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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Trump, Democrats fail to end shutdown after ‘contentious’ talks
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks to reporters after meeting with President Donald Trump about border security in the Situation Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 4, 2019, in Washington.The Associated Press
Donald Trump and Democratic leaders met today to discuss the government shutdown and border security but failed to strike a deal. The meeting, described as combative by the Democrats, focused on Trump’s request for $5-billion (U.S.) to fund his signature wall on the Mexican border. Chuck Schumer, the Democrat’s Senate leader, said he and his colleagues had told Trump to end the shutdown, which began two weeks ago. “He resisted,” Schumer said. “In fact, he said he’d keep the government closed for a very long period of time, months or even years.”
Trump confirmed that comment but painted a more positive picture of the meeting afterward at a press conference in the White House Rose Garden. “We had a very, very productive meeting, and we’ve come a long way,” he said.
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Taxing carbon faces a political reckoning in 2019 – and the world is watching Canada
Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives are playing out a global debate about what to do to combat climate change, and the outcome of this fall’s election will either energize or deter advocates for carbon taxes. Adam Radwanski takes a look at what lies ahead and delves into questions around how much the parties will campaign on the issue, whether the Liberal’s rebate plan will actually convince voters it won’t take money out of their pockets and whether the Conservative’s eventual climate plan will hit the mark.
Ontario police need clearly defined reason for stopping people for questioning: Justice Tulloch
Justice Michael Tulloch discussed his 310-page report on policing today and emphasized that police and the public need to be able to clearly distinguish between valid street checks by officers and random stops that should be abandoned altogether. The judge was tasked with reviewing the province’s regulations and he said he had found that misinformation and confusion, particularly distinguishing between street checks and carding, has taken root over the years. In his recommendations, he called for police forces to stop random checks, known as carding, in which a person’s information is demanded, because they disproportionately harm people from racialized communities, waste police resources, and do nothing to address crime. Judge Tulloch also argued that street checks can have real investigative value as long as they take place when officers have clearly defined grounds to stop a person, ask them questions and potentially retain identifying information.
The U.S. midterms' Canadian connections: Firms' subsidiaries helped bankroll Super PACs
It is illegal for foreigners to contribute to U.S. political candidates or campaigns, but the American subsidiaries of foreign companies are permitted to donate in the same way that any U.S. company can. As The Globe’s Washington correspondent Adrian Morrow reports, in the run-up to last month’s U.S. Congressional elections, Canadian-connected companies gave a little less than $3-million, according to the Federal Election Commission disclosures collated by the Center for Responsive Politics. The full figure of Canadian-connected contributions is likely considerably larger.
Halifax woman accidentally donates gold, diamonds and pearls to charity
Jane Lowe and her husband Brian.The Canadian Press
A Halifax woman named Jane Lowe accidentally donated her lifelong collection of gold, diamonds and pearls to Diabetes Canada through a Value Village location. As the Canadian Press reported, Ms. Lowe realized too late that her husband had stashed a Ziploc bag of family heirlooms, included a string of pearls gifted from her father, a gold tennis bracelet, diamond and amethyst earrings and gold necklaces, into a bag of donation-ready clothes. Ms. Lowe contacted Diabetes Canada and Value Village and said both have been accommodating and eager to help, but is still waiting for a possible miracle. Value Village staff told Lowe that valuables like the ones she described are usually brought to a supervisor to be itemized and locked in a safe, but so far nobody has reported finding the jewelry.
MARKET WATCH
Wall Street does u-turn as Dow surges 746 points on Powell, strong jobs report
Wall Street rebounded today to close at its highest level in two weeks after a strong jobs report and assurances from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell that the central bank would be patient and flexible in steering the course of interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 746.94 points, or 3.29 per cent, to 23,433.16, the S&P 500 gained 84.05 points, or 3.43 per cent, to 2,531.94 and the Nasdaq Composite added 275.35 points, or 4.26 per cent, to 6,738.86.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX rose 213.87 points, or 1.50 per cent, to 14,426.62. Statistics Canada also released employment figures for December Friday showing Canada added 9,300 jobs in December on an increase in part-time hiring, slightly more than markets had expected. The unemployment rate remained at an all-time low 5.6 per cent.
