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These are the top stories:
Canada must ‘utterly reform’ how it retains publicly funded intellectual property, Balsillie says
Jim Balsillie, the former co-founder of Research In Motion Ltd., says Canada needs to “utterly reform” how it retains the intellectual property that comes from research funded by the public. Mr. Balsillie’s comments follow a Globe and Mail investigation into how Canadian universities and public funding helped China’s Huawei Technologies become a global telecom superpower. Huawei has developed relationships with universities and professors across Canada to establish a steady stream of intellectual property that will help it create next-generation 5G technology. “Our publicly funded university and granting agencies are failing to generate and retain intellectual property for the benefit of Canada’s economy,” Mr. Balsillie told The Globe and Mail in an interview. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was urged by experts to probe Huawei’s role in Canada because of what they say are national security and economic concerns. (for subscribers)
Talks between Kinder Morgan, Ottawa intensify ahead of Trans Mountain deadline
Officials from the federal government were negotiating with Kinder Morgan over the future of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, ahead of a pivotal May 31 deadline. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to meet with cabinet early this morning and an announcement by federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau could come as early as the next few hours. The dispute over the controversial project between the B.C. government and Alberta and the federal government could be resolved in one of three ways. Ottawa and Alberta could reach an agreement with Kinder Morgan on how the $7.4-billion project will proceed; the parties could fail to reach an agreement; or a deadline extension could be agreed upon. Ottawa could end up deciding to buy the project and selling it once it is complete, or it could buy it on an interim basis and sell it to investors, who would then be responsible for construction. Mr. Morneau has floated a third possibility whereby the project remains in Kinder Morgan’s hands but Ottawa provides an insurance or indemnity policy to cover cost overruns that may come as a result of political interference.
For low-income residents in Vancouver, a different kind of real estate crisis
Deplorable conditions are routine in many rental buildings in the city, including those owned by the Sahota family, who have amassed a real estate empire. While officials have issued fines and court injunctions to force necessary repairs, a steady stream of bylaw violations continues. The prevalence of derelict housing standards for the city’s most vulnerable residents strikes a sharp contrast with the image of Vancouver, the global city with world-renowned living standards. The Globe’s Wendy Stueck and Mike Hager investigate.
BMO, CIBC’s Simplii probe customer data breaches
Bank of Montreal and Simplii Financial, a low-cost internet banking service owned by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, revealed data breaches yesterday and are warning that alleged “fraudsters” claim to have accessed the personal data of tens of thousands of customers. BMO says that alleged hackers claim that they have accessed sensitive information belonging to fewer than 50,000 clients and are threatening to make the data public. BMO believes the attack did not originate in Canada. Simplii says the alleged hackers may have the information of as many as 40,000 customers. Both attacks appear to be related, according to a BMO spokesman. Both were contacted Sunday by the alleged hackers, before disclosing the apparent breaches yesterday. BMO says a “thorough investigation” has started and the RCMP confirmed that it “is actively looking into this matter with the collaboration of the affected banks.” Simplii says it is “taking this claim seriously” and it is investigating what information may have been accessed. (for subscribers)
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Why is Kathleen Wynne so unpopular? Six degrees of alienation
Ontario Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne has led Canada’s most populous province since 2013 but judging by the polls, she is Canada’s least-liked premier. But the harsh, long-lasting and personal animosity still puzzles the experts – and the Liberals seeking to re-elect her. The Globe’s Janet McFarland digs deeper into the numbers. (for subscribers)
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks punished
A deepening political crisis in Italy provoked a second day of heavy selling on European financial markets, with the euro cut to a 6-1/2 month low, stocks punished and short-term borrowing costs surging for the government in Rome. Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 06 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 1 per cent, and the Shanghai composite 0.5 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were down by between 1.4 and 1.7 per cent by about 5:20 a.m. ET. The Italian and Spanish markets were each down about 2.5 per cent. New York futures were also down. The Canadian dollar was at about 76.8 US cents in the early going amid softer oil prices.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
High housing prices blight lives – and widen the inequality gap
“For politicians and policy makers, tackling house-price inequality should be on top of the to-do list. If we don’t do it, the middle class will gradually lose out on its single most effective means of wealth accumulation. The upper middle class will keep pulling away from everybody else. Our biggest cities will increasingly become places where teachers, nurses and people who aspire to move up the mobility ladder simply can’t afford to live. If you don’t think this hurts us, consider this, U.S. housing economists calculated that stringent housing restrictions – along with what they call the ‘spatial misallocation of labour’ – have lowered aggregate U.S. growth by 36 per cent from 1964 to 2009. That’s a lot of growth. If we’d been smarter about housing, we’d all be a lot richer than we are. And your kids wouldn’t be priced out of the market.” — Margaret Wente
The cannabis experience from the U.S. tells us the kids will be all right
“For all the rhetoric about the potential harms of legalized cannabis – especially from the Canadian Senate – the objective evidence from the jurisdictions that have lived with it for years is that we don’t have much to fear. The kids will be all right. So will their parents and grandparents – who will actually be the consumers of legal cannabis.” — André Picard
The B.C. government should end its needless wine war
“The effective ban on foreign bottles angered winemakers in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina and the European Union; their governments have protested more than once. Last week, the U.S. raised the stakes and asked the World Trade Organization to examine B.C.’s ‘unfair’ regulations. Along with angering allies, the B.C. wine rule has become an irritant in the ongoing renegotiation of the North American free-trade agreement and in the latest softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the U.S. B.C. Premier John Horgan says he will let Ottawa resolve the wine issue, as WTO complaints involve the federal government. But surely his own government can fix the problem before it goes that far.“ — Globe and Mail Editorial Board
LIVING BETTER
Have you ever wanted to make your own stock? Food Columnist Lucy Waverman writes that it's one of the cheapest and most satisfying culinary techniques that adds a depth of nourishing flavour to your dishes. If you’re looking to make chicken stock, she suggests bringing chicken bones covered with cold water to a boil, then skimming off the greyish skum. Then, add vegetables such as onions, carrots, celery, mushroom stalks and leeks before simmering for four to six hours. The last step is to strain and cool. (for subscribers)
MOMENT IN TIME
Charles Strite files patent for pop-up toaster
May 29, 1919: Charles Perkins Strite was working in a manufacturing plant in Stillwater, Minn., and he was fed up with the burnt toast at the cafeteria. Surely there must be a better way to heat bread, he thought. He wasn’t wrong: Electric toasters had been around for years, but they only warmed up bread one side at a time, and you had to watch them vigilantly to make sure they didn’t burn it. Some even posed a risk of burning down your house. So, Strite filed a patent in 1919. His invention heated bread on both sides at the same time, had a timer to shut the heat off automatically and a spring to pop up the toast. In other words, he created the toaster we all know and love today. Strite called it the Toastmaster. He received U.S. patent number 1,394,450 for it in 1921 and sold the device to restaurants. A consumer version with a level allowing people to adjust the darkness of their toast became available in 1926. Sliced bread was invented four years later. So yes, you might say the pop-up toaster was the greatest thing since before sliced bread. – Dave McGinn
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