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Less than 15 hours after Chinese authorities published the Hong Kong national security law, police made their first arrest of a black-clad male protester for possession of a banner that said, simply, “Hong Kong Independence,” as hundreds marched against the new rules. By 8 p.m., officers in riot gear had arrested more than 300 people, including nine under the national security law. The swift application of the new law underscored how rapidly change has descended upon Hong Kong.
Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney is calling on the Canadian government to conduct an “immediate and urgent rethink” of its relations with China. Mr. Mulroney is the most recent and senior member of the Canadian political establishment to sound the alarm bells over Canada’s worsening position with the growing power.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Mr. Mulroney also recommended barring Huawei Technologies from Canada’s next-generation 5G mobile networks, citing concerns that it would threaten intelligence sharing with Canada’s Five Eyes alliance.
Mr. Mulroney’s comments come as China greatly increased its control over Hong Kong on Tuesday with the passage of a sweeping national security law. The new law has drawn international condemnation for its suppression of the island’s guaranteed freedoms.
The law effectively supersedes Hong Kong local law and punishes crimes of secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.
Pro-democracy Leung Kwok-hung, center, and others protesters shout slogans "Stop One Party Rolling" before they march toward the flag raising ceremony marking the anniversary of the Hong Kong handover to China in Hong Kong, Wednesday, July 1, 2020. Hong Kong marked the 23rd anniversary of its handover to China in 1997, one day after China enacted a national security law that cracks down on protests in the territory.Vincent Yu/The Associated Press
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Air Canada cutting 30 domestic routes, closing operations at eight regional airports
Air Canada announced yesterday that it would be cutting 30 domestic routes, including Moncton-Halifax, Regina-Winnipeg, and service to Ottawa from five cities: Fredericton, Moncton, Regina, Saskatoon and London, Ont. The airline is also closing eight regional airports, including Bathurst, N.B., Kingston and Gaspé, Que.
The changes come shortly after Air Canada and WestJet announced that they would once again be selling adjacent seats on flights, prompting concerns from air passengers wary of the spread of COVID-19.
WE Charity offers teachers $12,000 each for recruiting at least 75 students for volunteer grant program
Teachers may be able to make over double the amount of money recruiting students for the Canada Student Service Grant program from what students would make being in the program. WE Charity’s contract with the Canadian government to administer the CSSG has come under criticism for allegations of cronyism, given Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family’s close ties to the charity.
The CSSG offers students payment ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 for volunteer work done between June 25 and Oct. 31.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
The complicated path to self-government for Innu people: The Innu Nation, which has lived in Labrador for thousands of years, is close to settling a decades-long land claim that would help members regain control over their land and destiny. However, a competing land claim from a group the Innu see as descendants of white settlers is complicating the matter.
Mandatory face masks in Toronto indoor public spaces: Toronto and Peel Region are now Canada’s largest communities to require face masks as officials aim to slow down the spread of COVID-19. Toronto is putting the onus on businesses to enforce the law, or else risk running fines of $750 to $1,000.
Israel’s unclear West Bank annexation plans: The world is watching whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will double down on annexation plans for the West Bank. It appears likely that Mr. Netanyahu will miss a self-imposed deadline of July 1 to announce his plans as he faces growing pressure to curb ambitions.
MORNING MARKETS
Global shares begin H2 with a whimper despite positive data: Global stocks bogged down in worries about surging coronavirus cases in the United States on Wednesday, even as a slew of data hinted at signs of an economic recovery in Europe and Asia. Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 1.10 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 were down 1.34 per cent and 1.08, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei ended down 0.75 per cent. New York futures were mostly stronger. The Canadian dollar was trading at 73.58 US cents.
On July 2, The Globe and Mail’s personal finance columnist Rob Carrick will be on Reddit at noon. Ask him anything.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Black youth in Canada are in incredible pain right now
Amy Gajaria: “It has been a sobering time to be a person providing mental health care to Black youth. My young patients are seeing anti-Black racism in real time and online, scrolling endlessly through posts talking about police violence and through videos of violence against Black individuals.”
Ontario is repeating the mistakes it made with long-term care on farms
Robyn Urback: “Ontario is again walking, eyes open, into a disaster among a vulnerable population. Forget the years’ worth of reports: The province should have learned its lesson from long-term care homes just weeks ago.”
Enormous surgery backlog underscores the need for health care reform in B.C.
Mackenzie Moir, Alex Whalen and Bacchus Barua: “The impact of COVID-19 on the provincial health care system underscores the need for greater flexibility to increase treatment options for patients within a universal framework. Simply throwing more money at the system is not a viable solution.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
By Brian GableBrian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Winnipeg’s Richardson International offers a new kind of airport screening
By mid-June, YWG again started to fill up with the kinds of people you normally find at an airport: those planning to reconnect with others or seeking some escapism. Except these folks weren’t flying anywhere. Just going to the movies.
MOMENT IN TIME: July 1, 1968
DECEMBER 1963 -- DOCTORS HOSPITAL -- Nurse, Miss Kathleen White, takes temperature of patient, Mrs. Dorothy Blackburn in Doctors Hospital, Toronto, December 1963. Photo by John McNeill / The Globe and Mail Not published.JOHN McNEILL/The Globe and Mail
By an overwhelming vote of 177 to two, the Medical Care Act was passed in December of 1966 after Allan MacEachen, minister of national health and welfare at the time, argued that all Canadians should have high-quality health services based on their needs and irrespective of their ability to pay. On this day in 1968, the act came into effect – the federal government would pay part of medical care costs for provinces with insurance plans. However, Saskatchewan already had a health insurance system: In 1961, the government, under premier Tommy Douglas, introduced the Saskatchewan Medical Care Insurance Act. Douglas championed socialized medicine, and it was largely because of him that the plan came into place. He’s now hailed as one of the fathers of medicare in Canada. The Saskatchewan plan was the first of its kind in the country and led the federal government to follow in their footsteps five years later. In 1984, the Canada Health Act replaced the federal Hospital and Diagnostics Services Act and the Medical Services Act. The Medical Care Act is still in place today to help ensure all eligible Canadian residents have access to insured health services, especially during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Despite initial fears of overwhelming the system, insured health care is still widely available to those who need it. Vanessa Quon
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