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China’s passage of a new national-security law for Hong Kong is being viewed as the death of the city’s last remnants of freedom. Within 24 hours of the law taking effect, 10 people were arrested for allegations including “inciting or abetting others to commit secession” or holding signs promoting Hong Kong independence. The Globe and Mail’s Asia Correspondent, Nathan VanderKlippe, explores how this secretive law is already having a chilling effect on Hong Kong’s artists, journalists, activists and lawyers.
As Hong Kongers grapple with the new reality of life under increased control from Beijing, the rest of the world is preparing for what might be a mass exodus of Hong Kongers. While Britain and Australia have signalled a willingness to welcome Hong Kong migrants, Canada has given no indication that it will offer special accommodations for those seeking to leave.
Read more stories about Hong Kong:
- Opinion (The Editorial Board): A eulogy for Hong Kong’s dream of freedom
- Opinion (Andrew Coyne): Freedom is dying in Hong Kong, if anybody cares
Police stand guard in Causeway Bay before the annual handover march in Hong Kong, Wednesday, July. 1, 2020. Hong Kong marked the 23rd anniversary of its handover to China in 1997, and just one day after China enacted a national-security law that cracks down on protests in the territory.The Associated Press
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Confusion as health unit effectively shuts down farm operation over COVID-19 cases
Ontario is struggling to contain COVID-19 outbreaks on farms amid confusion over isolation requirements. The province’s June 24 guidance from Chief Medical Officer of Health David Williams allows for asymptomatic workers to continue in their jobs even if they test positive for COVID-19. However, Windsor-Essex County’s medical officer of health, Wajid Ahmed, issued an order on Wednesday requiring Nature Fresh Farms employees to stop working and isolate, contrary to provincial guidelines.
In response to Dr. Ahmed’s directive as well as a letter signed by more than 750 health care professionals criticizing the provincial guideline, Dr. Williams appeared to walk back the guidance, saying that it applied more to open acreage and not to indoor industrial agriculture settings.
Report calls on Ottawa to overhaul long-term care system
A new report prepared for the Royal Society of Canada has called on the federal government to establish new rules and provide funding for long-term care in light of the COVID-19 crisis in nursing homes. The report, written by 10 sector experts, includes suggestions on working with the provinces and territories to overhaul the system countrywide, beginning by addressing staffing issues.
COVID-19 has hit nursing and retirement homes particularly hard, with more than 1,000 outbreaks and in excess of 80 per cent of Canadian deaths. This mortality rate is far higher than that of other wealthy countries.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Atlantic provinces to lift travel restrictions for residents: The close ties between the Atlantic provinces were suddenly severed due to COVID-19, but now three months into the quarantine, travel restrictions will be lifted within the region. This much-anticipated move brings a step toward normalcy as residents can now reconnect with loved ones and access much-needed resources such as medical tests.
Supreme Court rejects Indigenous groups’ appeal to halt Trans Mountain expansion: The Supreme Court has decided not to hear an appeal from the Coldwater Indian Band, Squamish Nation and Tsleil-Waututh Nation on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. The three B.C. Indigenous groups have said the decision threatens not only their traditional lands but also the possibility of reconciliation in Canada.
Internal shakeup sees most of the WE Charity board replaced this year: WE Charity has seen a large turnover in its oversight board this year, including the resignation of Canadian board chair Michelle Douglas and reduction in size of both its Canadian and U.S. boards. The charity says that the changes were part of long-planned renewals, though the organization has faced scrutiny lately for its contract with the Canadian government to administer a $900-million student volunteer program.
MORNING MARKETS
World shares near four-month high: World shares inched towards a four-month high on Friday and industrial bellwether metal copper was set for its longest weekly winning streak in nearly three years, as recovering global data kept nagging coronavirus nerves at bay. U.S. markets are closed Friday. Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.76 per cent just before 6 a.m. ET. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 were down 0.10 per cent and 0.46 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei added 0.72 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.99 per cent. The Canadian dollar was trading at 73.67 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Education is a human right, but it certainly hasn’t been a COVID-19 priority
Lauren Dobson-Hughes: “We need to be blunt here: There is no viable reopening of the economy without child care and schools. Actual leadership on this issue would see politicians at all levels of government committing to safely reopening schools and daycares to the fullest extent possible.”
The next pandemic and the case for syndemics thinking
Neil Orford: “It follows that if we want to properly prepare for future pandemics (or any other type of disease outbreaks), our governments and public health officials need to go far beyond updating emergency-preparedness regulations, stock-piling equipment and developing vaccination plans.”
Universal basic income is a means of liberation and dignity for all
Satya Brata Das: “In a post-COVID-19 world, a basic income would enable more people to remain in jobs they enjoy, without worrying about the necessities of life.”
False reality is at the heart of Putin’s brazen constitutional assault
Aurel Braun: “What we have seen in the past several months, with the revelations of the massive systemic failure of his rule in regards to COVID-19 and the economic crisis, is that reality is not always a willing participant in Mr. Putin’s magical schemes.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
David ParkinsDavid Parkins/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Inside CBC Gem, the best streaming service that no one is talking about
As most anyone who reads this publication knows, there is a lot wrong with the CBC. And a good deal of the CBC’s management and programming slip-ups have occurred during this pandemic era, while the national public broadcaster has had a clear opportunity to engage with the hearts and minds of a truly captive audience. But in a small, mostly unheralded corner of the Corp, there is hope: CBC Gem, the best streaming service that most Canadians have never heard of.
MOMENT IN TIME: July 3, 1814
ONE-TIME USE ONLY WITH STORY SLUGGED NW-MIT-ERIE-0702 -- Repulsion of the British at Fort Erie, 15th August 1814. Painted 1840 (oil on canvas) by E.C. Watmough. On July 3, 1814, American forces under the command of Major General Jacob Brown captured Fort Erie and expelled the British defenders. During a counter-attack on August 14-15, British troops managed to secure a foothold on the fort's northeast bastion until the detonation of the powder magazine ended their assault. The Americans ultimately abandoned the lakeside fort just a few months later. Credit: E.C. Watmough / Chicago History Museum / Bridgeman ImagesE.C. Watmough/Chicago History Museum / Bridgeman Images
In 1814, during what would later be known as the War of 1812, the United States wanted to invade Upper Canada near Kingston. However, British ships had command of Lake Ontario, so the invasion was switched to the southern part of the Niagara Peninsula. On this date in 1814, U.S. troops from Buffalo crossed the Niagara River for an attack on the heavily fortified Fort Erie, which the Americans wanted for a staging point. Under the command of Major-General Jacob Brown, U.S. forces landed brigades north and south of the fort. Fort Erie, with its 137 British soldiers under the command of Major Thomas Buck, fired only a few meagre shots toward the advancing Americans. Brown, whose total forces numbered about 4,500, gave Buck an ultimatum – two hours to surrender. Without another shot, and with no loss of life, the British capitulated. (Buck’s boss, Lieutenant-General Gordon Drummond, later had Buck court-martialled for his rapid surrender.) The Americans held the fort another four months before abandoning it. Now, showing there are no hard feelings, the crossing between Canada and the United States, about a kilometre from the old fort, is via the Peace Bridge. Philip King
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