Evening Update: Annamie Paul steps down as leader of the Green Party of Canada

Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:

Annamie Paul resigns as federal Green Party leader

Annamie Paul is stepping down as leader of the Green Party of Canada. She announced her resignation in Toronto this morning, a week after the federal election that saw the Greens’ share of the popular vote drop from 6.55 per cent in 2019 to 2.3 per cent amid turmoil in the party and its governing council.

She overcame a bid to oust her as leader weeks before the election, and faced an automatic leadership review after the ballot: “I just don’t have the heart for it,” she said.

“It has been the worst period of my life in many respects,” she said, and left without taking media questions.

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With Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor free, Ottawa now faces a decision on Huawei 5G ban

A long-delayed decision facing the federal government about whether to ban Huawei Technologies from the buildout of Canada’s 5G wireless networks is back in the spotlight after the return of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig.

While the two Canadians were in detention in China, Ottawa was notably silent on the question, even as its allies proceeded with bans on Huawei over security concerns.

But observers expect there will be pressure on the federal government to announce a decision on the Huawei 5G question now that Kovrig and Spavor are back in Canada, and Huawei senior executive Meng Wanzhou has returned to China after reaching a deferred prosecution agreement.

Read more: The homecoming of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig is a welcome relief for Canada, but the rift with China runs deep after their detention.

Opinion: Biden rewards Xi’s hostage diplomacy - Brahma Chellaney, geostrategist and author

Children spared worst of COVID-19, but health experts fear Delta variant may spark uptick

New research shows the majority of Canadian children and teens were spared the most severe health outcomes of COVID-19 in the first phase of the pandemic. But health experts worry the increased transmissibility of the Delta variant could expose high numbers of vulnerable young people to the virus and lead to more serious cases.

With the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus now accounting for most cases in Canada, and no vaccine yet available for children under 12, more needs to be done to protect young people from the virus, says Charlotte Moore Hepburn, a pediatrician at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children and one of the lead investigators of the study.

In other pandemic-related developments:

Direct passenger flights to Canada from India are resuming today as Transport Canada lifts a months-long ban imposed due to high COVID-19 case counts.

U.S. President Joe Biden has received a COVID-19 booster shot, days after federal regulators recommended a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine for Americans age 65 or older.

Read more:

• As provinces enact COVID-19 vaccine passport rules, small businesses are left to enforce them
• Restaurants react to Alberta’s changing COVID-19 vaccine passport rules

ALSO ON OUR RADAR

German election results: Olaf Scholz, Germany’s centre-left contender to replace Angela Merkel as chancellor, says he intends to forge a three-way coalition with the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party after yesterday’s razor-thin election results, which put his Social Democratic Party narrowly ahead of the incumbent conservative coalition.

R. Kelly found guilty in sex trafficking trial: R. Kelly has been convicted of all nine counts, including racketeering, in his sex trafficking trial, in which prosecutors accused the R&B singer of exploiting his stardom over a quarter-century to lure women and underage girls into his orbit for sex.

Ex-VPs of SNC-Lavalin plead not guilty: Two former executives with SNC-Lavalin Group are pleading not guilty to criminal charges related to a bridge contract in Montreal nearly two decades ago, while prosecutors confirmed they would offer the company a special deal allowing it to avoid a trial.

Navdeep Bains joins CIBC: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has hired former Liberal cabinet minister Navdeep Bains as vice-chair, global investment banking.

Earthquake hits Greek island Crete: A strong earthquake measuring 5.8 shook Greece’s largest island Crete today, with one person killed when a church dome collapsed, authorities said.

On today’s The Decibel podcast: U.S. correspondent Nathan VanderKlippe shares stories of Haitian migrants along the American-Mexican border and discusses how the United States is handling yet another immigrant dilemma.

MARKET WATCH

North American markets closed mixed today as losses for several tech companies checked gains elsewhere in the market. Canada’s main stock index was buoyed by rising oil prices on the prospect of improving demand.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 71.37 points or 0.21 per cent to 34,869.37, the S&P 500 slipped 12.37 points or 0.28 per cent to 4,443.11 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 77.73 points or 0.52 per cent to 14,969.97.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index gained 60.76 points or 0.3 per cent to 20,463.42.

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TALKING POINT

Erin O’Toole was right: Without big city seats, Conservatives can’t win

“So what changed in Election 2021? In terms of the total number of seats won by each party, almost nothing. But in terms of where those seats are, the picture got brighter for the Liberals, and darker for the Conservatives.” - Globe editorial

LIVING BETTER

The arrival of fall is an opportunity to reset our diets and rediscover nutritious foods in season, dietitian Leslie Beck writes. They include these nutrient-packed butternut squash, Jerusalem artichokes and beets, as well sockeye salmon, available year-round in cans. Here she outlines the health benefits of each and ideas for adding them to your diet.

TODAY’S LONG READ

‘Please don’t panic buy’: British PM Johnson faces calls to bring in the army amid a fuel shortage

Open this photo in gallery:

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing calls to enlist the army to help ease a truck driver shortage that has crippled gas stations across the country.

Drivers have been lining up for hours to fill up and thousands of gas stations have been forced to close after running out of fuel. BP said 30 per cent of its 1,200 outlets had run out of gas and the EG Group, which operates about 400 stations, has introduced a £30 limit. The Petrol Retailers Association, which represents 5,500 independent operators, said around two-thirds of its members sold out of gas over the weekend.

“We need some calm,” Gordon Balmer, the executive director of the PRA said today. “Please don’t panic buy. If people drain the network then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

The government has been scrambling for days to address the crisis, which shows no sign of abating. Over the weekend, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced a temporary visa scheme that would permit 5,000 truckers from Europe to work in Britain for three months. Today, the government also suspended competition rules to allow gas dealers to share information and co-ordinate deliveries. Read Paul Waldie’s full story here.

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