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Richard Bosma has begun rebuilding after water flooded his dairy operation, where he normally milks 80 cows. He had to wait until the first Saturday in December, when the waters receded enough, to begin cleaning up.
Bosma took stock of what remained and what was lost: the barn structures were still in usable condition, the electronics were not. Replacing milk pumps and other motors alone could cost $40,000, Bosma estimates. Other repairs, including the cost of importing feed to replace what was lost, will grow far higher. “We’re looking at a million-dollar setback here,” he said. Bosma has insurance. But he thinks some of the bill should be covered by the country whose waters contributed to the flooding: the United States.
The inundation of the Abbotsford, B.C., area came in part from the overflow of the Nooksack, a Washington State river whose propensity to flood has prompted decades of effort by British Columbia to push U.S. officials to dredge that river or build better levees on its shores. A Canadian engineering study showed that a $29-million Nooksack levee could prevent more than $500-million in Abbotsford-area flood damage. But Washington State has not studied the idea, and resisted dredging out of concern for frail salmon populations.
More coverage:
- Preliminary insurance cost estimates for B.C. floods point to a massive looming bill for taxpayers
- Has this U.S. river gone rogue? After B.C. floods, locals in Washington State think the answer may be sedimentary
The inundation of the Abbotsford, B.C., area came in part from the overflow of the Nooksack, a Washington State river whose propensity to flood has prompted decades of effort by British Columbia to push U.S. officials to dredge that river or build better levees on its shores.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
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Freeland expected to renew Bank of Canada’s inflation target of 2 per cent
Expectations are mounting that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will renew the Bank of Canada’s inflation target of 2 per cent, while adding new language about employment.
Every five years, the federal government and the central bank renew their framework for inflation targets, with the latest iteration expected in the coming days. This gives the government a rare opportunity to weigh in on the overall direction of the Bank of Canada, which conducts monetary policy on a day-to-day basis independent from government.
Mandate renewals are typically rubber-stamp affairs. The government accepts the central bank’s recommendation for its monetary policy framework, which currently targets 2-per-cent inflation within a 1 to 3 per cent band. This time around, there has been more debate about the language of the mandate.
Read more:
- Bank of Canada deputy governor warns of persistent supply-chain constraints
- Food prices in Canada forecast to rise at highest rate in more than a decade
Ottawa isn’t properly monitoring or tracking its COVID-19 border rules, Auditor-General says
The Public Health Agency of Canada failed to track compliance with its travel rules earlier this year and can’t say to what extent testing and quarantining at the border was actually limiting the spread of COVID-19, the federal Auditor-General says.
Karen Hogan’s latest series of reports on the federal government’s pandemic response, released on Thursday, included one on PHAC’s enforcement of quarantine and COVID-19 testing orders. The audit focused on the agency’s performance between February and June, when the government rolled out new border rules. Those included a requirement that all air travellers entering the country submit to mandatory stays in quarantine hotels, most of which were operated by third parties under government authorization.
In 75 per cent of cases, the report says, PHAC was unable to verify whether or not people who were supposed to stay in the hotels actually did. And 30 per cent of COVID-19 test results for incoming travellers were either missing or could not be matched to a specific person.
More COVID-19 coverage:
- Ontario to extend COVID-19 vaccine passport system; no plans to shut schools, sources say
- Federal government oversight failed to protect migrant workers from COVID-19, Auditor-General says
- Doctors issue call for prompt COVID-19 measures as cases surge
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Welcome to the space jam: Canadian startup Kepler stirs debate with huge planned fleet of internet satellites: Kepler Communications has caused a global stir with a proposal that would see the skies filled with tens of thousands of communications satellites bearing its technology – 114,852 satellites to be exact. Some space watchers have expressed concern, saying a growing number of planned satellite launches in the Earth’s lower orbit could clutter the view for casual stargazers and astronomers – and create chaos in the heavens from collisions that could damage functioning spacecraft, affect communications on Earth and even put lives at risk.
New U.S. ambassador to Canada urges Ottawa to align with U.S. to challenge Beijing: China is the democratized world’s greatest threat, and the Biden administration is looking to Canada to help confront Beijing’s growing military, political and economic ambitions, U.S. Ambassador David Cohen said in an interview with The Globe, his first since assuming the post. Cohen said Canada and the U.S. have had a “historic and powerful alliance,” and he is pleased the Trudeau government is in the process of formulating a new China policy.
Alberta UCP sets one-day confidence vote in April on Premier Kenney’s leadership: Alberta Premier Jason Kenney will face a confidence vote on April 9 in Red Deer, the United Conservative Party says. The move comes after a number of UCP constituency associations asked for a fast-tracked leadership review, saying they had met the requirement of 22 board resolutions to mandate the meeting. The UCP board, in a statement, says it did not receive 22 resolutions but that it will hold the special one-day vote.
