News
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The Bay of Quinte Riding’s federal candidates met for a second debate, this time hosted by the Quinte West Chamber of Commerce, in a virtual forum. In attendance were Liberal candidate Chris Malette, Conservative Ryan Williams,
NDP Kate Crothers and Green Party candidate Erica Charlton, although Charlton was forced to leave the debate early on, due to illness. Over the course of the debate, the candidates touched on a wide range of issues, including cost of living, the ongoing trade war, housing, mental health & addictions, environmental regulation, and the economy. On the question of specific plans their party’s have to address the rising cost of living MP Ryan Williams said that the Conservatives would combine tax cuts with cutting red tape to enable faster housing development including an income tax cut of 15% across the board. The NDP’s Kate Crothers said her party would scrap the GST on essential groceries, diapers, children’s clothing, phone and internet service, and home heating. Liberal candidate Chris Malette promised to eliminate GST for first time home buyers, along with investing in prefabricated homes to speed up construction.
The leaders of Canada’s four main political parties will square off for a second and final leaders’ debate tonight in Montreal, after an initial French-language face-off last night. Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and the Bloc Québécois’ Yves-François Blanchet will meet onstage for a final time before the April 28 vote, after a first debate that saw them spar on pipelines, the economy and U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war. Carney is leading in the polls and was the frequent target of attacks from his rivals last night. The first debate took place without the Green Party’s Jonathan Pedneault, after the Leaders’ Debate Commission nnounced early Wednesday that it had rescinded the party’s invitation to participate in the two debates.
Meanwhile… The Liberals have a marginal five-point advantage over the Conservatives on Day 26 of the 36-day federal election campaign, while a breakdown of voter intention by age shows an “absolute dead heat” when it comes to key middle aged voters. A three-day rolling sample by Nanos Research ending April 16 has the Liberals at 44 per cent over the Conservatives who are at 39 per cent nationally.
Officials with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have stopped 154 kilograms of cocaine from coming into Canada via the Ambassador Bridge. The interception took place near the bridge on Tuesday. The suspect vehicle was
chosen for examination, leading to a physical inspection. Officers said they recovered “bricks of a white powdery substance”, that was inside two duffel bags nd four moving boxes. Testing confirmed the substance was cocaine.
Bright Planet, Reuters – In a potential landmark discovery, scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have obtained what they call the strongest signs yet of possible life beyond our solar system, detecting in an alien planet’s atmosphere the chemical fingerprints of gases that on Earth are produced only by biological processes. The two gases – dimethyl sulfide, or DMS, and dimethyl disulfide, or DMDS – involved in Webb’s observations of the planet named K2-18 b are generated on Earth by living organisms, primarily microbial life such as marine phytoplankton or
algae. This suggests the planet may be teeming with microbial life, the researchers said. They stressed, however, that they are not announcing the discovery of actual living organisms but rather a possible biosignature – an indicator of a biological process – and that the findings should be viewed cautiously, with more observations needed.
Sports
The Trenton Golden Hawks and Milton Menace are the last two teams still standing in the 24-team Ontario Junior Hockey League. At stake is the Buckland Cup and a trip to the National Centennial Cup in Calgary May 8 to the 18. The teams will open their best-of-seven final on Saturday afternoon at 5 o’clock at the Duncan McDonald Community Gardens in Trenton. The Golden Hawks led the OJHL with a 47-6-2-1 record for 97 points.
Paige Bueckers’s new salary is a reminder of how little WNBA players earn. The No. 1 draft pick is reported to earn $79,000 US for her rookie season with the Dallas Wings, a slight uptick from last year, when first-round pick Caitlin Clark was drafted with a starting salary of just over $76,000 US for her rookie season. The No. 1 draft pick for the
NBA, by comparison, can expect to earn $13.8 million US in his rookie year.
Next Tuesday in a courtroom in London, Ont., five former members of Canada’s 2018 World Juniors team go on trial, 15 months after they were charged with sexual assault. Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Cal Foote, and Dillon Dube have all pleaded not guilty. McLeod faces a second sexual assault charge as a party to the offence. A woman referred to in court documents as E.M. told police in June 2018 that she had been sexually assaulted days earlier in a hotel in London following a Hockey Canada golf and gala event. London police and Hockey Canada investigated the allegation, but both closed their investigations in 2019 without laying any charges
