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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Ottawa to ship tonnes of garbage from Philippines back to Canada by end of June
Environmentalists march outside the Canadian Embassy to demand the Canadian government to speed up the removal of several containers of garbage in Manila, Philippines.The Associated Press
The federal government has found a solution to its ongoing trash feud with the Philippines. Private company Bolloré Logistics Canada has been hired return the waste to Canada after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he was ready to “declare war” over the dispute.
Ottawa intends to cover the costs of preparation, transfer, shipment and disposal of the 103 containers of garbage. The garbage will be removed from the Philippines by the end of June.
The announcement came hours after Duterte’s spokesman held a news conference to announce that Filipino officials had been ordered to look for a private shipping company to transport the garbage to Canadian territory, leaving it in Canadian waters, if necessary.
Tensions between the two nations had escalated in recent weeks, with Duterte’s spokesman accusing Trudeau of weak leadership and the country recalling its ambassador and consulate heads.
A recent Globe investigation explores the changing world of recycling, both in Canada and internationally. China and other countries have dramatically reduced their scrap plastic imports in recent years and Canada’s recycling industry is struggling to adapt.
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Ottawa offers $15.7-billion to build coast guard ships in Vancouver, Halifax, while opening door to Davie
The federal Liberals are shaking up the government’s multibillion-dollar shipbuilding plan, promising $15.7-billion in new work to the two shipyards in Vancouver and Halifax while opening the door to their bitter rival in Quebec City.
During a news conference in Vancouver, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government will buy two more Arctic patrol ships from Halifax-based Irving Shipbuilding and 16 multi-purpose vessels from Seaspan Shipbuilding in Vancouver.
The ships will be built for the Canadian Coast Guard and aim to do two things: provide the coast guard with desperately needed new ships and prevent layoffs at Irving and Seaspan, which together have won billions of dollars in federal work since 2011.
U.K. House Leader resigns in protest over May as Brexit Party leads in polls ahead of EU elections
As people across Britain head to the polls on Thursday for elections to the European Parliament, there’s growing anger over Brexit and Prime Minister Theresa May’s failure to get the country out of the European Union nearly three years after a majority voted to leave.
Thursday’s election is ostensibly about choosing members of the European Parliament and the results across Europe are expected to see populist and far-right parties make gains and deal a blow to the European project. But in Britain, Nigel Farage and others have turned it into a referendum on Brexit.
Scientists have discovered world’s oldest fungus fossil in Canadian Arctic
A team of Canadian and European scientists have uncovered the world’s oldest fungus fossil in Tuktut Nogait National Park in the Northwest Territories.
The discovery opens a rare window into the early evolution of complex life. Fungi – a class of organisms that includes yeasts, moulds and mushrooms – share a common ancestor with animals and they form symbiotic partnerships with many plant species. Yet, because they lack shells, bones or other features that are easily preserved, their presence in the fossil record is almost non-existent.
Until now the oldest undisputed fungus fossil, found in Scotland, dates back 410 million years. The Canadian find, described Wednesday in the journal Nature, more than doubles that age.
WHAT ELSE IS ON OUR RADAR
Military and sexual misconduct: Statistics Canada has offered a sobering assessment of the Canadian Forces’ four-year war on sexual misconduct, suggesting in a new report Wednesday that the military has made only minimal progress on several fronts. The survey found that there had been only a negligible decline in the percentage of military personnel who reported having been the victims of sexual assaults over the previous 12 months.
Alberta fire: Firefighters are finally making progress in reining in the Chuckegg Creek wildfire that has forced thousands of people from their homes in northern Alberta thanks to lighter winds and cooler temperatures, though officials say the fire still remains out of control.
Pilot injured by laser: A WestJet pilot flying from Newfoundland to Orlando International Airport had his eyes burned by a green laser light on Saturday, according to U.S. Federal Aviation Administration officials. The flight landed safely and the pilot has been placed on medical leave.
MARKET WATCH
Wall Street and Bay Street’s major indexes dipped on Wednesday as inflamed trade tensions between the United States and China weighed on investor sentiment.
Canada’s main stock index fell on declines in three of its most influential sectors. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 99.12 points at 16,327.35 with the energy, metals and mining and financial sectors among the weakest.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 100.72 points, or 0.39%, to 25,776.61, the S&P 500 lost 8.09 points, or 0.28%, to 2,856.27 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 34.88 points, or 0.45%, to 7,750.84.
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TALKING POINTS
Conrad Black’s comeback: from the slammer to redemption
“Like Donald Trump, Conrad Black is irrepressible. He can’t be held down. Like the President, he is overbearingly brash and egotistical, always ready to call down the gods of political correctness and to smear critics who get in his way.” - Lawrence Martin (subscribers)
Why I welcome Vancouver’s housing crash
“It was all a grubby sham. The real estate and development industry knew exactly what was happening, but had become so intoxicated from the giant profits being realized it wanted nothing to do with policies that might bring the party to an end. Well, the party has come to an end and we’re seeing the result of it now.” - Gary Mason (subscribers)
The entire Raptors squad finally showed up – and handed Milwaukee a dose of self-doubt
“On paper, Milwaukee is still in control. They have two of three games at home, and they have Giannis. But the tone emanating from the Buck is new. If not quite scared, they sound prepared to be so.”- Cathal Kelly
LIVING BETTER
Need a break from your phone? The answer might be on your phone
The Globe’s Dave McGinn shares a list of apps designed to help you cut down on your screen time.
One such app is Forest, which offers a creative form of motivation to keep you off your phone. Once you open the Forest app and set a timer, a seed is planted and a digital tree begins to grow. If you decide to try to open another app, Forest will send you a message saying that if you do your tree will die. The alert can be just enough of a nudge to make sure you stick to your goal time.
Forest
LONG READ FOR A LONG COMMUTE
Food fight: Restaurant owners clash with DoorDash over service they didn’t order
The first call came in the middle of dinner rush on a Friday.
The voice on the line asked for delivery, and Emily Caulfield, manager of The Portly Chef in Vancouver, was confused. The small neighbourhood restaurant didn’t do delivery, she explained. The caller hung up.
But a few minutes later, the phone rang again. It was the same voice, again asking for delivery.
She repeated that the restaurant didn’t do delivery.
“Yes, you do,” he said. “I’m online right now and I can see that you’re there.”
He hung up again. But after closing, Ms. Caulfied searched online. That’s when she found the listing on DoorDash, the online restaurant-delivery service – whose sales reps had been trying to woo The Portly Chef onto the site for weeks leading up to that night in November, 2017.
And so, she wrote a sternly worded e-mail to the company. To her, the tactic raised questions about food safety and liability – not to mention her business’s ability to protect its product and brand.
The response from the sales rep the next day was to say that her restaurant had only been placed on the platform as part of a “pilot test.”
But the practice appears more extensive than suggested.
Evening Update is written by Shannon Busta. If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday evening, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.