Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Financial institutions have begun freezing bank accounts of some protesters involved in blockades based on information provided by the RCMP, according to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. The minister also said she has specific statistics about the number of frozen accounts that will be made public “in due course, and soon,” but are not being immediately disclosed as to avoid jeopardizing “operational actions.” A letter sent by the RCMP to banks names fewer than 20 people the national police service has identified as being involved in illegal acts related to the demonstrations.
A debate on the federal government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act took place as a police presence intensified outside. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kicked off the debate, in the temporary House of Commons in Parliament’s West Block, acknowledging public frustration with pandemic restrictions while declaring the continuing protests illegal and dangerous.
Meanwhile, Ottawa city workers have put up metal fencing along the stone wall in front of Parliament Hill and in front of the Senate, where protesters have dug in.
- Doug Saunders: “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his staff ought to pay close attention to the ways European leaders have responded to vehicular protest movements.”
- Listen to The Decibel: The new expanded powers banks have under the Emergencies Act
Police officers stand in front of the the gates at Parliament Hill as protestors and supporters gather to listen to speakers in downtown Ottawa as a protest against COVID-19 measures that has grown into a broader anti-government protest continues to occupy Ottawa, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole BurstonCOLE BURSTON/The Canadian Press
This is the daily Evening Update newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was sent to you as a forward, you can sign up for Evening Update and more than 20 more Globe newsletters here. If you like what you see, please share it with your friends.
Ukraine
U.S. President Joe Biden said today that there was every indication Russia was planning to invade Ukraine in the next few days and that Russia was preparing a pretext to justify it, after Ukrainian forces and pro-Moscow rebels traded fire in eastern Ukraine. Moscow accused Biden of stoking tension and also ordered the expulsion of the number two official from the U.S. embassy.
Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand says the Canadian military is weighing its capacity to send reinforcements to bolster NATO’s eastern flank given its numerous other commitments at home and around the world.
Meanwhile, with President Volodymyr Zelensky looking on, 500 Ukrainian soldiers pummelled a vast field with rounds fired from Soviet-era tanks and new weaponry donated by Western countries.
The mock defence exercise against an invasion was held Wednesday just 85 kilometres from the Belarusian border, which Ukraine has eyed warily for signs of a real incursion by the Russian troops massed there and on its border with Russia – about 150,000 in total.
Canada reclaims gold in women’s hockey
Marie-Philip Poulin added two more goals to her remarkable career in the Canadians’ 3-2 win over their archrivals from the United States to take women’s hockey gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics. With each goal, she smiled blissfully, then pointed to another teammate. It was never all about Poulin, and that was precisely why Team Canada thrived in Beijing. Everybody mattered.
In other Olympics news: With the doping case against figure skater Kamila Valieva unresolved, none of the top competitors in the Feb. 7 team event can receive their medals. The U.S. figure-skating team told the president of the International Olympic Committee that they would like to leave the Beijing Games with their medals won 10 days ago, the U.S. Olympic Committee said earlier today. Meanwhile, Valieva failed to make the top three in today’s women’s solo final, falling twice in an error-strewn program.
- Cathal Kelly: “This time around, women’s hockey didn’t feel like the most important event in this Olympics. It felt like the only event.”
- Editorial: “In sports, you have to play by the rules. But when organizers of the world’s biggest sports event get into bed with autocrats, the rules are whatever they say they are.”
- In photos: Canada wins gold in women’s hockey, silver in ski cross and other Beijing Winter Olympic highlights
- Your daily guide: Catch up on early events and follow tonight’s action here.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Health Canada approves Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 18 and older
The protein-based Nuvaxovid vaccine is the first of its kind to get approval in the country. The non-mRNA vaccine could potentially win over a few more vaccine-hesitant people who have not been immunized against COVID-19. It will be administered in two doses, 21 days apart.
How a Saudi woman’s iPhone revealed hacking around the world
A software glitch on her iPhone allowed Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul and privacy researchers to discover evidence suggesting an Israeli spyware maker had helped hack her iPhone. NSO Group, one of the world’s most sophisticated spyware companies, now faces a cascade of legal action over allegations that its software was used to hack the communications of government officials and dissidents around the world.
U.S. funds for Ottawa trucker convoy protests may sway American politics too
Support for the Ottawa protests and border blockades from American right-wing activists and conservative politicians is really aimed at energizing conservative politics in the looming U.S. midterm elections, experts say, as some Republicans think standing with the protesters up north will galvanize fundraising and voter turnout at home.
Canada joins France in military withdrawal from Mali after decade-long operation against Islamist militants
Although Canada does not have troops in the counter-insurgency campaign, it has been supporting it with Canadian military transport aircraft since 2013. France and its allies, including Canada, have been increasingly critical of Mali’s military junta after it postponed elections and recruited hundreds of Russian military contractors for its internal security.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index dropped Thursday weighed down by losses in the technology sector. The TSX Composite Index fell 0.97 per cent to 21,176.33.
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks slid as geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine increased, forcing investors to safe havens such as bonds and gold. The S&P 500 lost 2.14 per cent to end at 4,379.42 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.88 per cent to 13,717.14. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.79 per cent to 34,307.29.
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.
TALKING POINTS
The Conservative leadership is Poilievre’s to lose, unless the party broadens its support
John Ibbitson: “He may be unstoppable. But plenty of those in what is left of the establishment wing of the party would love to stop him. Mr. Poilievre, though intelligent and capable, flirts with extreme positions.”
The convoy protests are an opportunity to talk about what defunding the police actually means
Tanya Talaga: “The way in which “protesters” have been allowed to occupy cities and disrupt borders reveals a profound double standard. If these were Black Lives Matter or Idle No More gatherings, police would have shut them down in a matter of hours, not weeks.”
What America’s Buy Clean plan might mean for Canadian cleantech
Jeffrey Jones: “There’s a risk that trade disputes could enter the climate-change realm, and that will be something to keep an eye on as tens of billions of dollars are poured into green technology and products.”
LIVING BETTER
True Dat: Three great new true crime books
Most of us like our crime the way we like our loves: true. True crime continues its dominance across all manner of narrative consumables – podcasts, television, movies, books. Emily Donaldson welcomes the genre’s continued broadening beyond wretched tales of rape and femicide, and highlights three new titles.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Reid_Eliza_2021.jpg Eliza Reid authorSupplied
Iceland ranks first in gender equality. Its first lady tells you why
As a Canadian who grew up outside of Ottawa, Iceland’s first lady, Eliza Reid, has an outsider’s perspective that enables to her to identify what Iceland does really well and what it needs to work on. In her new book, she interviews women from all walks of life, allowing them to share their struggles and their stories.
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.