Morning Update: Biden makes gains in presidential race as Trump campaign contests results

Good morning,

Three days after election day in the U.S., we still don’t know whether the next president will be Joe Biden or Donald Trump. Do you still have questions about everything going on?

This morning, Adrian Morrow will discuss the latest on the results – and the issues the next president will face – with European correspondent Paul Waldie. Join us on Facebook at 10 a.m. ET with your questions.

Biden makes gains in presidential race as Trump campaign files late lawsuits, contests results

Joe Biden led or gained ground in the vote count in all four states that could decide the presidential race, as Donald Trump’s campaign filed several lawsuits seeking to stop the counting or invalidate the ballots in at least four locations.

The former vice-president and Democratic nominee on Thursday steadily erased the President’s edge in Pennsylvania, the largest state still counting, and took a slim lead in Georgia. Mr. Biden also remained narrowly ahead in Arizona and Nevada. On Wednesday, he defeated Mr. Trump in Michigan and Wisconsin, two other crucial swing states. Follow the latest updates in our rolling file of news and analysis.

Also read:

Ballots are counted at the Maricopa County Election Department after the US presidential election in Phoenix, Arizona, on November 5, 2020.OLIVIER TOURON/AFP/Getty Images

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Pollsters face questions after many tallies misfire in U.S. election – again

With vote counting still under way, it’s far too early to say how the 2020 election cycle will be regarded within the checkered annals of U.S. pre-election polling. But it’s clear that many pollsters got it wrong.

Pollsters faced a similar predicament in 2016, when Hillary Clinton was heavily favoured to win the presidency, based on extensive pre-election polling. Some companies adjusted accordingly this time around. AAPOR is warning that it’s too early to draw any conclusions about polling accuracy for 2020. But still, there are early signs of what needs to change for next time.

Second COVID-19 wave hitting Canadian hospitals

Winnipeg, Edmonton, Quebec City. Although Canada’s hospitals are faring much better than their counterparts in virus-battered regions of Europe and the United States, the fall wave of the pandemic is exerting enough pressure that hospitals in some of this country’s hot spots have been forced to scale back care for non-COVID patients, many of whom have already waited longer than usual because of the pandemic.

In B.C., Real estate agents are being asked to temporarily stop holding open houses in an effort to curb the rise of COVID-19.
In Manitoba, just days after floating the idea of a COVID-19 curfew and asking citizens to weigh in using an online government survey, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister has backed away from the idea.

Members of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service wear personal protective gear as they depart Maples Personal Care Home, which is experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, November 2, 2020.SHANNON VANRAES/Reuters

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Ontario unveils budget with record deficit fuelled by pandemic: The budget pledges another $7.5-billion to fight COVID-19 – in hospitals, long-term care homes and in public-health units – over the next three years, which comes on top of $7.7-billion in health spending the government had already announced. Here are the highlights.

Also read Patrick Brethour’s Tax and Spend column: Ontario steps on to a slippery debt path with budget

Alberta Auditor-General uncovers $1.5-billion in energy-related accounting errors: Doug Wylie released his audit of the province’s 2019-20 financial reports Thursday, noting the level of error was “significant,” and the largest he could recall during his two decades in the office.

Crown, defence differ on Barbara Kentner’s cause of death in Bushby manslaughter trial: Brayden Bushby, who was 18 at the time, has pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and not guilty to manslaughter in the attack on the Anishinaabe woman in Thunder Bay. The trial is being conducted by a judge alone in the Ontario Superior Court.

MORNING MARKETS

Global stocks mixed with U.S. presidential outcome still uncertain. Global stocks were little changed but near a record high while the U.S. dollar and bond yields stayed sluggish on Friday on bets that a divided U.S. Congress would hinder government borrowing, which could pave the way for even more central bank stimulus. Just before 6 a.m. ET, Europe’s main stock index was down 0.4 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei average rose 0.9 per cent to a 29-year high. Wall Street futures were lower. The Canadian dollar was trading above 76.5 US cents.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

In decline, adrift, America struggles to revive itself

Andrew Coyne: “It is the country of slavery but also of the Declaration of Independence, of vast poverty but also the Great Society and the New Deal. The United States is a country. America is an idea.”

The modern Republican Party’s core value is having no values at all

Omar El Akkad: “Time and time again, the Republican Party has been rewarded for its commitment to the selective enforcement of principles.” Omar El Akkad is the author of American War. He lives in Portland, Ore.

Wolves, weed and magic mushrooms: Ballot initiatives bring hope on election day

Elizabeth Renzetti: “Direct democracy: Love it when it goes your way, loathe it when it goes sour. Yet, thanks to the Americans' peculiar decision-making processes, change can happen abruptly, and for the better. Sometimes there are rays of light if you look closely enough.”

Canada’s courts are barely hiding their disdain for Indigenous people

Tanya Talaga: “Watching this trial through First Nations eyes, we can see for ourselves that there is no evidence that Canada sees us as worthy victims. And so all we can do is brace ourselves, once more, for the outcome.”

TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

LIVING BETTER

Listen to Restoring Confidence, a new podcast from The Globe and Mail about our road to recovery

In this episode, The Globe’s Rita Trichur speaks to Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam about key lessons from the pandemic and how the health-care system needs to change to protect vulnerable citizens.

They also discuss how Dr. Tam handles criticism, and whether she has any regrets about Canada’s initial public-health response.

MOMENT IN TIME: Nov. 6, 1996

Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas appear in character in the 1996 movie "The English Patient."Phil Bray/Miramax Films via AP

The English Patient premieres in Los Angeles

There are unfilmable novels and then there is The English Patient. Canadian author Michael Ondaatje’s landmark 1992 novel, which is so beloved that it won the Booker Prize not once but twice (the second time capturing the Golden Man Booker, a one-off honour to commemorate the awards body’s 50th anniversary), is an epic and knotty work of Second World War fiction, with multiple timelines and poetic prose that don’t especially scream “blockbuster.” Yet director Anthony Minghella (Truly, Madly, Deeply) nonetheless took a crack at adapting the impossible, and came out the other side with one of the most beloved films of the 1990s. Garnering near-universal praise from critics when it made its debut, and US$230-million in box office worldwide – a remarkable showing for what was conceived as an art-house picture – the drama starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche dominated the awards season that year, eventually capturing the Academy Award for Best Picture (and eight other Oscars). Then again, not everyone was in love: Just ask Seinfeld’s Elaine Benes, who had to suffer through a screening in order to please her Minghella-obsessed boss: “Quit telling your stupid story about the stupid desert and just die already. DIE!” Harsh words, but everyone’s entitled to their opinion. Barry Hertz

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