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These are the top stories:
The Boeing 737 Max: Canada’s response is at odds with that of 40-plus countries
Canada has no immediate plans to join the European Union, China and others in grounding the Max 8 aircraft after two deadly crashes in five months. Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau emphasized Canada’s air safety record, saying, “It’s important for us not to jump to conclusions and let ourselves get swept up by emotion.” Garneau said grounding is an option if the circumstances change and new information emerges.
Canada’s decision contrasts with that of its key trade allies, including EU member states which also barred the planes from the region’s airspace. The U.S. is also continuing to stand by the aircraft.
There are 41 Max 8s in operation by Canadian airlines: Air Canada has 24, WestJet has 13 and Sunwing has four. Wondering whether you will be flying on a Max 8 on an upcoming trip? If you booked or are booking online, the airline will give you the name of the aircraft or code. The code for the 737 Max is 7M8. If you still can’t track down the info, call the airline to ask.
More on Boeing and the Max
After the Ethiopian Airlines crash, Boeing began conducting test flights of the Max 8 in the Seattle area and on the West Coast. The company continues to defend the airplane, saying: “We have full confidence in the safety of the 737 Max.” A Max 8 software upgrade is due to be deployed in the coming weeks.
The 737 Max is the fastest-selling plane in Boeing history, with 4,700 orders booked from about 100 customers around the world. More than 370 Max aircraft have been shipped so far.
Two other Canadian victims identified
Rubi Pauls: Just nine months old, Rubi was travelling to Kenya with her family to meet her grandfather for the first time.
Dawn Tanner: The Ontario high-school teacher with a passion for volunteering was on her way to visit friends in Kenya.
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Britain is less than three weeks from Brexit with no withdrawal agreement
Prime Minister Theresa May presented a second exit plan – only to have MPs soundly reject it once again, this time 391 to 242.
What comes next: MPs will vote today on whether to leave the European Union as scheduled on March 29 without an agreement. If that’s ruled out as expected, MPs will vote tomorrow on a motion to seek an extension to the deadline. But it’s not clear whether the EU will approve a delay.
A humiliating defeat: May had hoped the last-minute concessions she had secured on the Irish border would help tip the balance in her favour. But even Britain’s Attorney-General said the revisions didn’t resolve the key issues that had been raised. Nearly one quarter of May’s fellow Conservatives subsequently voted against the deal.
Professor Simon Usherwood examines May’s problems as head of government: “She leads by telling people what she’s already decided, rather than involving them in the process. It also explains a key part of why Britain is in the impasse that it is right now.”
Tina Fontaine’s calls for help went unanswered
(John Woods/The Canadian Press)JOHN WOODS/The Canadian Press
The 15-year-old reached out to social agencies multiple times in the weeks before she was found dead in Winnipeg’s Red River, according to an investigation by Manitoba’s children’s advocate. Reporter Nancy Macdonald reports on the details:
- Tina visited city shelters twice on Aug. 1, 2014, asking for a place to sleep, but was told there were no beds.
- The next day, she called child services to say she wanted to go somewhere that "feels like it’s home.” But no homes with beds were available, so the social worker told her to go to a shelter where a bed had opened up. Tina was left to ride her bike there.
- A jurisdictional mess saw Tina’s file being passed back and forth among five separate agencies, with no social workers appearing to be fully aware of the extreme risks she faced.
Children’s advocate Daphne Penrose said Tina showed clear signs she was in danger of dying, but nothing was ever done. And Ms. Penrose said nothing has improved in Winnipeg in the five years since Tina’s death: “What’s at stake are the lives of children. What’s at stake is that children are going to die if we don’t make changes.”
Canada has no idea how much money is being laundered on its soil
A confidential draft report by the country’s money-laundering watchdog was unable to nail down a number, with estimates ranging from $5-billion to as much as $40-billion every year (for subscribers).
Laundering became so rampant in B.C. in recent years that the “Vancouver model” was coined, with cash being washed through casinos and real estate properties.
But until there are more details on just how much is being laundered by gangsters, violent drug cartels and gambling networks, experts say there is no way to know how effective authorities are at stopping the problem. “In the meantime, organized crime will take advantage of our ignorance and continue to exploit our weakness,” anti-money-laundering consultant Denis Meunier said.
