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Ottawa will announce its plan to designate plastic a toxic substance and release its preliminary list of banned single-use plastic items today, according to multiple industry sources.
The move is being denounced by Alberta as it looks to expand its petrochemical industry and become a global centre for plastics recycling. The province is hoping to create jobs and rejuvenate the economy after crude prices and demand fell in the spring.
The plastics industry, meanwhile, worries the designation sends mixed messages to Canadians whose use of plastic-based personal protective equipment has skyrocketed during the pandemic.
More coverage:
Alberta to diversify economy with big bet on hydrogen and plastics recycling
A young boy fixes his gloves as he waits in line at a COVID assessment centre at Mount Sinai Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Thursday, September 24, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan DenetteNathan Denette/The Canadian Press
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Canada starts accepting Hong Kong activists as refugees
Canada has started accepting pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong as refugees, a move that shows the country is opening its doors to those fleeing Beijing’s crackdown in the former British colony.
In a letter from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, a Hong Kong couple was told their claims for asylum have been accepted and they were determined to be “Convention refugees” – someone who cannot return to their homeland “due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, political opinion” or other factors.
The Globe reported earlier this year that close to 50 people from Hong Kong have already applied for asylum in Canada, citing harassment and brutality at the hands of police in Hong Kong and fear of unjust prosecution.
More coverage:
For Hong Kong residents looking to escape repression, it might already be too late
Last Hong Kong governor calls for joint effort among countries to stand up to China
B.C. NDP say they will freeze rent in election promise
In a bid to deal with housing affordability in British Columbia, the B.C. New Democrats say if they win the election they will suspend all residential rents until the end of 2021.
The rental freeze, a key part of the NDP’s election platform, would be for a year, followed by rental increases capped to the rate of inflation.
Landlord groups, other political parties and the government’s own task force have criticized the election promise, saying it could negatively affect the province’s rental market.
More coverage:
B.C. Greens' election proposals include four-day work week, free child care
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Nobel Prize for chemistry awarded to France’s Charpentier and American Doudna for genome editing method: Both women have been previously recognized for their discoveries and in 2015 were among those awarded the Canada Gairdner International prize
Toronto school board to shift more than 500 teachers to virtual learning: Toronto public schools are reassigning more than 500 elementary teachers to online learning as another 7,800 students last week chose to move from in-person to virtual classes. The move will force thousands of in-class students into larger classes and mix cohorts as COVID-19 case counts rise in the city.
Beloved Schitt’s Creek motel is on the market: The motel featured in the hit television show Schitt’s Creek is for sale. But the owner doesn’t want to sell it to just anyone. Jesse Tipping wants to see it become the kind of place where Moira Rose and family would have felt at home, right from the beginning: a boutique hotel with a fancy restaurant.
For Wisconsin’s voters, the path to the polls is an obstacle course: For years in Wisconsin, Republicans have brought in laws to make it harder for people to vote in the crucial swing state. These laws have disproportionately affected African-Americans, Latinos and university students, all of whom are more likely to vote for the Democrats. Republicans say such laws are necessary to crack down on voter fraud. But all the evidence shows such fraud, in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the U.S., is rare.
Key things to watch in the U.S. vice-presidential debate: Mike Pence and Kamala Harris will face off tonight in what is expected to be the most consequential vice-presidential showdown in recent memory. Here are five things to watch for.
Consumer spending shows resilience ahead of second-wave test: Consumer spending has picked up in recent weeks as three bank reports show spending on credit and debit cards remains stronger than a year ago, a promising sign for the economy as it deals with a second wave of the coronavirus.
MORNING MARKETS
World markets steady after Trump’s stimulus move: World shares stabilized on Wednesday, as initial dismay at U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel fiscal stimulus negotiations with lawmakers in Washington was replaced by optimism about an aid package after the U.S. elections. In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.09 per cent while Tokyo’s Nikkei finished off 0.05 per cent. In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.06 per cent just before 6 a.m. ET. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 were down 0.15 per cent and 0.06 per cent, respectively. New York futures were higher. The Canadian dollar was trading at 75.16 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Gary Mason: “But I don’t think there has ever been a time, at least in my years on this earth, for which we, as Canadians, had more to be thankful for. What’s happening to our southern neighbour reminds us of that every day.”
Andrew Coyne: “After all, the metals have been in the ground since the earth was young. Electric batteries, for their part, have been around for nearly 200 years. Yet somehow it never occurred to anyone to make batteries in Canada – Land of lithium! Colossus of cobalt! – until now. Could it be that decisions on where to locate complex manufacturing processes are based on more than just ‘where the stuff is in the ground?’ ”
Konrad Yakabuski: “Contrary to the prevailing narrative, central banks do not possess superpowers to remediate the underlying causes of economic decline. Relying on central bankers to prop up markets indefinitely is a risky strategy that increases the odds of bigger crises in the future.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
Brian GableBrian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Guitarist Eddie Van Halen’s sounds were the heavy-metal appropriations of classical expertise
As the music world mourns the loss of rock legend Eddie Van Halen, Brad Wheeler reminisces about Van Halen and how their music was “a revelation to my tiny, undernourished rock 'n' roll brain and a slap in the face to my musical senses.”
MOMENT IN TIME: OCTOBER 7, 1920
Some of the first female undergraduates at Oxford University, 1920. Illustration for Those Tremendous Years, 1919-38 (Daily Express, 1938).Look and Learn / Bridgeman Images
Oxford university allows women to study for full degrees
They could do the work, but not receive official credit. As far back as the 1870s, women were able to study and take exams at Oxford University – but if they earned a degree, they weren’t allowed to claim it. For a few short years, some would trek to a more liberal institution not too far off – Trinity College in Dublin – where they could receive formal recognition. They became known as the “Steamboat Ladies,” in honour of their mode of transportation. Then, 100 years ago, Oxford introduced new rules allowing women to be full students and graduate in the university in which they studied. It’s almost impossible to say who the first female graduate was: Because the change was retroactive, many women who had previously qualified returned to the school to claim their degree. Among those many remarkable candidates in 1920 were anthropologist Beatrice Blackwood – who was awarded her BA and MA on the same day – and Annie Rogers, whose original offer of a place in the university was withdrawn when they realized she was female. Even though women could now attend Oxford as the men did, the quota on female students was only lifted in 1957. Alison Gzowski
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