WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg city councillor has been charged with sexual assaulting a woman six months ago.

Russ Wyatt, 48, was arrested Tuesday after lab results came back, and has been released pending a future court date, a city police spokesman said.

Const. Rob Carver would not reveal details of the allegations on Wednesday, other than to say the alleged crime is a “serious sexual assault” that occurred in a home that was not Wyatt’s on Jan. 14.

The alleged victim is a woman known to Wyatt, but who is not his wife, and is not believed to be a city employee, Carver added.

Wyatt was interviewed in January and the charge is only being laid now because of standard investigative procedures, he said.

“Witnesses are interviewed and then suspects are interviewed,” Carver said.

“The delay in sexual assault charges is almost always based on getting lab results back … and it takes a long time.”

Wyatt said he is innocent.

“I have no comment to make regarding the allegation against me other than to say that I am innocent of any wrongdoing,” he said in an email.

“I will defend myself in a court of law and will only respond further to the allegation in a court room.”

Mayor shocked to learn of charge

Wyatt took a leave of absence from city council in January and revealed in March that he had entered a rehab program for substance abuse. He returned to council in May.

In June, he told media he was not ruling out running for mayor in the municipal election slated for October.

Under the city’s charter, councillors are only removed from office for criminal offences after a conviction.

Mayor Brian Bowman said he was shocked to learn of the charge.

“At no time until today did I learn that there was a criminal investigation that was ongoing,” Bowman said Wednesday.

The charge facing Wyatt is very serious, he added.

“This matter is now before a court of law. There is an independent process and we’ll obviously respect that process going forward,” he said.

“My immediate thoughts, as we learn that there is an alleged victim, is to think about her.”

Also On HuffPost:

Ontario will face electricity shortages in the coming years, as the loss of supply from a planned shutdown of a major nuclear power plant is made worse by the provincial government’s cancellation of renewable energy projects.

In a recent forecast, the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) — the Crown corporation that runs the province’s electric grid — predicted that, if nothing changes, Ontario will start seeing electricity shortages during peak summer periods starting in 2023 and continuing thereafter. The report also forecasts shortages during peak winter usage from 2025 to 2028.

The province will be short about 1,400 megawatts of capacity by 2023. That’s the equivalent of roughly half the output of Ontario’s Pickering nuclear power plant, which serves 1.5 million people.

Watch: Two-thirds of Canada’s energy comes from renewable sources (story continues below)

The IESO says the plant’s shutdown, which will take places in stages from 2022 to 2024, is the principal reason for the looming shortage. The plant is coming to the end of its life cycle. Long-running refurbishments at other nuclear power plants will also limit the province’s electricity supply.

But the cancellation of 758 renewable energy projects, which the government of Premier Doug Ford announced as one of its first moves, widens the gap even further. Ontario will forgo the production of some 443 megawatts of energy, according to earlier reports.

The government argues the projects were too expensive, and cancelling them will save taxpayers some $790 million. Industry insiders disputed that estimate, noting that the cancellations themselves could end up costing taxpayers money. They said the cancellations would mean job losses.

In an email to HuffPost Canada, the IESO stressed that there is time to address the problem.

“There is no immediate need to act to fill the gap now,” a spokesperson wrote, adding that “the potential gap emerging in the next five years is proportionally very small.”

The spokesperson said the best approach “is to wait until we have more certainty about the size of the capacity gap. There are enough lower cost resources that can be developed with a three year lead time to meet a 2023 resource gap.”

Carbon emissions on the rise again

The shutdown of the Pickering plant, combined with fewer planned renewable energy sources in the mix, means that Ontario will rely more on natural gas plants to generate electricity in the coming years, the IESO report showed.

That means carbon emissions from electricity generation will begin to rise again in the coming years — though not to the high levels seen before the previous provincial Liberal government eliminated the use of coal-fired plants.

In its long-term forecast, the IESO sees carbon emissions from electricity rising from less than 3 megatonnes per year today, to more than 10 megatonnes by 2035. However, that is still far less than the 35 megatonnes recorded in 2005, before coal plants began to be phased out.

— With a file from The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s demand that the federal government pay Toronto $72 million to cover housing costs for asylum seekers hasn’t gone over well in Ottawa.

