Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Members of the family trust that controls Rogers Communications Inc. and independent directors are scheduled to meet in Toronto this evening amid a boardroom rift at the media and telecom giant.
A source close to the board of directors told The Globe and Mail that the players involved will discuss a possible way forward after chair Edward Rogers unsuccessfully attempted to replace Rogers chief executive officer Joe Natale with chief financial officer Tony Staffieri. That move triggered a boardroom fight that has pitted Mr. Rogers against his sisters, Martha Rogers and deputy chair Melinda Rogers-Hixon, and his mother, Loretta Rogers.
The attempted coup at Canada’s largest wireless carrier, which has erupted during the $26-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc., failed when a majority of the company’s board opposed the move during an emergency meeting held on Sept. 26. Mr. Staffieri left the company without explanation three days later.
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CN Rail CEO Ruest to leave railway giant in January
Jean-Jacques Ruest, Canadian National Railway Co.’s chief executive officer, will leave the Montreal-based railway in January amid calls for his resignation from an activist shareholder.
CN, which made the announcement after markets closed on Tuesday, said it has appointed an executive search committee to find a replacement for Mr. Ruest, a 25-year CN employee who became CEO in 2018.
Investor Christopher Hohn, whose U.K. hedge fund TCI Fund Management Ltd. is CN’s second-largest shareholder at 5.2 per cent, has called for Mr. Ruest and chairman Robert Pace to resign after CN apparently lost the battle for Kansas City Southern. The Missouri-based railway’s board supported a lower takeover bid from Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. when the U.S. regulator blocked a key step in CN’s purchase.
In death, Robert Mugabe still haunts Zimbabwe as his family fights a reburial scheme
In the village where Robert Mugabe was born and buried, his family and neighbours envision a big museum at his grave, attracting busloads of tourists, generating revenue and glorifying the man who ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years.
But, as workers finish construction of a brick wall to control access to the Mugabe burial site, Zimbabwe has been gripped by a court case that could derail the museum plans, forcing the exhumation and relocation of its most famous leader.
As Geoffrey York and Jeffrey Moyo write, Mugabe still looms over the country that he ruled for decades, a seemingly inescapable presence that’s still capable of dominating the media and sparking bitter conflicts.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Newfoundland and Labrador unveils details of what province says will be Canada’s first tax on sugary drinks: Government officials said today the tax will raise prices on drinks with added sugars by 20 cents a litre beginning in September, 2022. Provincial officials say the tax, expected to raise roughly $9-million a year, will be unique in Canada.
Amazon, IKEA among companies committing to using zero-carbon shipping fuels by 2040: With about 90 per cent of world trade transported by sea, global shipping accounts for nearly 3 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions. The initiative has nine signatories so far including others such as Unilever and Michelin. It sets a goal for companies to only purchase ocean freight services powered by scalable zero-carbon fuels.
Hopper picks up key partnership with Marriott as part of Montreal unicorn’s seventh acquisition: Montreal-based travel seller has purchased Boston-based ETMA Inc. (which operates as PlacePass) for an undisclosed amount. PlacePass’s online platform is used by hotels, airlines and vacation rental companies to offer activities and tours to their customers in more than 800 destinations.
MARKET WATCH
Strong performances from tech and financials led Canada’s main stock index to a record close as it topped the 21,000 mark for the first time, while U.S. stock markets also moved higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 101.62 points at 21,086.99. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 198.70 points at 35,457.31. The S&P 500 index was up 33.17 points at 4,519.63, while the Nasdaq composite was up 107.28 points at 15,129.09.
The Canadian dollar traded for 80.93 cents US compared with 80.78 cents US on Monday.
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TALKING POINTS
Quebec couldn’t let its hospitals collapse – it was right to cave to unvaccinated health care workers
“Unvaccinated health care workers in Quebec knew they had that leverage, which is why they could call the government’s bluff. And Mr. Legault, stuck between two undesirable outcomes, had to opt for the less universally damaging one. It’s a win for unvaccinated staffers, but better than a loss for absolutely everyone in Quebec.” – Robyn Urback
The provinces need to end the horrific practice of detaining migrants in prisons
“How can a country like Canada, one that prides itself on its commitment to human rights and refugee protection, continue to engage in such violations? One explanation is that year after year, each of the entities involved in immigration detention has passed the buck to another.” – Efrat Arbel
Auston Matthews has both something to prove and lose as pressure rises to help Maple Leafs win when it matters
“Matthews’s return was piped in like a triumphal march. He came, he played, he didn’t quite conquer. The Leafs lost. Huzzah! Now on to a glorious regular season that is an extended prelude to the Most Important First Round Playoff Series of All Time. Somehow, the next six months will be interminable and frenzied – a trick only the Leafs can manage.” – Cathal Kelly
LIVING BETTER
Ready to travel again? Here are deals for trips abroad and at home
Destinations around the world are opening up to visitors after many months of pandemic restrictions.
Whether you’re hoping to take a trip this winter, or are looking further down the road, there are incredible deals to be found in the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and right here at home.
TODAY’S LONG READ
After fire in Lytton, B.C., museum staff find artifacts that survived
Members of the British Columbia Heritage Emergency Response Network prepare to salvage artifacts from the Lytton Chinese History Museum.Lorna Fandrich/lytton chinese history museum
This summer, Lytton, B.C., was burned to the ground in record-breaking heat. In an effort to recover what remained of its cultural treasures, conservators had to get creative and work fast before the bulldozers came in.
“It was really, really apocalyptic,” says Tara Fraser, head conservator at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Over the first two weeks of October, members of the British Columbia Heritage Emergency Recovery Network – an all-volunteer group – travelled three times to Lytton to search through the rubble of museums and other structures destroyed in the wildfire that swept through the town this summer.
On their first trip in, a reconnaissance mission, Fraser was struck by the devastation to the land; black was everywhere. She describes a pattern of stone foundations and chimneys, and then, every once in a while, a spattering of bright yellow sunflowers. Or she’d move some ashes and underneath find a little weed or plant, bright green. “And I’m like, oh look at that. Life just wants to come through.”
Read Marsha Lederman’s story on the largest operation in BC HERN’s history.
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