Good morning, and welcome to the weekend.
Grab your cup of coffee or tea, and sit down with a selection of this week’s great reads from The Globe. In this issue, Marcus Gee gives us an in-depth look at the Alberta Premier’s chief of staff, Marshall Smith, a former addict now leading a crusade to overturn accepted policy on how to help those who suffer from drug addiction.
Paul Waldie travels to France along with a delegation of Newfoundlander veteran and government representatives for a ceremony to repatriate the remains of an unknown soldier who died during the First World War.
And Erica Alini examines how a new tax law revolving around bare trusts that was supposed to deter criminals seems to have ensnared thousands of Canadians instead.
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Marshall Smith’s counter-revolution
Marshall Smith, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's chief of staff, takes a moment on the stairs at the Alberta Legislature on March 1, 2024, in Edmonton.Megan Albu/The Globe and Mail
Twenty years ago, Marshall Smith was eating food from trash cans, sleeping in doorways and smoking meth. Today, he holds one of the most powerful behind-the-scenes jobs in Canadian politics as chief of staff to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Drawing on his experience living with addiction and recovery, he is leading a campaign to upend the conventional wisdom on how to end Canada’s drug crisis.
Remains of Newfoundland soldier who fought in First World War set to be repatriated from France
Canadians veterans lay a wreath as part of a repatriation of an unknown Newfoundland First World War soldier at the Gueudecourt Newfoundland Memorial in France, on May 24.Rafael Yaghobzadeh/The Globe and Mail
A delegation of Newfoundland veterans and government representatives travelled to northern France this week for a historic ceremony. Today, the remains of a Newfoundland soldier who died during the First World War will be loaded on to a plane in Lille, France, and flown to St. John’s. The casket will be interred in a new tomb for the unknown soldier on July 1 as part of commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of Newfoundland’s National War Memorial.
Bare trusts and the UHT: How tax rules meant to deter crooks ensnared thousands of Canadians
Illustration by Romain Lasser
This tax season, many Canadians found themselves ensnared in a federal push for financial transparency around bare trusts, requiring them to file a tax return under new rules, an initiative that backfired spectacularly. But that wasn’t the only troubling new tax-filing law that Ottawa has had to walk back. Equally controversial was the Underused Housing Tax. Erica Alini reports on how these tax fiascos came to be.
Our public service is powerless, and Justin Trudeau has made it even more so
Illustration by Tallulah Fontaine
When Justin Trudeau was elected, he vowed to restore the federal bureaucracy to its rightful place of prominence in policymaking. Almost a decade later, an all-powerful Prime Minster’s Office has left the public service in much worse shape than he found it, while the role of the bureaucracy has been reduced to processing orders, and not always very effectively. Konrad Yakabuski writes about Canada’s broken federal public service and whether it’s too late to fix it.
Meet Heidi Caillier, the interior designer who’s saying no to white walls
Designer Heidi Caillier.Haris Kenjar/Supplied
Less than a decade into Heidi Caillier’s design career, clients across North America are asking for a “Heidi House” – full of wallpaper, unexpected modern-traditional pairings, a palette of smoky pastels and earth tones, and a signature style that’s somehow both fresh and timeless. Her business, Heidi Caillier Design, has six employees, all of whom work fully remotely, and 15 to 20 projects on the go at any given time, with coast-spanning locations from Southern California to Rhode Island. Caillier finds herself flying to job sites every other week and has a growing list of celebrity clients, though she declines to name names yet. Beth Hitchcock writes about a designer at her peak.
If the Oilers can do this, well, you know
Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) prepares to shoot against Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) during overtime in Game 1 of the NHL hockey Western Conference Stanley Cup playoff finals, May 23, 2024, in Dallas.Tony Gutierrez/The Associated Press
The Oilers will never have this sort of season again – one where they start out looking like a flaming paper bag left on your doorstep and end up playing like they were all raised together in some sort of Soviet-era military program. They’re up against the Stars, maybe the most well-rounded team remaining in the postseason. If the Oilers can beat Dallas, there is no reason they can’t win a Stanley Cup.
Why are ‘procedurals’ good for cop shows but not for architecture?
The U.K's design and architecture show Grand Designs has 24 seasons on CBC Gem.Supplied
North American architecture and design shows are all sizzle and no steak; if a viewer learns anything in 47 minutes, it’s quite by accident. Here, programs require a quick payoff vis-a-vis the before-and-after room reveal, or a race against the clock, or other game-show shenanigans to keep the audience engaged. The creative process, sadly, would just slow things down. Yet these slower-moving shows, deemed procedurals, are good enough for cop shows. Dave LeBlanc asks why.
Neil Young played in Toronto this week. In what way did he protest the show?
a) Required fans to wear union-made clothing to the show
b) Stipulated that Budweiser products not be sold during his concert*
c) Blocked cellphone coverage so no one could use their phones to record the show