Good morning,
These are the top stories:
Privacy Commissioner takes Facebook to court over data breaches
Facebook violated the privacy of Canadians when it failed to ensure third-party apps obtained the clear consent of users – and their friends – on how their personal information would be used, privacy watchdogs say. The company faces the possibility of billions of dollars in fines in the United States, and has already been fined £500,000 ($870,000) in Britain for those lapses. But the federal regulator said it does not have the power to levy such penalties, and will ask the Federal Court to force Facebook to comply with privacy laws, a process that could require more than a year and lead to fines in only the tens of thousands. The federal and B.C. privacy watchdogs called on Canadians to tell governments to give them the teeth to act themselves.
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African leaders head to China to seek loans, despite U.S. warnings
The Trump administration sent dire warnings to African countries in December stating that they would be held captive by “predatory” loans from Beijing in a deliberate Chinese strategy to use secret debt agreements to achieve global dominance. The ominous message came from U.S. national-security adviser John Bolton, who was taking direct aim at China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious policy of Chinese funding from trade and transport projects across a huge network of countries worldwide. Despite criticism that the initiative could help China to gain control of key seaports and railways and allow it to assert political influence globally, African governments have decided that they need the money. (For subscribers)
African officials from Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia were among the leaders from 37 countries who arrived in China’s capital this week for a three-day Belt and Road summit, sending the message that Beijing has made itself home to a new private members club and they want in. China says its initiative now reaches 4.4 billion people and in recent months has extended into the heart of Europe, with Italy, Luxembourg and Switzerland each signing on. Italy is the first G7 country to join and nearly a fifth of Fortune 500 companies have sent representatives to the summit. The United States and Canada are among those that have not signed up. (For subscribers)
Andrew Scheer’s closed-door meeting with oil executives ‘concerning,’ says Minister for Democratic Institutions
A meeting between Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer and oil-industry executives is concerning because Canadians need full transparency from political parties leading up to next fall’s federal election, Minister for Democratic Institutions Karina Gould said on Thursday. The Liberal government has passed an election law that prohibits political parties from co-ordinating their campaign strategy with third-party interest groups for a prescribed period before an election is officially called, as well as during the formal campaign. The prewrit period begins in June this year.
Mr. Scheer and two top Conservative strategists met at a private conference to discuss strategies for defeating the Liberals and silencing environmental critics who oppose pipeline projects and oil sands expansion and criticized the Conservative government of Stephen Harper. (For subscribers)
The Globe and Mail’s Campbell Clark opines that Mr. Scheer “goofed” when he agreed to be a keynote speaker at the event on April 11. “One reason it was a mistake is that the rest of Canada isn’t Alberta. Another is that oil-industry executives might be the least popular advocates for the oil patch. Above all, it makes it look like the Conservatives aren’t just sympathetic to the oil patch, they’re in a joint venture with oil execs.”
Fugitive Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont fights for independence while in exile
Carles Puigdemont has been on the run from the police in Spain, where he’s wanted for rebellion and faces up to 25 years in jail, since he fled Barcelona in October, 2017. Even though he’s in exile, Mr. Puigdemont continues to play an active role in the Catalan independence movement. On Sunday, Spaniards head to the polls in a snap general election, and they’ll choose between those who want to punish separatists such as Mr. Puigdemont and others who say it’s time for dialogue.
Spring flooding in Canada: City of Ottawa declares state of emergency as Quebec calls for further evacuations
Ottawa’s mayor declared a state of emergency Thursday over flooding along the Ottawa River and other waterways. The hardest-hit areas this week have been Quebec’s Gatineau region, southern New Brunswick including Saint John and Fredericton, and parts of Ontario’s cottage country around Bracebridge. In all three areas, water levels were expected to continue rising due to rain and melting snow. Meanwhile, officials in Quebec called for an immediate evacuation of an area along the Rouge River amid fears of a dam collapsing. Environment Canada issued a rainfall warning for Montreal with 30 to 50 millimetres expected Friday and Saturday. Find the latest updates on the spring flooding across the country, here.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Deal to compensate abused students fails to provide emotional or legal help, say Indigenous groups
Some Indigenous groups say an agreement that proposes to compensate former students of Indian day schools is seriously flawed and will not provide the emotional or legal help required by those who were abused at the institutions as they file their claims. But lawyers for the firm that negotiated the deal, and which will act on behalf of the more than 100,000 potential claimants, say they will be available to all of the class members to provide any assistance that is required.
