Good morning and happy Friday,
These are the top stories:
Trade war looms as U.S. hits China with US$60-billion in tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to hit China with US$60-billion in tariffs is raising the spectre of a trade war and has sent shockwaves through financial markets across the world. The move may also include a plan to restrict certain forms of Chinese investment in the U.S. and a World Trade Organization case against China. The proposed duties are retaliation against China for allegedly stealing U.S. technology. Mr. Trump is hoping to eliminate the US$385-billion trade deficit that the United States has with China. Beijing has threatened to retaliate by implementing duties of around US$3-billion on 128 goods, including pork and aluminum. (for subscribers)
Barrie McKenna writes that Canada could be collateral damage: “If the U.S. tariffs destabilize the Chinese economy, Canada could feel pain from less demand and lower prices for its commodity exports to China, including wood pulp, oil seeds and coal. A more direct blow would come from Canada’s integration into North American supply chains in industries such as autos and steel. Higher tariffs will raise costs for all companies in the region, making them less competitive against rivals located elsewhere.”
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Alberta Budget 2018
Alberta’s NDP government has tabled its 2018-2019 budget, which projects a deficit of $8.8-billion and balanced budgets within five years. By that point, the province’s total debt will hit $96-billion. The province’s path to balanced budgets depends on royalties from two pipelines that have not been approved, Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and Enbridge Inc.’s Line 3 replacement, as well as additional revenues once the carbon tax increases above its current rate of $30 per tonne. The government said it would slow the building of capital projects and keep spending growth stable as the province lifts itself out of the post-oil crash and recession.
Want to get caught up on the highlights from the spending bill? We’ve broken down the five most important things you need to know about the provincial budget in an explainer.
Gary Mason writes that Alberta’s ballooning debt is a big problem, but one that’s tough to solve: “There is a very good chance, as things stand now, that Mr. Kenney will be running Alberta in little more than a year’s time. He will certainly come out swinging against this budget, calling the level of debt an outrage and an embarrassment. What he won’t talk about is the fact that there’s no way of rectifying the problem unless the government introduces cuts to programs and services on a scale never seen before, or brings in a sales tax.”
Former Manitoba Hydro chair takes aim at Premier Brian Pallister’s account of board exodus
Sandy Riley, the former chair of Manitoba Hydro, has challenged Premier Brian Pallister’s account of why the board of directors for the Crown corporation resigned en masse on Wednesday, calling it “deeply offensive and wrong.” Mr. Pallister said that the resignations were tied to a proposed deal between Manitoba Hydro and the province’s Métis Federation. Mr. Riley, a business leader in the Winnipeg community who was appointed by the Progressive Conservatives, says that the directors could no longer function as a board because of Mr. Pallister’s unwillingness to meet with them to engage on several issues, such as negotiations with Indigenous communities. (for subscribers)
MPs call for Wylie and social-media executives to testify on misuse of data
MPs in the House of Commons ethics committee voted to investigate the abuse of personal data of Facebook and are calling on whistle-blower Christopher Wylie to testify as a witness, along with executives from tech giants such as Facebook, Amazon and Google. NDP MP Charlie Angus proposed the motion, which was adopted unanimously. Mr. Wylie, a 28-year-old Canadian, had ties with the federal Liberal Party. He previously worked for the leader’s office in the late 2000s and his company Eunoia Technologies was awarded a $100,000 contract in 2016. Mr. Wylie is a co-founder of Cambridge Analytica, which allegedly misused the personal data of 50 million Facebook users, and has ties to Mr. Trump’s 2016 election campaign team.
Margaret Wente writes that it’s time to #deletefacebook: “Facebook’s woes are playing into fears that we are being manipulated by dark forces that are unaccountable and unidentified. We feel as if we’re losing control – not just of our privacy but of information flows, of the internet, and maybe of our lives. It’s hard to see how Mr. Zuckerberg is going to restore confidence that Facebook really does have our best interests in mind.”
Doug Saunders writes there’s more to this story than Cambridge Analytica: “The Cambridge Analyticas of the world are merely a side effect of a far more serious and immediate threat to democratic stability posed by companies that have unlimited, unquestioned access to even more personal information on hundreds of millions of people – that is, the social-media giants themselves, especially Facebook and Google’s YouTube.“
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Putin says his wealth is modest. Critics say he is worth up to US$70-billion
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who recently won another six-year term in office, has worked to develop an image that his wealth is modest. As part of the election, information about each of the candidates, including their declared financial assets, was posted in polling stations. Mr. Putin was described as having a modest bank account, an average-sized apartment and three old cars. Critics say this depiction is at odds with reality.
MORNING MARKETS
Markets tumble
The threat of a global trade war sent stock markets sliding and investors rushing for the safety of currencies like the yen and government bonds on Friday, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced tariffs on up to $60-billion of Chinese goods. Tokyo’s Nikkei plunged 4.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 2.5 per cent, and the Shanghai composite 3.4 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were down by between 1 and 2 per cent by about 6:05 a.m. ET. New York futures were also down. The Canadian dollar was below 77.5 US cents. U.S. crude futures were up 0.8 per cent at $64.79 per barrel after losing 1.3 per cent on Thursday and Brent gained 0.45 per cent to $69.22.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Data-protection laws must be extended to political parties
“If we want to protect the integrity of our democratic processes, Canada needs to develop legal mechanisms that address issues to do with data privacy and political campaigning. And applying basic data-protection laws to political parties is an easy starting point for policymakers concerned with safeguarding democracy in the digital age.” – Samantha Bradshaw
It’s time to unplug and escape this nightmare we live in
“There are an increasing number of days I want to unplug from everything and move to the country. I don’t imagine this idly. I have little doubt my quality of life would improve immeasurably if I was less connected to current events, if I quit Twitter, quit Facebook, got a dog and dropped out. What would I be missing? I’m not a doom-and-gloomer by nature. I have been, most of my life, a glass-half-full optimist. But looking around the world today is depressing. And frightening. And we don’t have to gaze much further than our neighbour to the south to feel thoroughly despondent about where we are heading.” – Gary Mason
HEALTH PRIMER
How do I counteract a long day of sitting?
Sitting at your desk all day isn’t a good thing, but sometimes your job or your workload don’t allow for frequent breaks. Some simple stretches will help offset the effects of your sedentary office posture.
MOMENT IN TIME
20th anniversary of Titanic winning best picture
March 23, 1998: James Cameron’s Titanic sailed into the 70th Academy Awards like a massive middle finger to conventional Hollywood wisdom. The movie was never supposed to get this far, after all – starring relative unknowns, directed by an action maestro not exactly known for his romantic-drama touch, plagued by myriad production problems including one severe bout of cast and crew food poisoning, and costing a record-breaking US$200-million; Titanic was expected to sink as quickly as its namesake. Yet by the time the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded it 14 Oscar nominations in 1998, studio Twentieth Century Fox estimated that 7 per cent of all American teenage girls had seen the movie – twice. So at Los Angeles’s Shrine Auditorium that March, Titanic made a splashy entrance: It was a baffling success story that all but dared competitors As Good as It Gets, Good Will Hunting, The Full Monty and L.A. Confidential to crash its months-long pleasure cruise. No such luck, as the period epic collected 11 Oscars, including best picture, and in the process forever enshrined Cameron as the King of the World – whether the industry liked it or not. – Barry Hertz
Morning Update was written by Mayaz Alam
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