Federal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen’s office insists Ford’s government needs to stop “playing politics with asylum seekers” and take an active role in helping to find a solution to Toronto’s looming shelter crisis.

“It’s very disappointing to see the Ontario government use this as a way to score political points on the backs of asylum seekers who are seeking our protection,” Hussen’s spokesman Mathieu Genest told HuffPost Canada.

He said Canada’s international obligations aren’t limited to the federal government. “It’s something that all levels of government have to work together to live up to,” Genest said.

Watch: Trudeau says he explained asylum-seeking system to Doug Ford

Genest told HuffPost the federal government wants to recreate Quebec’s “well-managed” system of triaging refugees, but headway on that plan requires provincial participation.

Ontario’s legislature resumed Wednesday with a new Progressive Conservative government in power. Ford’s government is expected to bring increased pressure over the federal handling of an influx of irregular migrants crossing into Canada.

Ford echoed Toronto Mayor John Tory’s request for $72 million in federal funds to cover the costs from supporting the increase of asylum seekers entering the city’s crowded shelter system.

“They created this mess and we’re expecting them to pitch in and help,” the premier said in a statement.

Situation ‘urgent’ in Toronto

Toronto Mayor John Tory appealed to the federal government in June for funding to help accommodate the influx of asylum seekers.

Unanticipated costs — related to food, accommodation, and staffing — set Toronto back $64.5 million for 2017 and 2018, according to city data.

The city has spent $19.2 million on food in the first quarter of 2018, compared to $7 million in 2017. The cost of housing newcomers have also gone up from $6.4 million last year to $17.5 so far this year.

Support services, including accounting, staffing, and communications has also gone up from $2.3 million last year to $6.3 million this year.

City documents call the situation “urgent,” noting the average number of refugee claimants in Toronto shelters each night has increased from 459 in 2016 to 2,683 as of May 2018.

“We need help. We cannot continue to do this alone. We just don’t have the resources to do it alone,” Tory said at the time. He added the municipality is working under an Aug. 9 deadline to find a solution before students return to Centennial College and Humber Colleges, two campuses that contributed 800 emergency contingency shelter spaces while dormitories were empty during summer.

Ontario cabinet minister says feds should ‘know better’

The federal government has so far pledged an initial $173 million to increase border security and an additional $50 million to help three provinces (Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba) with immediate housing costs to accommodate asylum seekers.

Of that $50 million, $36 million has been earmarked for Quebec; $3 million for Manitoba; and $11 million for Ontario. It has yet to be confirmed how much of the $11 million will be allocated for Toronto.

Ontario cabinet minister Lisa MacLeod, who’s been tapped to lead the province’s immigration file, denied reports last week that the province is pulling co-operation with the federal government on the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement signed in November.

“There are very clear rules. There are illegal ports of entry for those seeking asylum against persecution. We will always welcome people who follow that process,” MacLeod said in a news conference.

“It’s disturbing that the prime minister and others are deliberately confusing these legitimate refugees with these illegal border crossers. Frankly, they know better,” she said.

Calling asylum seekers “illegal border crossers,” MacLeod said refugee claims are supposed to be processed within 60 days, but a backlog has pushed that timeframe to two years.

Having refugee claimants in temporary housing for an extended period of time strains provincial resources and threatens “the services that Ontario families depend upon,” she said.

Tories and NDP want emergency meeting

Frustration is also building at the federal level with both the Conservatives and NDP pressing the government Wednesday to hold an emergency committee meeting to address the swell of asylum seekers crossing irregularly over the Canada-U.S. border.

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan criticized the government for being slow to condemn U.S. President Donald Trump’s “anti-immigrant and racist policies,” which she suggested is bringing a summer rush of asylum seekers to the Canadian border.

In a statement, Kwan accused the Liberal government of dragging its heels and took a swipe at the Conservatives’ tact on the issue, which she likened to taking a “page from Trump” to “shut down the border to asylum seekers.”

Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel said the federal government’s response so far has been limited to spend “hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on temporary, band-aid solutions.”

Stretching Canada’s immigration system without “concrete policy solutions” will undermine its integrity, she said in a statement.

