Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Liberals seek to extend emergency spending powers, increase new benefits
A day after outlining its priorities in a Throne Speech, the federal Liberals introduced legislation Thursday to extend emergency spending powers in relation to COVID-19 through to the end of 2020.
The minority government says Bill C-2 would allow it to spend “all money required to do anything” related to the pandemic.
The emergency spending powers were first introduced in March, but the government agreed to end them Sept. 30 after intense criticism from the opposition.
C-2, known as the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, also includes income support legislation that sets the new Canada Recovery Benefit at $500 a week, up from the originally announced $400, in a move that responds to a specific demand of the NDP.
Thursday’s legislation also creates a Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit and a Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit.
Ms. Freeland said the government’s plan to extend emergency spending powers until December will be clearly limited to spending on matters related to COVID-19, such as “health care, on things like vaccines, testing and therapeutics.”
Related: Premier Jason Kenney says federal Throne Speech spectacularly missed the mark for Alberta
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Republican lawmakers vow orderly transfer of power after Trump’s election comments: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other top Republicans on Thursday assured American voters that November’s election outcome will be accepted.
Their comments repudiated President Donald Trump’s refusal on Wednesday to commit to a peaceful transfer of power in response to a reporter’s question, and said he expected his election battle with Democrat Joe Biden to be settled by the Supreme Court.
Democrats accused Trump of threatening democracy and further politicizing his coming choice to replace the late Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by suggesting the yet-to-be named nominee would intervene in the election’s outcome.
Republicans invoked the guarantees of the U.S. Constitution, but did not openly condemn Trump.
Read more: Trump’s niece files lawsuit alleging family cheated her out of millions
The latest in coronavirus news: Britain unveils new wage support program amid spike in cases
The Globe’s Paul Waldie writes that the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson has unveiled a series of emergency measures to head off growing fears that a surge in COVID-19 cases could do irreparable damage to the economy. But some economists fear the actions won’t be enough.
The pandemic has come roaring back in Britain after a brief summer break, with the number of new daily cases more than quadrupling in the past month.
Medical officials are worried that Britain could see 50,000 new cases a day by mid-October.
The government has tightened restrictions on social activities and travel and ordered pubs and restaurants to close at 10 p.m. Scotland has gone further and banned people from one household from mixing with others. But there’s increasing concern that the surge in cases, and the government’s response to the crisis, could weaken an already shaky economy.
People sit outside of a pub in London Bridge on Thursday. On the same day, the government announced a new wage support program to preserve 'viable jobs' for six months, and also extended several business loan programs and committed to maintaining a reduction in the sales tax for the hospitality and tourism sectors until next March.HANNAH MCKAY/Reuters
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Problems in long-term care flagged before pandemic hit, Quebec ombudswoman says: Marie Rinfret says nothing was done to resolve well-known problems in the long-term care network before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Her annual report released Thursday notes that understaffing, employee burnout, lack of qualified workers and dilapidated premises were all known to successive provincial governments.
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in need of a major overhaul, province says: A report by the Quebec government says the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts needs an overhaul of its governance practices. The report was commissioned by Quebec Culture Minister Nathalie Roy after the museum’s board fired its high-profile general director, Nathalie Bondil, in July.
Supreme Court agrees to hear case involving fine for massive Quebec maple syrup heist: The Supreme Court will hear a case involving the fine imposed on one of the leaders of a maple syrup heist in 2011-12. Richard Vallieres was initially ordered to pay $10-million in fines because the estimated $18-million in stolen goods couldn’t be recovered. The Quebec Court of Appeal later ruled that was excessive and lowered the fine to $1-million. Quebec prosecutors appealed that decision to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index ended the day higher on Thursday after a shaky start as gold prices recouped some of the losses it suffered the day before. The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 0.60 per cent to 15,912.26.
On Wall Street, stocks rallied as data showing a surge in new home sales revived hopes of an economic recovery even as U.S. jobless claims rose unexpectedly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.19 per cent to 26,814.78, the S&P 500 gained 0.30 per cent, to 3,246.52, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.37 per cent to 10,672.27.
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TALKING POINTS
The economy won’t heal till women are back at work
“The Liberal government also promised an Action Plan for Women and the Economy, in order to ‘ensure a feminist, intersectional response to this pandemic and recovery.’ I fear that this language, vital and true as it is, will be a red flag to certain bulls, who will huff and snort about ‘woke’ politics. Well, they can just sit this one out: They are not the ones disproportionately losing jobs and being harmed by the pandemic.” – Elizabeth Renzetti
The taste of pandemic freedom we enjoyed is over
“In the spring, the pandemic was new. People were frightened because we understood so little about the invisible monster. We watched helplessly as the virus took its toll, especially among the elderly. We were scared into doing the right thing. But then we emerged from that darkness into the light of summer, and we loved and cherished the freedom it brought. Which is why giving it up – which we’ll all have to do – will be so tough. But the alternative is much, much worse.” – Gary Mason
The Trudeau government is fuelling a humanitarian crisis in Yemen
“This year, the Trudeau government intends to publish a white paper on a feminist foreign policy to complement its existing feminist foreign-assistance policy and work to advance gender equality. The Saudi arms deal sorely undermines these efforts and is fundamentally incompatible with a feminist foreign policy. Women and other vulnerable or minority groups are systemically oppressed in Saudi Arabia and are disproportionately affected by the conflict in Yemen. Such direct support of militarism and oppression is the exact opposite of a feminist approach to foreign policy.” – Cesar Jaramillo and Justin Mohammed
LIVING BETTER
With COVID-19 making our homes the all-in-one place to work, go to school and kick back in our free time, building extra storage, office or play space without a major renovation might seem like an impossibility. Until, of course, you look at those unused spaces that take us from room to room – hallways. “I see always hallways as another full room in the house,” interior designer Tommy Smythe says. A place to put a desk, a bookcase, a bench or store toys, hallways can give us that extra space every family needs right now.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Fear of a repeat of spring’s brutal lockdown is keeping the Italian pandemic in check
A deserted Piazza Duomo in Milan, Italy, on April 3, 2020, during Italy's lockdown. After a stumbling start, Italy has gone from being a global pariah to a model, however imperfect, of viral containment that holds fresh lessons for its neighbors and the United States.ALESSANDRO GRASSANI/The New York Times News Service
The number of COVID-19 cases in Italy has been rising steadily since it bottomed out in June and July, hitting about 1,500 cases a day. On Wednesday, Italy recorded 1,640 new cases, taking the total to more than 302,000, and 20 deaths, for a total of 35,758.
While those numbers seem bleak, they are nothing compared with the surge of cases other major European countries are experiencing. On Wednesday, France recorded more than 13,000 new cases and 43 deaths; Spain saw more than 11,000 new cases and 130 deaths; in the U.K., there were 6,200 new cases and 37 deaths. Italy now ranks fifth in Europe, after Russia, Spain, France and Britain in total cases since the start of the pandemic. During the first couple of months of the pandemic, it was first.
So what’s the reason COVID cases in Italy are much lower than other big countries in Europe? Fear. Italians have remained vigilant since those horrifying days that saw thousands of people lose their lives to the virus and forced the country into the world’s longest and strictest lockdown.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, Italians suffered greatly,” said Danilo Patti, a urologist who works in Rome. “The lockdown was respected, and there was unity – even though Italians have a reputation for being unruly. Italians are still afraid. They don’t want to be locked down again.”
Evening Update is presented by Rob Gilroy and Omair Quadri. 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.
Rob Gilroy