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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Two ministers offer much-needed support to Theresa May and her Brexit deal
British Prime Minister Theresa May has received some badly-needed support as she struggles to salvage a Brexit deal with the European Union, when two senior cabinet ministers – Environment Minister Michael Gove and Trade Minister Liam Fox – backed Ms. May and her proposed EU withdrawal agreement, ending speculation they would follow four other ministers who resigned this week in protest of the deal. Their support is seen as a critical boost for Ms. May because both are among the few ministers left who represent the hard-Brexit wing of the Conservative Party, which advocates cutting almost all ties with the EU. Ms. May has been grappling with a political crisis since Wednesday when the deal was unveiled. Ministers quit, including Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, who said he could not support the agreement. To get a full understanding of the 584-page Brexit deal and its points of contention, read The Globe’s guide here.
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Family, friends mourn murdered Saudi journalist in funeral prayers
Family and friends of Jamal Khashoggi said funeral prayers in Saudi Arabia and Turkey on Friday for the Saudi journalist killed by agents of his own government, in a case that has sparked a global outcry and mired Saudi Arabia in crisis. Mr. Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish researcher who had waited for hours outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, the day he was killed, called last week for Muslims around the world to perform the funeral prayer for him. The Saudi public prosecutor said Thursday it would seek the death penalty for five suspects in the murder. It did not provide names but at least two are senior officials closely associated with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The U.S. Treasury also imposed economic sanctions on 17 Saudis, including Saud al-Qahtani, the Crown Prince’s former top adviser. The Globe and Mail’s Campbell Clark writes there’s no way to accept that this group should be punished but that the all-powerful Crown Prince should be beyond suspicion.
Paradise, lost: Remembering the California town wiped out by wildfire; at least 63 people dead
There’s a sweet legend about the town: On a blazing summer day in the 1850s, a lumber mill crew with wagon and ox took a break under a grove of tall evergreens. The air was cool, the pine needles fragrant. “Boys,” said the team boss, “this is paradise.” Thus, more than 170 years ago, Paradise was born. But in a matter of hours last week, it all disappeared. Nearly 9,000 homes were destroyed in the deadliest, most destructive wildfire in California history. The death toll, for now, is 63, but there are over 630 people still missing.
For the survivors, memories are all that remain. On the other end of the state, more residents were allowed back into the zone of the Woolsey Fire that torched an area west of Los Angeles. At least three deaths were reported and nearly 550 homes and other buildings destroyed. Some 52,000 people have been displaced to shelters, the homes of friends or to motels. The Globe has put together a primer on the fires and how you can help.
White House must immediately restore press credentials of CNN’s Jim Acosta, judge rules
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly on Friday ordered the White House to temporarily restore CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s press pass. The pass was revoked after a contentious press conference last week with U.S. President Donald Trump, where Mr. Trump called the news media the “enemy of the people.” Justice Kelly also is hearing CNN’s lawsuit challenging the revocation. He said Mr. Acosta’s credentials must be restored while the network’s case is pending, and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that was done. While Mr. Acosta is free to return to covering the White House, Mr. Trump said that “people have to behave” and warned of future court action against reporters who do not. “Let’s go back to work,” Mr. Acosta said to reporters after the hearing.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index closed up slightly on Friday, after losing ground earlier on pressure from losses in energy and health-care shares. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 10.62 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 15,155.50.
The S&P 500 and Dow Industrials rose after Mr. Trump said the United States may not have to impose further tariffs on Chinese goods. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 172.88 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 25,462.15, the S&P 500 gained 12.11 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 2,742.31 and the Nasdaq Composite added 9.14 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 7,268.17.
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POPULAR WITH READERS
Ontario scraps rent control for new units amid housing crisis
As part of the Ontario Progressive Conservative government’s fall economic update Thursday, Premier Doug Ford amended the province’s housing policy, scrapping rent control for new units starting Nov. 15. Existing renters will continue to fall under rent-control rules, but new units that are not yet occupied will not be subject to them. Under former premier Kathleen Wynne, Ontario introduced a policy in 2017 that imposed rent controls on all units, limiting annual rent increases to a maximum of 2.5 per cent. Previously, buildings constructed after 1991 had been exempt from controls. The Ford government argues that rent control discourages the development of new rental stock.
