In the news today: Documents revealed Canada praised sanctioned Haitian

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…

Embassy praised sanctioned Haitian, emails suggest

A Canadian Embassy official and an RCMP liaison officer in Haiti praised and thanked a sanctioned Haitian businessman after he allowed the use of his golf course for helicopter evacuations and police training last month. The interactions are contained in emails provided to The Canadian Press by lawyers for Haitian executive Reynold Deeb who say they’ll use the correspondence in a Federal-Court case to have Deeb removed from Canada’s sanctions list. Global Affairs Canada announced in 2022 that Deeb and two other members of Haiti’s economic elite were being sanctioned for their alleged ties to criminal gangs engaged in violence in the troubled Caribbean island nation.

Another hot, dry summer spells drought for B.C.

The head of British Columbia’s River Forecast Centre says parts of the province will likely enter “unfamiliar territory” with drought if they see another hot, dry summer. Dave Campbell says persistent drought conditions in B.C. stretch back to 2022, so the province is heading into this summer with “multi-year” precipitation deficits. Campbell says he’d expect this kind of year-over-year drought to produce cumulative impacts that could amount to water scarcity and other challenges. B-C officials will hold a news conference about drought and wildfires later today as the province is expected to release its latest snowpack bulletin.

Winnipeg trial continues for man who killed 4

A courtroom in Winnipeg is expected to hear testimony today about the search for the remains of the four victims of Jeremy Skibicki. Skibicki is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of four women in early 2022. He has admitted to the killings, but the trial now centres around the argument from his lawyers that he is not criminally responsible due to mental illness. Crown prosecutors allege Skibicki targeted vulnerable Indigenous women at homeless shelters in the city.

Upcoming NAC season to bring game music to the capital

An orchestral performance of video game music from “Final Fantasy” is new territory for the National Arts Centre’s upcoming season. The Ottawa-based performing arts organization says the NAC Orchestra will present its first-ever take on music from a video-game soundtrack with “Final Symphony,” running Jan. 10 to 11, 2025. The season begins with the 10-day festival “Sphere,” running Sept. 10 to 20, with artists including Indigenous performer Jeremy Dutcher, soprano Renée Fleming and newly commissioned radio plays from Canadian playwrights David Yee and Berni Stapleton.

Durand on ‘Planet of the Apes,’ ‘Naked Gun’ reboot

Kevin Durand has a simple explanation for why he always gets cast as the bad guy. The Thunder Bay, Ont., native has an appearance that tells a story and a resume teeming with villainous characters. His latest detestable turn is as a bad ape — the tyrannical simian king Proximus Caesar in Wes Ball’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” which opens Friday. Durand says on its surface, the film is a “Friday night popcorn movie,” but if you choose to delve deeper, it’s “a reflection of ourselves as humans and what we’re doing to the world and what we’re doing to each other.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press