City in brief
Mayor Valérie Plante announced her administration will lower speed limits across the city in an effort to reduce pedestrian and cyclist deaths, according to CBC. The speed limit on main streets will be reduced to 40 km/h, and on residential streets to 30 km/h. Twenty-six pedestrians and cyclists were killed in Montreal in 2017, down from 56 in 2006.
A South Shore man is seeking nearly $1.2 million in damages from the Verdun Hospital after staff allegedly failed to inform him of his cancer diagnosis, according to The Montreal Gazette. Régis Thibert, 57, was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer in 2018, three years after his visit to the Verdun Hospital. The suit alleges that Thibert could have been cured had he been informed of his diagnosis in 2015.
The Réseau express métropolitain has removed around 5,400 parking spots from its plans for light rail stations across the Greater Montreal Area, according to Radio-Canada. The stations will have approximately 10,000 combined parking spots, whereas previous plans had promised just over 15,400. The stations in Pointe-Claire and Kirkland, which were meant to have 1,500 and 500 parking spots respectively, will now have none.
Veteran News Anchor Mutsumi Takahashi was awarded the Order of Canada on Thursday, according to CTV. Takahashi, who has worked at CTV News since 1982, was recognized for her contribution to broadcast journalism, as well as various charitable endeavours.
Nation in brief
Quebec may buy SNC-Lavalin shares to keep it in business, according to CBC. Premier François Legault said he would not rule out the move, as the Montreal-based construction firm grapples with fraud charges. Former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould resigned from the Liberal cabinet in February after reportedly facing inappropriate pressure from her colleagues to reach a deferred settlement with the company.
The RCMP is investigating claims of election fraud stemming from the 2017 United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership race in Alberta, according to The National Post. UCP Leader Jason Kenney is accused of conspiring with his opponent, Jeff Callaway, to sabotage the campaign of another opponent, Brian Jean. Alberta will have another provincial election in 2019.
An eight-year-old Edmonton boy was found safe on Saturday morning after an Amber Alert was issued for his whereabouts on Friday evening, according to CBC. Police praised the Amber Alert system for helping to locate the boy, who had been taken by his mother in violation of a parenting order.
Sixty-six greater sage grouse were released into the wild in an effort to save the endangered birds, according to Canadian Geographic. The National Conservancy of Canada, the Calgary Zoo and Parks Canada joined together for the project. Only an estimated 200 birds still exist in the wild.
World in brief
Fifty people were killed at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand when a gunman opened fire on Friday, according to stuff. A 28-year-old man is in custody in connection with the shootings. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called the attacks an act of terrorism, and called for the country’s gun laws to be tightened.
Children in Italy will now have to be vaccinated in order to attend school, according to BBC. The new law includes a list of mandatory vaccines that children must receive, including those for measles and smallpox. Italy’s vaccination rate was less than 80 per cent at the time the law was passed on Monday.
British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal was defeated for a second time in Parliament by 149 votes on Wednesday, according to CNBC. The House of Commons then voted to delay the UK’s withdrawal from the EU past the current March 29 deadline, according to BBC. Such a delay needs to be approved by the 27 other countries in the EU.
George Pell, an Australian cardinal and the former treasurer of the Catholic Church, was sentenced to six years in prison on Wednesday, according to ABC. Pell, one of the most powerful Catholics in Australia, was convicted in December 2018 for sexually abusing two choirboys in the 1990s.
Graphic by @sundaemorningcoffee
