Dozens of top hockey prospects were picked in last week’s NHL draft, but one of them is making a name for himself — with his name.

Montreal-born forward Bobby Orr was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 5th round.

No, he’s not a 73-year-old Hockey Hall of Famer and all-time great quite yet, he’s only 17 after all. He is a hockey player, however.

He was with his family in their Beaconsfield, Quebec, home last week when he got the biggest news of his young life.

“When my name got called, I was very emotional, proud, happy. I can’t describe the feeling,” Bobby Orr told Global News.

Bobby Orr was selected 136th overall in the NHL draft by the Carolina Hurricanes, in the 5th round. Surrounded by his parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, the room exploded with excitement.

READ MORE: A look inside the Scotiabank Centre ahead of Halifax Mooseheads home opener

“It was so exciting, I teared up. It was an emotional moment,” said John Orr, Bobby’s father.

“It was an incredible feeling and I just can’t put it into words,” said Bobby’s mother, Sharon.

Bobby Orr grew up in Montreal’s West Island, and quickly got into the same line of work as his legendary distant relative. He even wore the elder Bobby Orr’s number four when playing as a kid.

His family insists he is not named after the hockey legend.

“My father was Robert Orr, and he went by Bob. Right out of the womb, Bobby became Bobby. It was natural and had nothing to do with Robert Gordon Orr,” explained John Orr.

The 17-year-old forward got 15 goals and 17 assists for the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League last season. His play got him drafted, but his name is generating lots of talk.

READ MORE: West Island communities struggling to pump the brakes on speeding

“Obviously growing up, I didn’t see it as a big deal, but it is now. Since I joined the Mooseheads, it’s kind of been going viral,” Bobby explained.

John Orr’s father Bob Orr never really cared that he shared a name with a legend.

“For us growing up, we were big Habs fans. Bobby Orr was the enemy,” said John.

Bobby Orr even has an autographed photo from the other Bobby.

It says: “To Bobby Orr, good luck always, Bobby Orr.”

Young Bobby now wants to carve out his own path, with his own number, 88.

“I’m my own Bobby Orr, I’m my own person and I have my own expectations in my life and career. I’m not trying to fill anyone’s shoes, just my own,” he said.

Orr knows his work has only just begun, and that making it to the NHL is no sure thing.

“I want to pursue my dream and play pro somewhere, whether it’s the NHL or somewhere else. I want to make my family proud,” he said,

He and his family believe he has the work ethic and dedication to make his own name.

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The bodies of two missing people were discovered in High Level, Alta., on Thursday, but RCMP say neither death is considered to be suspicious and that the cases are unrelated.

In a news release issued Friday, police said Mounties and community volunteers were involved in a search for a missing man when they found the remains of a different missing person.

The RCMP said the search party found what is believes to be the “skeletal remains” of 47-year-old Arthur Joel Gallant at about 3:45 p.m. on Thursday.

Gallant was last seen in High Level in December 2020. Police said he was found in a wooded area near an industrial park.

READ MORE: RCMP investigate after human remains found in High Level

At around 8 p.m. that same day, the RCMP said Mounties and volunteers found human remains believe to be those of another missing person, 23-year-old Keaton Talley.

Talley’s remains were discovered in the woods on the northeast outskirts of the town. Police said Talley’s and Gallant’s remains were found by the same search party.

Police said Talley was last seen in the High Level area on either July 14 or July 15.

Both men’s remains have been sent to Edmonton for autopsies, the RCMP said.

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Calgary is under yet another heat warning, as temperatures are expected to soar over the August long weekend.

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, temperatures could be as high as 35C during the day, and dip to only 14C to 20C overnight.

Read more:
Western Canada’s extreme heat wave: Some experts have ‘never seen’ anything like it

Anyone living in or visiting Calgary is encouraged to take precautions against heat exhaustion and heat stroke, including taking frequent breaks from the heat, staying hydrated and planning outdoor activities for cooler times of the day.

Officials also reminded people to check for children and pets before getting out of vehicles, and not to leave pets inside a closed vehicle for any length of time.

