Synagogue shooting suspect dies; CBC journalist has run-in with protesters outside Yom Kippur service; and more

It’s Tuesday, September 22. Here are the top stories we’re following today.

Sean Ward, a former Canadian Armed Forces member, was hit with multiple bullets in an attack on a Bellville, Ont., synagogue on Sunday and reportedly needed to be resuscitated on the scene, an official said. Meanwhile, a GoFundMe for Police Const. Jeff Smith, who was shot in the incident, has raised more than $75,000 .

In the video taken by Neil Herland, a CBC national radio news reader, he is met with shouts of “You’re going to hell!” and “Zionist alert” as he approaches the arts centre where the service was held. On his social media post with the video, Herland wrote: “This year I got an Austrian passport, in case Canada becomes unsafe for me as a Jew. I fear that moment is approaching, here in Canada and elsewhere.”

Investigators in the Belleville synagogue shooting have revealed that a gunman opened fire on a police officer outside the location with the apparent intention of then turning his gun on the approximately 25 congregants inside. Instead, the wounded officer, Const. Jeff Smith, was able to return fire and hold back the attacker, Tristin Hopper writes.

B.C.’s premier could not resist the opportunity offered by the U.S. trade war and a badly divided Conservative party with an interim leader, and called an election two years before the next vote was required, Pankratz contends. But “the threat of annihilation is focusing the minds of B.C. Conservatives,” he argues, and “it is possible that Eby’s naked opportunism will result in a stronger mandate, but it could very well toss him out of office two years ahead of schedule.”

Business representatives from the western provinces reacted positively on Tuesday to a new federal bill aimed at ensuring that any proposed project, like a pipeline, gets one review and a decision within one year. “The legislation takes direct aim at two longstanding barriers to Canada’s prosperity: slow and unpredictable project approvals and labour instability affecting critical supply chains,” said the head of the Alberta Business Council.