Evening Update: Canada facing ‘unfortunate’ delay in Pfizer vaccine deliveries

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

The federal government said Friday that Canada faces an “unfortunate” delay in vaccine deliveries because of production issues in Europe at pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ottawa was “working day in and day out to get vaccines delivered as quickly as possible” but acknowledged that Pfizer-BioNTech doses have been derailed in the short term. Other federal officials are insisting that most Canadians will still be vaccinated by fall.

“I want to be very clear: this does not impact our goal to have enough vaccines available by September for every Canadian who wants one,” Trudeau said from outside Rideau Cottage.

Procurement Minister Anita Anand said earlier Friday that production issues will temporarily reduce promised doses to Canada, as well as all countries that receive vaccines from Pfizer’s European facility.

• Related: Why a homegrown coronavirus wonder drug fell flat
• Related: Ontario Premier boots MPP from caucus for plea to end COVID-19 lockdown

Canada Revenue Agency targets artists for possible repayment of emergency benefits

Artists across Canada are being told by the Canada Revenue Agency that they must repay emergency coronavirus benefits, even as some struggle to pay basic expenses after their incomes cratered.

Further, the federal tax agency also says some artists are not eligible for payments under new income supports, leaving them to wonder why they have been excluded.

“I’m not sure what CERB is for if not for people who are hanging on by their teeth,” said Toronto-based poet Ken Babstock.

At issue are the CRA’s statements that artistic grants do not count as income for the purposes of meeting the Canada Emergency Response Benefit threshold. To be eligible, recipients must have had at least $5,000 in net income in 2019 or the 12 months preceding their application. Although the CRA has been telling artists that such grants don’t count as income under the CERB program, they do count as income at tax time.

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Trump could face prosecution over Capitol riot: U.S. President Donald Trump could be prosecuted for incitement if evidence shows that he intended his supporters to rise up in violence against Congress, U.S. legal observers say.

Canadian tech companies eye IPOs: The recent frenzy for software-focused businesses has convinced at least six Canadian technology companies to consider going public, The Globe and Mail has learned, setting the stage for a potential surge of initial public offerings that could eclipse last fall’s rush.

Mike Pence reaches out to Kamala Harris to offer congratulations: U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence has called his soon-to-be successor Kamala Harris to offer his congratulations, according to a report. It’s the first known contact between the elected members of the outgoing and incoming administrations. President Donald Trump has not reached out to president-elect Joe Biden and has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of Biden’s win.

MARKET WATCH

Canada’s main stock market fell to end the week lower on lower oil prices and concerns about a temporary reduction in vaccine shipments from Pfizer.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 49.06 points to 17,909.03.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 177.26 points at 30,814.26. The S&P 500 index was down 27.29 points at 3,768.25, while the Nasdaq composite was down 114.14 points at 12,998.50.

The Canadian dollar traded for 78.57 cents US compared with 79.03 cents US on Thursday.

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TALKING POINTS

Freedom of speech is about more than what is allowed

Andrew Coyne: “To work, the marketplace of ideas requires more than the mere absence of legal restraint. It depends, to a degree I had not appreciated until now, upon a kind of supportive infrastructure, much as other markets do. The freest of markets cannot operate in a vacuum.”

Why the West offers Justin Trudeau electoral opportunities

Gary Mason: “Mr. Kenney’s relentless criticism of Mr. Trudeau has begun to ring hollow of late, seen as a diversion from his often inept and bewildering handling of his own affairs. As Alberta continues to struggle economically, it’s dawning on many that the province might need Ottawa more than ever in the years ahead.”

How the United States survived an assault on its democracy – at least for now

John Ibbitson and Thomas Homer-Dixon: “The polarization of the body politic is now so severe that Mr. Biden may not be able to restore Americans’ confidence in their democracy. Supporters of Mr. Trump, who consider the Biden administration illegitimate, are threatening violence on Inauguration Day and in the weeks that follow. Extremist right-wing violence is now the gravest internal challenge facing the U.S.”

LIVING BETTER

New Uvagut TV to feature all programming made in Inuktut language

Billed as the first Indigenous-language channel in Canada, Uvagut TV on Monday will begin broadcasting a variety of content, including children’s series, award-winning films and live programming.

Uvagut TV, created by Nunavut Independent Television Network, will be available nationally to Shaw Direct customers, and to Arctic Co-ops Cable subscribers in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

Lucy Tulugarjuk, NITV chair and executive director, said in a news release that seeing the Inuit language full time on television is a “dream come true.” Tulugarjuk, who is also director of the Inuit-language children’s film Tia and Piujuq, said Uvagut TV is part of the “fight against time” to keep the Inuit culture alive.

TODAY’S LONG READ

Amid a pandemic, I became an independent homeowner

Open this photo in gallery:

Domini Clark didn’t plan to buy a house in the middle of a pandemic, but the Globe staffer took the plunge and purchased a three-bedroom detached Victorian in Hamilton.

While she’s owned a residence before, both times were with an ex-partner. This time, she’s on her own.

As she writes in The Globe’s Amplify newsletter, Clark quickly realized that she joined a privileged club: independent female homeowners. In 2017, Statistics Canada identified solo women aged 20 to 34 as the fastest growing group of home owners, with rates more than tripling between 1981 (8 per cent) and 2016 (27 per cent). And in 2019, 61 per cent of homebuyers were female, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Even with the numbers above, most people assume that a woman buying a house has at least a partner, probably kids. Fortunately, Clark hasn’t encountered raised eyebrows – more like delighted surprise.

Read about her journey to solo home ownership here.

Evening Update is written by an editor in The Globe’s live news department. If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday evening, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.