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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 Nov. 12 …
What we are watching in Canada …
Today is the day Manitoba goes into a self-imposed economic and social hibernation to try to bring surging COVID-19 numbers back under control.
The province has been struggling to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus since it started spiking in recent weeks after a summer lull.
Gatherings are limited to five people, but the restriction does not apply to those who live in the same household.
Churches can’t hold in-person services and non-essential stores and restaurants are limited to curbside pickup and delivery.
Bars, museums and theatres are closed and recreational activities suspended, although schools remain open.
Wednesday was the deadliest day of the pandemic for Manitoba, with nine new deaths for a total of 123.
It has largest per-capita caseload of active infections in the country.
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Also this …
The trial for the man who killed 10 people and hurt 16 others in a van attack in Toronto resumes today.
Alek Minassian has pleaded not guilty and has raised a defence of being not criminally responsible for his actions.
He faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder.
Minassian’s state of mind at the time of the attack will be the sole issue at trial.
The defence has not yet stated what mental disorder Minassian will argue he suffered from.
Minassian has admitted in court he planned and carried out the attack.
He told a detective the attack was retribution against society because he was a lonely virgin who believed women wouldn’t have sex with him.
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And …
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will face questions today from senators scrutinizing the government’s latest bid to provide pandemic aid to hard-hit businesses.
Freeland is scheduled to testify early this afternoon to the Senate’s national finance committee that is reviewing the aid bill, known as C-9.
The House of Commons agreed last week to pass the proposed package of measures quickly, but none can be enacted until the Senate passes it as well.
Bill C-9 would extend the federal wage subsidy until next summer, cancelling a previously planned decline in its value, as well as expanding a popular business loan program.
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On this day in 1931 …
Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens was opened with a hockey game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Leafs. Built in five months at the height of the Great Depression, the Gardens was financed by Conn Smythe and associates who had raised $160,000 and bought the Toronto St. Pats in 1927. The veteran of the First World War and an outspoken patriot, Smythe re-named the team the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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In entertainment …
“The Good Doctor” star Freddie Highmore says production on the medical drama is continuing in Vancouver, after the COVID-19 diagnoses of co-stars Richard Schiff and Sheila Kelley.
Schiff posted on his verified Twitter account this week that he and Kelley, who is his wife both on the show and in real life, have the novel coronavirus.
He says he tested positive on Nov. 3, adding that Kelley also contracted it and “it’s been the most bizarre week” of their lives, as the show’s new season addresses the pandemic.
Kelley also posted about testing positive on her verified Instagram account, saying they’re are quarantined at home in Vancouver and finding their “symptoms change radically, daily, even hourly.”
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ICYMI …
Mitch Marner was asked recently about the possibility of the NHL going with an all-Canadian division next season.
“It would definitely be interesting,” Marner, a star winger with the Toronto Maple Leafs, said last month. “We’ve got to be ready for whatever happens.”
Well, commissioner Gary Bettman indicated this week the league is exploring the idea of temporary realignment in 2020-21.
And an all-Canadian division appears to indeed be on the table.
“We’re not going to move all seven Canadian franchises south of the 49th parallel … so we have to look at alternative ways to play,” Bettman said Tuesday as part of a virtual panel discussion during the 2020 Paley International Council Summit.
“It’s again part of having to be flexible.”
Bettman added the league, which is working closely with the NHL Players’ Association, is contemplating the possibility of a reduction from the usual 82-game schedule and the use of temporary hubs where teams would play a fixed number of games in the same location and then return home for a period of time before resuming action.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2020
The Canadian Press
