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Notre-Dame Cathedral fire: This is what still stands as Macron vows to rebuild
Its spire and roof toppled, but Notre-Dame’s main structure and two bell towers were saved from collapse after firefighters managed to limit the destruction of the Paris landmark. “The worst has been avoided, even if the battle has not been totally won yet,” French President Emmanuel Macron said as he promised a fundraising campaign to rebuild the cathedral.
One firefighter was seriously injured as crews worked to rescue religious relics and priceless artwork. The Crown of Thorns, a Catholic relic, was among the pieces saved, though the fate of some large paintings is unclear.
An inquiry has been launched into the cause of the fire; the working assumption is that it was accidental. The cathedral was in the process of being renovated, with some sections under scaffolding. Bronze statues had been removed last week.
Architecture critic Alex Bozikovic says rebuilding Notre-Dame is an undertaking worthy of its history: “A building can have many lives if it is properly loved, and Paris’s great cathedral has proved this rule for 850 years. This week, the great structure and French society together face a new test.”
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Jason Kenney vs. Rachel Notley: Alberta’s election is today
Will the United Conservative Party fulfill poll predictions? Or can the NDP pull off another upset? It’s election day in Alberta after a brutal campaign dominated by talk of pipelines, pipelines, pipelines.
If you’re a still-undecided Albertan, here’s a quick rundown of some of the key issues:
Pipelines: Both the UCP and NDP are vowing to get the Trans Mountain expansion built, even though the project falls under federal jurisdiction. Kenney also wants to cut off oil shipments to B.C. to punish the province for its opposition, though experts warn that effort could fail in the courts. Notley has signed a contract to address the oil glut by moving crude by rail, a measure Kenney wants to scrap.
Health: The NDP is promising to increase spending, with $90-million toward initiatives such as reducing waiting times for surgery, plus full coverage of drug prescriptions for seniors making less than $75,000. Notley also wants to open mental-health clinics to help address the opioid crisis; Kenney is promising spending on that front but wants to review existing supervised drug-use sites.
Education: The UCP would rescind a law put in place by Notley’s government that bars teachers from telling parents when students join gay-straight alliances. The NDP want to implement $25-a-day child care over five years.
Climate change: The UCP want to repeal the carbon tax, file a legal challenge against the federal plan and impose a tax on large emitters while cancelling supports for renewable energy projects. The NDP would keep the carbon tax in place and boost the province’s use of renewable-sourced electricity.
In a column, Gary Mason argues that if Kenney wins, “It is not an exaggeration to say that the legitimacy of the federation will be tested in ways it hasn’t for several years, maybe since the height of the western separatist movement, or the more worrisome days of Quebec nationalism.” (for subscribers)
The Globe will have live coverage of the results tonight. Check tgam.ca for the latest.
A law firm with Liberal ties won a contract from the Department of Justice
McCarthy Tétrault was initially told it would be awarded a contract without having to compete after submitting a proposal in 2017 to advise on the modernization of the department’s legal services. Records obtained by The Globe show the top bureaucrat at Justice, Nathalie Drouin, first agreed to hire the firm and asked her officials to award a contract for advisory services without going to tenders.
The department soon backtracked, instead inviting rival firms to submit confidential bids. But no other company put forward a proposal, and McCarthy Tétrault signed the contract worth up to $75,000. The lawyers who worked on the project included one person who was a Liberal Party lawyer in the 2015 election and another who was a chief speechwriter for the party during Michael Ignatieff’s leadership.
Economic outlook: The impact of the stress test and the BoC’s sour view on business
Mortgage borrowing fell as much as $15-billion last year due to the new stress test, according to a new report from CIBC. Over all, there was a $25-billion drop in mortgage lending, which the report attributes largely to the fact that prospective buyers, unable to qualify for larger loans, sat on the sidelines. (for subscribers)
The Bank of Canada also took aim at slowing housing activity as a reason for its gauge of business sentiment turning negative for the first time in nearly three years. Other factors? The energy slump out West and global trade tensions that have ensnared the U.S., China and Canada. Don’t expect the central bank’s key interest rate to change later this month or possibly even the rest of the year, economists say. (for subscribers)
Four people were killed in a series of targeted shootings in Penticton, B.C.
Two men and two women were shot dead before a 60-year-old man turned himself in to police. The RCMP said the shootings were not random, but refused to speculate on a motive. The bodies were found in three separate locations as rifle-armed officers fanned across city streets warning residents to stay indoors, before the suspect was taken into custody.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Montreal’s political adversaries are uniting to voice opposition to the Quebec government’s planned ban on religious symbols. Opposition leader Lionel Perez, who wears a kippa, said: “I’m as much a Quebecker – we are as much Quebeckers – as anyone, whether I wear a kippa or a veil or not. My kippa is not an affront to secularism. It’s evidence of openness.”
