Good evening and happy Friday, here’s what’s been making news today:
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Ottawa orders NEB to reconsider Trans Mountain project
The National Energy Board is getting another crack at the Trans Mountain pipeline project. In August, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed Ottawa’s approval of the project, ruling that the NEB had not fully included maritime traffic and its impact on killer whales in its decision. The court also ruled that Ottawa had not adequately consulted First Nations. So, as Shawn McCarthy in Ottawa and Justine Hunter in Victoria report today, the Liberals have ordered the NEB to reconsider the proposed expansion project in order to take into account the increased marine traffic. The NEB will have 22 weeks to consider the issues raised by the court. Meanwhile, Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi said the government will be outlining its plan to re-engage with First Nations at a later date but gave no indication how long that consultation process would take.
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Unfounded case ends with conviction 19 years after police dismissed sexual-assault complaint
Brian Lance began sexually abusing "L" (whose identity is protected under a publication ban) when she was 12 years old and he was 26. In February, 1998, he raped L for the final time when she was 13, resulting in a pregnancy. Last week, 19 years after Ottawa police initially dismissed the file as an unfounded allegation, Mr. Lance, now 46, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to the sexual assault. As Robyn Doolittle reports, this case is one of more than 400 unfounded sexual-assault files that have been reopened in response to The Globe’s investigative series. In the past year and a half, at least 100 Canadian police services have audited a combined 37,272 sexual-assault files. It’s unclear how many reopened cases have resulted in charges, but one other complainant featured in the Unfounded series has told The Globe that her case was reopened and charges have been laid against the accused.
White House adviser says U.S. closing in on trade deal with Mexico
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told Fox News Channel that the United States is getting “very, very close” to signing a deal with Mexico without Canada. Hassett, who chairs the White House Council of Economic Advisers, echoed this week’s earlier comments by House of Representatives majority whip Steve Scalise. Critics say the Republican White House and Congress are ratcheting up the pressure on Canada as a U.S.-imposed Oct. 1 deadline to publish the text of a deal approaches. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, who left Washington yesterday after two days of inconclusive talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, said after the meetings: “For Canada, we have only one target ... a good deal for Canada. It was our target from the start, it is our target now. It is the only thing we’re thinking of.” Canada and the U.S. did not meet today as Ms. Freeland heads to Montreal to co-host a gathering of women foreign affairs ministers.
Rosenstein proposed secretly recording Trump and discussed 25th Amendment
The New York Times is reporting that deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein suggested last year that he secretly recorded President Donald Trump to expose the chaos consuming the White House and discussed recruiting cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Mr. Trump from office for being unfit. The Times reports that Mr. Rosenstein made the suggestions in 2017 after Mr. Trump fired James Comey as FBI director. Over the ensuing days, the President divulged classified intelligence to Russians in the Oval Office, and revelations emerged that Mr. Trump had asked Mr. Comey to pledge loyalty and end an investigation into a senior aide. At the time, Mr. Rosenstein was just two weeks into his job. He had begun overseeing the Russia investigation after Attorney-General Jeff Sessions recused himself. Mr. Rosenstein also played a key role in the President’s dismissal of Mr. Comey by writing a memo critical of the former FBI director’s handling of the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation.
British PM May hits back at EU after Brexit rejection
British Prime Minister Theresa May was rebuffed and mocked by European Union leaders this week after they rejected her Brexit strategy and bluntly said her plan won’t work. Ms. May appeared on television today to defend her position and issue a sharp rebuke to her EU counterparts, reports The Globe’s Paul Waldie in London. “Throughout this process, I have treated the EU with nothing but respect. The U.K. expects the same,” she said. “At this late stage in the negotiations, it is not acceptable to simply reject the other side’s proposals without a detailed explanation and counterproposals.” She added that Britain was prepared to walk away from the talks without a deal. Ms. May had clearly been rattled by the response to her Brexit plan by EU leaders during a summit in Salzburg, Austria, this week. She went into the meeting confident that the other leaders would be open to her proposal, which calls for Britain to effectively remain in EU’s single market but only for trade in goods, not services. Instead, the EU leaders flatly rejected the idea with European Council President Donald Tusk saying it “will not work… because it risks undermining the single market.”
