Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day waits to appear at the Commons Aboriginal affairs committee on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Thursday, April 14, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian WyldAdrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
First Nations leaders have halted their collaboration with Ottawa on environmental policy
The Liberals aren't keeping their promise to work in partnership with Indigenous people, the leaders argue in a letter to Justin Trudeau. Three members of the Assembly of First Nations executive committee say they are not getting a fair say in helping to craft environmental legislation on mining, oil and gas and pipeline projects. "Our order of priority is environmental sustainability and then the national interest," Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day said. "The federal government's order of priority is the national interest and then environmental sustainability." Day questioned Trudeau's commitment to establishing nation-to-nation relations with Indigenous people.
This is the daily Morning Update newsletter. If you're reading this on the web, or if someone forwarded this e-mail to you, you can sign up for Morning Update and all Globe newsletters here.
If you like this newsletter, you might want to subscribe to our Evening Update newsletter. It's a roundup of the important stories of the day that will be delivered to your inbox every weekday around 5 p.m. ET.
Dalhousie University is pursuing disciplinary action against a student leader
Masuma Khan, a vice-president of the Dalhousie Student Union, wrote a Facebook post defending a motion to not participate in Canada 150 celebrations. The Nova Scotia Young Progressive Conservatives had protested the decision, saying the student union shouldn't be focused on "attacking Canada." "Be proud of this country? For what, over 400 years of genocide?" read a portion of Khan's response, which contained profanity. Graduate student Michael Smith filed a complaint alleging Khan's post targeted "white people" and was "blatant discrimination." After conducting an investigation, Dalhousie determined Khan violated its student code of conduct. Khan is fighting the disciplinary action.
Justin Trudeau says it's not up to Ottawa to challenge Quebec's new law on face coverings
On Wednesday, the Quebec legislature passed a law that will force people to show their faces when receiving government services. The move has been widely criticized for targeting Muslim Canadian women; some say it may result in women who wear a niqab or burka being denied essential services such as hospital treatment. The Prime Minister wouldn't say if he thought Bill 62 was unconstitutional but did vow to defend the principles contained in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Quebec "has the right to pass its own laws," Trudeau said while campaigning in the province ahead of a federal by-election.
Here's Campbell Clark's take: "Trudeau's March, 2015, speech made his views clear. 'It is a cruel joke to claim you are liberating people from oppression by dictating in law what they can and cannot choose to wear,' he said. … Muslim-Canadians might have expected to hear [those words] again now. As PM, he has a bully pulpit, but he appears wary of being labelled a bully."
Dalton McGuinty's chief of staff 'learned' how to double delete e-mails
The revelation emerged from court documents presented at the trial of David Livingston and Laura Miller, who served as chief of staff and deputy chief of staff to the former Ontario premier, respectively. The pair are facing criminal breach of trust and mischief charges in connection with the destruction of e-mails and other government records related to the cancellation of the two power plants before the 2011 provincial election. Livingston wrote in an e-mail that he "learned a couple of things" about how to delete e-mails to ensure they can't be retrieved. His note was sent in the summer of 2012, a time when the Ontario Liberals were facing backlash to the gas plant cancellations.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Bill Morneau says he's going to set up a blind trust
The change in course comes after The Globe and Mail revealed earlier this week that the Finance Minister hadn't placed his substantial wealth in a blind trust – a measure he said he would take after being elected in 2015. Morneau also said he will sell all his shares in his family firm, Morneau Shepell. His remaining assets, which are in a family trust, will be placed in a blind trust to be overseen by a trustee. That's the same approach Trudeau has taken with his family fortune and what the Prime Minister considers the gold standard for avoiding conflicts of interest.
MORNING MARKETS
European stocks, the U.S. dollar and bond yields climbed on Friday as investors speculated on the return of the "Trumpflation trade," after the U.S. Senate approved a budget blueprint that paves the way for tax cuts. Tokyo's Nikkei inched up, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.2 per cent, and the Shanghai composite 0.3 per cent. In Europe London's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were up by between 0.1 and 0.3 per cent by about 5:50 a.m. ET. New York futures were also up, and the Canadian dollar was just shy of 80 cents (U.S.). Oil prices rose, supported by signs of tightening supply and demand fundamentals.
NEW - We've launched a new Top Business: Evening Edition newsletter providing a summary of the biggest business headlines of the day. You can sign up for it here.
WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT
Bombardier-Airbus deal exposes the folly of corporate welfare
"When governments attempt to pick winners and losers with tax dollars, they inevitably lose money; the ostensible economic effects pointed to by subsidy supporters are almost always overstated; most "investment," "targeting" or attempts to build "clusters" – "super" or otherwise – merely displace capital flows, economic outcomes and employment and tax revenues from one jurisdiction to another; government attempts to game the market often end up with negative economic outcomes. The flight of part of Bombardier's taxpayer-subsidized C Series production to Alabama is only the latest example." – Mark Milke, author of reports on subsidies to business
How can arts industries protect their artists from abuse?
"Certainly, there's some cause for optimism in the continuing public outcry and social-media storm that have greeted the allegations against [Harvey] Weinstein. In the first days of the scandal, as Hollywood piled on with its shocked disavowals, many observers figured the industry was looking for a convenient scapegoat, a monster who could be banished to that sex-rehab clinic so that the rest of the bad guys could quietly go back to their usual ways. But Weinstein is, as actor Emma Thompson quickly identified, only 'the top of the iceberg' – and it's going to take lots of outrage and zero tolerance to melt the rest of the rock." – Kate Taylor
HEALTH PRIMER
The truth about cannabis in cancer care
Dispensaries are pitching marijuana as a potential cancer cure. But the science remains unclear. Certain cannabis chemicals might kill tumour cells, but so does bleach. The only human trial of marijuana for tumours produced inconclusive results. And in another study, cannabis compounds appeared to stimulate cancer-cell growth. It will likely take years before we get any definitive answers.
MOMENT IN TIME
Mattel offers exchanges for math-challenged Barbies
Oct. 20, 1992: "Math class is tough!" The words chirped out of Teen Talk Barbie, infuriating parents, educators and feminist groups who noted that women were already vastly underrepresented in the math and science fields – and did not need commentary from a ditzy doll with big hair. Each Teen Talk Barbie uttered four of a total of 270 options programmed into her voice box – noxious lines such as "Let's plan our dream wedding!" and "Will we ever have enough clothes?" After widespread condemnation, the company offered customers an exchange on its math-challenged dolls. Though the gaffe would become legendary, the message didn't quite sink in. Two decades later, Mattel released Computer Engineer Barbie with an accompanying book. Her superpowers? Infecting laptops with viruses, failing to back up her work and running to the boys in the library for help. Marketing is tough, Barbie. – Zosia Bielski
Morning Update is written by Arik Ligeti.
If you'd like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday morning, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.