Good evening,
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
A Toronto school principal is under investigation for compiling a list of black students
The Toronto District School Board is investigating an incident where one of its principals is facing accusations from parents of racial profiling after she compiled a list of black students and shared it with teachers to track opportunity and achievement gaps.
Peggy Aitchison, the principal of the Etobicoke School of the Arts, shared the list with teaching staff at a November meeting. In a later email to parents, she said the list “was a limited, flawed and ultimately inappropriate approach to identifying gaps in supports and so, that very same day, I retracted that compilation that was based solely on perceptions.”
The TDSB said a human-rights investigation is under way. John Malloy, the board’s director of education, said in a statement that a “mistake” was made by the principal that “hurt” students and their families, and “the principal and the TDSB apologizes for this.”
Aitchison has decided not preside over the graduating class’s ceremony Thursday evening “in order to keep the focus of the event on students and celebrate their significant achievements.”
This is the daily Evening Update newsletter. If you’re reading this online, or if someone forwarded this e-mail to you, you can sign up for Evening Update and all Globe newsletters here. Have feedback? Let us know what you think.
B.C. is considering forcing drug companies to disclose their payments to doctors
British Columbia is planning to join Ontario in making pharmaceutical companies reveal their payments to physicians, patient groups and other health-care organizations.
The province’s health minister said payments from pharmaceutical companies are not necessarily a bad thing, but disclosing them would be helpful for patients who want to know if their doctors have a potential financial conflict of interest when they recommend a drug or procedure.
Last fall, Ontario became the first province to pass legislation inspired by the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, a U.S. law that makes public a searchable database of all drug-company payments to doctors worth $10 or more.
However, the regulations required to enact Ontario’s law were not finalized before the Liberal government was swept out of power by Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives. B.C.’s consultations on a new health-sector transparency program begin in Vancouver and Vancouver next month.
The B.C. government is also working with other provinces to negotiate lower prices for rare disease treatments. Selling treatments for very rare diseases is a growing share of the pharmaceutical industry, with vast profits to be had, and growing challenges for those who pick up the tab – patients, the provinces or private medical plans.
In Halifax, a new, world-class NICU allows babies and families to ‘room in’ together
At Halifax’s IWK Health Centre, whole families can take a round-the-clock role in care that can give their fragile newborns healthier lives – its new neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a global standout.
The centre is thought to be the first hospital in the world to have private rooms with double beds in the NICU designed for whole families – two adults with room for siblings if they squeeze. The design makes room for both parents to stay around the clock and take a hands-on role in their baby’s care at NICU North, which opened in April.
North was built in line with an increasing body of research on “family-integrated” newborn care that shows preterm babies whose parents room in with them (as opposed to visiting for a few hours per day in traditional “open-bay” nurseries) have better health and development outcomes.
The idea of providing newborn care that recognizes the importance of families has been a mainstay in Canadian health care for decades, but few have the infrastructure to make it happen. Many that have stayed on NICU North have been impressed by its good looks, but more than that, many have taken comfort in being able to live as a family at one of the toughest junctures of life.
MARKET WATCH
U.S. and Canadian stocks suffered their worst one-day decline in several months, amid rising global trade tensions and their potential impact on the global economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,252.80, down 328.09 points or 1.3 per cent. The broader S&P 500 closed at 2717.07, down 37.81 points or 1.4 per cent, marking its biggest one-day decline since early April.
In Canada, the S&P/TSX Composite Index, which touched a record high just last week, closed at 16,183.96, down 266.18 points or 1.6 per cent − for its worst decline since March.
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.
WHAT’S TRENDING ON SOCIAL
Harley-Davidson announced today that it’s moving the production of its European-bound motorcycles from the U.S. to factories overseas because of tariffs.
The company said in a regulatory filing that EU tariffs on its motorcycles exported from the U.S. jumped between 6 per cent and 31 per cent, which translates into an additional, incremental cost of about $2,200 per average motorcycle. Harley-Davidson said that shifting targeted production from the U.S. to international facilities could take at least nine to 18 months.
TALKING POINTS
Doug Ford needs to rein in Ontario’s bureaucratic health-care mess
“There is a lot of rhetoric about “bloated bureaucracy” and calls to spend more money on “front-line care” rather than administration. ... But while we know how much is paid to individual administrators, we don’t know how much is spent over all on salaries or administration, or even the precise number of employees on the public payroll – directly and indirectly. Dealing with that troubling lack of transparency needs to be the first step in getting a handle on the bloat.“ – André Picard
Stephen Harper finally reveals his hidden agenda
“Over the past month, several stories have been written about former prime minister Stephen Harper. Virtually all of them characterize him as returning from exile, like Emperor Napoleon from Elba or a spy coming in from the cold. But to paraphrase the great philosopher LL Cool J: Don’t call it a comeback, he’s been here for years.” – Goldy Hyder, president and CEO of Hill+Knowlton Strategies in Canada
Two years after Brexit vote, another EU crisis looms
“It has been two years since the landmark Brexit referendum sent political and economic shock waves around the world. With the exit process having consumed a massive amount of time for both London and Brussels, the European Union remains on the back foot for reasons of Brexit and beyond.” – Andrew Hammond, an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics
Is hosting the World Cup worth the effort?
“If history is any guide, it is highly unlikely the 2018 World Cup will increase Russia’s international investment or trade, boost its tourism industry or strengthen its people’s commitment to physical fitness. What it will do is instill a fleeting sense of national pride among a significant portion of Russians, while offering an ephemeral distraction from the country’s mounting problems.” – Andrew Zimbalist, a professor of economics at Smith College and author of Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup.
LIVING BETTER
How veganism is influencing interior design
Veganism has long infiltrated in the restaurant and grocery industry, but now it’s breaking new ground: home decor. A handful of Canadian designers, such as Gus Modern and Powell & Bonnel, are leading the pack by offering customers the choice of vegan furniture. For example, a sofa stuffed with recycled plastic fibers instead of goose down feathers. Next time you’re renovating, “No animals harmed in the making of this recliner," and similar phrases, may be taglines to watch out for.
LONG READS FOR A LONG COMMUTE
Valeant CEO Joseph Papa on why that toxic name – and legacy – has to go
Maybe working in the pharmaceutical industry is addictive. Ever since he graduated from pharmacy school in 1978, Joseph Papa has hunted progressively harder pharma challenges. He worked at DuPont Pharmaceuticals and Watson Pharmaceuticals. He launched major drugs for Novartis and Pharmacia. He ran the drug division of Cardinal Health. As CEO of Perrigo, a maker of over-the-counter drugs, he went on an acquisitions binge and fought off a takeover by Mylan. After all that, Mr. Papa needed more. So in 2016, he decided to make his name as a turnaround artist, and the pharma-ship he jumped aboard was the sinking, flaming barge known as Valeant.
As Legion membership declines, leaders struggle to attract the next generation of veterans
After more than 80 years, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 256 – the only Jewish branch in Toronto – has closed its doors.
It’s the latest example of a trend in the Greater Toronto Area and across Canada in which Legion branches can no longer afford the cost of keeping up their spaces because of falling membership rates.
To try to boost their numbers, branches are looking to attract younger veterans, such as those returning from Afghanistan. But while Legion hall regulars can spend hours at the euchre table, millennial veterans are harder to draw in with the old staples.
Evening Update is written by Amy O’Kruk. 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.