Coronavirus Update: Four First Nations tout low-carbon path to postpandemic economic recovery

Good evening, here are the coronavirus updates you need to know tonight.

Top headlines:

1. Four First Nations are devising what they view as a low-carbon path to a postpandemic economic recovery on their traditional territories, highlighting a starring role for liquefied natural gas
2. Ottawa earmarks millions of dollars to boost domestic travel and ‘save the summer’
3. Doctors fear protests sweeping across U.S. following the police killing of a black man in Minnesota will lead to surge in new cases

In Canada, 90,947 cases have been reported, more than double the number from 36 days ago. There have been 48,892 recoveries and 7,295 deaths. Health officials have administered more than 1,746,794 tests.

Worldwide, at least 6,082,842 cases have been confirmed; with 2,588,240 recoveries and 369,727 deaths.

Sources: Canada data is compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data is from Johns Hopkins University.

Coronavirus explainers: Updates and essential resources • Coronavirus in maps and charts • Lockdown rules and reopening plans in each province

Photo of the day

Open this photo in gallery:

Number of the day

2 million

The United States has supplied Brazil with 2 million doses of hydroxychloroquine – touted both by President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro – for use against the coronavirus, the two governments said today, despite medical warnings about risks associated with the anti-malaria drug.

This White House announcement comes just days after the World Health Organization suspended testing it in COVID-19 patients because of safety concerns.

Trump said in mid-May that he was on a regimen of hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure, even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had issued a warning about its use for the coronavirus.

Bolsonaro, a right-wing leader who has forged personal ties with Trump, said recently he kept a box of the drug in case his 93-year-old mother needed it.

Coronavirus in Canada

There are at least 2,081 hospitalized cases, down 13 per cent in the last week. Of those, 303 are in intensive care.

• Ontario is extending its COVID-19 residential electricity rate relief for another five months, but the fixed price will be going up by nearly three cents per kilowatt hour. The province reported another 326 new cases of and 19 new deaths related to coronavirus today.
• Thousands of people across Quebec are grieving the loss of a loved one from COVID-19, which has recorded more than half of all the COVID-19 cases and deaths in Canada. The province’s long-term care homes, known as CHSLDs, have become the epicentre of the outbreak.
• Alberta’s emergency medical services teams have responded to a spike in calls related to opioid use since the coronavirus pandemic hit the province in March, according to government statistics.
• In British Columbia, only some school districts conducted surveys of families asking whether they planned to send their kids back to school on Monday, and the results varied between a high of 90 per cent and a low of 15 per cent.
• Public health officials in New Brunswick are reporting three new cases of COVID-19 near Campbellton, bringing to 12 the number of cases in a cluster in the area.

In Ottawa, the federal government is earmarking millions of dollars to promote holiday travel inside Canada as it seeks to help the tourism industry weather the pandemic.

• The funds announced Sunday include $30-million originally earmarked for attracting foreign visitors through the federal tourism marketing agency, Destination Canada.
• The money will instead be used to help provinces and territories encourage Canadians to discover their “own backyard” as the country’s international borders remain largely closed due to COVID-19.

The government is also setting aside around $40-million so tourism agencies in Northern and Southern Ontario as well as western Canada can adapt their operations to the pandemic, particularly as what would normally be the busy summer season approaches.

Also today:

• Experts and insiders say that palliative care, which focuses on comfort, has become less of a priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. But some say it’s time to loosen restrictions and find a balance between keeping everyone safe and allowing dying patients to say goodbye to their loved ones.
• Restaurants across Canada – from local institutions to newer spots hustling to establish themselves – have closed permanently in recent weeks as the pandemic ravaged an industry already plagued by razor-thin margins. Their owners face not only the emotional loss of their business, but also often large debt, little savings and an uncertain future.

Coronavirus around the world .

• Tens of thousands of mosques across Saudi Arabia reopened for the first time in more than two months, with worshippers ordered to follow strict hygenic guidelines, as Islam’s holiest site in Mecca remained closed to the public. The al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Islam’s holiest site outside of Saudi Arabia, also reopened for prayers.
• Britain Foreign Minister defended the government’s loosening of the coronavirus lockdown, saying it was the “right step to be taking” at this time. Britain has one of the world’s highest death rates from COVID-19 and the government says it is easing the stringent lockdown cautiously to balance the need to restart the economy while also trying to prevent another surge of cases.
• The massive protests sweeping across U.S. cities following the police killing of a black man in Minnesota have sent shudders through the health community and elevated fears the huge crowds will lead to a new surge in cases of the coronavirus.

Coronavirus and business

Four First Nations in northern British Columbia are devising what they view as a low-carbon path to a postpandemic economic recovery on their traditional territories, highlighting a starring role for liquefied natural gas as a transition fuel to help combat climate change.

