Good morning,
These are the top stories:
The NBA Finals tip off tonight in Toronto
Can Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors pull off the ultimate upset? Or will the Golden State Warriors win their third straight championship? “We know what we need to do here inside this locker room every day, so don’t pay attention to people who are not in your locker room,” said Leonard, responding to questions as hundreds of journalists descend on Toronto for the series.
Even Jimmy Kimmel’s celebrity correspondent Guillermo Rodriguez came to town, inviting Raptor Norman Powell to celebrate Toronto’s first finals appearance with maple syrup shots. When asked whether Raptors are big dinosaurs, Powell quipped: “No, but they’re fast and they’re vicious. Just like this team.”
Game 1 goes down at 9 p.m. ET, and you can be sure that Drake will be eagerly watching courtside. Cathal Kelly writes: “Drake is an unironic example of how boosterism should work in a place that gets itchy at the thought of self-promotion. He’s having fun. Now that the NBA Finals are (finally, thank God) about to start, the rest of us might think about trying it.”
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Ottawa alerted Irving Shipbuilding of Globe reporters’ inquiries about a contract
On Monday, The Globe contacted the federal government to ask about whether the Irving family’s company had claimed an Alberta French fry plant as an industrial benefit to fulfill its obligations for a navy warship contract. A second e-mail on Tuesday was met with no response. Later that day, a lawyer representing J.D. Irving e-mailed to say it was aware The Globe was about to publish a story and threatened to take legal action if the story contained allegations of improper conduct.
The federal government acknowledged it had contacted Irving but denied that it revealed it was The Globe making inquiries. A spokesperson said Ottawa is obligated to get the consent of Irving before sharing information on a benefits agreement and that the arrangement is “common practice” in keeping with contractual wording. But the contract wording only contains broad reference to co-ordinating public communications. (for subscribers)
The federal benefits policy requires companies with defence contracts to undertake business activity in Canada equal to 100 per cent of the value of those contracts to help boost innovation.
The football program at St. Michael’s College should be reinstated, a committee says
The independent panel, put in place after the Toronto boys school was rocked by allegations of sexual assault by students, says football should return in the next academic year if “important safeguards” are met. That would include training and education of students, staff and coaches.
The school originally announced it was cancelling the football programs for the current school year and the 2019-20 year after a series of incidents related to one sports team in the fall that led to seven students being charged. Six of those students face sexual-assault charges.
A spokesperson for St. Mike’s said the school didn’t have a comment on the panel’s findings.
Robert Mueller finally broke his silence
The special counsel reiterated the findings of his Russia investigation, saying the probe didn’t exonerate President Donald Trump of obstruction while also noting U.S. Department of Justice guidelines dictate that he couldn’t prosecute a sitting president.
“The work speaks for itself, and the report is my testimony,” Mueller said during a 10-minute speech to announce he had closed his investigation, noting that he would have little more to say if forced to testify in front of Congress. He is resigning from the Justice Department and returning to private life.
What comes next? Mueller suggested that Congress is the most appropriate authority to investigate the President. That’s already prompting Democrats to escalate their efforts, with Senator Kamala Harris saying: “What Robert Mueller basically did was return an impeachment referral.” But impeachment requires a two-thirds majority and Republicans signalled that their position hasn’t changed.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
A judge has ruled SNC-Lavalin can stand trial on bribery and fraud charges. The decision from a Quebec Court judge, who found there was enough evidence to warrant a trial, is set to keep the case that has dogged the Trudeau government in the public spotlight in the lead-up to the fall federal election.
Israel is headed for another election after Benjamin Netanyahu was unable to form a right-wing coalition government. The new vote is set for Sept. 17 – just five months after the last election on April 9. The election will be held weeks before Netanyahu is expected to argue against an indictment in a series of corruption cases against him. (for subscribers)
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks mixed
Global markets saw a modest rebound in risk appetite on Thursday, as traders took a break from selling beaten-down stocks and pumping money into safe-haven bonds and the U.S. dollar. The end the most turbulent month of the year so far was approaching and amid ongoing and fierce U.S-China trade tensions investors seemed content to square up some positions. Tokyo’s Nikkei and the Shanghai Composite each lost 0.3 per cent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 0.4 per cent. In Europe, though, London’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were up by between 0.3 and 0.4 per cent by about 7 a.m. ET. New York futures were up. The Canadian dollar was hovering at about 74 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Is that politician lying? In a democracy, only you can decide
Globe editorial: “Let’s just say right off the top that it is troubling that a politician in the United Kingdom has been ordered to report to a London courthouse, where he could be charged with misconduct for telling a fib while in office. It simply isn’t the place of the courts to regulate political speech, or any speech at all. In a free society, people largely need to be able to speak their piece – no matter how wrongheaded – without fear of prosecution.”
Politicians say they care about privacy. So why can political parties ignore privacy law?
Michael Morden: “The government is talking tough about privacy, suggesting that the law that applies to corporations is insufficient to protect Canadians. Yet it will continue to allow political parties to operate outside even those insufficient standards.” Michael Morden is the research director at the Samara Centre for Democracy.
Climate change is a big factor in Alberta’s wildfires – but not in the way you might think
Glenn McGillivray: “A large wildfire in Alberta in May? This must be the work of climate change, right? Truth be told, early May is a prime time for wildfires in Alberta, even in the province’s north, and the past reflects this well. But does any of this mean that climate change is not now, nor will be, a factor in such fires? The answer, of course, is no. But it’s complex.” Glenn McGillivray is the managing director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail)Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
The best Canadian albums in the world right now
The victory of Traplines, the third LP from Haisla Nation rap duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids, is its defiance and swagger, Brad Wheeler writes. “I got savage on my chest like supreme, savage DNA in my genes … I’ma be alright with my team,” they rap on Creator Made an Animal, which addresses the colonial stereotype of Indigenous people.
Another album worth spinning, Wheeler writes, is Release by Halifax indie-pop artist Rich Aucoin. The tracks are lined up to sync to the 1951 film version of Alice in Wonderland, with music that sounds dreamy, French and danceable – a discotheque affair of Daft Punk and Arcade Fire.
Subscribers can go here to read about two other noteworthy Canadian records.
MOMENT IN TIME
Pope John Paul II celebrates mass at Notre Dame in Paris
(Bruno Bachelet/Paris Match via Getty Images)BACHELET Bruno/Paris Match via Getty Images
May 30, 1980: When fire swept through Notre Dame cathedral in April, it threatened to destroy centuries of history. Indeed, one of living memory’s most historic moments was the visit by John Paul II in 1980 – historic if for no other reason than that it marked the first time a pope had set foot in France since 1814, when Pius VII regained his freedom after having been Napoleon’s prisoner for five years. That day, John Paul II rode down the Champs-Élysées in an open-top car (less than a year before an assassination attempt would render such intimacy impossible), in order to reach Notre Dame where he, adorned in ancient vestments from the cathedral vaults, celebrated mass on the front steps for 5,000 celebrants. The Pope, still less than two years into his reign, was eager to heal a growing rift between the Vatican and the more liberalized French church, and also spent much of his four-day trip warning listeners about the growing threat of nuclear war. The trip was a complete success. In fact, a square outside Notre Dame was later named after John Paul II, and included a statue of the Pope, which fortunately escaped any harm from the fire. – Ken Carriere
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Arik Ligeti