Good morning,
These are the top stories:
Canada is joining the U.S. and Britain in calling for a ceasefire in Yemen
The three countries, all of whom have major arms-deal contracts with Saudi Arabia, are ratcheting up pressure on Riyadh to strike a cessation of hostilities. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 to fight Iran-allied rebels. More than three years later, aid groups say the conflict has become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Half the population of Yemen could soon be on the brink of famine, a situation that’s been exacerbated by a Saudi blockade on shipment routes into the country.
The call for action comes amid cooling Western-Saudi relations after the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In that case, a top Turkish prosecutor said yesterday that Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the consulate in Istanbul as part of a premeditated killing. His body was then dismembered before it was removed, the prosecutor said.
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Assisted death, but not on her own terms: Audrey Parker is bent on altering Canada’s law – if only posthumously
Audrey Parker is starting her day today in Halifax with a friend’s homemade lobster eggs Benedict. Then, she’ll go back into her bed and receive an injection for an assisted death. Three years into her battle with Stage 4 breast cancer, Parker said she was forced end her life earlier than desired because of the late-stage consent requirement in Canada’s law. Patients must be lucid enough to agree to their own death immediately before the drugs are administered. If patients can’t give late-stage consent, they can’t legally receive an assisted death. “It defies the whole point of the law,” Parker said. “People are dying sooner than they need to.”
Calgary’s bid for the 2026 Winter Games is pushing ahead after a narrow council vote
Councillors voted 8-7 to kill the bid, short of the two-thirds majority required. The motion came after three levels of government reached an agreement late Tuesday that saw organizers cut the budget for the Games by nearly $300-million. Cuts are largely related to security and the cancellation of nearly a third of the planned housing for participants, which was meant to inject new affordable housing into the city. Part of the plan includes a city effort to secure a $200-million insurance policy as a protection against cost overruns, but some are worried that won’t be possible and will force further cuts elsewhere. A plebiscite on the bid is set for Nov. 13.
Asian students are being warned not to consume cannabis in Canada
It may be legal in Canada, but the threat of penalty is seeing many Asian students staying away from cannabis (for subscribers). The Japanese consulate in Vancouver sent an e-mail to all Japanese students saying they could still be punished by Japanese law for possessing cannabis in Canada. The maximum sentence there is five years. And South Korea’s embassy in Ottawa tweeted a warning saying citizens who partake in Canada could be penalized at home. China’s laws, meanwhile, classifies cannabis in the same category of drugs as heroin, and Chinese students are still subject to Beijing’s laws while living abroad.
Meanwhile, supply shortages continue to plague the cannabis industry (for subscribers). Governments have been surprised by demand: More than four out of five products are listed as out of stock on the Alberta Cannabis site; six out of seven are noted as “coming soon” over at CannabisNL; and the Ontario Cannabis Store is selling roughly a third of what it had on offer on the first day of legalization. There are a number of factors at play, including producers unable to meet delivery promises as well as Ottawa’s slow approval process.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The privacy watchdog is investigating Statistics Canada’s efforts to obtain banking records
The Statistics Canada plan to force banks to hand over the records would allow detailed tracking of how and where Canadians spend their money. The move surprised Canada’s banking sector, which wasn’t aware the agency was moving to force the disclosure of that information. Now Federal Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien has announced a formal investigation. (His office previously consulted with Statscan about its plans.) Global News has reported that the agency plans to collect “individual-level financial transactions data” and social insurance numbers to develop a “new institutional personal information bank.”
Here’s our editorial board’s take: “We believe StatsCan has the ability to collect online financial data and keep it confidential. But we haven’t seen a compelling argument for its necessity. Gathering more and more data is not always better, especially when it involves intensely personal information being provided to a government. Canadians have seen where a blind faith in sharing one’s personal data can lead.”
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks mixed
Global stocks started the new month on firmer ground on Thursday after a brutal October, while sterling rallied on reports that Britain and the European Union are close to a post-Brexit deal on financial services. Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 1.1 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1.8 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite 0.1 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were up by between 0.3 and 0.9 per cent by about 6:35 a.m. ET. New York futures were up. The Canadian dollar was below 76.5 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
I’m trying something a little new in this section. Instead of excerpts from a few columns, there will just be a longer chunk from one that’s of topical interest. Let me know what you think.
Denise Balkissoon: Vile social media erupts into real violence – and women aren’t surprised
Two weeks before Cesar Sayoc allegedly began sending pipe bombs to Democrats and their supporters, he seems to have threatened political commentator Rochelle Ritchie on Twitter.
On October 11, Ritchie appeared on Fox News to criticize musician Kanye West for visiting Donald Trump in the White House. Sayoc – whose infamous van was plastered with pro-Trump stickers and defaced images of Democrats – seems not to have liked it.
“Hug your loved ones real close each time you leave home,” he allegedly wrote to Ritchie on Twitter, suggesting she’d soon disappear into the swampy wetlands in Florida, where Sayoc lived.
Ritchie considered the statement a death threat, and reported it to the social media company. On Oct. 26, after Sayoc was arrested for allegedly sending bombs to over a dozen people, she posted an image of the reply that she received.
“Thank you for your complaint. We have found there was no violation of the Twitter Rules against abusive behaviour,” it said.
It’s a pathetic response, but not a surprising one. Women have long known that misogyny is intertwined with other prejudices and violent tendencies – and it has long been ignored until someone else gets hurt.
LIVING BETTER
Animal tales: First Person essay excerpts from Globe readers
“He was Niagara-on-the-Lake’s desperado turkey,” writes Sally Basmajian. “Orphaned last winter, in this small Ontario town, when his parents suddenly disappeared. Taken by coyotes, maybe, or humans, we dog-walkers speculated but never learned the cause. By springtime, Turkey Jr. had developed a reputation. He was ornery. He was getting too close to pedestrians. I never felt threatened, though, because he was afraid of my Sheltie. When Parker barked, the turkey ran. I felt as safe as a crew member of the Starship Enterprise, protected by deflector shields at full power.”
“I have three cats; each of them turned up at my door at different times and for different reasons - as cats are wont to do,” writes P.H. Oliver. “They all have their stories – cats always have a story – that’s why they get more than their share of YouTube videos. But, you might be surprised that the most interesting creatures to have ever turned up at my door are garden squirrels.”
MOMENT IN TIME
Bob Marley at Maple Leaf Gardens
Nov. 1, 1979: They weren’t to know it at the time, of course, but the 11,000 or so fans who crammed into Maple Leaf Gardens the day after Halloween 1979 were about to witness Bob Marley’s final concert in Toronto. They paid $10 a ticket – worth roughly $35 in 2018 – and lit matches as the Jamaican icon took the stage for the fourth stop on a 27-date tour to promote his Survival album. “Survival is the name of the game,” he said before opening with Positive Vibration, then making his way to such staples as No Woman, No Cry and I Shot the Sheriffas part of an 18-song set list. It was a much more polished performance than his previous appearances in Toronto, aided by a bank of synthesizers, though some felt this eroded the reggae beat in his music. Despite being diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer two years earlier, Marley had opted to continue working, and went on to make stops in Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton and Vancouver before the tour was done. But those were his final performances in Canada. His cancer ultimately spread, and 18 months later he was gone. – Paul Attfield
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Arik Ligeti