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Nike has permanently ended its sponsorship of Hockey Canada, ending a more than 20-year-long partnership and finalizing an earlier pause of its marketing support, as the organization continues to experience the fallout from a sexual-assault scandal last year. Nike joins Canadian Tire and Sobeys parent company Empire Co. Ltd, both of which already permanently ended their sponsorships.
A Globe and Mail investigation last July revealed the existence of a fund that Hockey Canada created using player-registration fees, which was used to settle a $3.55-million lawsuit – from a woman who said she had been sexually assaulted by players from Canada’s world junior team in 2018 – for an undisclosed sum. Hockey Canada did not inform players or parents about how their money was being used. In October, The Globe revealed that the organization had built a second multimillion-dollar fund, also using registration fees, to protect its various branches from sexual-assault claims.
A wave of sponsors suspended their support amid those revelations, and later confirmed they would be pausing their sponsorship for the rest of the 2022-23 men’s season. Those organizations included Bank of Nova Scotia, Nike, Tim Hortons, Telus, Esso and BFL Canada. Spokespeople for Nike and Hockey Canada both declined to answer questions about when the relationship ended, or the reason for the change.
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Canadian military joins battle against wildfires in B.C. as another firefighter dies on the job
The country’s wildfire season is intensifying, with the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Coast Guard expected to arrive in B.C. on Monday to help fight the province’s flames, and another firefighter dying over the weekend, this time in the Northwest Territories.
About 100,000 square kilometres of land has been scorched across the country – roughly the size of Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, and Lake Michigan combined, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) – vastly surpassing the record of 76,000 square kilometres set in 1989. Natural Resources Canada expects the wildfire season will continue to be unusually intense for the rest of the summer.
Severe thunderstorm watches were issued Sunday for parts of central and northeastern B.C., which Environment Canada meteorologist Johnson Zhong said could help extinguish fires. He added that lightning could also ignite new blazes in the region before warm weather returns on Thursday. B.C. Wildfire Service has said that the rainfall won’t be significant enough to alleviate current drought conditions.
Canadian volunteers in Ukraine worry Western interest may be waning as war passes 500-day mark
There was a surge of private donations to Ukraine’s war effort in its early months, but now the cashflow from Western countries has largely dried up. A U.S. non-governmental organization, Candid, has reported that nearly three-quarters of the US$2.8-billion given or pledged to the country in 2022 came between the war’s start in February and June, before plunging in the second half of the year.
While victory on the battlefield is dependent on Western military support, it’s monetary support that will drive and maintain humanitarian efforts such as food and medicine delivery. As the war passes its 500th day, Canadian volunteers in Ukraine are noticing that interest in the war is waning in the West, which has a direct correlation to that monetary support.
Mark Mackinnon spoke to those volunteers. Here he writes about the risks they’re taking, the role that they say smaller NGOs are playing in Ukraine’s fight, and how war fatigue is shaping this phase of Russia’s invasion.
- Also: Russia pulled out of deal that allowed safe exportation of Ukrainian grain through Black Sea
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Also on our radar
Prescribing psychostimulants: A doctor who has worked in the substance-use field for more than 30 years says Canada should start prescribing psychostimulants to reduce the use of illegal stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine. Psychostimulants can manage withdrawal symptoms as well as cravings.
Iran’s morality police: On Sunday Iranian authorities announced a new campaign to force women to wear the Islamic headscarf. Morality police also returned to the streets 10 months after 22-year old Mahsa Amini died in their custody, sparking nationwide protests during which women flouted the dress code.
Khalistan movement: Sikhs in Canada are voting on whether the Indian province of Punjab should become an independent country called Khalistan. Critics says the Khalistan movement is based in extremism and revisionist history, as India calls for Canada to increase protections for its diplomats amid heated protests.
Degradation of permafrost: Scientists are monitoring the degradation of permafrost and other environmental changes in the Arctic, which is warming faster than any other part of the world. The depletion of permafrost has an impact on transportation, vegetation, water systems, and more.
Morning markets
China GDP weighs on sentiment: Global shares and commodities slipped on Monday after data showed the Chinese economy is growing a lot more slowly than expected, while the dollar eased as traders ramped up their bets for an imminent end to U.S. rate rises. Just before 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.16 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.36 per cent and 1.02 per cent, respectively. Markets in Japan were closed. New York futures were little changed. The Canadian dollar was steady at 75.66 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
It’s time for Beverley McLachlin to quit Hong Kong’s high court
“By her own bar, then, it time for Ms. McLachlin to walk away. Two decisions by the CFA are evidence of this.” - The Editorial Board
Fewer students are enrolling in environmental studies – how do we stop this trend?
“First, when we’re teaching, we need to acknowledge the emotions evoked by environmental issues – and not just climate anxiety, but all of the emotions associated with climate uncertainty, including joy, awe, shame and guilt.” - Sarah Wolfe and Steve Grundy
Today’s editorial cartoon
Editorial cartoon by David Parkins published July 17, 2023.David Parkins/The Globe and Mail
Living better
Selection of healthy unsaturated fats, omega 3.JulijaDmitrijeva/iStockPhoto / Getty Images
Eating these six foods may help you live longer
A McMaster University study found that people who consumed five servings of fruits and vegetables, about one-quarter cup of nuts and two dairy servings, mainly from whole fat milk, yogurt and/or cheese daily, as well as three to four one-half cup servings of legumes and 6.5 ounces of fish each week had a significantly lower risk of heart attack, stroke and death from cardiovascular disease.
Hundreds of studies have associated fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, lentils and fish to a lower risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes. Most of these studies have taken place in Western countries though. This most recent study is far more diverse and far-reaching: it included 244,957 people from 80 countries at different economic levels from five continents.
Moment in time: Archive Monday
Window shoppers look at traditional goods from the Far East on display at Kwok Sun Tailors in Toronto's downtown Chinatown.Erik Christensen/The Globe and Mail
Toronto’s Vanishing Chinatown, 1957
Chinatowns are some of Canada’s most visible examples of the spaces and support systems that immigrants build for each other, and perhaps no Chinatown in the country is more resilient than Toronto’s. Immigrants new and old know their first home in an adopted country may not be their last, whether they are buoyed by individual fortune or their entire community uproots to more spacious surroundings. And sometimes, a city’s grand vision for itself forces new Canadians to start again. Toronto’s first Chinatown existed from the 1890s and grew to be the largest community in The Ward, one of the city’s early immigrant landing grounds. But by the late 1950s, as Chinatown thrived and millions of dollars were spent on neighbourhood improvements, another plan that had gestated for years became concrete: Toronto would build a new city hall. Today, City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square, which began construction in 1961, sit atop the expropriated land of Chinatown. The Chinese community decamped and eventually rebuilt two Chinatowns, farther west and farther east. What little is left of the old Chinatown goes by a new moniker lately: Little Tokyo, after a boom in Japanese restaurants and businesses. Cliff Lee
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