• The elected leaders of the Haisla, Lax Kw’alaams, Metlakatla and Nisga’a have formed the First Nations Climate Initiative as a think tank, saying their goal is to attract private-sector investment, bolster economic self-determination and address poverty in their communities.
• Of the four Indigenous groups, the Haisla Nation is the only one so far to see an LNG project, after LNG Canada began construction in the fall of 2018 in Kitimat on an industrial site on the Haisla’s traditional territory.

In an eight-page position paper, dated May 27, the four First Nations describe their aspiration to “create a vibrant low-carbon economy out of the economic devastation COVID-19 has precipitated.” In the paper, LNG is touted as a transition fuel that will be important to help move toward a low-carbon future anticipated for mid- to late-century.

Question and answer

Question: Everyone thinks COVID-19 will finally wake people up to the gross inequalities of capitalism. How will this pandemic change our politics, culture, society in the decade to come?

Answer from New York Times columnist David Brooks: I think we’ve done a good job, in the last 60 years, of giving people at the top of society room to run. Giving them educational opportunities. Unfortunately, the top 20 per cent have outcompeted and they have built structures so it’s hard for the bottom 80 per cent to get into certain schools or certain jobs.

There’s a mass of people at the supertop who are insulated from risk.

The people in the bottom 80 per cent have high risk and low reward. That shift in risk is the key thing that’s emerged. People competed and they passed their advantages down to their kids, building a shelter for people in the educated class.

Shifting that, so there’s lower risk and higher reward for people in the bottom 80 per cent has got to be the agenda for the future. Rethinking our meritocracy has got to be the agenda for the future. We’ve just come to the dead end that has been recognized both on the right and the left, in different ways. That’s why I think change is coming.

The Globe’s health columnist André Picard answered reader questions on social distancing and many additional topics.

Distractions

For music lovers who need something to watch 📺

Open this photo in gallery:

John Doyle: Listen to this: Fun, drama, wit and deep thoughts about music

Today’s theme is music. As long-suffering readers will be aware, this column likes music of all varieties. So, curiosity got the better of this column when a news release arrived stating this: “Five women, sick of their repetitive lives and boring book club, find freedom by forming a punk band.”

Band Ladies (streaming online at Highball.TV) starts with exactly that. The women “on the cusp of middle-age” are doing their book club thing, most of them not having completed the book, so they get rotten drunk and start performing as though they are a band. They’re not. But soon enough, they are. Three chords and an attitude is all it takes, as every punk rocker knows.

The series is a wicked delight, ideal for a light binge of short episodes, with a lot of ribald humour and some mildly angsty drama. Several of those involved have appeared on Baroness von Sketch Show episodes and Band Ladies has a similar kind of racy vibe.

Read more here.

More Globe reporting and opinion

• Three weeks into the pandemic shutdown, Ray Reddy wasn’t sure if his food takeout app provider, Ritual Technologies Inc., would survive. Now, the CEO of what was one of Canada’s fastest growing startups is pitching Ritual as a way to help restaurants and cafés survive.
• Fear has shadowed humans since the dawn of time. A natural response to threats, it has been triggered by everything from phobias of snakes to the terror of nuclear armament. Right now, the new coronavirus pandemic is perhaps the biggest accelerator of anxieties.
• Rita Trichur: “The G20 is facing an existential crisis because of its abysmal response to the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic shock.”
• Adina Bresge: "As employers in some regions gradually reopen offices, designers and trend-watchers say the clamour for professional clothing people can feel at home in could lead to a surge in “work-leisure” wear.”
• Christopher Ragan and Andrew Potter: “Based on what we are hearing from Ottawa, there will soon be a massive stimulus package aimed at restarting the economy – and it will be dominated by the Liberal Party’s climate-change agenda... This is a terrible idea, for three reasons.”

Information centre

• Here’s what you should do if you are newly laid off; how to apply for CERB, EI, and other financial benefits; and other coronavirus and employment questions answered.
• How to minimize damage to your credit score; how to manage retirement anxiety during difficult times; and things to think about if you’re considering home delivery.
• Here are the expectations for self-isolation; tips for managing anxiety; and protecting your mental health.
• How to get physical distancing right; measures condo buildings are taking to encourage physical distancing; and what you can do to help slow the spread of coronavirus.
• Here are the essentials to stock up on and how to shop safely for groceries; the best pantry staples; foods to eat to maintain an immune system-friendly diet; and how to keep a healthy diet while working from home.
• How to break a bad habit (like touching your face) and what to do if you think you have the virus.

What are we missing? Email us: audience@globeandmail.com. Do you know someone who needs this newsletter? Send them to our Newsletters page.

Have questions about the coronavirus? Email audience@globeandmail.com.