The blockade stays put and Teck withdraws; In The News for Mar. 2

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of Mar. 2.

What we are watching in Canada …

SMITHERS, B.C. — Work is expected to resume today on a natural gas pipeline in B.C. that’s been at the centre of protests that have disrupted both rail and road traffic in many parts of the country.

It follows a proposed arrangement that was reached Sunday during talks in Smithers, B.C. involving Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and senior ministers of the federal and B.C. governments. The agreement still needs the approval of the Wet’suwet’en people.

Details of the draft accord, which centres on Indigenous rights and land titles, were not disclosed, however, a joint statement by representatives of Wet’suwet’en Nation, the province and the federal government acknowledged they had not come to an agreement on the pipeline.

Chief Woos, one of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders, called the draft a milestone for all involved, though he added the “degree of satisfaction is not what we expected.”

The Wet’suwet’en are governed by both a traditional hereditary chief system and elected band councils. A majority of its councils have approved the pipeline, but some of the hereditary chiefs, including Woos, remain staunchly opposed to it running through their traditional territory.

Despite that, Coastal GasLink issued a statement saying it would resume construction activities in the Morice River area on Monday.  

Meanwhile, Kenneth Deer, the secretary of the Mohawk Nation of Kahnawake, said Sunday that activists had decided to maintain their rail blockade on the territory south of Montreal, at least for now.

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Also this …

OTTAWA — The federal Conservatives’ Crown-Indigenous Relations critic says it’s time for his party to have a serious think about its own policies on Indigenous issues.

Jamie Schmale says national protests sparked by the opposition of some Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs to a pipeline project are sparking a conversation about his party’s own relationship with Indigenous communities.

Schmale says he knows the party’s past relationship was tense, but with the Conservative leadership race underway, he hopes candidates put forward ideas on the file.

One candidate, Marilyn Gladu, has already advanced some, including ending all boil water advisories for Indigenous communities by 2025.

Another candidate, Peter MacKay, was greeted by protesters at an event last week in Northern Ontario where he was accused of posting anti-Indigenous rhetoric on his social media accounts.

Current leader Andrew Scheer was once also booed by First Nations chiefs for not being able to differentiate himself from his predecessor, Stephen Harper.

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ICYMI (in case you missed it) …

TORONTO — Ontario health officials announced four more cases of the new coronavirus in the province on Sunday, raising Canada’s total to 24 — British Columbia has reported eight cases, and Quebec one.

The four new patients had all recently travelled overseas, so the province said it appears the virus is not yet spreading locally.

There have now been 15 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, though the first three patients have since been cleared of the virus.

Thus far, health officials have said, all of the cases of COVID-19 in Canada are either in people who had recently travelled abroad or who were in close contact with those who had.

They also say frequent hand-washing and staying home while sick remain the best way to prevent the spread of any virus, COVID-19 included.

The epicentre of the virus is in China, where nearly 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 2,800 have died.

Iran was reporting 978 cases as of Sunday, with 54 deaths. But Egypt has only publicly reported one case of the illness.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

SELMA, Alabama — An emboldened Joe Biden is trying to cast himself as the clear moderate alternative to progressive Bernie Sanders as the Democrats’ shrinking presidential field raced toward Super Tuesday.

One of Biden’s leading moderate rivals, former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg, dropped out of the campaign Sunday just 24 hours after Biden scored a resounding victory in South Carolina, his first of the 2020 rollercoaster nomination fight.

While other rivals appeared undeterred, Biden pressed his case during TV interviews that reflected a stark reality a day after his big win in South Carolina: The former vice-president was forced to rely upon free media coverage because he was understaffed, underfunded and almost out of time as he fought to transform his sole win into a national movement.

Biden vowed to improve his campaign operation, his fundraising haul — and even his own performance. He also warned of a “stark choice” between him and Sanders, while making the case he was the candidate who could win up and down the ballot and in states beyond those voting next week.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired two presumed short-range ballistic missiles into the sea as it resumed weapons demonstrations following a months-long hiatus.

The launches came two days after North Korea’s state media said leader Kim Jong Un supervised an artillery drill aimed at testing combat readiness.

 Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff couldn’t immediately confirm how far the projectiles flew or whether the weapons were ballistic or rocket artillery.

In late December, Kim expressed deep frustration over deadlocked diplomacy with the United States and said he would no longer be bound by a self-imposed weapons test moratorium that coincided with his diplomacy with President Donald Trump.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Mar. 2, 2020.

The Canadian Press