Good morning. The Air Transat pilots’ union has issued a strike notice for early Wednesday morning. More on that below, along with the return of Indigenous artifacts and a rebound in employment data. Let’s get to it.
Air Transat planes at Pearson airport in Toronto. Sept., 10, 2020.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
TOP STORY
Air Transat to begin suspending flights today
The latest: The Montreal-based airline and the Air Line Pilots Association have failed to reach a new collective agreement in talks that began last winter. Both sides are in legal strike or lockout positions on Wednesday.
The context: The union is seeking better pay and working conditions. The previous agreement was signed in 2015. The carrier on Sunday morning called the strike notice “premature.” Air Transat said it believes an agreement is possible. Air Canada’s 5,200 pilots reached a deal with raises of 42 per cent over four years.
What’s next: Air Transat says it will begin suspending flights on Monday, with a complete shutdown by Tuesday.
Why’s that: Airlines take this step ahead of possible work stoppages to avoid stranding passengers, crew and aircraft. However, the move risks stranding passengers already at their destinations, and comes just ahead of the busy holiday travel season.
A woman with pram walks past portraits along the Alley of Fallen Heroes in a district of Kyiv on Dec. 7, 2025.SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images
World
Kremlin welcomed Trump’s national security strategy
The latest: The Kremlin said on Sunday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s new national security strategy largely aligned with Russia’s own vision, the first time that Moscow has so fulsomely praised such a document from its former Cold War foe.
On the ground: Russian missile, drone and shelling attacks over the weekend killed at least four people in Ukraine, after U.S. and Ukrainian officials wrapped up a third day of talks aimed at ending the war.
What’s next: Officials said the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany would participate in a meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in London on Monday.
Analysis: Trump’s National Security Strategy is a dramatic rejection of the world order his predecessors created
Costume designer Ming Wong poses for a portrait in the Canadian Stage costume studio in Toronto on Nov. 14, 2025.DUANE COLE/The Globe and Mail
How We Live
From sketch to stage
The latest: In a lot of ways, the colourful, larger-than-life pantomime is Ming Wong’s Super Bowl. The costume designer is the mind behind the elaborate costumes in Toronto’s annual holiday theatre tradition. The Globe’s theatre reporter, Aisling Murphy, jumped into the action to see how Wong took the costumes from sketch to stage at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre, where Robin Hood will run until Jan. 4.
What’s next: There’s plenty more theatre reading where that came from. Here’s what Elsa and Anna are up to as Frozen fever hits Canadian theatre. Read about how the National Ballet keeps its Nutcracker costumes looking fresh after 30 years. Plus, consider watching Bad Hats’ Narnia, which is described as being huge-hearted and Muppety and packs a surprising emotional wallop.
Representatives of First Nations groups wait as artifacts arrive from the Vatican are unloaded in Montreal on Saturday.Andrej Ivanov/The Globe and Mail
Also this week
A rare Inuvialuit kayak has come home
The latest: A century after taking Canadian Indigenous belongings for an exhibit in Rome, the Inuvialuit kayak and 61 other artifacts are finally home. After a 20-year effort, the artifacts made by Indigenous communities across Canada, arrived in Montreal on Saturday, becoming a key component of an ongoing healing process. The characters, the logistics and reconciliation were part of a long, complicated journey.
What’s next: Once the objects reach the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, they will be catalogued to determine their provenance – though, as legal owners of the objects, the Indigenous groups can remove them from the museum at any time.
Also next: It’s been 10 years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its comprehensive final report. Tanya Talaga asks how the country can move forward.
Opinion: The change of heart also signals a shift in the concept of restitution itself, one with dramatic consequences for museum collections around the world.
Economy
Canada’s jobless rate falls
The latest: Canadian employment surged in November for the third consecutive month as young people picked up tens of thousands of positions, with the results outperforming predictions from economists. The unemployment rate fell to 6.5 per cent in November from 6.9 per cent in October, Statistics Canada reported in its Labour Force Survey.
What’s next: The Bank of Canada is expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday after a string of surprisingly sturdy economic reports.
Future spending: With a generational increase in spending and a NATO target to hit, here’s what a modern defence economy could look like.
Bookmarked
- Immigration: New U.S. data show more Canadians are being detained for immigration violations, not crimes.
- Sports: Canadian team confident as it sizes up its World Cup pool opponents.
- For your finances: Telus adds to this year’s dividend gloom. It may be a learning experience.
- For your socials: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau make their relationship Instagram official.
- Conversation starter: McGill University should rethink the gutting of its varsity sports programs, writes Alex Hutchinson.
The Quote
The only solution is to take real, lasting breaks: to raw-dog life in a way that most people seem to be increasingly uncomfortable doing.
— Oren Weisfeld
What happens when we avoid quiet at all costs? It can lead to an overstimulated mind and hurts people‘s abilities to think clearly and critically. Author Oren Weisfeld learned this the hard way.
The Shot
The Globe and Mail
The Globe is serving up a feel-good Christmas movie every day from now until Dec. 24, consider it our holiday movie advent calendar. Click on today’s link or any previous day, and enjoy!