Troop deployments, waste, police discussed in government meeting

Wednesday's government meeting resulted in an agreement to send a maximum of 152 members of the Slovak Armed Forces to the Republic of Latvia. The Slovak soldiers will be under Canadian command and may also deploy to Lithuania, Estonia and Poland, along with the forces of other NATO member states along the European border closest to Russia. Also discussed in the Wednesday government meeting was an amendment to the Waste Act regarding the financing of sorted waste collection. The amendment aims at clearly defining all entities involved in waste collection and its sorting. The legislative changes are to be discussed at a second reading next week. Clearly defining police powers and responsibilities regarding minors and alcohol were also discussed and approved in the meeting, with state or municipal police now needing to have explicit permission before testing youths suspected of ingesting alcohol or other drugs.