Morning Update: Liberals spend billions more on outsourced contracts since taking power

Good morning,

Federal government spending on outsourcing contracts has increased by more than 40 per cent since the Liberals came to power, a trend at odds with the party’s 2015 campaign pledge to reduce the use of consultants.

A Globe and Mail analysis of federal records shows Ottawa spent $11.8-billion in the 2020-21 fiscal year on contracts. That represents a 41.8-per-cent increase from the $8.4-billion spent in the 2015-16 fiscal year, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government first took office.

The growth in outsourcing has not coincided with a leaner public service. The number of federal government workers increased by about 24 per cent between 2015 and 2021.

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Researchers outline path to fix flaws in Ottawa’s plan to address abuse in sport

As Ottawa reviews how national sport organizations deal with abuse within their own ranks, University of Toronto researchers are outlining a possible path for the government to fix a system rife with potential conflicts of interest.

In a letter to Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge obtained by The Globe and Mail, U of T researchers Gretchen Kerr, Peter Donnelly and Bruce Kidd detail how the minister can patch key holes in Ottawa’s plan to address abuse in sport. The plan was unveiled last year and is now at the centre of controversy.

A Globe investigation last month exposed critical flaws in the new system, because it allows the more than 60 national sport organizations to opt out of the process if they choose, and instead hire their own third-party investigators to examine allegations of abuse.

Indigenous groups in U.S. have been leaders in pandemic. Why are reservations still among deadliest places to get sick with COVID-19?

Few communities in North America fought COVID-19 with as much vigour as the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. As the virus began to spread, the South Dakota tribe traced contacts, imposed a 10-day lockdown, set a curfew and transformed a high-school dormitory and a veteran’s centre into quarantine isolation centres, reports The Globe’s Nathan VanderKlippe.

Across the United States, Indigenous groups have been leaders in the country’s pandemic response. No other ethnic group has a higher vaccination rate. In some conservative states, reservations are among the only places with mask mandates.

Yet two years after the onset of the pandemic, many of those reservations remain among the deadliest places in the U.S. to get sick with COVID-19.

Catch up with our COVID-19 coverage:

• How five families are making decisions about sending kids back to school amid Omicron
• Airlines urge end to mandatory arrival testing
• Trucking companies lose drivers as new border vaccine mandate comes into force
• Tim Kiladze: The pandemic turned LinkedIn into one of the wildest places on the internet
• Novak Djokovic loses Australian deportation fight over vaccination status

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

Toronto, Ottawa, York and Halton regions close schools: A winter storm derailed plans for returning to in-person classrooms today, with up to 40 centimetres of snow expected in some parts of Ontario. The Toronto District School Board, Ottawa-Carleton and York region planned to offer virtual learning, while Halton District schools were not offering remote learning.

British national identified as hostage-taker at Texas synagogue: Authorities on Sunday identified 44-year-old British citizen Malik Faisal Akram as the man who took four people hostage at a Congregation Beth Israel near Fort Worth, Texas, before a SWAT team stormed the synagogue. All hostages were released unharmed. Police in England, meanwhile, said they detained two teenagers for questioning in the investigation.

• Analysis: Hostage-taking at Texas synagogue brings back memories of past terror

Widow of Quadriga crypto founder Gerald Cotten says she had no idea about the $215-million crypto scam: If there’s one thing Jennifer Robertson wants you to know, it’s this: She was in the dark about the massive, $215-million fraud her deceased husband, Gerald Cotten, pulled off. She believed Quadriga Fintech Solutions Corp., Cotten’s cryptocurrency-exchange company, was a legitimate business.

• Listen to The Decibel: Canada’s ‘Bitcoin Widow’ speaks
• Read an excerpt from Bitcoin Widow by Jennifer Robertson

Canada’s Supreme Court is off-balance as ‘large and liberal’ consensus on the Charter falls apart: More than ever, the nine Supreme Court justices are divided on the question of how broadly – or narrowly – to interpret Canadians’ constitutional rights. While the prime ministers who appointed them are a factor, that’s only part of the story.

South African judiciary faces attack in ANC factional feud: The campaign to discredit South Africa’s court system has emerged as a central strategy for the dissident faction of the country’s ruling party, the African National Congress, as it seeks to challenge President Cyril Ramaphosa for the party leadership. The attacks ratcheted up this month when a cabinet minister described Black judges as “mentally colonized” and “house negroes” who are beholden to wealthy capitalists.

MORNING MARKETS

European markets edge higher: European shares were slightly higher in early trading on Monday as investors focused on company earnings and U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers entered a quiet period ahead of their meeting next week. Just before 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.67 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.42 per cent and 0.74 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.74 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 0.68 per cent. U.S. markets are closed Monday for a public holiday. The Canadian dollar was trading at 79.96 US cents.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Has having children become unconscionable?

“Our current problems – a climate crisis and inequality chief among them – are systemic and chronic, and many of them will likely worsen over time. Summoning your own hope for the future feels like an impossible task. Giving your children a better life than you’ve had may no longer be attainable.” - Patricia Untinen

Brexit hasn’t ended the European Union – it’s given it a new sense of purpose

“Britain offers a salutary lesson. The country is cracking up – not with laughter, but literally.” - John Rapley

TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

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LIVING BETTER

Even if rain, sleet or snow is blowing in off the harbour, St. John’s always heats up in the winter, writes Tim Johnson. Walking along Water and George streets in the heart of the city, you’ll see that you don’t have to go more than a block to find steaming seafood or an upscale take on favourites such as fish and chips or Jiggs dinner.

MOMENT IN TIME: Keeping the coasts clear

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For more than 100 years, photographers and photo editors working for The Globe and Mail have preserved an extraordinary collection of news photography. Every Monday, The Globe will feature one of these images. This month, they mark the 60th anniversary of the Canadian Coast Guard.

It’s one of the great Hollywood tropes: A heavily armed coast-guard cutter roars up to a boat carrying the terrorists/smugglers/bad guys and fires shots across the bow until order is restored. Except that is purely American. The Canadian Coast Guard, a government organization without naval or law-enforcement duties, usually lets the Royal Canadian Navy or the RCMP do the heavy hitting. Which is not to say the Coast Guard is not doing its part in national security. In the photo above, a Coast Guard ship lays perimeter buoys in Vancouver’s harbour in January of 2010, in preparation for the Winter Olympics there the next month. Even without ship-borne weaponry, or firearms for its personnel, the Coast Guard provides vital support on the Great Lakes and in the three oceans bordering Canada to other agencies enforcing fishing restrictions and maritime law. Philip King

Subscribers and registered users of globeandmail.com can dig deeper into our News Photo Archive at tgam.ca/newsphotoarchive

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