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BC Children’s Hospital is preparing to double-bunk patients in single-occupancy rooms to accommodate an influx of sick children during an early and intense flu season that has overwhelmed pediatric hospitals across the country.
In recent weeks, the Vancouver hospital, which provides care to British Columbia’s most seriously ill or injured children, has also had to triage patients in its emergency department and cancel non-emergency scheduled surgeries in response to the surge in admissions for respiratory illnesses.
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Anti-terror law to be tweaked for aid groups to operate in Afghanistan, Sajjan says
Ottawa is preparing to bring forward a change to an anti-terror law in the new year to make it easier for humanitarian organizations to operate in Afghanistan, while not lifting the Taliban’s designation as a terrorist organization.
International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan expects Parliament to approve the change to the Criminal Code that prohibits financial dealings with the Taliban by late spring.
Canadian agencies have either withdrawn from the impoverished country or severely curtailed their operations there for fear of failing afoul of Canada’s anti-terror laws, which make it a criminal offence to finance a terrorist entity. That means renting an office or apartment in Afghanistan puts them at risk of criminal prosecution.
A Taliban fighter stands guard as people receive food rations distributed by a Chinese humanitarian aid group, in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 30, 2022.Ebrahim Noroozi/The Associated Press
Lockerbie bombing suspect taken into U.S. custody
A Libyan intelligence official accused of making the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1998, killing hundreds on board is in U.S. custody, the Justice Department said Sunday.
Though Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi is the third suspect charged in the U.S. in connection with the terrorist attack, he would be the first to appear in an American courtroom for prosecution.
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Also on our radar
NASA’s Artemis I moon mission returns to Earth: The successful retrieval of the uncrewed Orion capsule off Mexico’s Baja coast sets the stage for future human flights to the moon.
Children’s advocate skeptical of B.C.’s ability to overhaul foster-care system: Jennifer Charlesworth, the province’s independent Representative for Children and Youth, says a coroner’s inquest into the suicide of Cree teen Traevon Desjarlais-Chalifoux showed inadequacies flagged for more than a decade were unaddressed while children in care suffered.
Former justice to testify at parliamentary hearing on Hockey Canada: MPs are expected to press Thomas Cromwell on Tuesday for more details about several troubling findings he uncovered during a governance review of Hockey Canada, ahead of the organization’s vote on a new board of directors later this week.
Health Canada to call for better data from drug trial sponsors: The department plans to propose regulations requiring them to break down data by sex, age and race in an effort to better protect groups, including women and racialized populations, from ineffective treatments and adverse side effects.
Canada looks to seal the deal for Volkswagen plant: Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne is bullish on Canada being chosen as the site for the company’s first battery plant in North America, which would mark a major milestone in the country’s ambitions of becoming an electric-vehicle manufacturing powerhouse.
Morning markets
World markets struggle: Global stocks fell on Monday as investors braced for the last round of transatlantic interest rate hikes this year from a trio of central banks, hoping that a hefty pace of increases in borrowing costs will finally show signs of easing. Just after 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.12 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.16 per cent and 0.01 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed down 0.21 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 2.20 per cent. New York futures were modestly positive. The Canadian dollar was trading down at 73.21 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
It’s not over: Xi Jinping’s rebuke of Justin Trudeau could bring economic consequences
“China is the world’s second most powerful country, and the trade relationship is far more important to Ottawa than it is to Beijing, leaving Canada exposed to economic coercion. China’s technology and intellectual property theft, apparent interference in Canadian elections, and Xi Jinping’s derisive attitude toward Justin Trudeau shows that Beijing thinks it can act with impunity. Canada is holding a weak hand, even if it manages to play it well.” - Ian Bremmer
The access-to-information system should be a window on government, not a brick wall
“... The geriatric access-to-information regime, once touted as a window on government, has actually become a brick wall. It sucks up the time and energy of a diminishing number of journalists, who in the end have little to show for their trouble. It diverts precious reporting resources into too many dead ends.” - Dean Beeby
Today’s editorial cartoon
David Parkins/The Globe and Mail
Living better
Ditch the formal and go for fun: How to set your table with flair this season
Forget about fretting over which fork goes where and instead put some thought into finding a blockbuster centrepiece. Contemporary tablescapers are all about eschewing the formalities and emphasizing inclusivity to make guests feel special.
Moment in time: Lucia, Queen of Light, 1952
In Toronto, Lucia, the Queen of Light, was first crowned in 1952 at the Scandinavian-Canadian Club, as shown in this 1952 photo.The Globe and Mail
For more than 100 years, photographers and photo editors working for The Globe and Mail have preserved an extraordinary collection of news photography. Every Monday, The Globe features one of these images. This month, we’re celebrating the winter solstice.
The Feast of St. Lucy is marked on December 13. The celebration, which is most commonly observed in Nordic countries and in the northern regions of Italy, commemorates Lucia of Syracuse who is said to have guided Christians hiding in the Roman Catacombs to safety, using the light from a wreath of candles set atop her head (which freed her arms to carry as much food as possible). Her annual feast day is marked with a candle-lit procession wherever it’s celebrated. In Sweden, each year a girl is elected to portray St. Lucy – or Lucia – and is distinguished from other participants by the crown of candles on her head. While this celebration had taken place in Europe for centuries, in Toronto, Lucia, the Queen of Light, was first crowned in 1952 at the Scandinavian-Canadian Club, as shown in this 1952 photo. The club closed earlier this year but St. Lucia celebrations are held across Canada to this day. Rebecca Tucker
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