Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
This week, millions of Canadian children will begin a staggered return to school, whether in-class, online or through homeschooling.
The return to school amid a global pandemic has raised myriad anxieties, divisions and questions. It certainly hasn’t been smooth, and today, Ontario’s four major teachers’ unions said they will file labour board complaints regarding workplace safety after meetings with the provincial government that they claim failed to address their concerns last week.
Teacher Aaron Guthrie stands in his vacant classroom as he prepares for distanced learning. First Nations students from Northern Ontario will not be travelling south to Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School in Thunder Bay this school year because of COVID-19 protocols.DAVID JACKSON/The Globe and Mail
The situation is similarly haphazard in First Nations’ schools across the country. The Globe and Mail’s Willow Fiddler reports that First Nations’ schools have been left behind in the scramble to reopen. After weeks of confusion, “The federal government announced only days ago that it would provide $112-million in funding for schools on reserves to help pay for things such as ventilation, personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies.”
For many First Nations’ schools, that means administrators have opted to do online learning until the funds can be deployed to equip classrooms to meet physical distancing and other health safeguards.
In opinion:
- To reopen schools safely, governments need to be ready to close them, too - The Globe Editorial Board
Canada signs two more vaccine deals
As the whole world ponders when the world will “back to normal,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today announced the federal government has signed agreements with two more U.S. companies – Johnson & Johnson and Novavax – to reserve doses of their COVID-19 vaccines. Both vaccines are still in clinical trials and will not be purchased until they are deemed safe and effective by Health Canada. The federal government has signed agreements with two other vaccine suppliers.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Contract workers dispute: Negotiations between ride-sharing services and their drivers have become a flashpoint for labour disputes in the gig economy. Toronto lawyer Lior Samfiru says the language in new contracts Uber is asking drivers to sign may prevent them from joining or starting class-action lawsuits against the company.
Missed warnings?: Public Safety Minister Bill Blair is investigating allegations that the RCMP ignored early warnings about Cameron Ortis, the former director-general of the RCMP’s National Intelligence Co-ordination Centre, who has been charged with Security of Information Act violations, breach of trust and a computer-related offence.
Body cameras issued: The first phase in a rollout of body cameras were issued last week to Toronto police officers, said Deputy Chief Shawna Coxon. The force recently signed a five-year deal with Axon for $34-million, which includes 2,350 cameras to be distributed throughout the year.
Awaiting answers: Over a span of 10 days this April, three Indigenous people in Winnipeg were shot and killed by members of the Winnipeg Police Service. The youngest, Eishia Hudson, was 16. Now, their families are seeking answers from the province’s law enforcement watchdog, as they investigate whether police were justified in using lethal force.
Second wave: One of the first countries in the European Union to be hit with COVID-19, Spain is now experiencing a second wave. Spain has recorded the most new cases on the continent by far – and the coronavirus is spreading faster in Spain now than in the United States.
MARKET WATCH
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 191.35 points, or 1.15%, at 16,514.44 in a broad-based move lower Monday. The energy sector led decliners, with a drop of 3.04%; materials was about the only bright spot, edging up 0.11% as gold moved higher.
The Canadian dollar posted its biggest gains in 14 months, trading at 76.68 US cents.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 230.01 points, or 0.8%, to 28,423.86, the S&P 500 lost 8.11 points, or 0.23%, to 3,499.9 and the Nasdaq Composite added 79.82 points, or 0.68%, to 11,775.46. For the S&P, this was its longest winning steak on a monthly basis since a six-month run from April to September 2018.
Looking for investing ideas? Check out The Globe’s weekly digest of the latest insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and what investors need to know for the week ahead. This week’s edition includes dividend share shopping, GICs in demand and rethinking bank stocks.
TALKING POINTS
China’s expansionist agenda takes shape on the Indian border
Brahma Chellaney: As the past weekend’s latest skirmishes between rival troops underscore, relations between the demographic titans, China and India, have hit a low not seen since their 1962 war. The two countries have forward-deployed tens of thousands of troops and are now locked in a tense military standoff along one of the world’s most inhospitable and treacherous borders, which is as long as the distance between Toronto and Los Angeles.
Shuttering a supervised consumption site is bad public-health policy
André Picard: Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is not a fan of harm reduction by way of supervised consumption sites; he subscribes to the simplistic notion that they “enable” illicit drug use. He’s even commissioned a so-called “study” to investigate the harms caused by supervised consumption sites, not the benefits. Sure, there can be chaos and disruption around consumption sites. But shuttering them only moves the chaos elsewhere.
LIVING BETTER
What’s better than serving up a meal with ingredients you grew yourself? As the slow crawl into the fall season begins, there’s still plenty of time to cook up dishes with fresh summer produce from your garden or the local farmers’ market.
Our cooking columnist Lucy Waverman has 10 new recipes to utilize the best of end-of-summer produce, without having to turn your oven on.
TODAY’S LONG READ
To round out our back-to-school coverage, we thought we ought to go straight to the source: children themselves.
We interviewed students from across Canada about going back to school in the middle of a global pandemic, what they’re looking forward to, and perhaps not so excited about.
"I think masks are comfy," says seven-year-old Rosie, left, of Calgary.Supplied
Their answers range from serious considerations (”I’m a bit nervous, because school wasn’t that clean before COVID so I’m not sure they’ll be able to clean it as much as maybe they need to”) to the just plain silly (”I’m really looking forward to playing toilet tag at recess.”)
The kids are gonna be just fine.
Evening Update is written by Claire Porter Robbins. 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.