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In the news today, April 2

Apr 2, 2018 | 2:30 AM

Three stories in the news for Monday, April 2

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MINISTER SAYS OTTAWA HAS FULFILLED CHILD WELFARE ORDERS

Canada’s Indigenous services minister says Ottawa has fully complied with the orders of a 2016 ruling from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal which said the federal government discriminates against Indigenous children. Jane Philpott says the government is now working with the tribunal to confirm that all of its orders have been fulfilled. But Cindy Blackstock, the First Nations children’s advocate who filed the complaint, contends the matter is far from settled. 

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FUTURE OF 5G DEPENDS ON GETTING SPECTRUM

Canada’s push toward fifth-generation wireless technology promises network upgrades that could enable everything from powering complex new technologies to closing the digital divide. But before Canadians see any of the technology’s promises in action, the federal government must decide how it will allocate the necessary spectrum in a new auction round. For 5G technology to work as Canada’s carriers hope, they’ll need huge blocks of spectrum — the radio frequencies that carry signals to receivers embedded in smartphones, sensors and other connected devices.

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PARLIAMENT POET TALKS EGO, EMOTION IN WRITING

Georgette LeBlanc looks around the parliamentary library in the Centre Block and admits she was in high school the last time she visited the building. The Quebec poet will be spending a lot more time in the library over the next two years during her term as parliamentary poet laureate. The position isn’t exactly what LeBlanc envisioned herself doing back in her high school days. But now she wants to make sure Canadians learn more about the little-heralded position that Parliament created 17 years ago.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS TODAY:

— Provincial court criminal trial continues in Vancouver over the MV Marathassa bunker fuel spill in Vancouver’s English Bay in April 2015.

— Federal Infrastructure and Communities Minister Amarjeet Sohi and B.C.’s Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Claire Trevena make an announcement in Vancouver.

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The Canadian Press