Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this afternoon after an all-party board decided that everyone entering the House of Commons precinct must be vaccinated.
The decision – supported by the Liberals, Bloc Québécois and NDP – was made behind closed doors and in spite of objections of the Conservative Party, which has opposed mandatory vaccination policies. The Tories are the Official Opposition with 119 elected MPs.
“I can’t discuss what happens at an in camera meeting but I will say that we’ve always said that vaccines are [the] most important tool to get us out of this pandemic,” Conservative Whip Blake Richards said in a statement. “While we encourage everyone who can be vaccinated to get vaccinated, we cannot agree to seven MPs, meeting in secret, deciding which of the 338 MPs, just elected by Canadians, can enter the House of Commons to represent their constituents.”
It is not yet clear whether the new Parliament will maintain the recent practice of hybrid sittings, in which Members of Parliament can participate in debates and committee meetings remotely by video link.
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Canada’s annual inflation rate hits 4.4 per cent in September, highest since 2003
Higher prices for fuel and housing pushed the consumer price index up 4.4 per cent in September, the fastest pace since 2003. The surge in inflation arrived at a time of lively debate over the duration of rising price pressures.
It was the sixth consecutive month that inflation has exceeded the Bank of Canada’s target range of 1 per cent to 3 per cent.
The acceleration was heavily influenced by gasoline prices, which jumped 33 per cent from a year ago. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 3.5 per cent. Prices were higher in all eight major components, including hefty gains in shelter (4.8 per cent) and food (3.9 per cent).
Also:
China’s Xi Jinping prepares to rewrite Communist Party history, with himself on top
Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top leaders will meet in Beijing next month for a private gathering that’s expected to highlight Xi’s firm grip on power.
At the meeting of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, officials will discuss a “key resolution on the major achievements and historical experience of the party’s 100 years of endeavours,” state media reported this week. The meeting was announced as China faces economic uncertainty and growing tensions with the West.
As The Globe’s James Griffiths writes, such historical resolutions have only been adopted twice before, under leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, who both used them to consolidate power and remake the party as they envisioned it.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Newfoundland and Labrador to replace ‘savages’ from coat of arms with ‘Beothuk’: The provincial government has introduced legislation to amend the Coat of Arms Act. The amendments include removing the word “‘savages” and replacing it with “Beothuk,” the name of Indigenous people who inhabited the island portion of the province when European settlers arrived. As well, the government plans to add the name Labrador to the coat of arms.
Shopify partners with Spotify to give musicians new options for merchandise sales: The company has struck a deal with the leading subscription audio service that makes its digital retail business accessible on Spotify’s artist pages. Shopify says the platform offers musicians an array of options for how merchandise from their online store is created and displayed.
Canadian athletes must be vaccinated against COVID-19 to compete in Beijing Olympics and Paralympics: The Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees announced a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on Wednesday, saying the decision was made with support of the boards of directors and athlete commissions.
BHP outbids Wyloo as fight for Ring of Fire operator Noront intensifies: Melbourne-based BHP said it will pay 75 cents a share in cash for Toronto-based Noront Resources, five cents higher than Wyloo’s last bid. Noront’s board has also backed BHP’s latest bid, and is recommending shareholders tender to BHP.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index moved further into record territory as shares of country’s railways climbed and offset the impact of inflation rising in September at its fastest pace in 18 years.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 101.20 points to 21,188.19. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 152.03 points at 35,609.34. The S&P 500 index was up 16.56 points at 4,536.19, while the Nasdaq composite was down 7.41 points at 15,121.68.
The Canadian dollar traded for 81.11 cents US compared with 80.93 cents US on Tuesday.
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TALKING POINTS
House of Commons redistribution proposal is a time bomb for Justin Trudeau
“The 1992 Charlottetown constitutional accord would have guaranteed Quebec a minimum of 25 per cent of Commons seats, in exchange for a reduction in its Senate seats to six from 24. The accord was rejected in a national referendum, leaving Quebec to cling to the 1985 amendment ensuring that it is never allotted fewer than 75 seats.” - Konrad Yakabuski
‘Torpedo Joe’ Manchin is blowing up Biden’s agenda
“Without his support, the Democrats do not have a working majority in the Senate. The conservatively inclined Mr. Manchin knows it, and loves it – and is certainly taking advantage. His latest move is blocking the Democrats’ clean-electricity legislation, the centrepiece of Mr. Biden’s climate program and critical for the administration in reaching its carbon targets.” - Lawrence Martin
Ottawa needs to develop a modern policy for Taiwan
“Like other democracies, Canada finds itself at an inflection point on China. More than ever, it must weigh the benefits of giving in to the siren song of the Chinese market against the real risks of being complicit in efforts by Beijing to rewrite international law, redefine human rights, and narrow the space within which liberal democracy – principles that are anathema to the Chinese Communist Party – can flourish.” - J. Michael Cole
LIVING BETTER
I am hesitant to go back to having dinner parties. What should I do to make it easier?
With life slowly getting back to normal, the time will soon come to ease back in to hosting friends and family around a dinner table.
As Lucy Waverman writes, hosts certainly won’t have to worry about conversation after more than 18 months of lockdown. As such, she recommends starting with a straightforward meal plan. She emphasizes that easy entertaining is a step to much needed normalcy.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Moms at Work is Canada’s first professional association for working mothers
.Maia Grecco
Allison Venditti does not mince words when she talks about how working mothers have been overlooked and undervalued in the Canadian work force.
“You have every right to be angry,” the founder of Moms at Work says to moms who struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those who left the work force in numbers not seen for 30 years.
Venditti and her community of 10,000 moms have come together to form a professional association to advocate for mothers’ rights at work. Moms at Work represents working mothers from every industry, she says, including human resources, food service, fitness, communications, farming, STEM, the performing arts and more.
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