Good morning,
Control of the U.S. Congress and governorships of key swing states remain on a knife edge, with Republicans making modest gains in midterm elections yesterday but failing to achieve a hoped-for wave as a string of their election-denier candidates lost to President Joe Biden’s Democrats.
With tight races across the country, several Republican lawsuits aimed at disqualifying swathes of mail-in ballots and some of former president Donald Trump’s acolytes already lobbing baseless accusations of election fraud, the final result could be fought over for days, if not weeks.
A long list of major issues is at stake in the most consequential midterms in decades, with inflation, abortion, undocumented immigration, crime and voting rights all on the ballot. Candidates, parties and campaign groups have poured a record US$16.7-billion into the election.
- David Shribman: In American politics, nothing ever is over
An attendee points to her pins as people gather for a Republican election night watch party in Scottsdale, Arizona, on November 8, 2022.OLIVIER TOURON/AFP/Getty Images
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Ottawa warns of China’s growing threat in new Indo-Pacific strategy
Ottawa’s long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy will call out China as an increasingly disruptive global power, in a reversal of the government’s previous policy of avoiding confrontation with the world’s second-largest economy.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly will outline the broad themes of the government’s new strategy in a major speech to be delivered in Toronto today to the Asia Pacific Foundation and the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. An advance copy of the speech was provided exclusively to The Globe and Mail.
In the text, Joly says Canada must continue to trade with an autocratic and increasingly assertive China because of the sheer size of its economy. But, she says, Ottawa needs to be vigilant about the risks of deepening ties to a country that flouts basic human rights, ignores trade and investment rules and does not share Canadian values.
Trudeau told Doug Ford that Ontario did not need more legal tools to clear bridge blockade, document shows
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Ontario Premier Doug Ford that the provincial leader did not need additional legal tools to clear a blockade of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., Canada’s busiest commercial crossing to the United States – five days before Trudeau gave the government sweeping legal powers using the Emergencies Act.
Meeting minutes of the leaders’ Feb. 9 call were tabled with the Emergencies Act inquiry on Tuesday. During the call, Ford said he had asked Ontario’s Attorney-General to look for legal ways to give police more tools, “because the police are a little shy and I can’t direct them.” Trudeau replied that the Premier “shouldn’t need more tools – legal tools – they are barricading the ON economy and doing millions of damage a day and harming people’s lives.”
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Also on our radar
Ontario to give education workers ‘improved offer,’ Ford says: Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he no longer wants to fight with education workers and is giving them what he calls an “improved offer” – a day after agreeing to scrap legislation that stripped them of their constitutional right to a legal strike and provoked an outcry from across the labour movement.
Provinces reject proposed hike in health care funding: Canada’s provinces and territories have rejected a proposed increase in federal health care funding, in part because Ottawa tied the offer to the creation of national human resources and data collection programs.
Western allies should not waver, Ukraine says: The West must increase its military support to Ukraine in order to match the assistance that Moscow’s allies, notably Iran, are providing to Russia, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, has warned.
- Russian exodus to Georgia shakes a former Soviet state walking a political tightrope
- Ukraine denies Western pressure to soften stance on talks with Russia
- Second Canadian killed fighting in Ukraine
Manitoba reverses policy on ICU care for Nunavut children: Manitoba has reopened its only pediatric intensive-care unit to patients from Nunavut, reversing a policy that had doctors in the territory’s central region scrambling to find alternative hospitals willing to admit severely ill Inuit children.
Bridging Finance under RCMP investigation: The RCMP have launched a criminal probe into Bridging Finance Inc., the private lender that was placed into receivership in 2021 and whose collapse is estimated to result in $1.3-billion worth of losses for investors.
Trucking billionaire early favourite to buy Ottawa Senators: Transport billionaire Michael Andlauer is the early favourite to be the next owner of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, as the former beer-league goalie goes up against some of Canada’s wealthiest entrepreneurs in a battle for membership in hockey’s most exclusive club.
Morning markets
World stocks stall: World stocks stalled below recent seven-week highs on Wednesday, while the U.S. dollar was steady as investors awaited the results of the closely-watched U.S. midterm elections. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was off 0.35 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 slid 0.87 per cent and 0.51 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei finished down 0.56 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.2 per cent. New York futures were negative. The Canadian dollar was weaker at 74.29 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Robyn Urback: “In the spirit of Ms. Freeland’s self-aware, money-saving advice, here are a few more tips for regular Canadians to consider while they kill time before their appointment at the nearby food bank.”
Norm O’Reilly and Rick Burton: “Hockey Canada currently and rightfully sits at its nadir, a disgraced institution that must face its sins before moving on to rebuild. It’s time to ask a simple question with no easy answers: Where can Hockey Canada go from here?”
Today’s editorial cartoon
Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
Living better
Here’s some important advice on exercise and aging
While medical advances and industrial enterprise have helped much of society live longer, easier, more fulfilling lives, this extended existence isn’t a free ride on Easy Street. Preventative maintenance in the form of physical activity and exercise is still required. So when The Globe and Mail asked readers to share their most pressing fitness questions, many asked about exercising as we age. Here’s some advice.
Moment in time: Nov. 9, 1985
Gary Kasparov became the youngest World Champion in 1985 when he beat reigning champion Anatoliy Karpov.Miroslav Zajic/Corbis via Getty Images)
Garry Kasparov becomes youngest chess world champion
As a child growing up in the Soviet Union, Garry Kasparov had a piece of paper affixed to his bedroom wall that read, “If not you, who else?” It was to remind him to take ultimate responsibility for his life. From the moment he stunned his family by solving a newspaper chess problem at age 6, Kasparov seemed to be firmly in control. His prowess took him to the Young Pioneer Palace in his hometown of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to fine-tune his game, earning him the title of Candidate Master by age 10 and admission to the Soviet school of chess. At 12, he won the USSR’s under-18 championship and a year later became the youngest to represent the Soviet Union at the world juniors. The title of Grand Master soon followed at 17, the year Kasparov won the under-20 world championship. His ascent brought him into the orbit of Anatoly Karpov, a fellow Soviet who had held the world title for a decade. But after a titanic tussle – 120 games over four matches – a 22-year-old Kasparov became the youngest world champion in the sport’s history. – Paul Attfield
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