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WHAT’S POPULAR WITH READERS
Shoushi Bakarian, an aerospace engineering student at Concordia University, shows her design for a ventilation device for Cessna airplanes, at Stratos Aviation in Montreal on Tuesday, October 30, 2018.Dario Ayala
At 21, this aerospace engineering student, former refugee has created her first invention
Three years ago, Shoushi Bakarian was sitting in Lebanon, part of a family of four Syrian refugees facing an uncertain future with hopes of making a new start in Canada. Two years ago, she was working at McDonalds. Today, the 21-year-old Syrian refugee is working as flight simulator instructor, an aerospace lab co-ordinator and is studying aerospace engineering at Concordia University where, as The Globe’s Les Perreaux explains, she invented a wind-powered iPad charger for use in general aviation.
TALKING POINTS
Why Trudeau might lose
“Justin Trudeau may face a surprisingly tough election fight this year. His worst problem is not the winsome dimples of Andrew Scheer (a man few of us would recognize if we bumped into him). His problem is that after three years of exposure, the charm has worn thin. He is often glib. He strikes a lot of voters as fatuous and superficial. He’s smart enough, but it’s a mean old world out there and people understandably wonder if he’s up to the challenges that Canada is facing. He can’t make tough choices. Instead, he tells us we can have it all – pipelines along with carbon taxes, and substantial deficits which he swears are being spent on good investments. Not everyone is buying it.” — Margaret Wente
In 2019, we should beware the robo-interviewer
“Companies should use technology to recruit human capital. Doing so cuts costs and boosts efficiency. But technology comes with risks, and should be treated accordingly. After all, companies – not algorithms – will ultimately be held responsible for who gets hired (and who doesn’t).” — Ashley Nunes
A senior’s resolution: No more falling down in 2019
“We all know that nightmare scenario: Granny falls in her kitchen, nobody finds her for three days, she is admitted to hospital for surgery and acquires an antibiotic-resistant infection. By the time she is discharged several months later, she needs a walker and is deemed too frail to live alone. Her family institutionalizes Granny in a ‘safe’ residence that soothes their anxiety, but robs her of independence, speeds her decline into fractious dementia and results in many more hospitalizations at a huge cost to the health system. I don’t want to be that person. Forget drink, sweets, even the dreaded downsizing, my New Year’s resolution for 2019 is to give up falling. The problem is how.” — Sandra Martin
LIVING BETTER
Bradley Cooper, left, and Lady Gaga in a scene from "A Star is Born."The Associated Press
The 2019 Golden Globes: Who will win – and who should win
Ahead of the 76th Golden Globe Awards ceremony this Sunday night, The Globe’s Barry Hertz plays along with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and offers best guesses for who will win (and who should win).
The 10 most intriguing, under-the-radar films to see in 2019
January is a month for lookaheads and Barry has identified several exciting, potentially game-changing movies that’ll be opening this year. This list isn’t about the sequels (Toy Story 4, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, The Lego Movie 2), reboots (a new Charlie’s Angels, Pet Sematary) and superheroes (The New Mutants, Hellboy, Glass and the Mad Titan’s big bonanza of them all, Avengers: Endgame). Here are Barry’s 10 most intriguing, under-the-radar films of 2019.
The Globe’s guide to 2019′s biggest coming superhero movies and franchise films
However, if you’re all about the blockbuster, you’re in for another year of sequels, reboots, remakes, spinoffs and franchise-launchers all year long. To prepare for the big-budget onslaught, Barry has another top 10 list (yes, he does produce other types of articles but we did say this is a month for lookaheads) this one the 10 potential blockbusters of 2019 − for better, and for worse.
LONG READS FOR A LONG COMMUTE
The year Instagram changed how we live
Hand taking photo of top view shot breakfast table with mobile phone. Poached egg with bread, sliced orange and avocado are on plates. Coffee mugs, cheese plate and salad with avocado, tomatoes and arugula are on the table with a grey tea towel. Hand slicing egg on the plate.TARIK KIZILKAYA/iStock
If you missed it over the holidays, the Pursuits section in the paper and the Life section online featured several stories about Instagram’s impact on various facets of our lives in 2018. Follow this link for a look at the collection of stories on Instagram. They discuss how Instagram’s influence on our lives – from the food we eat to the books we read to where we travel – has become undeniable. Here’s a look at that and other trends that broke out in 2018.
A ‘different version of hell’: Ian Brown learns to skate ski
Ian Brown is no novice when it comes to skiing. As The Globe’s popular feature writer tells it, he’s been on skis for more than 60 years, winning awards and skiing in the deep backcountry of Canada’s winter havens. But he recently embarked on a quest to learn a new skill: skate skiing. But the video evidence of his first morning proved to be a bit of a shock.
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