Good morning,
The federal government is preparing to revise the way it counts non-permanent residents, after warnings from economists that around one million more of them are living in Canada than official estimates suggest.
Statistics Canada said in a statement that next month it will introduce a “revised methodology” for estimating the population of the group, which includes international students on visas and temporary foreign workers.
The agency made the disclosure on Wednesday, the same day The Globe and Mail reported that Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist at CIBC Capital Markets, had told federal ministers about the one million additional non-permanent residents during a briefing on housing affordability at last week’s cabinet retreat. He warned that the undercounting of non-permanent residents means Canada is underestimating the number of homes needed to meet the country’s increasing housing needs.
Read more:
Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist of CIBC Capital Markets, told the Liberal government gathering in Charlottetown that the undercounting in the official statistics means Canada is underestimating the number of new homes required to meet the country’s increasing housing needs.Tijana Martin/The Globe and Mail
This is the daily Morning Update newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for Morning Update and more than 20 other Globe newsletters on our newsletter signup page.
Ford stands by Ontario Housing Minister after watchdog finds he violated ethics rules in Greenbelt land swap
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is standing by his Housing Minister after the province’s Integrity Commissioner found Steve Clark violated ethics rules over the government’s decision to remove select lands from the Greenbelt, leading to the interests of certain developers being improperly furthered.
In a 166-page report released Wednesday, Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake said Clark failed to properly oversee “an important initiative in his ministry” – the process by which 3,000 hectares of land were removed from the province’s Greenbelt, an environmentally protected zone that arcs around the Greater Toronto Area.
That process, led by Clark’s former chief of staff, Ryan Amato, was marked by “misinterpretation, unnecessary hastiness and deception,” the report found.
Read more:
- Listen to The Decibel: Ford government targets school lands to build housing
- The Editorial Board: The ugly Greenbelt saga just got uglier
- Ontario Housing Minister’s chief of staff resigns after critical report on Greenbelt land deals
Gabon military officers declare coup, seize power after arrest of President Ali Bongo
Thousands of people celebrated in the streets of Gabon’s cities after military officers launched a coup to depose the president whose family has ruled the oil-rich Central African country for more than half a century.
The coup is the eighth in West and Central Africa in the past three years.
The region is already grappling with recent coups in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, where military leaders have exploited the growing discontent of people in impoverished countries with a rising death toll from Islamist insurgencies.
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop
Also on our radar
Space exploration: The unmanned capsule in OSIRIS-REx, a NASA mission that launched in 2016 and collected fragments of rock and dust snatched from the surface of asteroid Bennu, is returning from its journey on Sept. 24. Canada will receive a share of the sample, marking its first from any celestial body.
Wildfires: A state of emergency in the Northwest Territories has been extended until Sept. 11. Meanwhile, the RCMP are investigating a convoy of up to 50 vehicles that is suspected of planning to illegally bypass checkpoints and enter Yellowknife.
Australian referendum: Australians will hold a vote on Oct. 14 to decide whether to create a new federal institution, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, that could “make representations” to lawmakers but not veto laws.
Hurricane Idalia: The hurricane tore into Florida yesterday, splitting trees in half, ripping roofs off hotels and turning small cars into boats before sweeping into Georgia and South Carolina.
Canadian Armed Forces: Lieutenant-General Jennie Carignan said the military is ending its mandatory reporting policy this winter. Military members will still be able to report misconduct, but they will no longer face possible penalties for failing to report something they experience or witness.
Metro workers’ strike: The grocer reached a tentative deal with the union representing roughly 3,700 of its grocery workers in Ontario, as it seeks to end a strike that has dragged on for a month. The union will hold a vote on ratification of the agreement on Thursday. Neither Unifor nor Metro provided details of the new agreement.
Donald Trump: New York’s attorney-general asked a state judge to declare, even before the start of a trial, that Trump committed fraud by submitting false statements to bankers and insurers and overstating his net worth by up to US$2.23-billion.
- Analysis by David Shribman: Is the 14th Amendment the key to ending Trump’s bid for presidency?
Morning markets
Stocks close out tough month: World shares limped towards their worst month since February, with sentiment hurt by still-gloomy China factory readings on Thursday, as traders awaited European and U.S. data that could add to bets that interest rates have peaked. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was flat. Germany’s DAX added 0.63 per cent. France’s CAC 40 gained 0.03 per cent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.88 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.55 per cent. New York futures were little changed. The Canadian dollar was lower at 73.80 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
The end of the free trade era leaves Canada in the lurch
“The free trade era is gone, and with it, a big Canadian advantage. Gordon Ritchie, a principal negotiator of our free trade agreement with the United States, doesn’t mince his words on the impact: ‘Absolutely and unequivocally bad,’ he said in an interview. ‘It’s a terrible thing for Canada.’ ” - Lawrence Martin
Too many school teachers are feeling overwhelmed and undervalued
“So what’s the problem? Is this just about teachers’ feelings? No, it’s fundamentally about students. Because the best evidence tells us that collaboration between teachers, when supported and resourced, leads to deeper learning and better outcomes for students.” - Josh Fullan
Today’s editorial cartoon
Illustration by Brian Gable
Living better
Is your diet missing any of these 25 longevity-boosting foods?
Blueberries, spinach and salmon have long been regarded as “longevity” foods. These, and many other healthy foods, deliver impressive amounts of unique nutrients and phytochemicals tied to healthy aging. That said, nutritionist and writer Leslie Beck compiled a list of 25 nutrient-rich foods to add to your diet. Keep in mind, though, it’s the combination of foods you eat on a regular basis that matters when it comes to healthy aging.
Moment in time: Aug. 31, 1997
Diana, Princess of Wales, dies
Tributes are put by the gates of Buckingham Palace in London on Aug. 31, 1997 after it was announced that Princess Diana and her companion, the Egyptian millionaire film-producer Dodi al-Fayed, died in Paris after a midnight car crash.GERRY PENNY/Getty Images
She was hailed as “the people’s princess” and her death after a car crash in Paris on this day in 1997 transformed the Royal Family and made her a lasting popular icon. Even now, Diana, Princess of Wales, remains the subject of intense interest. Her story has been explored by a new generation – owing largely to the Netflix drama The Crown – with greater sympathy for the challenges she faced. A YouGov poll of 1,700 Britons last year found that Diana was more popular than King Charles and the monarchy. Diana chafed for years against the stuffiness of the Royal Family and by August, 1997, she seemed to have finally broken free. She was newly divorced from Charles and beginning a romance with Dodi Fayed, who also died in the crash along with the driver, Henri Paul. The accident led to an outpouring of public anguish and forced the Royal Family to confront their aloofness. Prince Harry has used the loss of his mother to fuel his legal crusade against the British tabloids. He has long blamed paparazzi for causing the crash. In his autobiography, Spare, Harry wrote at length about his grief and anger. “The last thing Mummy saw was a flashbulb.” Paul Waldie
Read today's horoscopes. Enjoy today's puzzles.
If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday morning, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.