MARKET WATCH
The close: TSX finishes flat as marijuana stocks slip
Canada’s main stock index closed flat Friday despite a jump in energy stocks as oil prices rose on supply concerns ahead of a meeting of OPEC and other large crude exporters. The TSX composite index was up 10.25 points, or 0.06 per cent, at 16,225.00. In New York, B.C.-based Tilray Inc. was down 30.3 per cent, enduring another day of volatile trading.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 69.43 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 26,726.41, the S&P 500 lost 1.5 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 2,929.25, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 41.28 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 7,986.96. The Canadian dollar was trading 0.1 per cent lower at $1.2916 to the greenback, or 77.42 U.S. cents, but was on track to gain for the second consecutive week.
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WHAT’S TRENDING ON SOCIAL
Ontario deficit to be $15-billion, PCs say
Ontario’s Finance Minister Vic Fedeli announced today that the province will run a $15-billion deficit this year and not the $6.7-billion that had been projected by the previous Liberal government. Mr. Fedeli told a Bay Street business crowd in Toronto to brace for more bad news after revealing the results of an independent inquiry into the province’s books.
TALKING POINTS
The shaming of the U.S. Supreme Court
“The American system of governance is an embarrassment enough already. The executive branch under Mr. Trump is unhinged. The legislative branch is a pit of knee-jerk partisanship, so much so that Congress’s approval rating is at about 20 per cent. The electoral system is plagued by big money, by voter suppression and now by foreign interference. The fourth estate is held in lower and lower esteem. The Supreme Court was the one branch that maintained a good degree of credibility. Owing to the duplicitous work of the politicians, it is losing that distinction.” — Lawrence Martin
Universities preach the new religion of anti-racism and anti-oppression
“[Dalhousie] university’s latin motto Ora et Labora (pray and work) should be changed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness – three words that appear like magic incantations in the university’s various strategic plans, PR bumf and statements of principles. For example, Strategic Priority 5.2 is to “foster a collegial culture grounded in diversity and inclusiveness. Inclusiveness is so important, in fact, that sometimes it requires shutting people out. Earlier this year, Dal advertised for a new dean of students who was “racially visible” (I guess they were too timid to just come out and say “not white.”)” — Margaret Wente
What Chicago teaches us about gun violence
“Like many big U.S. cities, Chicago’s glistening façade obscures the ugly realities lurking behind it. On the surface, the city would seem to have it all: stunning architecture, a vibrant cultural scene, immense corporate wealth and a relatively strong economy... There are some stats that just don’t sell a city. In 2015, for instance, there were 485 gun-related homicides. A year later, that number soared to 764. The death toll last year, according to data pulled together by the Chicago Tribune, was 674 – down 15 per cent from the year before. This year, deaths were on pace to be less than each of the two previous years. But the gun violence of this summer has changed that picture and unnerved many living [there].” — Gary Mason
LIVING BETTER
Pot smoke reeks! Or am I just losing touch with my more liberal self?
Cannabis is going to be legal in less than a month and it’s certain folks will be sparking up in their apartments and back yards as openly as cigarette smokers. That might take some getting used to, even for people who are pot advocates such as Maureen Duteau, who penned today’s First Person essay.
"...I smoked my first joint as a rite of passage in Grade 8 when my classmate traded me one for a pack of cigarettes. I experienced my first body stone (the powerful high from digesting marijuana) the same year my best friend shared the pot brownies her father put in her lunch by mistake. As a youth, I was surrounded by opportunities to enjoy recreational marijuana. While I chose not to make it a habit, I have not discouraged others from a lifestyle choice that they enjoy.
So how do I explain my knee-jerk reaction to the cannabis smoke in my hallway? Am I losing touch with my more liberal self or are my parental instincts kicking in?"
LONG READS FOR A LONG COMMUTE
The new House chamber, part of Parliament Hill's West Block rehabilitation.Blair Gable
The rehabilitation of Parliament Hill’s West Block
West Block is the oldest building on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, but it has never been the most important. That changes next year: the House of Commons is moving in. Explore the story of how the new West Block was made in this custom-built and visually appealing interactive by Ottawa-based editor Chris Hannay, photographer Blaire Gable and design editor Jeremy Agius.
Evening Update was written by Michael Snider. 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.