Canada’s investment in prison system isn’t bringing results, watchdog reports
Canada is pouring money into an outdated prison model that provides questionable value for dollars spent, according to an internal analysis by the federal corrections ombudsman. The 33-page document, obtained by Access to Information legislation, shows that recently announced spending will give Canada approximately one staff member for every inmate, an employee-to-prisoner ratio that would lead the world. For all that investment, however, the ombudsman states Canada is earning dubious returns, with the country posting inmate outcomes that are regressing in important areas.
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks mixed
The U.S. dollar retreated from 23-month highs on Friday ahead of keenly awaited U.S. gross domestic product data for the first quarter, while global shares were on track for a fifth weekly gain in a row despite subdued trade. Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.2 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite 1.2 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.2 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.2 per cent by about 6:50 a.m. ET, with Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 up by between 0.1 and 0.2 per cent. New York futures were down. The Canadian dollar was at about 74 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Everyone loves music streaming – except Beyoncé, and every other musician
Denise Balkissoon: “Only Beyoncé could make a three-year-old album the subject of new excitement. On Tuesday, she finally made 2016’s Lemonade available to subscribers of the streaming platforms Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer. The news dominated music publications and social media all day. Before that, anyone who wanted to stream the album had to sign up for Tidal, the service co-owned by her husband, rapper Jay-Z. The world’s 1.2 million most dedicated Beyoncé fans complied, while everyone else just hoped she’d come around. It was clear that if the groundbreaking, Grammy album-of-the-year-robbed album ever got wide release, it would be a gift to listeners, not a money move.” (For subscribers)
Until the Arab world enjoys fundamental rights, there will be many more springs to come
H.A. Hellyer: “The events of the past few weeks in Sudan and Algeria have led to many wondering if we are witnessing the birth of another Arab Spring – version 2.0. Others have argued that’s a rather simplistic frame, insisting Algeria and Sudan have their own local particulars and specifics that explain the situation far better. It may be they are partly both right – but in both cases, the framing relies too much on recent history. These eruptions have their roots much further back than 2018 or even 2010. Indeed, these rumblings are arguably part of the Arab world’s story in modernity – a saga whose last chapter has not been told.”
Falling Leafs, downed Jets, extinguished Flames – and Canada’s declining ownership of hockey
Globe editorial: “It is ingrained in the national psyche that hockey belongs to us. Yes, more than three-quarters of National Hockey League teams are in the United States. Yes, that has long been so. Yes, the league is expanding to Seattle; no, it hasn’t shown the slightest interest in adding another team in the Great White North. But still we believe, we just know, that the game’s home is here. After all, the rosters of those American NHL teams are filled with, as Don Cherry would say, good old Canadian boys. Aren’t they?”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
By Brian GableBrian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Films opening this week: The unstoppable Avengers: Endgame, plus Toronto’s Hot Docs festival begins
If you’re looking for a movie to watch this weekend, make sure to check out The Globe and Mail’s guide of would-be blockbusters and under-the-radar indies. The much anticipated Avengers: Endgame opened April 25, and The Globe’s film editor Barry Hertz calls it an “evil genius”. (For subscribers)
MOMENT IN TIME
Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine
A child's gas mask and a shoe are seen at a kindergarten in the abandoned city of Prypiat near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, April 4, 2011. Gleb Garanich/ ReutersGLEB GARANICH/Reuters
April 26, 1986: The Soviet government tried to keep it a secret. But two days after workers at the Chernobyl power station, 104 kilometres north of Kiev, conducted an experiment that involved shutting down the nuclear plant’s safety systems, Swedish monitoring stations detected radiation being carried by the wind. An explosion, fire and meltdown of the reactor core had blown the lid off Unit 4 and sent massive plumes of radioactive material into the atmosphere, reaching as far as France and Italy. It’s still unclear how many died in the explosion or in the week that followed, as crews struggled to contain the fire and radiation leaks. Thousands of people were evacuated, but the radiation contaminated millions of hectares. Years later, the accident was categorized by the International Atomic Energy Agency as a Level 7 event, to be joined at that top echelon only by the Fukushima disaster of 2011. Today, no one is permitted to live in the exclusion zone, an area of more than 4,100 square kilometres around the Chernobyl plant. And together with the Titanic, the disaster serves as a bookend on a century that came to see hubris as the great fatal flaw of all technology. – Massimo Commanducci
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