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A senior civilian Mountie sent a strongly worded letter to RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki last year, accusing her of bowing to political pressure and displaying “unprofessional and extremely belittling” behaviour to officers investigating the worst mass shooting in Canadian history.
The Mass Casualty Commission, which is conducting an inquiry into the April, 2020, killing of 22 people in Nova Scotia, on Tuesday released the rebuke from Lia Scanlan, a former director of strategic communications for the RCMP in Halifax.
In the letter, dated April 14, 2021, Scanlan backs up Superintendent Darren Campbell’s account of a meeting in which he said Lucki tried to push her Nova Scotia commanders to publicly release details about the weapons used in the shootings to bolster the federal government’s gun-control agenda, The Globe’s Robert Fife and Steven Chase report.
Lia Scanlan testifies at the Mass Casualty Commission inquiry into the mass murders in rural Nova Scotia on April 18/19, 2020, in Truro, N.S., on June 8, 2022.Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press
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Trump sought to join armed Jan. 6 mob despite threat of violence, ex-aide testifies
U.S. President Donald Trump was so determined to join the armed crowd marching on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 that he grabbed for the steering wheel of The Beast – the presidential limousine – in an attempt to steer it toward the unfolding insurrection, a former top White House aide testified on Tuesday.
The volatile Trump had been known to act out his anger. But on Jan. 6, reports The Globe’s Nathan VanderKlippe, Trump’s fury was provoked by his frustrated attempt to join gun-wielding protesters, after a speech in which he told supporters: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol.”
By that point, Trump had been told that security services had observed armed men just outside The Ellipse, the park south of the White House where Trump delivered remarks on Jan. 6, as Congress gathered to certify Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
In the weeks after the insurrection that took place that day, Trump supporters said his statements about joining the Capitol protest were meant metaphorically. Not so, said Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who was within earshot of Trump during key parts of the day on Jan. 6.
- Analysis: Ex-aide’s chilling witness testimony before Jan. 6 committee details how close Trump came to joining Capitol riot
Hockey Canada facing growing backlash from sponsors over handling of sexual assault allegations
Hockey Canada is facing a growing revolt among some of its highest-profile sponsors, which are responding to the organization’s payment of an undisclosed sum last month to settle allegations that eight Canadian Hockey League players sexually assaulted a young woman after a gala it held in June, 2018.
Canadian Tire and Telus both announced late Tuesday that they would pull their support from August’s IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton. That followed the news on Tuesday morning that Scotiabank would “pause” its Hockey Canada sponsorship.
The increasing blowback has severely damaged Hockey Canada’s formerly lustrous brand, according to one marketing expert, as companies that previously chased a “halo” effect of association are now cutting their losses and removing themselves from a spiralling PR crisis.
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Also on our radar
B.C. Premier John Horgan plans to leave in the fall: Two bouts of cancer and 36 years in government have left him without the intensity needed to commit to another term, John Horgan says.
- Opinion: John Horgan’s power as NDP Premier was his ability to connect with ordinary people
Inquest jury issues recommendations to address intimate partner violence: The Ontario government should formally declare intimate partner violence an epidemic, says an inquest jury after three weeks of testimony into a rural triple femicide nearly seven years ago. The call is the first of the jury’s 86 recommendations.
- ICYMI: Many women who suffer from intimate partner violence don’t trust the police. Why are they the default response?
Wildfires have left Lytton, B.C., a ruin frozen in time as archeological work delays plans to rebuild: The village of Lytton, B.C., looks much as it did when it burned down a year ago, as governments and insurers hash out costs and experts figure out how to properly protect the Indigenous history buried below.
- A year on from a deadly heat wave, many B.C. residents still have no air conditioning
Ottawa toughens rules on fuel emissions to boost clean energy: After long delays, the federal government has stiffened a contentious aspect of its new regulation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuels consumed in Canada, raising the bar for oil producers to comply.
Ghislaine Maxwell sentenced to 20 years for sex trafficking: The jet-setting British socialite who partied with royals, presidents and billionaires was given a 20-year sentence for helping the late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
Morning markets
The rally’s over: After days of reported gains in the global market, the dust has settled to reveal persistent recession forecasting given low consumer confidence and high inflation. Around 5:40 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.43 per cent. France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.98 per cent, and Germany’s DAX fell 1.39 per cent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sunk 0.91 per cent and 1.88 per cent, respectively. U.S. futures were slightly higher. The Canadian dollar was trading at 77.70 U.S. cents.
What everyone’s talking about
America’s social contract with its citizens lies in tatters. What happens next is for Americans to decide
“If the country continues on its current course of decline, the U.S. will face violent revolution or oblivion – maybe even both. A mix of plutocracy, theocracy and juristocracy – rule by courts – is no way to govern, nor is it sustainable. Eventually, people will have had enough. Eventually, certain functional states will no longer see the value in being part of a federal union. Eventually, it will all fall apart.” - David Moscrop
- Takeaways from first primaries since Roe v. Wade overturned
Are the federal Conservatives heading for a cataclysmic rupture?
“If Ms. LeBreton and Ms. Rempel Garner are worried about the direction the party is heading who can blame them? The CPC caucus has become toxic, with those holding the most extreme views of conservatism exerting greater control over the direction of the party. And their views are very much being embodied in the candidacy of Pierre Poilievre.” - Gary Mason
- Abortion not the only issue of importance to social conservatives, Patrick Brown says
Today’s editorial cartoon
Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
Living better
These credit cards will save you money on all your travel outside Canada
Between crowded airports and rising prices, travellers have plenty of aggravation to contend with this summer.
If you plan travel outside of Canada, here’s one way to lighten the load: Get a travel reward credit that that does not charge the usual 2.5 per cent fee on purchases in foreign currency, writes The Globe’s Rob Carrick.
With inflation running at 7.7 per cent, saving 2.5 per cent on travel costs sounds almost inconsequential. But that forex markup really adds up on substantial trips where you’ll pay for hotels, restaurants, attractions and shopping with your credit card.
Moment in time: June 29, 2007
Hundreds lined up on June 29, 2007, outside an Apple store in New York hours before the iPhone went on sale at Apple's 164 stores and nearly 1,800 AT&T stores.SHANNON STAPLETON/Reuters
It’s hard to picture a cellphone without a touch screen these days. But just 15 years ago, the all-screen, multitouch supercomputers that fit into the palm of our hand or in our pocket weren’t the common sight they are today. On this day in 2007, the first-ever iPhone went on sale – bringing to fruition a long-developed plan hatched by Apple Inc.’s Steve Jobs to revolutionize mobile technology. It was an exclusive device, to be sure; starting at a steep price of US$499 in 2007, just under two million units were sold in that first iteration. However, as demonstrated by the long queues that stretched across stores around the world at its launch, and for every new model since, iPhones have always been a hit. Apple pioneered the idea that a modern-day phone should perpetually remain connected to the internet. “And who wants all those buttons?” said Jobs at the now-famous keynote for the first iPhone, replacing the button-heavy hardware that dominated the market at the time with a simple touch screen and powerful software. Fairly quickly, every other phone maker had to compete with the newcomer. That’s because iPhones forever changed our expectations of what a phone could do. Temur Durrani
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