National News

Judge rules father of girls who froze to death will face sentencing circle
ROSE VALLEY, Sask. - A Saskatchewan father whose two young daughters froze to death when he took them outside in a blizzard will face an aboriginal sentencing circle. Provincial court Judge Barry Morgan has approved Christopher Pauchay's bid to allow the aboriginal community to help determine a punishment.
      

Commissioner sets ground rules in Schreiber inquiry
OTTAWA - The head of the Mulroney-Schreiber inquiry says he wants to make sure everybody knows the ground rules "before the game starts." Justice Jeffrey Oliphant made the comment as hearings got under way Wednesday on the key question of what legal standards should guide the inquiry in assessing the business dealings of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and German-Canadian arms dealer Karlheinz Schreiber.
      

Disgraced former boxer Dave Hilton facing new sexual assault charges
LAVAL, Que. - Disgraced former boxing champion Dave Hilton Jr. is facing new sex-related charges. Police say Hilton, 45, is being charged today with sexual assault, assault, and assault causing bodily harm. He is scheduled to appear in court in Laval, just north of Montreal. Police say the alleged assaults on an adult woman took place between September and November of last year.
      

First U.S. female soldier to flee Iraq war for Canada ordered to leave by Jan. 27
TORONTO - The first woman soldier to flee the U.S. military to avoid the Iraq war has been ordered deported along with her husband and their young children. Kimberly Rivera says her risk assessment application and requests to stay on humanitarian and compassionate grounds were rejected today. Rivera served in Iraq in 2006 and came to Canada the following year after she refused redeployment.
      

Two Canadians from Winnipeg plead guilty in Ecstasy case in Montana
BILLINGS, Mont. - Two Canadians arrested in eastern Montana last year have pleaded guilty to trying to bring an estimated US$5.5 million worth of Ecstasy pills into the United States. The seizure of nearly 224,000 pills last February was believed to be the state's biggest bust for Ecstasy, a hallucinogen and stimulant.
      

Canadian army captain accused of shooting severely wounded insurgent
PETAWAWA, Ont. - A Canadian soldier charged with second-degree murder was seen firing his weapon at a severely injured Afghan insurgent - but the body was never recovered, according to documents read into the military court record. Capt. Robert Semrau, 35, faced his first court appearance Tuesday since being charged Dec. 31 for an offence alleged to have taken place last October in Helmand Province.
      

When compared with other wrecks, sunken barge off N.S. poses minor threat: expert
HALIFAX, N.S. - An international expert on oil spills says the recent sinking of a dredging barge off Nova Scotia carrying 70,000 litres of diesel presents a limited environmental threat when compared with the scores of other potentially polluting wrecks in the Atlantic region. Dagmar Etkin, president of New York-based Environmental Research Consulting, says there are more than 200 larger, sunken vessels laden with oil an rusting on the ocean floor around the region.
      

Economists predict more financial troubles for Canada in 2009, slow recovery
TORONTO - Canadians should brace themselves for another year of trouble in the domestic economy, and it could even be worse than last year. That's according to some of the country's leading bank economists who are projecting that the global economic struggle will gain momentum in Canada during early 2009.
      

Beware of fake pollsters, StatsCan warns
OTTAWA - Statistics Canada is warning the public to beware of callers claiming to work for the federal agency and asking for social insurance numbers, credit card numbers or bank account information. Statistics Canada conducts regular surveys but it says it does not collect personal financial information. It's warning people such callers, who refer to StatsCan surveys or the census, do not work for Statistics Canada and their requests are not legitimate.
      

Ruling expected on whether U.S. war resister and mother of 3 to be deported
TORONTO - A U.S. war resister living in Canada with her husband and three children is expected to find out today if she'll be subject to a deportation order. Kim Rivera served in Iraq with the U.S. military in 2006 and refused redeployment the following year. Rivera moved to Toronto with her husband, a six-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter.
      

Past overfishing has left N.S. fishery vulnerable to current economic woes: study
HALIFAX, N.S. - A new study says Nova Scotia's fishery is still reeling from past overfishing and has been left "vulnerable" to the global economic crisis as a result. The report, by Nova Scotia-based research group GPI Atlantic, says the province's fishing industry is less diverse than before and is relying more "on species lower in the food chain, notably lobster and other shellfish."
      

Snow, freezing rain blanket S. Ontario in first significant storm of 2009
TORONTO - An overnight mix of snow and freezing rain has turned roads across southern and eastern Ontario into a slippery mess for commuters. Freezing rain warnings are in effect for the Niagara area to Hamilton while snowfall warnings cover eastern portions of the province. Provincial police say they have been dealing with numerous accidents because of slippery roads and most are single vehicle crashes.
      

Teenage boy in Halifax hospital after drive-by shooting in city
HALIFAX, N.S. - A drive-by shooting Tuesday night sent a 14-year-old boy to a Halifax hospital with a gunshot wound to his upper torso, police said. Halifax Regional Police took two people - considered persons of interest in the case - into custody for questioning. Police said the two were later released and were not believed to have been involved in the shooting.
      

Flaherty says government, banks working to ensure people get loans
MONTREAL - The federal government and the country's banks have agreed to form a group to work on ensuring adequate availability of credit and financing in Canada, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Tuesday. "We all have responsibilities to ensure that the financial system functions properly in support of the Canadian economy," he said after a pre-budget meeting with various groups in Montreal. "I encourage the heads of the banks, the CEOs, to work with the government."
      

Canadian juniors still riding high after championship win over Sweden
TORONTO - Fresh off their championship victory, members of Canada's junior hockey team arrived at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Tuesday with gold medals around their necks and fans cheering their appearance. A small throng of supporters was on hand to greet several members of the team, which won its fifth straight world junior title with a 5-1 win Monday night over Sweden at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.
      

Rescuer says two of four plane crash survivors lucky to be alive
MONTREAL - Despite a high-tech rescue involving multiple military air assets, little could be done for two of the four people aboard a small Piper airplane that crashed about 65 kilometres southeast of Quebec City on Tuesday. Authorities did not release the names of the victims, but friends and relatives confirmed that Jesse Barrie, 27, of Pakenham, Ont., was piloting he plane and was one of the two men killed in the crash.
      

Judge to decide if father of girls who froze will face sentencing circle
ROSE VALLEY, Sask. - A Saskatchewan father whose two young daughters froze to death is about to learn if he'll face an aboriginal sentencing circle. Provincial court Judge Barry Morgan will rule Wednesday whether Christopher Pauchay should face a sentencing circle after pleading guilty to criminal negligence causing death. It was nearly a year ago that Pauchay stumbled drunk from his home and lost the two little girls in a blizzard.
      

Besieged Canadians await evacuation from Gaza fighting
OTTAWA - Canada condemned Palestinian fighters for endangering the lives of civilians in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday as 39 Canadians awaited an evacuation that has already been postponed once. Israeli authorities were preventing the Canadians from escaping the combat between Israeli forces and militant Hamas fighters because of security concerns.
      

Canadian among dead in New Year's Eve nightclub fire in Thailand
OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs says a Canadian was among the revellers who perished in a New Year's Eve fire at a nightclub in Bangkok, Thailand. A spokesman in Ottawa said consular officials have been in contact with the family to offer assistance and support.
      

Ignatieff's inner circle starts taking shape
OTTAWA - Michael Ignatieff is starting to put a Toronto-heavy stamp on the Liberal party, surrounding himself with loyalists who helped him secure the leadership. Almost a month after being installed as leader, Ignatieff has begun filling key posts in the Opposition leader's office, the party and its campaign machine.