“Monitor for symptoms of heat stroke or heat exhaustion, such as high body temperature, lack of sweat, confusion, fainting, and unconsciousness,” the advisory said.

“Pay particular attention to individuals that can experience earlier or more severe effects from heat including infants, children, seniors, and individuals with pre-existing lung, heart, kidney, nervous system, mental health or diabetic conditions, outdoor workers, as well as those who are socially isolated.”

Air quality statements were also in effect across much of Alberta, particularly the mountain parks and towns, including Banff and the Canmore-Kananaskis region.

Environment and Climate Change Canada said wildfire smoke was causing poor air quality in the areas.

Heat warnings were issued Thursday for much of the rest of Alberta, including Edmonton.

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Friday was the deadline for a public inquiry into what the Alberta government says is foreign funding of environmental groups who want to curtail energy development — an investigation lauded by Premier Jason Kenney as principled but derided by critics as a buffoonishly sinister political witch hunt.

“We have not yet received the (final) report but expect to have it delivered to the minister’s office sometime today,” Jerry Bellikka, chief of staff to Energy Minister Sonya Savage, said in an email.

The inquiry was given five deadline extension stretching back a year to July 30, 2020. Its budget was set at $2.5 million, but later increased to $3.5 million.

READ MORE: 4th deadline extension granted to Steve Allan’s Alberta inquiry into oil & gas critics 

Savage has up to three months to release the report once she receives it from forensic accountant Steve Allan.

Kenney launched the inquiry in 2019, fulfilling a United Conservative election campaign promise. He accused Canadian environmental charities of accepting foreign funding in a co-ordinated attempt to hinder energy infrastructure and landlock Alberta’s oil to benefit U.S. Competitors.

READ MORE: Kenney government launches inquiry into groups that criticize Alberta’s oil industry

Kenney recently said he was not surprised eco-groups are criticizing the inquiry as unfair and tilted toward a prejudged outcome.

“They don’t want the public to realize they have been receiving massive amounts of money from foreign sources to shut down the largest job-creating industry in Canada,” Kenney said on July 22.

“They don’t want the disinfectant of transparency to come down on them. That’s why they went to court. Thankfully, the Court of Queen’s Bench threw their case out.”

READ MORE: Judge dismisses attempt to quash ‘anti Alberta’ activities inquiry 

In May, a judge dismissed a challenge by the environmental law firm Ecojustice to quash the inquiry. The judge ruled Ecojustice failed to prove the inquiry was called to intimidate charities concerned about the environmental impact of the energy industry.

In recent days, leaked sections of Allan’s draft report show he has concluded that eco-groups have not in any way broken the law. But critics say Allan exceeded his mandate by linking any opposition to resource development as being “anti-Albertan.”

Allan, in a letter this week to Greenpeace Canada, made it clear that “anti-Alberta” is meant simply as a “a non-pejorative geographic modifier.”

University of Calgary law professor Martin Olszynski said “anti-Alberta” is not an innocent term but a broad-based slur, easily weaponized by political opponents. He said it turns those concerned with the pace of resource development and its effect on the environment into scapegoats and depicts them as traitors to the community.

READ MORE: Alberta inquiry on oil sector under fire for commissioned reports skeptical of climate change

“The precedent (is) anything can become anti-Alberta, essentially anything that the premier disagrees with,” said Olszynski.

“To some extent a government has a democratic mandate, but it only goes so far. It can’t go to the point where opposition to that mandate — dissent — is branded as treason and sedition.

“That’s very authoritarian.”

The inquiry has been criticized for operating in secret: no witnesses called publicly, little to no evidence on its website and those investigated being given little time late in the game to respond. Its terms of reference have also been altered twice.

“This has been something out of ‘Alice in Wonderland,”’ said Keith Stewart, a senior energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada. “We got funding from international foundations. It was about two per cent of our revenue over a decade.

“We got a lot more money from Albertans.”

He said Greenpeace Canada has been one of the inquiry’s targets and that letters to Allan asking for information and details have been ignored.

“We don’t even get to publicly defend ourselves or even see the evidence against us. (Allan) says, `I interviewed 100 people.’ He won’t tell us who they were. How are we supposed to respond to evidence that we’re not allowed to see?”

