Group Warning Prairie Communities About Pipeline
The Council of Canadians is warning communities in Manitoba and Saskatchewan that the proposed Energy East oil pipeline is a threat.
National chairwoman Maude Barlow told a Winnipeg audience over the weekend that the pipeline could contaminate the city's source of drinking water in Shoal Lake.
In Saskatchewan, where the council stops tonight in Regina, the lobby group says the pipeline would go right through Regina.
TransCanada has proposed a line that would cover carry about 1.1 million barrels of oil a day from Alberta's oilsands to East Coast refineries.
---
Turkey Producers Advised To Step-Up Biosecurity
The head of a group that represents turkey producers in Manitoba worries that migrating birds could carry avian flu from Minnesota into the province.
Bill Uruski of Manitoba Turkey Producers says members should be concerned about H5N2 and should step up biosecurity.
Additional cases of the disease were confirmed last week in turkey flocks in Minnesota, as well as in southern Ontario.
Uruski says the cases in Minnesota are more of a concern than the case in Ontario because of the flight patterns of birds heading north.
---
Ritz Says Farmers Embracing Marketing Freedom
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says last week's Supreme Court decision not to hear the appeal on the Canadian Wheat Board upholds western Canadian farmers' right to marketing freedom.
Ritz says in a statement that ``the overwhelming majority of farmers have embraced the new economic opportunities created by marketing freedom.''
Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board filed a class-action lawsuit in 2012 over legislation that removed the marketing agency's monopoly on western wheat and barley sales.
It sought leave to appeal after a lower court struck down the main parts of the class-action.
---
Beaten Edmonton Man Was Wrongfully Targeted
Police in Edmonton believe a man who was beaten in front of his family and threatened with a gun was wrongfully targeted.
Police say the suspects allegedly beat the dad and dragged him into his house on Friday night, where one of them then assaulted his wife, who was holding their toddler.
Three other children, who were roused from their beds and saw the attacks, fled out the back door.
Investigators say they believe the motive for the attack is drug-related.
---
Sentencing Begins For Former Deputy Education Minister
A sentencing hearing is expected to begin today in Toronto in a child pornography case involving a man who was once deputy education minister for Ontario and Manitoba.
Sixty-three-year-old Benjamin Levin pleaded guilty to three child pornography-related charges last month.
Levin issued a statement through his lawyer saying he was ``deeply ashamed'' of his actions.
Court heard that Levin frequented a website with numerous chatrooms for sexual discussions.
---
Clinton Hits The Road For Presidential Campaign
Hillary Rodham Clinton is hitting the road as she starts her 2016 US presidential campaign.
The former secretary of state announced her Democratic presidential bid via YouTube yesterday then hopped in a van and headed for Iowa where she'll appear at her first event tomorrow.
Meantime, Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio is expected to launch his bid for the White House today.
But the Florida Republican everyone is waiting to hear from is former governor Jeb Bush.
