Canada in the news: How Trudeau made marijuana legal
- Published
Canada is one step closer to legalising pot
The Liberal government tabled its legislation to legalise marijuana in Parliament on Thursday. The bill would allow the government to license marijuana producers, but provinces would decide how to sell to consumers.
If it passes, Canada would be the largest Western nation to make recreational pot legal. The move is being pitched as a health and safety measure aimed at keeping children from getting their hands on pot and keeping drug money out of the pockets of organised crime.
Under the plan, adults 18 and over would be allowed to possess 30g of dried cannabis, although provinces could increase the minimum age if they want. Police would have the authority to test people's saliva to determine if they're driving while stoned.
The government still has to work out regulations regarding pricing, taxes and packing.
How United Airlines crashed and burned
Earlier this week, footage was published of a screaming passenger being dragged off a United Airlines plane after he was randomly chosen to be bumped from the flight. A second video showed the passenger, 69-year-old doctor David Dao, bleeding from the face and crying that the security guards should "just kill me".
Many people were appalled by what seemed like excessive force on the part of United. Adding fuel to the PR dumpster fire was the initial response by the airline's CEO, Oscar Munoz, who told staff in an email that the passenger was "disruptive and belligerent".
Munoz has since said he felt "shame and embarrassment" about the incident.
"This can never, will never happen again on a United Airlines flight," he told ABC in an interview on Wednesday.
Shares in United dropped nearly 4%, wiping nearly $1bn (C$1.33bn, £800m) from its value.
Mr Dao's lawyer has filed initial court papers, the first step in a lawsuit.
"He said that being dragged down the aisle was more horrifying and harrowing than what he experienced when leaving Vietnam," said his lawyer, Thomas Demetrio, during a press conference.
The Americans volunteering to watch executions
Teresa Clark has watched three strangers die. She held her husband's hand the first time, but after that the experience began to feel normal.
Witnesses like Mr and Mrs Clark are a legal necessity in some death penalty states, where the law requires people with no connection to the crime attend each execution as "public eyewitnesses".
Trump's about-face
In just 24 hours, US President Donald Trump reversed positions on China, Nato and the Federal Reserve, contradicting statements he made throughout his campaign.
According to Trump, Nato is "no longer obsolete", China is not a currency manipulator, and he said he's open to re-nominating Janet Yellen so she can continue as head of the Federal Reserve.
He's also dropped a federal hiring freeze and now supports the Export-Import Bank.
Secret US nuclear bomb videos revealed
Other news
- Michael Ignatieff is trying to save this university in Hungary from being closed down.
- An Illinois woman has pled guilty to helping plot a Valentine's Day massacre at a Halifax mall.
- Amnesty International says global executions are down 37% since 2015.
- Sean Spicer got schooled after he said Hitler never used chemical weapons.
- It took 30 years for Northern Irish police to tell the RCMP a retired pastor was a confessed child sex abuser.
- A man walked into a US primary school and fatally shot his wife in her class, killing a child in the crossfire.
- Malala Yousafzai says "Welcome to Canada is not a hashtag."
- The US moved navy ships closer to North Korea, and North Korea says we could be "on the brink of war".
- Michael Buble's son is doing well after liver-cancer treatment.
We asked, you answered: Should Scotland join Canada?
"At least someone would then listen to me playing the pipes! Besides, I actually like haggis and the Scottish hills. Some of my fondest memories occurred during visits to Scotland as a child to the farm my grandfather worked on." - John McCubbin, Toronto, Ontario
Stories you may have missed
- Scientists grew a chicken with a dinosaur face in the lab and it will haunt your dreams.
- On patrol with India's anti-harassment squad.
- The UK has caught "Monkmania" over the Canadian quiz show contestant Eric Monkman.
- The US state where a narrow Republican victory is being heralded as a loss for the party.
- A Peel School District Board meeting turned ugly when a man tore pages from the Koran.
- This woman stood up to an English Defence League protestor with a smile.
- An Australian rapper ran into the ocean to avoid paying is rather large bill at seafood restaurant.
- More than 20,000 Canadians travelled to Europe to mark the 100th anniversary of Vimy Ridge.
- Glasgow will be the first city in the UK to get a Tim Hortons.
- The Daily Mail paid Melania Trump damagers for alleging she was once an "escort".