Ontario budget today; No clear winner in Israeli election: In The News for March 24

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 March 24 …

What we are watching in Canada …

Ontario will deliver its 2021-22 budget today, its second spending package during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Premier Doug Ford says the budget will focus on economic recovery and fighting the pandemic.

Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy says the package will contain measures to bolster Ontario’s vaccine rollout.

He says it will also not raise taxes or cut any provincial services.

Ontario delivered its last spending package in November after delaying its planned March 2020 release because of the pandemic.

That document had record spending of $187 billion and a record deficit of $38.5 billion.

Bethlenfalvy says the budget will focus on “defeating” the pandemic. 

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Also this …

It has been 30 years since Michael Dunahee disappeared from a playground in Victoria in a case that became one of the largest missing child investigations in Canada. 

The Victoria Police Department and members of Dunahee’s family are scheduled to hold a news conference today to release an age-enhanced sketch of Michael.   

The four-year-old boy was in the Blanchard School playground on March 24, 1991, not far from where his family and others were playing a touch football game. 

A search for Michael involved hundreds of volunteers and numerous police agencies, but no trace of the boy was found.

Police say the sketch was prepared by an RCMP forensic artist.

They say it shows what Michael may look like today at age 34.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

The suspect accused of opening fire inside a crowded Colorado supermarket was a 21-year-old man who purchased an assault weapon less than a week earlier, authorities said Tuesday, a day after the attack that killed 10 people, including a police officer.

Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa bought the weapon on March 16, just six days before the attack at a King Soopers store in Boulder, according to an arrest affidavit. It was not immediately known where the gun was purchased.

Alissa, who is from the Denver suburb of Arvada, was booked into the county jail Tuesday on murder charges after being treated at a hospital. He was due to make a first court appearance Thursday.

Investigators have not established a motive, but they believe Alissa was the only shooter, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said.

A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting said the suspect’s family told investigators they believed Alissa was suffering some type of mental illness, including delusions. Relatives described times when Alissa told them people were following or chasing him, which they said may have contributed to the violence, the official said. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

The attack was the nation’s deadliest mass shooting since a 2019 assault on a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, where a gunman killed 22 people in a rampage that police said targeted Mexicans.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

Israeli parliamentary elections on Tuesday resulted in a virtual deadlock for a fourth time in the past two years, exit polls indicated, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an uncertain future and the country facing the prospect of continued political gridlock.

The exit polls on Israel’s three main TV stations indicated that both Netanyahu and his religious and nationalist allies, along with a group of anti-Netanyahu parties, both fell short of the parliamentary majority required to form a new government. That raised the possibility of an unprecedented fifth consecutive election later this year.

The election was seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s polarizing leadership style, and the initial results showed that the country remains as deeply divided as ever, with an array of small sectarian parties dominating the parliament.

The results also signalled a continuing shift of the Israeli electorate toward the right-wing, which supports West Bank settlements and opposes concessions in peace talks with the Palestinians. That trend was highlighted by the strong showing of an ultranationalist anti-Arab religious party.

After three previous inconclusive elections, Netanyahu had been hoping for a decisive victory that would allow him to form a government with his traditional ultra-Orthodox and hard-line nationalist allies and seek immunity from corruption charges.

In an address to supporters early Wednesday, a subdued Netanyahu boasted of a “great achievement” but stopped short of declaring victory. Instead, he appeared to reach out to his opponents and called for the formation of a “stable government” that would avoid another election.

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On this day in 1975 …

The beaver became Canada’s official symbol.

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In entertainment …

The president and CEO of Canadian movie theatre giant Cineplex says the company is “extremely frustrated and disappointed” that both Alberta and Manitoba are keeping cinemas closed amid the current COVID-19 protocols.

Ellis Jacob has released two statements on the situation in each province, saying it’s “devastating news” for employees and guests in those regions.

Jacob argues that cinemas are a safer form of gathering than other indoor venues, such as restaurants and big-box retailers.

He adds the Alberta government is keeping movie theatres closed “for reasons they either can’t justify or just won’t disclose,” and that Manitoba “continues to shutter movie theatres for reasons they won’t share.”

On Monday Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro paused the province’s plan to move to the next stage of reopening and lift health restrictions tied to COVID-19, citing rising case numbers.

The move means movie theatres, museums and other entertainment venues will remain closed under Step 2 of the province’s health measures.

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ICYMI …

Canadian folk singer Suzie Ungerleider says she’s retiring her Oh Susanna moniker, adopted from Stephen Foster’s 1848 American folk song “Oh! Susanna,” after learning more about its racist roots.

The two-time Juno Award nominee from Vancouver posted a message on her website explaining the decision to drop the name after more than 25 years. 

She will now perform under her birth name.

The “Oh! Susanna” song was part of minstrelsy performances where white performers wore blackface. Its original lyrics also included slurs.

Ungerleider says she doesn’t remember when she first learned of the original lyrics, but that for some time she considered them an “ugly relic of the past” that had been “changed for the better.”

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2021

The Canadian Press