Good morning,
Ottawa will recognize Canada’s residential school system today as a matter of national historic significance. Two former residential schools, Portage La Prairie Residential School in Manitoba and the Shubenacadie Residential School in Nova Scotia, will also be named national historic sites.
Set up by the Canadian government, the residential school system was imposed on Indigenous peoples to destroy their cultures and force their assimilation. Many Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their home and subsequently faced abuses in the system.
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and its survivors circle, Parks Canada, as well as the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada co-developed the new designation in response to a call to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Lorraine Daniels, who attended three residential schools over seven years, called this decision a historic moment for survivors of the schools and the trauma they had to endure.
This is the daily Morning Update newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for Morning Update and more than 20 more Globe newsletters on our newsletter signup page.
As COVID-19 rocks Latin America, unemployment and food shortages near a crisis point
With close to seven million COVID-19 cases, the area comprising Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the hardest hit regions in the world. Structural issues including high levels of poverty, inequality, informal working conditions and underfunded healthcare systems have created a perfect breeding ground for an infectious disease. The pandemic has also unleashed major socio-economic challenges, pushing the region toward a crisis point.
While there are common themes, Latin American’s diversity is also reflected in the challenges each country faced and how it responded.
Susana Claure, 40, is checking the familiy name of people coming to grab their food at the soup kitchen "Berta Caceres" in the slum of Buenos Aires, Argentina.Anita Pouchard Serra/The Globe and Mail
China blocks Piketty book on inequality as leadership prepares to declare victory over poverty
China has censored Thomas Piketty’s latest book, Capital and Ideology, after the famed economist refused to erase references to China’s rising economic inequality. The research stands to undermine the official narrative of China being on the cusp of declaring victory against extreme poverty.
The country and its President, Xi Jinping, had previously praised Piketty’s prior book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century.
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop
DISPATCH FROM GLOBE CLIMATE
This week’s Globe Climate newsletter looks at the shifts in finance and investing, as the world grapples with the impacts of climate change. In particular, Mark Carney – the former governor of the Bank of England and also a former Bank of Canada governor – is now leading environmental, socially driven investing at Brookfield, one of the world’s largest money managers. In a nutshell, follow the money if you want to know about the opportunities emerging around the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Want to dive into more stories about the environment, climate, energy and resources? Sign up for our Globe Climate newsletter.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Canada’s bank regulator rolling back loan-deferral programs: Canada’s banking regulator is rolling back two emergency initiatives introduced early in the pandemic, including a measure that made it easier for banks to allow clients to defer loan payments.
Legault warns Quebeckers to stay vigilant about COVID-19: Premier François Legault is warning Quebeckers to be more vigilant about COVID-19 rules to stop a recent uptick in COVID-19 cases or they may set off a second wave that could force the shutdown of schools.
Ontario responds to long-term care homes class-action suit: Ontario has denied the responsibility to guarantee the health or safety of residents in long-term care homes, in response to a class-action lawsuit over COVID-19 deaths in these facilities. The Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care funds, regulates, licenses and inspects the province’s 623 long-term care homes. Since its start, the pandemic has killed 1,848 long-term care home residents in Ontario.
The candlelight vigil was organized by families of Orchard Villa to commemorate Elder Abuse Awareness Day. They held the event outside the home in Pickering, one of Ontario's hardest hit long-term care home with 78 deaths due to COVID-19 during the pandemic. June 15, 2020.Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
Ottawa signs new COVID-19 vaccine deals: Canada has signed agreements with Novavax to supply up to 76 million doses and Johnson & Johnson for up to 38 million doses of their respective COVID-19 candidate vaccines. With these deals, Canada now has COVID-19 vaccine agreements with four international biotech companies.
Vancouver Aquarium closes indefinitely: The Vancouver Aquarium is closing to the public indefinitely for the first time in its history because of the financial challenges brought about by COVID-19. It was previously closed for three months until June, prompting fears of bankruptcy.
MORNING MARKETS
World shares start month higher as PMIs point to economic rebound: Stocks started September on a positive note, with global indexes close to all-time highs, pushed up by Chinese factory data that showed a rebound in demand. Just before 6 a.m. ET, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 were up 0.80 and 0.25 per cent, respectively. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 1.07 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei finished flat. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.03 per cent. New York futures were modestly positive. The Canadian dollar was trading at 76.92 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Shuttering a supervised consumption site is bad public-health policy
André Picard: “If the allegations against Arches’ administrators are true – and we don’t know if they are – the agency should have been put under trusteeship, not given a death sentence. At the very least, the supervised consumption site should have been kept open until a viable alternative was found.”
Erin O’Toole needs to push past the Conservative MP’s intolerance and focus on Canada’s economy
John Ibbitson: “Forget about the toppled statues. The next election will not be fought primarily on racism or police violence or LGBTQ issues or even the environment. People are afraid: for the health of their families and for their economic security in the midst of a pandemic-induced recession.”
U.S. presidential campaign takes shape against a backdrop of violence and upheaval
David Shribman: “The battle for the White House is emerging as a reflection of the battle on the streets of the United States, where protests have mixed with violence and where two approaches to politics – the pastoral and the provocative – are colliding this week.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
It’s my kid’s first day of school. I only had 2,321 days to prepare
Adam Grachnik: “This year especially, parents will need to dig down deep to relent control. We will need to trust. For me, the unknown brings a torrent of worry. What will the school experience be like? How will their teachers cope? As my kids progress in the school system, I’ve found other ways to soothe my active mind. I lean heavily on conversation.”
MOMENT IN TIME: SEPTEMBER 1, 1920
Solemn proclamation of Greater Lebanon in Beirut , September 1, 1920. General Gouraud, surrounded by the Maronite patriarch, Msgr Hoyek, and the Mufti, listening to the city's governor, Negib bey Abussuan.Photo12/UIG/Getty Images
The French found the State of Greater Lebanon
The centennial of a state’s founding is usually a cause for celebration. Not in Lebanon, where the mistakes made on this day in 1920 plague the country to this day.
Lebanon was conceived, after the First World War and collapse of the Ottoman Empire, as a predominantly Christian state – one even smaller in size than the country today wedged between Syria and Israel.
But the region’s Christians and their French patrons worried that a state made up of Beirut and the surrounding villages would not be economically viable. So, the predominantly Sunni cities of Tripoli to the north, and Sidon to the south, were added, as was the lush Bekaa Valley and its mainly Shia population.
The border changes meant the new country of “Greater Lebanon” (as it was known until 1926) was roughly half Christian and half Muslim, though the departing French ensured political and economic power stayed with the Christians.
That imbalance lit the fuse toward a 1975-1990 civil war. Tensions have remained high, especially since a massive explosion on Aug. 4 destroyed the port of Beirut. French President Emmanuel Macron is due to visit Lebanon today, hoping to resolve some of the problems left by his predecessors. Mark MacKinnon
If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday morning, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.