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Ottawa police probe desecration of monuments by trucker convoy protesters
Police in Ottawa say they have launched several criminal investigations – including into the desecration of national monuments – after thousands of demonstrators descended on the city this weekend to protest pandemic restrictions.
The protests, which shut down most of the downtown on Saturday and Sunday, are expected to continue Monday as Parliament resumes sitting. That prompted a warning from police, who urged residents to avoid the area.
Police said officers had avoided ticketing and towing vehicles in an attempt to stave off confrontations – an effort they said had not been entirely successful.
More:
- Almost one in five Canadian truckers is South Asian, but many don’t see themselves represented in the trucker convoy
- Jason Kenney says truckers’ border blockade violates traffic laws and must end
- Trucker convoy’s protest signs on Terry Fox statue in Ottawa spark outrage, donations to foundation
Trucks are parked along the sidewalk and on Wellington Street outside of the Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council during a rally against COVID-19 restrictions on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 30, 2022.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
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Canadian troops in Ukraine moved west of strategic Dnieper River, Anand says
Defence Minister Anita Anand says all Canadian troops stationed in Ukraine have been moved west of the country’s Dnieper River as worries about a possible Russian invasion continue to grow.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that the 200 soldiers in the Operation Unifier mission were now “focused all in western Ukraine where the risks are lowest.” But Anand’s comments on Sunday represented the most specific information about how Canada’s military posture has changed. Operation Unifier previously saw military trainers sent to nearly all regions of Ukraine.
On Sunday, the U.S. called an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council for Monday to discuss “Russia’s threatening behavior against Ukraine.”
More coverage:
- Ukrainian civilians train to defend their northern border with skills learned from Canada
- Moscow has ramped up disinformation campaigns that play a key role in Ukraine crisis, head of NATO think tank says
- Ukrainian reservists’ ranks grow in Kharkiv as city fears fight on nearby Russian border
As world’s media descend on Beijing for Winter Olympics, journalists in China warn of unprecedented hurdles
Reporting on China is becoming increasingly difficult because of government intimidation and efforts to “block and discredit independent reporting,” the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China warned in a report Monday.
Hundreds of journalists are flying to Beijing this week to cover the Winter Games, which begin on Friday. Unlike in 2008, when the Olympics was last held in the Chinese capital, visiting reporters will not be able to travel around either the country or the city itself. Instead, they will be confined to a “closed loop” bubble, with limited interaction even with athletes taking part in the Games.
“The Chinese state continues to find new ways to intimidate foreign correspondents, their Chinese colleagues, and those whom the foreign press seeks to interview, via online trolling, physical assaults, cyber hacking, and visa denials,” the report said.
- How a looming environmental ban on an atomic-age substance prompted an Olympic snow-sport arms race
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Canada inches closer to World Cup with shutout win over the U.S. in qualifier: Canada scored its first World Cup victory over the United States since 1980 in Sunday’s qualifier. The 2-0 win has provided John Herdman’s unbeaten squad with some daylight at the top of the final CONCACAF World Cup group with just four games to go.
Bank of Canada’s Tiff Macklem would like you to know that he doesn’t like inflation: The central bank’s governor, Tiff Macklem, spent the best part of two years promising to keep interest rates as low as they could go, even as inflation surged. But last week, he declared an end to the emergency phase of monetary policy and put Canadians on notice that borrowing costs will soon rise.
Donald Trump says he would pardon Jan. 6 Capitol rioters if he runs and wins in 2024: Former U.S. president Donald Trump is dangling the prospect of pardons for supporters who participated in the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol if he returns to the White House. The offer represents an attempt by Trump to further minimize the most significant attack on the seat of government since the War of 1812.
Italy ends voting deadlock by re-electing Sergio Mattarella as president: After six days of voting marked by squabbling, confusion and backroom manoeuvring, Italy was back to the status quo. The country’s leadership ended exactly where it was before last week’s presidential election, with President Sergio Mattarella re-elected Saturday night to a new term he didn’t want.
Listen to The Decibel: Setting the stage for an arts comeback: COVID-19 lockdowns have decimated the arts industry, with performance arts such as theatre, ballet and live music among the hardest hit. The Globe’s cultural columnist Kate Taylor tells us about how people are feeling in the industry, their hopes for a comeback and how art might one day look back and reflect on this unprecedented time.
- Ontario now requires a scannable QR code for proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Here’s what you need to know
MORNING MARKETS
World stocks gain: World stocks staged a modest rebound on Monday as traders put aside concerns about inflation and the crisis in Ukraine to dip back in, but global equities are still headed for their worst January since 2016 after a bruising month for riskier assets. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.06 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 added 1.06 per cent and 0.20 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng each closed up more than 1 per cent. New York futures were mixed. The Canadian dollar was trading at 78.48 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
A protest that’s not focused on truckers poses a bigger question for politicians who want to embrace it
“This was a protest against COVID-19 public health measures across the board – against vaccine mandates, yes, but for many, also against any vaccine requirements to enter restaurants or shops, rules about wearing masks, restrictions on gatherings, or anything else. That’s a very different cause for politicians to embrace.” - Campbell Clark
The world once said ‘Never again.’ Ahead of China’s Olympic Games, we seem to have forgotten
“Germany in 1936 was still in the early stages of what would be the Holocaust, so it remained hard to imagine how bad things would get. For German Jews, however, it was already a time of foreboding after years of non-stop harassment. Today, as the Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim groups suffer, no one can say this situation isn’t dangerous. This time, we know too much.” - Charles Lewis
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
David Parkins/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
National Gallery to open special exhibition celebrating the Canadian Impressionists
Clarence Gagnon's Old Houses, Baie-Saint- Paul.Handout
Before the Group of Seven and Tom Thomson there was … what? Well, it turns out quite a lot, actually, muses Roy MacGregor, pointing to fabulous Indigenous art that went back thousands of years to an unfortunately little-recognized school known as the Canadian Impressionists, who came a generation before the legendary Group of Seven was founded in 1920.
Tagged “Group of Who” several years ago in this newspaper by arts writer James Adams, the Canadian Impressionists somehow became lost in time.
Consider them found again in 2022, thanks to a special exhibition celebrating their achievements, which will finally open at the National Gallery of Canada.
MOMENT IN TIME: SCIENCE AT SEA
Boatswain Bob Taylor, of Halifax, watches as the box corer is lowered from the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent in the Davis Strait Tuesday, July 8, 2008.JONATHAN HAYWARD/The Canadian Press
For more than 100 years, photographers and photo editors working for The Globe and Mail have preserved an extraordinary collection of 20th-century news photography. Every Monday, The Globe will feature one of these images. This month, it’s the 60th anniversary of the Canadian Coast Guard.
No stone is unturned when the Canadian Coast Guard pursues scientific research. In the 2008 photo above, boatswain Bob Taylor watches as a box corer is lowered from the icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent in the Davis Strait. The St-Laurent, carrying scientists studying climate change and the health of Canada’s oceans, was using the device to gather mud and sediment from the seabed. Now, the Coast Guard has three dedicated offshore fisheries science vessels, floating laboratories that gather data needed for the sustainable management of oceans and aquatic resources. Canada’s biggest research vessel, which will serve with the Coast Guard, is expected to be delivered by 2024. The almost-$1-billion ship will be capable of supporting oceanographic, geological and hydrographic surveys to further the understanding of oceans, seabeds and the effects of climate change. Philip King
Subscribers and registered users of globeandmail.com can dig deeper into our News Photo Archive at tgam.ca/newsphotoarchive
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