Allan, on his website, noted that his inquiry sent out 40 invitations in mid-June for participants to respond by mid-July.

“Some participants did not accept the commissioner’s invitation until some weeks after June 18, and they were then granted access to the (inquiry) dataroom to review content,” Allan said in a statement July 21.

“The material provided to each party for review included material necessary to understand the context surrounding potential findings and contained potential findings related to them.”

Olszynski said there’s a “good chance” Allan’s final report will be challenged in court on the grounds it was procedurally flawed and reached unqualified conclusions.

“Inquiries are not courts of law, but it’s not the Wild West,” he said.

Kathleen Ganley, energy critic for the Opposition NDP, said Savage should release the report immediately upon receiving it.

“Leaked drafts of the report show the inquiry relied on misinformation found in Google searches and `research’ conducted by the UCP’s own ridiculous war room,” said Ganley.

“But despite putting their thumb on the scale with this shoddy research, the inquiry was still forced to conclude there was no wrongdoing or illegal activity.”

© 2021 The Canadian Press

Canadian Olympic weightlifting gold medal winner Maude Charron says she’s still on cloud nine.

The Quebec athlete is back home from the Tokyo games after winning gold Tuesday in women’s 64-kilogram weightlifting and has become a celebrity overnight.

Kids at a day camp at Montreal’s Olympic stadium Friday flocked to the Rimouski native, bombarding her with questions.  She said it’s only now that she is realizing the magnitude of what it means to be an Olympic champion.

Read more:
Weightlifter Maude Charron embraces ‘weird road’ to gold medal at Tokyo Olympics

“Just there, there’s a kid who called my name, ‘oh it’s Maude Charron,'” she laughed.  “So it’s kind of surprising.”

Charron, who is 28-years-old, said she did not expect to win a medal at all — she just wanted to be there.  Now that she’s the champion, she hopes it’ll bring more attention to women’s weightlifting.

“It’s a sport with a lot of judgement,” she pointed out.

According to her, many women are afraid to try the sport because they don’t want to get bulky, a challenge she said even she had to overcome.

“I’m even more proud of my body now than before because I know how strong it is and I’m proud of how strong my body is,” she told Global News. “So I hope that people will try that sport and get that confidence as well.”

Charron is the first Canadian woman to win gold in weightlifting since Christine Girard, who was elevated to gold six years after competing at the 2012 London summer games due to two other athletes being stripped of their medals when they tested positive for banned substances.

Charron’s road to gold was difficult, especially because of the pandemic. Gyms were closed, so she improvised by training in her father’s unheated garage.

Her boyfriend, Maxime D’Amours-Bujold, who was at the stadium in Montreal with her, said winter training was tough.

Read more:
While you were sleeping: How Canada performed at Tokyo Olympics Thursday, Friday

“I trained with her a few times and just putting your hands on the bar,” he remembered. “Your hands would freeze!”

He said she powered through in spite of it and now he, her family and friends are overjoyed.

“It’s just amazing,” he beamed. “Beyond our wildest dreams basically, because everything just fell into place.”

Since spectators were barred from attending the games because of the pandemic, they couldn’t be in Tokyo to support her, and that was the hardest part for Charron even after she won.

“When I was on the podium, the tears were there, and partly it was because my family wasn’t there,” she pointed out.

Now she’s going to spend time with them before getting ready for more competitions.

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

B.C.’s health minister says the province won’t emulate Alberta’s controversial plans to end COVID-19 contact tracing and mandatory self-isolation for people who test positive.

“We have no plans, none, to change our requirements around self-isolation in B.C. We have no plans, none, to change our approach to contact tracing in B.C.,” Adrian Dix said at a Friday briefing.

Read more:
B.C. records 243 new cases of COVID-19 in only 24 hours, with more than half in Interior

Dix did not directly address concerns the new Alberta measures could result in more transmission in B.C., as Albertans travelled west for holiday.

He said B.C. remained focused on raising vaccination rates, particularly in the Interior, where the Central Okanagan is facing a new outbreak, and communicating public health information.

“I don’t want to caricature what they’re doing there. They have outstanding public leadership in Alberta,” Dix said.

