

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PAIKIN FIGHTING HARASSMENT ALLEGATIONS: Ontario TV anchor Steve Paikin is one of the few high-profile men to fight back publicly against allegations of sexual harassment. The host of TVO’s flagship current affairs program broke his silence Tuesday with an online statement in which he dismissed the allegation against him as “100 per cent false” and “complete fiction.” But one damage control specialist says if Paikin is innocent, he should consider take action.

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ALBERTA MOVES TO BAN SPEAR-HUNTING: Lawmakers in Alberta have changed provincial rules to outlaw spear-hunting, after a viral video showed an American hunter killing a black bear with a spear. Environment Minister Shannon Phillips said in an interview that spear-hunting is “not humane,” because most hunters have no chance of killing a large animal without causing undue suffering. The government had pledged to change the rules after the graphic online video of the bear’s death surfaced in 2016.

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ANTHEM NOW OFFICIALLY GENDER-NEUTRAL: The lyrics to Canada’s national anthem are now officially gender-neutral, after a bill making the change received royal assent a day before the opening of the Winter Olympics in South Korea. The new wording changes the second line of O Canada to “in all of us command,” from “in all thy sons command.” The change was a longtime goal of Liberal MP Mauril Belanger, who died two years ago after a battle with ALS.