A Saudi Arabia flag is seen flying on Parliament Hill Nov. 2 in Ottawa.Dave Chan
TOP STORIES
Ottawa is being urged to suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia
Last week, The Globe and Mail reported that Saudi Arabia appears to have deployed Canadian-made armoured vehicles against its own citizens. In response, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland ordered an investigation. But opposition parties and human-rights groups say that's not enough and are calling on the Trudeau government to suspend arms exports to the Mideast country. The videos and photos that surfaced appear to show vehicles made by Newmarket, Ont.-based Terradyne Armored Vehicles being used against Saudi Arabia's Shia population. The central issue is whether Ottawa is violating Canada's weapons export rules that call for restrictions on shipments to countries that have "poor human-rights records."
Here's one perspective on the situation: "The government of Justin Trudeau has played it both ways on foreign policy, speaking grandly about human rights while chasing economic opportunities with autocratic regimes," writes Michael Byers, Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia. "Does the government really care about human rights? Or do economic interests have priority?"
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Trudeau's remarks in Rolling Stone are drawing ire from Indigenous advocates
Trudeau's Rolling Stone cover story continues to make waves, with Indigenous advocates slamming his remarks about Senator Patrick Brazeau as "racist" and "demeaning." In the piece, Trudeau recalls his 2012 charity boxing bout with Brazeau: "I wanted someone who would be a good foil, and we stumbled upon the scrappy tough-guy senator from an Indigenous community. He fit the bill, and it was a very nice counterpoint. I saw it as the right kind of narrative, the right story to tell."
Trudeau's comments are at odds with his much-publicized efforts to improve the government's relationship with the Indigenous community. "He's using Indigenous peoples to try and emphasize the good qualities about himself," said Cindy Blackstock, a First Nations' children's advocate and social-work professor at McGill University. "That really reinforces a lot of negative stereotypes about Indigenous peoples," she added.
CBC is unveiling its plans for The National today
Who will fill Peter Mansbridge's shoes and anchor CBC's The National? That question will be answered today, with the public broadcaster set to reveal its plans for the revamped news program. Word is the organization is looking at having three co-anchors: one in Vancouver, one in Toronto and a rotating third person. The new show is set to kick off in October.
John Kelly's quest to impose order at the White House
New White House chief of staff John Kelly began his tenure with a bang, firing Anthony Scaramucci. The communications director had been appointed only 10 days before, but fell into hot water after a profanity-laced interview with The New Yorker. Kelly, a retired U.S. Marine general, has a tall task: cut back on all the infighting at the White House – and keep Donald Trump in check. As American University professor David Lublin puts it: "The problem, of course, is how you manage the President: Can the Chief of Staff get the President to stop tweeting impulsively?" Lately, Trump has used Twitter to attack Attorney-General Jeff Sessions and over the weekend took aim at China for failing to control North Korea.
The head of St. Michael's College is being chastised for shaming students
Professors, librarians and former administrators at Toronto's University of St. Michael's College say their confidence in president David Mulroney has been "shaken." In a letter, the group argues Mulroney "actively promoted a clear impression of SMC students as party animals and Islamophobes" in a presentation at a Catholic public-relations conference earlier this summer. Mulroney, a former ambassador to China, took the helm as president of St. Michael's in 2015 and has butted heads with the student union over its financial practices and social events. "I'm here as a change agent," Mulroney said. "I never expected everyone to support me and I found I was correct in that." The school is in the process of searching for a new president; Mulroney previously said he wouldn't seek a second three-year term.
Global growth boosts world stocks
World stocks, on their longest streak of monthly gains in more than a decade, rose on Tuesday amid further signs that the global economy is in fine fettle, while the beaten-down U.S. dollar edged up slightly from 14-month lows. Softening U.S. inflation and incessant political turmoil has hit prospects of another Federal Reserve rate hike in coming months and sent the dollar down 10 per cent from its January peaks. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 55.65 points at 7,427.65 just before 5 a.m. (ET). Germany's Dax rose 0.41 per cent to 12,167.82 and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.52 per cent to 5,120.32.In Asia, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.30 per cent to 19,985.79. Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.79 per cent and the Shanghai composite index was up 0.59 per cent. West Texas Intermediate was higher, trading above $50 a barrel. The Canadian dollar was trading at 80.23 cents (U.S.).
WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT
Paltry OxyContin settlement is a betrayal of Canadians
"There is also an argument to be made that the high opioid addiction rate in Canada opened the door to the ongoing crisis involving fentanyl, a much stronger opioid that criminals flooded into the country to meet the demand after OxyContin was pulled from the market. … And yet Canada is prepared to settle for $2-million. It is letting Purdue off with a gentle tickle on the wrist, while failing to even attempt to hold the company to account for marketing claims that its American executives admitted were misleading. If there is a direct legal case to be made that Purdue's false marketing led to thousands of Canadians becoming addicted to a painkiller they were told was non-addictive, it now falls to Ottawa to do so and, if it succeeds, to extract meaningful compensation. It must do so immediately." – Globe editorial
Minimum wages: The small-town view
"Ontario's progressive Premier, Kathleen Wynne, is in the vanguard of a $15 movement that is sweeping both Canada and the United States. Advocates say a $15 minimum wage will reduce both poverty and inequality. And few people will shed a tear for the big, profitable chains – the Wal-Marts and the Loblaws of the world – that will have to ante up. But I don't think Ms. Wynne thought too hard about the impact on small communities, where median wages and the cost of living are far lower than they are in big cities such as Toronto. The unintended consequences will be hard to measure. But they will be real." – Margaret Wente
HEALTH PRIMER
Ottawa's new tax measures unfairly target many doctors
"For years, governments have urged physicians to incorporate, and even provided tips on how to maximize their tax savings with measures such as income sprinkling. They've touted this approach as an alternative to fee hikes. (And doctors can't hike their fees to cover new tax hits.) It is unfair to now claw back these benefits. It is also disingenuous – scurrilous even – to paint physicians as wealthy tax cheats exploiting 'loopholes.'" – André Picard
MOMENT IN TIME
The K2 climbing disaster
Aug. 1, 2008: On this day, 11 climbers died in northern Pakistan after their attempt to climb K2, the world's second-highest mountain at 8,611 metres. Throughout history, dozens of others have died in their attempts to climb the mountain and only a few hundred have ever made it to the top. With a death rate about three times higher than Mount Everest, it is considered by many the world's most difficult peak to climb. The team of 11 died somewhere in an area known as the "death zone" – the part of a mountain, usually above 8,000 metres, where there is not enough oxygen for humans to breathe. The mountaineers were left stranded when the edge of an enormous ice shelf snapped off, sending blocks of ice down the mountain and sweeping away a network of fixed ropes used to get down. Nine of them froze to death, one climber fell to his death and a porter died recovering a body. – Miriam Katawazi
Morning Update is written by Arik Ligeti.
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