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These are the top stories:
There could be more vaping-related illnesses in Canada than we know
Canadian authorities are investigating 11 cases of vaping-related lung disease, but one Alberta doctor says that figure “is the tip of the iceberg.”
Lung specialist Dilini Vethanayagam says she has seen three patients who experienced health problems after vaping. She didn’t flag the cases to provincial authorities, though, because the illnesses weren’t severe enough to meet the narrow definition for vaping-linked lung injury known as EVALI. There is no mechanism in place to track less-severe cases, Vethanayagam added.
B.C. provincial health officer Bonnie Henry said EVALI is likely just one of many forms of illness linked to e-cigarettes but that the immediate focus is on severe disease.
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Manitoba lawyers are challenging a decision to block video bail hearings amid long delays
A decision by the Chief Judge of Manitoba’s Provincial Court is being met with opposition as lawyers seek to get their clients’ cases heard. It’s a situation that primarily affects Indigenous people in the province’s north.
Lawyer Rohit Gupta, frustrated with long waits for bail hearings, began arranging video hearings for his clients with Winnipeg judges. But soon after, a directive was issued effectively banning the practice.
Gerri Wiebe, the president of the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association of Manitoba, said: “It seems counterproductive to me, when you have a severe shortage of resources … to deny the use of resources that may be available to alleviate some of the difficulties.”
The CN strike is sparking layoffs as protests reach Justin Trudeau’s office
Farmers protest the rail strike in front of Trudeau's riding office. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
Fertilizer producer Nutrien is halting output at its potash mine in Saskatchewan for two weeks and laying off 550 employees a week into a strike by Canadian National Railway conductors and yard workers.
In Quebec, farmers gathered outside the Prime Minister’s constituency office, where they dumped bags of corn on the steps and called for an end to the strike that has caused a propane shortage. The farmers use the fuel to dry their crops after harvest.
CN and its workers remain far apart on key issues, including the union’s push for better rules covering rest periods.
The federal government says “every option’s always on the table” but is resisting increasing calls for back-to-work legislation.
Social conservative groups are calling for Andrew Scheer’s resignation
The Conservative Leader’s attempt to walk in both the pro-abortion and anti-abortion camps during the election campaign was a “recipe for disaster,” said Campaign Life Coalition president Jeff Gunnarson.
His comments echo the views of other social conservatives now pushing for a new leader over what they view as Scheer’s failure to defend their beliefs.
John Ibbitson argues Scheer’s days are numbered, noting he “cannot convince any wing of the party that he understands and represents their values.” Those within the party are “asking whether he will step down now or draw out the agony until April’s leadership vote.”
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Ottawa makes arguments in First Nations welfare case: A federal government lawyer said a tribunal’s ruling on First Nations children is “wrong in law” and doesn’t amount to fair compensation. As it sought to blunt criticism over its push for a stay, Ottawa said it would support a separate class-action lawsuit on Indigenous child welfare.
Palestinian Canadians hail Ottawa for UN vote: The federal government took a “fair and just” position in its decision to vote with 163 countries in supporting a United Nations resolution on Palestinian self-determination, the president of the Palestinian Community Association said.
Pelosi says USMCA deal ‘within range’: The U.S. House Speaker said Democrats are moving closer to backing a U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement pending a final review. Democrats have voiced concerns over labour and environmental provisions.
Ontario teachers launch work-to-rule campaign: The province’s public elementary and high-school teachers will begin withdrawing some services today, including report-card comments and participation in standardized testing. The move comes as they fail to make substantive progress in contract talks with the Ford government.
MORNING MARKETS
Trade optimism lifts world stock markets: World stocks hit their highest in almost two years on Tuesday, keeping record highs in sight, following fresh signs that the United States and China were working to end a bitter trade war that has dealt a blow to the global economy. Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.4 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite inched up marginally. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.1 per cent by about 5:30 a.m. ET, with Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 down by between 0.1 and 0.2 per cent. New York futures were slightly weaker. The Canadian dollar was trading just above 75 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Beijing tried to tell Hong Kongers how to vote. They wisely had other ideas
Globe editorial: “The chaos of the past months has not caused Hong Kongers to abandon talk of universal suffrage, autonomy and greater independence from China. On the contrary, the protests, and Beijing’s rigid response to them, appear to have driven people to demand change and to demand it now – while they still have a voice.”
Cryptocurrency policies must combat snake oil without stifling innovation
Ethan Lou: “What do you do when the sector is hard to police, but shady operations are easy to set up and the world is filled with clueless victims? A heavy hand is bad for innovation, but so is lawlessness. And innovation, believe it or not, is something in which Canada had a head start. It would be a travesty to see it eroded by the Wild West.” Lou is the author of the forthcoming book Once a Bitcoin Miner.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail)Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
What happens when you give young people free gallery admission? They show up
Last May, the Art Gallery of Ontario began offering free passes to those 25 and under. In that short span, 70,000 people aged 14 to 25 have signed up. More than 30,000 adults over the age of 25 have also signed up for a new annual pass that costs just $35.
The numbers have far exceeded the AGO’s expectations, and fears that the program might cannibalize the gallery’s existing $110-plus membership program haven’t materialized: Only 1 per cent of the new $35 pass holders were previously members.
MOMENT IN TIME
Bobby Orr’s final game with the Boston Bruins
(Louis Requena/Sporting News via Getty Images)Sporting News via Getty Images via Getty Images
On Nov. 26, 1975, Bobby Orr scored a goal and an assist for the visiting Boston Bruins in their 6-4 win over the New York Rangers. Two days later, the left knee of the game’s greatest player and reigning scoring champion locked as he got out of his car at Boston’s Logan International Airport. “It’s nothing serious, just a precaution,” Bruins coach Don Cherry said at the time. In fact, the lateral meniscus cartilage in his oft-operated-on left knee was torn, necessitating its surgical removal. The 27-year-old’s season was done, and with it, his career as a Bruin. No longer under contract with the team that signed him as a teenager in 1962, the injured all-star signed a multimillion-dollar deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. (He later learned his agent, Alan Eagleson, had failed to inform him of a superior offer from the Bruins.) After playing 26 games over three seasons with Chicago, the defenceman announced his retirement in a tearful news conference on Nov. 8, 1978. Later that season, he received an 11-minute standing ovation at Boston Garden, where his jersey was retired. Bobby Orr as No. 4 was no more. – Brad Wheeler
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