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These are the top stories:
Police were called to investigate disturbing videos of Carson Crimeni two hours before he died
British Columbia’s Independent Investigations Office is probing the conduct of two officers who were dispatched to a suburban skatepark to check on the welfare of Carson Crimeni, but left the scene without finding him. The Globe and Mail has learned police were called after a concerned teen saw a Snapchat photo of Carson and was worried about his welfare.
“The IIO has commenced an investigation to determine what role, if any, the officers’ actions or inaction may have played in the incident that followed,” the police-oversight agency said in a statement issued in response to a Globe inquiry about the early call. Police say Carson died of a suspected overdose. An autopsy concluded last week showed the boy was in perfect health; his family is expecting a toxicology report before the end of the month.
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China singles out Chrystia Freeland for unusually personal rebuke over her comments about Hong Kong
The targeted response from Beijing further highlights the breadth of the rift that has developed between Canada and China after the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, and the subsequent arrests in China of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. But it also adds a fresh perspective on difficult decisions for Canadian leadership, who have faced demands both to adopt a tougher position toward Beijing in support of demonstrators in Hong Kong, and to restore calm to relations with the world’s second-largest economy, which has visited serious economic consequences on Canada in recent months.
- Opinion: Can China be a responsible power in a new era? Written by Frank Ching, who is a Hong Kong-based journalist.
Liberals quash opposition effort to have ethics committee study SNC-Lavalin affair
The Conservatives, supported by the NDP, had wanted federal Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion to explain findings from a report last week in which he said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had violated the federal conflict of interest law. But the House of Commons ethics committee, on which the governing Liberals hold the most seats, voted down a proposal to hear from Mr. Dion and other witnesses. The vote on Wednesday was 5-4.
- Opinion: Liberals don’t want to clear up the SNC-Lavalin scandal – they want it gone. Written by Campbell Clark.
Ontario triple murder-suicide will be reviewed by Domestic Violence Death Review Committee
Ulla Theoret, 55, was shot and killed in her home, along with her 28-year-old son Paul and her 88-year-old mother, Raija Turunen, by their neighbour Mark Jones on Feb. 23, 2018. Ms. Theoret and Mr. Jones were not, and had never really been, a couple. But he had attempted to court the retired nurse, and a recent Globe and Mail feature detailed that in the years before the murders, his behaviour toward her had become increasingly aggressive and obsessive.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Amazon rainforest fires are burning faster than in previous years, 77 per cent more than in 2018: The National Institute for Space Research, which monitors fires using satellite images, reported Wednesday that it had detected 39,194 fires this year in the world’s largest rainforest.
Cases against two St. Michael’s students accused in alleged sexual assaults have concluded: Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney-General will not say, however, what the outcomes of the cases against the St. Michael’s College students were, citing restrictions under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
In Quebec, a ‘wave of destruction’ pits heritage advocates against developers: At old churches, city halls and other buildings slated for demolition, the province’s definitions of what’s ‘heritage’ and what isn’t are being put to the test
Ontario’s second lottery for cannabis retail stores prompts fresh bout of criticism: Industry experts and existing private cannabis retailers said the results show that the government has failed to address problems that arose after the first lottery in January – and possibly create new problems.
Meng Wanzhou accuses Canadian authorities of doing FBI bidding in court documents: Her legal team alleges in new court filings that the search of her electronics and the recent detentions of other Huawei higher-ups in other U.S. airports show a pattern of the American government’s “historical abuse of customs and immigration powers” that are similar to the alleged misconduct of the Canadian authorities.
Pembina to acquire Kinder Morgan Canada and other assets in $4.35-billion deal: For Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc., the sale marks its exit from Canada after it sold its largest asset – the Trans Mountain oil pipeline – to Ottawa last year for $4.4-billion.
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks mostly lower
Stock markets flatlined on Thursday as uncertainty over the outlook for U.S. interest rate cuts following the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting kept investors on edge. Tokyo’s Nikkei was flat, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.8 per cent and the Shanghai Composite was up 0.1 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.7 per cent, Germany’s DAX 0.3 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 was down 0.5 per cent at about 6 a.m. ET. New York futures were down. The Canadian dollar was at 75.23 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Are Alberta’s new policy panels there only to give Jason Kenney political cover?
Editorial: “Alberta’s panel on consumption sites appears to be better rounded than the minimum-wage group, but it also looks to have been issued with blinders.”
Life’s a beach for the G7′s Biarritz summit – but Russia is a dark cloud overhead
Aurel Braun: “The G7 democracies cannot resolve Russia’s domestic problems, but they need to simultaneously engage with, contain and manage their relationship with Moscow, regardless of whether Russia’s at the table next year.” Braun is a professor of international relations and political science at the University of Toronto, and an associate at the Davis Center at Harvard University.
For Justin Trudeau, Jack Letts is an inconvenient Canadian
Konrad Yakabuski: “If Mr. Trudeau is unwilling to lift a finger to bring Mr. Letts to Canada, then he should say so. Canadians have a right to know whether he stands by what he said in 2015, or whether a Canadian is a Canadian only applies until it’s inconvenient for him.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
David Parkins/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Dr. Jen Gunter says it’s time to go public with the truth about women’s privates. Women’s health, she argues, has been vastly underserved by their physicians, their partners, predatory marketers, dangerously ill-informed cosmetic surgeons and the culture at large – a sizable army making women feel bad about their reproductive organs, in seemingly infinite ways. In her new book, The Vagina Bible, Gunter hopes to give women their combat armour. The clear-eyed encyclopedia touches on just about every matter serious both intimate and banal. Read The Globe’s Q&A with Gunter to learn more.
MOMENT IN TIME
The Associated Press
Aug. 22, 1989
It was a typical steamy Texas evening, 37 C at game time, a Tuesday that would have drawn flies at Arlington Stadium were it not for that night’s starter, Nolan Ryan. The Texas Rangers ace entered the game against the Oakland Athletics with a 14-7 record that season and 219 strikeouts, only six shy of 5,000 for his career. The crowd of 42,869 cheered as the 42-year-old nibbled away at the mark. By the top of the fifth inning, Ryan was sitting on 4,999. Leading off for Oakland was Rickey Henderson. He worked Ryan to a full count of three balls and two strikes and then … Ryan caught Henderson swinging on a 96-mile-an-hour fastball. Strikeout No. 5,000. The roaring crowd gave Ryan a standing ovation, but aside from doffing his cap, Ryan made no other gesture and the game continued. Ryan, who ended up throwing 135 pitches (88 for strikes) said, “My hope was to get 5,000 and as a team to have a good game.” He finished the evening with 5,007. But despite Ryan giving up only two runs on five hits and two walks, the Rangers lost 2-0. Ryan registered the 261st loss of his career. —Philip King
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Sierra Bein