Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Ukrainian President Zelensky visits liberated Kherson, says it’s the ‘beginning of the end’ of Russia’s invasion
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the newly liberated city of Kherson today, addressing a crowd of several hundred cheering residents who came onto the city’s central Freedom Square to greet him.
“This is the beginning of the end of the war,” he said. “We are step-by-step returning to all of the temporarily occupied territories.”
Zelensky made the unannounced visit just 72 hours after the first Ukrainian troops entered Kherson in the wake of a Russian withdrawal across the Dnipro River that now forms the frontline.
Separately, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has pledged $500-million from Canada for Ukraine’s military. New sanctions were also announced against 23 Russians whom Joly says have violated the human rights of opposition leaders.
In response to sanctions, Russia says 100 Canadians have been added to the list of people banned from entering that country, including Margaret Atwood.
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Trudeau left out in the cold as China’s Xi engages in a whirlwind of diplomacy at G20
As leaders of the G20 countries gather in Bali, Indonesia, Chinese President Xi Jinping is using the opportunity to meet with many of his peers. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not on the list.
A schedule released by Trudeau’s office did not include any summit with Xi, and neither Ottawa nor Beijing has indicated one could take place.
Last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada’s long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy, to be unveiled in December, would call out China as an increasingly disruptive global power – a reversal of the government’s previous policy of avoiding confrontation with the world’s second-largest economy.
That contrasts with the summit between Xi and U.S. President Joe Biden, which appeared to edge toward a reset in relations.
Statements and comments from the U.S. and China hailed an “open and candid” conversation between the two men, the first in-person meeting since Biden was elected in 2020. The two sides reached an agreement to restart climate talks and to establish new guidelines to manage the relationship going forward, including joint working groups on various issues of contention.
Ontario and Quebec recommend wearing masks, but stop short of mandates
Today, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Kieran Moore, recommended wearing masks indoors to protect young children and an already strained health care system from a “triple threat” of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19, but did not mandate them.
Similarly, Quebec’s college of physicians is urging people to wear masks on a “voluntary and preventive basis” in public as hospitals are battling the trio of respiratory viruses that are filling up emergency rooms.
Read more:
- Children’s hospitals are overwhelmed across Canada. Experts weigh in on what’s to blame – and what’s not
- Almost 20 per cent of Toronto doctors are considering closing their practice in the next five years
Gear up for World Cup 2022
Canada will be making its first appearance in the FIFA World Cup men’s finals in 36 years. The action starts Sunday in Qatar, with Canada’s first match scheduled for Nov. 23 against Belgium. The Canadian team, whose roster was released yesterday, will be without defender Doneil Henry who suffered an injury during a warmup.
Read more:
- Who should I root for at World Cup 2022? A bandwagoner’s guide to the teams in Qatar
- Five of the best Canadian soccer players at World Cup 2022
- Coach John Herdman knows Canada is the World Cup underdog. He wants you to root for the team anyway
- Seven of the world’s best soccer players to watch in the 2022 World Cup
Ahead of the Game podcast: The World Cup kicks off Sunday. Here’s what you need to know.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Telus tried to influence Ottawa on Rogers-Shaw deal: The Vancouver-based telecom made efforts to “kill, slow and shape” the proposed $26-billion merger between Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications, according to an internal presentation made to Telus’s board that was revealed today as part of the Competition Tribunal’s review of the takeover.
Hydro-Québec worker arrested on espionage-related charges: Yuesheng Wang is facing four espionage-related charges after allegedly sending trade secrets to China “to the detriment of Canada’s economic interests,” the RCMP says.
Emergencies Act inquiry hearings resume: The Canadian Security Intelligence Service told the federal government before it invoked the Emergencies Act that the convoy protests did not meet the national security threat level required to trigger the sweeping powers.
Ontario’s Bill 28 repealed: The Ontario government has repealed controversial legislation that used the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to impose a contract on CUPE education support workers and ban their right to strike.
Teams set for Sunday’s Grey Cup: Last year’s champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers will defend their title on Sunday in Regina after beating B.C. Lions to take the West Division final yesterday. They will meet the Toronto Argonauts, who took the East Division with a win over the Montreal Alouettes.
RIP John Aniston: The Emmy-winning star of the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives and father of Jennifer Aniston has died at age 89.
MARKET WATCH
Wall Street’s main indexes ended lower today, with real estate and discretionary sectors leading broad declines. Canada’s main stock index also closed down, pulling back from its highest level in more than 11 weeks, as lower oil prices weighed on energy shares.
the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 211.16 points or 0.63 per cent to 33,536.70, the S&P 500 lost 35.68 points or 0.89 per cent to end at 3,957.25, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 127.11 points or 1.12 per cent to 11,196.22.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index slid 189.70 points or 0.9 per cent to 19,921.81. The loonie traded at 75.11 U.S. cents.
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TALKING POINT
Defending our elections from Chinese interference should be a nonpartisan cause
“The integrity of Canadian elections affects everyone – what good is democracy if citizens don’t believe we come by it honestly, after all? – and it should be a matter for which there is no equivocation.” - Robyn Urback
At a night honouring Borje Salming, the Leafs great gets his own Lou Gehrig moment
“This poor, handsome Scandinavian kid who came all the way over here to get his face carved up on the regular. Not only that, but he stayed. He stayed for 16 years on a team that couldn’t organize a one-car motorcade. In a city full of immigrants and immigrants’ children, that meant something.” - Cathal Kelly
LIVING BETTER
One in four Canadians suffer from constipation, and for some the symptoms can last for weeks or even months. The latest research suggests that taking fibre supplements is effective at providing relief. Fibre doses greater than 10 g a day and treatment of at least four weeks were found to be optimal. But before you start, check with pharmacist about how it might interact with your medications, and begin slowly to prevent digestive discomfort.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Government to decide between emissions cap and carbon pricing by spring, environment minister says at COP27
Canada’s Environment Minister said he sees at least one advantage of using an emissions cap over a pricing system to bring down the oil and gas industry’s burgeoning output of greenhouse gas.
In an interview today with The Globe and Mail at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt, Steven Guilbeault, who has been Minister of Environment and Climate Change for a year, said “one of the advantages of a cap is emissions reduction certainty.” That is, a cap would allow the government to predict with some degree of accuracy that Canada’s emissions targets would be met.
Canada is struggling to reduce its carbon output by at least 40 per cent by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The government wants the oil and gas industry to cut its emissions by 42 per cent from 2019′s levels by 2030. A modified carbon pricing system is the alternative to a cap. Read Eric Reguly’s full story.
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