Evening Update: Pope Francis apologizes for Catholic Church’s role in residential school abuse

Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:

Pope Francis apologizes to Indigenous delegation for residential school abuse in Canada

The Pope apologized for the Catholic Church’s role in the tragedy of residential schools, in front of an Indigenous delegation at the Vatican on Friday.

“I ask for God’s forgiveness and I want to say to you with all my heart, I am very sorry, and I join my brothers, the Canadian bishops, in asking your pardon clearly,” said Pope Francis during the historic address.

It is the first time that a pope has issued a formal public apology to Indigenous people from Canada. Read the full text of the Pope’s apology.

Métis elder and residential school survivor Angie Crerar said it was a dream come true to hear the apology from Pope Francis. The 85-year-old great-great-grandmother from Alberta was 8 when she first attended St. Joseph’s Mission in Fort Resolution, NWT, where she was traumatized by the abuses she experienced and witnessed, along with her two younger sisters.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission urged an apology in 2015 as part of its 94 calls to action. That call, No. 58, asked the Pope to issue an apology in Canada to survivors and communities for the church’s role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, sexual and physical abuse of children.

More than 150,000 Inuit, Métis and First Nations children were forced to attend the schools, in a government-backed system designed to strip them of their language, culture, and identity. More than 4,000 children died, according to the TRC, in what it has said amounts to cultural genocide.

After the meeting with Francis, Cassidy Caron, president of the Métis National Council, called the Pope’s words “historic” and “necessary,” adding, “Reconciliation did not start today with the Pope’s words of apology. And it certainly doesn’t end here either.”

Related:

• Through gifts and customs, Indigenous delegates to Vatican share their history and hopes
• Tanya Talaga: In Rome, I have seen Indigenous people bring hope and resistance to the Pope’s doorstep

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Ukrainian MPs urge Canada to send ‘heavy weaponry’ to help defend against Russian invasion

Ukrainian MPs visiting Ottawa urged the federal government to quickly provide military assistance, saying the country needs lethal weapons to defend itself against Russia.

The delegation met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland this week and said that more support is needed from the Canadian government. Ukraine requires military assistance and more weapons “now, not tomorrow, but just now,” said Lesia Zaburanna, an MP and the chair of the delegation.

Meanwhile, peace talks resumed Friday, as another attempt to rescue civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol failed. As well, Russia accused the Ukrainians of attacking a fuel depot on Russian soil.

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said a fiery cross-border raid by two helicopter gunships left two people wounded, though state oil company Rosneft denied anyone was hurt. The Russian claim could not immediately be verified, and Ukraine denied responsibility.

Read more:

• Russia-Ukraine live updates
• War is forcing businesses in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv to find novel ways of staying afloat
• Canadian helping displaced Ukrainians escapes Chernihiv on foot amid Russian shelling
• Opinion: The war in Ukraine shows that Western values are worth defending

What the national child-care deal means for unlicensed operators

Ontario has now signed on to the federal child-care deal, which promises to gradually reduce fees, starting by 50 per cent this year, all the way to down to $10 a day by 2025. But it only applies to the licensed sector.

The licensed child-care sector in Ontario currently only has capacity for approximately 24 per cent of kids in the province between the ages of zero and 12, according to the Child Care Providers Resource Network, a non-profit organization in Ottawa. The rest are looked after by parents, grandparents, nannies or unlicensed providers.

Persuading those unlicensed providers to become licensed could be the key to meeting the national child-care program’s ambitious expansion targets, which include creating 86,000 spaces in Ontario.

Many home daycare providers are eager to become licensed in order to participate in the federal plan. But many experienced providers choose not to become licensed because they value their independence and don’t want to take the pay cut that results from going the agency route.

There is no doubt that as the supply of licensed child-care spaces increases over the next few years – and as parents are able to pay drastically reduced fees – there will be more pressure on unlicensed providers.

• Explainer: All of Canada is signed on to $10-a-day child care. When will parents see costs go down?

ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Carbon tax hike: The national price on pollution will go up another $10 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions as scheduled today in most provinces. Here is what you need to know about how carbon pricing works.

Tiff Macklem takes on new role: The Bank of Canada Governor will be overseeing the global banking system as the chair of a group of central bankers that oversees the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The Basel Committee is an international body that sets banking standards to promote global financial stability. This doesn’t change his role as head of Canada’s central bank.

A labour win for Amazon workers in New York: Amazon workers in the Staten Island borough of New York voted to unionize on Friday, marking the first successful U.S. organizing effort in the retail giant’s history.

Blue Jays extend manager Charlie Montoyo’s contract: Montoyo helped the Toronto Blue Jays to a 91-win campaign last year and finished fourth in American League manager-of-the-year voting. The Blue Jays announced the extension on Friday, one week before Opening Day.

MARKET WATCH

The S&P 500 and TSX rose modestly to kick off the second quarter on Friday, as the monthly U.S. jobs report indicated a strong labour market and is likely to keep the Federal Reserve on track to maintain its hawkish policy stance.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended up 62.79 points, or 0.3%, at 21,952.95. For the week, it was down 0.2%, after five weeks of gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 139.92 points, or 0.4%, to 34,818.27, the S&P 500 gained 15.45 points, or 0.34%, to 4,545.86 and the Nasdaq Composite added 40.98 points, or 0.29%, to 14,261.50.

The loonie followed the drop in oil prices with the Canadian dollar trading for 79.92 cents US compared with 80.03 cents US on Thursday.

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TALKING POINTS

We’re ‘empowered’ to make COVID-19 decisions, public-health officials say. So why do we feel so powerless?

“Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s Chief Public Health Officer, declared in a March 14 government news release that citizens were now “empowered” to make their own decisions about what is right for them and their families. Empowered! In the current context, that statement is genuinely tough to differentiate from propaganda.” – Jillian Horton

Jean Charest’s biggest obstacle could be in his own political past

“One obstacle is the perception that he is yesterday’s man. Critics have asked whether Canadian politics have now passed him by. Indeed, the Conservatives today are very different from the Progressive Conservatives that Mr. Charest once led.” – David Mitchell

The biggest slap in the face at the Oscars? The hostility toward nominated films

“As online debates about movies take on more and more of the rage and impatience of the broader culture wars, it’s worth looking at how we got here, dividing ourselves into brawling camps, like The Outsiders, or Hunger Games alliances, or surviving members of the Yellowjackets.” – Cameron Bailey

For the Royals, slavery is a family affair. They need to show remorse, not sorrow, for their role in its history

“The Royal Family is implicated in one of the largest crimes against humanity of all time, of which they still fail to take proper measure. What’s more, the royals are burdened not only by what their family directly did but also by what was done in their name.” – Kris Manjapra

LIVING BETTER

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Think Green: Canada’s Best Dressed 2022

The Globe and Mail’s Canada’s Best Dressed List of 2022 highlights fashion entrepreneurs that illustrate the sartorial potential of an eco-friendly wardrobe. The honourees share their style inspiration and tips for curating a sustainable closet. See the full list.

TODAY’S LONG READ

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Emily St. John Mandel is a world-builder. With Sea of Tranquility, she finds refuge

Canadian author Emily St. John Mandel, known for bestselling novel Station Eleven and Giller Prize-shortlisted The Glass Hotel, is clearly going places, writes Paul Wells, “even though she specializes in stories about characters who can’t be sure where they’re going.”

St. John Mandel “is a chronicler of disorientation, which may help explain why her writing has found such a following in this age of vertigo,” adds Wells. “Station Eleven was just this incredible juggernaut that rolled over my life. Nothing was ever the same,” she tells Wells. She was no overnight success, though. Her first three novels largely flew under the radar, yielding her $32 royalty cheques and shoestring book tours. Read the full profile, which delves into her journey as an author, her creative process, and her newest work, Sea of Tranquility, a science-fiction novel about a time-traveling secret agent.

Evening Update is written by Prajakta Dhopade. 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.