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These are the top stories:
Syria’s Kurds are fleeing their homeland by the busload amid fears of a renewed Turkish assault
Andrea DiCenzo/The Globe and Mail
At the Bardarash refugee camp in Iraqi Kurdistan, thousands of refugees are pouring in by bus, day and night. And a figure now at more than 8,000 could reach 250,000 if a Turkish military offensive resumes.
The Globe’s Mark MacKinnon and photographer Andrea DiCenzo are on the ground at the camp, where Kurds shared their stories – and fears.
“The situation is bad. Everybody is leaving,” said Raed Mohammed Sayid, a 32-year-old who arrived with his wife and five children.
Many there speak about what they view as a betrayal by the Trump administration, with the U.S. troop withdrawal paving the way for the Turkish incursion backed by Russia and the Syrian government.
While Trump has declared a “permanent” ceasefire, Kurds remain fearful. Kurdish analysts say the pact amounts to ethnic cleansing.
Some young men fled because they feared being conscripted into Bashar al-Assad’s army.
“If I go back to Syria, the police will catch me and I will have to do military service,” said Hamid Malla, a 19-year-old who was completing his final year of high school.
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Kenney is warning Albertans that major budget cuts are coming
The first United Conservative budget, being tabled today, will see health and education spending frozen and overall government spending reduced by 2.8 per cent over four years.
The government will also be implementing a corporate tax cut designed to boost the economy, even as government revenue from corporations suffers amid an oil downturn.
As part of an effort to end deficits within four years, Kenney says “modest” reductions in government staffing levels are needed, and that most savings will come through attrition.
Despite the freeze on health and spending, the overall reduction will mean deeper cuts in other areas, which economists say could come in areas including postsecondary education and climate-change mitigation efforts.
In other news, three top executives at the Alberta Energy Regulator have left the agency. The departures at the watchdog come after public investigations examined how the former CEO and other senior AER officials diverted some regulator funds to an expensive side project.
Justin Trudeau wants Trans Mountain built ‘as quickly as possible’
The Prime Minister also vowed to work with political leaders in Alberta and Saskatchewan after the Liberals failed to secure a single seat in either province. But Trudeau didn’t promise to appoint someone from outside his party to represent the provinces in cabinet.
And he said a campaign pledge to cut personal income taxes will be his new cabinet’s first task. (Go here to read about how a re-elected Liberal government will impact your finances.)
Trudeau ruled out a formal or informal coalition, saying he would govern on an issue-by-issue basis. Campbell Clark writes: “Trudeau the minority PM signalled he had recommitted the listening and wants co-operation – but the governing agenda is his.”
Meanwhile, Conservatives are publicly debating the fate of Andrew Scheer’s leadership. Lisa Raitt, the deputy leader, said Scheer “deserves another shot” at fighting an election. MP Peter Kent said he would support Scheer’s leadership but said the Tories need a more robust environmental policy. Some party members have raised the names of Peter MacKay or Rona Ambrose as leadership possibilities.
Elizabeth May and the Greens are evaluating their campaign tactics after disappointing results in the federal election. May says her party should have been more forceful in responding to NDP attack ads in ridings she expected to go Green on Vancouver Island.
Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart says he is hopeful that the election result will mean funding for key city projects including housing and transit. Stewart, a former NDP MP, spoke out against Andrew Scheer in the final days of the campaign.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Google’s quantum breakthrough: The tech giant says its quantum processor performed a numerical task faster than any known computer on Earth, a feat known as “quantum supremacy.” Google says the design is one that can be improved and scaled up, which could be a technological game-changer.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai, left, and a researcher examine the company's quantum processor. (Google/NYT)GOOGLE/The New York Times News Service
Curler Aly Jenkins dies while giving birth: Doctors say there was no way to foresee the rare condition that killed the 30-year-old Saskatchewan curler as she gave birth to her third child. Amniotic fluid embolism is extremely rare but is considered one of the major causes of maternal mortality in industrialized countries.
Food insecurity worse for black Canadians: A new report says black people experience food insecurity at nearly twice the rate of white people, even when adjusting for factors such as income and education. One of the report’s authors says the findings reveal “a very significant problem of racism.”
A call to triple Canada’s population by 2100: A business group that includes the new Canadian ambassador to China has released a report saying Canada should rely heavily on immigration to boost its population to 100 million in order to preserve economic prosperity.
MORNING MARKETS
World stocks rise, euro holds gains: Europe’s traders were sending European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi off in style on Thursday, raising the region’s stocks to their highest in more than a year and nudging the euro towards its best month since January, 2018. Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.6 per cent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 0.9 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite inched down. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were up by between 0.3 and 0.6 per cent by about 4:30 a.m. ET. New York futures edged higher. The Canadian dollar was below 76.5 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Get set for Alberta’s separatist road show
Gary Mason: “Mr. Kenney wants everything his way. He wants the carbon tax dropped. He wants tougher new environmental rules for resource development ripped up. He wants the government to renege on a tanker ban it campaigned on in 2015. He wants it all. And if he doesn’t get it, well, don’t blame him if separatist tensions continue to rise. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.”
Goodbye, Maxime Bernier. Canadians have rejected your politics of fear
Mustafa Farooq: “At the conclusion of this election, we can rest easy knowing that we did not give Mr. Bernier or his ideas a platform. ... That doesn’t mean elected officials don’t have to engage in serious conversations about racism in Canada. But this election has clearly shown that hate is a failed organizing principle in Canadian politics.” Mustafa Farooq is a lawyer and is the executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail)Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
New mystery books that will keep you on edge
Contributor Margaret Cannon takes a look at seven noteworthy novels, including these:
The Lost Sister, by Andrea Gunraj, takes us to a place and time where children were literally ripped from their mothers’ arms and delivered to purgatory, all legal and tidy.
Nicole Lundrigan’s Hideaway is a psychological suspense story hinging on the spellbinding character of Gloria, the mom from hell.
And Fire Trap, by Bob Kroll, is the end of a trilogy tracking the experiences of a tough Halifax cop, who this time finds himself deep in the darkest pits of the dark web.
MOMENT IN TIME
New eruption date for Mount Vesuvius
(Cesare Abbate/ANSA via AP)CESARE ABBATE/The Associated Press
Oct. 24, 79 AD: When archeologists tried to date the eruption of Mount Vesuvius – the volcano that killed thousands of people and buried the Roman city of Pompeii – it was a letter that led them astray. The original copy, written by a man known as Pliny the Younger, did not survive, but translations of the account helped place the date on Aug. 24, 79 AD. But in 2018, as excavations attempted to uncover previously untouched areas of the settlement, a new piece of writing cast doubt on the summer date. “On October 17, he indulged in food immoderately,” a translation reads. The message was just a scrawl on a wall in charcoal, likely done by a worker renovating a home, but it means that in the fall of 79 AD, the residents of Pompeii were having a regular day. The graffiti should have disappeared soon after, when workers would have covered it with a painting, but the men never had a chance. Researchers now believe Vesuvius likely erupted on Oct. 24, 79 AD – two months after the original date. The timing in Pliny’s text, meanwhile, appears to have been confused in the various translations and transcriptions made over the centuries. – Carine Abouseif
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