Good morning,
These are the top stories:
How the PCs and NDP are reacting to Kathleen Wynne’s admission of defeat
PC Leader Doug Ford and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath are taking aim at each other after Wynne acknowledged the Liberals would lose this week’s election, saying she would “no longer be Ontario’s Premier” after Thursday’s vote. Ford barely mentioned the Liberals on the campaign trail yesterday, instead taking aim at the NDP as the province heads for a battle between left and right. And Horwath said she wouldn’t strike a deal to work with the Liberals if her party wins a minority government. Wynne’s decision to concede defeat before the vote is aimed at helping enough Liberal candidates win tight riding races in to prevent a PC or NDP majority.
Both the PCs and NDP are promising roughly $10-billion in extra annual spending, likely resulting in Ontario taking on billions of additional debt. From hydro to taxes to health, here’s a look at the promises – and their implications.
Here’s Adam Radwanski’s take on Wynne’s weekend announcement: “Reality isn’t pleasant when it sets in, as it did this weekend. The Liberals know, now, there’s no escaping the dark clouds over them. They’re left to hope Wynne’s last, best gambit adds a sliver of a silver lining.” (for subscribers)
And here’s John Ibbitson’s take: “The political centre is collapsing in Ontario, polarizing between social democrats and populist conservatives. We thought it couldn’t happen here. It’s happening here. And it poses a grave threat to the Liberal Party, both provincially and federally.” (for subscribers)
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Justin Trudeau is attacking the Trump administration’s push for a NAFTA ‘sunset clause’
A five-year “sunset clause” that would allow for the termination of the North American free-trade agreement would damage investor interest north of the border, the Prime Minister said in an interview on NBC News. “What company is going to want to invest in Canada if five years later there might not be a trade deal with the United States?” (for subscribers) Trudeau also said it was “frankly insulting” that the U.S. had cited national security interests in its decision to levy tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. A meeting with Trudeau, U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to finalize a trade deal was scrapped after the U.S. insisted on a sunset clause.
New Brunswick flood warnings have left fiddlehead farmers stuck with tarnished crop
Harvesters are laying the blame on a warning from the province’s Department of Health that said edible plants such as fiddleheads were at risk of contamination from raw sewage, fuels and chemicals that leaked into rivers after the May floods. But farmers say the crop is harvested in areas far away from where the flooding occurred. Nevertheless, farmers’ markets and wholesale buyers have shied away from purchasing fiddleheads, which are a lucrative spring staple foraged for just three weeks every year from late May to early June.
A volcanic eruption in Guatemala has killed at least 25 and injured hundreds
The most violent eruption of Guatemala’s Fuego volcano in over four decades has killed at least 25 people, including three children, and injured nearly 300. The volcano spewed an 8-kilometre stream of red hot lava and sent black smoke and ash onto the capital and other areas.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Martine Ouellet lost a Bloc Québécois leadership confidence vote
Only 32 per cent of party members voted in favour of Ouellet’s leadership, far below the 50-per-cent-plus-one threshold she had said would give her the legitimacy to stay on as leader. In February, seven of the Bloc’s 10 MPs quit the party over Ouellet’s leadership style. While some have criticized her for focusing too much on Quebec independence, 65 per cent of voters said the Bloc should continue to promote independence at every opportunity. Ouellet is expected to make an official statement today.
MORNING MARKETS
Global shares shrug off trade tensions
Global shares rose on Monday as worries over a trade war between the United States and other major economies took a back seat, with investors focusing on an easing of political risks in Europe and strong U.S. jobs data. The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, rose 0.4 per cent. In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.69 per cent just before 6 a.m. ET. France’s CAC 40 rose 0.44 per cent. Germany’s DAX was up 0.35 per cent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei jumped 1.37 per cent. On Wall Street, futures were positive. Oil prices were mostly steady.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
On Ye, Kanye West explores the wavering contours of the bipolar mind
“‘Ain’t no disability!‘ screams Kanye West on Yikes, the second track on his new album, Ye, which he dropped pretty much without warning on June 1. ‘I’m a superhero. I’m a SUPERHERO!’ West is describing his bipolar disorder, a mental condition associated with wild vacillations in mood, and one which comes with the ever-present threat of full-blown psychosis. This is not some pop-psychological diagnoses. (He straight-up says as much.) The album’s cover, too, spells it out, proclaiming, ‘I hate being bipolar, it’s awesome.‘ Onlookers have long speculated that West – whose persona swings between sad-sack self-loathing and fantasies of Messianic world dominance – was bipolar. On Ye, he owns it.” – John Semley, author of forthcoming book Hater: On the Virtues of Utter Disagreeability
Cars drive us crazy, so let’s park them for good
“Our friends die. It happens. We grieve and move on. In the best possible outcome, use the moment to reflect on our own lives and to consider the immortal words of Talking Heads: Well, how did I get here? I often got here in a grey 2007 Ford Fusion we called Brem. He’d had previous owners, but we were the ones who stuffed his body with Tim Hortons wrappers and used his trunk as a junk drawer and drove him to lakes and rivers so that we could jump in. He died about a month ago, with more than 250,000 kilometres on him. ... In this period after his death, I paused to think about how we could justify replacing him. I’m sure we will buy another (used) car, because there’s still no way to send children to summer camp via zip line, or at least no legal way. We will buy another car, but should we? Isn’t private car ownership unconscionable at this point?” – Elizabeth Renzetti (for subscribers)
What good is marriage, anyway?
“All the qualities that flow from the invention of marriage as we know it – long-term planning, devotion to your children, and the cultivation of the family as the source of values and correct conduct – are the foundations of liberal society itself. They are essential to democracy. Marriage, far from being an oppressive institution, is a liberation from a Hobbesian world of social violence, and a force for gender equality.” – Margaret Wente
LIVING BETTER
Canadians born between 1945 and 1975 should be tested for hepatitis C
A new set of guidelines says those born in that period should be tested for the potentially liver-destroying virus. More than 250,000 Canadians are believed to be infected with hepatitis C but 40 to 70 per cent aren’t aware they harbour the virus because it can take decades before symptoms appear.
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Arik Ligeti