Morning Update: Ottawa working to decrease Indigenous incarceration, Justice Minister says

Good morning,

Canada’s Justice Minister is adamant that Liberal legislation will begin reversing the country’s disproportionate rate of Indigenous incarceration, but he acknowledges more needs to be done to address racial inequities in the justice system.

In an interview with The Globe’s Patrick White, Justice Minister David Lametti responded to recent criticism that the Liberal government has produced little in the way of policy response to the problem. The Globe reported earlier this month that Indigenous women now make up 50 per cent of the female population in federal prisons, even though just 4.9 per cent of women in Canada are Indigenous. For all Indigenous prisoners, men and women, the rate stands at 32 per cent.

Lametti acknowledged that the “magnitude of the problem is tragic,” but he challenged the notion that the government has failed to act. He said he expects rates of Indigenous imprisonment to decline once the government implements the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and passes Bill C-5, which proposes undoing aspects of the crime agenda passed under the Harper government.

“We’re turning a big ship around,” Lametti said, “and I think it’s fair to say we’re doing it incrementally in order to bring the rest of Canadian society along.”

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David Milgaard, who spent more than two decades in prison for a murder he did not commit, dies at 69

Justice advocate David Milgaard, who spent 23 years in prison for a 1969 murder he didn’t commit in what is widely acknowledged as one of Canada’s most egregious wrongful convictions, died in a Calgary hospital early Sunday morning. He was 69.

Milgaard, who became a passionate advocate for the wrongfully convicted, was admitted to hospital on Saturday after he fell ill. His sister, Susan Milgaard, confirmed that he died early Sunday morning of pneumonia, and that he did not have COVID-19. His family declined to comment further.

In May, 1969, Milgaard was arrested for the homicide of nursing assistant Gail Miller, who was sexually assaulted and killed on her way to work in Saskatoon and left in a snowbank. It wasn’t until 1992, after his mother, Joyce Milgaard, spent decades working relentlessly to win his freedom, that he was released from prison on parole.

Ukraine reservists credit Canadian weapon for taking out a $4.5-million Russian tank

The road outside Staryi Saltiv, a farming village in eastern Ukraine, is littered with proof of the senseless violence and surprising military failures that have come to define Russia’s war against this country.

The battle here, which was won by Ukrainian forces earlier this month as they continued to push Russian troops away from the regional capital of Kharkiv, also illustrates the determinative role played by Western military aid, including – the local commander says – weapons provided by Canada, reports The Globe’s Mark MacKinnon.

At the north end of Polova Street, which connects the two smaller communities that make up Staryi Saltiv, is yet more evidence of the Russian military’s willingness to fire on civilian targets. A line of five sedans – almost certainly a civilian convoy trying to escape the fighting in the village – has been reduced to heaps of scorched metal by tank and heavy machine-gun fire.

About a kilometre south of the destroyed cars, the perpetrators of the attack met their own fiery fate – with Canadian help.

Read more:

• In Kharkiv, Ukrainians ‘will need to relearn how to live’ in wake of Russian retreat
• Ukraine cheers war-time Eurovision victory of Kalush Orchestra
• Explainer: ‘Neutral’ Europe recedes as NATO set to expand

Fixing Health Care: 10 ways to make Canada’s health care system better, faster and more cost-effective right now

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has now claimed more than 40,000 lives in Canada, has made clear that the Canadian health care system requires major reform – and possibly radical solutions. It has drawn scrutiny, for example, to the care provided to seniors. Stories about neglected residents in nursing homes have amplified prepandemic concerns regarding long wait times as well as abusive or neglectful treatment in these residences, write Dr. Robert Bell, Anne Golden, Paul Alofs and Lionel Robins.

Although investment is needed to improve some deficiencies and expand services, the authors write, there are solutions that can improve the quality of Canadian health care while maintaining or even reducing the current cost. Such interventions don’t call for a dramatic overhaul of the system, nor do they require for-profit care, they say. Despite the challenges facing Canada, the writers argue, substantial improvements in each province’s delivery of health care are within reach.

In this 10-part series, the four authors explore 10 solutions to common problems that, they argue, with political will, might be achieved through publicly funded initiatives.

