In the news today, July 24

Five stories in the news for Wednesday, July 24

———

TWO MISSING TEENS NOW SUSPECTS IN THREE B.C. DEATHS

A nationwide manhunt was on Tuesday for two teenagers labelled by police as suspects in the deaths of three people in northern British Columbia. RCMP said they believe Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, shot Lucas Fowler of Sydney, Australia, his girlfriend Chynna Deese of Charlotte, N.C., and then killed another man who has yet to be identified publicly. Fowler and Deesem, who had been on a road trip together in Fowler’s blue van, were found on a remote stretch of highway near the Liard Hot Springs on July 15. McLeod and Schmegelsky’s burned-out truck and the unidentified man’s body were found four days later near Dease Lake, B.C., more than 470 kilometres away from the first crime scene.

———

NO SIGN OF WHO WILL PRODUCE LEADERSHIP DEBATES

A month after the new commission organizing leaders’ debates for the upcoming election was supposed to announce who would produce them, it’s not ready to make that decision. The federal Leaders’ Debates issued a request for proposals from potential producers of English- and French-language debates in May. The bidding period closed June 4, and the commission had already set a deadline for itself in mid-June to reveal the results of the selection process. But a commission spokesperson said Tuesday the announcement would be made “within the next couple of weeks.”

———

SECRET PIERRE TRUDEAU FILE ALMOST SPARED: MEMO

A secret spy service file on Pierre Trudeau came close to eluding destruction 30 years ago, newly disclosed memos reveal. However, a late October 1988 recommendation that the dossier on the former prime minister be preserved for at least another decade was nixed just days later, sealing its fate. The Canadian Press reported last month that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service scrapped the Cold War file on Trudeau in 1989 instead of sending it to the national archives. The Trudeau dossier was among hundreds of thousands of files on a wide array of groups and individuals the newly formed CSIS inherited in the 1980s after the RCMP Security Service was disbanded following a series of scandals.

———

N.W.T PREMIER URGES INVESTMENT IN ARCTIC PORTS

Climate change has hurt the northern economy in ways few southern Canadians can appreciate, says Northwest Territories Premier Bob McLeod, but he also wants to make sure his territory benefits from increased shipping traffic as Arctic sea ice recedes. “It’s getting harder to resupply our communities,” Bob McLeod said in an interview Tuesday from Saskatoon, where he spoke at the Pacific Northwest Economic Region summit. “We rely a lot on ice roads. Their life span is getting shorter and shorter,” he said. McLeod noted fuel had to be flown in to three communities last year. Declining rainfall meant reservoirs didn’t replenish enough for two hydroelectric facilities to run, meaning diesel generators had to be fired up. And disappearing wildlife has made it tougher to put food on the table.  

———

INDIGENOUS PETROGLYPHS UNCOVERED IN N.L.

A small set of petroglyphs the size of an outstretched hand was carved possibly hundreds of years ago into what is today a rocky, lichen-covered crevice in eastern Newfoundland. Now, archaeologists and the chief of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Miawpukek First Nation are seeking provincial protection for the recently unearthed petroglyphs, which appear to be the first Indigenous carvings discovered on the island of Newfoundland, according to those studying them. The carvings, found by a local resident near Conception Bay North in the fall of 2017, show two human figures and one animal-like figure. The fertility motifs are characteristic of other carvings by Algonquian-speaking peoples that have been found in northeastern North America. Miawpukek Chief Mi’sel Joe, who visited the site about a month ago, said by phone that the sight of the carvings stirred exciting questions of who may have carved them and why. He said he felt an urge to preserve them.

———

ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— Gov. Gen. Julie Payette attends various events as part of the Pan American Games.

— Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson makes announcements to protect marine mammals in Canada.

— Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains announces support for rural and remote connectivity.

— People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier makes an announcement about the party’s policy on immigration, multiculturalism and Canadian identity.

— April Dawn Irving to appear in court on charges including cruelty to animals and causing or permitting an animal to be in distress.

———

The Canadian Press