Emergencies Act inquiry continues and Strike fight in Ontario: In The News for Nov. 2

King is facing charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, mischief and intimidation for his role in the protest, and was released on bail in July.

Keith Wilson, the main lawyer representing the convoy, is also scheduled to testify today at the inquiry, which is investigating the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act to clear protesters from Ottawa streets in February.

Tom Marazzo, an ex-military member who joined the convoy once it arrived in Ottawa to assist with logistics, will also take the stand.

Other organizers told the inquiry Tuesday that the demonstration had no leader and there were power struggles among them.

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Also this …

A union representing 55,000 education workers set to strike says it hopes to hear back today from the government on a counter-offer.

The workers such as early childhood educators, educational assistants and custodians represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees plan to walk off the job Friday, despite looming legislation that would make it illegal.

Several boards, including the Toronto District School Board, have said they will have to close schools because they can’t operate safely without the CUPE-represented staff.

The Ontario government has introduced legislation to impose a contract on the education workers and ban them from striking upon threat of steep fines.

It hopes to see the bill passed this week, with Premier Doug Ford saying he will do everything he can to make sure kids stay in class — CUPE has not said whether its strike would extend beyond Friday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as the federal justice and labour ministers, have criticized the Ontario government for pre-emptively including the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause in the legislation, saying it shouldn’t be used to suspend workers’ rights.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

Former U-S President Donald Trump has been teasing another presidential run since before he left the White House.

But aides to the former president are now preparing for a 2024 campaign that could be announced soon after next week’s midterms.

Another campaign would be a remarkable turn for any former president, much less one who made history as the first to be impeached twice. Still, he remains embroiled in multiple and intensifying criminal investigations, including probes of classified information held at his Mar-a-Lago club and his effort to pressure election officials to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be edging toward victory in national elections, with nearly two-thirds of ballots showing that he and his ultranationalist and religious allies are poised to achieve a stable majority in the country’s parliament.

Votes were still being counted on Wednesday morning and results were not final. But Israel was likely headed to one of its most right-wing governments, bolstered by a strong showing from the ultranationalist Religious Zionism party, whose members use inflammatory anti-Arab and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.

The initial results pointed to a continued rightward shift in the Israeli electorate, further dimming hopes for peace with the Palestinians and setting the stage for possible conflict with the Biden administration.

Tuesday’s election was Israel’s fifth in less than four years.

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Also this …

Air raid sirens sounded in South Korea after the North fired about a dozen missiles in its direction early this morning.

At least one of them has landed near the rivals’ tense sea border. South Korea quickly responded by performing its own missile tests.

The launches came hours after North Korea threatened to use nuclear weapons to get the U.S. and South Korea to “pay the most horrible price in history.” The Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement earlier Wednesday that it detected three short-range ballistic missiles fired from the North’s eastern coastal town of Wonsan. It said one of the missiles landed almost 26 kilometres away from the rivals’ sea border.

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On this day in 1935 …

Lord Tweedsmuir was sworn in as governor general of Canada and held the post until he died in 1940. He had been well known as John Buchan, writer of fiction, poetry and history. Among his famous works are “Lord Minto” and “The Thirty-Nine Steps.” He instituted the Governor General’s Awards for literature in 1937.

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In entertainment …

At just 28, rapper Takeoff had cultivated a rich hip-hop legacy with Migos, along with a reputation as the trio’s most lowkey member, before he was killed in a shooting early Tuesday.

Takeoff was pronounced dead at the scene outside a Houston bowling alley, police there said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. No arrests had been made, and police were imploring witnesses to come forward with information.

Born Kirsnick Khari Ball, Takeoff grew up in suburban Atlanta, Gwinnett County was less than flatteringly name-checked in a couple of Migos tracks, alongside the two other members of the group. Quavo was his uncle and Offset was his cousin, and the trio was raised in large part by Takeoff’s mom. Takeoff was the youngest of the three, and viewed as the most laidback member.

He didn’t appear in headlines at the rate of Offset, who is married to Ciardi B, and he wasn’t in high demand as a featured act on top 10 tracks like Quavo, who has guested on hits with Post Malone, DJ Khaled and Drake.

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Did you see this?

A prominent gun-control group is urging MPs to legislatively enshrine a comprehensive ban on firearms the government outlawed using regulatory orders more than two years ago.

The Liberals banned some 1,500 models and variants of firearms, including the AR-15 and Ruger Mini-14, through an order-in-council in May 2020 on the grounds they have no place in hunting or sport shooting.

Appearing at the House of Commons public safety committee today, PolySeSouvient says a comprehensive ban on all such firearms, including some not covered in the 2020 ban, must be built into a bill MPs are studying.

The group says this “evergreen” measure should be accompanied by new regulations that create a pre-authorization process for models coming onto the market.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2022

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Emergencies Act inquiry continues and Strike fight in Ontario: In The News for Nov. 2

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