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These are the top stories:
Then-Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown asked a donor to give $5,000 to his girlfriend
Brown’s request to a top donor came on the same day he agreed to let the supporter’s candidate run in a controversial Hamilton nomination race in 2017, according to newly unsealed court documents.
Brown was under “pressure” from the Indian consulate to reject the candidate, an individual whose father had alleged ties to Sikh extremism, the documents say. But Brown signed off on it the same day $5,000 was provided to his girlfriend (and now wife) and $2,000 to an unidentified individual for PC Party campaign work. The money wasn’t declared as a political donation.
The PCs later overturned the results of six nomination races, including Hamilton, that were dogged by accusations of wrongdoing. That came after Brown resigned as leader amid sexual-misconduct allegations. He is now the mayor of Brampton.
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Sri Lanka bomb attacks were revenge for New Zealand mosque killings, minister says
Relatives place flowers after the burial of three victims of the same family, who died at Easter Sunday bomb blast at St. Sebastian Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka. (Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP)Gemunu Amarasinghe/The Associated Press
Devastating Easter bombings in Sri Lanka were retaliation for recent deadly attacks on mosques in New Zealand, a Sri Lankan official said on Tuesday, adding that two domestic Islamist groups were believed to have been behind Sunday’s blasts.
No group has claimed responsibility for the co-ordinated attacks, which officials said were carried out by at least seven suicide bombers, on three churches and four hotels. The toll rose to 321 dead with about 500 people wounded.
“The initial investigation has revealed that this was in retaliation for the New Zealand mosque attack,” junior minister for defence Ruwan Wijewardene told parliament.
He did not elaborate on why authorities believed there was a link to the killing of 50 people at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch during Friday prayers on March 15. A lone gunman carried out those attacks.
The Greens are looking to make history in today’s PEI election
For more than 50 years, the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives have traded multiterm runs leading Prince Edward Island. But the Greens, with Leader Peter Bevan-Baker, are threatening to upset that tradition.
Bevan-Baker, the only Green elected in the 2015 vote, has for two years polled as the most popular leader on the island. The question now is whether he can channel that popularity to the rest of his party and become Canada’s first Green premier.
And here’s one interesting tidbit: Bevan-Baker is the great-great-grandchild of The Globe’s founder, George Brown.
The province may also make history in another area: With a ballot question on electoral reform, PEI could become the first Canadian region to switch from a first-past-the-post voting system to mixed member proportional representation.
A push for Atlantic Canada’s first supervised drug-use site is facing familiar hurdles
In Halifax, a community coalition is seeking provincial funding – and local support – as it tries to open a supervised drug-use site. But its efforts have stalled, leaving organizers at a critical junction.
“We don’t want to have to set up a tent in an alleyway and do that but we might,” says Matt Bonn, a former intravenous drug user who’s part of the HaliFIX team trying to establish the site. “This is going to happen with or without provincial support.”
The effort in Halifax comes amid pushback in other parts of the country to the sites that have been lauded for reducing overdose-related deaths. In Alberta, premier-designate Jason Kenney says he’ll examine the status of the province’s supervised sites. And in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford has left some sites in limbo by cutting their funding. (for subscribers)
Roughly 800 troops have been deployed across Quebec amid warnings of increased flooding
A woman wades through floodwaters on a residential street in the town of Rigaud, west of Montreal. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Military personnel are filling sandbags and assisting with evacuations as Premier François Legault warns that climate change will increase the frequency of floods; this is the second time in three years that one Gatineau neighbourhood near Ottawa has been flooded.
And in New Brunswick, flood waters appear to be stabilizing in Fredericton while rising in other areas south of the city and along the river to Saint John. More that 200 soldiers have been dispatched to help residents.
The Tim Hortons-franchisee spat appears to be nearing an end
Dissident restaurant owners agreed to a tentative settlement of two lawsuits, paving the way for court approval on Friday for Tim Hortons to spend $10-million on marketing to build the brand. The company would also pay $2-million toward the franchisees legal fees. (for subscribers)
One of the suits claimed Tim Hortons had interfered with owners’ right to be in an association, while the other said it misused advertising funds.