The impact of rent controls has long been debated. Proponents believe limits on annual rent increases protect tenants in a market where average rental prices are rising rapidly yet average wages are not jumping at nearly the same rate. “Tenants deserve to have the security of knowing they won’t be evicted from their homes because they can’t afford an overnight doubling in their rent,” Toronto city councillor Josh Matlow said. Opponents, however, argue that rent controls stifle the supply of new units – and new supply, they argue, is the most important driver of housing costs. The development industry has long argued that returning to an exemption for new construction would see even more projects proceed. “Certainly, there are a lot of our members who want to build more purpose-built multiresidential buildings and this is very encouraging for them," said Tony Irwin, president and chief executive of the Federation of Rental-Housing Providers of Ontario.
The government is also abolishing incentives proposed by the previous Liberal government that were designed to encourage the construction of affordable-housing units. The Development Charges Rebate Program offered funds to help lower the cost per unit for builders.
TALKING POINTS
To save our wildlife, our conservationists must be protected, too
“Rapidly evolving environmental, geopolitical and socioeconomic conditions tamper with the romantic notion of an ‘ideal solution’ and demand constant flexibility and adaptability. To provide a secure and open environment for the bongo antelope specialist or the elephant sounds researcher, we must channel our conservation, security and economic-growth efforts in a supportive and non-ethnocentric framework to the sovereign countries in which we operate, seeking their leadership, trust and support.” – Nir Kalron, CEO of Maisha Group, and James Dutton, president of Maisha Group
The reality of modern American political discussion
"It is very much the reality of modern American political discussion, which has become a blood sport in which the few rational voices are drowned out in favour of those who shriek the loudest. Barnstorming begets applause; clickbait wins over conversation; and those in ideological bubbles are blinded by ‘likes.’ Think late-night comedy-club crowd meets baseball-stadium taunting. This is, after all, our stereotypically brash, bombastic and boisterous neighbour to the south, which at the moment is doped up on the political equivalent of amphetamines.” – Dave Gordon, freelancer
What we talk about when we talk about emotional labour
“What if emotional labour is less about male-female tensions than it is about how we live in an economic system that diminishes and dehumanizes people of all genders and reduces us to ambulatory, fleshy bags of consumer desires? A system that says caring is, basically, worthless and therefore unworthy of male ambition and attention? I know this may not be the most satisfying fodder for boozy late-night gripe sessions, when you and your girlfriends want to talk about how he leaves dirty mugs all over the house, but bear with me.” – Elizabeth Renzetti
LIVING BETTER
Should you give up on vitamin D and omega-3s? Not so fast
Are you thinking about the vitamin D and/or fish-oil supplement you forgot to take this morning? Or did you take it, but wonder if it’s really worth it? According to new findings from a randomized controlled trial published Nov. 10 in The New England Journal of Medicine, you’re likely wasting your money. While this trial is noteworthy, there are limitations, writes Leslie Beck. So for now, there’s no reason to stop taking those supplements if you already do. And if you don’t eat fish often, consider adding it to your diet before reaching for the supplement.
LONG READ FOR A LONG COMMUTE
Two former Humboldt Broncos players embark on new chapter with UOIT (for subscribers)
Matthieu Gomercic (left) and Bryce Fiske are both survivors of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash and are now playing hockey for the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, UOIT, in Oshawa. October 12, 2018.Carlos Osorio
After he’d recovered from the accident, Matthieu Gomercic wrestled with what to do next.
It was June. Only a few months had passed since the bus that carried him and his Humboldt Broncos teammates was broadsided by a tractor-trailer as they travelled to a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game. Sixteen players and staff were killed. Thirteen more were injured.
He’d already been back skating for a month, and as his separated shoulder healed (he also sustained a concussion), he eyed a return to hockey in the fall, in time for the coming season.
The question was, where would he play? At 21, he was too old to go back to junior. He’d looked at a few NCAA schools south of the border. He was in talks with the University of Manitoba.
He and another fellow Bronco, Bryce Fiske, decided to continue their hockey years at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, Ont.
On paper, they’re just a couple of Prairie boys living the dream; two Canadian hockey players trying to keep the ride going a little longer. Thousands of young men across Canada do the same every year.
What happened on the bus did not diminish their love of the game. If anything, it’s been emboldened. They speak to The Globe’s Jamie Ross about their next chapter, post-accident.
Evening Update is written by Shelby Blackley. 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.