Good evening and happy Friday,
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
B.C. murder suspects may have had help escaping northern area of Manitoba, RCMP say
RCMP said Friday afternoon that the two fugitives wanted in the killings of three people in Northern British Columbia may have changed their appearance and left the Northern Manitoba area with the help of someone who didn’t know who they were. There have been no confirmed sightings of Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19, outside the Gillam area, but police say it remains a possibility they are no longer in the region. The last confirmed sighting was July 22 in the Gillam area.
Police said they continue to search “high probability areas of interest in the Gillam area” and over the next few days will conduct door-to-door canvases in the town and Fox Lake Cree Nation.
The pair are suspects in the deaths of American Chynna Deese, 24, and her 23-year-old Australian boyfriend Lucas Fowler, who were shot to death on the side of a Northern British Columbia highway and found on July 15. Four days later, the body of Leonard Dyck was discovered on a road 500 kilometres away. On Wednesday, RCMP charged Mr. Schmegelsky and Mr. McLeod with second-degree murder in Mr. Dyck’s death.
CannTrust shares spike after cannabis company fires CEO
Shares of CannTrust spiked as much as 20 per cent Friday to close 17 per cent higher following news that the cannabis company’s chief executive officer was fired. The company’s board also demanded that chair Eric Paul resign, which he did.
The shakeup comes amid a deepening scandal over plants being grown in unlicensed rooms. A report by The Globe and Mail earlier this week detailed internal e-mails that showed the pair and other CannTrust officials were made aware of breaches of Health Canada regulations in November, seven months before the regulator uncovered the illegal practice.
Federal prosecutors broke no rules in Hassan Diab’s extradition case, review finds
The 126-page external review into the extradition of the Ottawa academic concluded federal lawyers did their job ethically and within the law. The review, which was made public Friday, examines whether lawyers behaved properly in building and representing the case for Diab to be sent to France on accusations related to a 1980 synagogue bombing.
French authorities suspected Diab was involved in the Paris bombing that killed four people. Diab has always denied the allegation. The RCMP arrested him in 2008 following a request by French authorities. Diab was sent to France six years later despite an Ontario judge’s acknowledgment that the case against him was weak. French judges eventually dismissed the allegations against Diab in January, 2018, after he spent years imprisoned there. Diab returned to Canada that same month.
The report makes 14 recommendations for how the extradition system could work better. Justice Minister David Lametti said he is studying the recommendations on how to make the system more transparent and more understandable for the public.
Supreme Court of Canada says military’s no-juries justice system is constitutional
In a 5-2 decision released Friday, the court upheld the established system of military justice saying military members accused of serious offences under military law do not have the constitutional right to a civilian jury trial. This decision comes after a military court of appeal threw it into question last year.
Several military members accused of serious criminal and other non-military offences had argued that they had a right to trials by jury, as guaranteed to Canadians under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But the court’s majority opinion found the section of military law that transforms serious civilian offences into military ones is constitutional.
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.
WHAT ELSE IS ON OUR RADAR
Oka land dispute: Kanesatake Grand Chief Serge Simon said Friday that he’s decided to cut off all talks with Oka Mayor Pascal Quevillon after the mayor refused to apologize for derogatory comments about the First Nations territory. Emotions have run high since news broke of a local developer’s intention to donate the 60 hectares known as The Pines to the Kanesatake Mohawk Council. Quevillon has said property values would decline and raised fears of illegal dumping and an expansion of cannabis and cigarette merchants.
Iran tests a missile: U.S. officials said Friday that Iran test-launched a medium-range ballistic missile inside its borders. The move defies Trump administration demands that it curtail the weapon program and demonstrates its intent to further push back against U.S. sanctions.
Hong Kong: Thousands of protesters calling for democracy and some chanting “free Hong Kong” converged on the Chinese-ruled city’s airport on Friday. Airport authorities said operations wouldn’t be affected, but advised passengers to arrive early. More protests are expected Saturday.
Tour de France: A violent hailstorm forced organizers to cut short the penultimate mountain stage. Riders were told to stop while speeding, unbeknownst to them, headlong toward a road that had suddenly become covered with ice and giant puddles and cut in half by a rockslide. As a result, Colombian Egan Bernal surpassed Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe to claim the yellow jersey.
David Caplan investigation: Toronto police are launching an investigation into a sudden death at a Toronto home that belongs to the former Ontario health minister. Police say such investigations take place any time someone is found dead and there is no information to suggest the death is suspicious.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index gained on Friday, driven by a rise in consumer staples and industrial stocks. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite index was unofficially up 42.84 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 16,531.04.
South of the border, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 51.2 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 27,192.18, the S&P 500 gained 22.19 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 3,025.86 and the Nasdaq Composite added 91.67 points, or 1.11 per cent, to 8,330.21.
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
Human rights meets bizarro-world
“Canada is on the global map this week, and not for a good reason. Long known as a champion of human rights, our nation is now being celebrated as a champion of human idiocy. Canada is the place − so far the only place − where a human-rights tribunal is actually holding a hearing to determine whether a transgender woman’s rights have been violated because she couldn’t get her testicles waxed.” - Margaret Wente
The question is: ‘Why Boris?’ The answer is: Brexit
“Boris didn’t merely step forward in his country’s hour of strife; he helped engineer that strife. After attending Eton and Oxford, he walked into a journalism career, first fired from The Times for making up a quote, then elevated to foreign correspondent at The Daily Telegraph – an upward glide from blunders to glory that has marked his career.” - Tom Rachman, London-based novelist and journalist
Cold, dark and dangerous: The connection between the Arctic and outer space
“There are still factors that could tip the Arctic or space into competition and conflict, including climate change, rogue states and an uninformed and impulsive U.S. President. But professional diplomats understand that these regions are special, that their extreme conditions almost demand co-operation.” - Michael Byers
LIVING BETTER
Start your weekend planning early with The Globe and Mail’s guide to feature films arriving this weekend in theatres, streaming and on-demand, from would-be blockbusters to under-the-radar indies including a meandering Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and the Canadian-made Astronaut.
LONG READ FOR THE WEEKEND
Canadian Simu Liu, Marvel’s new superhero, talks about the week that changed his life
Actor Simu Liu is photographed on the set of Kim's Convenience in Toronto on July 24, 2019.JENNIFER ROBERTS/The Globe and Mail
As he took the stage at Comic-Con in San Diego on Saturday, Canada’s Simu Liu was thrilled, grateful and terrified. It was about to be announced that he would play Shang-Chi, the first Asian superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And his origin story could leap right from a comic book. He is the only son of Chinese immigrants, a lonely kid who never felt like he belonged. After graduating from the University of Western Ontario, he spent eight months working as an accountant before pursuing acting.
Johanna Schneller recently sat down with Liu, who says he acknowledges fame comes at a cost but says, “I have a real chance now to do the thing I feel I was put here to do: tell a good story that is Asian at its core, that will help millions of children – and adults, too – feel like they belong.”
Evening Update is written by Jordan Chittley. 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.