- NewsThe Canadian Press
Britain's Prince Louis a baby no more, turning 1 on Tuesday
LONDON — The youngest child of Britain's Prince William and his wife, Kate, is about to celebrate his first birthday.Prince Louis will mark the milestone on Tuesday.He is fifth in line to the throne, behind his grandfather, Prince Charles, his father, Prince William, his brother, Prince George, and his sister, Princess Charlotte.Louis is a great-grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, who turned 93 on Sunday.He has largely been kept out of the public eye since he was born.The Associated Press
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Premier-designate Jason Kenney names senior members of staff
Alberta premier-designate Jason Kenney has recruited senior aides to former B.C. premier Christy Clark and former prime minister Stephen Harper to serve as key members of his political team. Howard Anglin, Harper's former deputy chief of staff, was named Monday as Kenney's principal secretary. Anglin was chief of staff to Kenney when the UCP leader was minister of citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism in Harper's government.
- NewsThe Canadian Press
AP FACT CHECK: Trump, AG spread untruths on Mueller report
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is still distorting the truth about the Russia investigation , claiming exoneration from a special counsel's report that he is also assailing as hopelessly biased.Confronted with unflattering details in the report about his monthslong effort to undermine federal investigators, Trump over the weekend blasted special counsel Robert Mueller's appointment as "highly conflicted." In fact, the Justice Department's ethics experts cleared Mueller to run the two-year investigation and Trump's own aides previously dismissed the president's complaints as "ridiculous" and unfounded.Trump is also claiming full vindication by the report. But while clearing Trump of criminal conspiracy, Mueller all but boldfaced this other finding in the 400-plus page report: No exoneration for Trump on obstruction of justice.The statements were among many misrepresentations spread over the past week by the president's team, including Attorney General William Barr, who declared Trump innocent and suggested, inaccurately, that Congress had no role in deciding the matter.A review:RUSSIA INVESTIGATIONTRUMP: "The Mueller Report ... was written as nastily as possible by 13 (18) Angry Democrats who were true Trump Haters, including highly conflicted Bob Mueller himself." — tweet Saturday.THE FACTS: Trump repeats a baseless charge that Mueller is a "highly conflicted" prosecutor, something that Trump's own aides have debunked.Trump has previously tweeted and complained to aides that Mueller would not be objective, saying Mueller had interviewed for the FBI director position shortly before being named as special counsel and that Mueller had disputed some fees relating to his membership at a Trump golf course.But the president's aides, including then-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, then-White House counsel Don McGahn and Reince Priebus, the chief of staff at the time, rejected those complaints as not representing "true conflicts," according to the special counsel's report. Bannon also called the claims "ridiculous." Bannon indicated that while the White House had invited Mueller to speak to the president about the FBI and thought about asking him to become director, Mueller did not come in looking for a job.Mueller, a longtime Republican, was cleared by the Justice Department to lead the Russia investigation. The department said in May 2017 that its ethics experts "determined that Mr. Mueller's participation in the matters assigned to him is appropriate." The issue had come up because of his former position at the WilmerHale law firm, which represented some key players in the probe.Mueller was appointed as special counsel by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a Trump appointee.___TRUMP: "The Mueller Report should not have been authorized in the first place." — tweet Saturday.THE FACTS: Trump is entitled to that opinion. The grounds he has given, though, are at odds with some facts.He claimed as recently as last month that the probe was hatched by Democrats after losing the 2016 election. As evidence, Trump often points to a dossier of anti-Trump research financed by the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's campaign. The research that was ultimately compiled into the dossier was initially financed by anti-Trump conservatives, and later by the Democrats.But the Mueller report makes clear that the FBI's investigation actually began months before it received the dossier.The report notes the investigation was initiated after the FBI received information related to Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, not the dossier. Last year, the Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee made the same finding.In late July 2016, days after WikiLeaks released thousands of internal Democratic National Committee documents that proved embarrassing to Clinton, the FBI became aware of a meeting two months prior between Papadopoulos and a representative of a foreign government, according to Mueller's report. Papadopoulos claimed the Trump campaign had received "indications" from Moscow that it could assist the campaign by anonymously releasing political dirt on Clinton."Within a week of the (WikiLeaks) release, a foreign government informed the FBI about its May 2016 interaction with Papadopoulos," the report stated. "On July 31, 2016, based on the foreign government reporting, the FBI opened an investigation into potential co-ordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump Campaign."