“No one needs to take an approach of blame here, we need to work and encourage and support communities and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”

Contact tracers in Alberta are no longer notifying close contacts of COVID-19 cases of an exposure, nor legally requiring them to isolate.

Read more:
Canada’s top doctors say Alberta’s COVID-19 plan could have ripple effects across the country

Effective Aug. 16, Alberta Health says people who test positive for the virus will no longer be required to self-isolate either, though it will remain “strongly recommended.”

Doctors led protests in Calgary and Edmonton on Friday in opposition to the relaxed health measures.

Earlier Friday, federal Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam addressed Alberta’s approach.

“I firmly believe that quarantine and isolation can help prevent the spread of COVID-19, especially in light of the spread of the Delta variant,” Tam said.

As of Friday, Alberta had the most active cases of COVID-19 of any Canadian province. The Delta variant has also become dominant.

Read more:
Alberta taking ‘risky gamble’ by ending COVID isolation: Canadian Paediatric Society

Dr. Howard Njoo, the country’s deputy chief public health officer, also raised concerns Alberta’s relaxed measures could have a ripple effect in other provinces.

“Everyone is alive to the fact that there could be, as they say, ‘knock-on effects’ to the other provinces and territories with travel within Canada,” he said.

B.C. reported 243 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, a two-month high. More than half of those cases were in the province’s Interior.

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The woman who led the charge on exposing Mount Allison University‘s lack of comprehensive policy and resources to address complaints of sexual violence says she is disappointed with the report the university published this week.

Michelle Roy, a survivor of sexual violence, was appointed to be a part of the independent review the university commissioned in December 2020.

She said the experience began hopeful but turned sour quickly.

“It was long four-hour meetings that really I felt like I was just in the corner. Nobody cared about what I had to say … And discipline wasn’t really discussed as much,” she said.

Read more:
Mount Allison student speaks out against university sexual violence conduct

“I strongly feel that this report is just giving the university more power and that nothing is going to change,” she said in an interview Friday. “I tried as hard as I could throughout the process to change their mind on it, but I just felt like I was never really listened to when it came to this side of things.”

Roy said she felt dismissed and unheard.

The report says the university will implement several things in the fall. It said it will review and revise policies related to campus sexual violence, create a sexual assault response team, have investigative services provided through a third party, and have consent training for staff, faculty, and residence staff, among others.

For Roy, those policies are vague and are not good enough.

Protests held in November

Roy said previously that in 2016, in her first year at the school, a man sexually harassed her. After telling a friend, Roy heard she was not the first to be harassed by him.

At that point, Roy gathered several people who alleged the man assaulted them and went to the campus sexual assault centre to report him.

“We were basically coerced into writing an informal complaint,” Roy said in a previous interview with Global News.

With an informal complaint, Roy says there are barely any consequences for the person accused. “There’s no discipline … the person will usually just be given a consent class, which is really kind of useless,” she said previously.

Read more:
Mount Allison student speaks out against university sexual violence conduct

The individual was found guilty by the university, she previously said.

Once classes ended for the summer, Roy said she received news that the man had appealed the decision.

“The university just decided he was no longer guilty, so he was allowed back on campus,” she said. “That was the first story where I was completely flabbergasted,” she said.

At the time, Roy said people came to her with stories. People who had been victimized and saw no justice through the university system, she said.

She held a protest at the university in November, which was attended by more than 400 people.

University prioritizes education and prevention

Anne Comfort, Mount Allison’s vice president, said the university’s immediate priority is education and prevention.

“We feel the external review is comprehensive, fair, and will be an essential guide in our path for going forward,” she said in an email statement.

Comfort said developing specific policies out of the report will take time, including policies impacting the discipline of students in sexual violence cases.

“We know there is still work to do,” she said in an email. “We are reviewing all these reports and making concrete action plans to ensure our students have access to supports in addition to improved education and awareness.”

Comfort did not clarify what external parties might be involved in the investigative process or who would be on the sexual assault response team.

Read more:
UBCO responds to report highlighting sexual violence faced by Canadian post-secondary students

“We know we need to do better going forward; this review process is helping to guide next steps and make change, to work towards a best-in-class response to sexual violence response, education, and prevention,” she added.

