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The federal government yesterday unveiled its long-awaited online harms bill, creating a new hate-crime offence that carries a penalty of life imprisonment in the most egregious cases. The bill also requires tech platforms to remove child pornography within 24 hours.
The legislation would make online platforms immediately take down child-sexual-abuse material and content that bullies or sexually victimizes children or induces a child to harm themselves.
The bill also focuses on hate speech, creating a definition of hatred in the Criminal Code, and raises the maximum punishment for advocating genocide from five years to life imprisonment.
Canada's Minister of Justice and Attorney General Arif Virani speaks about the Online Harms Act during a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, February 26, 2024.BLAIR GABLE/Reuters
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Mayors concerned Trudeau won’t deliver promised long-term infrastructure deal in 2024 budget
Canada’s mayors are expressing concern that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won’t deliver a promised long-term infrastructure deal in the upcoming 2024 federal budget.
Fifteen big city mayors – including Olivia Chow of Toronto, Jyoti Gondek of Calgary and Scott Gillingham of Winnipeg – were in Ottawa yesterday as representatives of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities met with federal ministers to press their case for more funding.
When the Liberals came to power in 2015, promises of long-term infrastructure funding were a central part of the party’s political messaging. But several of those long-term programs are now beginning to expire and mayors are nervously waiting to find out what happens next.
Lawyers lured to the U.S. by bigger paycheques now at a crossroads as they mull return
As deal activity on Wall Street surged between 2020 and 2022, U.S. law firms couldn’t keep up with the work and looked abroad for talent, specifically on Bay Street. That led to a wave of Canadian lawyers who were lured south by massive paycheques.
Two years later, with the threat of recession and potential layoffs looming, many Canadians have decided to stay State-side. But those wanting to come back will have to deal with the much-lower compensation.
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Also on our radar
Ontario boosts postsecondary education funding: The Ontario government announced plans yesterday to freeze tuition for another three years and add more than $1-billion in funding for colleges and universities. The announcement was a response to recommendations by an expert panel on postsecondary finances, but the funding amounts to about half of what the panel said was needed to stabilize the finances of the province’s postsecondary system.
Alberta wants to opt out of pharmacare: Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said yesterday that the province wants the ability to not join a national pharmacare plan that is expected to be tabled in Parliament this week, and instead receive a per-capita share of the plan’s funding to boost its own programs. LaGrange said that the federal government did not consult Alberta in developing the pharmacare program.
Biden says Israel-Hamas ceasefire coming soon: U.S. President Joe Biden said he hopes to have a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza by next Monday as the warring parties appeared to close in on a deal during negotiations in Qatar that also aim to broker the release of hostages.
- Majority of countries argue Israel violated international law in last historic hearing at UN court
- Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of blocking aid to Palestinians in violation of UN court order
More to do on defence, Trudeau says: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended Canada’s defence spending during a news conference with Polish prime minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw yesterday. Trudeau said there is still more to do for Canada on defence spending as Tusk urged the West to confront the very real dangers Russia poses.
Mining firm eyes move to Middle East to bypass review: Montreal-based SRG Mining Inc. is planning a move to the Middle East in an effort to avoid a national security review over a financing deal with a Chinese energy company. The move would eliminate the requirement for a security probe by the federal government, which said, in 2022, that it would only allow investments in Canadian critical minerals miners by entities tied to the Chinese government to occur under exceptional circumstances.
Brampton cracking down on landlords: After being inundated with complaints, the city of Brampton, Ont., is now putting pressure on landlords who have turned family homes into makeshift student rooming houses. The student housing situation in Brampton has become a flashpoint in the related debates about the region’s housing crisis and perceived abuses of the temporary student visa program.
Morning markets
European stocks modestly positive: European stock indexes rose slightly in early trading on Tuesday, as the equity rally slowed and investors weighed up the outlook for central bank rate cuts, ahead of key U.S. and European inflation data later in the week. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.02 per cent. Germany’s DAX added 0.45 per cent. France’s CAC 40 was flat. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed up 0.01 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.94 per cent. New York futures were modestly higher. The Canadian dollar was up at 74.08 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Tony Keller: “... the Trudeau government seems to be banking on solving the housing crisis, or more precisely its own popularity crisis, through a strategy of altering voter perceptions rather than changing underlying economic reality.”
Editorial: “Governments have promised to trim regulations for nearly as long as entrepreneurs have complained about them. But Saskatchewan has come up with an approach that has the potential to boost productivity: measure red tape accurately, so you can better tailor it to the needs of the economy.”
Today’s editorial cartoon
Editorial cartoon by David Parkins, Feb. 27, 2024.Illustration by David Parkins
Living better
Booking your vacation? Consider the added cost of cancellation inflation
If you’re planning a vacation, you may be hit with sticker shock as you research flights, hotels, short-term rentals and car rentals. You may want to also look into cancellation policies and traveller insurance products. It may save you tons of money and a massive headache later on.
Moment in time: Feb. 27, 1899
Dr. Charles Best, co-discoverer of insulin, stands beside bust by Ruth Lowe Bookman which is to be displayed in Medical Sciences Building at University of Toronto, October 25, 1971. Photo by Tibor Kolley / The Globe and Mail. Originally published October 26, 1971Tibor Kolley /The Globe and Mail
Charles Best, the physiologist and biochemist who co-discovered insulin, is born
Charles Herbert Best, the youngest of the co-discoverers of insulin, was born in West Pembroke, a tiny rural town in Maine where his father practised medicine after moving the family from Nova Scotia. Best enrolled at the University of Toronto, where he completed his BA in physiology and biochemistry in 1921. That same summer, his professor John Macleod assigned him to work on a project with Dr. Frederick Banting, who was experimenting with insulin extracted from animal pancreas. In May 1922, the Toronto team produced a pure form of insulin that could be safely administered to humans (the first recipient was 13-year-old diabetic named Leonard Thompson). Best was just 23 and had only recently completed his master’s degree. While giving a lecture to medical students at Harvard in October 1923, Best received word that Banting and Macleod had won the Nobel Prize. Banting, who felt Best’s contributions to the discovery of insulin were invaluable, shared his half of the financial award with the young scientist. Twelve years later, Best was part of a team that developed a purified heparin extract safe for humans; the blood anticoagulant helps makes heart surgery and organ transplants possible. Best died at Toronto General Hospital in 1978. He was 79 years old. Gayle MacDonald
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