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These are the top stories:
A prominent Ontario doctor who didn’t hire any women for 16 years has resigned
Marko Duic has resigned from his post as emergency department chief at Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ont., after a Globe investigation revealed allegations of gender discrimination and questionable billing practices.
Physicians who worked with Duic said he favoured male trainees and made discriminatory and demeaning comments about women. Some doctors also said he encouraged questionable practices, including the unnecessary use of forms that can lead to patients being stripped of their driver’s licences. Doctors are paid to fill out the forms.
While Duic has resigned as chief, he will continue with his clinical work in the emergency ward. A communications manager at Southlake said she couldn’t disclose why he resigned, citing “privacy reasons.”
The complaints also spanned Duic’s time as chief of St. Joseph’s Health Centre in Toronto; he continues to have hospital privileges to work there.
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Canada’s top general said he did not take notes when he spoke with Trudeau about the Norman case
On Jan. 9, 2017, Chief of Defence Staff General Jonathan Vance said the RCMP told him about the investigation of his second-in-command, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman. That day, Vance met with the Prime Minister’s national-security adviser, principal secretary and chief of staff to inform them of what was going on, before later receiving a call from Justin Trudeau.
But there is no documented record of any of the meetings because he did not take notes, Vance told an Ottawa court.
His testimony comes during a pretrial hearing in Ottawa for Norman, who was suspended and charged with breach of trust for allegedly leaking government secrets in an attempt to influence cabinet’s decision on a $700-million shipbuilding contract. Norman’s defence team has alleged political interference in the case and is trying to obtain documents that they believe will exonerate their client.
‘We were horrified:’ Parents recounted the nightmare of the Humboldt Broncos identity mix-up
Before hearing that he was still alive, Paul LaBelle and his family had already begun to plan the funeral for their 19-year-old son, Xavier. “We were told to go home and wait for the coroner to contact us,” LaBelle said while delivering a victim-impact statement on the crash in Saskatchewan last spring that left 16 dead. “We were horrified after being told our son had not made it to a hospital, that he was laying dead in the cold field.” Two days later, they learned that Xavier survived and was in intensive care.
The LaBelles spoke at the sentencing hearing for truck driver Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, who has already pleaded guilty to 29 counts of dangerous driving.
Gary Mason writes: “He must bear the consequences of his recklessness to be sure. But there should be no shame for feeling some sympathy for him also.”
The BC NDP have won a crucial Nanaimo by-election
John Horgan’s minority government, along with their Green allies, will continue to hold 44 seats to the Liberals’ 42. Former NDP MP Sheila Malcolmson picked up 49 per cent of the vote, while Liberal Tony Harris secured just under 41 per cent. The Greens picked up 7 per cent.
The odds don’t favour the governing party in B.C. by-elections, but Nanaimo is a traditional NDP stronghold. A tie in the legislature would not result in an immediate collapse of the current government, but the neutrality of Speaker Darryl Plecas would have been tested as he would have been called on to vote to uphold the government on matters of confidence.
Alberta is pulling back from oil production limits amid complaints from producers
The decision to slow down the plan put in place earlier this month comes after Canadian Natural Resources, which had supported the production limits, criticized the way they are calculated and said it would lead to job losses (for subscribers).
Premier Rachel Notley cut production as part of a plan to address a glut of oil that had exceeded pipeline capacity, in turn leading to a major discount on the price of Alberta crude. But producers that also own refineries were benefiting from low prices and pushed back against the move, saying the government shouldn’t be manipulating the market.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
A 14th Canadian diplomat in Cuba has been affected by a mysterious illness that causes nausea, headaches and other problems (for subscribers). The federal government is now looking at cutting its diplomatic presence in Havana from 16 to eight, a plan being met with criticism from Cuba’s government. For more on “Havana syndrome,” read this inside account of Canada’s panicked response to the medical emergency.
A transit police officer was shot on the platform of a SkyTrain station in Surrey during the afternoon rush hour yesterday. Eighty Mounties have been deployed to search for the suspect, who is believed to be armed. The officer is in hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.
Doug Ford won’t guarantee that full-day kindergarten in Ontario will continue past the next school year. The program saves families thousands of dollars a year on child care, but it costs the government $1.5-billion a year. The PC government is currently conducting consultations about the province’s education system.
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks mixed, loonie pops
Soothing sounds from the Federal Reserve propelled world stocks to their best January on record on Thursday, although having scored stellar gains this time last year only to flop spectacularly, traders were trying not to get too carried away. Tokyo’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng each gained 1.1 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.4 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were up by between 0.1 and 0.6 per cent by about 6:45 a.m. ET. New York futures were mixed. The Canadian dollar is sitting above 76 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Canada must reassess its approach to China - if not, we may get steamrolled by the world’s new juggernaut
“If Canada wishes to preserve its values and its standards of living based on trade in a world dominated by China, if it wishes to expand its influence as a global middle power, present and future governments in Ottawa need to prepare the ground. They need to cement political, economic social, and security ties within NATO and the G7, along with other like-minded countries. Canadian politicians need to assume a much tougher and more self-assured attitude toward Beijing than is now the case.” – Jonathan Manthorpe, author of Claws of the Panda: Beijing’s Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada
Don’t go, baby boomers. The economy still needs you
“There is no logic in forcing people to stay in the labour force – but there are good reasons to encourage it. As the baby boomers age, the work force participation rate has topped out and is slowly declining. Among older workers, Canada’s rate is considerably lower than some countries.” – Globe editorial
Trump’s gift to the Taliban
“The U.S. is once again abandoning war-ravaged Afghanistan, just as it did three decades ago following a successful covert operation by the CIA to force the Soviets out of the country. The United States, desperate to end its longest-ever war, appears to have forgotten a key lesson of that earlier abandonment: It turned Afghanistan into a citadel of transnational terrorism, leading to civil war and eventually bloodshed in the West. The accord reached between the Taliban and the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, reads like a wholesale capitulation on the part of the Trump administration.” – Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research
LIVING BETTER
What is it about the cold that obsesses us?
From Montreal to Winnipeg, millions of Canadians have been hit with extreme sub-zero weather – and we can’t stop talking about it. Last year, feature writer Ian Brown explored our cultural obsession with freezing temperatures: “Extreme cold shrinks and clarifies the effort of human existence to its simplest X-ray form, to survival and our starkest motives. Maybe our long-time obsession with cold and the coldest places on Earth is trying to tell us something we don’t want to admit.”
MOMENT IN TIME
George Gillett Jr. buys 80 per cent of the Montreal Canadiens
(Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)RYAN REMIORZ/The Canadian Press
Jan. 31, 2001: This was an unhappy day for Montreal Canadiens fans as the storied NHL franchise passed into American hands for the first time after three generations of ownership by the Molson family or its related businesses. Colorado businessman George Gillett Jr. (pictured here putting on a jersey next to then-Molson president Dan O’Neill), bought 80.1 per cent of the Canadiens and 100 per cent of their arena, now known as the Bell Centre, for $275-million. Gillett bought the franchise because Molson Inc. could not find a Canadian buyer. At the time, Canadian NHL clubs were regarded as poor investments. However, Gillett proved to be a popular owner. He realized what the team meant to Montrealers and Quebeckers and worked hard to restore it to its former glory. Gillett did not have much success on the ice – in his eight years as owner, the farthest the Habs went in the playoffs was the second round – but he did make them financially sound again. The introduction of the salary cap and the rebound of the Canadian dollar also made the club a good investment for Gillett. It cost the Molson family $575-million to regain the Canadiens and their arena from Gillett in June, 2009. David Shoalts
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