Good morning,
Elon Musk clinched a deal to buy Twitter Inc. for $44-billion in cash yesterday, in a transaction that will shift control of the social media platform populated by millions of users and global leaders to the world’s richest person.
It is a seminal moment for the 16-year-old company that emerged as one of the world’s most influential public squares and now faces a string of challenges.
Discussions over the deal, which last week appeared uncertain, accelerated over the weekend after Musk wooed Twitter shareholders with financing details of his offer.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said in a statement.
- Why is Elon Musk buying Twitter? What you need to know about the $44-billion deal
- RBC and CIBC join banking group helping to finance Elon Musk’s bid for Twitter
Tweets by Elon Musk are shown on a computer April 25, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois.Scott Olson/Getty Images
This is the daily Morning Update newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for Morning Update and more than 20 other Globe newsletters on our newsletter signup page.
Critics fear Ottawa protest inquiry won’t hold officials to account
The federal government announced a public inquiry into its decision to use the Emergencies Act to bring an end to February’s convoy protests – but, despite Ottawa’s assurances that the probe will be independent, critics say they worry it may not hold officials to account.
When asked if the inquiry’s commissioner will have full access to cabinet documents, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said he will have “broad access,” including to classified documents, and that it is the government’s intention to collaborate with him. The minister would not specify whether the government would waive cabinet confidence.
The choice to invoke the act led to much political scrutiny of the Trudeau government from critics, who said the move granted officials emergency powers that were far more sweeping than required under the circumstances.
- Campbell Clark: Canadians need answers on Emergencies Act
Conservatives accuse PM of being above the law in Aga Khan vacation controversy
The Liberal government sidestepped opposition questions about an RCMP inquiry into Justin Trudeau’s family vacation at the Aga Khan’s Bahamian retreat, saying yesterday that the country faces more important issues than the Prime Minister’s past ethical conduct.
Conservative MPs told the House of Commons that Trudeau got a “get out of jail free card” after the RCMP decided not to charge him with fraud because the rules about accepting gifts from people doing business with Ottawa are murky.
Trudeau and his family went to the Aga Khan’s private island at Christmas, 2016, even though the Ismaili Muslim leader had millions of dollars in dealings with the federal government. In 2017, then-ethics commissioner Mary Dawson found Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Act by accepting the vacation, because of continuing official business between the government and the Aga Khan.
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
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
How the RCMP plan to investigate war crimes in Ukraine from within Canada: The RCMP want to canvass displaced Ukrainians who have arrived in Canada about alleged atrocities they may have witnessed in their homeland, in hopes the conversations will contribute to potential prosecutions.
- Russia threatens ‘real’ risk of nuclear attack, accuses NATO of waging proxy war in Ukraine
- Russian oligarch Igor Makarov moved money before Canada added him to sanctions list
Nova Scotia RCMP were skeptical of replica patrol car, inquiry hears: On the night Gabriel Wortman began his horrific attack that ultimately killed 22 people, the RCMP were skeptical of a series of 911 calls that accurately described the killer’s replica police car, a public inquiry into the mass shooting heard yesterday.
Canada’s military not doing enough against extremism in its ranks, report says: The Canadian military is not doing enough to stop white supremacists and other extremist elements from infiltrating its ranks, putting the country’s national security at risk, a new report says.
B.C. urged to ensure safety of youth in care homes after teen death: British Columbia’s children’s advocate is calling on the provincial government to enact urgent measures to ensure youth are being safely cared for in B.C. group homes, following a Globe and Mail investigation into the many failings that led to the death of a Cree teen.
Bank of Canada faces ‘delicate balance,’ Macklem says: Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said the Canadian economy is in a relatively good position to handle rising interest rates, but added the central bank faces a “delicate balance” as it tries to bring inflation back down without slowing the economy too much and triggering a recession.
U.S. Energy Secretary touts continental alliance: The United States backs a continental approach to clean energy that would see the U.S. and Canada working together on critical minerals and other resources to bolster security against threats such as the war in Ukraine, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said yesterday.
Raptors force Game 6: The Toronto Raptors survived a second elimination game with the Philadelphia 76ers yesterday, earning a dominant 103-88 victory on the road to force a Game 6 back in Toronto. And they did it without their all-star point guard, Fred VanVleet.
MORNING MARKETS
World shares steady: World shares steadied on Tuesday after a late revival on Wall Street, although global growth concerns stoked by China’s COVID-19 curbs and fears of aggressive Fed tightening hit risk appetite, lifting the U.S. dollar to two-year highs. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.76 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 gained 1.09 per cent and 1.08 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei finished up 0.41 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.33 per cent. New York futures were down modestly. The Canadian dollar was trading at 78.53 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
André Picard: “SARS-CoV-2 has proved a lot more wily than we anticipated. It has mutated in ways that have made it more infectious and better able to evade vaccines. Still, we’re in a much better place today than we were when the coronavirus emerged in late 2019.”
Editorial: “Good transit doesn’t always have to cost a lot: the low-budget work that sped up the existing King streetcar in downtown Toronto, and boosted ridership, proves that. The bus sucks when it shows up late or gets stuck in traffic. But these problems are not so hard to fix. Let us praise – and invest in – the lowly bus.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
The secret to well-being could be a walk in the woods
At the height of the lockdowns, when many of us felt trapped, unsettled and decidedly grumpy, nature saved us. We flocked to city parks, went for long walks in our neighborhoods, hit jogging trails and explored wooded areas near our homes. We breathed in fresh air and felt immeasurably better for it. One such holistic discipline that is growing worldwide is called forest bathing, or forest therapy. It has been informally practised by Indigenous peoples for millennia, for reasons of healing and spiritual connection.
MOMENT IN TIME: APRIL 26, 1957
British playwright J.B. Priestly greets Canadian actors, Murray Davis and Barbara Chilcott on their arrival at London Airport today, April 10, 1957 from Montreal.The Associated Press
The Glass Cage premieres in London
In 1956, the British playwright J.B. Priestley was visiting Toronto and Robertson Davies organized a dinner for him – inviting along the local Crest Theatre’s sibling co-founders Donald Davis, Murray Davis and Barbara Chilcott. Priestley, who had many Broadway hits under his belt but had fallen into a bit of a career funk, was inspired by this family of actors and decided to write a play for them and their pioneering professional theatre company. The Glass Cage concerned a puritanical turn-of-the-century Toronto family called the McBanes, whose lives and certainties are upended by the reappearance of a trio of less-pious, half-Indigenous relatives seeking their rightful inheritance. Director Harry Kaplan’s production of the drama opened on London’s West End on April 26, 1957, just three weeks after the Toronto run had ended. The all-Canadian production (save for the playwright) was a novelty at the time, and Daily Telegraph critic W.A. Darlington wrote: “In Canada I have long been led to believe there is no professional theatre. I believe it no more.” The Glass Cage played for 35 performances in London and then went on a six-week tour of England and Scotland. It wasn’t a hit, but it was a milestone. J. Kelly Nestruck
Read today's horoscopes. Enjoy today's puzzles.
If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday morning, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.