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Quebec Premier Premier François Legault announced new capacity restrictions for businesses – including a total ban on fans at Thursday’s Montreal Canadiens game – saying his province faces a critical situation because of a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant, while Ontario continued to resist calls for “circuit breaker” measures to contain its own outbreak.
The measures in Quebec will restrict stores, restaurants, bars and places of worship in the province to 50-per-cent capacity. Private gatherings, including Christmas dinners, will be limited to 10 people, a reversal of the province’s decision to loosen rules more than a week ago. Legault said he did not foresee returning the province to a curfew, but did not rule it out.
The Quebec Premier said vaccinations are not enough to stop transmission of the new variant and spare the health system from being swamped.
Read more:
- Ontario’s move to speed up COVID-19 booster rollout reflects the threat of Omicron, experts say
- Parents may want to consider shorter intervals between COVID-19 vaccines for young children, experts say
- Explainer: The Omicron coronavirus variant has sparked global concern and prompted new travel restrictions. Here’s everything you need to know
People wait to receive a COVID-19 test in Montreal, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
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Trudeau presses for Canada to position itself as critical mineral powerhouse
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to make Canada a global leader in the production of batteries for electric cars and has asked for a review of investment legislation to protect industry from hostile foreign investors.
Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne will work to unlock the country’s large rare-earth mineral deposits to put Canada at the forefront of supplying the world with these elements, vital to electric vehicles, smartphones, high-tech equipment and military hardware.
The Prime Minister included those marching orders to Champagne among mandate letters released to his ministers two months after the recent federal election.
Taliban shoots dead 10-year-old Afghan girl whose family awaited resettlement in Canada
A 10-year-old girl was fatally shot by the Taliban while she and her family were waiting for the federal government to bring them to Canada. Her father had worked for the Canadian military in Afghanistan and they had been approved for resettlement.
The family was driving through a Taliban checkpoint in Kandahar on Dec. 10 when the military fired on the vehicle. Aman Lara, an organization that’s providing support to Afghans who meet Canada’s resettlement criteria and is working to get people out of the country, confirmed that the family is on its evacuation list.
Eleanor Taylor, a retired Canadian lieutenant-colonel and volunteer chief of staff at Aman Lara, said the family of five – a mom, dad and three kids – had been approved to come to Canada, but didn’t have passports, so they were in Kandahar to get them.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Overhauling military culture to root out sexual misconduct to take five years, Canadian Armed Forces says: The military, plagued with a crisis of sexual-misconduct allegations, believes it will take five years to make an irreversible change in how it operates, says Lieutenant-General Jennie Carignan, its chief of professional conduct and culture. Military and civilian members will have until February to share their perspective on the state of the Canadian Armed Forces’ culture and their suggestions for what can be done to create a safer workplace, she said.
Why Canada’s inflation rate is likely much higher than reported: Canada’s annual inflation rate hit 4.7 per cent in November, the highest increase since 1991. But Derek Holt, a prominent voice on Bay Street, thinks the actual rate is much higher than Statistics Canada’s calculations. Holt, who published a scathing critique of the agency, said there’s a key omission in the report – used cars, a major source of inflation – and that the true rate is likely around 6 per cent.
U.S. FDA to allow abortion pill by mail permanently: Patients in the United States will no longer need to go to a clinic in person to receive the abortion pill after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday moved to permanently ease restrictions. The pill is used to terminate early pregnancies, and the restrictions were put in place when the FDA approved the drug in 2000. They were lifted temporarily by the government earlier this year.
Inside the intense bidding war for Great Bear: Five major mining companies duked it out in an intense bidding war for Great Bear Resources, an exploration company, with Kinross Gold Corp. eventually emerging as the winner last week. The heightened competition for the extremely early-stage Great Bear, which has no proven gold reserves at its Dixie project, illustrates how rare big gold finds are becoming worldwide, and the lengths to which companies will go to secure them.
Listen to the latest Decibel: It’s been a great year (for books): With the end of 2021 fast approaching, it’s the perfect time to escape into a book. Arts editor Judith Pereira and Western arts correspondent Marsha Lederman join the pod to discuss this year’s book trends, the silver lining of the pandemic’s effect on independent booksellers, and which books you should consider adding to your bedside stack.
MORNING MARKETS
Omicron worries hit markets: World stocks fell on Friday as investors worried about surging Omicron cases and wrestled with this week’s hawkish turn from major central banks in the fight against inflation. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.06 per cent. Germany’s DAX fell 0.70 per cent while France’s CAC 40 slid 0.85 per cent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.79 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.2 per cent. New York futures were weaker. The Canadian dollar was trading at 78.10 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Revealing text messages from the Capitol riot undermine Trump and his toadies
”Developments in Washington this week may well change the script. The House committee voted to hold Mark Meadows, Mr. Trump’s chief of staff, in contempt for defying a subpoena. More noteworthy was the release of text messages to the White House during the insurrection from Mr. Trump’s toadies at Fox News and from his son, Don Jr. They pleaded with the then-president to instruct the assailants to stand down.” - Lawrence Martin
Canada’s collective response to Omicron? Chaos and confusion
“... Most premiers are urging people to be careful over the holidays and avoid large gatherings and contact with anyone who isn’t vaccinated. But by all means, buy a ticket to an NHL game being held in your city and join 20,000 other people in screaming as loud as you can for the home team.” - Gary Mason
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
How can I host a Christmas dinner and be relaxed?
From keeping dessert simple to choosing side dishes that can be made in advance, food columnist Lucy Waverman shares tips for a relaxing and pleasurable Christmas Day. After all, no one wants to be a harried host, anxious and too tired to enjoy the festivities.
MOMENT IN TIME: Dec. 17, 2011
Kim Jong-il dies, official reports say
North Korea's new leader, Kim Jong-un, fourth from the left, salutes as he and his uncle Jang Song-thaek, third from the left, accompany the hearse carrying the coffin of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during his funeral procession in Pyongyang on Dec. 28, 2011.Kyodo / Reuters
In death as in life, Kim Jong-il was surrounded by mystical omens and lies. Official accounts said Mr. Kim – the “Dear Leader” who in 1994 took over his father’s role as North Korea’s dictator – died of a heart attack on a train at 8:30 a.m., on Dec. 17, amid one of the many inspection tours that marked his 17-year rule. The natural world marked his passing, the country’s propagandists claimed, with a snowstorm on sacred Mount Paektu – his purported birthplace – and a great crack in the ice on its caldera lake. South Korean intelligence cast doubt: Mr. Kim’s train was stationary in Pyongyang at the time of his reported death (historians say his real birthplace is almost certainly in Russia). But the mystique around the Kim dynasty has been one of the keys to its longevity, with the regime deifying its leaders to cement their godlike status. It was Mr. Kim, U.S. intelligence believes, who began North Korea’s effort to enrich uranium into weapons-grade material. After him came his son, Kim Jong-un, who has continued to advance the country’s nuclear program, even after a meeting with Donald Trump suggested a different path. Nathan VanderKlippe
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