Good evening,
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Parents of Jack Letts hoping to visit Canada
John Letts, the father of Jack Letts, 24, the Canadian who was stripped of his British citizenship over his alleged support for the Islamic State in Syria, wants to come to Canada to advocate for his son’s repatriation. “I intend to do everything I can to make people think about this issue before the end of the election,” Mr. Letts said.
Mr. Letts and his wife Sally Letts, who are dual Canadian-British citizens, say they are struggling financially because of their son’s detention, reports Michelle Zilio and Janice Dickson. They were recently convicted in Britain of funding terrorism for sending their son money to help him escape from Syria and were sentenced to 15 months in prison, but the judge suspended the sentence for a year, saying they had lost sight of reality while trying to help their son.
“It’s destroyed us in a personal sense. It’s destroyed our family. It’s certainly destroyed us financially. We’re about destitute. We literally can’t pay the rent so we have to abandon our rented house,” Mr. Letts said.
On Monday, Britain’s ITV aired an interview with Jack Letts who confirmed he would like to move to Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was asked at a Monday news conference whether Canada should take him back, would not answer the question. “It is a crime to travel internationally with a goal of supporting terrorism or engaging in terrorism," Mr. Trudeau said. "And that is a crime that we will continue to make all attempts to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”
Opinion: Christian Leuprecht and Todd Hataley argue that if Jack Letts comes home, Canada only has itself to blame.
This is the daily Evening Update newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for Evening Update and more than 20 more Globe newsletters on our newsletter signup page.
China tensions on agenda as Pompeo set to make first official trip to Ottawa
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Ottawa on Thursday to meet with Mr. Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland ahead of the G7 summit next week. This will be Mr. Pompeo’s first trip to Ottawa since he was named Secretary of State 16 months ago. It’s expected Canada will press Mr. Pompeo on China’s retaliation for the arrest of senior Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the behest of the U.S. Justice Department, including China’s detention of two Canadians. As well, talks are expected to include the ongoing U.S.-China trade war, the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, and the future of states such as Ukraine and Venezuela.
Canoeist wonders whether she took contaminated supplement that led to positive doping test
Top Canadian Olympic medal contender Laurence Vincent Lapointe spoke at a news conference today and said she has no idea how the banned substance Ligandrol got into her system, resulting in positive drug tests on Aug. 13 and Aug. 15, but suspects a supplement she took might have been contaminated. The 11-time world champion from Trois-Rivieres, Que., is a sprint canoeist and still hopes to be part of Team Canada when women’s sprint canoe makes its Olympic debut next year in Tokyo. “I’ve been winning for almost 10 years now,” she said. “I know I can beat all of these women with my own strength.”
EU rebuffs British PM Boris Johnson’s Brexit demand
The Irish border continues to be the proverbial line in the sand between the European Union and Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new government. Mr. Johnson wrote a four-page letter to European Council President Donald Tusk and proposed that the “Irish backstop” be replaced with a “commitment” to implement alternative arrangements, Reuters reports. The EU wants to ensure that its only land border with Britain after Brexit does not become a back door for goods to enter the EU’s single market. The EU rebuffed Mr. Johnson proposal, saying Britain’s bid to scrap a necessary solution in favour of a commitment to try to find a solution is no solution at all.
Background: Where are we at with Brexit? A guide
RCMP say any charges in Carson Crimeni’s suspected overdose death will take time
As the B.C. community of Walnut Grove comes to terms with the death of 14-year-old Carson Crimeni in early August, RCMP continue to investigate the circumstances that led to his death. Authorities are sifting through 115 tips about the night Carson died after onlookers shot video and taunted him while he was in the midst of an apparent drug overdose. But investigators say any potential charges are a long way off, Nancy Macdonald and Andrea Woo report. “To get to the point where there is potential for charges will take some time,” said Corporal Holly Largy, who added that 10 officers are working on the file.
