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These are the top stories:
Retired Supreme Court justice John Major says it was only 'logical’ for SNC-Lavalin to seek senior legal help
SNC-Lavalin sought the involvement of three former Supreme Court justices in its efforts to persuade prosecutors to negotiate a settlement with the company, instead of pursuing a criminal trial on fraud and bribery charges. In an interview with The Globe and Mail, retired judge John Major said the law allowing the Crown to enter into a remediation agreement came into effect only last year, and that it was normal for SNC to seek outside expertise once its application for such a deal was rejected. “Nobody knows why SNC was turned down," Mr. Major said of the legal opinion that he provided to the company. “My opinion is they deserve an answer, it’s that simple.”
Read more: Bank of Montreal chair Robert Prichard stands by his role in effort to secure deal for SNC-Lavalin
Trudeau rejects calls for apology on SNC-Lavalin in wake of Ethics Commissioner’s report
“You apologize when you did something wrong,” Mr. Trudeau said in an interview with The Globe and Mail while on a tour of New Brunswick. “What I did in this situation was do my very best to stand up for Canadian jobs, while at the same time doing everything I could to protect the integrity of our judicial system.” In separate interviews with The Globe on Thursday, Ms. Wilson-Raybould and her former cabinet colleague Jane Philpott said the Prime Minister owes Canadians an apology for overseeing his government’s efforts to obtain a deferred prosecution agreement for the Quebec engineering giant.
SNC-Lavalin opinions:
- John Ibbitson: At the core of the SNC-Lavalin affair, a familiar case of he said, she said
- Penny Bryden: The SNC-Lavalin affair fails the scandal test – so far (Bryden is a professor of history at the University of Victoria and president of the Canadian Historical Association)
- Kent Roach: Can prosecutorial independence and the public interest ever truly be reconciled? (Roach is a professor of law at the University of Toronto. He co-hosted a consultation with Anne McLellan on her report, but did not participate in its writing)
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China steps up warnings against protests as troops mass at border
Hundreds of China’s People’s Armed Police on Thursday conducted exercises at a sports stadium in Shenzhen that borders Hong Kong a day after the U.S. State Department said it was “deeply concerned” about the movements, which have prompted worries that the troops could be used to break up protests. The Civil Human Rights Front, which organized million-strong marches in June, has scheduled another protest for Sunday. Western governments have stepped up calls for restraint after chaotic scenes at Hong Kong’s airport this week.
Israel to allow entry to U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, reversing earlier ban
Israel will allow U.S. lawmaker Rashida Tlaib to visit her family in the occupied West Bank on humanitarian grounds, the interior ministry said on Friday, after barring an official visit under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he would not allow Tlaib and congresswoman Ilhan Omar, both Democrats, to enter Israel. Tlaib and Omar have voiced support for the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement over Israel’s policies toward Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Under Israeli law, BDS backers can be denied entry to Israel. However, Netanyahu said that if Tlaib submitted a request to visit family on humanitarian grounds, Israel would consider it as long as she promised not to promote a boycott against Israel.
Hot-dog harmony: How a Thunder Bay diner and its Coney sauce comfort a divided city
Jake MacLaurin has grown up up visiting Coney Island Westfort and now he often brings his sons Odin, 7 and Donald, 10.Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
How did Coney Island Westfort, a 70-year-old diner in a working-class part of Thunder Bay, become as much a haven as a restaurant? The smell of coffee, cumin and hot-dog water fills the Coney as Jake MacLaurin contemplates the important question. Conflict is baked into everything in Thunder Bay, which is among the country’s per capita leaders in murders and hate crimes. He jokes with a waitress about his belly − and eats a hot dog with yellow mustard and a mysterious red chili called Coney sauce that is the house specialty and an essential local dish.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Canadian aid worker recounts time on forefront of Syrian crisis: Marwa Awad says the international community must move beyond its focus on emergency assistance to fund longer-term programs that support the rehabilitation of Syrians’ lives.
Airlines win right to appeal Canada’s new passenger bill of rights: The Federal Court of Appeal on Thursday granted several airlines, including Air Canada, Porter Airlines and the industry group International Air Transport Association, the right to jointly appeal the air passenger bill of rights.
Canopy Growth still three to five years away from profitability, company acknowledges after disappointing results: The results fell far short of analyst expectations, sending Canopy’s stock price down 14.5 per cent and spurring a broader selloff in cannabis stocks.
Jeffrey Epstein’s autopsy finds his neck was broken in several places, sources say: One of the two law-enforcement sources familiar with the Epstein case said there was no evidence or suggestion of foul play, but cautioned that the investigation was still at an early stage.
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks climb
World stocks rose on Friday as expectations grew of further stimulus by central banks, offsetting worries about slowing economic growth, which intensified this week as the U.S. yield curve inverted for the first time since 2007. Tokyo’s Nikkei was flat, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.9 per cent and the Shanghai Composite gained 0.3 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.4 per cent after trading was delayed due to a technical glitch. Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were up 0.7 per cent at 6:15 a.m. ET. New York futures were up. The Canadian dollar was at 75.24 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Science is pure, but scientists are human
Jim Woodgett: “How might scientific misconduct be better handled in Canada? Like any disease, it warrants a combination of prevention and treatment.” Woodgett is the Koffler Director of Research at Sinai Health System and a professor at the University of Toronto.
On nuclear protection, Japan gets a wakeup call from Trump
Brahma Chellaney: “The main lesson for Japan from Mr. Trump’s focus on addressing only U.S. security interests is to directly engage Pyongyang by leveraging its own economic power to build better relations with North Korea.” Chellaney is a geostrategist and the author of nine books, including, most recently, Water, Peace, and War.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
David Parkinson/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
How does a retailer stay engaged digitally while offering the connection cultivated via a years-long relationship with your favourite sales associate or personal shopper? You turn your staff into video hosts on your Instagram stories. On Instagram, two of Comrags sales associates often film each other in newly arrived stock. This approach to customer engagement was charming and unique, and showcased the brand’s personal ethos in an authentic way. Whether their young staff realizes it or not, their approach is similar to the way TV home-shopping networks and morning lifestyle shows have traditionally contextualized fashion and shopping for their audiences with shoppable segments.
MOMENT IN TIME
Alfred J. Pearson/City of Toronto Archives
Aug. 16, 1892
It was a summer afternoon in Toronto when the first electric streetcar to grace the city’s rails left the front of City Hall. The Globe newspaper reported that crowds watched the car’s progress, huddled at intersections along the Church route, as it made its way across downtown and up Sherbourne Street without stopping. A party, replete with countless toasts, greeted the car and its passengers from the Toronto Railway Co., the precursor to the TTC, at the terminus. The festivities to greet the first streetcar were over after 5 p.m. – “a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon having been spent by all.” All marked the August debut as a great success, and the next two years would be spent converting the rest of the network’s horse-drawn streetcars to electric variants. While not the first electric streetcar in Canada – that credit goes to a line connecting St. Catharines and Thorold, Ont., five years earlier – the streetcar that rumbled those few blocks through downtown in 1892 marked the start of a new era in Toronto transit, laying the rails for the iconic Red Rockets that would come to captivate the imaginations of tourists and residents alike. — Jack Denton
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