Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Danielle Smith announces ‘compassionate payment’ for families affected by Calgary E. coli outbreak
Alberta families affected by the E. coli outbreak at a chain of Calgary daycares will receive a one-time payment of $2,000 per child. Premier Danielle Smith announced the compensation package at a press conference today – her first press conference on the matter since the outbreak was declared on Sept. 4, after a wave of sick children appeared at Calgary’s hospitals.
She also demanded the 11 daycares at the centre of the crisis reimburse families for the days they did not provide care owing to closures following the outbreak.
Officials believe the outbreak originated in the kitchen operated by Fueling Minds Inc., which shares directors with Fueling Brains Academy, which in turn runs six of the daycares affected. The kitchen provided food to those six daycares, as well as to five other facilities caught up in the outbreak. The investigation is ongoing.
- Listen to The Decibel: Lessons from the massive daycare E.Coli outbreak in Calgary
As Detroit Three automakers hit by simultaneous strike, Canadian industry braces for impact
Any work stoppage by the UAW against the Detroit Three could have an impact in Canada, experts say. It would hobble the tightly integrated auto sector just as it attempts to resume normal operations following the pandemic.
More than 12,000 U.S. autoworkers went on strike at three factories owned by Ford, GM and Stellantis early this morning, halting work at assembly plants in Wayne, Mich., Wentzville, Missouri, and Toledo, Ohio.
The action comes ahead of the Sept. 18 strike deadline for 5,680 unionized workers at Ford of Canada. The Unifor members, along with their counterparts at GM and Stellantis, gave their union reps a strong strike mandate as the union targets Ford for intensive bargaining toward a contract that will set the pattern for negotiations with GM and Stellantis.
Flavio Volpe, head of the Automotive Parts Manufacturer’s Association, said a U.S. work stoppage would cause plants north of the border to slow or halt production within a couple days. Volpe represents most parts makers in Canada that employ a total of about 100,000. Almost half of the auto parts made in Ontario are shipped to assembly plants in the United States.
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Ethiopian Facebook campaign for migrant workers enables human trafficking, forced labour in Saudi Arabia, advocates say
Data compiled by The Globe and Mail show that since late February, more than 200 Ethiopian state institutions have used their official Facebook pages to promote a Saudi recruitment drive to lure 500,000 Ethiopian women for domestic work in the oil-rich kingdom.
Human rights researchers have condemned the program, citing dangerous working conditions, exploitation and rampant abuse of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, which largely go unpunished.
The Globe has identified about 300 recruitment posts on Facebook by a range of Ethiopian state agencies. The posts are often misleading, and make no mention of the fact that migrant workers are denied Saudi Arabia labour law protections and instead have their status regulated by the country’s discriminatory “kafala” system, which links a worker’s legal residency status to an employer. Migrants are unable to quit their jobs without the consent of their employer, even in cases of extreme abuse.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Nordstar to put Metroland newspaper group into bankruptcy, more than 70 weekly papers to go digital only
Toronto Star publisher Nordstar Capital LP is putting Metroland, its regional newspaper business, into bankruptcy, a move that will eliminate over 600 jobs and see more than 70 weekly papers converted into digital-only platforms.
Metroland’s bankruptcy means the end of weekly newspapers in many Ontario cities, including Barrie, Dundas, Oakville, Perth and Renfrew, along with Toronto suburban papers in Scarborough.
Nordstar will continue to publish seven daily print and digital versions of the Toronto Star, Hamilton Spectator, Peterborough Examiner, St. Catharines Standard, Niagara Falls Review, Welland Tribune and the Waterloo Region Record.
Ukrainian forces reclaim village in east as part of counteroffensive
After intense battles with Russian troops, the Ukrainian village of Andriivka is back in Ukrainian hands following a multi-pronged counteroffensive. Ukrainian forces launched their much-anticipated counteroffensive more than three months ago.
MARKET WATCH
U.S. stocks ended sharply lower today as chipmakers dropped on concerns about weak consumer demand, while rising Treasury yields pressured Amazon and other megacap growth companies. The Canadian market fared better, with the TSX ending at a six-week high amid strength in commodity sectors.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended up 54.5 points, or 0.3%, at 20,622.34, its fifth straight day of gains and its highest closing level since July 31. For the week, it was up 2.7%.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.22% to end at 4,450.32 points. The Nasdaq declined 1.56% to 13,708.34 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.83% to 34,618.24 points.
The loonie was trading at 73.96 cents (U.S.), off 0.09 cents.
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TALKING POINTS
Home truths about Canada’s housing mess
Andrew Coyne: “It’s fine to talk about taking a ‘wartime’ approach to the problem, but making tanks and rifles is a different and simpler problem than constructing new housing – you don’t have to be quite as concerned about the preferences of the end customer, for one thing.”
Not everything is awesome, Justin Trudeau concedes
Campbell Clark: “Presumably Mr. Trudeau hopes that conceding that there are deep problems, such as a housing crisis, will allow him to move on to talking about tackling them.”
Russia is benefiting from Canada’s lax approach to sanctions enforcement
Rita Trichur: “Buried in the bowels of its financial trend analysis is the revelation that Canada is a top 10 country when it comes to Russia-related export control evasion. That means a notable number of Canadian companies are still buying and then exporting prohibited U.S. goods to entities in Russia in breach of U.S. sanctions.”
LIVING BETTER
Fall cultural preview
The Globe’s arts critics reveal what they can’t wait to see, listen to and experience this season. Among the recommendations:
- Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia: an exhibition at Montreal’s Musée d’art contemporain documenting how Pussy Riot exposed the injustices of the authoritarian state.
- Bob Dylan in concert: The troubadour brings his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour to Toronto’s Massey Hall and Montreal’s Place des Arts.
- Killers of the Flower Moon: Fresh from a warm reception at Cannes, the latest collaboration between Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro examines the murders of Oklahoma’s Osage people in the early 1920s, and how the FBI was formed soon afterward to tackle the crimes.
Did you follow arts and culture news this week? Are you up to speed on the latest books, plays and movies? Take our arts quiz to test yourself.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Shaken faith
As villagers came to grips with the extent of the death and destruction caused by last Friday’s earthquake in central Morocco, they expected the army, or the government’s medical services, to arrive at any moment.
But four days after the quake, mountain villages near the epicentre of the quake had seen only blankets, a solar-powered light and some tins of sardines from private charities. By the following afternoon, there had been no sign of Moroccan state assistance – no army trucks on the road, no helicopters in the air – in their roadside clearing.
Doug Saunders reports on the shaken faith in king and country.
Evening Update is written and compiled by Andrew Saikali. 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.