Read more from the series:

• Nearly 15 per cent of Canadians don’t have a family doctor, but the solution isn’t hiring more
• Months-long surgery wait times are the norm in Canada. Dedicated community surgery centres will reduce the backlog
• Canada’s specialist referral system needs to be boosted into the 21st century
• Listen to The Decibel: Why getting in to see a doctor is so hard in Canada

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Executive bonuses at long-term care companies increased in 2021: During the first full year of the pandemic, executive bonuses were up at the public companies that operate Canadian long-term care homes. Extendicare Inc., Sienna Senior Living Inc. and Chartwell Retirement Residences, all said their CEOs made more in 2021 than in 2020, the year their business changed markedly with the onset of COVID-19.

Somali president defeated by former leader in tightly guarded vote: Former Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has returned to power, winning a rematch against the man who beat him in the last election. The results were announced in a heavily guarded airport hangar, where legislators had gathered to cast ballots at a military base near the international airport in Mogadishu.

Suspect in Buffalo shooting was detained for mental health check last year: A white teenager who shot and killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket had been taken into custody and given a mental health evaluation a year ago, but was released after roughly a day, authorities said on Sunday.

• Analysis: Buffalo’s mass shooting demonstrates America’s failure to stop gun violence

How two chefs are trying to rejig supply chains around local catch: Affinity Fish, a fishmongering brainchild of chefs Matt Taylor and Jon Klip, is grounded in a desire to build alternative supply chains around local catch from the Great Lakes. Nearly two years in the making, the business, the pair say, is a response to mounting frustrations they shared as chefs working with seafood.

Juno Awards celebrate Avril Lavigne, host Simu Liu’s many talents: Canada’s pop princess saw plenty of love at the Junos, which returned Sunday after it pivoted to a virtual ceremony for the past two years. Even host Simu Liu paid tribute to Avril Lavigne by singing a very off-key acoustic rendition of “Complicated” to a supportive audience.

MORNING MARKETS

European markets mixed: European stock indexes wavered early Monday, after oil prices slid and riskier currencies took a hit during the Asian session as unexpectedly weak economic data from China highlighted fears about a slowdown in growth. Around 5:30 a.m., Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.16 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.17 per cent and 0.38 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.45 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.26 per cent. New York futures were negative. The Canadian dollar was trading at 77.35 US cents.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

What’s wrong with the Conservative leadership race? It’s nasty, brutish and much too short

“Candidate debates? Two down, only two more to go. The opportunity to sign up new members? Closed as of June 3. The leadership election itself isn’t until September, but the opportunity to win by growing the voter list ends in three weeks. The cake won’t be baked until the fall, but the list of ingredients will be locked in four weeks before the official start of summer.” - Editorial

With a million COVID deaths, America dives deep into a strange cult of self-sacrifice

“As the American novelist Kurt Andersen has written, a cult of human sacrifice, in every culture where it arises, makes the fact of mass dying a positive good to be celebrated – proof of the seriousness of the values and of the cult itself. Rational arguments depend on lives lived; religious faiths depend on martyrdoms acquired. So many, it seems, have been deliberately martyred to a not-quite-sane idea about personal liberty and government control that has nothing to do with either.” - Adam Gopnik

TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

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LIVING BETTER

How seed sharing grows community roots

Seed sharing is the gifting or exchange of seeds, person to person or within a larger group. The practice – done through swaps, little seed libraries and other non-commercial initiatives – attracts socially minded gardeners eager to grow community roots along with plant life, writes Yuki Hayashi. Proponents say it promotes food security, increases biodiversity and deepens cultural connections. It’s also a budget-friendly form of ecotherapy.

MOMENT IN TIME: Cultivating a comeback

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For more than 100 years, photographers and photo editors working for The Globe and Mail have preserved an extraordinary collection of news photography. Every Monday, The Globe featured one of these images. This month, we are showcasing flowers in Canada.

Growing in wet places such as meadows, ditches and wooded areas, the western red lily – native to North America – can sometimes be hard to find. However, once you spot the cluster of brilliant reddish and orange petals atop a tall upright stem, they are hard to forget. But as the perennial’s habitat has been affected by urban sprawl, industry and farming, Lilium philadephicum has become an at-risk species. It was a concern for Saskatchewan, where the plant has been the province’s floral emblem since 1941. In 2005, SaskPower’s Shand Greenhouse, a 5,000-square-metre facility near Estevan, had an idea. In honour of Saskatchewan’s 100th anniversary, the greenhouse would give away almost 100,000 seedlings. It was a huge success. However, gardeners were warned to be patient. The plant needs sunny moist soil, is slow to grow, finicky and honestly, is best enjoyed in the wild. Philip King

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