Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Liberals propose voluntary assault-rifle buyback program after campaigning to make it mandatory
The Liberal government is changing course on an election promise to buy “all assault rifles” currently owned in Canada, opting instead for a voluntary program that would allow rifle owners to sell their guns to the government or keep them under a strict grandfathering process.
The buyback is part of a package of gun-control measures tabled today that would also increase penalties for gun smuggling, introduce red-flag laws, create a criminal offense for altering magazine capacities beyond lawful limits and permit municipalities to ban handguns.
Many gun-control advocates have pressed for a national handgun ban, warning that leaving it up to municipalities would create an ineffective patchwork of regulations.
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The COVID-19 grading curve: Schools rethink expectations for students who’ve lost time
Early indicators emerging across Canada show many students are behind in their learning, with some having fallen behind as much as a full year, education reporter Caroline Alphonso writes. Education advocates worry that without swift action, those losses will persist long after COVID-19 wanes, which could lead to a generation of children who grow more disengaged with school – and a country with higher high-school dropout rates.
In international COVID-19 developments, Italian health experts are calling on the government for a tight new lockdown as British COVID-19 variant sweeps through the country.
Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is defending the lifting of a stay-home order for the majority of the province’s regions today despite warnings it could lead to a third wave.
Opinion: Canada’s nursing shortage is a gaping wound in our health care system - André Picard
Read more:
- ‘Boom, this just hit’: Newfoundland offers a cautionary tale about the threat of new COVID-19 variants
- One shot to protect us all: Canadian scientists’ quest to develop a vaccine that fights all types of coronavirus
- With urban loneliness on the rise amid lockdowns, cities trying to support residents
- Racialized adults should be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination, new guidance suggests
Air Canada’s takeover of Transat up in the air after deadline passes
Air Canada’s planned takeover of rival Transat AT is up in the air after yesterday’s deadline to win approval from European regulators came and went without their endorsement.
The companies are pursuing talks about unspecified “potential amendments” that could keep their deal alive, Transat said in a statement. But Air Canada won’t agree to extend the deadline, which means either company now has the legal right to walk away from the transaction at any time, Transat said.
The development comes as the federal government and Canada’s airlines are at a critical stage in backroom negotiations that could soon end months of haggling and result in a multibillion-dollar rescue plan for the pandemic-hobbled industry.
Conservatives urge moving Beijing Olympics over treatment of Uyghurs, but Trudeau disputes use of term ‘genocide’
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole is urging the minority Liberal government to press Olympic organizers to move the 2022 Winter Games out of China because, he says, Beijing is committing genocide against the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang.
But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the word “genocide” is an “extremely loaded” term and he is not at this point prepared to use it to describe China’s treatment of the Uyghurs.
O’Toole, however, said years of reports from human rights monitors, from Western media outlets and from Uyghurs themselves are enough reason to act.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Fine sought against Navalny: Prosecutors asked a Moscow court to fine jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny on charges of defaming a Second World War veteran, keeping up pressure on the prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin.
New charge against Suu Kyi: Police in Myanmar have filed a new charge against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, her lawyer says, in a move that may allow her to be held indefinitely without trial as part of an intensifying crackdown by authorities who seized power in a coup.
Hong Kong activists’ trial begins: Two former Hong Kong lawmakers pleaded guilty to illegal assembly charges today, as a trial opened for them and seven other prominent democracy activists in what is seen as a crackdown on dissent in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
Case dismissed in NYC racist run-in: Amy Cooper, the white woman arrested last spring for calling 911 during a dispute with Black birdwatcher Christian Cooper in New York’s Central Park, had her criminal case dismissed after completing a counselling program meant to educate her on the harm of her actions.
New record for bitcoin: Bitcoin soared above US$50,000 briefly today to an all-time high, adding steam to a rally fuelled by signs that the world’s biggest cryptocurrency is gaining acceptance among mainstream investors and companies.
Marriott CEO dies: Marriott International chief executive officer Arne Sorenson, 62, who grew the company into the world’s largest hotel chain and was undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer, has died.
Snow halts services in Greece: Heavy snowfall blanketed the Acropolis and other ancient monuments in Athens, caused power cuts and halted COVID-19 vaccinations in the Greek capital today as the weather brought many services across the country to a standstill.
The snow-covered acropolis during a heavy snow fall over Athens on Feb. 16, 2021.LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images
MARKET WATCH
North America markets were mixed today, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average notching a record closing high as cyclical sectors gained on the prospect of more fiscal aid to lift the U.S. economy. Canada’s main stock index also reached a record close, with the energy sector getting a boost from crude oil surpassing US$60 a barrel
The Dow rose 64.35 points or 0.2 per cent to 31,522.75, the S&P 500 slipped 2.24 points or 0.06 per cent to 3,932.59 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 47.97 points or 0.34 per cent to 14,047.50. The S&P/TSX composite index gained 32.29 points or 0.17 per cent to end at 18,492.50.
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TALKING POINT
The shell game: It’s time for Canada to get serious about financial crime
“If Canada wants to be taken seriously by the Biden administration and other key allies, it can’t appear soft on financial crime. The U.S. State Department has already made it clear that it considers Canada a major money-laundering jurisdiction.” - Rita Trichur
LIVING BETTER
For the third project in The Globe’s Craft Club, it’s time to let your imagination run wild and get into the creative world of collage. Join Jana G. Pruden and Winnipeg musician Scott Nolan, who has found making collages during the pandemic calming and comforting, today at 7 p.m. ET live on Facebook and at tgam.ca/craftclub. You can find out more here, and keep up to date on other activities with our Facebook group.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Pioneering Oilers team was ‘something special’ and players didn’t even realize it
Georges Laraque during an NHL game on March 23, 2006. His mother and father immigrated to Canada from Haiti, and feared their son would be unwelcome in rinks where there were so few faces that looked like his.Jeff Vinnick/AFP/Getty Images
As he grew up, Georges Laraque’s parents tried to persuade him not to play hockey. They chose not to drive him to practice in the hope it would discourage him. So he pedalled a bicycle through the snow and cold in Montreal with a stick in one hand and an equipment bag strapped to his back. “They thought I would quit, but I didn’t,” Laraque says.
Laraque went on to become a bruising forward for 12 years in the NHL. In 2000-01, he was a member of an Edmonton team that was historic for its makeup. Along with Laraque, the Oilers had four other Black players on the active roster in Sean Brown, Anson Carter, Joaquin Gage and Mike Grier.
Never before or since has there been such representation on one NHL team. That season, there were 16 Black players in the entire 30-team league. The Oilers had 30 per cent of them. Read Marty Klinkenberg’s full story here.
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