Morning Update: Dike breach repaired in Abbotsford after B.C.’s record flooding

Good morning,

A major breach in Abbotsford’s Sumas dike was successfully repaired this weekend, stopping the flow of water from the Sumas River into the prairie lake bottom and alleviating some concerns about further destruction following last week’s record flooding in B.C.

But Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun is keeping an eye on the rain in the forecast.

“As you all know, the situation here remains fluid and a key component of how well we are able to keep things moving in a positive direction is directly related to how much our weather continues to co-operate,” he told a news conference on Sunday.

In other developments, British Columbia residents have been cleared to cross into the United States for fuel and other essential supplies without having to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test to re-enter Canada.

The province’s Public Safety Minister, Mike Farnworth, said he asked his federal counterpart, Bill Blair, the Emergency Preparedness Minister, to fast-track the move to waive COVID-19 tests for Canadians visiting the U.S. for fewer than 72 hours.

More flood-related coverage:

• How B.C.’s string of natural disasters are connected
• B.C.’s devastated highways are slowly reopening, but a full recovery won’t take place until next year
• With climate disasters on the rise, B.C.’s Indigenous communities find themselves at high risk of displacement
• Opinion: Paradise lost? Why I’m questioning life as a B.C. resident

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How the doors opened for Blake Desjarlais, Canada’s first two-spirit MP and the NDP’s new man in Edmonton

Ahead of Parliament’s return on Monday, Blake Desjarlais, the Edmonton Griesbach MP, spoke to The Globe about his long-shot bid to capture a Conservative-held riding, his upbringing and what he brings to the table in Ottawa as Canada’s first two-spirit MP.

For the 27-year-old political rookie, the chance to run for office under the NDP banner felt like a gift, and he vowed to do everything he could with it.

“I felt I needed to give back to the people who gave me something. And what they’d given me, I believe, was the opportunity to be seen and the opportunity to have a voice,” he says. “And I wanted to give that back and make sure they had the opportunity to have a voice, too.”

More on Parliament’s return:

• Tory vaccination status in spotlight after MP tests positive on eve of new Parliament
• Liberals open to deal-making as MPs gather in House of Commons for the first time since June
• Opposition MPs demand Liberals ‘act with urgency’ to help Afghans left behind

Rogers looks to cash in on Blue Jays to pay down company debt

Rogers Communications is considering selling some of its stake in the Toronto Blue Jays and the club’s stadium as the telecom company focuses on paying down debt under its new interim chief executive, according to sources with knowledge of the company’s planning.

In early November, then-CEO Joe Natale told investors that Rogers was exploring ways to “monetize” its stake in the Major League Baseball team and its home, the Rogers Centre. Tony Staffieri took over Mr. Natale’s role on Tuesday after a two-month leadership battle. Sources at Rogers said Staffieri, the company’s former chief financial officer, is continuing the review of the Jays and their stadium, which are worth an estimated $2-billion.

Options under consideration for the Blue Jays and Rogers Centre include selling a minority stake in the ballclub, spinning off the team or raising money by selling “tracking shares,” according to sources at Rogers and bankers who work for the company.

Read more:

• CRTC hearings over Rogers-Shaw deal kick off Monday in wake of boardroom drama
• On his deathbed, Ted Rogers looked into the future. This is not what he saw

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Multiple people dead after SUV plows through Wisconsin Christmas parade: An SUV sped through barricades and into a parade of Christmas marchers in suburban Milwaukee on Sunday, killing five people. Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said a person was in custody, as was the SUV, but he did not give any indication of motive.

China’s Peng Shuai has video call with Olympic official, says she is well and safe: Photos and videos of Peng at a tournament in Beijing earlier on Sunday have done little to dampen international concerns, following a nearly three-week public absence since she alleged that a former senior Chinese official sexually assaulted her.

Cathal Kelly: Staged appearances lower outrage over Peng Shuai, despite Beijing’s best efforts to bungle crisis

Canada receives first shipment of COVID-19 pediatric vaccines: With the first shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids now on Canadian soil, Ottawa will now work to get the pediatric vaccine doses into the hands of the provinces and territories. Many jurisdictions have begun accepting immunization appointments, but have not yet disclosed detailed plans for the next phase of the rollout.

Two of 17 hostages have been released in Haiti, Christian Aid Ministries says: Two of the 17 American and Canadian missionaries taken hostage in Haiti last month have been released, according to the group that arranged for their trip to the Caribbean nation. The group, which included one Canadian and five children, were abducted in October after a visit to an orphanage. Haitian officials previously said the gang, known as 400 Mawozo, was demanding a ransom of US$1-million per person.

