Morning Update: Canadians arrive from Wuhan; Lower speed limits imposed after derailment

Good morning,

These are the top stories:

Flight from Wuhan carrying evacuated Canadians lands in Ontario

A flight chartered by the Canadian government has landed in Trenton, Ont., with 176 Canadians aboard travelling from Wuhan, China.

All passengers will spend two weeks at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, where they will be monitored to check whether they’ve contracted the coronavirus.

Here are the latest updates on the coronavirus:

• The Chinese doctor who got in trouble with authorities for sounding an early warning about the coronavirus outbreak died after coming down with the illness, sparking rare condemnations of China’s response to the outbreak.
• There are two new cases in British Columbia, linked to one announced earlier this week. These three individuals remain in isolation at home. Five more Canadians also tested positive on a a cruise ship that has been quarantined off the coast of Japan.
• Meanwhile, Canadian health officials are escalating their response to the growing coronavirus outbreak, urging anyone returning from the Chinese province at the centre of the outbreak to voluntarily quarantine themselves for 14 days.
• In China, authorities have created snitch lines and promised cash rewards for information on visitors from virus-stricken locations as the country’s efforts to constrain an epidemic veer into harsher territory.

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Ottawa orders trains carrying dangerous goods to reduce speed after fiery crash in Saskatchewan

A Canadian Pacific Railway freight train carrying crude oil derailed near Guernsey, 115 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon. Thirty-one of 104 cars left the tracks and a dozen caught fire.

The speed limit for trains hauling dangerous goods – including oil, propane and chemicals – is 64 km/h in cities and 80 km/h in other areas. Transport Minister Marc Garneau issued a ministerial order in response to the derailment, cutting by half the speed limit for trains pulling 20 or more cars of dangerous goods.

But lower speed limits are not all welcome. Railways are under pressure from customers, investors and, when it comes to grain, the government, to move more goods quickly.

Trump claims vindication as Democrats deal with Iowa caucuses debacle

A day after his acquittal in the Senate, President Donald Trump lashed out at his political opponents Thursday in speeches both vengeful and celebratory, saying he was completely vindicated in impeachment proceedings that have bitterly divided the country.

His rivals in the Democratic Party, meanwhile, appear to be in disarray. At the end of a charged chapter in U.S. politics, Mr. Trump indicated that he would not let the country forget the unfairness of impeachment.

• Opinion (Andrew Coyne): The virus of Trumpism and his infectious moral failings

‘Hi, my name is Mohammed. I’m here to help you.’ Meet the unofficial crisis manager for Muslim Canadians

When racism and terrorism put Muslim communities under a harsh spotlight, Mohammed Hashim is often the one comforting them, liaising with police and media and helping cooler heads to prevail. It’s a job he hopes will one day be obsolete.

His motivation is simple: He wants to change the narrative about Canadian Muslims. While he’s done pro-active campaigns, such as organizing a debate for Muslim youth for the 2015 federal election campaign, the work that has come to define him is those moments when he runs toward Muslims in crisis.

“I typically show up on the worst day of people’s lives,” he said.

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Privacy watchdog takes Facebook to court over possible misuse of personal information: Last year, the watchdog tried and failed to obtain assurances from Facebook that it was now able to prevent the unauthorized use of private information by third-party apps.

Ontario faces a high bar to force teachers back to work amid strikes: If an agreement can’t be reached, families will likely be dealing with two strike days each week for the foreseeable future.

Alberta parents lose appeal over school putting son in seclusion room: Parents who say they found their autistic son stripped naked and covered in his own feces after he was locked in a seclusion room at an Edmonton-area school have lost an appeal in their lawsuit.

Foreign Affairs Minister corrects Canadian envoy to China on imprisoned citizen: François-Philippe Champagne had to correct Dominic Barton after the envoy told MPs a Uyghur-Canadian who has been imprisoned in China for 15 years is not a citizen of this country.

MORNING MARKETS

Global stocks stumble toward best week since June: Nagging coronavirus worries took a swipe at world markets on Friday, though that wasn’t going to stand in the way of the best week for stocks since June and the strongest for the dollar since August. In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.68 per cent around 6:10 a.m. Germany’s DAX slid 0.58 per cent and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.27 per cent. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.33 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.33 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei ended down 0.19 per cent. New York futures were lower. The Canadian dollar was trading around 75.15 US cents.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Meghan and Harry in Canada: Why I won’t photograph this royal ‘visit’

Christopher Wahl: “For starters, this new phase in their life was definitely not choreographed. Whatever your take on the soap opera that is the British Royal Family, what we are looking at here seems to be a young family trying to find a little bit of sanity.” Wahl is a photographer based in Toronto. His work is part of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s permanent collection.

The Omar Khadr saga is a testament to Canadian principles of justice

Robyn Urback: “Indeed, so robust is our commitment to free speech that it protects the rights of those from whom many will be outraged to hear. One doesn’t have to actually like Mr. Khadr, or even sympathize with his plight, to recognize the principles his story exemplifies.”

TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

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LIVING BETTER

Read The Globe’s reviews for what is opening in theatres this weekend, as well as your best streaming bets if you want to watch without a commute. You can read more about:

• Birds of Prey might emancipate Harley Quinn, but misses its moment to really explore female rage
• The Assistant shows how abuse by powerful men gets tucked away for so long
• Marco Bellocchio’s The Traitor, is fashioned as an Italian epochal saga

MOMENT IN TIME

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First recorded use of the word ‘puck’

Feb. 7, 1876: Balls go soft and lose their bounce, but hockey pucks endure. Sure, a puck’s edges will round after a few seasons, but the vulcanized rubber discs are as hard and fast as the players who chase them. Every shinny player has a few pucks in their bag, some newer, some ancient. None, presumably, are as old as the puck mentioned in a Montreal Gazette story that ran on this day in 1876, the first recorded use of the word. Why it’s called a puck is not clear, and is about as apparent as where the game of hockey itself was first played. (Just kidding, it was in Kingston. Sorry, Windsor, N.S.) Early pucks were made of frozen cow manure, cut-up lacrosse balls or wood. Today, a puck is made of blended rubber, sliced and pressed, and is just as likely to come from Slovakia or China as Canada. For a short time in the 1990s, Fox had NHL players use a puck that glowed on TV. The NHL is reviving the puck-tracking feature, for reasons that might not be apparent to anyone accustomed to enjoying the game played with an old-timey chunk of hard rubber. — Eric Atkins

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