“The time to act is now, before this situation gets any worse. We know that shelters are at capacity, and deadlines at university dormitories are looming.”

OTTAWA — The federal government will not appeal the court decision that tore up cabinet approval for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and is appointing former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci to oversee a new round of consultations with Indigenous communities.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government will follow the “blueprint” laid out by the Federal Court of Appeal in August, which said Ottawa had not properly consulted with Indigenous Peoples because it listened without trying to accommodate concerns.

“If we were to appeal it would take another few years before we could begin construction and we feel the blueprint the court laid out for TMX will allow us to get things done quicker and get our resources to new markets other than the United States in a more rapid fashion,” Trudeau said Wednesday.

More from HuffPost Canada:

Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi said the government does not intend to restart Indigenous consultations from the beginning, but will use them to address the weaknesses the court identified.

He said the government will make “a sincere effort to listen, consult and offer accommodation where those accommodations are possible,” but accommodation does not mean Indigenous communities opposed to the project will have authority to halt it.

“We also understand there are still groups that will still oppose this project,” Sohi said. “That’s fine. That’s their right to do so. But that does not mean that if we fulfil our constitutional obligation that those groups may have a veto to stop this project.”

The Trans Mountain expansion would triple capacity of the existing pipeline between Edmonton and Burnaby, B.C.

Some Indigenous communities on the coast of British Columbia are adamantly opposed to new energy projects that affect their traditional territory, with concerns about higher risk of oil spills, limited knowledge of how the diluted bitumen the pipeline will carry behaves when spilled in water and further stress for the Southern resident killer whales from more oil tankers in the Salish Sea.

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The court decision also said the federal project approval was invalid because the National Energy Board failed to properly assess and take into account the environmental impact of having 35 tankers a month in the sea, up from about five now. The risks to orcas were a particular concern.

Last month, Sohi ordered the board to redo an environmental review of the project’s risk of oil spills and the effect on marine life due to increased tanker traffic. The board has until the end of February to report.

Iacobucci’s first task will be to work with the federal government, First Nations and Metis leaders to design the new consultation on Indigenous issues. Then he will oversee the process to ensure each step is in keeping with the court’s ruling.

The new round will involve consultations with 117 Indigenous communities affected by the project. The government is allotting twice the resources of the last consultation, but Sohi’s office could not say Wednesday what the budget would be or how many people would be assisting Iacobucci.

Sohi said he there is no deadline for the process because that could hinder truly meaningful consultation.

Iacobucci served on the Supreme Court from 1991 until his retirement in 2004. He recently served as Ontario’s chief negotiator with the Chiefs of the Matawa Tribal Council on the Ring of Fire, a proposed mining and smelting project in Northern Ontario. He resigned from that role when the Doug Ford government was elected in Ontario.

Prior to that he spent two years consulting for the provincial government on how to get more Indigenous people on juries in Ontario.

OTTAWA — Grim scenarios of collateral damage for Canadian consumers and businesses are emerging in response to escalating the U.S.-China trade war.

The Trump administration has taken aim at China by imposing a 25 per cent tariff on goods worth U.S. $34 billion, but the worst is still on the horizon.

The U.S. has announced a further round of tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods that could go into effect towards the end of the summer, after Congress takes a closer look at the implications in a round of hearings in five weeks.

All of that amounts to more economic pain for Canadian consumers and businesses, which are already coping with the effects of their country’s own trade war with the U.S. over President Donald Trump’s imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs on Canadian imports.

Trade experts and analysts say it’s too early to predict which specific products and sectors would be hit the hardest if the next round of U.S. tariffs on China are imposed.

But trade specialists say that with so much of Canada’s manufacturing sector reliant on Chinese products — bits and pieces that wind up in finished items made in Canada — there will be unavoidable consequences.

The pain could start at the Canada-U.S. border, where American customs agents have the broad power to declare anything a Chinese product — even if it was made in Canada.

American customs officials have the discretion to declare any finished product to be of Chinese origin, even if only some of its parts are from China, said Cyndee Todgham Cherniak, a Toronto trade lawyer who has served as an adviser to the Tax Court of Canada.

