Ontario election
Leaders of the four main political parties continue their last-minute sprints across Ontario, in advance of the provincial election.
They’re making appearances in riding where they think they can pick up victories on Thursday, or where support may be softening for incumbent MPPs.
The Conservatives continue to lead in most polls, with the NDP and the Liberals battling it out for second place.
Elections Ontario says 1.1-million voters cast their ballots in advance polls.
That’s almost ten percent of eligible voters and a sharp increase over the number cast in the last provincial election.
Gun control legislation
The federal Conservatives say the Liberals’ new gun control legislation targets law-abiding gun owners and will do little to reduce crimes involving firearms in Canada.
The bill imposes a freeze on the sale, purchase, transfer, and importation of handguns, which have surged in sales since 2010.
It also provides that owners of more than 15-hundred types of firearms banned in 2020 be compelled to sell them back to the government.
Criminal penalties for smuggling guns into Canada would be increased, and a new criminal offence would be created for increasing the number of bullets a gun can hold.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the math is simple, the fewer the number of guns in Canada, the safer we’ll be.
Military recommendations on sexual assault
Defence Minister Anita Anand says the federal government will accept all 48 recommendations put forward by retired Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour (arr-BOOR).
In her long-awaited report, Arbour concludes the Canadian Armed Forces has been unable, and unwilling, to take action to cope with rising claims of sexual harassment in the military.
Her major recommendations include moving all cases of assault to the civilian justice system and allowing military members to take complaints of sexual harassment to the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
Anand says she will appoint an “external monitor,” as recommended by Arbour, to monitor the changes, and report to the government and the public.
Heavy sanctions against Russia
Leaders of the 27-nation European Union have agreed to cut virtually all oil imports from Russia by the end of this year, punishment for its invasion of Ukraine.
Hungary, which had threatened to block the move, will be allowed to continue receiving supplies.
The summit continues today in Brussels, with discussions on how to move Ukrainian grain to world markets, to avoid the threat of a global food shortage.
Meantime, Ukrainian officials say Russian forces continue their advance towards the centre of the eastern city of Severodonetsk.
It’s the last major urban area in the province of Luhansk, in the Donbas, still under Ukrainian control.
