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Five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team who are alleged to have sexually assaulted a woman in a hotel room in London, Ont., after a Hockey Canada gala have been told to surrender to police, two sources with knowledge of the investigation say.
The players have been given until later next week to present themselves to investigators to face charges of sexual assault, according to the sources. The players have not yet been formally charged.
The pending charges are connected to an incident at the Delta Armouries hotel, in which a woman identified in court documents as E.M. told police she was sexually assaulted by as many as eight hockey players over several hours.
A pedestrian walks past the London Police Headquarters in London, Ontario on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024.Geoff Robins/The Globe and Mail
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B.C. appeals suspension of public drug use law
British Columbia is looking to overturn a judgment from the B.C. Supreme Court that suspended legislation meant to stop illicit drug use in public places as the province struggles to contain a worsening overdose crisis.
The province’s decision last year to decriminalize possession of small amounts of certain illegal drugs led to a backlash over drug use in public spaces. The government passed a law, which would have allowed police to fine or imprison people who refuse to comply with orders not to use drugs in certain outdoor locations, including places frequented by children.
The law was suspended before it even came into effect after a judge ruled that it “will cause irreparable harm” by forcing drug use back into the shadows.
India to be included in foreign-interference inquiry into federal elections
India’s possible meddling in Canadian elections is now under the microscope after Quebec Justice Marie Josée Hogue, the commissioner of the foreign-interference inquiry, requested information and documents from the federal government outlining any alleged involvement by India in the 2019 and 2021 campaigns.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh had pushed for the inquiry to examine the possibility that New Delhi may have acted in a similar manner as Beijing in seeking to influence the outcome of elections in certain ridings with large diaspora communities.
The request by Justice Hogue could further damage relations between the two countries. Bilateral relations deteriorated after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the government of India in September of being behind the shooting of a Sikh leader in British Columbia.
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Also on our radar
Bank of Canada keeps interest rate steady: The Bank of Canada held its policy interest rate steady yesterday at 5 per cent for the fourth consecutive time, but shifted away from its threat of further rate hikes and signalled possible rate cuts in the first half of this year.
- Rob Carrick: While the Bank of Canada stands pat, interest rates for savers, investors and borrowers are changing fast
- Opinion: The old bank and the Red Sea: Bank of Canada must address threat of geopolitics
ICJ to rule on South Africa’s case against Israel: The International Court of Justice will announce tomorrow whether it will impose an emergency order on Israel to force it to prevent a possible genocide in Gaza. The case has sparked political divisions around the world, but South Africa’s legal team has argued that an emergency order is the only way to end the suffering of the people of Gaza
- Qatar lashes out at Netanyahu over critical remarks about its role as mediator
- Lawyers prepare legal action against schools across Canada over rising antisemitism
BMO bankers lose jobs over alleged harassment: Bank of Montreal late last week terminated four mining bankers in Toronto and another two resigned after allegations of bullying and harassment of a colleague, four sources told The Globe and Mail, behaviour the bank is calling “completely unacceptable.”
Six people dead in NWT plane crash: People in a tight-knit Northwest Territories town were in mourning Wednesday as investigators began to probe a plane crash that killed six people – two crew members and four passengers headed for work at a diamond mine. A lone survivor was taken to hospital.
Trudeau dodges leadership questions: Justin Trudeau avoided answering questions from reporters yesterday about whether he should face a leadership review after a Liberal MP said it was time to take a look at the Prime Minister’s tenure. Ken McDonald made the comments as the Liberals are battling slumping poll numbers and dissatisfaction with the government.
Morning markets
World stocks teeter: Global stocks see-sawed on Thursday, as a surge in China markets on the back of revived investor confidence helped offset a more muted performance elsewhere, while the euro held steady against the U.S. dollar ahead of a European Central Bank meeting. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.09 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.34 per cent and 0.24 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei finished up 0.03 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.96 per cent. New York futures were little changed. The Canadian dollar was higher at 74.05 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Konrad Yakabuski: “The Trudeau government’s rush to announce that it will appeal the Federal Court decision – which, unlike the Rouleau inquiry’s conclusions, carries legal weighting – is a mystery. There might be some usefulness to having the Supreme Court of Canada weigh in on the matter, if only to dispel any doubt. But the odds are not on the government’s side.”
Lawrence Martin: “Her campaign is, for all intents and purposes, kaput. She’s a dead woman walking. The next primary isn’t for a month in her home state of South Carolina, where she trails in the polls by a huge margin. Ms. Haley should spare herself the humiliation.”
Craig Rouillard: “By increasing property taxes, the city is disproportionately targeting homeowners, without considering how municipal services are consumed.”
Today’s editorial cartoon
Editorial cartoon by David Parkins, Jan. 25, 2024.Illustration by David Parkins
Living better
Take your tastebuds on a sunny vacation with tropical flavours
Tropical flavours will be all the rage this year, trend watchers say. Pinterest notes searches for pineapple mocktails are up 70 per cent, while searches for pineapple upside-down cakes are up 50 per cent. At a time when all that is old is becoming new again, a retro pineapple upside-down cake, given a tropical boost with coconut if you like, will feed your craving for both nostalgia and a sunny escape.
Moment in time: Jan. 25, 2004
This image released by NASA on Jan. 25, 2004 shows one of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's first breathtaking views of the martian landscape after its successful landing at Meridiani Planum on Mars.AFP/Getty Images/Getty Images
Opportunity rover finds bedrock on Mars
NASA’s Opportunity rover was the fifth spacecraft to touch down safely on Mars. But when the rover opened its eyes for the first time, it saw something none of its predecessors had encountered. All the previous landing sites were littered with rocks randomly strewn by billions of years of meteorite impacts. In contrast, Opportunity found itself in a featureless desert – with one big exception. As the first black-and-white photos from the rover flashed up on screens back on Earth, mission scientists were jubilant over what they could see jutting from the soil just a few metres away: Martian bedrock. It was to be their first glimpse of the geological history of the planet, written in layers of rocks that were still lying where they had formed. Once the rover rolled over for a closer look, it discovered countless tiny spheres in and around the bedrock, which scientists nicknamed Martian “blueberries.” The mineral composition of the spheres, together with features within the rock, would provide the first direct evidence that water flowed on Mars in the distant past. Ivan Semeniuk
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