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ALSO IN THE NEWS
Will Jody Wilson-Raybould be invited back to testify? That’s the question on the table as the Liberal-majority House of Commons justice committee holds an emergency meeting this afternoon. Opposition parties have been calling for her return to respond to testimony by former principal secretary Gerald Butts and Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick. (for subscribers)
Cardinal George Pell, the highest-ranking Catholic official ever convicted of child sexual abuse, was sentenced to six years in jail by an Australian court. The 77-year-old former Vatican treasurer had been found guilty of abusing two choir boys in the 1990s at a cathedral in Melbourne. Pell has maintained his innocence and has filed an appeal.
Celebrities, CEOs and a Canadian philanthropist have been charged with participating in a scam to get their children into elite U.S. universities. Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin as well as Vancouver businessman David Sidoo are among the dozens of individuals prosecutors allege paid between US$100,000 and US$2.5-million to have a stand-in write the SAT in their child’s place.
Equity markets stymied by signs of slowdown, Brexit chaos
World shares slipped on Wednesday after two days of gains amid mounting concern over world growth and trade, though the British pound rallied half a per cent on optimism that lawmakers were set to rule out a no-deal Brexit. European shares opened flat to weaker, unable to shake off the somber mood in Asian trading. Last week’s optimism over U.S.-China trade talks has faded after U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said it was unclear whether gaps between the two sides could be closed. On Wall Street, futures were narrowly mixed. Crude prices were higher while the Canadian dollar was little changed.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
A province-wide school smartphone ban? Smart idea
Globe editorial: “Ontario parents, brace yourselves: Your sons and daughters are about to have their world rocked, thanks to a new provincial policy banning smartphones from elementary and high-school classrooms as of next fall. The policy isn’t official yet, but Education Minister Lisa Thompson confirmed Tuesday that it is coming. We can already hear the agonized moans of children contemplating their impending deprivation. And yet, we happily cheer it on.”
Did SNC-Lavalin enable Gadhafi’s brutality?
Konrad Yakabuski: “Were it not for a 2004 trade mission to the North African country by then-prime minister Paul Martin – paving the way for SNC-Lavalin’s biggest contracts there – it’s possible the Canadian firm would not be facing criminal charges today. … There is no public evidence to suggest that the alleged bribes that led to charges being laid against SNC-Lavalin in 2015 enabled Gadhafi’s repression. But that does not mean Director of Public Prosecutions Kathleen Roussel does not possess information to the contrary.” (for subscribers)
Is it time for Canadian startups to look beyond venture capital?
Manny Padda: “With our small population size, limited access to capital and constant competition from the United States, Canadian tech startups have been sold the idea that the best way to grow is through venture capital. Indeed, we’ve been taught to be happy that we’re on the radar of VCs at all. But a growing number of examples illustrate that giving up control in exchange for investment is not always a recipe for success.” Manny Padda is the founder and chief people connector at New Avenue Capital.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail)TGAM
LIVING BETTER
It’s time to stop pretending RRSPs are a universal retirement-savings vehicle
Fewer adults in their 20s through 40s are contributing to registered retirement savings plans these days. But it’s too soon to tell if an emphasis on TFSAs and real estate is harmful, neutral or beneficial for younger adults, Rob Carrick writes. And he says it’s becoming clear that RRSPs are “much more a tool of people at the apex of their career – high-earning home owners who can easily handle their mortgage and can’t meet their savings and investing needs with TFSAs alone.”
MOMENT IN TIME
Czar Alexander II, the ruler of Russia since 1855, is assassinated in St. Petersburg
(SZ Photo/Scherl/Bridgeman Images)SZ Photo / Scherl / Bridgeman Images
March 13, 1881: Czar Alexander II’s grandfather and great-grandfather had been murdered and he himself survived six regicide attempts. The deadly seventh strike came on March 13, 1881 (March 1 according to the Julian calendar used in Russia at the time). He was travelling by carriage along the Catherine Canal in St. Petersburg on his way from Mikhailovsky Manege to the Winter Palace when a terrorist named Nikola Rysakov tossed a package under the horses. The blast damaged the rear of the coach and killed a guard and a young boy. The unharmed Czar got out of the carriage and walked around, making himself vulnerable to a second bomb thrower, Ignati Grinevitsky, who was part of the murderous conspiracy. During his 26-year reign, Alexander II had emancipated 23 million serfs, banned corporal punishment in the military, given the defence a voice in the courts, sold Alaska to the United States, fought wars in the Crimea and Caucasus, and eased up on his iron-fisted father’s censorship regime. Writers, scientists and political movements flourished in this period. Notable among them was the People’s Will, a secret society of violent revolutionaries who believed they could end autocracy by targeting the emperor. The second package landed right at the Czar’s feet. – Joy Yokoyama
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