___TRUMP: "The end result of the greatest Witch Hunt in U.S. political history is No Collusion with Russia (and No Obstruction). Pretty Amazing!" — tweet Saturday.VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: "Today's release of the Special Counsel's report confirms what the President and I have said since day one: there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and there was no obstruction of justice." — statement Thursday.KELLYANNE CONWAY, White House counsellor: "What matters is what the Department of Justice and special counsel concluded here, which is no collusion, no obstruction, and complete exoneration, as the president says." — remarks Thursday to reporters.THE FACTS: The special counsel's report specifically does not exonerate Trump, leaving open the question of whether the president obstructed justice."If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state," Mueller wrote. "Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment."The report identifies 10 instances of possible obstruction by Trump and said he might have "had a motive" to impede the investigation because of what it could find on a variety of personal matters, such as his proposal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow."The evidence does indicate that a thorough FBI investigation would uncover facts about the campaign and the President personally that the President could have understood to be crimes or that would give rise to personal and political concerns," the report states.In explaining its decision, Mueller's team said reaching a conclusion on whether Trump committed crimes would be inappropriate because of a Justice Department legal opinion indicating that a sitting president should not be prosecuted. It nevertheless left open at least the theoretical possibility that Trump could be charged after he leaves office, noting that its factual investigation was conducted "in order to preserve the evidence when memories were fresh and documentary material were available.""Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him," the report states.___SARAH SANDERS, White House press secretary, on her statements from 2017 that many people in the FBI wanted James Comey, the director, fired: "The sentiment is 100% accurate." — "CBS This Morning," Friday.THE FACTS: Her answer on this subject was far different when she gave it under oath.After Trump fired Comey, she told reporters on May 10, 2017, that "the rank and file of the FBI had lost confidence in their director" and "accordingly" the president removed him. When a reporter said most FBI agents supported Comey, Sanders said, "Look, we've heard from countless members of the FBI that say very different things."But when Mueller's team interviewed her under oath, she backed off that story. According to the Mueller report, she said it was a "slip of the tongue" to say that countless FBI people wanted Comey out, that her statement about the rank and file losing confidence in him was offered "in the heat of the moment" and that, in the report's words, it "was not founded on anything."Now she's back to suggesting that Comey was in fact unpopular in the FBI. "I said that it was in the heat of the moment, meaning it wasn't a scripted thing," she said Friday. "But the big takeaway here is that the sentiment is 100% accurate."The Mueller report says there is "no evidence" that Trump heard complaints about Comey's leadership from FBI employees before firing him.Mueller evaluated nearly a dozen episodes for possible obstruction of justice and said he could not conclusively determine that Trump had committed criminal obstruction. Among those episodes was his manner of firing Comey. Mueller found "substantial evidence" corroborating Comey's account of a dinner at which he said Trump pressed him for his loyalty.Although Sanders attributed her remark about Comey's unpopularity to "heat of the moment," Trump has voiced the same sentiment. As recently as January, he tweeted: "The rank and file of the FBI are great people who are disgusted with what they are learning about Lyin' James Comey and the so-called 'leaders' of the FBI."__ATTORNEY GENERAL WILLIAM BARR, asked if Mueller intended for Congress, not the attorney general, to decide whether Trump obstructed justice: "Well, special counsel Mueller did not indicate that his purpose was to leave the decision to Congress. I hope that was not his view. ... I didn't talk to him directly about the fact that we were making the decision, but I am told that his reaction to that was that it was my prerogative as attorney general to make that decision."THE FACTS: Mueller's report actually does indicate that Congress could make that determination.The report states that no person is above the law, including the president, and that the Constitution "does not categorically and permanently immunize a President for obstructing justice."In his four-page memo last month, Barr said while Mueller left open the question of whether Trump broke the law by obstructing the investigation, Barr was ultimately deciding as attorney general that the evidence developed by Mueller was "not sufficient" to establish, for the purposes of prosecution, that Trump obstructed justice.But the special counsel's report specifies that Congress can also render a judgment on that question.It says: "The conclusion that Congress may apply obstruction laws to the President's corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law."