Morning Update: Former chief of defence staff pleads guilty to obstruction of justice

Good morning,

Canada’s former top soldier, Jonathan Vance, pleaded guilty yesterday to obstruction of justice and admitted that he tried to persuade a subordinate officer to lie to military police about their illicit affair.

Justice Robert Wadden granted Vance a conditional discharge, which was recommended by both the Crown and defence. Vance will not have a criminal record if he completes his probation. The former general will have to do 80 hours of community service, report to a probation officer, and is subject to a 12-month communication ban with the woman he had an affair with, Major Kellie Brennan.

Vance was chief of the defence staff from 2015 to 2021. He acknowledged in the agreed statement of facts submitted to court that he repeatedly pressed Maj. Brennan to lie about the length of their relationship. The two were together for two decades, starting in 2001, and have a child. Mr. Vance is also married.

• Explainer: Which of Canada’s top military officers are accused of sexual misconduct so far? A continuing list

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Victims’ families tell Nova Scotia inquiry that RCMP failed to properly warn of mass shooter

Lillian Campbell was out for her morning walk that Sunday in April, wearing a reflective vest and carrying her walking stick, when a car that looked just like an RCMP cruiser passed her in the road. The vehicle made a sudden U-turn, drove back toward her, and rolled down the window.

From her bedroom, neighbour Mary-Ann Jay heard the gunshot. She looked out to see Ms. Campbell lying at the side of the rural highway. She’d been fatally shot by Gabriel Wortman, who had spent months meticulously assembling a realistic-looking RCMP vehicle complete with identical decals.

Families of victims say that the nine deaths that came on the second day of the rampage, in which 22 people were murdered, could have been prevented if the RCMP had better communicated the risk to the public. They argue that victims such as Ms. Campbell might have stayed home if they had known a dangerous gunman was driving around their province.

First Nation chief declines to meet with Trudeau over concerns surrounding residential school

A prominent First Nation chief has refused to meet with the Prime Minister over concerns about the handling of a former residential school site where suspected unmarked graves were located last year.

Joe Alphonse, Chief of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, said his nation has been excluded from all decision-making around the former St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School near Williams Lake, B.C., where a geophysical search found 93 possible unmarked graves in 2021.

In January, the provincial and federal governments committed nearly $2-million for continuing search efforts at the site. And yesterday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller visited Williams Lake First Nation to pledge an additional $2.9-million toward healing programs for communities whose children attended St. Joseph’s.

“I think it’s appropriate that the Prime Minister visit the site, we’re not against that,” Mr. Alphonse said. “But our nation has been impacted greatly by St. Joseph’s and we haven’t been involved in the process to remedy the situation at all.”

• Former chief hopes second meeting with Pope will lead to papal apology, better understanding of trauma
• Tanya Talaga: In Rome, I have seen Indigenous people bring hope and resistance to the Pope’s doorstep
• Indigenous leaders urge OPP to replace Thunder Bay police

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Red Cross in Ukraine says it is a victim of a disinformation campaign: The head of the emergency response division of the Ukrainian Red Cross says efforts to help people affected by the war with Russia have been hampered by a controversy enveloping its international counterpart and its role in the conflict.

• Follow our live updates
• Lawrence Martin: Glasnost gone: Putin’s media control means he’ll maintain his grip on Russia
• Opinion: Volodymyr Zelensky’s media-savvy performances have won over the world

Former Afghan interpreters launching Parliament Hill hunger strike: Former Afghan interpreters are holding a hunger strike on Parliament Hill today to persuade the federal government to speed up bringing their extended families to safety in Canada. Ghulam Faizi, a former interpreter, said Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is not doing enough to support the interpreters’ extended family members, who are at risk of being targeted, jailed or even killed by the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan because of the interpreters’ past work with the Canadian Armed Forces.

Ontario bill aims to speed house construction: Ontario’s Municipal Affairs Minister is introducing a series of proposed changes meant to speed up the municipal planning process to boost the province’s supply of housing, though they exclude most of the recommendations made earlier this year by a government-appointed task force.

• Alex Bozikovic: Ontario’s housing crisis demands big change, and Doug Ford blinked

Travel sector’s recovery years away, Air Canada official says: Canada’s airlines are betting Canadians will return to the skies by the summer, hiring hundreds of employees, redeploying aircraft and restoring routes cancelled in the pandemic. However, a recovery from the industry’s collapse is at least two years away, Lucie Guillemette, Air Canada’s chief commercial officer, said amid uncertainty over the trajectories of the pandemic and travel restrictions, soaring fuel prices and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Dollarama set to hike prices up to $5: Inflation is coming to the dollar store. Discount retailer Dollarama Inc. announced yesterday that price tags up to $5 will begin appearing on its store shelves in the coming year. Until now, Dollarama’s highest price point was $4. The decision is yet one more signal that prices are rising across the board.

MORNING MARKETS

Global markets sank Thursday after Chinese manufacturing weakened and Russian shelling around Ukraine’s capital shook hopes for progress in peace talks. London, Shanghai, Paris and Tokyo declined while Frankfurt opened higher. Oil fell almost $5 per barrel in New York but stayed above $100 following reports President Joe Biden would release U.S. reserves to cool surging prices amid anxiety about possible disruption to Russian supplies. The Canadian dollar was trading at 79.80 US cents.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

John Ibbitson: “Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were once enemies. Now they’re friends. This is bad news both for the federal Conservatives and for the Liberals and NDP at Queen’s Park. It’s one reason why the provincial Tories are likely to prevail in the June 2 election.”

Editorial: “In 2018, a landmark United Nations climate report laid it down: ‘rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.’ That’s what is necessary. Canada is warming twice as fast as the global average. The country saw what climate-heating havoc looks like in British Columbia last year, over and over. The Liberal plan is not perfect, but it’s the best we have had so far.”

TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

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LIVING BETTER

Best of March TV and where to find it now

The month of many weathers was also the month of many strange and heady distractions. During a month of much war coverage, never was dark and sometimes spiky comedy more necessary. There was a lot of that, thank heavens. Here, a list of the best and most memorable TV in March, and where to find it on streaming services now.

MOMENT IN TIME: MARCH 31, 1984

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Steve Fonyo begins run across Canada

Almost four years after Terry Fox had dipped his own prosthetic into the Atlantic Ocean off St. John’s, an unknown 18-year-old followed suit, embarking on a 7,924-kilometre journey westward after losing a leg to cancer. But even though the Montreal native would match every footstep taken by Fox then far surpass him, Steve Fonyo could never outrun the shadow of a man who routinely features in the conversation as the greatest Canadian. Fonyo’s Journey For Lives lasted 425 days, and the ordeal tested his patience as much as his fortitude, with his brash personality making him somewhat unsuited for the requisite glad-handing. After encountering a largely muted reaction out East – Prince Edward Island donated just $5,500 in total – and struggling with the language barrier in his native Quebec, Fonyo found his journey eased in the Prairies. By then he was breaking new ground, giving him a degree of separation from the accomplishments of Fox, eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean and raising $13.5-million for cancer research. But life away from the spotlight wasn’t as great for Fonyo, who battled legal and addiction problems before his death last month. Paul Attfield

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