Aphria’s cannabis sales numbers took a major dive in the firm’s first full quarter since recreational legalization. On a daily basis, Aphria posted two-thirds less cannabis revenue in the most recent quarter. The $7.19-million quarterly figure is just the latest example of disappointing sales compared to the multibillion-dollar market values of Canadian cannabis firms. (for subscribers)
PLAYOFF ROUNDUP
The Toronto Raptors are looking to even the series after dropping Game 1 at home to the Orlando Magic (8 p.m. ET). To do that, they’ll need to get more out of Kyle Lowry, who shot 0-for-7 in Saturday’s loss. But even though the point guard drew ire on social media, his play-making and defensive work drew praise from Orlando’s coach.
The Nazem Kadri-less Toronto Maple Leafs bounced back to beat the Boston Bruins 3-2, taking a 2-1 series lead. And while the goal and assist from Leafs forward Auston Matthews might not be an exceptional stat, Cathal Kelly says “by his playoff standard, this was Darryl Sittler running amok back when goalie pads weren’t the size of couch cushions.” (for subscribers)
The Calgary Flames have a mountain to climb in the playoffs after finishing as the second-best team in the NHL in the regular season. They were pounded by the Colorado Avalanche 6-2 at the Pepsi Center on Monday night and now trail in the best-of-seven series 2-1. Game 4 is on Wednesday. The Globe’s Marty Klinkenberg reports from Denver.
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks rise
Stock markets inched higher on Tuesday as reassuring data about the health of China’s economy helped investors shrug off disappointing bank earnings in the United States, while volatility in European markets took another leg lower. Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 1 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite 2.4 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX were up by between 0.4 and 0.6 per cent by about 6:40 a.m. ET, with the Paris CAC 40 little changed. New York futures were up. The Canadian dollar was above 74.5 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Uber’s horrendous losses make its high equity valuation a fantasy
Eric Reguly: “Passengers love the fares charged by Uber. Why wouldn’t they? Uber loses money on almost every ride. When you’re sitting in the back of an Uber car, you can take pleasure in knowing that the company’s business concept relied on taking money from the rich – the private investors who subsidized the amazing growth of the ride-hailing service – to the unrich, which would be you and me and anyone else who finds the cost of regular licensed taxis excessive.” (for subscribers)
China has a succession problem
Frank Ching: “This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and major celebrations are planned. But, as the lifting of term limits for the president last year underlines, China still hasn’t resolved a problem that isn’t an issue in most capitalist countries: that of political succession.” Frank Ching is a Hong Kong-based journalist.
Where is Canada’s backbone in standing up to the U.S. on Cuba?
John Kirk and Stephen Kimber: “Like virtually every other country in the world, Canada long ago negotiated compensation for its citizens and companies whose properties were nationalized after the revolution. Under Barack Obama, even the United States, which had previously rejected Cuban compensation offers, began to negotiate certified claims. Now, if Donald Trump makes good on his threats, even the Havana airport and cruise terminal could become a focus of thousands of U.S. court claims worth US$8-billion.” John Kirk is a professor of Latin American studies at Dalhousie University. Stephen Kimber is a professor of journalism at the University of King’s College.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
LIVING BETTER
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is now the second-worst in history. More than 100 new cases were detected in the past week alone, with more than 1,250 infected and 800 dead since the outbreak began last year. And there’s growing concern that a key reason for the spike is because despite the effectiveness of a Canadian-developed vaccine, many citizens don’t trust the medical system and are dying without any treatment.
Vaccine hesitancy is also contributing to measles outbreaks worldwide, with the number of cases in the first quarter of this year exceeding 112,000. That’s nearly quadruple the amount over the same period last year.
MOMENT IN TIME
304 die in South Korean ferry disaster
(South Korea Coast Guard/Yonhap/AP)South Korea Coast Guard via Yonhap/AP
April 16, 2014: A routine morning ferry run from the port city of Incheon, South Korea, to Jeju Island ended in disaster five years ago when 304 people died, most of them students from a South Korean high school. Many watched the tragedy unfold on live television. Students who survived described classmates helping them escape as water flooded in, even though the crew had instructed them to stay in their cabins. The captain of the vessel, who abandoned the ship after making a late evacuation order, is serving a life sentence. He was found guilty of committing homicide through “willful negligence.” Other members of the ship’s crew were also charged with offences in the disaster. The MV Sewol was overloaded and wasn’t carrying the recommended amount of ballast water to help stabilize it when it rolled over. It had also undergone renovations, which included two new decks that raised the ship’s centre of gravity. The disaster led to an outpouring of grief and anger that reached then-president Park Geun-hye, who was forced to defend herself against accusations that she was out of contact for several hours on the day of the sinking. The wreck of the Sewol was raised in 2017. Nine bodies remain missing. – Patrick Dell
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