Former justice minister to appear before justice committee
Former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould will appear before the House of Commons justice committee.
The path for Wilson-Raybould to tell her side of the SNC-Lavalin saga Wednesday afternoon was cleared last night, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lifted solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidentiality provisions. There are allegations Wilson-Raybould was pressured by the Prime Minister’s Office to negotiate a remediation agreement with the Quebec company rather than pursue a criminal prosecution for bribery and fraud.
Big change to healthcare in Ontario
Ontario’s local and provincial health networks will be merged into one super agency as part of the government’s plan to overhaul the system.
Health Minister Christine Elliott made the announcement Tuesday morning with the planned overhaul seeing the government create a new agency called Ontario Health. It will consist of all 14 of the province’s local health integration networks, as well as other agencies like Cancer Care Ontario, eHealth Ontario and the Trillium Gift of Life Network.
New figures show fewer children living in poverty in Canada
New figures from Statistics Canada show fewer children were living in poverty in 2017, something it attributes to the Liberal government’s signature child benefit.
The Canada Child Benefit introduced in mid-2016 replaced a previous system of tax credits and the universal child care benefit brought in by the Conservatives. Statistics Canada reports 278-thousand fewer children were living below the poverty line in 2017, the first full year of the benefit, than in 2015 when the Liberals took office.
American President Donald Trump to meet with Kim Jong UN
The roller coaster of U.S.-North Korea relations revs up again when American President Donald Trump meets for a second time with Kim Jong Un on Thursday.
Trump has gone from threatening North Korea with “fire and fury” to saying the two are close. That erratic history has left observers unsure of what could be in store as the two leaders head into their talks in Vietnam.
