Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
The latest developments in the war in Ukraine
Russia has ordered its top general to take charge of its faltering invasion of Ukraine in the biggest shakeup yet of its military command structure after months of battlefield setbacks.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov had been appointed as overall commander of forces for what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine. That effectively demoted General Sergei Surovikin, who is nicknamed “General Armageddon” by the Russian media for his reputed ruthlessness.
The move comes as Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia’s private military firm Wagner, said his forces had captured all of the eastern Ukrainian mining town of Soledar and killed about 500 Ukrainian soldiers after heavy fighting.
In a video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mocked the Russian claims, saying that fighting was still going on.
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USMCA auto dispute ruling favours Canada, Mexico
Arbitration under the USMCA has ruled in favour of Canada and Mexico in a dispute over regional content rules for automobiles – a matter that was at the core of the two-year-old trade pact.
The dispute panel’s decision gives companies more incentive to make auto parts for North American vehicles in Canada and Mexico by upholding regional content rules agreed to in the renegotiation of the NAFTA deal that led to the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement).
The news comes on as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador met in a bilateral session on the heels of the Three Amigos Summit in Mexico City.
Opinion:
- Canada is going to be drawn closer to the U.S., whether we like it or not - Lawrence Martin
- Trudeau’s real North America agenda is reacting to Biden’s industrial strategy - Campbell Clark
Canada’s cities see immigration-driven population surge after pandemic lull
Canada’s urban areas experienced their strongest population growth in at least two decades, rebounding from a weak expansion during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the year ending July 1, 2022, the country’s census metropolitan areas (CMAs) grew 2.1 per cent or by 574,000 people, according to Statistics Canada estimates published today.
As COVID-19 restrictions have eased, immigration has surged to record levels, helping to drive most of the population growth in urban areas. In particular, Atlantic Canada is experiencing a boom period.
Air travel across U.S. thrown into chaos, with Canadian airports hit by delays
A computer outage at the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration brought flights to a standstill across the United States. today, with hundreds of delays quickly cascading through the system, including at Canadian airports.
The White House initially said that there was no evidence of a cyberattack behind the outage. President Joe Biden said that he’s directed the Department of Transportation to investigate.
At Canadian airports this morning, all U.S. flights were delayed. Almost 800 Canadian flights to and from the U.S. could be disrupted, according to aviation analytics company Cirium. Air Canada and WestJet encouraged travellers to check their flights before going to the airport.
Explainer: How NOTAM caused widespread flight disruptions
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Damar Hamlin out of hospital: The Bills safety was released from a Buffalo hospital today, more than a week after he went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated during a game at Cincinnati, after his doctors said they completed a series of tests.
Golden Globes redux: The Golden Globes returned to television last night with a red carpet flush with celebrities, comedian Jerrod Carmichael as a hesitant emcee and top awards for Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans and Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, as the beleaguered award show sought to rekindle its prescandal glamour.
Read more: Best, worst and weirdest moments from Hollywood’s biggest party-slash-cringe-fest
Michelle Yeoh accepts the award for best actress in a motion picture – musical or comedy award for "Everything Everywhere All at Once" during the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 10, 2023, in Beverly Hills, Calif.NBC/The Associated Press
LCBO cyberattack update: The Liquor Control Board of Ontario says it is continuing to investigate a “cybersecurity incident” that has knocked out its website and mobile app since yesterday.
Mattea Roach’s new gig: The Canadian Jeopardy! champion Mattea Roach will face off against other elite players in Jeopardy! Masters, a new spinoff picked up by ABC.
Girl Guides reveal new name: The Canadian organization has renamed its Brownies branch the Embers. The new name applies immediately to its program for girls aged 7 and 8 in a bid to become more inclusive.
RIP Jeff Beck: The guitar virtuoso who pushed the boundaries of blues, jazz and rock `n’ roll, influencing generations along the way with his solo work and as part of the Yardbirds, has died at 78.
MARKET WATCH
U.S. stocks ended sharply higher today as investors were optimistic ahead of an inflation report that could give the Federal Reserve room to dial back on its aggressive interest rate hikes. Canada’s main stock index rose to its highest level in more than five weeks, led by a jump in the real estate sector.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 268.91 points or 0.8 per cent to 33,973.01, the S&P 500 gained 50.36 points or 1.28 per cent to 3,969.61 and the Nasdaq Composite added 189.04 points or 1.76 per cent to end at 10,931.67.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index advanced 126.19 points or 0.63 per cent to 20,025.05. The loonie traded at 74.49 U.S. cents.
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TALKING POINTS
Prince Harry’s Spare is, ultimately, a story about brothers
“Why does Harry keep relitigating the same complaints? Because after nearly 40 years, he’s finally figured out how to pierce his brother’s forcefield of austerity. Now he can’t get his finger off the trigger.” - Cathal Kelly
Review: Prince Harry’s memoir is a portrait of an angry man struggling to make peace with his past
We have questions about Pierre Poilievre’s passport story
“At some point [Pierre] Poilievre needs to begin showing that he is prime ministerial material, that he has the gravitas to ascend to such an important position. Because up to now, he’s been one of the least serious Conservative leaders we have seen in some time.” - Gary Mason
LIVING BETTER
The Canadian Transportation Agency says it will extend decisions on individual air traveller complaints to others from the same flight. But that doesn’t mean that compensation awarded to one complainant will automatically apply to fellow passengers, the agency told The Globe.
Once the CTA reaches a decision on a particular case, it may order airlines to notify others on the flight that they could be eligible for compensation or reimbursement of expenses. Passengers would have to file their own claims to have their cases assessed.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Health care spending is unsustainable, former finance minister Bill Morneau says in new book
Bill Morneau looks at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a press conference in Ottawa on March 11, 2020.Blair Gable/Reuters
Former finance minister Bill Morneau says political leaders in Canada have for too long fixed the health care system’s problems by spending more and more money, and that now is the time to make the hard choices they have avoided in the past.
More than two years after resigning from cabinet and the House of Commons, Morneau is about to release a book – Where To From Here – that looks back on his five years in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government and offers a road map for navigating the country’s economic and social challenges. Fixing health care programs is a central theme.
In his view, political leaders have avoided the hard work of health care reform, and instead kicked the problem down the road by increasing federal transfer payments and other sources of cash. Going forward, he writes, federal transfers should be conditional on commitments from the provinces to achieve “measurable progress” on reforms, overseen by an agency with representatives from both levels of government. Read Andrew Willis’s full story.
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