President Donald Trump, flanked by Kevin Brady, left, and House Speaker Paul Ryan, right, applaud in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday.Evan Vucci/The Associated Press
Ontario vows to act on solitary confinement limits in new report
Ontario is promising to go forward with many of the recommendations contained in a report that called for major overhauls to the province's prison system. The plan released by provincial prisons adviser Howard Sapers said there should be strict limits on the use of solitary confinement as well as an end to segregation for vulnerable prisoners. Corrections minister Marie-France Lalonde said Ontario will be putting forward legislation in the fall to make those recommendations a reality.
The province's criminal justice system came under fire last fall after it was revealed that 24-year-old prisoner Adam Capay had spent about 1,600 days in a solitary cell. In the government's response to the report, it said funding had been approved to replace the troubled Thunder Bay jail where Capay was held.
The suggestions in the report include: a 15-day limit on solitary placements; a ban on the use of solitary for those who are suicidal or have significant mental illness; the appointment of independent officers to oversee solitary placements.
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U.S. House passes bill to repeal Obamacare
After failing to secure enough support in March, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has passed a bill to overhaul Obamacare. It's a major victory for Donald Trump, but there are still question marks that could doom the new health-care act. The Republicans have a much smaller majority in the Senate than they do in the House, and moderate senators will likely want to soften the bill.
Among the proposed changes to Obamacare: a repeal of the rule that said medium and large companies had to provide health insurance to their employees; reversing the expansion of a program that gives low-income people coverage; allowing states to opt out of rules that force insurance agencies to cover those with pre-existing conditions.
Private-sector role in Canada Infrastructure Bank raises conflict-of-interest questions
Private-sector advisers were heavily involved in Ottawa's bid to craft and promote a $35-billion Canada Infrastructure Bank, documents show (for subscribers). The close ties raise conflict-of-interest questions as Ottawa looks to encourage private investment to build public infrastructure projects. The Liberals invited officials from BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, to work with public servants and political aides so cabinet members could be ready for a meeting with the firm's clients. For every dollar government puts into the bank, the private sector would put in four. Officials say working closely with the private sector is important in order to ensure the program succeeds. On Thursday, a report out of the University of Ottawa questioned the value of the proposed bank. It said the Liberals haven't made a strong case for the value of working with private investors when Ottawa can finance projects at lower rates.
Judge acquits woman who gave water to pigs headed to slaughter
In September, 2015, Anita Krajnc was charged with mischief after she ignored a truck driver's request to stop giving water to pigs bound for slaughter. The incident sparked worldwide attention and highlighted the tensions between animal-rights activists and the meat industry. And yesterday, the case drew to a close, as an Ontario judge found Krajnc not guilty and acquitted her. The Crown said that by feeding animals unknown substances, Krajnc could be posing a safety risk. But the judge dismissed that argument, since the driver delivered the pigs to the abattoir without notifying them of a possible contamination. Despite the verdict, the judge still took issue with the defence's argument that pigs should be considered "persons" and not "property."
NHL PLAYOFF ROUNDUP
The Ottawa Senators dropped their second straight to the New York Rangers last night. Just like in Game 3, the Sens lost by a score of 4-1. The series now heads back to Ottawa all tied up at two games apiece.
MORNING MARKETS
A slump in oil prices to the lowest in almost six months rattled commodity markets on Friday and triggered a rally in safe-haven bonds, the yen and gold. Stocks also flinched both in Asia and Europe, catching investors that had been expecting to spend the day mostly looking ahead to U.S. jobs data and Sunday's French elections, on the back foot. Tokyo's Nikkei was closed, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng and the Shanghai composite each lost 0.8 per cent. In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was up 0.1 per cent by about 5:15 a.m. (ET), while the Paris CAC 40 and Germany's DAX were down by between 0.2 and 0.4 per cent. New York futures were mixed.
WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT
Ending the misuse of solitary confinement will cost money, but it has to be done
"Call it the revenge of Adam Capay: The Ontario government announced Thursday that it will build a new prison to replace the dilapidated Thunder Bay jail where Mr. Capay was left to rot in solitary confinement for more than four years. That was just one of a number of welcome responses to a new report by Howard Sapers on the misuse of segregation in Ontario jails. Mr. Sapers, the former federal prisons ombudsman, was hired by the province last fall after Mr. Capay's plight became public. … The announcements are evidence that Queen's Park is serious about fixing its near-criminal mismanagement of solitary confinement. But the true test of its determination will be in the reform legislation, promised for this fall." – Globe editorial
Let's make human rights central to a new NAFTA
"Once the well-paid bastion of support for democracy in the North Atlantic region, millions of workers in the United States, Britain and France have shifted their allegiance to leaders and parties that are authoritarian, racist and abusive of human rights. In doing so, they have accurately perceived that international trade agreements in recent decades have been remarkably successful in protecting the rights of capital and enriched the top one per cent. … The coming renegotiation of the North American free-trade agreement and the possibility of a trade and investment deal with China should not be occasions to replicate past errors. … [But] while neither China nor Mexico nor any developing country should be obliged by other countries to raise wages, they should be obligated to respect basic human rights." – Ed Broadbent, former NDP leader and chair of the Broadbent Institute
HEALTH PRIMER
The push for more defibrillators
In 2014, Rich Peverley nearly died on an NHL rink. After his heart stopped beating, the Dallas Stars forward was taken on a stretcher through the rink's tunnel and revived with a defibrillator. Now retired from hockey, Peverley is working with a non-profit to raise money for more automatic external defibrillators at Canadian schools. Cardiac arrests can happen anywhere, and every minute defibrillation is delayed, the chance of survival drops 7-to-10 per cent. "An AED saved my life," Peverley said, and "there's a real shortage of AEDs in communities."
MOMENT IN TIME
Buffalo Springfield's swan song
May 5, 1968: It was never easy for the fractious band that sang about "battle lines being drawn." Buffalo Springfield was a short-lived supergroup featuring the Americans Stephen Stills, Dewey Martin and Richie Furay, and the Canadians Bruce Palmer and Neil Young. Far-out folk-rockers who pioneered a genre and wore buckskin excellently, the Los Angeles-based quintet scored a top-10 hit in 1967 with For What It's Worth, a groovy response to Sunset Strip unrest. Drug busts and creative tensions doomed the harmony of a group whose four-part vocal feathering was as ironic as it was beautiful. After a show at Long Beach Arena, Mr. Young, the Mr. Soul singer who had "dropped in for a reason," dropped out for one, too – a solo career. The band reunited for a benefit concert in 2010 and a brief tour a year later, for what it's worth. – Brad Wheeler
Morning Update is written by Arik Ligeti.
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