Before Florida’s deadly condo collapse, one of the Canadians behind the development faced decades of lawsuits and claims of fraud: Dozens died when Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla., fell apart this summer. By then, its Canadian developers were long dead – but hundreds of records tell the story of dubious tactics used to create a property empire that stretched from Toronto to Florida.

• Florida condo collapse: Who are the Canadian developers that built it?
• Inside The Globe and Mail’s investigation of Champlain Towers

Five years after Colombia’s FARC deal, new armed gangs emerge and peace is still a dream for many: In 2016, a landmark peace accord was reached in a bid to bring an end to “the historical cycles of violence” after 50 years of armed conflict between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. It even earned former Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos the Nobel Peace Prize. Although the violence once inflicted by the FARC has ceased, other armed groups are showing how fragile peace is.

‘They were doing their job’: Two journalists remain in custody after arrests at Indigenous protest: Award-winning photojournalist Amber Bracken and freelance journalist Michael Toledano remained in custody over the weekend and were scheduled to appear Monday in Prince George for a bail hearing, after they were arrested by RCMP during a police operation to remove protesters who had been blocking access to a Coastal GasLink construction site. The two were among 15 people taken into police custody, with the move widely criticized as a violation of press freedoms.

Listen to The Decibel: How TikTok made spotting intimate partner violence go viral: Gender-based violence often goes unreported to authorities, and friends, family and even the person experiencing the abuse might easily miss the warning signs. Columnist and feature writer Elizabeth Renzetti joins the podcast to discuss how a hand signal created for people to silently ask for help came to be, why it matters that it recently went viral on TikTok and what we need to know about the more subtle signs of abuse that often go overlooked.

MORNING MARKETS

World stocks cautious: World stocks kicked off the week on a cautious note on Monday after posting a second consecutive weekly drop, and the euro struggled as traders weighed the risks of European lockdown restrictions and prospects of a faster Federal Reserve taper. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.31 per cent. Germany’s DAX was flat. France’s CAC 40 gained 0.13 per cent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.09 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 0.39 per cent. New York futures were positive. The Canadian dollar was trading at 79.15 US cents.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

One person, one vote is the basis of democracy. How about bringing it to Canada?

“The U.S., to its credit, practises perfect rep by pop. By law, each Congressional district must have the same population – though after first respecting the niceties of one person, one vote, the Americans get down to gerrymandering. In Canada, it’s the reverse. Individual ridings aren’t doctored. But the crazy-quilt formula for deciding how many ridings each province gets is only loosely connected to population – even though rep by pop is what the House of Commons exists for.” - Editorial board

As a doctor, I was taught ‘first do no harm.’ That’s why I have concerns with the so-called ‘safe supply’ of drugs

“What is difficult about ‘safe supply,’ and what causes me and others moral distress, is that the same pills that one patient insists are needed to save their life may bring harm to another patient of mine, or one I have not yet met. In medicine we are taught primum non nocere, first do no harm.” - Vincent Lam, addictions medicine physician and an author

What’s the most important thing you need to know about winter driving?

“Snow, ice, rain and even cold roads make it harder to stop. Winter tires help your car stick better to winter roads.” - Jason Tchir

TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

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LIVING BETTER

Gift guide: From travel to mindfulness to history, there’s a book for everyone on your list this year

Whether you’re shopping for the adventurer, the style guru or the mindful maven in your life, you’re bound to find many great reads among the 73 books featured in The Globe’s holiday gift guide.

MOMENT IN TIME: Clearing the air, literally, if not politically

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For more than 100 years, photographers and photo editors working for The Globe and Mail have preserved an extraordinary collection of 20th-century news photography. Every Monday, The Globe will feature one of these images. This month, we’re looking at the causes of air pollution.

In 1984, a smoke-filled room was still the go-to venue for political deal-making in Canada. In this snapshot from the Meech Lake conference, taken on Nov. 14, 1984, premiers René Lévesque of Quebec, John Buchanan of Nova Scotia and Bill Davis of Ontario listen to then-prime minister Brian Mulroney while wreathed in tobacco smoke. That year, deaths owing to lung cancer among Canadian men peaked at just over 56 per 100,000. Today, Ottawa and the provinces are still wrangling but the smoke has cleared thanks to changes that were already in motion in 1984, including the first tobacco ad ban by a Canadian newspaper (The Kingston Whig-Standard). Since 2008, workplaces have been smoke-free in every Canadian province and territory. Ivan Semeniuk

Subscribers and registered users of globeandmail.com can dig deeper into our News Photo Archive at tgam.ca/newsphotoarchive

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