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Good morning,
These are the top stories:
The federal government reapproved the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, renewing opposition campaigns
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the project would create thousands of new middle-class jobs and that he expects the company will begin work during the current construction season. The pipeline decision came less than 24 hours after the Liberals declared a “national climate emergency” that requires deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.
What comes next: While Trudeau said he expects construction will start soon, government officials told The Globe it could take several months for the federally owned company to get the necessary permits and contracts.
Opposition: A coalition of environmentalists, Indigenous groups, trade unionists and civic leaders will be pursuing a fresh legal challenge in a bid to delay and ultimately stop construction. They say that despite a new round of consultations, Ottawa still hasn’t fulfilled its obligations to Indigenous people.
The oil-sector impact: Even if there are no problems in bringing to life the expanded link between Alberta’s oil and the West Coast’s access to markets, Jeffrey Jones writes that it could be years before global investors are convinced of returning to the sector.
John Ibbitson writes: “Trudeau declared: ‘We are a government that cares deeply about the environment. And we care just as deeply about the economic success of Canadians.’ Whether the Liberals have succeeded in bridging that divide is the question.”
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Thunder Bay police will review the deaths of nine Indigenous people
The move follows an independent report that found the nine death investigations were so “problematic” they should be reinvestigated. The cases will now be reviewed by local First Nations leaders, outside investigators and Thunder Bay officers not involved in the original probes. That group will then determine whether to reopen individual cases.
The background: Late last year, a pair of reports detailed issues of systemic racism within the force as well as the city’s police services board, which was disbanded and reformed as a result. Last month, one member was removed from the board over a 2017 letter he wrote defending Senator Lynn Beyak, who has been accused of racism. The mayor has also lashed out at the reports for drawing negative attention to the city.
A B.C. inquest is probing the overdose death of a 16-year-old
Brock Eurchuk said despite his son’s age, a near-fatal overdose and involuntary hospitalization, he and his wife still weren’t able to learn key medical details due to patient-doctor confidentiality.
“It was clear that secure care did not exist in B.C. In every service we looked into, all Elliot needed to do was walk up to reception and say, ‘I would like to file my discharge papers’ [before getting released],” Eurchuk said.
Elliot died of an overdose in the family home in April of last year.
A Liberal MLA has reintroduced legislation that would put in place court-mandated treatment for troubled teens.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
There is ‘credible evidence’ Saudi Crown Prince is liable for Jamal Khashoggi’s death: UN expert: Evidence suggests Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman and other senior Saudi officials are liable for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.N. rights investigator said on Wednesday. There was no immediate reaction from Riyadh which was sent the 100-page report in advance - but the kingdom has regularly denied accusations that the prince was involved.
Alberta wildfires have forced more than 9,000 people from their homes, including thousands who only just returned after a previous evacuation order. Together, the blazes cover 6,750 square kilometres and the situation could get worse; other communities remain on evacuation alert.
The Liberals are poised to reject Senate changes to the solitary-confinement bill. The government tabled its response to a package of amendments to Bill C-83 the Senate passed last week, including a change that would require a judge to approve any decision to isolate a prisoner beyond 48 hours.
A UN rights investigator will issue a report on the Jamal Khashoggi killing. The investigator, who has led an international inquiry into the killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October, said earlier this year that the evidence pointed to a brutal crime “planned and perpetrated” by Saudi officials.
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks mixed
World stocks held near two-week highs on Wednesday as investors bet on a worldwide wave of central bank stimulus, with expectations building that the United States and the euro zone may deliver interest rate cuts as early as July. Tokyo’s Nikkei was up 1.72 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 2.5 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.9 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.2 per cent, Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were up slightly at about 7 a.m. ET. New York futures were mixed and the Canadian dollar was at 74.74 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Think trade agreements will mend relationships with the U.S.? Think again
Hugo Perezcano Diaz: “Despite the optimism being expressed around the power of trade deals to nudge the U.S. back toward certain norms, we can be sure this will not be the end of Mr. Trump’s deployment of trade weaponry. Mexico, Canada and the rest of the world should heed the writing on the wall.” Hugo Perezcano Diaz was an original NAFTA negotiator for Mexico and worked in the Mexican government’s Ministry of Economy for nearly 20 years.
Instead of playing defence against Huawei, Washington must make it a ‘frenemy’
Amy Karam: “We need to extend the conversation beyond the current Huawei ban to a longer-term view of how the United States and Canada can become competitive in 5G.” Amy Karam is the executive-in-residence on China, trade and innovation at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail)Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Should I invest in an advanced life deferred annuity, or are there better options available?
Advanced life deferred annuities are a vehicle similar to a regular life annuity, except that payments start later in life. They can start as late as age 85, but you’d have to start paying now. Here are some highlights as to why you should consider looking into ALDAs:
- To reduce the amount you must withdraw from your registered retirement income fund
- You think you might live a long time and don’t want to worry about where the money will come from
- You are likely to benefit from ALDAs if you are a higher-wealth individual, meaning those with seven-figure asset balances
However, analysis suggests that ALDAs are not the best solution for middle-income couples with significant CPP pensions. Check out the full post and examples about your options.
MOMENT IN TIME
The first recognized game of baseball
(Currier & Ives./Library of Congress)Currier & Ives/Library of Congress
June 19, 1846: Though the myth that baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, N.Y., has endured longer than even the shelf life of ballpark hot dogs, it is generally considered by historians that the actual first organized baseball match played under the rules devised by New York bank clerk Alexander Joy Cartwright happened at Elysian Fields in Hoboken, N.J., on June 19, 1846. On a diamond laid out on a bucolic cricket ground, the New York Base Ball Club throttled the Knickerbockers 23-1. The evidently incompetent losing side was managed by Cartwright, the supposed Father of Baseball, whose vision of the game had evolved from the English game of rounders. The rules had been in development for years. A New York Morning News account of a game between handle-bar-mustachioed players from Manhattan and Brooklyn a year earlier at Elysian Fields had noted the nascent sport’s commendable bonhomie: “At the conclusion of the match, both parties sat down to a dinner,” read the dispatch. “The good feeling and hilarity that prevailed showed that the Brooklyn players, though defeated, were not disheartened.” No mention of high-fives, bat flips or postgame sports-drink showers were reported. – Brad Wheeler
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