___BARR: "These reports are not supposed to be made public." — remarks Thursday at the Justice Department.THE FACTS: The attorney general is not going out on a limb for public disclosure.Justice Department regulations give Barr wide authority to release a special counsel's report in situations it "would be in the public interest." Barr had made clear during his Senate confirmation hearing in January that he believed in transparency with the report on Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference during the 2016 campaign, "consistent with regulations and the law."___BARR, saying it was "consistent with long-standing practice" for him to share a copy of the redacted report with the White House and president's attorneys before its release: "Earlier this week, the president's personal counsel requested and were given the opportunity to read a final version of the redacted report before it was publicly released. That request was consistent with the practice followed under the Ethics in Government Act, which permitted individuals named in a report prepared by an independent counsel the opportunity to read the report before publication." — remarks Thursday.THE FACTS: Barr's decision, citing the Ethics in Government Act, is inconsistent with independent counsel Ken Starr's handling of his report into whether President Bill Clinton obstructed and lied in Starr's probe.On Sept. 7, 1998, Clinton's attorney David Kendall requested that Starr provide him an opportunity to review the report before it was sent to Congress. Starr quickly turned him down."As a matter of legal interpretation, I respectfully disagree with your analysis," Starr wrote to Kendall two days later. Starr called Kendall "mistaken" regarding the rights of the president's attorneys to "review a 'report' before it is transmitted to Congress."Starr's report was governed by the ethics act cited by Barr as his justification for showing the report to the president's team. It has since expired. Current regulations governing Mueller's work don't specify how confidential information should be shared with the White House.Starr's report led to the impeachment trial of Clinton in 1999.___ECONOMYTRUMP: "I have never been happier or more content because your Country is doing so well, with an Economy that is the talk of the World and may be stronger than it has ever been before." — tweet Sunday.TRUMP: "I believe it will be Crazy Bernie Sanders vs. Sleepy Joe Biden as the two finalists to run against maybe the best Economy in the history of our Country." — tweet Tuesday.TRUMP: "We may have the best economy we've ever had." — remarks on April 15 in Burnsville, Minnesota.THE FACTS: The economy is healthy but not one of the best in history. Also, there are signs it is weakening after a spurt of growth last year.The economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.9 per cent last year, a solid pace. But it was just the fastest in four years. In the late 1990s, growth topped 4 per cent for four straight years, a level it has not yet reached under Trump. And growth even reached 7.2 per cent in 1984.Independent economists widely expect slower growth this year as the effects of the Trump administration's tax cuts fade, trade tensions and slower global growth hold back exports, and higher interest rates make it more expensive to borrow to buy cars and homes.___TRUMP: "We cut your taxes. Biggest tax cut in history."— Minnesota remarks.THE FACTS: His tax cuts are nowhere close to the biggest in U.S. history.It's a $1.5 trillion tax cut over 10 years. As a share of the total economy, a tax cut of that size ranks 12th, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. President Ronald Reagan's 1981 cut is the biggest followed by the 1945 rollback of taxes that financed World War II.Post-Reagan tax cuts also stand among the historically significant: President George W. Bush's cuts in the early 2000s and President Barack Obama's renewal of them a decade later.___Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Josh Boak and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.___Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bdFollow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheckEDITOR'S NOTE _ A look at the veracity of claims by political figuresHope Yen And Calvin Woodward, The Associated Press
- NewsThe Canadian Press
Person airlifted to hospital after avalanche in Yoho National Park has died
Parks Canada says a person who was airlifted to hospital in Calgary following an avalanche in Yoho National Park has died. The agency says a male who was among a party of three was involved in an avalanche Saturday afternoon on Des Poilus Glacier, which is on the Wapta Icefield, approximately 180 kilometres northwest of Calgary. STARS Air Ambulance said the person was in critical condition at the time, and Parks Canada confirmed on Sunday that the person died.
