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A former Liberal justice minister and a former Supreme Court judge have said in interviews that the Canadian government has the legal authority to free Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, but is wrongly claiming otherwise because of last year’s SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. scandal over political interference.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have both strongly connected the arrest of Ms. Meng to the arrests of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, though China has denied this link. Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor were charged with espionage last week after more than 550 days in detention.
Mr. Kovrig’s wife, Vina Nadjibulla, released letters she has received from her husband that detail his life in a Beijing jail cell. Ms. Nadjibulla has called on the Canadian government to do more to free him as she says Mr. Kovrig is fighting for his life.
Vina Nadjibulla is the wife of Michael Kovrig, a Canadian diplomat who has been detained in China since Dec 10, 2018. (Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail)Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
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Ottawa vows to crack down on employers violating health protection rules for migrant farm workers
After a third migrant farm worker with COVID-19 died in Canada over the weekend, the Canadian government has promised to enforce strict sanctions on health violations in the agri-food sector.
Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough said that the government will increase inspections if there is an outbreak and focus more on outreach to migrant workers.
RCMP Commissioner seeks to revive morale in midst of debate over systemic racism in police forces
Amid scrutiny of the RCMP, Commissioner Brenda Lucki posted a video to the RCMP’s internal website last Friday that encouraged her force to remain confident in themselves and their abilities. Lucki said she heard from members that they felt trust in the RCMP was suffering because of the national conversation about racism.
The renewed focus on addressing racism has touched many areas of Canadian society, as military leaders issued an apology on Monday for their slow response to addressing systemic racism, while Métis Nation B.C. is calling for the province to establish a tip line for health care workers to report racist incidents.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
‘We need justice’: Brother of police shooting victim demands answers: After Ejaz Choudry, a 62-year-old father of four, was shot dead by Peel police on Saturday, his family is demanding to know why police chose to open fire on a man in distress.
Conservatives hold worst attendance record at House of Commons COVID-19 committee: The Tories averaged a 47-per-cent attendance rate, prompting criticisms of hypocrisy from the NDP.
Man killed in weekend shooting in Ontario linked to Liberian war crimes: Bill Horace, the former commander of the rebel militia, National Patriotic Front of Liberia, was killed in an assumed targeted attack at a home in London, Ontario.
Experts question Alberta’s decision not to report opioid deaths during pandemic: Monthly data could help officials better understand how the pandemic is affecting vulnerable people, and in turn help to prevent more deaths.
MORNING MARKETS
World stocks rally on encouraging economic data: World stocks and risk currencies rallied on Tuesday on encouraging global economic data and assurances from U.S. President Donald Trump that the U.S.-China trade deal remained “fully intact” after confusion over its fate had emerged. In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.96 per cent just before 6 a.m. ET. France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX gained 1.48 per cent and 2.17 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei ended up 0.50 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.62 per cent. New York futures were higher. The Canadian dollar was trading at 73.3 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Canada needs a more strategic, region-based approach to reopening the border
Colin Robertson: “As the U.S. decouples from China and supply chains are rerouted to North America, there are opportunities for Canada. It starts with the regional, risk-based reopening of our borders, followed by taking a leadership role in digitized trade.”
I’ve called the police on my son. The thought of doing so now terrifies me
Philip Moscovitch: “Give us well-trained teams of professionals and peers who understand mental illness, who are compassionate and fluent in de-escalation techniques and non-violent communication. Who listen instead of shouting. Who don’t have weapons. Who are there just to help. Those are the people I would call.”
The perils of ‘science by press release’
André Picard: “COVID-19 has shown that science, and scientific research, are more important than ever. But the science also has to be well communicated and trusted, and that’s a challenge that can’t be solved in the lab – it has to be tackled in society more broadly.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
American Masters – Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am is a beautifully made look at a complex storyteller
When Oprah Winfrey wanted to tell Toni Morrison that she intended to adapt Morrison’s novel Beloved into a movie, she couldn’t find a phone number for the famed author. Oprah, being Oprah, was undaunted. She knew the area where Morrison lived and contacted the fire department there, who gave her the number. To her surprise, Morrison didn’t react with giddy excitement at hearing from Winfrey and the news about the movie.
As Winfrey tells it, “The best part is, when Toni answered the phone, her initial reaction was, ‘How did you get my number?’”
MOMENT IN TIME: June 23, 1887
An undated photo of bathers in the waters of Banff National Park’s Upper Hot Springs. On June 23, 1887, Banff Hot Springs Reserve was expanded and became, by an Act of Parliament, Rocky Mountains Park. It is Canada's first national park, and North America's third. Located in southwest Alberta, the park will become Banff National Park in 1930. It will be put under the stewardship of Parks Canada and be part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today, Banff National Park covers 6,641 square kilometres and welcomes over 3 million visitors a year. It is one of Canada's best-known national parks. Credit: Library and Archives Canada.Library and Archives Canada
It wasn’t just a love of nature that led to the act of Parliament that established Canada’s first national park – it was also a quest for cash. The government of John A. Macdonald had found itself facing a slew of property claims over a boggy site in the Rockies, near what is now Banff, Alta. Four years earlier, a trio of Canadian Pacific Railway workers stumbled upon a cavern of sulphurous hot springs. Local Indigenous peoples had long known of their restorative powers. The tracklayers were not put off by the aroma of rotten eggs, but could definitely smell potential riches. They slapped up a fence and prepared for paying visitors to take in the medicinal waters. But other folks had the same idea, including the federal government, which was looking to recover some of the fortune it spent building a transcontinental railroad. Ottawa’s hand prevailed over the squatters and, in 1885, it set up the Hot Springs Reserve. Two years later, this was expanded and named Rocky Mountains Park. Travellers flocked to the natural wonderland then and millions still do, or will after all the coronavirus restrictions are lifted. Today, we call it Banff National Park. Egle Procuta
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