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These are the top stories:
What we know – and don’t know – about sexual assault on Canadian transit
Nineteen-year-old Adoncia Cayouette (seen above) was attacked when she refused to perform oral sex on a man while waiting for a bus. Even though she reported the incident, Calgary Transit didn’t record it in its statistics on sexual assault – one of many data omissions uncovered by The Globe as part of a nationwide investigation into how Canada’s 22 largest public transit systems track sexual misconduct.
The data: Statistics reveal almost 4,000 incidents of sexual assault or harassment between 2013 and 2017, with 90 per cent perpetrated against women by men. But the figure is likely much lower than the actual number: Bus stops are sometimes considered municipal property; harassment isn’t always recorded as sexual; and a case might not meet the legal threshold of criminal behaviour.
Some incidents involve transit workers: Data obtained by The Globe show that since 2013 there have been at least 83 sexual-misconduct complaints made against staff in Toronto, 34 against Vancouver workers and 14 in Montreal.
Data-gap consequences: Without more complete figures on where and how often incidents are happening, experts say the issue of sexual assault on transit can’t be properly addressed. And they are urging municipal agencies to take heed: More than a third of transportation systems contacted by The Globe, including Montreal and Winnipeg, don’t keep their own data on misconduct.
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Hong Kong’s leader says a controversial extradition bill ‘is dead’
Responding to concerns that her government would restart the process to pass the legislation, chief executive Carrie Lam said: “there is no such plan, the bill is dead.”
Still, it’s not clear if her comments will be enough to appease opponents who have called on Lam to resign as well as an independent probe of police actions against protesters.
The bill, which would have allowed those from Hong Kong to be sent to China for trial, was withdrawn after millions poured into Hong Kong’s streets to protest.
Vancouver’s housing market has seen a dramatic decline in foreign buyers
International purchases dropped to 2.5 per cent of residential sales between March and May of this year, down from 13 per cent in the early summer of 2016. That 2016 spike prompted the previous BC Liberal government to launch a 15-per-cent foreign-buyers tax; the NDP raised the tax to 20 per cent early last year.
In raw numbers, only 261 sales from March to May were by foreign purchasers. During the same period in 2016, the number was 1,974. Experts say the statistics show the key role the tax has played in driving down housing prices in Vancouver.
Pipelines: Quebec joins carbon tax opposition; new Trans Mountain lawsuit; CSIS kept tips on activists
You can add Quebec to the growing chorus of provincial governments fighting the federal carbon tax. In a surprise announcement, the province said it would argue in court that the levy intrudes on provincial jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, environmental groups in B.C. have launched a new suit against the Trans Mountain expansion, arguing Ottawa didn’t meet its obligations to protect killer whales when it reapproved the project last month. This is the first of several renewed legal challenges that are expected.
And newly released documents show Canada’s spy service kept tips it received about environmentalist groups. CSIS, which also had interactions with oil industry officials, says it never considered information about protesters “actionable.”
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Malala Yousafzai and Quebec politics: Premier François Legault doubled down on comments made by his Education Minister, saying the Nobel laureate “couldn’t teach” with a head scarf in the wake of the province’s new law banning some public servants from wearing religious symbols.
Doug Ford dismisses questions about patronage scandal: Ontario Premier refused to answer questions about whether he pushed Dean French to quit after it was revealed two people with ties to the former chief of staff were given lucrative foreign appointments.
Second RCMP sexual-harassment lawsuit settled: The settlement for the $100-million class action, which covers incidents involving non-policing employees and volunteers, comes three years after the police force came to terms on another $100-million suit over the sexual harassment of female officers.
Canadian aid worker sentenced to 16 years in prison: Peter Dalglish was found guilty by a Nepal court last month of sexually assaulting children. Lawyers for the Order of Canada recipient are planning to appeal the verdict.
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks sink
Global stocks fell for a third straight day on Tuesday, as a stinging warning came from German chemicals giant BASF about the effects of the global trade war and traders hedged bets on a hefty U.S. interest rate cut later this month. Tokyo was alone among the major markets in ending with a winning day as the Nikkei gained 0.1 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.8 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite shed 0.2 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were down by between 0.1 and 1 per cent by about 6:10 a.m. ET. New York futures were down. The Canadian dollar was above 76 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Iran’s uranium breach doesn’t warrant a U.S. military escalation
Doug Saunders: “While Tehran’s behaviour is reckless and deliberately inflammatory, it should not be mistaken for anything other than a symbolic gesture – and there should be no support from Western countries for any U.S. attempts to turn this into a full-scale military conflict.”
Export Development Canada needs to open up about its work
Globe editorial: “Export Development Canada is not an organization that most Canadians know well, or at all. It garners scant attention from journalists and not much more from elected officials. Yet the Crown corporation, which in 2018 provided financial support for more than $104-billion worth of Canadian sales overseas, ranks among the world’s largest government-backed export credit agencies.”
Coco Gauff is a budding superstar — and she’s exactly what women’s tennis needs
Cathal Kelly: “A week ago, only tennis obsessives knew 15-year-old Cori (Coco) Gauff. By Monday, she was the Big Deal at this year’s Wimbledon. Based on the panting coverage and crowds thronging her matches, bigger than anyone here.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail)Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Where is Canada’s plan to eliminate hepatitis C?
Nine countries, including Australia and Britain, are on track toward eliminating hepatitis C by 2030. But despite pledging to eliminate the disease, Canada doesn’t have a plan to do so.
As André Picard writes: “Treatment has been revolutionized and has created an unprecedented chance to dramatically reduce the harms of HCV, today and in the future. It’s an opportunity we shouldn’t squander.”
MOMENT IN TIME
Catherine the Great ousts husband in coup
(Odessa Fine Arts Museum/Bridgeman Images)Odessa Fine Arts Museum / Bridgeman Images
July 9, 1762: It was the epitome of high-profile uncouplings: On this day in 1762, Catherine the Great seized the Russian throne from her husband in a coup d'état. Catherine, then 33, rode into St. Petersburg, where thousands of troops declared their loyalty to her, and the Orthodox Church proclaimed her ruler of the world’s largest empire. Peter III, who was out of town with his mistress, reluctantly abdicated. The marriage had frequently been rocky. Peter had been a German teenager when his aunt, Empress Elizabeth, selected him as her successor, brought him to Russia and paired him with a girl he deemed obstinate. Catherine had been a 14-year-old German princess named Sophia when she was forced to move to Russia to marry an heir to the throne whom she found immature. Catherine converted from Lutheranism and worked hard to learn Russian culture. Peter remained devoted to his Prussian homeland. Once Peter became czar, he quickly made peace with Prussia and ordered his own army to give back hard-won territory. The military was unimpressed and, only six months into his reign, shifted its allegiance to his wife. Days after the coup, Peter was killed by the brother of Catherine’s lover. Catherine ruled for 34 years. – Joy Yokoyama
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