Tensions between the two sides first began to take off after the Brazilian-controlled Restaurants Brands International took control of Tim Hortons and implemented cost-cutting measures.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Maple Ridge is upping its housing fight with the B.C. government after the province said it would build a supportive housing project over the city’s objections in order to provide homes to those who have been living in a tent city. Mayor Mike Morden, who came under fire for saying homeless people were “raping and pillaging” his community, is arguing B.C.’s actions undermine municipal authority.
Libraries in Northern and Southern Ontario are grappling with how to adjust services as Ontario slashes their budgets by 50 per cent. The cuts are expected to hit rural and Indigenous communities especially hard.
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks mixed
Oil prices jumped to near six-month highs on Tuesday as the United States tightened sanctions on Iran, sending shares of energy companies higher but largely failing to help the currencies of the main crude-oil producers. Tokyo’s Nikkei rose 0.2 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended flat, and the Shanghai Composite lost 0.5 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3 per cent by about 6:35 a.m. ET, with Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 each down 0.2 per cent. New York futures were down. The Canadian dollar was below 75 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Looking for obesity treatment in Canada? Good luck
André Picard: “Obesity is increasingly considered a chronic health condition in its own right, but in public policy, we continue to treat it merely as a risk factor for other conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. A new report from Obesity Canada shows that disconnect has a real impact on the millions of Canadians with obesity who are looking for help. They have trouble accessing care, from weight-loss management through to bariatric surgery, because interventions, if they are available at all, are rarely covered by insurance.” (for subscribers)
From Trump to Zelensky in Ukraine: Why voters keep electing TV stars
John Doyle: “It’s like Rick Mercer was elected Prime Minister. In Ukraine on the weekend, one Volodymyr Zelensky, an actor and comedian, was elected President by a landslide. … Zelensky’s victory is a testament to the strength of television’s role in framing ideas, analysis and debate about political and social issues. After all, one reason Donald Trump is in the White House is the image of him as a tough, forthright business tycoon that The Apprentice created and then solidified, TV season after TV season.” (for subscribers)
U.S.-Mexico border dispute threatens Canadian food supply, grocery prices
Simon Somogyi, Andrew Nixon and Kimberly Thomas-Francois: “Some estimates from the United States suggest that if the border were to close, grocery-store prices in the United States for fruit and vegetable products would increase by 20 per cent to 40 per cent and the flow-on effect to Canada would be even worse as U.S. retailers soak up American fruit and vegetable production that would otherwise go to Canada.” Somogyi (associate professor), Nixon (PhD student) and Thomas-Francois (postdoctoral fellow) work or study at the University of Guelph’s School of Business and Economics.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail)Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Justin Trudeau will be portrayed in this Sunday’s episode of The Simpsons – and “there may be a mention” of the SNC-Lavalin affair, according to one Canadian-born show producer. Trudeau’s camp declined an offer to have the Prime Minister voice the character; Toronto journalist Lucas Meyer will do the impression.
(Handout/The Canadian Press) /The Canadian Press
MOMENT IN TIME
Canada’s first stamp is issued
(Courtesy of the Canadian Museum of History)Courtesy of the Canadian Museum of History
April 23, 1851: Canada’s long march to nationhood is dotted with events heroic and heartbreaking and charmingly administrative. Almost 11 years after Great Britain issued the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, it gave Canada the power to run its own postal system and produce its own stamp, the Three Pence Beaver, based on a sketch by Sir Sandford Fleming. Now, for all intents and purposes, a stamp is nothing more than a proof of payment. But countries around the world have used them to honour their heroes, celebrate their natural beauty and generally create thumb-size portraits of the national character. In the beaver (Castor canadensis), our 19th-century ancestors saw much to admire and emulate: a prolific, quietly industrious creature that’s adept at transforming the natural environment to suit its own purposes. (As for the anthropomorphic sun on the stamp, well, that’s anyone’s guess.) It also has a lovely, shiny coat, which motivated 17th-century European fur traders to explore and map much of the country. Today, a Three Pence Beaver in mint condition can fetch anywhere from $260 to $3,200 from collectors – a healthy return for a sticky little piece of Canadian ephemera. – Massimo Commanducci
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