Good morning,
These are the top stories:
China is mistreating Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, McCallum told MPs
The two Canadians are being kept in prison cells where the lights are on 24 hours a day, Canada’s ambassador to China John McCallum told a closed-door foreign-relations committee. Authorities are also interrogating both men for up to four hours a day with no access to a lawyer, sources said. Consular officials are only allowed to visit them only once a month for half an hour and those conversations are being monitored.
The tensions between the two countries have upended Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plans for closer ties with China, and Canada’s business community is warning of a chill that could see multimillion-dollar deals scrapped or delayed. (for subscribers)
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Ontario is abandoning a relaxed gun inspection policy
The province is now suspending a policy put in place at the request of the gun-shop lobby that instructed inspectors to stop checking every restricted and prohibited weapon in gun-business inventories. As of March, 2017, inspectors were required to scrutinize as little as 2 per cent of inventory. By contrast, wider inspections are the standard in other provinces.
Ontario’s Chief Firearms Officer Dwight Peer is placing the inspection regime under review, saying “the entire process needs to be revamped.”
The shutdown fight and drama over Trump’s failed Moscow tower deal
U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed offering temporary protections to “Dreamers” as part of an offer to end the 30-day government shutdown. But he said he wouldn’t grant amnesty to those who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. And Democrats are balking at the deal, saying his demand for funding for a border wall along the Mexico border is a non-starter.
Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani says Trump pursued a deal for a tower in Moscow throughout 2016. The President’s lawyer said Trump had discussions about the project with his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, until as late as October or November, 2016. The new details followed a BuzzFeed News story that said Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress about the Moscow deal, a charge Trump and Giuliani denied.
Ottawa’s decision to buy Trans Mountain was based on insider industry analysis
The Liberal government relied on reports from players that included a consultant who had previously worked for pipeline owner Kinder Morgan, according to documents obtained by The Globe (for subscribers).
Finance Minister Bill Morneau turned to the Canadian Development Investment Corp., which scrambled on a tight deadline and delivered some final reports on the risks the day before Ottawa concluded the $4.5-billion acquisition.
One report from a Texas firm said Trans Mountain would bring an additional $12-billion a year in revenues to Western Canadian oil producers, but that number was based on a report it had done for Kinder Morgan in 2017.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
A winter storm in Central Canada and the Maritimes left as much as 50 centimetres of snow piled up in some areas, with New Brunswick the hardest hit as it braces for the risk of flash floods and freezing rain. In Quebec, a section of the Trans-Canada highway was closed, while most of Ontario was under an extreme weather advisory.
We may finally find out what’s going on at the B.C. Legislature. Today, Speaker Darryl Plecas is expected to reveal what alleged wrongdoing drove him to call in the RCMP last summer to investigate Clerk of the House Craig James and Sergeant-at-Arms Gary Lenz. The pair, who both deny wrongdoing, were suspended with pay in November.
Tom Brady is going to the Super Bowl again, with his New England Patriots set to face the Los Angeles Rams in Atlanta in two weeks. Both conference final games were decided in overtime, with the Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints coming up short on home turf.
MORNING MARKETS
Markets mixed
Global stock markets kept their nerve on Monday, as data showed the Chinese economy slowed last year, underlining the need for more stimulus from Beijing. Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 0.4 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite 0.6 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3 per cent by about 6:20 a.m. ET, while Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were down by between 0.2 and 0.5 per cent. The Canadian dollar was just above 75 US cents. Oil prices fell, in line with weaker stock markets.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Why I became a born-again pot smoker at 53
“The pressure to be always sharp, innovative, on point and socially perceptive is bloody exhausting – more so at 53, after decades of keeping up with a world that only ever spins faster and faster. It’s time for us geezers to exercise our legal right (and government blessing) to sometimes be stupid and lost.” – RM Vaughan, Canadian writer and video artist
A year later, former Sears employees – like my mother – face an uncertain future
“What Sears executives and shareholders have done to their employees is outright exploitation. … More measures need to be put in place to protect such workers from other corporations that would do the same. Unfortunately for my mom, and the thousands of other Sears employees such as her, they’ll have to settle for less, as they always have.” – Michelle Buchanan, freelance writer based in Victoria
From London to Washington, politicians are releasing their inner kindergartener
“When crises loom, as they do in Britain and in the United States, politicians need to aim a little higher. Elected officials on both sides of the aisle must rise above the fray and put country and citizens first. They have to govern. In Washington and London, that is not happening. There is no order. Just more chaos.” – Globe editorial
LIVING BETTER
Dietary changes to protect your health – and the planet
Scientists have unveiled recommendations for a “planetary-health diet” that’s estimated to feed 10 billion people by 2050 from sustainable food systems. While largely plant-based, the 2,500-calorie diet doesn’t completely eliminate animal foods, writes Leslie Beck. It can include, each day, one half-ounce of red meat, one ounce each of fish and poultry and one cup of milk or yogurt. One to five eggs can be eaten a week.
MOMENT IN TIME
Arnold Boldt’s long leap at the 1981 Canada Games
For more than 100 years, photographers, photo editors and photo librarians working for The Globe and Mail have preserved an extraordinary collection of 20th-century news photography. Every Monday, The Globe features one of these images. In January, we’re looking back at Canadians living with disabilities.
(Jack Dobson/The Globe and Mail)JACK DOBSON/The Globe and Mail
At 18, Arnold Boldt established himself as the world’s top amputee high jumper, winning gold at what was then known as the Olympiad for the Physically Disabled in Toronto in 1976. A gifted athlete who excelled at track from a young age, Boldt also took home gold that year in another sport, the long jump – a feat that earned him a place in the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. The Saskatchewan native’s long jump was captured by Globe photographer Jack Dobson at the Canada Games in 1981. Boldt’s technique was fascinating to watch, and when asked about it on the CBC’s Front Page Challenge, he explained it thus: “It’s a dive, sort of straddle, sort of roll.” Throughout his career, Boldt – who lost his right leg in a farming accident at the age of 3 – broke world records, won seven golds and one silver, and, at 54, joined the cycling team at the Paralympics in London. – Gayle MacDonald
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