In the news today, Jan. 3

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is poised to call byelections in three federal ridings within days and now he has a fourth vacant riding he may choose to fill at the same time. Sheila Malcolmson has officially resigned as the New Democrat MP for the British Columbia riding of Nanaimo-Ladysmith. She is leaving the federal stage to run in a provincial byelection, called Wednesday by Premier John Horgan for Jan. 30. In addition to Nanaimo-Ladysmith, there are three other vacant ridings: the B.C. riding of Burnaby South, where NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is hoping to win a seat in the Commons, the Ontario riding of York-Simcoe, left open by the resignation of Conservative MP Peter Van Loan, and the Montreal riding of Outremont, where former NDP leader Tom Mulcair has resigned.

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ACCESS TO OVERDOSE PREVENTION VARIES IN CANADA

A national harm reduction advocate says a person’s chances of surviving an overdose may depend on where they live in Canada. Jordan Westfall of the Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs says services like supervised consumption sites, which allow people to use drugs under medical supervision, have saved lives in places like Vancouver — but there’s no access to such services in vast parts of the country. Health Canada says there are 27 supervised consumption sites spread across British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta and Quebec. The Public Health Agency of Canada says opioids killed an estimated 9,000 people between January 2016 and June 2018, and about 94 per cent of those deaths were deemed accidental.

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PEGI YOUNG, EX-WIFE OF NEIL YOUNG, DIES OF CANCER

Singer-songwriter Pegi Young, who was formerly married to Neil Young, has died. In a Facebook post, her family says she died in her native California on New Year’s Day following a year-long battle with cancer. Pegi Young was married to Neil Young for 36 years until their separation and divorce in 2014. She was the inspiration for some of Neil Young’s love songs, including “Such a Woman,” “Unknown Legend” and “Once an Angel.” She began as his background singer in the 1990s, sharing the stage with him at the 1994 Academy Awards and numerous tours over the course of 20 years.

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MOTORTRIKES POPULAR WITH BOOMERS

A growing wave of baby boomers has traded in motorbikes for their more stable, three-wheeled cousin in a trend that’s got manufacturers scrambling to hop aboard. The three-wheeled motorcycle was once just an industry sidecar, but it’s now making up a growing portion of sales. The Transport Ministry says the number of three-wheeled vehicles registered in Quebec rose 60 per cent to more than 15,000 between 2014 and 2017, according to the Transport Ministry, as compared to motorcycles, which grew 17 per cent to just over 185,000 in the same period. The rest of the country has been slower to adopt, but manufacturers are hoping to cash in.

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ROCKER’S GUITAR RETURNED 46 YEARS LATER

April Wine frontman Myles Goodwyn has been reunited with his stolen guitar more than four decades after he last saw it. The 70-year-old musician and songwriter purchased the Melody Maker in 1968, and played it on the band’s first two records. But it was lost when a truck carrying the band’s equipment crashed in Montreal in 1972. He thought the instrument was destroyed, but it turns out it was actually stolen. But on Christmas Eve, someone reached out to him on Facebook, saying he thought he had the cherished instrument. By New Year’s, the rocker had his guitar back.

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The Canadian Press

In the news today, Jan. 3

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