Protests put pressure on Trudeau and B.C.’s sweet tax; In The News for Feb. 20

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This article was published 19/02/2020 (1773 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of Feb. 20 …

What we are watching in Canada …

The federal Crown-Indigenous relations minister is offering to meet today with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs in northwestern British Columbia.

But while Carolyn Bennett and her B.C. counterpart Scott Fraser say they’ll be in the town of Smithers to talk about reducing tensions over the construction of a pipeline in Wet’suwet’en traditional territory, the chiefs are supposed to be in Ontario.

The Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs say they are visiting Mohawk territory, where community members have blocked a key east-west rail link between Toronto and Montreal in support of the chiefs’ cause.

The hereditary chiefs oppose the Coastal GasLink project that would bring natural gas to a liquefaction facility and export terminal on the B.C. coast.

Nationwide protests and blockades followed a move by RCMP to enforce a court injunction earlier this month against the hereditary chiefs and their supporters, who had been obstructing an access road to the company’s work site.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under increasing pressure to end the blockades, with Conservatives calling for the government to use force, while the Liberal government insists negotiations are the only way to a lasting solution.

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Also this …

Healthy Canadians from the Diamond Princess cruise ship will shortly be heading home, according to Canada’s foreign affairs minister, after weeks under quarantine for the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19.

The ship, docked in Yokohama, Japan, contained the largest outbreak of the virus outside China, with hundreds of passengers having tested positive.

Among the infected are 47 Canadians who will have to remain in Japan for treatment.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Wednesday that passengers would be screened before boarding a chartered flight Thursday evening, Japan time.

Those who are cleared to travel will be taken to Canadian Forces Base Trenton for further screening before they are placed under another two-week quarantine at the Nav Centre in Cornwall, Ont.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu said there was a chance that those that have been tested negative for the virus and show no signs of symptoms may be released from quarantine early under the discretion of Canada’s top public-health doctor.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — From the opening bell, Democrats unleashed an aggressive verbal assault on New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg and raised new questions about Bernie Sanders’ take-no-prisoners politics in a contentious debate Wednesday night that threatened to scramble even further the party’s urgent quest to defeat President Donald Trump.

The former New York City mayor was forced to defend his divisive record on race, gender and Wall Street in his debate-stage debut, while Sanders, appearing in his ninth of the 2020 primary season, tried to beat back pointed questions about his health and his embrace of democratic socialism.

Fierce exchanges throughout the two-hour affair marked the most aggressive sustained period of infighting in the Democrats’ year-long search for a presidential nominee, reflecting rising urgency in a 2020 primary season that is already deep into its voting phase. Nevada votes Saturday. South Carolina the week after. And more than a dozen states host a series of Super Tuesday contests in less than two weeks.

In a fight for her political life, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was a leading aggressor against Bloomberg. She was on the attack throughout the night following a sharp slide in the polls, calling Bloomberg “a billionaire who calls people fat broads and horse-faced lesbians.”

She wasn’t alone.

Sanders lashed out at Bloomberg’s policing policies as New York City mayor that he said targeted “African-American and Latinos in an outrageous way.”

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

BEIJING — China says it has revoked the press credentials of three reporters for the U.S. newspaper The Wall Street Journal over a headline on an opinion column deemed racist by the government.

The headline on the Journal’s opinion column referred to the current virus outbreak in China and called the country the “Real Sick Man of Asia.”

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang says the Feb. 3 op-ed by Bard College Professor Walter Russel Mead “smears the efforts of the Chinese government and people on fighting (the virus) epidemic.”

“The editors used such a racially discriminatory title, triggering indignation and condemnation among the Chinese people and the international community,” he said in a statement.

The term “sick man of Asia” was originally used to describe China more than a century ago when it suffered internal divisions and was forced to accept unequal treaties with Western powers.

Like most foreign media, The Wall Street Journal is unavailable within China and its website and stories are blocked by online censors.

The paper did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

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ICYMI (In case you missed it) …

VICTORIA — The chairman of the Childhood Obesity Foundation says a new tax on sugary soda will improve the health of British Columbia’s children.

Dr. Tom Warshawski says studies show sugary drinks contribute to obesity, a leading cause of Type 2 diabetes, and health outcomes have improved in jurisdictions where sugar taxes are levied.

He says he’s been lobbying the B.C. government for the last five years to tax sugary soda drinks to improve children’s health.

Finance Minister Carole James announced in this week’s budget that the seven per cent provincial sales tax will now be added to soda drinks that have sugar.

The tax goes into effect on July 1 and it is forecast to generate $27 million in revenues in 2020-2021.

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Weird and wild …

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has to pay more than $150,000 in legal fees for a man who won a lawsuit allowing him to put “IM GOD” on his license plate.

The ruling came in a case filed by Ben Hart, a self-identified atheist, who set out to get the Kentucky plate in 2016. The transportation department denied the request on the basis it violated anti-discrimination guidelines.

A federal judge ruled in November that “vanity plates” are private speech protected by the First Amendment and that the state had violated Hart’s rights by denying him the plate.

The fees will go to a team of lawyers, including some with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, both of which helped Hart challenge the state’s decision.

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Know your news …

Research released this week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggests frequent exposure to common household cleaning products can increase a child’s risk of developing what medical condition?

(Keep scrolling for the answer)

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On this day in 1993 …

After 21 years as an MP, Joe Clark announced he would not seek re-election. The constitutional affairs minister led the Tories for seven years and was prime minister from June, 1979 to March, 1980. He became Tory leader again in 1998 and regained a Commons seat in 2000.

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Your health …

TORONTO — A team of global experts urging “a radical rethink” of how a warming planet, aggressive advertising and economic inequities pose an “immediate threat” to the health and well-being of young people worldwide.

A report by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and The Lancet concludes children face urgent peril from ecological degradation, climate change and aggressive marketing tactics that push heavily processed fast food, sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco.

Its 42 authors rank 180 countries on child survival and well-being, and concludes “no single country is adequately protecting children’s health, their environment and their futures.”

Canada lands at 21 on a “flourishing” index for general survival odds but 170th for contributing to climate change.

The report, “A Future for the World’s Children?” concludes that children in Norway, the Republic of Korea, and the Netherlands have the best chance at survival and well-being, while those in Central African Republic, Chad, Somalia, Niger and Mali face the worst odds.

Canada ranks just behind Australia’s spot at 20, and well behind the United Kingdom at 10. The United States lands at 39, China at 43, the Philippines at 110, and India at 131.

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Entertainment news …

SASKATOON — Breakout neo-classical pianist Alexandra Streliski will join City and Colour’s Dallas Green in a performance at this year’s Juno Awards.

Streliski, who hails from Quebec, has become one of the stars to watch on the classical music scene. She’s competing for three prizes at Canada’s biggest night in music, including album of the year and breakthrough artist, while Green’s project is up for adult alternative album of the year.

Indigenous electro-pop singer Iskwe and country performer Meghan Patrick were also announced as performers.

Retired singer Anne Murray, who holds the record for the most Juno wins at 25 trophies, will induct Jann Arden into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

The 49th Juno Awards will air on the CBC from the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon on March 15.

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Know your news answer …

Asthma. The CHILD Cohort Study found young infants living in homes where cleaning products were used frequently were more likely to develop childhood wheeze and asthma by age three.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2020.