Good morning,
The Prime Minister and his wife announced Wednesday they are separating. Justin Trudeau and his wife of 18 years, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, issued statements on their respective Instagram accounts that they have parted ways, making him the second prime minister to be legally separated while in office – after only his own father.
Trudeau and Grégoire Trudeau, who have been married since May, 2005, stated that the decision came after many difficult conversations. They said that they remain a close family with deep love and respect for each other and everything that they have built. They also asked for privacy for the well-being of their three children: Xavier, 15, Ella Grace, 14, and nine-year-old Hadrien.
The couple is expected to have joint custody of their children. Trudeau will continue to live at Rideau Cottage, along with his children. Grégoire Trudeau has moved elsewhere in Ottawa and will live at Rideau Cottage with her children when the Prime Minister is travelling.
From the archives:
- Justin Trudeau and bride Sophie Grégoire tie the knot in Montreal in 2005
- She’s married to a Trudeau, but Sophie Grégoire is not your typical political wife
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau arrive in Zumpango, Mexico, in January 2023. The pair have announced their separation via social media.Eduardo Verdugo/The Associated Press
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Pittsburgh synagogue gunman sentenced to death
The gunman who stormed a synagogue in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community and killed 11 worshippers will be sentenced to death for perpetrating the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history, a jury unanimously decided Wednesday.
The federal jury that convicted 50-year-old Robert Bowers on 63 criminal counts recommended that he be put to death for the 2018 massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue, an attack whose impacts continue to reverberate nearly five years later. Bowers showed little reaction as the sentence was announced, briefly acknowledging his legal team and family as he was led from the courtroom. A judge will formally impose the sentence later.
- David Shribman: Death penalty for Tree of Life shooter hardly brings closure to Jewish community
Dissidents decry Hong Kong officers’ presence at World Police and Fire Games in Winnipeg
Members of the Hong Kong Police Force, cheered on by their chief, are hauling in medals at the World Police and Fire Games in Winnipeg this week, angering dissidents in Canada who fled the Chinese-controlled territory because of a police crackdown on anti-Beijing protests.
Some 8,500 athletes from around the world have travelled to Canada for the event this week and some Hong Kongers in Canada are aghast that the team and its officials have been welcomed at the games.
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Also on our radar
Donald Trump’s third indictment: The overwhelming favourite for next year’s Republican presidential nomination will walk into a Washington courthouse on Thursday afternoon to be arraigned for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss – the third set of criminal charges to hit the former U.S. president in the past four months. Here’s what to know.
Nova Scotia flood: Police confirmed the discovery of the fourth and final missing person swept away during a catastrophic flash flood last month as officials continued to express frustration over the dearth of cellular coverage in northwestern Nova Scotia.
The quiet culling of Bay Street: Slowly but steadily, Bay Street is slashing jobs. Little else has emerged publicly about the broader trend of layoffs at Canada’s big banks, but experts in financial services recruitment say that is exactly the point.
European militaries evacuate foreign nationals from Niger: France, Italy and Spain announced evacuations of their citizens and other Europeans in the capital, Niamey, following concerns they could become trapped after last week’s military coup detained democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum and seized power.
Ukrainians detained in Kherson: Many Ukrainians who were held by Russian forces in detention centres in Ukraine’s Kherson region say they witnessed or experienced acts of torture while they were detained, according to a team of international lawyers and analysts.
Morning markets
Markets slide: World markets stumbled on Thursday as U.S. bonds yields hit nine-month peaks, helping the U.S. dollar to shrug off a U.S. credit downgrade to hit a four-week high against its major peers. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 1.25 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.81 per cent and 0.86 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed down 1.68 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.49 per cent. New York futures were negative. The Canadian dollar was lower at 74.77 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Instead of grumbling about Canada’s defence spending, Americans should look in their own backyard
“While Americans condemn our defence failings, they might want to examine their own, which they don’t. They turn a blind eye or give a pass to the massive amounts of waste in Pentagon spending, to the obscene profits of taxpayer-fleecing defence contractors, to the ineffectiveness of vast spending advantages in conflicts like Afghanistan.” – Lawrence Martin
France’s ‘Africa problem’ is Canada’s, too
“France and its Western allies, including Canada, must not draw the wrong conclusions from the coup in Niger. Abandoning Africa to Russia out of a sense of frustration or futility would only come back to haunt the West in due course.” – Konrad Yakabuski
Today’s editorial cartoon
Editorial cartoon by David Parkins, Aug. 3, 2023.Illustration by David Parkins
Living better
Should you pay off the mortgage immediately before retiring?
You should usually pay off the mortgage on your house before you retire so you’re less financially vulnerable to spending shocks in retirement. In other words, you will almost certainly have fixed-income assets in your retirement portfolio (such as bonds), and those assets will be earning less interest than you are paying on the mortgage, so why not simplify your life by liquidating the mortgage? Well, it’s not quite that simple. There are times when it is better to carry your mortgage into retirement than to pay it off immediately and Frederick Vettese, author and former chief actuary of Morneau Shepell, explains why.
Moment in time: Aug. 3, 1936
Jesse Owens at the start of the 200 metres at the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936, setting off on the way to one of his four gold medals.Print Collector/Getty Images
Jesse Owens wins 100-metre dash at Berlin Olympics
In 10 seconds that would dazzle the world, James Cleveland (Jesse) Owens won the 100-metre dash in front of an enthusiastic crowd on this day in 1936 at the Olympic Games in Nazi Germany. The 22-year-old African American athlete from Oakville, Ala., won the gold medal in 10.3 seconds, beating out American teammate Ralph Metcalfe and third-place winner Tinus Osendarp from the Netherlands. Over the next six days, Mr. Owens would go on to win another three gold medals in the long jump, 200-metre dash and 4x100-metre relay for the United States. His record-breaking performance would shatter Adolf Hitler’s hope for a display of “Aryan supremacy” at the Olympics. Despite this, Mr. Owens returned home to the racism and segregation policies of his own country, including being refused an invitation from then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the White House. Almost 40 years later to the day, Mr. Owens received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Gerald Ford on Aug. 5, 1976. In 1979, U.S. President Jimmy Carter presented a Living Legends Award to Mr. Owens for his superb Olympic achievements. The following year, when Mr. Owens died, Mr. Carter said, “Perhaps no athlete better symbolized the human struggle against tyranny, poverty and racial bigotry.” Joy SpearChief-Morris
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