In the news today, Jan. 25

RCMP are expected to give an update today on a national security investigation that saw two people arrested in Kingston, Ont. Mounties say there’s no immediate threat to public safety after Thursday’s operation, which also involved local police. A senior government official speaking on background confirmed that the arrests were related to a national security investigation. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says any operational details on the RCMP investigation will be released by the Mounties. Goodale says the country’s official threat level remains at “medium,” where it has stood since the fall of 2014.

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INDIAN ACT AT CORE OF PIPELINE DISPUTE: MINISTER

Canada’s minister of Crown-Indigenous relations is pointing her finger at the Indian Act for creating a gridlock in northern British Columbia where some hereditary clan chiefs say a liquefied natural gas pipeline doesn’t have their consent. Carolyn Bennett would not say whether she believes the hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation have jurisdiction over the 22,000 square kilometres they claim as their traditional territory. But she says the situation is an example of why the federal government is working to increase First Nations capacity for self-governance, including a new funding program to rebuild hereditary structures.

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PM WARNS OF IMMIGRATION FEAR-MONGERING

Justin Trudeau is warning voters to be wary of fear-mongering about immigration, suggesting the issue will be a hot-button topic during the federal election campaign this fall. The prime minister reminded the crowd during a town hall meeting in Miramichi, N.B., on Thursday that it was his Liberal government that granted asylum to 40,000 Syrian refugees in 2015-16. He said his government was glad to help, but he stressed Canadians — those in church and community groups, neighbourhoods and families — made the integration of Syrians a success. The public meeting in New Brunswick was part of a cross-Canada swing aimed at boosting the fortunes of Liberal candidates in an election year.

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U.S. INDUSTRY URGES TRADE REPS TO TEAR DOWN TARIFFS

American automakers, aluminum producers, manufacturers and farmers are running out of time, money and patience as the North American tariff standoff persists. Industry emissaries are warning U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Mexican and Canadian steel and aluminum, as well as their reciprocal countermeasures, are rapidly undermining whatever benefits the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement will produce once it takes effect. “The damage from the reciprocal trade actions in the steel dispute far outweighs any benefit that may accrue to them from the USMCA,” the group writes in a letter released this week by a coalition of more than 40 different industry associations and lobby groups.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— Unifor national president Jerry Dias is expected to make an announcement on the next action in the union’s push to save the GM assembly plant in Oshawa, Ont.

— A sentencing hearing is scheduled today for Halifax businessman Hector Mantolino, who pleaded guilty to immigration fraud.

— Calgary MP Kent Hehr will announce funding today for the Waterton Lakes National Park.

The Canadian Press

by CP

In the news today, Jan. 25

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