In the news today: Sport court to hear Canada’s appeal in soccer case

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Sport court to hear Canada’s appeal in soccer case

A sports tribunal will hear an appeal today about the point deduction the Canadian women’s soccer team was handed.

The appeal was filed by the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer days after a member of its coaching staff was caught spying on New Zealand’s practices with a drone before the Games began in Paris.

FIFA came down hard on the program over the weekend. Six points were docked from the team, Canada Soccer was fined and three coaches — including head coach Bev Priestman — were suspended for one year.

A decision in the appeal case was expected before Canada closes out Group A play Wednesday night against Colombia in Nice.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

Rain and animal monitoring on minds of B.C., Alberta wildfire crews

British Columbia’s minister of emergency management is scheduled to give an update on the wildfire situation today as some areas in the province cool off while others flare.

Bowinn Ma and Forests Minister Bruce Ralston will be joined by staff from the province to give an overview of the wildfire trouble spots in B.C.

The BC Wildfire Service says recent rainfall and a return to more seasonable temperatures in many parts of the province have reduced fire behaviour on several “major incidents.”

In Alberta, Parks Canada officials want to ensure animals affected by the wildfires in Jasper National Park are alright.

One bear in particular has been fitted with a radio tracking collar, and has been followed since the blaze began last week.

Despite the loss of about a third of the Jasper townsite, including homes and buildings, as well as the sorrow over the destruction of a beloved piece of Canadian landscape, experts say animals know how to protect themselves in a wildfire.

Lawyers to make final arguments in Coutts case

Lawyers are set to make final arguments to a jury today in the trial of two men accused of conspiring to murder police at the 2022 border blockade at Coutts, Alta.

Jurors have been hearing evidence for seven weeks in the case against Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert.

Both men were charged after a cache of guns, body armour and ammunition was found in trailers at Coutts.

The blockade tied up traffic for two weeks at the busy Canada-U.S. border crossing to protest COVID-19 rules and vaccine mandates.

The Crown has argued the two men were going to use the blockade as a launch pad to start a revolution and were prepared to use violence against the RCMP.

B.C. First Nations challenge fish farm licences

Two B.C. First Nations are taking the federal government and fish farm companies to court trying to overturn a decision that allows the farms to continue to operate off B.C.’s coast for another five years.

The ‘Namgis and the Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis First Nations say in separate Federal Court applications the decision infringes on their Aboriginal rights.

The fisheries department had been phasing out the fish farms, but last month Canada’s fisheries minister extended licences for another five years for Grieg Seafood and Mowi Canada to continue to run 14 farms.

In the ‘Namgis’ application, the First Nation claims fish stocks of pink, coho, Chinook and sockeye salmon have become “severely depleted,” prompting the Nation to stop fishing for those stocks in Nimpkish River, build a hatchery and start a pilot project for a land-based fish farm facility.

The application says the fish farms licensed by the minister are “along crucial choke points of the migratory routes of wild Pacific salmon” that the nation has been fishing for since “time immemorial.”

Local content could shrink after SaltWire sale

An expert who tracks Canada’s mainstream media industry says Postmedia’s pending purchase of Atlantic Canada’s largest newspaper chain is almost certain to result in job cuts and a reduction in local content.

April Lindgren, a journalism professor with Toronto Metropolitan University, says Postmedia Network Inc. has made a habit of closing unprofitable publications, having shut down 57 news outlets since 2008 — more than any other media company in Canada.

On Friday, Postmedia announced plans to buy “certain businesses” belonging to SaltWire Network Inc. and The Halifax Herald Ltd., the two insolvent media companies that in March were granted court-ordered protection from creditors who were owed more than $90 million.

Toronto-based Postmedia owns the National Post, Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald and dozens of other publications. The acquisition is subject to approval from the Nova Scotia Supreme Court and to “satisfactory outcomes” with unionized workers, the company said. It did not disclose any financial details.

A representative from Postmedia could not be immediately reached for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2024.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press