Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
The President of Belarus says a journalist pulled off a plane that was forced to land in Minsk had been plotting a rebellion, and he accused the West of waging a hybrid war against him. President Alexander Lukashenko – in his first public remarks since a Belarusian warplane intercepted a Ryanair flight on Sunday between European Union members Greece and Lithuania – showed no hint of backing down from confrontation with countries that accuse him of air piracy.
“As we predicted, our ill-wishers from outside the country and from inside the country changed their methods of attack on the state,” Lukashenko told parliament on Wednesday.
Belarus has been subject to EU and U.S. sanctions since Lukashenko cracked down on pro-democracy protests after a disputed election last year. But his decision to intercept an international airliner in Belarusian airspace and arrest 26-year-old dissident journalist Roman Protasevich has brought vows of much more serious action.
As The Globe’s Mark MacKinnon writes today, Protasevich has been on the radar of the Belarusian secret police since he was 17 years old, when they discovered he was the source of a social media page called “We are sick of this Lukashenko” and arrested him. He was released after sustaining a beating, and did not back down.
Protasevich went on to become the editor-in-chief of Nexta, a channel on the Telegram app that became the bugle of last year’s uprising against the regime. Tens of thousands of Belarusians took to the streets, and Lukashenko responded the way he always has: with violence.
Opinion:
PHAC left long-standing issues with national stockpile unaddressed since at least 2010: Auditor-General report
Auditor-General Karen Hogan says the Public Health Agency of Canada did not address issues with the emergency stockpile that it was aware of for more than a decade. In a report released Wednesday, Hogan says PHAC was was not as prepared as it could have been for the pandemic in early 2020.
Hogan found that the failure to act on the problems happened despite multiple internal audits flagging the issues, dating back to at least 2010. However, her report also found that the agency and government departments adjusted policies and helped meet the needs of the provinces and territories.
The report also said Indigenous Services Canada did not have complete and accurate data on the content of its stockpile of PPE at the beginning of the pandemic, and lacked sufficient supplies of some gear.
Also:
- Kenney announces Alberta’s ‘open for summer’ plan to start soon
- Job losses because of COVID-19 pandemic hit women harder than men, Statscan report says
- Former Johnson aide Dominic Cummings slams British government’s handling of COVID-19 pandemic
Opinion:
- Among countries that should have known better, Canada’s COVID-19 response was abysmal
- Older Canadians should be getting their second vaccine doses, right now
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Dutch court orders Shell to deepen carbon cuts in landmark ruling: The landmark ruling could pave the way for legal action against energy companies around the world. Shell immediately said it would appeal the court ruling, which was issued amid rising pressure from investors, activists and governments on energy companies to shift away from fossil fuels and rapidly ramp up investments in renewable energy. Also Wednesday, shareholders of Energy giant Exxon Mobil voted against management’s recommendation and replaced at least two of the company’s 12 board members with directors who are seen as better suited to fight climate change.
New Brunswick’s three biggest cities elect women as mayors: Results of the May 10 municipal elections were announced Tuesday night after polls closed in the Edmundston-Madawaska region, where voting had been delayed because of a COVID-19 lockdown. Kate Rogers becomes Fredericton’s first female mayor, defeating incumbent Mike O’Brien; Donna Reardon is the new mayor of Saint John; while Dawn Arnold was re-elected mayor of Moncton.
Black entrepreneurs in Canada facing systemic racism and other barriers to success, new study finds: Problems include accessing capital, building supportive networks and skills development. Of the 342 Black entrepreneurs who participated in the Abacus Data study, almost half said they believed a supplier or vendor had refused to do business with them because of their race, and 45 per cent said they felt they had been denied funding from a financial institution because they are Black.
Canada announces plans to land a rover on the moon in the next five years: The Canadian Space Agency says the unmanned robotic vehicle will aim to gather imagery and measurements on the moon’s cratered surface, showcasing technologies from Canadian companies in a polar region of the Earth’s only natural satellite. Conducted in partnership with NASA, the space agency says it will put out a request for proposals on design and development from two companies in the coming months.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index outpaced U.S. markets and pushed further into record territory amid a broad-based rally helped by the commodities sector.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 181.35 points to 19,745.47.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 10.59 points at 34,323.05. The S&P 500 index was up 7.86 points at 4,195.99, while the Nasdaq composite was up 80.83 points at 13,738.00.
The Canadian dollar traded for 82.58 cents US compared with 82.94 cents US on Tuesday.
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TALKING POINTS
The runaway costs, ill-defined risks and mediocre returns of the CPP’s investment strategy
“Will this massive, and massively costly, bet with the country’s pensions pay off in the long run, as claimed? Who can say? But by then today’s CPPIB managers will have retired with their millions. The next generation, as usual, will be left to pick up the pieces.” – Andrew Coyne
LIVING BETTER
Wine makers are looking to combine quality and convenience by embracing wine in cans
Wineries used to avoid alternative packaging, such as cans, bag-in-box or Tetra Pak containers, for fear of losing sales or damaging their reputation with consumers.
But younger consumers are demanding innovation in wine packaging, and more brands are now looking to single-serve options that combine quality and convenience. Fortunately, progressive wineries, especially a growing number in California, Australia and here in Canada, don’t think it’s foolhardy to put good wine into a container that isn’t made of glass.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Vancouver social-housing plans highlight divide between neighbours’ fears and community needs
B.C. Housing is proposing a 12-storey building with 140 studio apartments geared for very low-income singles at a key intersection next to the new Arbutus SkyTrain station.Courtesy of BC Housing
Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood was once known for its counterculture leanings but has since become mostly an enclave of expensive renovated older homes. It has been 19 years since any social housing was built in the area.
A recent proposal from B.C. Housing for a 12-storey building with 140 studio apartments geared for very low-income singles at a key intersection next to a SkyTrain station is serving as a wake-up call for residents. That size and type of building has not been seen in Vancouver beyond the Downtown Eastside.
A lack of details around the proposal has left some residents concerned, while others welcome it as a solution to the city’s continuing problems with homelessness and lack of affordable housing.
Read Francis Bula’s full story here.
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Rob Gilroy