The debate around the planned TransMountain pipeline expansion in British Columbia could intensify today when Prime Minister Trudeau meets new B.C. Premier John Horgan for the first time. The two have sidestepped the issue in official communications thus far, including a news release from Horgan on Monday where he said he intends to discuss the opioid crisis, B.C.’s wildfire emergency and the softwood lumber dispute with Trudeau. But there is little time if Horgan wants to stop the project as Kinder Morgan said just last week that construction is on schedule to begin in September.

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B.C. TOWNS PREPARE TO WELCOME BACK WILDFIRE EVACUEES

The mayor of Williams Lake, B.C., says the city is ready to welcome thousands of residents home, as soon as fire officials give the okay. About 10,000 residents of the Interior city were forced to leave more than a week ago when several wildfires threatened to cut highway access. About 20,000 people across the province remained displaced by wildfires yesterday.

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WETTLAUFER FACES NURSES’ COLLEGE HEARING

A convicted serial killing nurse who murdered eight seniors in her care faces a professional college disciplinary hearing today. The College of Nurses of Ontario alleges Elizabeth Wettlaufer committed professional misconduct when she overdosed 14 patients with the intent to harm or kill them. A college spokeswoman says Wettlaufer is not expected to appear before the discipline panel, which is could make their decision by the end of the day.

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TWO EX-BISHOPS FOUND GUILTY OF POLYGAMY

A former bishop of a religious community in southeastern B.C. is making no apologies after he was found guilty of practising polygamy. A judge said Monday that evidence proves both Winston Blackmore and his co-defendant, James Oler, were practising members of a breakaway Mormon sect that believes in plural marriage. Blackmore legally married one woman, then took 24 other wives in so-called celestial marriages, and Oler had five wives.

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ONTARIO CONSIDERS DISCLOSING PHARMA PAYMENTS TO DOCS

Ontario is considering a first-in-Canada policy that would see the payments private drug companies make to doctors made public. The province is consulting with several groups about the regulations that govern such payments. Payments from pharmaceutical companies to health care providers can raise concerns about conflicts of interest in the prescribing and promotion of certain drugs.

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ALLEGED COMPASSION-KILLING CASE RESUMES IN QUEBEC

A preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin today for a Montreal man charged with murdering his wife in a suspected compassion killing. Michel Cadotte, who is in his mid-50s, was charged in February with second-degree murder, one day after Jocelyne Lizotte was discovered in cardiac arrest at a long-term care facility. Cadotte was granted bail earlier this month.

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DEAL REACHED TO SAVE PUT BULLS FROM DEATH ROW

Eighteen alleged fighting dogs have been taken off death row in Ontario after a months-long negotiation to save their lives. A judge in a Chatham, Ont., court has ordered the dogs’ owners to surrender ownership in a deal that will see the banned dogs sent to a rehabilitation centre in Florida. The Ontario Society for the Cruelty to Animals had initially applied to euthanize 21 dogs that were deemed incapable of rehabilitation.