It’s all little comfort to Roy, who says she continues to live with her trauma.

“The whole thing is extremely vague,” she said. “I mean, the policy coming into this was really vague, and I always say that is the reason the university purposely makes it vague, because if it is vague, they know what loopholes they can go with.

“I just think this is the exact same thing.”

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Middlesex-London Health Unit medical officer of health Dr. Chris Mackie is the latest to raise alarm over the issue of intimate partner violence, which has become more frequent and more severe amid the pandemic.

During Thursday’s COVID-19 update, Mackie used the opportunity to specifically identify intimate partner violence as a major issue in the community.

Read more:
LAWC reports ‘alarming’ surge in demand for services during COVID-19 pandemic

“We don’t have great reporting because it is often, in this pandemic context, more difficult for people to report intimate partner violence, given that there is more contact in the home,” he said.

“What we have been able to do is we’ve been able to speak with service providers. Eighty-six per cent of the people who are working in this sector have noticed an increase in intimate partner violence and an increase in the severity of intimate partner violence in this time.”

Jessie Rodger, executive director of Anova, supported Mackie’s comments but also pointed to provincial data to demonstrate the extent and severity of the issue.

According to the latest femicide report from Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses (OAITH), there have been 35 deaths in the first six months of 2021 compared with 19 in the same timeframe in 2020.

“The province is seeing a massive increase in women being killed because of domestic violence. I think that if that’s not ringing everybody’s alarm bells, it really should be,” Rodger said.

On a local level, Anova has seen an increase in the intensity of violence reported.

“That happens for a few different reasons. Some of them are delaying calling us because of COVID restrictions, because they can’t get to a phone, because they can’t get to a way to talk to us so the violence gets worse. Sometimes they’re being kept from contacting us or getting in touch with people to help,” she explained.

“We’re also seeing a number of women who don’t want to come in to shelter because of COVID-19. Despite all the precautions that we take and that they would take, it’s still too big of a risk for them and for their children.”

As a result, the demand for Anova’s outreach counsellors has “skyrocketed,” Rodger says.

The pandemic has also been particularly trying for staff as they try to offer as much support as possible with limited resources.

“Before COVID-19, we would have to tell women all the time that we didn’t have enough room in shelter. This is an epidemic meeting a pandemic. And what’s changed now is that the options available are fewer.”

Read more:
Pandemic within a pandemic — national survey shows worsening gender-based violence

The London Abused Women’s Centre also tells Global News it has seen an increase in service demand during the pandemic but says “there has been increased reports of male violence against women over multiple years.”

“The most dangerous place for women and children continues to be in their homes,” says executive director Jennifer Dunn. “LAWC encourages Dr. Mackie to proclaim male violence against women as a public health issue.”

LAWC says it provided services to a total of 9,235 women and girls during the 2020-21 fiscal year, with 3,835 women and girls accessing “individual and group support and 5,400 phone calls for service.”

The figures also include a 45 per cent increase over the previous year in demand for LAWC’s Urgent Services Support Program.

Read more:
Coronavirus — Domestic, intimate partner violence reports continue to rise during COVID-19 pandemic

While raising the issue on Thursday, Mackie also provided advice for anyone suspecting that someone they know might be experiencing intimate partner violence.

“First of all, please try not to be angry or frustrated. There are lots of reasons why people stay in relationships in spite of violence. It is a very complex, difficult situation, including reliance financially or for shelter, concern about violence — we know that violence does mount when people try to leave intimate partner violence situations — and concern for their children,” he explained.

“If you know somebody who you witness or believe is experiencing domestic violence, talk to them about what you see. Tell them you’re concerned about their safety, for their emotional well-being and for that of their children. Tell them that you believe them, that it’s not their fault.

“Make sure that they have some support to develop a safety plan. You can offer to provide child care or pet care. Go with them when they seek help.”

Read more:
U.K. police officer pleads guilty to murder of Sarah Everard

Anova’s Rodger suggests that members of the public looking to help check in with people in their lives, especially anyone they haven’t heard from in a while.

