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Ontario’s municipal elections: This is what happened last night
John Tory was easily re-elected mayor of Toronto, picking up 63 per cent of the vote. Left-leaning challenger Jennifer Keesmaat nabbed 23-per-cent support, while far-right candidate Faith Goldy won 3.4 per cent, or more than 20,000 votes. In his victory speech, Tory vowed to build more affordable housing, promised a “renewed effort” to address gun violence, and repeated his mantra about keeping taxes low.
Marcus Gee says Tory’s win proves that bland still works: “Tory will never bring a crowd to its feet with his oratory. Even sympathetic audiences in business suits usually welcome his meandering speeches with no more than polite applause. Reporters flip through their notes in vain for a quotable quote. And, yet, there he was on Monday night, celebrating a convincing win in his bid to gain a second term as mayor of Toronto.” (for subscribers)
In council races, a number of incumbents faced off against each other after Premier Doug Ford cut the number of wards from 47 to 25. The outspoken Giorgio Mammoliti was defeated by fellow incumbent Anthony Peruzza, a New Democrat. Incumbent Norm Kelly, known by many for his Twitter presence, lost to councillor Jim Karygiannis. Go here for an in-depth look at what happened across the wards.
In Brampton, Patrick Brown won his bid to become mayor just 10 months after resigning as leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives following sexual-misconduct allegations. Brown received about 44 per cent of the vote, beating incumbent Linda Jeffrey by a few points. He entered the race at the last minute, after Ford scrapped regional chair races, including the Peel Region contest where Brown was a candidate. A number of strategists and members of Ford’s caucus endorsed Jeffrey, who accused Brown of running for the mayor’s seat with “the ink barely dried on his lease.”
In Ottawa, Jim Watson won a third term as mayor with more than 70 per cent of the vote. Hamilton voters re-elected Fred Eisenberger and his pro-light-rail stand. And London became the first Canadian city to use ranked ballots in a municipal vote. A winner won’t be known until today or tomorrow as each round of counting is conducted.
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Ontario is vowing to examine pharma firms’ payments to doctors
Health Minister Christine Elliott said her government will look into the practice of pharmaceutical companies paying fees to physicians who provide expensive IV medications in their offices. The Globe reported on Saturday that Janssen pays doctors $275 every time patients in their offices receive a two-hour infusion of Remicade, which treats Crohn’s disease and other autoimmune disorders.
Janssen says the public health-care system has left it with no choice but to cover overhead; officials in Ontario’s health ministry disagree and say doctors can bill $54.25 for supervising Remicade infusions. A 2004 Ontario law prohibits third parties such as drug companies from paying doctors to perform services covered by the provincial drug plan. The law has never been enforced.
Trudeau says he’s willing to freeze arms exports to Saudi Arabia
“We have frozen export permits before, when we had concerns about their potential misuse, and we will not hesitate to do so again,” Trudeau said. But he declined to follow Germany’s lead in taking that measure immediately, as international pressure builds over Riyadh’s alleged role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Ottawa temporarily suspended export permits last year after The Globe reported that Riyadh appeared to be using Canadian-made armoured vehicles against its own citizens.)
On the Khashoggi front, new surveillance footage emerged that showed a member of the so-called Saudi “assassination squad” dressed in Khashoggi’s clothes to make it appear that he had left the consulate.
Here’s our editorial board’s take: “Canada and the United States have duly condemned the premeditated killing. The game for them and others now is to wait and see if the ever-evolving Saudi version of events is able to cast reasonable doubt about the need to respond further. Ottawa wants to protect a $15-billion deal – and the 2,000 jobs it represents – to provide armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia. The United States has its own defence contracts to maintain, as well as a critical strategic alliance. Neither wants to jeopardize its interests by imposing sanctions and risking a reprisal or loss of influence.”
Many cannabis producers are likely to fail, a debt-rating agency is warning
Even the biggest licensed firms should have “junk” ratings, according to an analysis from DBRS. That would put them in the B range on the credit-ratings spectrum, two notches below investment grade. The agency’s position came as pot stocks had their worst day of trading this year, with Aurora Cannabis shares dropping 12.2 per cent, Canopy Growth falling 11.2 per cent and Tilray sinking 15.6 per cent on Monday.
