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Five stories in the news for today, Sept. 27

Sep 27, 2017 | 2:30 AM

Five stories in the news for Wednesday, Sept. 27

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BOMBARDIER HIT HARD IN BOEING DISPUTE

Bombardier’s hopes for breaking into the U.S. market has taken a massive blow, with the U.S. Department of Commerce announcing a hefty 219 per cent duty on its CSeries jets. The department says government subsidies give Bombardier an unfair advantage when selling south of the border.  The U.S. International Trade Commissions must now decide whether a Bombardier-Delta deal that sparked a complaint from Boeing actually hurt Boeing’s business. A decision is not expected until the spring.

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UNIONS PAN U.S. ON CANADIAN LABOUR PROPOSAL

Teamsters Canada and Unifor say a Canadian proposal to raise labour standards in the NAFTA trade pact is vastly superior to an American text, and accuse the U.S. of stonewalling on the issue. Among other things, Canada wants a rewritten NAFTA to force Mexico to pay workers higher wages. Both Canada and the U.S. are concerned about the exodus of jobs to Mexico, where the minimum wage is less than $1 per hour.

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PHARMA PAYMENTS TO BE DISCLOSED IN ONTARIO

Ontario will become the first province to require public disclosure of payments that pharmaceutical and medical device companies make to doctors, under legislation that will be introduced today. Health Minister Eric Hoskins said it’s about giving patients the tools to make more informed decisions about their health care. Patients in the U.S., Australia and some European countries can already go online to see how much money their health-care providers get from pharmaceutical companies.

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LIBERALS LEAVE HEARING TO PROTEST MPs ABORTION VIEWS

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is cheering Liberal MPs who walked out of a hearing to prevent a Conservative counterpart with anti-abortion views from being named to head up the House of Commons committee on the status of women. All Liberal members of the committee walked out before they were slated to vote on nominating Alberta MP Rachael Harder to the position of committee chair. Trudeau says the Liberals on the committee made the decision to walk out on their own — but that he supports their position.

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PHILPOTT TO MAKE FIRST SPEECH IN NEW PORTFOLIO

Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott says she has heard loud and clear from many Indigenous leaders who want to see the government get on with creating her new ministry — a move expected to be spelled out in legislation by spring. Philpott, who is set to make her first speech today on her new portfolio at an Ottawa event held by the Public Policy Forum, says details must be ironed out for the new department but First Nations, Inuit and Metis leaders want action quickly.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS TODAY:

— Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz will speak to the St. John’s Board of Trade and hold a news conference.

— Finance Minister Bill Morneau will hold a media roundtable in Toronto on tax fairness proposals.

— Statistics Canada will release Canada’s population estimates: Age and sex, July 1, 2017.

— Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet in Ottawa with the prime ministers of Saint Lucia and St. Kitts and Nevis.

— Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Heritage Minister Melanie Joly will attend the National Holocaust Memorial ceremony in Ottawa.

— The Canadian Armed Forces will pay tribute to outgoing Gov. Gen. and commander-in-chief David Johnston.

— Canada Post will unveil the “Ultimate Six” to complete the five-year NHL Stamp Series.

 

 

The Canadian Press