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U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden went head to head last night in the first of three presidential debates.
In what was the most chaotic presidential debate in years, the two candidates erupted in contentious exchanges over the coronavirus pandemic, city violence, job losses and how the Supreme Court will shape the future of the nation’s health care. They often talked over each other and the moderator Chris Wallace with Trump interrupting so often that Biden eventually snapped at him, “Will you shut up, man?”
Both candidates hoped the debate would energize their bases of support, even as they competed for the slim slice of undecided voters who could decide the election.
More coverage:
Key takeaways from a chaotic evening with little policy substance
John Doyle: That was gross: Trump can’t do TV debates any more
David Shribman: Amid the slugfest, faint signs of candidates' strategies were visible
Munk Dialogues: What are President Trump’s re-election prospects? Join The New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman for a live Q&A tonight at 8 p.m. (ET)
President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden participate in the first presidential debate Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, at Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland. (Olivier Douliery/Pool vi AP)Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images
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Liberals survive confidence vote as House of Commons unanimously passes benefits for workers
The House of Commons has unanimously passed legislation authorizing new benefits for workers left jobless or underemployed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bill C-4 passed by a vote of 306 to zero in the wee hours of the morning, after a day of political manoeuvring and just four-and-a-half hours of debate on the actual contents of the legislation.
It must still be passed by the Senate, which is scheduled to gather today to deal equally quickly with the bill.
Ottawa probing allegations Canadian tech used in Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict
The federal government says it is investigating allegations that Canadian technology is being used in the growing conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The technology in question is imaging and targeting systems designed by L3Harris Wescam, a company in Burlington, Ont. The systems are used for laser-guided bombs launched by drones or fighter aircraft.
Footage of missile strikes by Azerbaijani military from Sept. 27 posted on the Internet contain a graphical overlay on the video that bears a very strong resemblance to the proprietary graphical overlays of systems manufactured by L3Harris Wescam. Arms-control advocates have documented the sale of Wescam systems to Turkey, which is a staunch ally of Azerbaijan.
More coverage:
Azerbaijan and Armenia conflict escalates with Armenian plane shot down by Turkey
Why is the ‘frozen conflict’ between Azerbaijan and Armenia heating up now?
Vast majority of schools with COVID-19 have only one or two cases
A month after schools across the country started opening, the majority of COVID-19 cases occurring in classrooms have been limited to one or two students or staff. Only about a dozen schools have experienced major outbreaks and closings.
Among Ontario’s 249 schools with infections, 10 had more than two cases, according to the province’s data. The 512 Quebec schools with active cases average two cases per school.
“We were afraid schools would be an incubator for the next wave of cases, but in fact it’s the opposite,” said Dr. Caroline Quach, head of the infection prevention and control unit at CHU Sainte-Justine hospital in Montreal. “Most of what we’ve seen so far is from the community, from parents, friends. We’re not getting transmission within schools, not on a large level.”
More COVID-19 coverage:
Ottawa to buy nearly eight million rapid COVID-19 tests despite lack of Health Canada approval
Critics question why Ontario’s long-term care funding didn’t come sooner
Robyn Urback: The public needs to know where COVID-19 outbreaks are happening
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Indigenous woman records slurs, taunts of Quebec hospital staff before her death: A Quebec nurse has been fired and calls for an inquiry are growing after hospital staff were recorded live on Facebook making racist comments toward an Indigenous woman who was complaining of stomach pain. In response to the incident, Quebec Premier François Legault said the health care worker’s behaviour was racist, but argued there is no systemic racism in Quebec.
At former Camp Ipperwash, hope of new housing emerges for Dudley George’s relatives: For 25 years, Pierre George and 50 other First Nations people have lived in the ruins of Camp Ipperwash, a former military base near the place where his brother Dudley was shot and killed by a police sniper in 1995. They live in broken-down buildings that offer poor protection from the elements. Now the Department of National Defence has told the residents that new housing is finally being planned for them.
