Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
The federal government has named three former judges to help oversee a parliamentary investigation of the firing of two scientists from Ottawa’s high-security infectious disease laboratory in Winnipeg in 2021.
Ian Binnie and Marshall Rothstein, both former Supreme Court judges, and Eleanor Dawson, who sat on the Federal Court of Appeal, will act as arbiters, adjudicating any dispute about what information or documents can be made public related to the firing of Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng.
Exactly why the two scientists were fired has been a contentious political issue. At first, the government would not disclose any information about the reason for the dismissals and even took House Speaker Anthony Rota to court in 2021 for trying to obtain the classified documents. The Liberals abandoned the effort when the 2021 election was called. More than 250 pages of records have been withheld in their entirety from MPs, and hundreds of others have been partly censored.
The National Microbiology Laboratory is shown in Winnipeg on May 19, 2009.JOHN WOODS/The Canadian Press
Future of Ontario’s Stellantis battery plant remains unclear as Ford ‘disappointed’ in Ottawa
The future of Ontario’s $5-billion Stellantis battery plant remained unclear on Wednesday, as both the auto maker giant and LG Energy Solution Ltd., halt construction on the Windsor plant and continue to call on Ottawa to “keep its commitments” to match billions in dollars in incentives offered in the United States through the Inflation Reduction Act.
In return, the federal government has called on Ontario to pay its “fair share” of the deal, without going into specifics of what that amount would be.
However, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said it’s up to Ottawa, not the province, to match the federal U.S. subsidies, adding that he found it disappointing that Ottawa continues to call on the province to contribute more subsidies for an electric-vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Ont., while the federal government said the issue is raising regional fairness concerns from other premiers.
A Stellantis assembly worker works on the interior of a Chrysler Pacifica at the Windsor Assembly Plant in Windsor, Ontario, Jan. 17, 2023.REBECCA COOK/Reuters
Volcano planet tantalizes as potential haven for atmosphere and life
A University of Montreal-led team is reporting the discovery of an Earth-size planet around a distant star whose characteristics imply it is highly volcanic at temperatures that allow for the presence of liquid water.
The planet, dubbed LP 791-18d, is located some 86 light years away in the direction of the southern constellation of Crater the Cup. It orbits a dim, red dwarf star and its rotation is almost certainly locked so that one hemisphere is always illuminated by the star’s ruddy glow while the other sits in perpetual, frozen night.
While thousands of planets have been detected around other stars, never before has there been such a strong case for volcanic activity on a planet that is earthlike in size and also lies in a temperature range that could permit water to exist on the surface.
An exoplanet called LP 791-18 d, an Earth-size world about 90 light-years away, is seen in an undated artist's rendering.NASA/Reuters
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Bell, Telus seek government support to ensure customer access to Rogers network in Toronto subway: BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. are asking federal Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne to help them secure a commitment from Rogers Communications Inc. that their customers will be allowed onto the expanded wireless network on Toronto’s subway system concurrently with Rogers customers.
Ukraine reports new advances near eastern city of Bakhmut: Ukraine’s military said it had made new advances on Wednesday in heavy fighting near the eastern city of Bakhmut, and that Russia was continuing to send in new units including paratroopers.
How WestJet pilots’ strike notice could affect your travel plans: Pilots at WestJet, Canada’s second-largest airline, issued a 72-hour strike notice on Monday. The Calgary-based company responded with a notice that it plans to lock out the employees on Friday. Here’s what you need to know, as both sides continue to negotiate ahead of the deadline.
Smoke from wildfires raging in northern Alberta descends on Calgary: Smoke from wildfires raging across northern Alberta blanketed Calgary and surrounding areas after strong winds pushed the acrid air south, prompting air-quality warnings from Environment Canada deeming it “very high risk” to residents.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index posted a small gain Wednesday as strength in energy stocks helped offset weakness in other areas, while U.S. markets rose more than one per cent.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 54.36 points at 20,296.43.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 408.63 points at 33,420.77.The S&P 500 index was up 48.87 points at 4,158.77, while the Nasdaq composite was up 157.51 points at 12,500.57.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.35 cents US, according to XE.com, compared with 74.32 cents US on Tuesday.
