Evening Update: The latest on the coronavirus; Garneau to meet with families of Canadian MAX victims

Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:

‘This time I’m scared’: SARS virologist warns Wuhan virus is far worse, as China locks down at least two more cities

The coronarvirus that has killed at least 17 people and infected hundreds in China shows signs of being far worse than SARS, says Yi Guan, a prominent virologist who spent two days this week in the epicentre, Wuhan.

Meanwhile, China took steps to put at least two more cities under lockdown. All public transport is halted in Huanggang, with checks mandated for every person entering or exiting the city 70 kilometres east of Wuhan. Similar measures are being taken in nearby Ezhou.

While authorities have cancelled major public celebrations and gatherings in Beijing during the Lunar New Year holiday period, the World Health Organization said today the outbreak “has not yet become a global health emergency."

In Canada, Health Minister Patty Hajdu says several people here are under observation, but that the risk to Canadians remains low.

Opinion: Don’t let the coronavirus mutate into an epidemic of fear and panic - David McKeown, former medical officer of health for Toronto

Context: Here is what we know so far about the Wuhan coronavirus.

In photos: Fears of pandemic spread as the coronavirus death toll rises.

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Transportation Minister Marc Garneau to meet with the families of Canadian MAX victims

Transportation Minister Marc Garneau has agreed to meet with relatives of the Canadians killed in last year’s Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max disaster. They have been trying to speak with the minister since the crash this past March.

The families want to discuss Transport Canada’s approval of the 737 Max, and the government’s decision not to immediately ground the planes after two crashes in the span of five months. A Lion Air crash in late 2018 in Indonesia killed 189 people. The Ethiopian Airlines crash killed 157 people, including 18 Canadians.

Both disasters have been linked to a faulty computer system that forced the plane into a nosedive.

Dozens of Ontario criminal convictions at risk after Court of Appeal ruling on juries

Dozens of serious criminal convictions will be thrown out in Ontario after the province’s highest court ruled that a judge erred in implementing new jury-selection rules in a first-degree murder case, resulting in the need for new trials.

But the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the constitutionality of the new rules, which remove from both defence lawyers and prosecutors the power to veto a number of prospective jurors with no explanation, a power known as peremptory challenges.

ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Trump impeachment trial: In their second day of opening arguments in the U.S. Senate, Democrats used the words of President Donald Trump’s allies against him to make the point that his actions constituted impeachment offences, but his fellow Republicans showed no signs of turning against him.

Meng trial, Day 4: The first round of Meng Wanzhou’s extradition hearings concluded today, after the Huawei executive’s defence team and the Crown argued over whether U.S. sanctions against Iran should factor into a Canadian decision about handing her over to American prosecutors. Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes reserved judgment and adjourned the court, leaving Meng’s fate unclear for now.

Vancouver ride-hailing clears hurdle: Uber and Lyft have been approved to operate in B.C.’s Lower Mainland, bringing ride-hailing one step closer to finally launching in the Vancouver area after years of delays.

Sciorra testifies against Weinstein: Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra confronted Harvey Weinstein from the witness stand today, telling a jury that the Hollywood studio boss barged into her apartment in the mid-1990s, overpowered her and raped her as she tried to fight him off.

Mnuchin at odds with Thunberg: U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin took a jab at teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, saying she should study economics, which prompted her to say she did not need a degree to know the world was not meeting its climate targets.

Doomsday Clock closer to midnight: The keepers of the Doomsday Clock today moved the symbolic countdown to global disaster to the closest point to midnight in its 73-year history, citing “existential danger” from nuclear war and climate change. It moved to 100 seconds from two minutes.

Byford leaving New York post: Former Toronto Transit Commission boss Andy Byford has resigned as president of New York’s subways, two years after being brought in to help turn around the beleaguered system.

Stamp commemorates all-black hockey league: Canada Post has unveiled a commemorative stamp that pays tribute to the Colored Hockey League, which saw teams competing for the Colored Hockey Championship in the Maritimes between 1895 and the 1930s.

MARKET WATCH

Canada’s main stock index rose slightly today, despite energy stocks tracking a fall in oil prices on fears of the coronavirus outbreak in China hitting fuel demand. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed up 21.92 points at 17,621.78.

Wall Street stock were mixed, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 26.18 points to 29,160.09, the S&P 500 gained 3.79 points to 3,325.54 and the Nasdaq Composite added 18.71 points to end at 9,402.48.

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TALKING POINTS

On post-secondary education funding, Jason Kenney gets it right

“Provincial funding has been made through block grants, with little regard to enrollment or program offerings. The accountability that might have existed, in regards to the dollars universities and colleges received, has disappeared over time.” - Gary Mason

Star Trek: Picard: At last, a down-to-earth, emotionally authentic Star Trek

“You don’t need to be a Star Trek devotee to see what’s unfolding as a story of melancholic uneasiness about how the world – in this case, the galaxy – has changed, and not always for the better.” - John Doyle

LIVING BETTER

The biggest personal finance story of the moment is a war in which a fascinating collection of financial players are fighting over who can offer the highest rates on savings and chequing accounts, Rob Carrick writes. EQ Bank has just increased the rate on its savings account from 2.3 per cent to 2.45 per cent, enough to edge out the 2.4 per cent rate announced earlier in the week by the robo-adviser Wealthsimple for a new no-fee account called Wealthsimple Cash.

LONG READ FOR A LONG COMMUTE

How Devon Freeman died: An Ontario teen’s suicide raises hard questions about child welfare and Indigenous youth

When 16-year-old Devon Freeman went missing from his group home near Hamilton in the fall of 2017, both the staff there and the police who were notified suspected he had run away again.

Devon was known as a funny, outgoing teenager who liked skateboarding, riding his bike, and who imagined eventually getting his own place and working as a mechanic.

He also battled a range of mental health challenges, and had disappeared from the facility before. But there were signs this time was different. For one thing, he had attempted suicide months earlier. And he was gone much longer than his usual few days away.

Nearly seven months after he disappeared, another group home resident threw a ball into some trees behind the property on a warm April day and found out what happened to Devon. He had died by suicide. His body was found in a tree, mere steps away from the group home’s back door.

The circumstances of Devon’s death and its aftermath have left his family and his First Nation, Chippewas of Georgina Island, searching for answers. Read Kristy Kirkup’s full story here.

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