- NewsCBC
Earth Day is no longer relevant
Ah, Earth Day: that one day a year devoted to patting ourselves on the back for recycling our milk jugs and installing LED bulbs. But most of us spend as much time thinking about the Earth on Earth Day as we do woodchucks on Feb. 2.
- NewsCBC
Amid 13% business vacancy rate, campaign aims to bring people back to the Beach
While much of the city deals with rising rents, landlord Amber Richman is dropping hers to the lowest she can manage. "All of our programs, our strategies, are just going back into trying to improve that economic development and really improve the vacancy rate," she said.
- NewsCBC
Can judges do better for trans kids in family law cases? Western study aims to find out
Imagine a dispute in which two parents are at odds over whether to let their child transition from the gender they were assigned at birth.
- NewsCBC
City looks to expand Centretown heritage district
More properties in Centretown could be designated as heritage buildings, as the city embarks on a heritage study of a much wider area than is currently recognized. The existing Centretown Heritage Conservation District was created in 1997 and is bordered by Kent, Catherine, Elgin and Lisgar streets (though a small section goes as far north as Gloucester Street). The Minto Park Heritage Conservation District was created years earlier, in 1988, and is made up of 24 residential properties and a church surrounding the park that sits between Lewis, Gilmour, Elgin and Cartier streets.
- NewsCBC
Sweet new stamp celebrates iconic East Coast dessert
Canada Post is serving up some new stamps featuring popular desserts from around the country. Included in the Sweet Canada stamp set is blueberry grunt: a sticky-sweet, gooey concoction made up of wild blueberries and sugary dumplings — a popular treat in Atlantic Canada. The "grunt" part of the name comes from the sound the blueberries make while they cook.
- Rumble
Dog upset pet store is closed, refuses to leave
The pet store is clearly closed, but that won't stop Samo the 5-year-old beagle/lab from leaving it. If it were up to her, they would have waited outside until the morning when it opens again!
- NewsCBC
4 weeks, 500km, and 1 dog team: Iqaluit mushers complete epic spring trek
Jovan Simic and Victoria Perron recently finished a 500-kilometre, 27-day dog sled trek across the Arctic tundra. "I like travelling by dog team because it slows the pace down," said Simic. Over the month of March, the two travelled from Iqaluit to Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut, experiencing dry patches without snow, shear ice and blizzards along the way.
- NewsCBC
In Pointe-Gatineau, residents try to prevent repeat of 2017 floods
Elyse Lagace hadn't even finished repairing the 2017 flood damage to her Pointe-Gatineau home when she suddenly found herself once again piling up sandbags. The 57-year-old is among dozens of residents who've been racing to protect their properties from what could be the second devastating flood to hit the low-lying Gatineau, Que., neighbourhood in two years. "I'm not [doing] very good," Lagace told CBC News Sunday.
- NewsCBC
Inuvialuk artist longlisted for Sobey contemporary art award
Kablusiak has been longlisted for the Sobey Art Award — the first Inuvialuk artist to be nominated for the prize. The award promotes the development of contemporary Canadian art. Five finalists will join a group exhibition this fall at the Art Gallery of Alberta.
- NewsCBC
'We're just doing our best': N.B. residents prepare for rising water levels
As water levels on the St. John River continue to rise, residents are working to keep the floodwaters from reaching their homes. With 100 sandbags in place, Matthew Sherwood is hoping he can save his newly built garage and furnished basement.
