Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Ottawa to announce multibillion-dollar relief package for Air Canada, sources say
The federal government will announce a multibillion-dollar relief package for Air Canada and parts of the industry this evening, after months of negotiations between Ottawa and the industry hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, The Globe and Mail has learned.
The Globe and Mail is not identifying the three sources because they were not authorized to discuss the talks publicly.
The rescue package is expected to be a mix of low-cost loans and wage subsidies, and to come with restrictions related to executive compensation. Two of the sources said the package would ensure key regional routes would be maintained and that current orders for aircraft would not be cancelled if it were to affect jobs in Canada.
Separately today, Porter Airlines said it is again pushing back its tentative date for resuming flights, and is now targeting June 21.
In other COVID-19-related developments: Ontario schools will move to online learning next week following the end of spring break, Premier Doug Ford has announced, saying community spread of COVID-19 is too high to risk having students congregate. Meanwhile, in Alberta and British Columbia, where variant case numbers are rising, the full closing of a school is the exception rather than the norm.
Record cases in Ontario are prompting most hospitals in the Greater Toronto Area to shut down their pediatric units, clearing space and staff for coronavirus patients. The province is reporting 4,401 new cases of COVID-19 today, down slightly from its all-time daily high yesterday of 4,456. Toronto’s top doctor, Eileen de Villa, says the city could see 2,500 new cases a day by the end of April, almost double today’s tally of 1,282.
In Quebec, Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante is deploring the violence and vandalism in Old Montreal that occurred last night after an anti-curfew protest turned violent. The province is reporting 1,599 new COVID-19 cases today, as vaccination program expanded in Montreal area.
Canada is set to receive one million doses for the Pfizer vaccine this week, while Ottawa is expecting Moderna to make good on a previously promised batch of 855,000 vaccine doses that were expected last week, but have yet to arrive.
Opinion: The third wave of COVID-19 has flipped the health care script in Canada - André Picard
Read more:
- Second COVID-19 pandemic spring devastates Quebec’s small cabane à sucre maple industry
- Planning, trust led to COVID-19 vaccination success in Northern Ontario First Nations
- Who have provinces pegged to receive COVID-19 vaccines in the coming weeks? Here’s a guide
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.
Ottawa cancels export permits with Turkey after finding Canadian gear used in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
The Canadian government is cancelling 29 permits for exports of military goods to Turkey, saying an investigation revealed that made-in-Canada airstrike-targeting gear was illegally diverted to the war last fall between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
It’s rare for Ottawa to outright cancel permits, and the decision is sure to hurt Canadian relations with Turkey, a NATO ally that has been drifting into authoritarianism in recent years.
As The Globe and Mail reported last October, restricted Canadian imaging technology made by L3Harris Wescam turned up in drones being operated by Azerbaijan. The Wescam gear had been approved for export to Turkey only.
China might not free Spavor and Kovrig in Meng deal if Canada not part of deal, senator warns
Senator Yuen Pau Woo, an expert in Canada-Asian relations, is warning a future U.S. deal to set free Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou may not lead to the immediate release of two Canadians locked up in China – particularly if Ottawa is not seen as having played a significant role in her release.
Canadian former diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor were detained by China in December, 2018, in apparent retaliation for Meng’s arrest at the Vancouver airport at the request of U.S. authorities.
Separately, Huawei says it has reached an agreement with HSBC in Hong Kong to obtain documents that Meng hopes will help prevent her extradition to the United States.
Opinion: China’s sanctions on me and others are a clumsy attempt to silence debate - Michael Chong, Conservative foreign affairs critic and MP
Vancouver proposes eliminating criminal charges for personal possession of illicit drugs
A person caught with three days worth of illicit drugs will not face criminal sanctions in Vancouver should a proposal by the city to decriminalize simple possession be approved.
The city has made its second submission to Health Canada, this one outlining proposed threshold limits on what would constitute personal possession.
The initial recommendations permit up to two grams of opioids such as heroin and fentanyl, three grams of cocaine, 10 rocks (one gram) of crack cocaine and 1.5 grams of amphetamine – but may change after detailed risk assessments and consultation. Additional substances, such as psychedelics, are expected to be added in coming weeks.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Chauvin trial resumes following fatal police shooting: The judge in the George Floyd murder case has refused a defence request to immediately sequester the jury, the morning after the killing of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop triggered unrest in a suburb just outside Minneapolis. Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon called the shooting “an accidental discharge,” after he apparently intended to fire a Taser, not a handgun.
O’Toole to vote against bill to ban “sex-selective abortions”: Federal Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says he will vote against a bill brought forward by a member of his caucus that aims to ban so-called “sex-selective abortions.”
MARKET WATCH
North American stocks ended lower today, with performance in Toronto undermined by a slide in materials and cannabis stocks. Investors awaited cues from the coming corporate earnings season and a key inflation report later this week.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 26.75 points or 0.14 per cent to 19,201.28.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 55.20 points or 0.16 per cent to 33,745.40, the S&P 500 lost 0.81 points or 0.02 per cent to end at 4,127.99 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 50.19 points or 0.36 per cent to 13,850.00.
Looking for investing ideas? Check out The Globe’s weekly digest of the latest insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and what investors need to know for the week ahead. This week’s edition includes Canadian companies hiking dividends, big bank stock pick and tax deduction checklist.
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
Whatever we may think of modern monetary theory, its day in the sun has arrived
“If monetary policy hasn’t been an entirely satisfactory answer to stable and equitable economic well-being, neither has a generation of fiscal restraint.” - David Parkinson
Biden faces the reality of creating a post-Trump agenda as political confrontations set over policy proposals
“The biggest obstacle to the Biden proposals, at least while his party has a tenuous hold on power on Capitol Hill, is the cost of his programs, which troubles Democrats who worry about the power of the party’s progressive wing.” - David Shribman
Hideki Matsuyama hangs on for a historic Masters win
“Whatever [Mike] Weir is to Canada, Matsuyama becomes that and much more to a country that is sports-crazy in general, and golf-crazy in particular.” - Cathal Kelly
Japan's Hideki Matsuyama celebrates with his green jacket after winning the Masters yesterday.BRIAN SNYDER/Reuters
LIVING BETTER
Bring the vibrant colours of spring indoors all year round by learning how to make paper flowers at the latest Globe Craft Club event. Join host Jana G. Pruden and Chantal Larocque, the New Brunswick artist behind Paper and Peony, tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET live on Facebook and at tgam.ca/craftclub. Find out here what materials to have on hand, and catch up on other activities in our Facebook group.
Evening Update is presented by S.R. Slobodian. 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.