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This article was published 16/02/2024 (580 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

COnFUSION OVER YUKON BRIDGES

DAWSON CITY, Yukon — The Yukon government is pouring cold water on a suggestion by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that a bridge is being built across the Yukon River in Dawson City, after years of struggle to construct a sanctioned winter route over ice.

Trudeau had been touting his government’s investment in infrastructure in the House of Commons on Wednesday, listing a string of projects including what he called “a new bridge over the Yukon River in Dawson City.”

Dawson City usually uses an ice bridge to connect communities on either side of the river in the winter, but it has become less reliable recently with the ice too thin for a government-approved route.

A statement issued by the Yukon government on Thursday says it believes Trudeau was referring to a project to replace the Nisutlin Bay Bridge in Teslin, Yukon, 700 kilometres away from Dawson City, which is being partially paid for by the federal government’s National Trade Corridors Fund. The statement added nearly 70 per cent of people surveyed in Dawson City don’t want a physical bridge.

In response, Trudeau’s office says federal money was originally earmarked for a Dawson City bridge in 2021 but was diverted to the Nusitlin project a year later, at the request of the Yukon government, as it was in urgent need of replacement.

TWO WOMEN DEAD IN QUE. STABBING

VAUDREUIL-DORION, Que. — Quebec provincial police say two women were killed and another was seriously injured in a stabbing attack in a condo tower west of Montreal.

Sgt. Catherine Bernard says a 44-year-old man was arrested at the scene Thursday in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., and is in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Bernard says the suspect was known to police but she wouldn’t give details regarding any connection he had to the three victims.

She says all three victims are adults but she did not release their ages.

Bernard said many people live in the residential complex, and police would meet with them for the investigation.

She says police arrived at the building around noon and set up a security perimeter.

Ottawa spends $273M on AIR DEFENCE IN LATVIA

BRUSSELS — The federal government is spending more than $273 million to acquire new military equipment for NATO’s Canada-led battle group in Latvia.

That includes $227.5 million for a short-range air defence system from Saab Canada Inc., intended to defend against fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and drones, and another $46 million for counter-drone equipment.

Defence Minister Bill Blair says it’s the first time that the Canadian Armed Forces will have an air defence capability since 2012. He says the equipment is being acquired on an “urgent basis” and is expected to be delivered later this year.

Blair made the announcement in Brussels, where he is attending a meeting of NATO defence ministers — and where he’s signalling Canada’s steadfast support for the military alliance.

Canada currently has about 1,000 troops in Latvia and it expects to increase that number to 2,200 “persistently deployed” military members by 2026.

» The Canadian Press