Assiniboia welcomes Weyburn Red Wings with open arms during ammonia shutdown
3h ago
Billets were found for all Red Wings players in just four hours.
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 Nov.16.
What we are watching in Canada …
OTTAWA — The Salvation Army is launching its annual Christmas kettle drive facing what it says is a level of need not seen since the Second World War — even as COVID-19 makes fundraising more difficult.
The iconic red kettles will start appearing in malls, grocery stores and other establishments across the country today as the Sally Ann seeks to raise $23 million this year to help Canadians in need.
Salvation Army spokesman John Murray says that target is 10 per cent more than in previous years — even though the charity has received five times the normal number of requests for help since the pandemic began.
“We’ve not seen the increase in in demand for assistance like this since post-World War Two,” Murray said. “That’s incredible when we consider that.”
Meeting the fundraising target could be a tough challenge as COVID-19 threatens to wreak havoc on the Salvation Army’s normal way of doing business.
That starts with great uncertainty around exactly how many kettles will actually be out in the community as pandemic-related lockdowns in different parts of the country keep malls and other businesses closed.
The Sally Ann is also facing a potential shortage of volunteers as many of those who have typically helped the fundraising drive are older Canadians who are more at risk from COVID-19.
—
Also this …
ABBOTSFORD, B.C — Dave McIntosh is in “uncharted territory”: he’s able to hold his newborn son close, but his wife, unconscious in a hospital bed due to complications from COVID-19, cannot.
Gill McIntosh, 37, remains in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Abbotsford, B.C., in an induced coma and on a ventilator after her emergency C-Section.
After starting to feel sick in the first week of November — chalking her symptoms up to pregnancy-related pressure and pain late in her third trimester — she took a turn for the worse, becoming nauseated and unable to eat.
While Dave looked after their daughter, the mother-to-be went to the hospital for treatment.
The last communication Dave had with his wife came in the form of a text saying she was being taken in for an emergency C-section due to complications from the novel coronavirus.
Days later, Gill McIntosh is in stable condition, though she’s still in an induced coma and on a ventilator.
—
ICYMI …
OTTAWA — The Trudeau government is poised to introduce legislation aimed at better safeguarding the privacy of Canadians in the digital era.
The bill, to be tabled as early as this week, would be a step toward realizing commitments set out in the mandate letter of Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains.
It would also flesh out the 10 principles — from control over data to meaningful penalties for misuse of information — that make up the federal digital charter.
The plan for a legislative overhaul follows repeated calls from federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien to modernize Canada’s aging privacy laws.
The Liberals have signalled their intention on the parliamentary notice paper to introduce a bill that would create the Consumer Privacy Protection Act and the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act.
The Privacy Act covers government agencies and federally regulated industries such as banks and airlines. The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act applies to private-sector organizations.
—
What we are watching in the U.S. …
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump tweeted the words “he won” Sunday but quickly made clear he hadn’t changed his tune about Joe Biden getting more votes in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump immediately said Biden’s finish was “because the election was rigged.” And he made clear he’s not conceding and will keep trying to overturn the result.
Trump’s statements come in tweets that include several baseless claims about the Nov. 3 election, which state and federal officials say was safe and secure.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden’s scientific advisers will meet with vaccine makers in coming days as the presidential transition remains stalled.
The government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says the delayed handoff to the next administration is especially problematic during a public health crisis.
Biden’s outreach to the vaccine manufacturers comes as the seven-day rolling average for new daily cases stood at 145,400 on Saturday.
—
Also this …
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX’s second crew includes two military officers who played college football, a former space shuttle flight controller and a longtime Scout from Japan.
The four astronauts blasted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida last night, riding atop a SpaceX Falcon rocket.
They should reach the International Space Station late today for a five- to six-month stay.
The launch follows SpaceX’s shorter test flight with two pilots by just a few months.
The flight kicks off regular crew rotations at the space station from the U.S.
—
What we are watching in the rest of the world …
MANAGUA, Nicaragua — A fast-strengthening hurricane Iota is sweeping over the western Caribbean.
It has become a very dangerous Category 4 storm as it heads for the same part of Central American that was battered by a similarly powerful hurricane Eta just over a week ago.
Evacuations were being conducted from low-lying areas in Nicaragua and Honduras near their shared border, which appeared to be Iota’s likely landfall.
Winds and rain were already being felt on the Nicaraguan coast last night.
Iota was just off the coast of Colombia’s Providencia island this morning.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned it would probably reach the Central America mainland late today.
—
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 16, 2020.
The Canadian Press