- NewsCBC
Coyote co-existence policies mean pets are never safe, group of homeowners say
Wayne Burley is on high alert when he takes his new pug Maya for a walk, especially if it's dusky or dark. Until one terrible evening about a year ago, Burley said, he had no idea he had to be so vigilant. Since then he's supported the aims of a group that advocates coyotes be trapped and moved elsewhere.
NewsReutersToyota establishes research institute in China to study hydrogen, green technologies
The initiative, outlined by Toyota's President and Chief Executive Akio Toyoda in a speech at Tsinghua University, is part of the Japanese carmaker's efforts to share more technology with China as it seeks to expand its business in the country by beefing up manufacturing capacity and distribution channels, a source close to Toyota said. The Tsinghua-Toyota Joint Research Institute will conduct research into cars and new technology to solve environmental problems in China, including reducing traffic accidents, Toyota said in a statement. The institute will "cooperate in research not only related to cars for Chinese consumers, but also in research related to active utilization of hydrogen energy that can help solve China's energy problems," the company said.
- NewsCBC
British Columbia's Sri Lankan community reacts to deadly Easter Sunday explosions
Members of British Columbia's Sri Lankan community say they are standing in solidarity with the victims of Sunday's deadly explosions in the South Asian country. More than 200 people were killed and at least 450 hospitalized after a series of bombings on Easter Sunday. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says eight people have been arrested in connection with the near-simultaneous blasts in and around the capital of Colombo and the town of Batticaloa.
- NewsCBC
Cowichan Tribes could take land and resource control back from Ottawa
The largest single First Nation band in British Columbia is asking its members to decide if they want to take away control of their land and natural resources from Ottawa. The Cowichan Tribes, located north of Victoria in the Cowichan Valley, have developed a local land code that would replace the land management provisions of the Indian Act. If it gets band approval in September, the code will carry the same weight as the Indian Act in court and put the Cowichan people in charge of their land-use decisions.
NewsReutersHuawei says launches 'world's first' 5G communications hardware for autos
China's Huawei Technologies launched on Monday what it said was the world's first 5G communications hardware for the automotive industry, in a sign of its growing ambitions to become a key supplier to the sector for self-driving technology. Huawei said in a statement that the so-called MH5000 module is based on the Balong 5000 5G chip which it launched in January. "Based on this chip, Huawei has developed the world's first 5G car module with high speed and high quality," it said.
- NewsThe Canadian Press
Blankets, bed-sharing common in accidental baby suffocations
Accidental suffocation is a leading cause of injury deaths in U.S. infants and common scenarios involve blankets, bed-sharing with parents and other unsafe sleep practices, an analysis of government data found. Half of these soft bedding-related deaths occurred in an adult bed where most babies were sleeping on their stomachs.
- NewsCBC
2 in 5 N.L. mothers have partners working away. Here's what we can learn from that
When Melissa Ralph's husband leaves for work, at first, she feels anxious. "I pretty much go into my solo parenting mode," she said. Two out of every five mothers in the province are, or have been, in a mobile relationship — where one partner works away for extended periods of time — according to new research from Memorial University.
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Whirlwind year for Inuvialuit model after being discovered on Instagram
A year ago, Willow Allen never gave modelling a thought. But now, she's just returned from a three-month professional modelling stint in Singapore. Allen, 20, who was born and raised in Inuvik, N.W.T., said her career started after a modelling agency found her on social media. After doing some research, Allen signed a three-year contract with Mode Models — not the agency that first contacted her online — in Edmonton in September.
- Rumble
Husky refuses to allow her owner to go to work
Mila the husky gets in the way when it's time for her own to go to work!
- NewsCBC
Suspect in hit and run near Schomberg, Ont., turns self in to police
A suspect in the fatal hit and run of a cyclist late Sunday night along a rural road north of Toronto has turned themself in to police. No other suspects are being sought in connection with the incident, OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt, a spokesperson for the force's highway safety division, tweeted Monday afternoon. A male cyclist is dead following a hit and run late Sunday along a rural road near Schomberg, Ont., around 70 kilometres northwest of Toronto.