The onus is on the importer to prove that a product is not Chinese, or “to prove the facts are other than assumed by the customs officials,” she said.

“Even a Canadian-made make-up brush, a Canadian-made power cord — any of these items would be subject to 10 per cent duty going into the United States.”

And Canadian companies shouldn’t expect American border agents to do them any favours, said Todgham Cherniak.

“The whole goal is buy American and hire American,” she said. “So it doesn’t bother the U.S. customs agent that Canadian manufacturers will be collateral damage in the U.S.-China fight.”

If the Trump administration follows through and imposes more tariffs on a broader range of Chinese goods, fewer of them will wind up in the U.S. That means more potentially cheaper Chinese goods headed to other markets, including Canada, which is a disruption the government needs to address, said Lawrence Herman, a veteran trade lawyer who once headed the Canadian government’s treaty law section.

“Chinese products are going to find their way to Canada one way or another. They’re out there. They’re being made,” said Herman.

The government needs to come up with a scheme to enact “safeguard measures” or tariffs on those Chinese goods to counter their influx, he said.

The World Trade Organization allows countries to apply safeguards to prevent an influx of products that hurts domestic industry.

“We’re talking about an unforeseen influx of products because of global developments,” said Herman.

“There is an absolute risk of collateral damage. There is no doubt about that.”

Wenran Jiang, a China expert from the University of Alberta, said there’s no way for Canada to avoid the crossfire of an escalating U.S.-China economic conflict.

“We’re in the same boat as Japan, South Korea and other southeast Asian countries,” said Jiang.

“We’re going to be seeing collateral damage in the short term. In the long term, if the two countries don’t back down, the issue for Canada will be, how do we position our industries?”

Canada also has a more fundamental problem: it dropped the ball on opening up a free trade negotiation with China late last year, said Jiang.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ambitions of closer economic ties with China have largely been rejected by Beijing because of two developments, he said: Beijing rejected Trudeau’s so-called progressive trade agenda, and it is angry at Ottawa for blocking the Chinese takeover of the Canadian construction firm Aecon on national security grounds, said Jiang.

There could be a silver lining for some Canadian companies if China retaliates against the U.S. by making it difficult for American companies to do business, he said.

“If China stops ordering Boeing airplanes, potentially Bombardier might be on line to benefit.”

Also on HuffPost Canada:

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced his government will cancel a program requiring drivers to get regular emissions tests for vehicles that are more than seven years old.

“Drive Clean has outlived its usefulness,” Ford said at a press conference at an auto body shop in Etobicoke.

Drivers will no longer be required to get Drive Clean tests as of April 1, 2019.

The move will save Ontario drivers a collective $40 million a year, the premier said. HuffPost Canada asked the premier’s office, as well as representatives for the ministers of transportation and environment, how the savings was calculated. No one responded in time for publication.

More than two million light-duty vehicles are tested under Drive Clean every year, according to the Auditor General. Tests are free when renewing a vehicle’s registration; otherwise they cost $30.

On-road emissions aren’t as big of a problem as they were when Drive Clean launched in 1999, Minister of the Environment Rod Phillips said at the announcement. Cars are made to stricter standards than they were decades ago, he said.

The government will launch a new program to focus on testing transport trucks and other heavy duty vehicles, instead of personal, non-commercial vehicles.

Video: PCs are taking feds to court over carbon tax.

Phillips pointed to a University of Toronto study that found an area’s emissions level depends on the number of large trucks driving through, not the total number of vehicles.

“Researchers found that air pollution levels right beside a major trucking route within a city were close to levels seen beside Highway 401, despite the road carrying less than one-tenth of the vehicle traffic,” the university said in a press release when the study was published.

These emissions can lead to cancer, respiratory problems, cardiac problems and neurodegenerative problems, the university said.

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said he wants to know what this government’s priorities are when it comes to the environment.

“I can accept that the Drive Clean program is no longer as relevant as it once was. But when you look at the list of things this government has done on the environment file, all you see are cuts,” he said in a statement.

“Everything this Premier has done shows he wants more pollution, not less,” Schreiner said, citing the government’s cancellation of pollution pricing, renewable energy projects and rebates for electric vehicles.

