Morning Update: Ottawa paid WE Charity $30-million to run student program; Trudeau to testify on Thursday

Good morning,

On Monday, the House of Commons finance committee released the now-cancelled WE contract, in which the charity was able to receive $30-million of the potential $43.5-million before the contract to administer the Canada Student Service Grant was cancelled. The contract was signed on June 23, but came into effect on May 5. It also called for all the money to be paid to WE by July 2.

WE said based on the contract, the money reflects startup costs for the program and could only be spent on eligible expenses. The charity added that it will refund all the money and is working with the federal government to determine a repayment plan.

The finance committee also confirmed that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Katie Telford, his chief of staff, will testify on Thursday afternoon.

Read more

• How WE got here: A timeline of the charity, the contract and the controversy
• John Ibbitson: Three questions and an answer for Justin Trudeau at the finance committee on the WE contract

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Nova Scotia protesters continue push for public inquiry into mass shooting

On Monday, hundreds of Nova Scotians took to the streets to protest against the federal and provincial governments’ decision to hold a panel review rather than a public inquiry into the April mass shooting that left 22 people dead. The three-member panel has no power to compel witnesses and no requirement to conduct its business in public — limits that angered families of the shooting’s victims. More rallies are planned this week.

There have also been additional allegations about the gunman revealed through new court documents, including that he was a sexual predator who smuggled guns and sold drugs.

Sexism, racism at heart of female roofer’s $100,000 victory in federal tax court

Karla Penate faced blatant sexual harassment and racism when working on her Vancouver-area roofing business, Delphina Enterprises Ltd. They saddled her with invoices that could not be collected and an unpaid tax liability of $100,000, which eventually forced her to close the company in 2015.

Last week, Penate successfully argued that the sexism and racism she faced meant that she should not be held personally liable for the GST/HST that her roofing company had failed to pay. In particular, Justice Diane Campbell ruled that Penate and her office manager, Lupe Sibrian, did their due diligence in tackling the problems and met the standard needed to absolve their personal liability for unpaid taxes.

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DISPATCH FROM GLOBE CLIMATE

In this week’s Globe Climate newsletter, energy reporter Emma Graney discussed her chat with Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan about pipeline projects that Canada intends to push forward, including the cross-border Keystone XL pipeline that is facing legal and potentially political challenges. The chat also touched on Canada’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, which he said is impossible without Alberta.

Other noteworthy reports include climate change’s impact on polar bear populations, Alberta’s funding for hydrogen energy projects and the EU’s fight against climate change via its massive stimulus package.

Want to dive into more stories about the environment, climate, energy and resources? Sign up for our Globe Climate newsletter.

ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Meng Wanzhou seeks fuller access to CSIS files: The Huawei CFO is seeking more access to redacted spy agency files to bolster her case against the extradition order. Redacted documents between Canada’s spy agency and the FBI over her have been released, but the Canadian government said releasing more would compromise national security and diplomatic relations.

Protests against University of Toronto’s fall class plans: Six U of T faculty and staff unions are protesting the university’s fall plans, in which some faculties are choosing a dual-delivery model of both in-person and remote teaching. Other major institutions have largely chosen to teach the semester online.

Alleged Texas murderer fell to his death in Brockville: Ontario’s police oversight agency is investigating the death of a man who fell from an overpass in Brockville, a city near the Canada-U.S. border. The case took a strange turn as he turned out to be Alberto Ayala-Guerrero, a Texan who had allegedly murdered his sister-in-law two weeks ago.

Calls for probe of systemic racism in health: While the independent investigation of systemic racism in B.C.‘s health-care institutions is still underway, Prof. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, who is leading the investigation, said early indications suggest there are systemic concerns about racism experienced by Indigenous patients. Meanwhile, other provinces and territories are facing calls from Indigenous experts to undertake similar probes.

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MORNING MARKETS

Gold hits a high, more precious as dollar loses value: Gold hurtled to record peaks on Tuesday before the sheer scale of its gains drew a burst of profit taking, which in turn helped the dollar from two-year lows and curbed early equity gains. Just before 6 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.47 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 rose 0.36 per cent and 0.06 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei ended down 0.26 per cent. New York futures were mostly stronger. The Canadian dollar was trading at 74.73.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Nazi trial shows us that indifference can be as deadly as passion

Erna Paris: “The Dey verdict sends an urgent message that we need to remember not just what happened, but how it happened, for we are at a tipping point historically. According to the German scholar Aleida Assmann, the collective memory of major events is about 70 to 80 years. That’s where we are now with regard to the rise of Hitler and the Holocaust.”

Turning the COVID-19 mountain into a mole: What a carnival game can teach us about pandemic response

André Picard: “Having ‘new moles’ pop up is inevitable as we loosen restrictions. But the mallet we need comes in the form of sound public policies – mandatory mask laws, limits on gathering sizes, quick testing and tracing.”

TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

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LIVING BETTER

Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Pomegranate Pride ice cream is a reprieve from the heat

Known for her cake and pie recipes, Rose Levy Beranbaum is releasing her 12th cookbook focusing on her passion: ice cream. Here’s the recipe for Beranbaum’s Pomegranate Pride ice cream, which has replaced caramel as her favourite flavour.

MOMENT IN TIME: July 28, 1958

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Terry Fox is born

He wasn’t the first child born to Rolly and Betty Fox, but he was second to none when it came to determination, tenaciousness and challenging himself. Terrance Stanley Fox arrived this day in 1958 in Winnipeg (his family moved to British Columbia when he was 10). A healthy second son, his passion for athletics shone early; by the time he was in elementary school he would sometimes wait an hour for a ride to baseball. His early favourite sport, basketball, seemed improbable for someone just five feet tall. Yet through sheer hard work he made the varsity team. A rare bone cancer diagnosis when he was 17, resulting in an amputation of his right leg, and chemotherapy, didn’t stop his enthusiasm. The night before his surgery, a coach gave him an article about the first amputee to finish the New York Marathon, inspiring Terry to create his Marathon of Hope to raise funds for cancer research. For 143 days in 1980 he ran almost 26 miles (the distance of a marathon) every day. Though he had to stop more than halfway across Canada because his cancer had spread, he reached his goal of raising one dollar for every Canadian. Alison Gzowski

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