Minister of Finance Bill Morneau delivers the fall fiscal update in the House of Commons Tuesday October 24, 2017 in Ottawa.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Good morning,
These are the top stories:
Bill Morneau is promising to donate millions in family-firm profits to charity
The Finance Minister's pledge comes after criticism over how he has handled his own substantial wealth while in office. He's now donating more than $5-million earned on shares from Morneau Shepell in addition to selling shares in the firm. But ethics watchdog Mary Dawson says she's concerned about Morneau's sponsorship of pension legislation that could benefit Morneau Shepell.
Morneau first came under fire after The Globe and Mail revealed last week that he hadn't put his holdings in a blind trust. Morneau has since vowed to place his assets in blind trust, a measure Justin Trudeau considers the gold standard for avoiding conflicts of interest.
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JFK assassination records have been released
But Donald Trump reluctantly held back hundreds of records due to CIA and FBI concerns. In the end, 2,800 files were released. The documents offer a glimpse into the frantic days that followed President John F. Kennedy's assassination on Nov. 22, 1963. Agents were sorting through rumours and investigating leads around the world. They also offer a glimpse into the administration's strained relations with Cuba, including plots to assassinate Fidel Castro.
The Chinese firm buying Canada's Aecon was subject to a fraud ban by World Bank
China Communications Construction, which is buying Aecon for $1.45-billion, has worked with Beijing to assert sovereignty in the disputed South China Sea (a number of countries all lay claim to the region). The firm was banned from bidding on World Bank construction projects for more than seven years because of "fraudulent practices" by a company it acquired. The deal still needs to undergo at least one review by the Trudeau government. If the deal is approved, there is the possibility Aecon could face U.S. sanctions or be blocked from bidding on U.S. contracts (for subscribers).
A Canadian woman who survived Hiroshima will jointly accept the Nobel Peace Prize
And she's calling on Justin Trudeau to sign onto a United Nations accord to ban nuclear weapons. "I question the quality of leadership of the Prime Minister," 85-year-old Setsuko Thurlow said. "Can he imagine how he would feel to watch his own children just incinerated, melted, carbonized? That's what happened in front of me, and I watched the city full of those people who simply melted," she said. Thurlow will accept the Nobel Prize on behalf of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
So far, 122 countries have signed onto the UN treaty. Canada, the U.S. and all NATO partners have refused. And while the treaty has no binding effect on countries with nuclear weapons, advocates hope it's the first step toward banishing them.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
'Secret' memos reveal efforts to influence Canada's Food Guide
Health Canada has banned meetings with food industry lobbyists as it works on the first update to the food guide in a decade. But that hasn't stopped another federal department, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, from doing just that: "Messages that encourage a shift toward plant-based sources of protein would have negative implications for the meat and dairy industries," reads a memo marked "secret" sent earlier this year. It's a sign of the challenges the government faces when needing to balance health research and other priorities such as supporting the agriculture industry. Health Canada has emphasized that all final decisions will be based on health concerns.
MORNING MARKETS
European shares hit a five-month high on Friday as one of the biggest weekly drops in the euro this year buoyed investors' moods. The euro fell after the European Central Bank signalled it would tread carefully as it removes stimulus. Tokyo's Nikkei gained 1.2 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.8 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 0.3 and 1 per cent by about 6 a.m. ET. New York futures were also up. The Canadian dollar has traded between 77.6 cents and 77.9 cents early on. Oil prices steadied, with benchmark Brent crude trading just below $60 a barrel, buoyed by comments from Saudi Arabia's crown prince backing the extension of OPEC-led output cuts.
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WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT
For pot legalization to work, we need lots of legal pot
"Despite claims to the contrary – usually emanating from law enforcement – the best data available suggests Canada's illegal market for cannabis is no longer dominated by organized crime. … Government is thus competing with small-scale operations, not transnational cartels. Eliminating that competition is a stated priority of Ottawa's legalization plan, and slashing prices is a good way to go about it. With one proviso: There has to be adequate supply. Legalization experiments in U.S. states like Washington and Colorado provide plenty of cautionary tales on the latter front. Ottawa, which controls the approval process for licensed providers, should heed them and make sure the supply of legal weed meets the demand." – Globe editorial
Bush set the stage for the Trumpian upheaval
"George W. Bush delivered a humdinger of a speech carving up fellow Republican Donald Trump last week. Applause rang out from all quarters, marking another step in the rehabilitation of one of the United States' worst presidents. The speech properly pilloried the current Oval Office occupant. It weighed in on how he was turning nationalism into nativism, emboldening bigotry across the land, spurning free markets and other American ideals. The only thing missing from the Bush oration was an 'Oh, by the way,' line. As in: 'Oh, by the way, I helped create the guy. It was my warped governance that set the stage for a Donald Trump.'" – Lawrence Martin
HEALTH PRIMER
Forget what you think you know about veganism and fitness
In lifting culture, meat is often considered a necessary means to build muscle. But as personal trainer (and vegan) Paul Landini writes, protein can also be found in lentils, tempeh, beans and quinoa. Another misconception is that tofu is off limits for vegans because it's made from soy, which contains a plant-based estrogen. But apples, yams, carrots and coffee also have that estrogen compound.
MOMENT IN TIME
The death of Dominion Day
Oct. 27, 1982: No one who is less than middle-aged will understand or care, but the word "dominion" used to mean something. Canada, on July 1, 1867, became a self-governing dominion within the British Empire. The word "dominion" was inspired by the verse from the King James Version of Psalm 72: "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth." July 1 became Dominion Day. But French Canadians never liked the word, while English Canada divided between an old, British-loving guard who defended it, and everyone else. On a sleepy afternoon in 1982, with scarcely a dozen MPs present, the Liberals brought forward a private member's bill to change Dominion Day to Canada Day. In minutes, the bill passed the House and it was eventually given royal assent in the Senate on Oct. 27. The old guard still mourn the change. But there aren't many of them left. – John Ibbitson
Morning Update is written by Arik Ligeti.
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