Good evening, let’s start with today’s top coronavirus stories:
Spread of COVID-19 slows, but projections show more deaths expected
New models released by the federal government show a pandemic paradox is playing out in Canada as more people die from COVID-19, even as the increase in new cases slows down.
Canada’s case rate is now doubling every 16 days rather than the three to five days seen about three weeks ago, says Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam. Still, the government expects to see between 3,227 and 3,883 deaths by May 5, up from the current tally of more than 2,800.
While adults over the age of 60 accounted for 95 per cent of the more than 2,700 deaths, Tam warned no one was immune.
Quebec reveals business reopening plans, some to start next week
Quebec will reopen manufacturing, construction and some retail operations over three weeks starting May 4, Premier François Legault has announced. About 450,000 of the 1.2 million Quebeckers currently off the job are expected to be back to work by the end of May under the plan.
As with schools, the reopening of the retail sector will be staggered based on region: Outlets with exterior-opening doors outside the Montreal region will be allowed to open May 4; in Montreal, that will be May 11. The interior of shopping centres will remain closed.
On May 11, factories throughout Quebec will be allowed to open with limits on how many workers can be on the floor at any time. Those restrictions could be lifted as early as May 25, allowing a full return to work. Construction will be allowed to relaunch completely May 11.
Find out more: Here’s our guide on lockdown rules in each province and territory, and when they might be lifted.
On the international front:
Taiwan is donating half a million masks to Canada, expressing hope that some can be used to protect Indigenous communities, as the self-ruled island tries to counter the Chinese government’s effort to isolate it during the pandemic. The donation is the latest in a string of gifts from Taiwan to other jurisdictions, from the United States to Japan to the European Union, as the island practices what’s being called “mask diplomacy.”
Kawasaki disease, a rare inflammatory syndrome which researchers believe to be linked to COVID-19, is a concern although it has not led to any deaths of children in Britain so far, its health ministry says. That clarification followed comments by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, in which he appeared to say that some children with no underlying health conditions had died from it. But the ministry said he had been speaking about COVID-19 more generally.
In business:
Postmedia will lay off about 80 employees and permanently close 15 community publications in Manitoba and Ontario’ Windsor-Essex area, as ad revenue has taken a “significant” hit. Remaining staff who earn $60,000 or more, except commissioned advertising sales representatives, will receive a salary reduction for at least three months, CEO Andrew MacLeod said in a memo.
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New details emerge in Nova Scotia gunman’s rampage at RCMP briefing
Nova Scotia RCMP say they believe the gunman responsible for Canada’s deadliest mass killing slipped away from police only minutes after they arrived in Portapique, N.S., by driving through a farmer’s field.
In an update today, Supt. Darren Campbell said officers arrived at the rural beach community at 10:26 p.m. on April 18. It’s now believed the gunman, who by that point had killed 13 of his neighbours, snuck away less than 10 minutes later, driving a mock police car he’d bought only a few months earlier. The gunman would go on to kill a total of 22 people before being shot dead by police the following morning.
Separately, Nova Scotia government has set up a help line with psychologists for residents to talk about their distress over the recent mass shooting.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Marco Muzzo granted day parole: Marco Muzzo, who pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death following a 2015 collision that claimed the lives of three young children and their grandfather, has been granted day parole, the children’s mother, Jennifer Neville-Lake, confirmed on social media. He had been serving a 10-year sentence, and was denied parole in 2018. Opinion: Marco Muzzo already destroyed a family. The parole process compounds that tragedy – Robyn Urback
From left, Harrison, Milly and Daniel Neville-Lake died along with their grandfather, Gary Neville.Kay Prince Photography/The Canadian Press
Fire sends Margaret Trudeau to hospital: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s spoken with his mother, Margaret Trudeau, after she was sent to hospital following a fire at her Montreal apartment late yesterday and she’s “doing fine.”
Fort McMurray flooding update: Officials in Fort McMurray are keeping a close eye on river levels after a 25-kilometre ice jam caused major flooding and forced about 12,000 people from their homes. Don Scott, mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, said the ice jam has shrunk by two to three kilometres, but it remains a critical situation.
MARKET WATCH
Global stocks were mixed in a volatile session ahead of key earnings from U.S. technology giants, touching fresh multi-week highs early in the day even as the recovery continues to raise questions about stretched equity valuations, declining corporate profits and the deteriorating health of the economy.
Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 156.18 points or 1.07 per cent to close at 14,798.12.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 32.23 points or 0.1 per cent to 24,101.55, The S&P 500 index fell 15.09 points or 0.5 per cent to 2,863.39, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 122.43 points or 1.4 per cent to 8,607.73.
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TALKING POINTS
As lockdowns lift, will this be the summer of our discontent?
“I predict some ugly confrontations this summer, ones that pit those who want to remain vigilant and abide by physical-distancing rules against those who flout them.” - Gary Mason
Derek Sloan’s rhetoric is only a symptom of a bigger Conservative Party problem
“It has spent too much of the past five years preaching to the converted and not enough time growing the congregation. Constantly playing to a crowd united by a visceral dislike of [Justin] Trudeau and an appreciation of Donald Trump’s brawling governance is no way to convince most Canadian voters that you have something serious to offer.” - Andrew MacDougall, a former head of communications to Stephen Harper
In this pandemic war, Canada has come together – while the U.S. falls apart
“Instead of bringing Americans together, the pandemic has become another flashpoint in the country’s culture war. Its president has applied the only strategies he knows when confronted with a threat: attack, divide and belittle.” - Lawrence Martin
LIVING BETTER
Weeks of physical distancing may have you revisiting your liquor cabinet and wondering whether the spirits in long-untouched open bottles is still good. The Globe’s Christopher Waters offers this guidance: Spirits above 40-per-cent abv (80 proof) don’t expire. Anything that’s been distilled, such as gin, vodka, rum, tequila or whisky, stops aging once it’s been bottled. Most brands are best enjoyed in the first year. Keep open bottles of cream liqueurs such as Baileys in the refrigerator to help to extend their shelf life, but still don’t let them linger past eight to 12 months. Sign up here to receive Good Taste newsletter, offering wine advice and reviews, recipes, restaurant news and more.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Growing cohort of overwhelmed parents, unengaged children drop distance learning
It was not long after schools closed that Monica Belyea began to wake up with a feeling of dread, knowing the day ahead would see her eight-year-old son slumped in a chair as she pleaded with him to complete his assigned schoolwork. Finally, last week, she found a solution: She gave up.
“A part of me does feel guilty,” said Belyea, who lives in Toronto. “I am the parent, and sometimes kids have to do what they don’t want to do. But it’s just too much. I can’t fight with him every day like this.”
More and more parents across Canada are voicing their frustration at trying to keep their children’s education continuing with what they view as the endless stream of web links and instructions sent by teachers. Distance learning can leave them feeling overwhelmed, especially as the length of school closings stretches into months, from weeks, to stop the spread of COVID-19. Read Caroline Alphonso’s full story here.
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