Good morning,
These are the top stories:
An RCMP official’s arrest has sparked a broad security review across federal departments
All departments involved in national security are working to determine what secrets were shared with Cameron Ortis, a senior government official told The Globe and Mail. Ortis, the civilian director-general of the RCMP National Intelligence Co-ordination Centre, was arrested and charged Friday with storing and communicating classified information.
The Globe has learned that Ortis had access to operational plans used by Canadian agents for covert work and also oversaw a money-laundering probe into allegations that millions in defrauded Russian tax dollars were funnelled through Canada.
Officials must not only determine the damage that might have been done to Canada, but also to its Western security allies in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network.
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A former Ontario minister is siding with Beijing in the Hong Kong protests
Michael Chan, who held Ontario’s immigration and international-trade portfolios under two Liberal premiers, is echoing China’s assertion that “foreign forces” are manipulating the protests and interfering in Hong Kong affairs.
“If there is no deeply hidden organization in this, or deeply hidden push from the outside, there is no way that such large-scale turmoil would happen in Hong Kong in a few months,” Chan told Beijing-backed news site Chinanews in a piece published earlier this month.
Demonstrations continued in Hong Kong yesterday, with police firing chemical-laced blue water and tear gas at protesters who threw Molotov cocktails. Thousands had taken to the streets in defiance of a police ban.
Canadian business is forging ahead in China amid the diplomatic standoff
Despite continued tensions after the RCMP’s arrest last December of Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou, China’s imports of Canadian goods increased 5 per cent through the first seven months of 2019.
The health-care sector is one example of where ties are ramping up, with the Canada Wellness Institute recently opening a medical fitness facility inside a luxury hotel in Beijing. The non-profit, formed by a pioneering Winnipeg facility, plans to build 100 locations in China over the next three years.
Tensions are rising in the Middle East after a drone attack on Saudi oil facilities
Oil prices have surged after weekend explosions that forced the Saudi kingdom to cut its crude production in half, with the U.S. pinning the blame on Iran.
While Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran – which has been supporting the Houthis in a proxy war with Riyadh – of orchestrating “an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply.” President Donald Trump tweeted that the U.S. is “locked and loaded” to respond.
Iran dismissed the allegations and warned that it is prepared for a “full-fledged war.” Washington previously blamed Iran for a series of attacks on Saudi oil tankers in the Gulf.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Boris Johnson to hold Brexit talks: The British Prime Minister will sit down today with the president of the European Commission and the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator as signs of possible progress emerge on the Irish backstop issue. Johnson, meanwhile, is comparing himself with the Incredible Hulk.
Trade Minister says EDC must learn from ‘mistakes’: Jim Carr is calling on Export Development Canada to improve its human-rights, transparency and anti-corruption practices. The minister’s letter to EDC’s board referenced its loans to Bombardier; a review of the Quebec company’s anti-corruption policies began in July.
GM workers across U.S. go on strike: Roughly 48,000 General Motors employees launched strike action at midnight as their union fights for pay increases and calls for the auto giant to cancel planned plant closings in Ohio and Michigan.
$10-million pledge for affordable housing in Toronto: The University Health Network – the largest academic hospital in Canada – is proposing a “social medicine initiative” that would see a housing development built on a plot of land it owns in a rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood.
Purdue Pharma files for bankruptcy: The move came after the company behind OxyContin, which has been blamed for playing a major role in the opioid crisis, reached a tentative deal with 24 U.S. states. Despite agreeing to the proposed settlement, Purdue and its controlling shareholders, the Sackler family, have denied the allegations.
MORNING MARKETS
Oil soars after Saudi supply shock, stocks slide: Oil prices climbed to four-month highs on Monday and world stocks slid after weekend attacks on crude facilities in Saudi Arabia shut about 5 per cent of the world’s supply and fuelled worries over the impact of an oil shock on economic growth. Tokyo’s Nikkei was closed, but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.8 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite dipped slightly. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were down by between 0.1 and 0.6 per cent by about 4:30 a.m. ET. New York futures were down. The Canadian dollar was at about 75.5 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
After #BlueGirl, why haven’t soccer federations condemned Iran’s blatant misogyny?
Shireen Ahmed: “Sahar Khodayari died because she wanted to watch soccer. Beyond the discrimination inherent in her own country, Khodayari’s death is a gruesome reminder that men at the helm of sports federations are complicit in the deliberate exclusion of women in sport. They hold the power to stop injustice and they do not act.” Shireen Ahmed is a sports writer and co-host of the Burn It All Down podcast.
Alberta’s foe is economics, not environmentalists
Barrie McKenna: “The province’s oil sector is facing something much more dangerous than environmental activism: economics. Investors are continuing to shun the sector, unconvinced that Alberta’s costly and high-carbon oil reserves will ever get fully tapped in a world of low prices, excess supply, pipeline bottlenecks and stricter emission rules.”
The Quebec Court forgets the importance of living with dignity
Tom Koch: “A Quebec court’s decision this week to strike down “restrictive” elements of the federal law on medical assistance in dying (MAID) almost certainly will be appealed. And it should be. The decision is flawed, and dangerous.” Tom Koch is a Toronto-based gerontologist and medical ethicist specializing in chronic and palliative care.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(David Parkins/The Globe and Mail)David Parkins/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Saying farewell to TIFF 2019
This year’s edition of the Toronto film festival wrapped up Sunday with Nazi satire JoJo Rabbit picking up the People’s Choice Award, often a sign of Oscar buzz.
One Canadian cinematic highlight for our critics was Kazik Radwanski’s Anne at 13,000 ft, which was made on a $200,000 budget and follows a daycare worker with a shaky grasp on adult responsibilities. (It also plays in Vancouver at VIFF.)
Other four-star Globe reviews included the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems, starring Adam Sandler; Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson; and Parasite, South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s indictment of class struggle.
You can go here for a wrap-up of the fest.
MOMENT IN TIME
Hollywood’s golden couple, 1961
For more than 100 years, photo librarians working for The Globe and Mail have preserved an extraordinary collection of 20th-century news photography. Every Monday, The Globe features one of these images. In September, we pay tribute to Hollywood.
(Harry McLorinan/The Globe and Mail)Harry McLorinan/The Globe and Mail
Their relationship withstood the test of time, and the demands of dual Hollywood careers. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, both fledgling actors, met in 1953 on Broadway. There was an instantaneous spark, but neither acted on it. Newman was married. She kept her distance. All that changed four years later on the set of The Long, Hot Summer. This time, the chemistry was undeniable, and they wed in Vegas in 1958. They went on to have three daughters and co-star in 10 movies (including Paris Blues, the film that brought them to Toronto in 1961, where they were photographed by Globe photographer Harry McLorinan). Asked once how they survived in an industry rife with divorce, Newman famously quipped: “I have steak at home. Why should I go out for hamburger?” They celebrated their 50th anniversary just before Newman’s death, at 83, of lung cancer in 2008. – Gayle MacDonald
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