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These are the top stories:
Report finds ‘systemic racism’ at police force in Thunder Bay
Ontario’s independent police watchdog says Thunder Bay’s police force should reopen nine sudden-death cases involving Indigenous victims over concerns the investigations were tainted by systemic racism and neglect. The call is one of 44 recommendations arising from a two-year investigation of the Thunder Bay Police Service by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) – one of two reports slated for release this week that call for sweeping changes at the force and its oversight board.
On Friday, the former judge who headed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, will report back on an examination of the Thunder Bay Police Service Board. According to two sources who have seen Mr. Sinclair’s report, it calls for the board to be scrapped for a year and an interim administrator to be appointed.
Damien Lee and Jana-Rae Yerxa write there is nothing “sudden” about Indigenous deaths in Canada: “This is deeply validating for those of us who feel the police are indifferent to Indigenous life in Thunder Bay. This validation can also be crushing. Many are crying – out of love, out of sadness and in remembering their family members whose deaths may not have been taken seriously by police for years. This is a natural reaction: Settler colonialism only prolongs any real reckoning with grief.”
Tensions mount as China confirms detention of second Canadian
From the Twitter account of Michael Spavor.Michael Spavor
China’s foreign ministry confirmed Thursday it has detained a second Canadian, deepening the intrigue that began with the arrest in Canada of Chinese telecommunications executive Meng Wanzhou. Both men, entrepreneur Michael Spavor and former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig, are being held on suspicion of “engaging in activities that endanger the national security" of the country, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters in Beijing.
“The legal rights of the two Canadians are being safeguarded,” he said. (for subscribers)
On Monday, Mr. Kovrig was detained in Beijing following the arrest of Ms. Meng in Vancouver. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Wednesday that a Canadian man, whom she didn’t name, had contacted government officials after being questioned by Chinese authorities.
On Tuesday, Ms. Meng, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co., was released on $10-million bail, ending a 10-day stint in a B.C. prison. She must stay in the Vancouver area with around-the-clock surveillance. The U.S. has until the beginning of February to file for extradition on several charges of fraud.
Economist Jeffrey D. Sachs argues that the U.S., not China, is the real threat to international rule of law: “The U.S. claims the company poses a specific security risk through hidden surveillance capabilities in its hardware and software. Yet the U.S. government has provided no evidence for this claim.”
Campbell Clark writes that U.S. President Donald Trump has harmed his own government’s case: “Canada has been saying all along that this case isn’t about politics and the Canadian government is following the rule of law, but then Mr. Trump crashed in to say that the prosecution could be used as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with China.” (for subscribers)
Canadians in small towns face alarmingly higher risk of opioid overdoses: report
Canadians who live in small cities face substantially higher risks of opioid overdoses than those who live in larger centres, according to new national data that expose how poverty, unemployment and other factors are exacerbating the continuing crisis.
More than 2,000 people died as a result of opioids from January to June, a slight increase over the same period in 2017, and 17 people are hospitalized across the country every day as a result of opioid overdoses, according to data released on Wednesday by the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). The vast majority of the deaths were accidental and more than 70 per cent were linked to fentanyl, a powerful opioid.
Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen sentenced to three years in prison
U.S. President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to buying the silence of two women who claimed to have had extramarital affairs with Mr. Trump, lying to Congress about secret negotiations to build a Trump Hotel in Moscow during the presidential campaign and cheating on his taxes. In addition, the company that owns the National Enquirer, which was involved in the hush-money scheme, admitted as part of a deal with prosecutors that the payment was explicitly made to influence the 2016 election by smothering embarrassing allegations about Mr. Trump before the vote.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Vancouver council, mayor considering property tax increase of 6.3 per cent
Vancouver residents and businesses are facing a 6.3-per-cent property-tax hike – a hefty increase that is proving to be a test for the city’s inexperienced and fractured council. The council and mayor, who have been on the job for a little more than a month, are facing a dictionary-sized budget document that details $1.5-billion in spending. Some councillors are fighting to improve social services and create affordable housing in the city, while others are more alarmed about the ultimate cost to taxpayers.
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks mixed
Santa delivered his traditional end of year rally on Thursday as world stocks made a third day of gains and the pound and the euro both stayed strong after the latest bout of Brexit drama. Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 1.3 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite 1.2 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.1 per cent by about 6:40 a.m. ET, Germany’s DAX was up 0.2 per cent, and the Paris CAC 40 was flat. New York futures were little changed. The Canadian dollar is stuck below 75 U.S. cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Ottawa needs to step up and rescue our literature
“In 2005, a major survey by the Department of Canadian Heritage estimated that 27 per cent of the English-language books sold in Canada were written by Canadians. Today, numbers drawn from BookNet Canada sales data show that market share is only 13 per cent. What’s happened?” – Kate Taylor
Canada must address its immigrant wage-gap problem
“We have all heard the stories of the foreign PhDs who are driving taxis; the more those tales become anomalies, the more those skills are valued and appropriately rewarded in the Canadian labour market, the better off we’ll all be” – David Parkinson
With Doug Ford, Ontario is open (monkey) business
“Mr. Ford has a habit of acting in ways that eviscerate his favourite mantra. His impulsive, highly personal style of decision-making is just the sort of thing that repels investors. Rather than putting up placards, he should try showing the world that Ontario is run by a cool head, according to clear rules. You know, conservatism.” – Globe editorial
LIVING BETTER
The myth of the running shoe
A decade ago, an Australian sports-medicine doctor argued there was no evidence that modern running shoes prevent injuries. A year later in 2009, the bestselling book Born to Run ignited a surge of interest in barefoot and “minimalist” running. Now, a new editorial in the British Journal of Sports Medicine argues there is still no evidence running shoes – from minimalist shoes to supercushioned ones – prevent injuries. The best way to choose running shoes, is simply based on comfort.
MOMENT IN TIME
Charlie Chaplin signs first contract with Keystone pictures
Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesHulton Archive/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Dec. 13, 1913: Providing further evidence that Canadians are the funniest people on Earth, Mack Sennett made comedy history 105 years ago today. As the founder of Keystone Studios, the Quebec-born Sennett acted, directed and practically invented the comedy-film form, thanks to his work on the madcap Keystone Cops series. But it was one particular deal that cemented Sennett’s reputation as the King of Comedy: his signing of Charles Spencer Chaplin in 1913. After Sennett’s lead star, Ford Sterling, decided to depart Keystone, the studio hoped vaudeville sensation Chaplin would serve as an adequate replacement. Sennett signed Chaplin for US$150 a week (double the performer’s salary at the time), even though the actor thought Keystone’s work was “a crude mélange of rough and rumble.” Two months later, Keystone released Chaplin’s film debut, the well-received Making a Living, and shortly thereafter Kid Auto Races at Venice, which marked the first appearance of the actor’s iconic “Little Tramp” character (pictured). Chaplin’s career went on to span more than half a century and redefine the medium. Keystone, meanwhile, was forced into bankruptcy during the Great Depression – although Sennett would receive an honorary Academy Award in 1938 for “his lasting contribution to the comedy technique of the screen.” - Barry Hertz
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