“The likelihood that you know somebody who’s experiencing intimate partner violence is very high,” she said.

“The other thing that we need to be thinking about is we’re about to walk into about a year or so of elections — federal, provincial, municipal. And there are a lot of things that we need to be talking about, but domestic violence and gender-based violence is one of them.”

The Middlesex-London Health Unit has a list of resources available on its website, which includes contact information for Anova and LAWC as well as contacts for other support providers, information on safety planning, and more.

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

New Brunswick’s mandatory order expires at 11:59 Friday night, effectively lifting all provincial COVID-19 restrictions.

This comes as regions elsewhere confront the possibility of a Delta variant-fuelled fourth wave.

Despite what lay ahead, the province’s premier remains firm: now is the time to end restrictions.

“No hospitalization, case counts in the younger population and no one that’s really sick in that sense? You can’t justify staying under an emergency order,” Premier Blaine Higgs says.

Read more:
Canada facing the start of a Delta-driven 4th wave, top doctors warn

The province logged seven new COVID-19 cases Friday for an active total of 19 – the highest count in 26 days.

Still, Higgs says it’s time for New Brunswick to transition to living with the virus.

“If it doesn’t have an effect on hospitals, it’s like living with the flu,” he says.

In the Department of Health’s COVID-19 news release Thursday it announced the daily release would cease with the lifting of the mandatory order, meaning daily case counts would require a bit of math while looking at the province’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Read more:
Seven new COVID-19 cases in N.B. as province ends emergency order

The focus is now shifting, as Higgs says, to hospitalizations and whether they might put strain on the health-care system.

“We wouldn’t be doing this if we thought there was a risk of that,” says Higgs.

“But will there be a risk of cases? Yes. So I guess it’s like, let’s prepare to live with COVID but do it in a way that’s socially acceptable.”

Forty-six New Brunswickers have so far died due to COVID-19 – lower than seven of the country’s other provinces, but still a number not lost on Higgs.

“I recall vividly the first fatality and I was quite shook up by that because I just thought, what could we have done differently?”

Higgs says he has hope that continued efforts to vaccinate the population will help keep that figure comparatively low in New Brunswick.

Among the successes the province has seen amidst the pandemic, the premier points to the unique all-party cabinet committee that came to formulate some of the steps taken these past 17 months.

“It was a combined team effort,” he says.

“That should build confidence in what our potential is going forward.”

Higgs says stepping into the role of premier in 2018 he never imagined he’d work so closely with the chief medical officer of health, whom he sat beside dozens of times at afternoon COVID-19 briefings.

“We’ve had our afternoon television series that will be missed, I would say, between General Hospital and Another World.”

“People got very accustomed to that,” he says with a laugh.

The end of provincial COVID-19 restrictions comes at the tip of the August long weekend, with many in the province off work Monday for New Brunswick Day.

Just in time, says Higgs.

“I’m hoping there won’t be massive gatherings at midnight, but in some areas there might be some parties or a countdown and throwing of masks,” he says.

Asked if this – or another mandatory order – could be brought back if COVID-19 counts creep up once more, Higgs says that isn’t off the table.

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The developers of a new high-rise apartment aiming to achieve “net-zero operations” at the site of the former Winnipeg police headquarters are getting some help from the federal government.

Construction of the 10-storey, 102-unit Market Lands Net Zero High Rise is expected to be complete by December 2023 at 155 Princess St.

Read more:
Feds give $4 million to Market Lands development in Winnipeg’s Exchange District

On Friday the federal government announced $24.8 million in funding through both repayable and forgivable loans, as well as $2.6 million in grants for the project.

Owned and developed by The Market Lands Inc., the new building will include 52 affordable housing units and is expected to be Canada’s first on-site net-zero affordable residential high-rise, according to a federal release.

Read more:
Report details Market Lands proposal for old Winnipeg PSB site

The developers say the building will be 100 per cent naturally ventilated, will produce 100 per cent carbon-neutral domestic hot water and will achieve net-zero operation through on-site energy production.

The federal loans come through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s National Housing Co-Investment Fund and the grant money is earmarked from the NHS Affordable Housing Innovation Fund.

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.