Good morning. On the 10-year anniversary of the attack on Ottawa, The Globe speaks with heroic citizens who rushed into danger – more on that below, along with Cuba’s series of countrywide blackouts and Taylor Swift’s economic heft. But first:
Today’s headlines
- Federal government officials leaked classified information about India to the Washington Post
- New Brunswick Liberals will form a majority government, ending six years of Tory rule
- Two men plead guilty to the second-degree murder of the B.C. man acquitted in the 1985 Air India bombings
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa last week.Dave Chan/The Globe and Mail
Ottawa Attack
A call for recognition
Ten years ago, a shooter opened fire in Ottawa, killing 24-year-old Corporal Nathan Cirillo at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier before being shot dead by security inside Centre Block. Since then, 16 personnel on Parliament Hill that day have been honoured with the Star of Courage or Medal of Bravery. But there hasn’t been similar recognition for the three civilians who ran toward Cirillo – and toward the danger – to try to save his life.
The Globe’s parliamentary reporter Kristy Kirkup profiles those civilians, including a government lawyer and a health care consultant. “It was like we were an emergency response team where everybody knew their role,” Margaret Lerhe told Kirkup. Veteran MP Charlie Angus called their collective efforts “heroism.” He said it was time, a decade after the attack, to recognize how they all “stepped up.”
A wave of blackouts hit Havana this weekend.Norlys Perez/Reuters
Energy
Cuba goes dark
On Friday, Cuba’s power grid collapsed completely after the failure of its largest plant, plunging more than 10 million people into a countrywide blackout. On Saturday morning, just hours after officials said they’d begun to reestablish service, the grid collapsed a second time. It collapsed again on Saturday night and again, comprehensively, on Sunday afternoon. Then Hurricane Oscar swept in to batter Cuba’s eastern coast, the site of several key power plants. Yesterday, parts of Havana and most of the country were still without power and water, since water pumps require electricity to run.
Even before the weekend’s repeated outages, Cuba was teetering on the edge of an energy crisis. The grid relies on eight deteriorating power plants that are almost 50 years old, well past their planned lifespans, and fed by crude oil that predominantly comes from abroad. Much of that supply used to be sourced from Venezuela, but the country slashed fuel shipments by half this year because of its own economic woes. Mexico and Russia have cut their exports, as well.
As a result, rolling blackouts are pretty much routine – and across large parts of the island, they can stretch from 10 to 20 hours a day. Last month, the government said that more than one million people, or roughly 10 per cent of the population, don’t have access to running water. Earlier this year, Cuba asked the UN’s World Food Programme to deliver milk to children under the age of 7. Food and medicine shortages remain widespread.
Cuba blames both the COVID-19 pandemic, which devastated tourism, and six decades of a U.S. trade embargo for the government’s cash struggles and its import challenges. Officials concede, though, that widespread domestic corruption and inefficiencies have paralyzed the state-run economy. Protests are generally illegal in the country, although in March, crowds of people took to the streets in Santiago de Cuba, chanting “corriente y comida,” or “power and food,” as police looked on. Roughly one million Cubans have fled the island, more than half of them to the U.S., over the past three years.
As Cuban energy officials worked to restore power, the government announced that all non-essential services – including schools, universities and recreation centres – would remain closed through at least tomorrow to relieve pressure on the grid. “We have millions of problems,” a woman named Rosa Rodríguez told the Associated Press in Havana, “and none of them are solved.”
The Shot
‘If Taylor Swift were an economy, she’d be bigger than 50 countries.’
Fans outside Nissan Stadium in Nashville.Seth Herald/Getty Images
Every time the singer performs in a new city, each concertgoer shells out an average of US$1,500 on the show – the economic equivalent of two (or three!) Super Bowls. Read more about the power of Swiftonomics here.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: A final recount in B.C.’s razor-thin election results will start Saturday. Right now, the NDP have 46 seats, the Conservatives 45, and the Greens hold the balance of power with two seats.
Abroad: Hezbollah said it fired at Israel Tuesday morning just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived there to make another push for an elusive ceasefire.
Big bucks: At a House of Commons hearing, CBC chief Catherine Tait declined to rule out accepting an exit package or personal bonuses when she leaves the role in January.
Bigger bucks: At a pro-Trump rally, Elon Musk promised to give away US$1-million a day, every day, to swing-state voters until the election. Experts think that might run afoul of the law.