TC Energy layoffs add to oil patch woes amid low demand: Calgary-based energy firm TC Energy Corp. has laid off line workers and managers in its natural gas division as the company says its Canadian gas operations and projects team is being restructured. The move is the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures in the oil patch as companies try to protect their bottom lines.
B.C. plants a record number of trees this year despite the pandemic: Despite being almost derailed this year because of COVID-19, British Columbia pressed ahead with plans to plant trees, wrapping up with a record number of seedlings in the ground. A plan brokered between contractors, the B.C. government and public health officials allowed 5,000 tree planters to be designated as essential service workers. The crews have planted close to 300 million trees so far this year.
MORNING MARKETS
World stocks pull back as U.S. debate stokes caution: World stocks fell and safer assets, such as the yen and U.S. dollar, found buyers on Wednesday after a contentious first U.S. presidential debate and rising COVID-19 cases turned investors cautious. Around 6 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.24 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.71 per cent and 0.67 per cent, respectively. Japan’s Nikkei finished down 1.5 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.79 per cent. New York futures were lower. The Canadian dollar was trading at 74.64 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Andrew Coyne: “A law that was intended to protect the minority from the majority is to be rewritten to protect the majority from the minority. The old idea – that official-language minorities had an equal right to federal protection, no matter what language they spoke or which province they lived in – is to be replaced by a new idea, that the rights of the anglophone minority in Quebec should, uniquely, take a backseat to the demands of the province’s francophone majority. And by a Liberal government – a Trudeau Liberal government, at that.”
Konrad Yakabuski: “Since the fate of Canada’s auto industry is inextricably tied to U.S. car sales, a major shift toward BEVs needs to happen south of the border in order for Ford to earn a return on its investment in Oakville. Unfortunately, BEVs still remain a niche sector in the U.S., dominated by Tesla and limited to well-heeled early adopters of new technology.”
Editorial Board: “Governments from coast to coast knew a second wave was coming. It was as predictable as fall. It was as expected as the rising of the sun. It was as surprising as the first snowfall – timing and severity uncertain; occurrence inevitable. And yet, somehow, many governments have reacted like someone who forgot to set the alarm clock. Leading the parade of those surprised by the unsurprising is Premier Doug Ford’s Ontario government.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
By Brian GableBrian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Eat this: Seven foods that pack a big nutritional punch
“Think of the rainbow.” That’s registered dietician Nazima Qureshi’s advice on how to make healthy food choices. There’s nothing more naturally colourful than fruits and vegetables. In addition to fibre, vitamins and minerals, these foods contain phytochemicals, which increasing evidence shows, may also help boost immunity and fight things like cancer and heart disease. Here are seven fruits and vegetables that pack serious nutritional (and gastronomic) punch.
MOMENT IN TIME: SEPTEMBER 30, 1970
Lyricist Tim Rice (left) and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, with their awards to commemorate the sale of more than two million dollars worth of the long-playing record set 'Jesus Christ Superstar', UK, 3rd December 1971.Jack Kay/Daily Express/Getty Images
Jesus Christ Superstar is released
A generation of Sunday school children raised on Kumbaya had their hair blown back by the brash religious rock of Jesus Christ Superstar. Released on this day in 1970, the album musical by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice was based on the four Gospels' accounts of the last weeks of the life of Jesus Christ. Singing the titular role was Ian Gillan, the wild-voiced front man of the British metal pioneers Deep Purple. “Ian was a revelation,” Mr. Lloyd Webber would tell Rolling Stone magazine. “Once I heard his voice, I thought, ‘My gosh, I can go so much further than I’d thought.’” Packaged in North America with a now iconic brown cover, the two-record set topped the year-end Billboard Top LPs chart in 1971, ahead of Carole King’s Tapestry. The rock opera would go on to fame as a Broadway play and a motion picture, but it began life as vinyl gateway drug to rock music for young listeners who grew up asking an important age-old question, “Jesus Christ, superstar, do you think you’re what they say you are?” Brad Wheeler
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