Good morning. The first major piece of litigation dealing with solitary confinement for young inmates is set to go to trial in Canada. More on the landmark class-action lawsuit below, plus a closer look at labour troubles this summer and the Toronto International Film Festival’s 50th anniversary. Let’s get to it.
Lawyer James Sayce, the class action’s lead counsel, in Toronto on August 28.Jennifer Roberts/The Globe and Mail
TOP STORY
Class action to challenge Manitoba’s use of solitary confinement on children
The latest: Manitoba’s practice of putting incarcerated children in segregation jail cells − including some who are as young as 12 and 13 years old − will be challenged this fall. The trial follows several recent lawsuits against governments in Canada that have successfully challenged aspects of how solitary confinement is used in adult prisons.
What else: In Manitoba, the segregation of children in youth detention centres is permitted in certain circumstances, but it is to be used as a last resort and not as a punishment. The class action alleges that the government is not following its own policies and that young people are being regularly sent to solitary confinement for weeks and even months at a time. Lawyer James Sayce, the class action’s lead counsel, said that the impact of such confinement on an adult’s health has been well documented.
What’s next: The trial is scheduled for Nov. 17 in Winnipeg.
Volunteers and Taliban security work to move injured people near a military helicopter following earthquakes in the Mazar Dara village of Nurgal, in Eastern Afghanistan, on September 1.WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP/Getty Images
World
Taliban asks for international aid after earthquake devastates Afghanistan
The latest: One of Afghanistan’s worst earthquakes has rescuers battling to reach remote mountainous areas cut off from mobile networks along the Pakistani border. The quake killed more than 1,100 people and injured at least 3,250, authorities said on Monday.
What’s next: The disaster will further stretch the resources of the war-torn country’s Taliban administration, already struggling with crises including a sharp drop in foreign aid. Led by the U.S., aid cuts are the reason dozens of clinics are closed and a helicopter is out of use, humanitarian officials said. China, India and the United Nations have said they are prepared to help.
The culinary team assemble lunches to be distributed at schools in Halifax, at the Upward Kitchen prep kitchen.Carolina Andrade/The Globe and Mail
How We Live
Nova Scotia’s school lunch program kicks off again
The latest: Every province and territory has signed a deal with the federal government as part of the five-year, $1-billion National School Food Program announced in 2024. The program’s primary goal is to improve access to nutritious food, but it’s also to help reduce grocery bills for families. In Nova Scotia, the program was ambitious and well-intentioned. But as is often the case with introducing new food to kids and feeding large groups on a limited budget, the offerings weren’t to everyone’s taste.
What’s next: Next week, the lunch program will kick off its second year, with a provincial commitment of $80-million (Nova Scotia received $12.4-million over three years from the federal program) as it expands to all middle and junior high schools.
More back to school reading
- At McMaster University, hot takes and hot tips help ease newcomers into university life
- The real cost of a school year, beyond the back-to-school shopping push.
- Nobody eats more than teenage boys. We asked three of them how they manage.
- Do school cellphone bans work? The results are mixed.
Illustration by Illustration by Kagan McLeod
Arts
50 moments that made TIFF
The latest: Across five decades, the Toronto International Film Festival has not only changed the way movies around the world are made and marketed, it has fundamentally altered the identity of a city, maybe even a country. On the festival’s 50th anniversary, The Globe and Mail presents the 50 moments that made TIFF Canada’s brightest, glitziest and most inescapable cultural institution.
What’s next: The 15 buzziest movies you can’t miss at this year’s Toronto film festival.
Labour
The summer funk isn’t over yet for young, jobless Canadians
The latest: With the youth unemployment rate at a rare high, Gen Zers are scrambling for entry-level work – and there’s no hope of a quick fix, economists say. Over the past three years, total job vacancies across the country have plunged by roughly half.
What’s next: A population that surged between 2022 and 2024 (fuelled in large part by temporary residents), plus the rise of artificial intelligence (and speculation that it could decimate entry-level work in some fields) has only added to the anxiety.
What else: Meanwhile, Canada’s job market is flatlining as the trade war takes its toll, according to Statistics Canada.
Bookmarked
- Middle East: Israel launched strikes across the Gaza Strip and began mobilizing tens of thousands of reservists on Tuesday as part of its plan to widen its offensive in Gaza City.
- Global governance: Defying U.S. pressure, China’s Xi advances his vision for a new global order.
- For your finances: In a booming stock market, it’s worth taking a hard look at just how much of the market’s hype you’re exposed to.
- New you: Move over, January. Globe readers share their September resolutions for a season of change
- Conversation starter: As a professor of literature, I have serious concerns about the debates over books happening in Alberta, writes Kit Dobson.
The Quote
Today, [Alan’s] memory tugs more on our conscience than on our evolving legal system, which is increasingly directed at rationing refuge and asylum as opposed to giving it out freely and with the generosity Canadians were once known for
Ten years after drowned toddler Alan Kurdi prompted renewed compassion for refugees, experts fear Canada is heading in the wrong direction.
The Shot
We heard you were planning to travel in Canada this summer, so we asked you to drop us a line.Illustration by Sarah Farquhar
This spring, while many Canadians made plans to spend their summer vacation without crossing the U.S. border, we asked Globe readers to send us a postcard from your journey. Here’s some of what arrived in our mailbox.