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British Columbia is committed to using Canada’s direct-to-cellphone alerting system for natural disasters beyond tsunamis, but the provincial emergency planning agency did not say if it is possible before the end of this summer’s historic wildfire season.
At a wildfire briefing on Thursday, Pader Brach, executive director of regional operations at Emergency Management BC, said his organization is examining how to employ the Alert Ready system more widely after The Globe and Mail reported on Thursday that B.C. is the only province that hasn’t issued a direct-to-cellphone alert since this national system became available three years ago. Emergency officials in Alberta have used Alert Ready more than 70 times since 2019 – including 25 times for wildfires.
“We know that minutes count and we’re certainly committed to making the Alert Ready system a priority,” Mr. Brach said. “Right now, we recognize that Alert Ready would complement some of the many tools that are available to local communities and the public when it comes to evacuations.”
Public Safety Canada says it received notification last week from Ontario and Quebec that the provinces are opting out of the testing because neither wants to send unnecessary alert tones to residents dealing with historic flooding. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan RemiorzRyan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
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E-mails shed new light on N.S. art college real estate battle
The former president of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) raised concerns for months about members of the board of governors who she felt were pushing a proposal for a developer to build a new campus before she was abruptly fired, according to recently released e-mails from the university.
The e-mails, obtained through access-to-information legislation, show disagreement over the real estate proposal – which would have required NSCAD to sell its historic downtown properties to a Halifax developer in exchange for a new campus that the developer would build and lease to the school. The proposal caused animosity between Aoife Mac Namara, who became president in August, 2019, and several members of the volunteer board who ultimately voted to fire her in June, 2020.
Dr. Mac Namara was concerned about the perception of conflicts of interest among board members with links to the developer, and told the chair of the board that the provincial government should be made aware of the issue, the documents show. She told the board in e-mails that holding private meetings with Armour Group president Scott McCrea before the project went to tender would make it appear the developer was getting an inside track for a publicly funded infrastructure project.
Islamophobia summit should be followed by government action, say Muslim community leaders
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned hatred toward the Muslim community at Thursday’s national summit on Islamophobia, but community leaders say they need to see the government follow up with concrete actions after the discussions if the event is to effect real change.
Thursday’s virtual summit brought together government ministers and members of the Muslim community to discuss how to combat the recent rise of Islamophobia in Canada. It comes a few weeks after a man is alleged to have deliberately driven into a Muslim family in London, Ont., killing four people and leaving a child injured, and after other recent attacks on Muslims in Hamilton and near Edmonton.
The event took place a day after an antisemitism summit, both of which are part of the government’s Anti-Racism Strategy.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
‘Celebrating with sadness’: Muslims mark sombre Eid, some without health restrictions: Haseeb Azhar says it felt odd hugging a Muslim co-worker and friend in Edmonton as he wished him a happy Eid. “Some people were hesitating; it felt very weird,” said the manager at a steel manufacturing company.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan personally directed military to provide him with aide in Vancouver, new documents show: Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told the military to create a position eventually filled by a reserve officer from his old unit who had been ordered suspended from the Vancouver police for an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, according to newly released briefing notes.
Fortin says career ‘over’ because of investigation: The military officer who previously oversaw Canada’s vaccine rollout campaign says his reputation has been “irreparably tarnished” by the government’s decision to abruptly replace him in May and publicly reveal he was being investigated for sexual misconduct.
Beirut’s port explosion killed their daughter, but rather than return to Canada, they stayed for a better Lebanon: When Paul Naggear and Tracy Awad-Naggear were told their daughter Alexandra had died, becoming one of more than 200 victims of last year’s explosion in the port of Beirut, their first instinct was to give up on Lebanon. To leave this deeply troubled country behind and move to Canada.
Regulatory uncertainty can make trading stock tokens risky, experts say: Canadian investors curious about trading stock tokens – digital versions of stocks that are based on blockchain technology – must have a high appetite for risk in the current climate of regulatory uncertainty, caution some crypto industry experts.
Canada’s big banks need to show rebound in lending to avoid fate of U.S. counterparts: analysts: Canada’s large banks are under pressure to show that their core lending business is rebounding after investors appeared unimpressed with the latest round of U.S. bank earnings, choosing to overlook rising profits and focus instead on tepid demand for loans.
MORNING MARKETS
World stocks gain: World stocks markets perked up on Friday after a volatile week in which sentiment over the global economic outlook waxed and waned with each new headline on the Delta variant. Just before 6 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.76 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.63 per cent and 0.83 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang seng lost 1.45 per cent. Markets in Japan were closed. New York futures were higher. The Canadian dollar was trading at 79.59 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Who protects wealthy sex predators? Just about everyone
“What does it take to enable a sexual predator? It takes a village, as it turns out. If the predator is a wealthy and well-connected man, that is, and his victims are girls and young women who have neither wealth nor influence. It takes a village to raise children; it can also take a village to destroy them.” – Elizabeth Renzetti
Joe Biden’s half-measures on gun violence only highlight Canada’s policy shortcomings
“Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden released a memo urging city and state leaders to use money from the US$1.9-trillion American Rescue Plan Act to fight rising gun violence. Some cities have already taken him up on the offer: San Jose and New York have announced investments in evidence-based community interventions that can help deter young people from becoming involved in shootings, including job programs and prison-release assistance.” – Jooyoung Lee, associate professor of sociology and a faculty affiliate at the Centre for the Study of the United States at the University of Toronto
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
David ParkinsDavid Parkins/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Nine wines and spirits to buy now, including a spicy rosé from an irreverent new Okanagan brand
A stylish new wine brand called Imbzzl hits liquor store shelves in British Columbia this month. It’s a second label for Laughing Stock Vineyards, the premium boutique winery in Naramata that was purchased by Arterra Wines Canada in 2017, and features a red, white and rosé produced in the Okanagan.
MOMENT IN TIME: July 23, 1976
Princess Anne competes in the Montreal Olympics
Britain's Princess Anne rides her horse "Goodwill" during the Olympic Game horse-training event, where she obtained 91,25 points, 22 July 1976 in Montreal. Credit: AFP/Getty ImagesAFP/Getty Images
Despite the fact she was the only daughter of the Queen, Princess Anne did not pull rank to become a member of the British team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Anne had been competing in equestrian sports since she was 11 and narrowly missed qualifying for the 1972 Games by the time she was 21. Four years later – despite suffering a hairline fracture in her vertebra that April – Anne was on the eventing team. (Eventing, open to men and women, has three segments held over several days, which require distinct skills: dressage, cross-country and show jumping.) On this day in 1976, Anne, aboard her horse Goodwill, finished 26th of 49 competitors in the dressage portion. She was the first member of the Royal Family to compete at the Olympics and her family was there to cheer her on at the equestrian park in Bromont, Que. – the Queen, Prince Philip, her brothers and her then-husband, former Olympic gold medalist Mark Phillips. Alas, there was no fairy-tale ending for the Princess. Her horse spilled her in the cross-country and she suffered a time-count violation in show jumping. Her final placing in the individual eventing competition was 24th. Philip King
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