The assessment is the latest warning that investor expectations for the burgeoning cannabis sector may not match the realities of the market. DBRS sees legal sales reaching between $4-billion and $6-billion annually, a drop in the bucket compared with $22.5-billion generated in alcohol sales last year. However, it acknowledged that economies of scale that may benefit large producers have yet to play out.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Canadians in four provinces will receive carbon-tax rebates
Households in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick – the four provinces refusing to follow the federal government’s climate plan – will receive rebate cheques as early as next summer. The move by the Trudeau government to compensate those in provinces set to be hit by a carbon levy equivalent to 4.3 cents cents per litre of gasoline comes just a year away from the next federal election. Over the course of the year, the rebate is expected to exceed the amount of carbon tax paid by the average family. Canadians elsewhere will pay carbon prices set by their respective provincial governments.
MORNING MARKETS
Markets tumble
An ugly start to European trading pushed world shares towards their lowest level in a year on Tuesday, as negative drivers from Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic isolation to worries about Italy’s finances and trade wars piled on the pressure. Tokyo’s Nikkei sank 2.7 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 3.1 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite 2.3 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were down by between 1 and 2.4 per cent by about 5:30 a.m. ET. New York futures were down sharply. The Canadian dollar was below 76.5 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Two cheers for Ontario’s overdose plan
“Disaster averted. After months of anxiety about what Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government would do with the province’s overdose-prevention sites, we have an encouraging answer. Health Minister Christine Elliott announced Monday that the facilities – which are effectively pop-up safe drug-use sites requiring less federal paperwork to open – will be allowed to stay open provided they meet new criteria around connecting drug users to treatment and other services. Amidst an opioid crisis that killed almost 4,000 Canadians last year, including some 1,200 in Ontario, the news is welcome.” – Globe editorial
The Fed is a convenient Trump scapegoat as markets gyrate
“Absent all the craziness going on in the world, Donald Trump’s unprecedented attacks on the U.S. Federal Reserve would be getting a lot more attention. The U.S. President has called the Fed ‘crazy’ and “loco.” And he says the central bank has become his ‘biggest threat’ by moving too fast to raise interest rates. Forget that Trump is berating the same Fed he helped to build. Since taking office, he has put his personal stamp on the central bank by appointing three of the Fed’s four sitting board of governors, including chairman Jerome Powell and vice-chair Richard Clarida. Trump’s recent criticism is a blatant challenge to the central bank’s independence.” – Barrie McKenna
Absent a real rivalry, World Series matchup offers contrasting visions of America’s pastime
“Boston is the old world with all its Hobbesian hang-ups. It is hard-scrabble, perpetually disappointed and, despite all its wealth and success, continues to see itself as the poor, country cousins being looked down upon by its relations in New York. A good thing is just the prelude to the bad thing coming around the corner. If that doesn’t make any sense (and it doesn’t), it’s probably because you didn’t grow up Irish. The Dodgers are settled, mid-century America. They are all cheerful self-confidence and possibility. If they aren’t good now, they’re pretty sure they can be really good tomorrow, just by wishing it so. When they are really good, they take it for granted.” – Cathal Kelly
LIVING BETTER
Winter destination ideas, from Hawaii to Dominica
If you enjoy hiking, Kauai’s epic trails offer no shortage of harrowing cliffs and jaw-dropping views. The highlight for many is the Waimea Canyon, which Mark Twain called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.
The Caribbean island of Dominica, which is still recovering from last year’s Hurricane Maria, is hoping to attract more of the tourists who often opt for nearby islands instead. Dominica bills itself as the Nature Island, which is filled with adventurous hiking trails but also river floating and volcanic hot springs.
MOMENT IN TIME
First Canadian woman to medal in Olympic swimming
(COC/The Canadian Press)CP Photo/COC
Oct. 23, 1968: For many athletes, winning a medal at the Olympic Games represents the pinnacle of their sporting careers. Despite becoming the first Canadian woman to reach the Olympic podium in swimming, and the first to bring home three medals from one Games, Elaine Tanner’s experience at the Mexico City Games was anything but joyful. A heavy favourite in the 100-metre backstroke, the 17-year-old Winnipeg native was advised to start slowly by the inexperienced Canadian coach, a tactic that went against her strengths. Overhearing the exchange, her American rival, Kaye Hall, took advantage of it in the final, beating Tanner for the first time. Two days later, Tanner again had to settle for silver in the 200-metre backstroke final, before grabbing a bronze in the 4x100-metre freestyle relay, her third of the five medals Canada won at the 1968 Olympics. Returning home, Tanner felt she had let the country down by not winning gold, and retired from swimming shortly after. But time heals all wounds, she says now. “It’s really just a chapter of my life and I’ve learned so much from that. It is part of who I am today and I’m proud of what I did.” – Paul Attfield
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