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The Conservatives are offering to help the minority Liberal government fast-track legislation to guard against foreign interference provided that the bill’s key provisions are put in place before the next federal election.
The federal government unveiled legislation in early May to combat foreign interference by creating a mandatory registry for people undertaking “influence activity” in politics or government on behalf of foreign powers and giving Canada’s top spy agency more authority to combat threats.
The length of time it will take to pass and implement the already long-delayed bill has been a key concern since the government introduced it three weeks ago, given that the next election must take place before October, 2025.
Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc reacts to the Initial Report from the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, May 3, 2024.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
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University of Toronto faculty members declare support for pro-Palestinian protesters
In a show of solidarity with student protesters, more than 60 faculty members at the University of Toronto yesterday denounced the university’s attempts to force an end to the pro-Palestinian encampment, which has been in place since May 2.
The administration has filed a notice of motion in Ontario Superior Court seeking to clear the encampment and authorize police to carry out the task. The faculty members vowed that if the university asked police to clear the encampment, they would stand in the way.
The encampment is part of a movement that has swept across campuses in Canada and the United States in the past two months. Student protesters have been calling on universities to disclose where their money is invested, divest from companies connected to the Israeli military and cut ties with Israeli universities that operate in the occupied territories.
Murray Sinclair on his life’s new rhythm, same clear purpose
Murray Sinclair makes his way to the front of a room, slowly sits down, takes a breath and does what he has done countless times before – deliver a speech to a packed room.
After decades of embracing a public life while advocating for the rights of Indigenous people in this country, Sinclair is taking part in fewer appearances like this one because of the state of his health.
These days, the 73-year-old’s life has a slower rhythm. He is staying close to Winnipeg. His baritone voice, used as a lawyer, judge, commissioner and senator, is heard less frequently, while his efforts continue to be deeply felt. As he speaks to the crowd, his drive remains clear. He has same purpose that has propelled him since childhood – take care of the people.
Senator Murray Sinclair visits Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School in Selkirk, Man., where a mural of his likeness graces the main entrance on April 30, 2024.Shannon VanRaes /The Globe and Mail
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Also on our radar
Ontario, Ottawa reach affordable housing deal: The federal government and Ontario reached a deal on housing yesterday that will provide the province with $357-million in federal funding this year. The agreement ends a months-long dispute between the two governments over whether Ontario was on track to build enough affordable housing units and Ottawa’s threat to bypass Queen’s Park and send money directly to municipalities.
Threats, harassment of MPs have surged, security head says: Threats directed at MPs have skyrocketed in the past five years, with harassment online and in person increasing by around 700 per cent, Patrick McDonnell, the Sergeant-at-Arms, told a House of Commons committee yesterday. McDonnell said that in 2019 his staff had opened eight files on threats or threatening behaviour directed at MPs. That number increased to 530 in 2023.
Misting stations in schools combat hot classrooms: Toronto’s Catholic school board is piloting a new project aimed at combating overheated classrooms – misting stations. At 12 schools, students and teachers can use misting fans when temperatures in the classroom become unbearable for the last few weeks of the school year.
One-day stock trade clearing launches in Canada: The way Canadian capital markets function fundamentally changed earlier this week after settlements, the complex undertaking that ensures money and securities properly change hands every time stocks or bonds are bought or sold, now have a single business day to be completed instead of the previous two. The move will increase market efficiency and lower risks of trades failing to settle because of market volatility, which should allow for lower trading fees.
Women’s soccer goes pro in Canada: The Northern Super League, a new Canadian women’s professional soccer league, will kick off next April, but with only six of the eight teams the league’s founders had hoped for as interest from investors was not as strong as anticipated.
Morning markets
Global stocks sank after U.S. government bond yields pushed to a near four-week peak, as U.S. consumer confidence data sowed new doubts about the timing and extent of Federal Reserve rate cuts.
European equities opened lower, with the continent-wide STOXX 600 index falling for a second day, by 0.4 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.28 per cent, Germany’s DAX dropped 0.46 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gave back 0.65 per cent. U.S. stock futures were also in the red.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.77 per cent lower at 38,556.87, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated 1.83 per cent to 18,477.01.
The Canadian dollar traded at 73.20 U.S. cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Editorial: “Whatever the merits of the new, nominally non-partisan Senate might be, it does not give senators the right to supersede the will of the House of Commons. Governments have the democratic right to pass bills, even flawed ones. The Senate can do their best to fix those flaws, but in the end it must cede to the body that actually answers to voters.”
David Morrison: “As uranium steps into the role once held by oil – a crucial commodity that can dictate national security and economic prosperity – Canada must not be left behind. We have the resources and expertise to lead. What remains is for our government to act swiftly to unleash this potential.”
Today’s editorial cartoon
Illustration by David Parkins
Living better
Nine Canadians share the financial pros and cons of cottage ownership
The state of Canadian cottage ownership is changing. For people already financially stretched on their primary properties, buying or maintaining a cottage is further out of reach than ever before. That pressure has led many to see their cottages in a new light: a potential source of revenue, a liability or even a full-time home. To better understand the changes in cottage communities, The Globe and Mail spoke to nine people who reside in these areas across the country.
Moment in time: May 29, 1851
Abolitionist Sojourner Truth (1797-1883), formerly enslaved, originally named Isabella Van Wagener.MPI/Getty Images
Abolitionist Sojourner Truth delivers famous speech
“Those only can appreciate it who saw her powerful form, her whole-souled, earnest gestures and listened to her strong and truthful tones,” Marius Robinson wrote in the Anti-Slavery Bugle about a speech by Sojourner Truth, a former slave. Delivered on this day in 1851 at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, her powerful address came to be known as the “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech. Her prose demanding equal rights for women would reverberate across the United States and Canada and make her an important figure in feminist history and in the anti-slavery movement. Ms. Truth’s speech was first published in the Bugle alongside Mr. Robinson’s comments, a month after she spoke. “I have as much muscle as any man, and can do as much work as any man,” part of the published text read. However, in 1863, feminist and abolitionist Frances Dana Gage published a different version of the speech in the New York Independent that became better known than the original. In the later version, Ms. Truth was said to have repeated the phrase, “And ain’t I a woman?” four times. It is still debated today which version better represented what Ms. Truth actually said. Claire McFarlane
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