Morning Update: Hockey Canada says it paid $8.9-million to settle 21 cases of alleged sexual assault since 1989

Good morning,

Hockey Canada told federal hearings Wednesday that it has paid $8.9-million since 1989 to settle 21 cases of alleged sexual assault, with the bulk of that money coming from a special fund built through registration fees that wasn’t disclosed to parents and players.

Senior executives said Hockey Canada has used a reserve known as the National Equity Fund to pay out nine settlements in that time worth $7.6-million, without putting those claims through the organization’s insurance policies and further scrutiny.

The figures are the first public disclosure of how much Hockey Canada used the special fund to settle allegations of sexual assault.

Read More:

• Hockey Canada CEO says he will not resign despite calls for overhaul to organization
• Listen to The Decibel: Outrage over Hockey Canada’s fund to settle sexual assault claims
• Cathal Kelly: Defining Hockey Canada’s problem in plain English continues to be a problem
• Investigation: How Hockey Canada used registration fees to build a fund to cover sexual-assault claims
• Explainer: Hockey Canada faces revolt over its handling of sexual-assault allegations. Here’s what to know

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Pope’s message of investigation into residential-school abuse a ‘lost in translation’ moment, Vatican clarifies

The Vatican is not planning to conduct a formal investigation into the abuses at Catholic-run residential schools that operated across Canada for a century, but will examine any new evidence that emerges.

Several senior Vatican officials who talked to The Globe and Mail said they wanted to clear up a “lost in translation” moment that gave some the impression that Pope Francis wanted the Vatican to launch its own investigation into the residential-school system.

More:

• Pope Francis renews his apology in Quebec
• The Editorial Board: The Pope’s visit, and the long struggle for Indigenous rights
• Canada’s bishops want Catholic Church to issue new statement on Doctrine of Discovery
• Ottawa asked France to extradite priest facing sexual-assault charge in Nunavut

Two men charged with first-degree murder in death of Ripudaman Singh Malik

Two men have been charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday in the death of Ripudaman Singh Malik, but the businessman’s family says it is no closer to knowing why he was killed.

Mr. Malik, who was acquitted in the 1985 Air India terrorist bombings, was fatally shot on July 14 at about 9:30 a.m. as he sat in his vehicle near his Surrey business. He was 75 years old.

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Also on our radar

Nova Scotia RCMP superintendent says details on guns in mass shooting should not have been released: A top-ranked Mountie told a public inquiry into the Nova Scotia mass shooting that information about the guns used by the killer should never have been shared outside of the RCMP just days after the rampage – not with the minister of public safety, or the Prime Minister’s Office.

UCP leadership candidates square off in first debate: Danielle Smith, considered one of the front-runners in the United Conservative Party leadership race, faced sharp criticism Wednesday from debate rivals over her Alberta sovereignty plan and controversial comments on cancer.

Hong Kong activists in Canada, U.S. and Britain announce plans to form exile parliament: The group of activists say they will hold elections to a parliament-in-exile next year, aiming to create a democratic body to represent Hong Kongers around the globe as China continues to crack down on political freedoms in the former British colony.

• UN human rights experts urge Hong Kong authorities to repeal national security law

Former Republicans and Democrats to form new third U.S. political party: Dozens of former Republican and Democratic officials announced on Wednesday a new national political third party, called Forward, to appeal to millions of voters they say are dismayed with what they see as America’s dysfunctional two-party system.

Russian forces capture Ukraine’s second biggest power plant: Seizing the Soviet-era coal-fired Vuhlehirsk power plant in eastern Ukraine would be Moscow’s first strategic gain in more than three weeks in what it calls its “special operation” to demilitarize and “de-nazify” its neighbour.

• Russian-occupied Kherson cut off as Ukraine counter-attacks: Britain
• Konrad Yakabuski: Putin’s games threaten to force gas rationing. Will European solidarity survive?
• COVID-19, war in Ukraine ‘derailed’ progress in global AIDS fight, UN official says

Dissidents face rising threat from spyware sold to autocratic regimes, U.S. committee hears: The House of Representatives intelligence committee heard testimony from a Citizen Lab researcher and a Google threat-analysis expert on the rapid proliferation of commercial spyware that allows authoritarian regimes to monitor the phones of dissidents and journalists without anyone’s knowledge.

Morning markets

U.S. rate hike aftermath: After Wednesday’s expected rate hike of 75 basis points, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell also noted that these increases would slow down “at some point,” consolidating world shares at a six-week high. But with Europe’s gas crisis and likely recession, the STOXX 600 stalled after rising as much as 0.5 per cent. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 dipped 0.21 per cent. France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX fell 0.33 per cent and 0.47 per cent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.36 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.23 per cent. New York futures were lower. The Canadian dollar was trading at 78.10 U.S. cents.

What everyone’s talking about

“Americans have become remarkably vulnerable and prone to myths, conspiracy theories, alternative facts and the charlatans who peddle them. … Canadians are much less susceptible to falsehood bombardment, and nowhere near as politically exploitable.” - Lawrence Martin

“Yet, rather than treat the [Pope’s] apology as a first step, I view this as a crossroads. And one path is that Indigenous nations can disengage from our relationship with the Church.” - Matthew Wildcat

Today’s editorial cartoon

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Living better

What is clean beauty?

Curious about the differences between clean and green when it comes to beauty products? Not sure what ingredients to avoid? Us too. To tease out the nuances in this space, Truc Nguyen asked leaders at three clean beauty brands to share their perspectives and insights.

Moment in time: July 28, 1914

Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Serbia

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Though tensions were high during Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s visit to Sarajevo in June, 1914, security was lax, even after one assassination attempt. Perversely, the motorcade altered its route, placing the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his wife in the path of another assassin, who shot and killed them both. Vienna, which could feel its multiethnic empire disintegrating through competing nationalisms, sought to slow the rot by declaring war on Serbia on this day in 1914. Serbia appealed to its traditional ally, Russia, while Austria turned to the vain and foolish German Emperor Wilhelm II, who thought a brief war might distract growing discontent at home and break the encirclement of Germany by Russia and France. He declared war on them both. When German armies invaded Belgium, Britain and its empire, including Canada, allied with France and Russia in what became a cataclysm. Four years of carnage. Twenty million dead. A Bolshevik revolution in Russia. And though the Central Powers lost the war after the United States joined the Allies, a German corporal named Adolf Hitler bided his time and plotted revenge. John Ibbitson

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