Quebec teacher removed from class because she wears a hijab: An elementary school teacher in Chelsea, Que., has been moved to a different position because her hijab violates the province’s law, Bill 21, which forbids teachers from wearing religious symbols. Fatemeh Anvari had been teaching language arts at Chelsea Elementary School since late October. She was reassigned to another role focusing on literacy and inclusion in early December, when the Western Quebec School Board became aware that her presence in class was in violation of the law on state secularism, interim chair Wayne Daly said.
Rogers raises $2-billion in bond deal to finance spectrum purchases: Rogers Communications is raising $2-billion in credit markets to pay for recently acquired wireless spectrum and shore up its balance sheet ahead of its planned acquisition of Shaw Communications. The company sold subordinated notes, which come due in 60 years and pay 5-per-cent interest, according to investment banking sources, who The Globe agreed not to name because they are not authorized to speak for Rogers.
British inquiry into alleged lockdown-breaching Christmas party to probe two more gatherings: An inquiry into an alleged Christmas party that flouted lockdown restrictions at the offices of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson nearly a year ago will be expanded to look at two prior gatherings involving government officials. Cabinet Office Minister Michael Ellis said the investigation, which will be led by the U.K.’s top civil servant, Simon Case, will also look into a gathering allegedly held at Downing Street on Nov. 27, 2020, and another at the Department for Education on Dec. 10. Ellis said the findings may be referred to the police.
Listen to The Decibel: A Mountie, a residential school, and a cover-up: In 1975, a lone Mountie in Northern B.C. heard rumours about the sexual abuse experienced by the boys who attended Lower Post residential school. The Mountie, along with a group of Kaska Dena children, tried to bring the alleged sexual predator to trial, but the intimidation of witnesses derailed the case. The Globe’s Patrick White joins the podcast to discuss how justice was thwarted more than 60 years ago.
MORNING MARKETS
Markets await U.S. inflation data: World stocks dipped on Friday amid renewed concerns about COVID-19 and caution ahead of key U.S. inflation data. Just after 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.13 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 were off 0.26 per cent and 0.23 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei fell 1 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.07 per cent. New York futures were modestly positive. The Canadian dollar was trading at 78.61 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
When it comes to Boris Johnson, the joke isn’t funny anymore
“Mr. Johnson denies responsibility, as he often does. What helps him deflect so much is a collaborative right-wing press that – despite dwindling readership – remains influential. Publications such as the quintessential Tory broadsheet The Daily Telegraph (where Mr. Johnson was a correspondent and columnist), treat the Prime Minister as if he were their ‘trolley’ – just the chap to do their bidding. In exchange: absolution.” – Tom Rachman, a Canadian-British writer based in London
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole finally shows he’s willing to fight to keep his job
“Nature abhors a vacuum – and so does politics. It began to feel like if Mr. O’Toole didn’t change his ways, the leadership vacuum he was creating was going to be filled by someone else. But then something happened to the Opposition leader. My guess is that he came to the realization that he wouldn’t last long being timid and unsure. If he was going to go down, he was going to go down with a fight – or at least while being true to himself.” – Gary Mason
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
The top 10 films of 2021, and how to watch them now
From left, Ilda Mason as Luz, Ariana DeBose as Anita, and Ana Isabelle as Rosalia in West Side Story.Photo by Niko Tavernise/The Associated Press
From Steven Spielberg’s stylishly choreographed West Side Story to Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, a part pulp, part freak-show, part hardcore noir production, movie lovers have been blessed with a wealth of instant classics that they’d be lucky to watch in any era, pandemic or not, writes The Globe’s Barry Hertz.
MOMENT IN TIME: Dec. 10, 1935
Bessborough hotel in Saskatoon opens
Exterior of the Bessborough Hotel, Saskatoon, circa 1940s.
In December, 1928, Sir Henry Thornton, president of Canadian National Railways, announced that the company would build a grand railway hotel in downtown Saskatoon. Designed by Montreal architect J.S. Archibald and named after Canada’s governor-general in the early 1930s, the Earl of Bessborough, the hotel was to be the finest – and ultimately last – example of the distinctive Canadian Château Style. The Bessborough, occupying a place of prominence along the South Saskatchewan River’s west bank, is popularly known today as the Castle on the River. But the hotel’s orientation was determined by train travel; the front doors were perfectly aligned with the entrance to the CN station, several blocks west along 21st Street. Even the hotel’s luxury suites faced the station and not the river. (Today, the suites overlook a mall.) Hotel construction, with costs totalling almost $4-million, provided steady employment for many during the worst years of the Great Depression. The building was completed in 1932 but sat empty for the next three years. It wasn’t until this day in 1935 that the Bessborough finally opened to great local fanfare. In the recognition of the first registered guest, Horace N. Stovin, the hotel bar was renamed, Stovin’s Lounge. Bill Waiser
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