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Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says the federal government’s forthcoming Indo-Pacific strategy will boost efforts to fight meddling by foreign powers in Canadian affairs.
In her address, Joly offered a preview of the yet-to-be-released strategy, a blueprint for diversifying and deepening trade in the Indo-Pacific region, which stretches from North America to the Indian Ocean. She said the strategy will call out China as an increasingly disruptive global power – a reversal of the government’s previous policy of avoiding confrontation with the world’s second largest economy.
But she said Canada must continue to trade with China, even though it is autocratic and increasingly assertive, because of the sheer size of its economy.
Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly addresses the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York, Sept. 26, 2022.EDUARDO MUNOZ/Reuters
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Democrats stave off ‘red wave’ in U.S. midterms as vote count continues
U.S. President Joe Biden is claiming a renewed mandate to protect abortion rights, tighten gun control and cancel student debt after surviving midterm congressional elections relatively unscathed.
The Republicans are narrowly favoured to wrest control of the House of Representatives from the Democrats, but photo finishes in dozens of races meant the final outcome might not be known for days. The Senate remained a toss-up, with the majority potentially determined by a runoff in Georgia next month.
Whatever the end result, the President’s party won enough seats to defy pre-election predictions of a Republican landslide, notching an unusually good midterm result for an incumbent party.
- David Shribman: Republican midterm victories more of a ripple than a wave
- Lawrence Martin: The U.S. midterm elections could be a death knell for Trump
Ottawa cites translation, accessibility costs as reason for keeping documents from public
Internal government documents show it would cost more than $1-billion each year to publish completed access-to-information requests online because of translation and accessibility requirements, but transparency advocates say this is a convenient excuse, allowing Ottawa to keep public information locked away.
According to Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat documents, the number of access requests has grown significantly in recent years, and the documents produced by those requests would cost $1.8-billion to make available online. But transparency advocates say the federal government could find solutions, and is using the translation and accessibility issues to further a “culture of secrecy” within government.
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Also on our radar
Tow truck companies refused to help clear Alberta blockade: The RCMP requested help from more than 100 tow truck companies in Canada and the United States to dismantle the Coutts, Alta., border blockade, but they all refused, says an RCMP report tabled with the inquiry examining the federal government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act.
Russia orders withdrawal from Ukrainian city of Kherson: Jubilant Ukrainian troops proclaimed the liberation on Thursday of the first village they recaptured since Moscow ordered one of the war’s biggest retreats, but Kyiv remained wary, warning that fleeing Russians could turn Kherson into a “city of death.”
Finance takes centre stage at COP27 climate talks: UN experts have published a list of projects worth US$120-billion that investors could back to help poorer countries cut emissions and adapt to the effects of global warming.
- Marsha Lederman: Climate change demands a united, global response. Rich countries aren’t doing enough
- Opinion: Where is the money? A call for transparency in climate finance at COP27
Crypto trading platform’s near collapse trouble for industry: The near-collapse of FTX, a dominant cryptocurrency exchange once seen as a trustworthy oasis in a sketchy industry, is ricocheting through the crypto sector at alarming speed, sending the prices of multiple cryptocurrencies plummeting and raising serious doubts about the business model for all crypto assets.
Insolvencies in Canada surge from pandemic lows: During the pandemic, the number of consumer insolvencies fell dramatically as governments flooded households with billions of dollars in emergency funds. The latest insolvency figures suggest the financial cushions built up over the past two years are quickly eroding in the face of high inflation and fast-rising interest rates.
Canadian staff among 11,000 laid off by Meta: Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. began laying off 11,000 people worldwide Wednesday, including in Canada, becoming the latest company to dramatically slash costs after years of rapid growth in the technology sector.
Morning markets
Markets await U.S. inflation data: Share markets edged down on Thursday and the U.S. dollar held onto overnight gains before U.S. inflation data that will influence the Federal Reserve’s rate plans, while the likely collapse of a major crypto exchange rattled investors. Just after 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.43 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.21 per cent and 0.64 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei finished off 0.98 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.7 per cent. New York futures were modestly higher. The Canadian dollar was down at 73.72 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
André Picard: “Demanding more money is not a plan. The provinces need to outline concrete actions to tackle the current crisis in health care. Then we can talk funding, short-term and long-term, and what additional spending will achieve. The health system is ablaze. Enough fiddling, already.”
John Irving: “Freedom From Religion isn’t a marketing term – it’s a necessity. Freedom of religion is a two-way street. Yes, it means that (in a democracy) we are free to practise the religion of our choice. But (in a democracy) it also means that we are protected from having someone else’s religion practised on us. Not now – not in these United States.”
Today’s editorial cartoon
Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
Living better
Why do we need winter tires now, but we didn’t a few decades ago?
Before the 1980s, all-season tires worked in all seasons. They were big, heavy, knobby and noisy. Winter tires didn’t exist and what we called snow tires were used by those drivers who ventured on to unplowed back roads. It isn’t the great tire company conspiracy, it’s the simple evolution into a greener world. So, which tire is right for you?
Moment in time: Nov. 10, 1858
John Rowand, Hudson's Bay factor, c. 1847.Courtesy of Glenbow Museum
Bones of HBC trader John Rowand are finally laid to rest in Montreal
In May, 1854, Hudson’s Bay Company chief factor John Rowand left Fort Edmonton with the annual spring canoe brigade and headed down the North Saskatchewan River for the last time. After 51 years in the fur trade, he planned to retire to Lower Canada (Quebec). But during a stopover at Fort Pitt (just east of the present-day Saskatchewan-Alberta border), the hot-tempered Rowand died from an apparent heart attack while trying to break up a fight between voyageurs. He was buried outside Fort Pitt. He had told his son, though, that he wanted to be buried in Montreal, the place of his birth. George Simpson, the HBC overseas governor, decided to honour his dead friend’s wish. Sometime over the winter of 1855-56, Rowand’s body was disinterred, and the remains boiled down in a large kettle. The packaged bones were secretly shipped to York Factory on Hudson Bay for passage to England on an HBC supply ship. They then made a return transatlantic crossing to Montreal – four years after the fur trader’s death. Rowand’s journey ended on this day in 1858 when his bones were placed in a grand tomb in Mount Royal Cemetery. Bill Waiser
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