WHAT ELSE IS ON OUR RADAR
The government of Alberta said that it will extend mandatory oil production curtailments by an extra year through 2020, due to uncertainty about when expanded pipelines may come online. (Reuters)
The Canadian Armed Forces installed Lieutenant-General Wayne Eyre as the new Canadian Army commander today, after years of instability in the most senior ranks over the failed prosecution of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman. (The Canadian Press)
Health Canada has granted AIDS Saskatoon an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act so that it can open a safe consumption site where users will be allowed to take illicit drugs through inhalation, injection, nasally or orally. (The Canadian Press)
Two high-profile directors have resigned from the board of Eureka 93 Inc., a CBD-focused company formed when LiveWell Canada Inc. and Vitality CBD Natural Health Products Inc. merged in the late spring, as the company faces lawsuits, problems with licensing and questions about whether the business can continue as a going concern. (The Globe and Mail)
The federal government is easing immigration and refugee rules for Venezuelans amid the deepening political and economic crisis in that country, allowing failed asylum claimants the ability to challenge deportation orders by arguing that they will face risk if they are sent home. (The Canadian Press)
Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced his resignation today as he made a blistering attack on Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, accusing him of sinking the ruling coalition and endangering the economy for personal and political gain. (Reuters)
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index dropped after two consecutive sessions of gains today as energy shares mirrored a drop in oil prices on persisting concerns over demand. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite index was down 88.85 points, or 0.56 per cent, at 16,213.31.
Shares in SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. fell again after Standard & Poor’s downgraded its credit rating to double-B-plus from triple-B-minus yesterday, which could make it costlier for the firm to borrow money.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 170.09 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 25,965.7, the S&P 500 lost 22.88 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 2,900.77 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 54.25 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 7,948.56.
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.
TALKING POINTS
A recession that would crush Trump’s re-election chances is just wishful thinking by Democrats
Lawrence Martin: Democrats and their media allies talking up recession is not surprising as it almost certainly would kill Mr. Trump’s chances of a re-election. But they’re engaging in a lot of wishful thinking. The speculation is overheated. If there is a recession, it’s not likely to come before next year’s election campaign.
Can China be a responsible power in a new era?
Frank Ching: Today, under President Xi Jinping, China is playing an increasingly prominent role in keeping peace, and with Pakistan being an “all-weather” friend to Beijing, and much work going into improving relations with [India], the Kashmir crisis is a key testing ground for this new effort. — Frank Ching is a Hong Kong-based journalist.
LIVING BETTER
It’s time I bought myself a brand-new bike
Guest contributor J.E. Hewitt never lost her love for riding bikes but laments her decision years ago to spend her hard-earned teenage wages on clothes instead of a new 10-speed. Ms. Hewitt’s First Person essay looks back on the place her bikes played in childhood and how a recent purchase has rekindled feelings of freedom and adventure that only a brand-new bike can bring.
In a battle for Canada’s soul – or at least its culture
Media writer Simon Houpt interviews Daniel Bernhard, the new executive director of Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, which is a grassroots group that on one hand ardently supports the CBC and on the other is a prominent critic of Facebook. Mr. Bernhard is in the midst of a campaign to urge the federal government to bring the digital giants to heel, as well as to increase CBC’s funding. Over the past few months, it has turned up the heat on the social-media giant, appearing before Parliament and launching a newspaper and social-media campaign calling on all federal leaders to “Unfriend Facebook.”
LONG READ FOR A LONG COMMUTE
Racha El-Dib looks at a portrait of her sister Nadia, who was murdered in Calgary in March of 2018, by a man with whom she had broken up. Ms. El-Dib's family began a charity called Nadia's Hope Foundation to raise awareness of domestic abuse.Leah Hennel
Statistics on domestic-violence deaths stymied by loopholes, varying provincial standards
As part of our ongoing data gap project, today’s Folio section looked at domestic violence in Canada. Although the country has legislation to protect domestic violence survivors, better co-ordination in the criminal justice system and general recognition of risk factors, there are still several holes in the way domestic homicides are recorded and investigated in Canada.
As Molly Hayes and Elizabeth Renzetti report, as many as 20 per cent of domestic-violence deaths may be overlooked because they involve dating relationships or same-sex partnerships. Murder-suicides, which make up nearly one-third of partner homicides, are not examined to the same degree as one where a perpetrator is still alive.
Researchers are working to compile a national database of domestic homicide statistics, but are stymied by different privacy legislation and recording standards across provinces. What they hope to develop is modelled on Australia’s system, which collects comprehensive data on domestic violence on a national level, rather than relying on a patchwork of inconsistent information from multiple regions.
More reading:
Poor flood-risk maps, or none at all, are keeping Canadian communities in flood-prone areas
Evening Update is produced 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.