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These are the top stories:
Ottawa remains unable to secure a meeting with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs
The rail blockade in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory near Belleville, Ont., is seen on Tuesday. (Lars Hagberg/The Globe and Mail)Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett said she is seeking a meeting with hereditary chiefs amid nationwide protests over the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
But Warner Naziel, who also goes by the hereditary name Smogelgem, said in a tweet that Wet’suwet’en Nation leaders have not agreed to meet with the federal and B.C. governments.
“We will not talk to them until the RCMP are out of our lands,” Mr. Naziel wrote.
B.C. Minister for Indigenous Relations Scott Fraser said he was not aware of that demand and added: “We don’t tell the RCMP what to do, nor should we.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged patience and warned against the use of force. “Those who would want us to act in haste, who want us to boil this down to slogans and ignore the complexities, who think that using force is helpful – it is not.”
CN has temporarily laid off about 450 workers as businesses warn of product shortages and call on the government for compensation. Via Rail, meanwhile, plans to resume passenger service between Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City as of tomorrow.
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The Liberals are under fire for partisan involvement in the judicial appointment process
The participation of MPs, ministerial officials and party volunteers in Ottawa’s judicial appointments makes it impossible to know whether judges are being chosen on merit, legal observers say.
The Liberals have said they improved the process in 2016 by making judicial advisory committees more independent. But once those recommendations are made, a political process begins that includes vetting by the Prime Minister’s Office – which also happened under previous governments.
“They’re not following the merit system. The public should know that,” said Peter Russell, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto.
Breaking down the new mortgage stress-test rules and what it means for home prices
The rule changes will make it easier for borrowers to qualify for loans, with one expert saying the new mortgage rate could boost buying power by almost 3 per cent.
Ottawa says the changes make the stress test more dynamic to changes in market conditions, even as some economists warn already-hot markets like Toronto could grow even hotter.
What kind of impact will the changes have? Rob Carrick sounds a negative note: “Prices will rise, affordability will fall and more people will buy homes they can just barely afford.”
B.C.’s budget laid out a plan to raise taxes for top income earners
Those with a personal net income of more than $220,000 will see their top marginal tax rate rise to 20.5 per cent from 16.8 per cent, a change expected to give the government an extra $216-million annually.
The budget forecasts a slim operational surplus of $227-million as the province embarks on record-breaking spending initiatives. That includes a new child benefit plan that will provide up to $1,600 a year per child for families earning $80,000 or less, as well as changes to postsecondary student grants.
On housing, the province is forecasting an end to a historic boom in new home construction. Sales are expected to continue their rebound, an indication that prices could rise again.
More Canadians aboard a cruise ship have tested positive for coronavirus
Forty-three out of 256 Canadians passengers on the quarantined Diamond Princess ship have been infected with the virus, an increase from 15 on Saturday.
Ottawa expects to airlift the remaining non-infected Canadians from Japan on Thursday; the quarantine was lifted today. Those who tested positive or anyone who displays symptoms of the virus will be barred from boarding the flight. Transported passengers will spend two weeks in quarantine in Ontario.
The virus outbreak is even affecting planning for international admissions at Canadian universities, with schools extending deadlines for English proficiency exams for prospective Chinese students.
China on Wednesday expelled three Wall Street Journal reporters from the country, in an unprecedented fury over a headline. None of the three had any connection to an opinion article or its headline – “China is the Real Sick Man of Asia“ – which enraged Chinese authorities, as the country battles the spread of the deadly virus.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Report says more action needed to meet climate targets: Alberta’s oil sands operators will need to face higher carbon taxes, stricter regulations and implement technologies that don’t exist yet for Canada to meet its climate commitments, a Pembina Institute report says.
Provincewide teachers’ strike looms in Ontario: All Ontario public schools are set to close on Friday as elementary teachers continue to push for a funding boost to their benefits plan. That key sticking point resulted in a government warning that any increase would force cuts to special education teaching supports.
MORNING MARKETS
China stimulus hints, slowing spread of virus lift stocks: A decline in the number of new coronavirus cases in China and mounting expectations for more policy stimulus boosted global stock markets on Wednesday, helping ease some of the alarm caused by an Apple revenue warning. Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.80 per cent just after 6 a.m. ET. Germany’s DAX gained 0.47 per cent. France’s CAC 40 rose 0.69 per cent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei ended up 0.89 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.46 per cent. New York futures were higher. The Canadian dollar was trading at 75.55 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
The dismantling of Bombardier leaves Canadian taxpayers holding the bag
Konrad Yakabuski: “Alain Bellemare, who was hired in 2015 with what was believed to have been a mandate to save Bombardier, has effectively presided over its dismantling. Shareholders and taxpayers are now being told that Bombardier’s future lies in building business jets. Yet, corporate aircraft is a highly cyclical luxury sector.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail)brian gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
I’ll Go First: How these Canadian entrepreneurs managed to blaze a new trail
Amanda Truscott’s company Rithmik Solutions uses AI to predict and detect faults in mining equipment. Shyra Barberstock launched Okwaho Network, a social-media platform that connects Indigenous entrepreneurs around the world. Maayan Ziv created AccessNow, an app that allows users to rate businesses based on their accessibility.
Those are just a few of the trailblazers featured on Globe podcast I’ll Go First. You can go here to listen to all the episodes.
MOMENT IN TIME
Four-year-old mailed to her grandparents through U.S. postal service
(National Postal Museum)National Postal Museum
Feb. 19, 1914: The unofficial motto of the U.S. Postal Service is “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” Years ago, those trusted public servants so believed the creed that not even shipping a child in the mail fazed them. On this day in 1914, Charlotte May Pierstorff’s parents in Grangeville, Idaho, sent their four-year-old by way of a railway mail car to her grandmother, about 73 miles (117 kilometres) away. She was dispatched by parcel post, a relatively new service of the post office, which had not envisioned anyone mailing humans (that practice was officially prohibited a few years later). Parcel post enabled Americans to ship almost anything (up to 50 pounds) and was especially important for isolated communities. So it was that Charlotte hopped on the train in the morning and, accompanied by her mother’s cousin, who was a clerk for the railway’s mail service, was delivered to her grandmother’s in time for lunch. The postage was 53 cents, which was cheaper than the train ticket. And no, the kindhearted granny did not stamp “Return to Sender” on Charlotte’s forehead and ship her back. – Philip King
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