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These are the top stories:
A water shortage in the Neskantaga First Nation is forcing some to flee
Nearly 100 people left the Northwestern Ontario community on emergency evacuation flights after the breakdown of two electric pumps cut off water to many homes. It’s the latest crisis for Neskantaga, which has been under a boil-water advisory since 1995.
While the advisory is set to end with the opening of a new water treatment plant next month, residents are questioning whether it will be safe to drink from their taps. The plant was first scheduled to open in the spring of 2018.
The federal Liberals have pledged to eliminate all 56 remaining boil advisories by March, 2021, but the situation in Neskantaga and elsewhere has raised doubts.
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The laptop that triggered the RCMP’s security-breach investigation
In March of 2018, U.S. authorities seized the computer of a Vancouver businessman linked to organized crime. When the Mounties looked at the laptop, they discovered an internal document and launched an investigation under the code name “Project Ace” to determine who could have been responsible for the alleged security breach, a senior government source told The Globe.
It all culminated with the arrest last week of Cameron Ortis, the head of the RCMP’s intelligence unit. Investigators started to turn their attention on Ortis in May of this year, and obtained authorization in late August to conduct searches into the alleged leak, including at Ortis’s residence in downtown Ottawa.
Election 2019: The latest from the campaign trail
The Liberals pledged more child-care spaces, to the tune of up to 250,000, while lowering those fees by 10 per cent across the country. Ten per cent of the new spaces would be for children of parents who work overtime, late shifts or multiple jobs.
The Conservatives are vowing tax credits of up to $1,000 for parents who enroll their children in sports and fitness activities and $500 for arts programs. That follows a Sunday announcement to reduce the lowest federal income-tax bracket to 13.75 per cent by 2023.
The Greens unveiled their platform, which promises job-transition programs for workers in the energy sector and a plan to shut down Alberta’s oil sands over the next 10 to 15 years. John Ibbitson calls the platform “breathtaking in its ambition.”
People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier has been invited to participate in the two official leaders’ debates after a review of riding-level polling, media coverage and the party’s organizational capacity found he met the criteria.
Saudi Arabia says Iranian weapons were used in the attack on its oil facilities
The Saudis also said the attacks weren’t launched from Yemen, where Iranian-backed rebels there have claimed responsibility. Riyadh didn’t go so far as to directly accuse Iran of perpetrating the weekend strikes that forced it to cut its oil production in half.
U.S. officials have indicated that they believe the attacks could have been launched from Iran or Iraq.
Our editorial board says there are three takeaways from the drone attacks: The changing nature of war; Iran’s increasing desire to stretch its influence; and the U.S. failure to curtail those ambitions.
For its part, Alberta is weighing a boost to its crude output in the wake of the Saudi attack. Premier Jason Kenney said his government is in talks with producers to allow them to exceed limits if they export oil by train.
Experts say that kind of measure would likely have minimal impact on global prices. And while the price of Canadian heavy crude jumped more than 18 per cent Monday, oil demand has been trending downward all year.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Court chaos in Kenora: Federal prosecutors warned their bosses about the “brutal quality” of service to remote Ontario Indigenous communities, e-mails and memos reveal. Crown attorneys who were rotated into the Kenora judicial district complained of severe understaffing and disorganization, which can lead to months of delays in cases.
It’s election day in Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu offered a last-minute pledge to annex “all the settlements” in the West Bank as he looks to extend his tenure as the country’s longest-serving prime minister. This is the second time Israelis are headed to the polls this year, after Netanyahu couldn’t build a coalition following the April vote.
U.S. GM strike could have impact on Ontario plants: Auto parts and vehicles cross the U.S.-Canada border several times before final assembly and are based on just-in-time supply chains. That means even a short-term strike in the United States could bring most production to a halt in Ontario, according to the head of a Canadian auto-parts association.
MORNING MARKETS
Oil sheds gains, stocks inch lower as focus turns to Fed: Oil shed some of its massive gains on Tuesday as the United States flagged the possible release of crude reserves, while stocks inched lower as investors remained on the sidelines ahead of this week’s Federal Reserve meeting. Asian markets ended mixed. Japan’s Nikkei ended modestly higher. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.74 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finished down 1.23 per cent. In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.10 per cent just before 5 a.m. ET. Germany’s DAX fell 0.16 per cent while France’s CAC 40 added 0.09 per cent. New York futures were slightly lower. The Canadian dollar was trading at 75.49 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Smart health-care policy must include affordable housing
André Picard: “Without stable housing, people die younger, suffer more and have more severe chronic illnesses, make far more emergency room visits, are more likely to be hospitalized and readmitted, and stay longer in hospital when they are admitted. So, not surprisingly, a bold new initiative by the University Health Network in Toronto to build affordable housing is generating a lot of excitement.”
What’s in a song? For the people of Hong Kong, the idea of nationhood
Brian C. Thompson: “The people of Hong Kong are deeply attached to the Cantonese dialect and to the use of classical Chinese characters. They have seen the Central Government funnel Mandarin-speaking immigrants into Hong Kong, and designer stores cater to Mainland visitors with signage written in simplified characters. Singing Glory to Hong Kong in Cantonese affirms a sense of identity that demands fighting for.” Brian C. Thompson is a senior lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail)Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
The winner of one Canadian arts prize, and the short list for another
Toronto rapper Haviah Mighty took home this year’s Polaris Music Prize, and its $50,000 award, for her album 13th Floor. She first made waves as part of The Sorority, an all-female hip-hop group that has opened for Snoop Dogg, the Internet and Dvsn.
And for the first time, the short list for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction is composed entirely of female writers. The finalists for the $60,000 prize are:
- Alicia Elliott’s bestselling debut A Mind Spread Out on the Ground, on the treatment of Indigenous people.
- Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me: Depression in the First Person, Anna Mehler Paperny’s debut memoir on living with depression.
- Jenny Heijun Wills’s Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related: A Memoir, on connecting with her Korean birth family.
- The Art of Leaving: A Memoir, by Ayelet Tsabari, on her self-exile from her Mizrahi Jewish roots.
- Tanya Talaga’s Massey Lecture, All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward, which explores the high rates of youth suicide in Indigenous communities.
MOMENT IN TIME
The first black Miss America is crowned
(Bettmann/Getty Images)Bettmann / Getty Images
Sept. 17, 1983: Perhaps Vanessa Williams always knew she was destined for more than a crown. At 20, she only entered the Miss Syracuse pageant because of the scholarship prize. In a few months, she found herself on a stage in Atlantic City, blowing kisses as There She Is, Miss America filled the room. That day, she became the first black woman to wear the crown. “People would want to shake my hand, and you’d see the tears in their eyes, and they’d say, ‘I never thought I’d see it in my lifetime,’” she said of the reaction. But her reign was interrupted when Penthouse threatened to publish her nude images. The pictures were taken years earlier by a photographer who assured her that they would never be released. The pageant pushed her to resign. In her statement, Williams said she was more than a photo spread – and more than Miss America. Williams went on to make a big comeback, winning several awards for her music and acting, and earning three Emmy nominations for her role on Ugly Betty. In 2015, she was in Atlantic City again, this time as a judge. That night, she finally received an apology from the Miss America pageant. – Carine Abouseif
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