Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) National President Chris Aylward speaks during a news conference following bargaining talks in Ottawa, on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
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 Wednesday, April 19, 2023 …
What we are watching in Canada …
Negotiations are expected to continue despite thousands of members with Canada’s largest federal public-service union walking off the job this morning at 12:01 a.m. ET.
A late Tuesday news release from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat says the government and the Public Service Alliance of Canada are still at odds when it comes to key contract issues for both sides. The bargaining groups involve some 155,000 federal public servants, including 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency workers.
With picket lines expected to be set up this morning at some 250-plus locations, the union is calling the strike action one of the largest in Canadian history. National President Chris Aylward said during a brief news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday night that despite the move, union officials are still hopeful and the goal is to get a tentative agreement.
A handful of federal ministers, including Mona Fortier, president of the Treasury Board, are expected to address the media later today and provide an update on how the bargaining is going.
Wage increases have been top of mind at the table, with the union pushing for annual raises of 4.5 per cent over the next three years. It says the increases are necessary to keep pace with inflation and the cost of living. The Treasury Board says it offered the union a nine per cent raise over three years on Sunday, on the recommendation of the third-party Public Interest Commission.
Since the strike involves nearly one-third of all federal public servants, both the union and the government have warned of disruptions, including what could amount to a complete halt of the tax season. Other concerns include slowdowns at the border and disruptions to EI, immigration and passport applications.
—
Also this …
Environmental researcher John Kearney says the whirring blades of a proposed 13-turbine wind farm in Nova Scotia may cut greenhouse gases, but the risks they pose to migrating birds are too high.
The 74-year-old former consultant to the wind industry has in recent years set up acoustic monitoring in southwestern Nova Scotia, documenting species ranging from black-capped chickadees to spotted sandpipers as they call out during autumn flights.
“I’m speaking from the perspective of a person who supports both the objectives of wind power and preserving biodiversity, and here they come in conflict,” he said in a recent interview, shortly after submitting written submissions to the province objecting to the proposed project on a peninsula west of Yarmouth.
“To me, it’s quite clear this wind farm should never happen.”
Kearney has a Ph.D. in environmental anthropology – which involves relationships between humans and nature. He came to his conclusion after finding that bird calls just south of the proposed Wedgeport Wind Farm averaged 538 per hour after sunrise.
—
What we are watching in the U.S. …
A Massachusetts Air National Guardsman charged with leaking highly classified military documents is due back in court today for a hearing to decide whether he should remain behind bars while he awaits trial.
Jack Teixeira, 21, was arrested by heavily armed tactical agents at his Massachusetts home last week and charged, under the Espionage Act, with unauthorized retention and transmission of classified national defence information. During his first court appearance in Boston’s federal court Friday, a magistrate judge ordered him to remain in custody until Wednesday’s detention hearing.
Teixeira is accused of sharing highly classified military documents about the Ukraine war and other top national security issues in a chat room on Discord, a social media platform that started as a hangout for gamers. The stunning breach exposing closely held intelligence has sparked international uproar and raised fresh questions about America’s ability to safeguard its secrets.
Air Force leaders said Tuesday that they were investigating how a lone airman could access and distribute possibly hundreds of highly classified documents. The Air Force has also taken away the intelligence mission from the Air National Guard 102nd Intelligence Wing based in Cape Cod – where Teixeira served – pending further review.
Court records unsealed last week revealed how billing records the FBI obtained from Discord and interviews with social media comrades led authorities to Teixeira.
—
What we are watching in the rest of the world …
Authorities say the death toll from a fire at a Beijing hospital has risen to 29, with 26 of them patients.
The deputy head of the Fengtai district said Wednesday that a nurse, a medical assistant and a family member also died. The fire at the private Changfeng Hospital that broke out Tuesday afternoon forced dozens of people to evacuate, including some who escaped from windows using bedsheets tied together.
The cause of the fire is under investigation but officials say they believe it originated from welding sparks from work being carried out in the hospital’s inpatient wing.
Authorities have detained 12 people, including the hospital’s head and her deputy, and 39 people are being treated for injuries.-
—
On this day in 1912 …
Nova Scotia’s mystery man, “Jerome,” died at age 58. He was found on a beach with both legs amputated. He refused to talk or write, and died unidentified.
—
In entertainment …
A coroner’s report says singer and rapper Aaron Carter accidentally drowned in his bathtub as a result of sedatives he’d taken and a gas used in spray cleaners that he had inhaled.
Carter is the younger brother of the Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter.
He was found submerged and dead in the bathtub of his home in Lancaster, California, on Nov. 5.
According to the autopsy report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, a medical sedative was found in his system, as was a compressed gas that the coroner says is commonly used as a propellant in air spray cleaners.
The report says the gas “can induce feelings of euphoria when inhaled.”
—
Did you see this?
The Liberal government’s controversial online-streaming bill is back in the upper chamber today, where a senator who opposed it expects it to pass.
After more than a year of debate and revisions, Alberta Sen. Paula Simons says she would really like to see Bill C-11 “done and dusted” this week.
She says this is not because she wants to ram it through, but because the Senate has already shown its worth through changes to the bill.
Last month, the House of Commons adopted most of the Senate’s amendments, which reinforce the promotion of Indigenous languages and Black content creators.
They would also seek to ensure that funds collected from tech giants go toward promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
If passed, Bill C-11 would update broadcasting rules to include online streaming and require tech giants such as YouTube, Netflix and Spotify to make Canadian content available to users in Canada — or face steep penalties.
—
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2023
