Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Early in the day, Ontario’s Peel Region became the first to announce that businesses with COVID-19 outbreaks would be closed by order of the medical officer of health – a step the provincial government had refused to take. Hours later, Toronto made a similar announcement: Businesses could be closed for 10 days when at least five coronavirus cases could be linked to their workplaces.
Though daily case counts in Ontario are falling this week, the province’s COVID-19 advisers warned hospitals in the hardest-hit province in Canada’s third wave are “buckling” under the strain of treating patients. Meanwhile, Health Minister Christine Elliott hinted that a provincial sick days program might be under consideration, while criticizing the federal government for not improving its benefit.
Federal Budget 2021: Assessing the priorities, policies and programs
The morning after the governing Liberals tabled their 2021 budget late in the afternoon, parties began debating the bill in the House of Commons and stakeholders were able to dig further into its details. Today’s coverage includes:
- A federal budget lacking in dramatic changes to the corporate tax regime may nevertheless draw higher revenues over its term, thanks to measures that promise to limit tax deductions and close various loopholes. James Bradshaw reports.
- Affordable child care is a pillar of the budget, but to untangle how that would work in tandem with the provinces, you need a guide. Luckily, we’ve published one.
- The struggling film industry provides a clear example of a sector in dire need of support from the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland doled out support for key film production bodies, but struggling movie houses may not survive long enough to see those investments through to the big screen. Cinema operators were neglected yesterday, Barry Hertz says.
- Opinions: The Trudeau government’s laser focus on spending while interest rates are low is not only an election gambit, writes Konrad Yakabuski, it also marks the final nail in the coffin of the Washington Consensus. To John Ibbitson, nothing is more revealing about this government’s priorities than its refusal to address problems facing the oil and gas sector, national defence priorities, or the much-ballyhooed pharmacare program. Out west, Kelly Cryderman examines why support for a carbon capture program may not give Alberta everything it needs to roll out such programs. And Gary Mason sees no urgency from Ottawa to return to the days of balanced budgets.
Rogers offers credit to customers after massive outage, but questions remain on Shaw deal
A day after its wireless customers were left without service for more than 12 hours, Rogers has fixed the immediate problem and announced compensation in the form of a one-time credit. But the company may feel long-lasting negative impacts to its business plans, according to analysts.
Rogers won’t say how many of its 10-million-plus subscribers were affected by the outage, which they blamed on a third-party software update, but for many it disrupted remote work functions or the ability to access COVID-19 vaccine appointments.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Crowds react after the verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in front of Hennepin County Government Center, in Minneapolis, Minn., on April 20, 2021.CARLOS BARRIA/Reuters
Chauvin found guilty: Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted of three counts of murder in the killing of George Floyd last July, which set off a fresh round of protests in U.S. city streets over police brutality against Black Americans.
Bill 21 ruled legal – mostly: A Quebec Superior Court judge had sharp criticism for the province’s secularism law in his 240-page decision, but ruled it stands up to legal scrutiny, with exceptions affecting English school boards and members of the provincial legislature.
Kansas City here we come: Canadian National Railway has ignited a bidding war with rival Canadian Pacific over the purchase of Kansas City Southern in what would be the first takeover of a major U.S. railway in more than 20 years. CN’s offer of US$29.9-billion tops the $25.2-billion CP offered.
Assault investigations by military police ‘dreadful’: Female service members, speaking to the House of Commons committee on the status of women, today criticized how military police investigate sexual misconduct allegations in the armed forces.
President of Chad killed: President Idriss Deby, a Western ally hailed for helping ward off Islamist extremism in the African country of Chad, was killed on the front lines of a battle against rebels yesterday. Deby, who ruled for some 30 years, is being replaced on an interim bases by his son, Mahamat Idriss Deby.
Next budget to watch: B.C’s: The British Columbia government tabled a budget this afternoon that anticipates a deficit of $9.7-billion this year and further billion-dollar deficits the following two years.
MARKET WATCH
The major North American stock indexes fell for different reasons today, with the bidding war between Canadian railway companies dragging down the TSX and a new surge in virus cases causing Wall Street to fall.
Travel-related stocks were falling as India hit a new record in daily COVID-19 deaths and countries tried to limit incoming travel from the region. Reopening leisure travel may take longer than previously thought.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.75% to 33,821.3. The S&P 500 shed 0.68% to 4,134.94 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.92% to 13,786.27.
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TALKING POINTS
National child care: How can we afford not to?
Elizabeth Renzetti: “Giant cracks need a lot of glue. This is a big and necessary expenditure, and there are many ways to sell the benefits to the Canadian population. You could, for example, point to Quebec’s affordable child-care strategy, which has boosted women’s participation in the labour market as well as the birth rate. You could point to studies from abroad, such as research from the thinktank IPPR in the U.K., which shows a gain of $35,000 in government revenue over four years for every woman who returns to the work force full time.”
Also: $10-a-day child care needs to serve all working parents
Our actions can help pull Canada’s health care system back from the brink
Fahad Razak, David Naylor and Arthur Slutsky: “Weakening of public resolve and confidence in government at this time could be devastating. Let us be clear: The third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic may be the greatest health care crisis our country has faced. A massive variant-fuelled surge has hit Canada from British Columbia to Quebec. And in recent weeks, severe fault lines have emerged in access to essential treatment, physical and human resources, and preventive therapy.”
Walter Mondale transformed the role of the U.S. vice-president
David Shribman: “He was the first vice-president to have a substantial role in Washington – beyond being a cipher created by the Founding Fathers to assume power in the event of a president’s death. His insistence on having weekly meetings over lunch with President Jimmy Carter and having his office be part of all the paper flow to the chief executive set a precedent ... .”
LIVING BETTER
Why China is pretending this year’s Academy Awards don’t exist
Two Oscar-nominated films that Beijing perceives as challenging its authority in one way or another (documentary Do Not Split and feature film Nomadland) mean the whole Academy Awards broadcast is being treated as taboo by the Chinese government. As a result, Chinese viewers are officially not allowed to see the film industry’s biggest party Sunday night. But a seemingly one-off boycott is actually a much higher-stakes proposition for Hollywood. Film editor Barry Hertz explains.
The ethics of getting a vaccine dose when higher-risk groups aren’t yet eligible
For some Canadians in hotspot areas, the immediate relief of discovering you’re suddenly eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine can be quickly replaced with guilt. However understandable, experts say, that feeling shouldn’t deter people from getting a jab in the hopes that their dose could or should be reallocated. Dave McGinn finds out why.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Ukrainian armed forces members stand next to an armoured vehicle during a training at a firing range in the country's Donetsk region on April 20, 2021.SERHIY TAKHMAZOV/Reuters
All eyes on Putin as tensions with Ukraine, West remain high ahead of his state-of-the-nation address
Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, is set to deliver a state-of-the-nation address tomorrow that is expected to rank among his most important, with several international and domestic dramas giving observers reasons to parse the ambitious leader’s words carefully.
First, his next move after the buildup of armed forces near the Ukrainian border could be escalation or abatement of tension, and it’s probably as much about what Putin wants Joe Biden to understand as it is about attacking its neighbour. Things could be different in Belarus, another former Soviet republic that is said to be a target of Putin’s geopolitical ambitions.
Inside Russia’s borders, a planned protest of nearly half a million Russians nationwide could challenge Putin’s authority in unprecedented numbers, with the detention of ailing opposition leader Alexey Navalny providing the flashpoint.
Will Putin act on these or other Russian affairs? “It’s very difficult to predict,” says one scholar. “We don’t know what happens in the head of Putin.”
Read the full story by senior international correspondent Mark MacKinnon.
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