Good morning,
These are the top stories:
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney will campaign in Ontario during the federal election
Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives are looking to win back immigrant voters – and the former Harper-era immigration minister wants to help. Kenney’s plan to insert himself into the federal vote by travelling to Ontario is a remarkable intervention by a premier, John Ibbitson writes. (for subscribers)
Specifically, sources say the United Conservative Party Premier will be heading to suburban Toronto, also known as the 905 region, where millions of voters often play a pivotal role in determining the outcome of federal votes. Immigrant Canadians make up a majority or large minority of voters in many of those ridings.
During the 2008 and 2011 elections, Kenney successfully brought immigrant voters onside with a message that the Tories best reflected their values.
For his part, Kenney said: “I will openly and vocally campaign here in Alberta and wherever I can make a difference across Canada to elect a Conservative government that will stand up for Alberta and for Canada.”
Meanwhile, Kenney’s government presented its first Throne Speech yesterday with a vow to launch a third constitutional challenge against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax.
Alberta’s carbon tax, which was put in place by Rachel Notley’s NDP, will be phased out by next Thursday. Ottawa is expected to respond swiftly by imposing its own tax as it has in Ontario and Saskatchewan. (The Appeal Court in Saskatchewan recently deemed the tax constitutional; Kenney will support the province’s appeal to the Supreme Court.)
This is the daily Morning Update newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for Morning Update and more than 20 more Globe newsletters on our newsletter signup page.
B.C. eye doctors are warning of a spike in glaucoma cases linked to injections of a popular drug
Thousands of retinal-disease patients are being exposed to an “increased risk of severe glaucoma and peripheral blindness,” according to the BC Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons. The group says toxins may be leeching into an injectable medication that is widely used in B.C. – and it’s taking the unusual step of hiring a lawyer to demand the province halt use of the injections of Avastin.
For its part, the B.C. government is rejecting the eye doctors’ conclusion, saying officials and researchers spent more than a year on a quality review before deeming the injections safe.
A senior U.S. senator is urging Canada to protest China’s abuse of its Uyghur minority
Democrat Mark Warner said “there is barely a peep” from Western governments including Canada about the detention of as many as three million Uyghurs in “the equivalent of modern-day concentration or re-education camps.” (Globe correspondent Nathan VanderKlippe has reported extensively on the plight of the largely Muslim minority.)
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Justin Trudeau declined to say whether Canada would impose sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for the crackdown. Canada has used the Magnitsky Act to target Russians involved in human-rights abuses.
Warner also took aim at China’s surveillance technology, which it is using on its Uyghur population as well as selling to countries including Zimbabwe and Pakistan. “We have seen from the Chinese a willingness to ... export a type of authoritarian use of technology that I find kind of bone chilling,” Warner said.
Justin Trudeau has laid out a $15.7-billion program to renew the coast guard fleet.
Under the plan, 16 vessels will be built at Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards while two Arctic ships will be built at Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax. But he suggested the workload may require a third shipyard, possibly Quebec’s Davie Shipbuilding.
Vice-Admiral Mark Norman had been accused of leaks over a supply vessel that was to be built by Davie. The charge against Norman was stayed this month.
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Doug Ford will need to cut another $6-billion to balance the books, Ontario’s financial watchdog says. The Progressive Conservative government plans to balance the budget by 2023-24, with Ford saying he’s found eight cents on every dollar in spending to cut over five years. But the independent watchdog says his analysts could only find half of those reductions spelled out.
The Canada-Philippines garbage dispute may finally be coming to an end. The federal government has hired a contractor that is set to bring dozens of containers back to Canada by the end of June. They had been sitting in a Philippines port for more than five years after it was discovered they contained waste, not recyclables.
Indian PM Narendra Modi stuns opposition with ‘massive’ election win: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi swept to a huge election victory on Thursday, on course to increase his majority and give his party the mandate to pursue business-friendly policies that put Hindus first and take a hard line on national security.