The June crude contract was up US$1.97 at US$72.83 per barrel and the June natural gas contract was down a penny at US$2.37 per mmBTU.
The June gold contract was down US$8.10 at US$1,984.90 an ounce and the July copper contract was up nine cents at US$3.75 a pound.
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TALKING POINTS
The black sheep of the Kennedy family is giving Joe Biden cause for concern
“This Kennedy is straight out of Fringeland. He’s a conspiracy theorist who has waged an unrelenting crusade against vaccines. He thinks it was a second gunman who assassinated his father Bobby in 1968, not the man who was convicted for the crime, Sirhan Sirhan, who he wants to see released from prison. He rails against a ‘deep state’ under the control of corporations. He claims neocons lurking in the Biden administration intentionally provoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. His appeal, unique so to speak, is to both the far left and far right. He’s assembling, quipped some wag, a coalition of crackpots.” – Lawrence Martin
Canada needs to make renting more attractive to tenants – and to landlords
“The message is that renting, currently seen as inferior to home ownership – something for immigrants, students and young people waiting to ‘upgrade’ to a mortgage – needs to become a mainstream, long-term option. For that to happen, renters are going to need better protections.” – The Editorial Board
Francophone minorities should worry about the Liberals’ language plans
“There has been less talk of the harm that Bill C-13 would have on French-speaking communities outside Quebec. But these communities should be concerned, because with this newly amended Official Languages Act, the federal government is effectively walking away from the idea that Canada is a bilingual country and embracing the idea that it is an English-speaking country that has a French-speaking region in Quebec and a smattering of French-speaking communities outside that province.” – Jeffery Vacante
LIVING BETTER
Finding a long weekend of wellness in Las Vegas
If your image of Nevada’s largest city is stuck in the Sin City days – as the place to be for guilty pleasures and uncensored excess – you may have underestimated Las Vegas, which is always looking for ways to reinvent itself. Its latest rebranding effort? Turning the headquarters for hedonism into a wellness destination that won’t bust your budget especially between June to August, the cheapest but hottest time to visit the desert oasis.
Recently, the Global Wellness Institute predicted the wellness tourism market will grow to US$1.1-trillion by 2025. So it only makes sense that Vegas – home of the high-rollers – is positioning itself to ride that wave. As Vegas native Isaiah Torres puts it: “We are a vacation destination, and as such, we want to make sure that we fulfill whatever motivation it is that drives people to come here.”
Torres, the executive chef at Harvest, a fine-dining restaurant at the Bellagio Hotel, adds: “If health and wellness is top of mind for many of our guests, then we are going to make sure we offer the best food, the best spa treatments and the best excursions for people to get outside and enjoy the natural beauty of these parts.”
Gayle Macdonald offers her top choices for a healthy and rejuvenating long weekend.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Canadian Tulip Festival brings a dash of spring colour to Ottawa
The Canadian Tulip Festival kicked off this weekend In Commissioners Park beside Dow’s Lake in Ottawa.Ashley Fraser/The Globe and Mail
Visitors from around the globe come to Ottawa every May to see the mesmerizing kaleidoscope of colours. But more than simply enjoying the visual feast of brilliant flowers at the Canadian Tulip Festival at Commissioners Park, guests are also taking part in a celebration of friendship between Canada and the Netherlands – and a historic gift that keeps blooming.
The significance of the hundreds of thousands of tulips planted in Ottawa dates back to the Second World War when Princess Juliana of the Netherlands took refuge in the city along with her two young daughters. During this time, she gave birth to her third daughter, Princess Margriet – the only royal ever born in Canada – at the Ottawa Civic Hospital.
Now, the festival, which kicked off over the weekend, preserves the memorable role of the Canadian troops in the liberation of the Netherlands and Europe, as well as commemorates the birth of Dutch Princess Margriet in Ottawa during World War II – the only royal personage ever born in Canada.
Evening Update is written by Emerald Bensadoun. 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.