In the news today, March 23

By The Canadian Press

Six stories in the news for Friday, March 23

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BOEING NOT APPEALING ITC DECISION

Aircraft giant Boeing will not appeal a ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission that allows its Canadian rival Bombardier to sell its newest commercial jets without heavy duties. Boeing launched a trade case with the independent International Trade Commission last April, arguing that governments in Canada and Britain subsidized development of Bombardier’s C Series commercial jets and allowed the Montreal-based company to sell it at unfairly low prices. But in a surprise decision in January, the ITC voted unanimously in favour of Bombardier. A Boeing spokesperson confirmed the decision not to appeal Thursday night, but declined to elaborate.

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COMMONS UP ALL NIGHT FOR TORY FILIBUSTER

Conservatives are forcing MPs to stay up all night voting continuously on more than 250 motions. The filibuster was launched in retaliation for the Liberals voting down a Tory motion to call Justin Trudeau’s national security adviser to testify at a House of Commons committee about the prime minister’s disastrous trip to India. Conservatives predicted the non-stop voting on all the motions, which started around dinner time Thursday, would take about 40 hours. It will result in a hefty overtime bill for the Commons, since its services must be available whenever the chamber is sitting.

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SENATE APPROVES CANNABIS BILL IN PRINCIPLE

The Senate gave approval in principle Thursday evening to the federal government’s bill to legalize recreational marijuana, after a tense few days of manoeuvring by Conservative senators hoping to derail one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s signature election promises. Bill C-45 passed at second reading by a vote of 44-29. It will now be scrutinized by five different Senate committees, which could recommend amendments, before returning it to the upper house for a final debate and vote by June 7.

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EXPERT SPEAKS OUT AT HUMAN RIGHTS INQUIRY

The author of a study that sounded the alarm against keeping Nova Scotians with intellectual disabilities in a psychiatric ward says the residents were denied their human rights and good care practices. Dorothy Griffiths testified via video conference at a human rights inquiry considering whether the human rights of Joey Delaney, Beth MacLean and Sheila Livingstone were violated by incarcerating them in psychiatric wards rather than a home with appropriate care. Griffiths is a nationally recognized expert in the care of people with the so-called “dual diagnoses” of intellectual disabilities and mental illness.

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MAN CONVICTED IN DOG MAULING TO BE SENTENCED

A Quebec man whose dog mauled a young girl in 2015 will be sentenced today. In convicting Karim Jean Gilles last month, the judge in the case suggested the sentence would be longer than the three years the Crown recommended. Quebec court Judge Pierre Belisle found Jean Gilles guilty of criminal negligence causing bodily harm after the attack left the seven-year-old girl with severe damage to her face and cranium.

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PUBLISHER REJECTS STANLEY STORY

A publisher has rejected a request from a law firm that represents the Saskatchewan farmer acquitted in the fatal shooting of a young Indigenous man who now wants to tell “his side” of what happened. Last month, a jury found Gerald Stanley not guilty of second-degree murder in the 2016 death of Colten Boushie. Toronto-based publisher Between The Lines (BTL) says it received the request from Stanley’s legal team.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS TODAY:

— Statistics Canada releases the retail trade figures for January and the consumer price index for February.

— The Supreme Court of Canada renders a judgment in the appeal of Bruce Carson, a former aide and senior adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper on charges of influence peddling.

— Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer meets with Toronto Mayor John Tory at City Hall.

— Former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama speaks in Edmonton and Calgary.

— Indigenous peoples, constituents and other community members hold a rally against pipeline projects at Justice Minister Jodie Wilson-Raybould’s constituency office in Vancouver.

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