When my engagement was called off, I was the most devastated person walking the earth.

At first I acted like it was no big a deal; after all, I was not the first to have a broken engagement and neither would I be the last. I had forced smiles for most of the first few weeks. I picked up calls from the few friends who knew about it so they wouldn’t think I was as affected by it as I was. Maybe it was because I hadn’t yet come to terms — somewhere in my mind I believed he was coming back to me. This stage is what many refer to as the first stage of grief: denial.

He didn’t come back, thankfully, but in the months that followed, as the reality of it all sank in, life was hellish.

Rejection is a hard and bitter pill to swallow. No one wants to feel not good enough. Sometimes that’s not the case, but we can’t help but feel the enormous blow to our ego, our self-esteem, our worth. I had the grace of knowing a few friends who helped me take baby steps out of that pit. Still, many don’t have the luxury of a few good friends.

It may not sound as serious as it actually is, but the effect of rejection can range from chronic depression to outright suicidal tendencies. I know because I’ve been there a few times myself.

When all you have is yourself to talk you out of the effects of rejection, these steps can help you immensely.

1. Come to terms with the truth

And quickly! This goes without saying. The longer you wallow in denial, the more you’re exposed to the parasites of rejection. Acknowledge that what happened has really happened. Own the emotions that are flooding your mind. These words are easier said than done, but I’m not about to kid you — it is hard and it hurts. But it can be done. Whether you were passed on for a promotion, or you were stood up at the altar, take a moment to let the emotions sink in. Take the time you need to cry if you must, and then leave it there.

2. Know that it doesn’t define you

This pit has the most victims in it. Rejection could be so powerful that it could begin to define you. However, rejection is just as powerful as you allow it. Tell yourself that this one opinion, from this one person, does not and will not define who you are. Counter the thoughts that may try to tell you that you were rejected because you were not good enough. You are good enough. You are whole and you will get through this.

3. Treat yourself with a healthy dose of positivity

If you have to have positive thoughts written on sticky notes and pasted all over your wall, then do it. But by all means, pump yourself with some healthy dose of positivity. Choose the reality that this too will pass. Realistically, no rejection lasts forever, so sit yourself down and look at the big picture. This phase will pass; just keep reminding yourself of that, as well as other positive truths that you deserve to know.

4. Learn from it

There is always a lesson hiding in there to be learnt. You may not have done something wrong to warrant the rejection that was served you, but you can find a lesson in there and make it your silver lining. It could be a chance to rediscover who you are, a chance to handle situations better, or a chance to put yourself out there more often. Whatever the case, use it as a springboard to a better version of yourself, for yourself. You are what matters here.

5. Get really busy

When I was rejected, I kept playing the situation over and over again. I was literally obsessed with my rejection and the circumstances surrounding it that I neglected other things. Don’t do that. Pull yourself out of that zone and get busy.

Luckily, I got a new job during that time so I threw myself into it. I got so busy that I could go two, three days and realize that I hadn’t thought about my rejection. I started to go out more, I made more friends and gave more time to older friends; I exercised more; and then eventually I didn’t remember the hurt. I got to a point where I could talk about it and not feel any hurt whatsoever. You too can get there when you choose to pay your attention to other activities and people that are more deserving of your time.

6. Take care of yourself

It’s easy to wallow in self pity and forget to love yourself. Many times people get angry and beat themselves up over the said rejection. They wonder if there’s even a point to it all. However, there is a point. Self-love and care shows that you value yourself, that you believe in who you are and deserve another chance at the beauties of life. Eat well, sleep well, exercise, listen to music, travel if you can afford it and take good care of yourself.

7. Talk to someone

Though it was hard for me to eventually talk about my plight with a few trusted friends, I was glad I did. And I wish I had done it sooner.

I’m not one to expose my vulnerability and I know I don’t stand alone. However, talking to someone who cares helps give you a fresh perspective which is often times, the true perspective. It doesn’t mean you’re weak — it just means you’re strong enough to accept when you need help. If you’re a believer, praying about it makes a great difference!

It’s often said that no one is an islands. You don’t have to go through the mess alone. Open up and let the healing come along faster.