There has been no decline in sexual assaults in Canada’s military despite a high-profile, four-year campaign to address the issue. Roughly 1.6 per cent of military members said they were sexually assaulted in the past year, according to a new Statistics Canada survey. And most incidents of sexual assault still aren’t being reported to authorities, despite the creation of a sexual misconduct response centre. (for subscribers)
Ottawa plans to table a bill to ratify the USMCA trade deal as early as next week. There are just four sitting weeks left before MPs break for the summer and then the fall election, leaving a short window to review and approve the legislation. The U.S. and Mexico have yet to adopt their own legislation, but that may change now that Washington has removed steel and aluminum tariffs. (for subscribers)
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks sink
Global shares made it four days in the red in the last five on Thursday as concerns grew that the China-U.S. trade conflict was fast turning into a technology cold war between the world’s two largest economies. Tokyo’s Nikkei was down 0.6 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1.5 per cent. The Shanghai Composite was lower by 1.3 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was down 1.3 per cent at about 6:15 a.m. ET. Germany’s DAX was down 1.8 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 was 1.6 per cent lower. New York futures were down. The Canadian dollar was at 74.22 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
The exoneration of Chief Poundmaker: A crooked road made straight
Blaine Favel: “Thursday is a monumental day for Canada. Chief Poundmaker, a champion of peace who was wrongly convicted of treason, will be exonerated by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who, through this act, will move Canada closer to truth and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.” Blaine Favel is a former chief of Poundmaker Cree Nation.
The little team that could (potentially): we can finally hope for the Toronto Raptors’ future
Cathal Kelly: “This is a good time to pause and enjoy the view. Regardless of what happens next, this is now officially the greatest season in Raptors history. They have reached this precise point before – two wins in a conference final – but that was a full-on no-hoper against LeBron James & Co. in Cleveland. That was doomed from the start. Even the victories felt pointless. They’re in this one.” Game 5 against Milwaukee is tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET.
The last thing Trump wants is a war with Iran
Dennis Horak: “Escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf have once again raised the spectre of war, this time with Iran at the centre. Despite the dispatch of U.S. warships and bombers to the region, reports of a plan to send up to 120,000 U.S. troops (which the U.S. President denies), leaks about the Iranian threat to U.S. interests, threatening rhetoric and the mysterious “sabotage” of oil tankers, war remains unlikely. The simple truth is that no one really wants one.” Dennis Horak was Canada’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia until he was expelled in August, 2018. He was also head of mission in Iran from 2009-12.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail)Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Need a break from your phone? The answer might be on your phone
Apps to block apps, apps to lock you out, apps to limit use time on apps: Welcome to reaction mode to our smartphone obsession. Flipd can track how long you stay away from apps and even set a timer for a “full lock.” Moment, meanwhile, will send you alerts when you exceed set limits and also has a coaching function. And Offtime includes modes like Work, Family and Me Time that let you block certain apps at specific times.
MOMENT IN TIME
Streetcars run for the first time on a Sunday in Toronto
(Alfred J. Pearson/City of Toronto Archives)Alfred J. Pearson/City of Toronto Archives
May 23, 1897: Disagreements over Toronto transit aren’t exclusive to this century, or even the last. In May, 1897, a debate roiled the city over whether to allow Sunday streetcar service. In two previous plebiscites, the No side prevailed. But the issue wouldn’t die. This time on the No side, letter writers to The Globe said: “Sunday cars will have a decided tendency away from moral restraint and church influence." Another writer said more cars meant young children “would be in peril of life and limb on their way to and from the Sunday school." Others questioned the need: “All experience testifies that Sunday excursions and Sunday amusements do not tend to either rest or recuperation.” On the Yes side, voices such as the Evening Star newspaper: “Vote for Sunday cars and make Toronto safe for investors.” More than 32,000 citizens cast their ballots on May 15 and the Yes side won by fewer than 500 votes. The first Sunday cars rolled out a week later. But Toronto wasn’t ready to be a seven-day city just yet. Sunday sports bans existed until 1950, Eaton’s famously pulled the curtains on its store windows every Sunday until 1968 and Ontario didn’t approve full Sunday shopping until 1992. – Philip King
If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday morning, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.