Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Biden set to introduce stricter ‘Buy American’ rules, Trump impeachment charge goes to Senate tonight
U.S. President Joe Biden is introducing stricter “Buy American” procurement rules, potentially making it harder for Canadian companies to bid on U.S. government contracts.
His executive order, however, is not expected to impose the new rules immediately, giving Ottawa time to lobby for exemptions that would protect Canadian business interests. He was set to sign it at the White House this afternoon.
In another executive order signed today, the President overturned a controversial ban by his predecessor, Donald Trump, on transgender individuals serving in the U.S. military. Biden also today reinstated COVID-19 travel restrictions on most non-U.S. travellers from Brazil, Ireland, Britain and 26 other European countries, and added South Africa to the list.
Meanwhile, as the House prepares to bring the impeachment charge against Trump tonight to the Senate for trial, Republican senators are easing off their criticism of the former president and shunning calls to convict him over the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol.
In other Trump-related news, Dominion Voting Systems has filed a US$1.3-billion lawsuit against lawyer Rudy Giuliani, accusing him of defamation in what it called his “big lie” campaign about widespread fraud in the presidential election, court documents show. And former press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has announced she will run for governor of Arkansas, a seat once held by her father, Mike Huckabee.
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Freeland launches consultations on 2021 budget
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has launched the government’s consultations on the 2021 budget, but cautions that promised stimulus support for sectors such as tourism may have to wait until the pandemic is firmly under control.
The online consultations are open until Feb. 19 and consist of seven questions, five of which involve asking Canadians to rank their top priorities. For instance, a question on job creation lists options such as training programs, child care support, aid for the hardest-hit sectors and technological measures for a “green transformation.”
Few Ontario LTC homes receive public health enforcement, plus more COVID-19 developments
The vast majority of public-health units in Ontario are not taking enforcement action against long-term care and retirement home operators, despite numerous instances of alleged abuse and neglect during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Globe and Mail contacted all 34 health units in Ontario, asking whether they have used their powers to compel operators to address health and safety concerns in homes with an outbreak of COVID-19. Of the 32 health units that responded, only four have issued enforcement orders since the onset of the pandemic last March.
Separately, one of Asia’s top epidemiologists is warning the world’s richest countries that they will be guilty of serious wrongdoing if they do not stop “hoarding” COVID-19 vaccines, saying the pandemic is worsening dangerous global inequalities.
Opinion: How do we make sense of the contradictory pandemic news? - André Picard
Read more:
- British researchers urge government to take U.K. variant data seriously
- Deemed essential, long-haul truckers risk infection and spreading COVID-19 with every shift
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Senator Lynn Beyak retiring: Lynn Beyak is leaving the Senate three years before her mandatory retirement, defiantly standing by her controversial views on residential schools. She was kicked out of the Conservative caucus over her statements, and had been suspended by the Red Chamber.
Jacob Hoggard trial delayed: The trial of Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard, who pleaded not guilty at his preliminary hearing to sexual assault causing bodily harm and sexual interference, has been pushed back to 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sidney Poitier honoured: Award-winning actor Sidney Poitier has reached another milestone, as Arizona State University unveiled its new film school named after him in a ceremony today.
Sidney Poitier appears with his Oscar for best actor for his role in "Lillies of the Field" at the 36th Annual Academy Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on April 13, 1964.Anonymous/The Associated Press
MARKET WATCH
Major U.S. indexes closed today well off their best levels, which included a Nasdaq record, as concerns over the timing and size of fiscal stimulus dented optimism at the start of a week of earning reports from mega-cap companies. Canada’s TSX closed higher, with a surge in BlackBerry shares helping the tech sector to lead gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 336.98 points or 0.12 per cent to 30,960.00, the S&P 500 gained 13.89 points or 0.36 per cent to 3,855.36 and the Nasdaq Composite added 92.93 points or 0.69 per cent to end at 13,635.99. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 60.11 points or 0.34 per cent to 17,906.02.
Looking for investing ideas? Check out The Globe’s weekly digest of the latest insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and what investors need to know for the week ahead. This week’s edition includes RBC market forecast, industrial REITs’ upside and renewable energy stocks on a tear.
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TALKING POINTS
McGregor gained fame at the perfect moment
“Like someone else we know, McGregor somehow managed to turn himself into a multimillion-dollar-earning, Savile-Row-suit-wearing, personalized-whisky-peddling, monumentally crude everyman. He was of the people, but not for them.” - Cathal Kelly
Related: Conor McGregor knockout leaves UFC lightweight division in limbo
Legitimizing Indigenous identity through legislation is not necessarily the way to go
“I am reluctant to embrace the concept of an Indigenous Identity Act, given that I can envision a lot of potential difficulty in its formulation, application and enforcement.” - Drew Hayden Taylor
LIVING BETTER
For women in the workplace, progress has stalled. By almost every metric, they continue to lag men. Two and a half years ago, The Globe and Mail set about trying to understand why there is a power gap in the modern work force. Join investigative reporter Robyn Doolittle and data journalist Chen Wang for a Facebook live Q&A hosted by Rita Trichur at 1 p.m. ET tomorrow about the Power Gap series.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Canadian alleged drug kingpin arrested at Amsterdam airport
An undated handout image of Tse Chi Lop.Handout/X80001
A Canadian citizen called one of the biggest drug kingpins in history has been arrested on his way to Canada, placing into custody a shadowy figure with roots in Toronto who, experts believe, stood astride a vast empire of factory-made narcotics.
Police in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport arrested Tse Chi Lop, 57, on Saturday, after a years-long investigation by the Australian Federal Police into international networks of drug manufacture and trafficking. Tse, whose wealth and alleged influence earned him comparisons with El Chapo and Pablo Escobar, had been living in Taiwan.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says the underworld conglomerate overseen by Tse manufactured drugs in war-torn areas of Myanmar and distributed them broadly from there, supplying Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea and Australia with methamphetamine, fentanyl and other narcotics. Its estimated 300-tonne annual output of meth alone is enough to make 10 billion doses. Read Nathan VanderKlippe’s full article here and how Tse laid the groundwork for his empire in Toronto here.
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