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Ottawa and the provinces and territories are inching closer toward a 10-year funding deal that would provide a hefty increase in federal health transfers, along with bilateral financial agreements in areas such as long-term care.
Negotiations are continuing, but there’s growing optimism among federal, provincial and territorial officials that an agreement could be unveiled at a first ministers meeting, likely in February ahead of the federal budget, according to two sources, one federal and one provincial.
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Ottawa agrees to repatriate six women, 13 children detained in Syrian camps, their lawyer says
The federal government has agreed to repatriate six Canadian women and 13 children who, for several years, have been living in detention camps in Syria for people suspected of having ties to the Islamic State, according to a lawyer representing them.
For years, the government has faced a political dilemma: Leave these Canadians to languish, or invite domestic blowback by bringing back people whose association with a terrorist group makes them, in the eyes of some, a security risk. Aid groups have long decried the dire conditions in the camps, but the government has still refused to repatriate its citizens in all but a handful of cases.
How B.C.’s ‘catch and release’ system is failing victims of random assaults and repeat offenders
Before he pleaded guilty to his 10th random assault, and before politicians began invoking his name to criticize the way British Columbia’s courts “catch and release” repeat violent offenders, the only crime on Mohammed Majidpour’s record was a common one among people self-medicating on the streets: stealing alcohol.
Majidpour’s long criminal history offers a case study in the way B.C.’s courts treat the tiny number of people who repeatedly assault strangers. These offenders – most of whom are battling homelessness, mental-health issues, addictions or all three personal crises at once – routinely spend a few weeks or months in provincial jail before being released. Often, they are arrested again within days or weeks, reports Mike Hager.
Kerli Vasquez holds son Greike in their tent in Necocli, two months after they arrived in hopes of a crossing to Panama via the Darien Gap.Nadège Mazars/The Globe and Mail
Opinion: For Venezuelans, Colombia’s roads lead to hope and danger
Millions of Venezuelans are embarking on perilous journeys in search of a better life, with many crossing from one border to another, only to find closed doors. The forces and motives that propel them to leave are badly misunderstood in wealthier countries, by citizens and policymakers alike, Doug Saunders says.
In this first instalment of a year-long series devoted to gaining a deeper understanding of the global migration crisis, Saunders follows the story of Kerli Vasquez, who, like millions of other Venezuelans, has been on the road ever since her country erupted in a political and economic disaster that fractured and scattered her family, her education and her future.
More:
- Biden’s Title 42 expansion sees both sides of U.S.-Mexico border struggling to manage migrant flow
- Listen to The Decibel: Inside the life-or-death journey of one Venezuelan family
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Also on our radar
Pressure builds on Germany over tanks for Ukraine: The big question heading into the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting Friday is whether Berlin will grant permission for Western countries to donate German-made Leopard tanks to Kyiv.
U.S. Treasury Department buys time for debt-limit deal: As the U.S. government ran up against its legal borrowing capacity Thursday, the department says it’s started taking “extraordinary measures” to avoid default while President Joe Biden and House Republicans try to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling.
NDP says Liberals must approve national pharmacare plan in 2023: Leader Jagmeet Singh warns the NDP could withdraw its support for the Liberals if the government doesn’t unveil a national pharmacare framework by the end of this year.
- Campbell Clark: Jagmeet Singh’s politics are about convincing folks he can force Trudeau to do things he doesn’t want to do
Alec Baldwin to be charged with manslaughter in set shooting: Prosecutors in New Mexico announced the actor and the weapons specialist on the set of Rust will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals.
Morning markets
World stocks head for weekly loss: Global stocks were set for their first weekly loss of the year so far, as a rally driven by hopes of China fuelling a global economic recovery was tempered by central bankers vowing to persist with rate hikes. Just before 6 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.52 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.51 per cent and 0.80 per cent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed up 0.56 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.82 per cent. New York futures were modestly positive. The Canadian dollar was steady at 74.26 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Emmanuel Macron wants the French to work more. They might have other ideas
“Pension reform is a legacy item he [Macron] is unwilling to jettison in the name of political expediency. He intends to go down as a transformational president, as the one who finally changed entrenched French attitudes toward work and leisure that have left the country doing too little of the former and indulging too much in the latter.” - Konrad Yakabuski
Time is up on our Wine O’Clock culture
“Cutting down on our alcohol consumption is no laughing matter. And it needs to be more than a quickly abandoned New Year’s resolution. Or a counting-down-the-clock month off. I will continue to enjoy wine in moderation now – not while making dinner every night, a habit developed during lockdown. And I’m going to be careful about not just how much I drink, but how I talk about it.” - Marsha Lederman
Today’s editorial cartoon
Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
Living better
Five things to stream this weekend: Puss in Boots grants your kid’s wish, plus Leonard Cohen comes home
From the new Puss in Boots sequel, which is packed with full-throated vocal performances from Antonio Banderas, Florence Pugh and John Mulaney, to Shiva Baby, a relentless parody of North American Jewish types, here are Barry Hertz’s weekend picks.
Moment in time: Jan. 20, 1877
Pioneering physician Irma LeVasseur is born
Irma LeVasseur, first female French-Canadian doctor, c. 1900.Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ)
Fin-de-siècle Quebec was no country for young women. Life was mostly motherhood (fertility rate: more than five children per female resident). Wives were required, by law, to obey their husbands. The professions were closed off. When Irma LeVasseur wanted to join the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1903, she had to drum up a private member’s bill in the provincial legislature, granting her permission. She was the first French-Canadian woman to become a doctor in Quebec – and only after studying medicine in Minnesota, because none of the French-language universities would take female students. LeVasseur chose to practise pediatrics in Montreal, at a time when infant mortality in the city was a shocking 21 per cent. Her first job was at the Crèche de la Miséricorde, where illegitimate children were separated from their mothers and put up for adoption. Montreal had no French pediatric hospital, so in 1907, she joined with philanthropists and fellow doctors to found l’Hôpital Sainte-Justine, which still operates today. After years of globe-trotting medical service, she returned to her hometown of Quebec City in 1922 and founded another sorely needed children’s hospital, l’Hôpital de l’Enfant-Jésus. In a prefeminist time, however, she was forgotten and died in obscurity in 1964, before a revival of interest decades later. Eric Andrew-Gee
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