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U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing Attorney-General Jeff Session to end Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, tweeting that Mr. Sessions “should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further.” Mr. Trump’s staff moved quickly in an attempt to downplay the severity of his comments, saying the President was venting and offering his opinion, rather than issuing direct orders to a member of his cabinet. Mr. Sessions has recused himself from overseeing the inquiry into Russian election meddling and whether the Trump campaign colluded with a foreign adversary during the 2016 campaign. The tweet raised questions about whether Mr. Trump is attempting to obstruct justice, something the special counsel is already examining because of the President’s firing of then-FBI director James Comey. Mr. Trump’s latest comments on Mr. Mueller and his investigation come as his former campaign chair, Paul Manafort, stands trial for charges of bank fraud and tax evasion.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
The federal Liberals are being urged to save Ontario’s basic income pilot project, after the province’s Tories scrapped the program. The Ontario Liberals announced the three-year-long test because they wanted to see how a basic income would affect living outcomes among 4,000 residents in Thunder Bay, Lindsay and Hamilton. Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government defended its decision to axe the project despite criticism from anti-poverty advocates. Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod said the program was a “disincentive to get people back on track.” However, a source involved in the pilot told The Canadian Press that the project, launched last year, had not been running long enough to generate the required data to properly assess success or failure. The program cost $50-million annually.
Canadian and Mexican officials say they’re close to an agreement with the United States on the contentious issue of automobile content rules that have become a sticking point in NAFTA renegotiations. Mexico’s lead NAFTA negotiator also says the United States is showing “more flexibility” at the negotiations, which have dragged on for almost a year.
The federal government is facing complaints that its decision to slash its planned carbon tax doesn’t do enough to blunt the impact. The Liberal government says it is reducing the amount of average emissions that will be taxed to 20 per cent, from the 30 per cent it initially proposed. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says the change is an admission that the tax does in fact hurt the economy.
Both the federal Conservatives and New Democrats are demanding that the Liberals fix a dangerous EpiPen shortage. The epinephrine auto-injectors get life-saving epinephrine into the human body for people suffering from serious allergic reactions. The two opposition parties differed on how the government should best ensure an adequate supply.
Are asylum seekers illegal? Or irregular? And are they really jumping a queue? The Globe’s Tavia Grant breaks down the facts behind the influx of thousands of refugee claimants into Canada, many walking across the border.
Canada’s job market is expected to soften in coming months after a recent stretch of robust growth, according to an internal federal analysis prepared for Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
Toronto Mayor John Tory is attacking his latest challenger in the mayoral campaign, former planner Jennifer Keesmaat, who has publicly mused about “secession” for the city. Mr. Tory is also pushing a plan to keep property taxes low, in an attempt to contrast himself with Ms. Keesmaat, who is being backed by several left-leaning councillors who have called for tax increases.
Canadian Museum for Human Rights says it will remove Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi from a display about human rights defenders over the humanitarian crisis facing her country’s Rohingya Muslims. A photo of her will remain in a display about honorary Canadians.
Calgarians will vote in a referendum on Nov. 13 on whether the city should made a costly bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics. The city could take lessons from the experience in Vancouver, which held a successful referendum before pushing ahead with a bid for the 2010 Games.
The legalization of marijuana this fall could open up a new industry: cannabis tourism.
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister has shuffled his cabinet about halfway through his mandate, making changes in major ministries such as health and finance.
A dispute over the Alberta government's decision to hire a road maintenance firm from British Columbia to care for nearly half of the province’s highways is heading to court. Five road contractors from Alberta have filed a lawsuit against the province, alleging the process to award the $482-million contract was unfair.
Pierre Karl Peladeau, the business magnate and former head of the Parti Québécois, has plead guilty to breaking a Quebec election law in connection to his leadership bid. He used his personal funds to repay debts of around $135,000 from his campaign. Quebec election law states that leadership candidates must pay off debt with individual donations or be slapped with a fine between $5,000 and $20,000. Mr. Peladeau is contesting his fine. He resigned in May, 2016, citing family reasons.
The federal government is giving New Brunswick $39-million to help the province recover from historic floods earlier this year. Federal funding will go towards covering response and recovery costs, the province said.
At least three people are dead after protesters in Zimbabwe clashed with soldiers. Opposition supporters took to the streets in protest of the ruling party, which they say tried to rig the country’s presidential election earlier this week. President Emmerson Mnangagwa assumed his role after longtime ruler Robert Mugabe was forced to resign late last year and faced off against Nelson Chamisa in the vote. Mr. Mnangagwa’s ruling ZANU-PF party won 145 of 210 seats in the National Assembly but delayed announcing the results of the presidential race.
China is vowing retaliation against the U.S. if the White House moves forward with a 25 per cent tariff on Chinese goods. The import duties target thousands of Chinese products ranging from steel and aluminum to baseball gloves and beauty products. The trade war between the world’s two biggest economies has been cutting into global factory activity, which sputtered across the world last month.
The U.S. Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged, letting the central bank stay on course for a hike in September. The Fed had positive words for the state of the U.S. economy, saying growth has been rising and the job market has been strengthening.
Google left the Chinese market eight years ago in protest of the government’s wide-ranging censorship and online hacking. But the search giant is said to be developing a censored search engine for China that restricts content that is deemed unfavourable by the Communist Party. Google, along with major social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, is unavailable for the majority of Chinese internet users.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on two Turkish cabinet ministers in a renewed attempt to get its NATO ally to repatriate Andrew Brunson, an American pastor imprisoned in the country for nearly two years. Turkish authorities accuse Mr. Brunson of supporting a failed coup against President Tayyip Erdogan.
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on election meddling: “Given the latest Facebook revelations, Ottawa needs a more comprehensive plan to safeguard the 2019 federal vote. Now would be a good time to tell Canadians about it.”
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on the cancellation of Ontario’s basic income experiment: “Ms. MacLeod has already said that all that is required to ‘restore dignity’ in people who need social assistance is to find them a job. In fact, 70 per cent of the people in the pilot project have jobs, according to the government. And yet they still don’t earn enough to feed their families, pay their rent or complete their education.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on basic income: “It’s no surprise that basic income programs aren’t at the top of Mr. Ford’s agenda. His government announced a broader rollback of social-assistance increases.” (for subscribers)
Hugh Segal (The Globe and Mail) on Doug Ford’s attitudes toward low-income people: “The new Ontario government has a choice to make: kindhearted, fiscally responsible, inclusive Progressive Conservatives or narrow-minded, deeply ideological, exclusionary conservatives?”
Jennifer A. Jeffs and Meredith Williams (Policy Options) on fintech: “To nurture coordination in the sector and incentivize innovation, Canada needs a national fintech strategy to identify trends, areas of opportunity, regulatory obstacles and challenges, and investment priorities. A distinct national fintech strategy with its own budget and strategic leadership would propel the coordination among the fintech players in Canada needed to drive the sector to become more competitive globally.”
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