Morning Update: Public Health Agency of Canada urged to name scientist as new president

Good morning,

With the government expected to name a new president of the Public Health Agency of Canada this week, that decision is under heightened scrutiny as a second pandemic wave appears to be emerging.

A former top agency adviser says the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the department needs a person with a science background at the helm, not an administrator.

In other COVID-19 news

• Ontario has not acted on recommendations from senior infectious-disease experts to build infection prevention and control measures inside the province’s long-term care facilities
• Cases are spiking, but is the pandemic becoming less deadly in Canada? It’s complicated

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Belarus protesters

At the beginning of their uprising against President Alexander Lukashenko, the opposition in Belarus tried to persuade the police to switch sides and help topple the regime. Now, the opposition is naming and shaming some of those who have helped Mr. Lukashenko cling to power in the wake of an Aug. 9 presidential election that many Belarussians believe was won by his opponent, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. The Globe’s Mark MacKinnon reports.

In U.S. politics

U.S. President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats are in a fierce battle over the Supreme Court seat left empty by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a fight that could upend the presidential race little more than six weeks from Election Day.

Mr. Trump is vowing to unveil his nominee this week in a bid to swiftly give conservatives a 6-3 majority on the court. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, has said he would push Mr. Trump’s nominee through.

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Former PM John Turner was old Liberalism’s darling and its final, flawed champion

John Turner, who became Canada’s 17th prime minister on June 30, 1984, was once “the golden boy” of the federal Liberal Party. His career, which began with great promise and propelled him to the highest office in the land, eventually became tinged with pathos as he led his party to its worst defeat in the 20th century a few weeks later.

Mr. Turner died at age 91 on Sept. 19, 2020. Read his full obituary here.

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Non-natives removing lobster traps set by Indigenous fishermen in western N.S.: As an escalating argument unfolds over treaty rights, RCMP arrested two people on assault charges at the wharf in Weymouth, N.S., on Friday after reports of ugly confrontations over the First Nation’s lobster fishing operation.

FBI ask RCMP to help investigate toxin sent to U.S. President from apparent Montreal address: Authorities found that the letter contained ricin. Meanwhile, a woman suspected of sending the envelope to the White House was arrested at the New York-Canada border Sunday.

Growing call for hate-crime charges in mosque murder: In a slaying drawing comparisons to the 2017 Quebec City mosque massacre, a 58-year-old was killed on Sept. 12 by an intruder who entered and left Toronto’s International Muslim Organization mosque on Rexdale Boulevard.

Schitt’s Creek takes Emmy awards by storm, sweeping comedy category: Schitt’s Creek, the little Canadian show about a fish-out-of-water family, had a big night at Sunday’s Emmy Award, sweeping the comedy category with best series honours and awards for its stars, including Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy.

MORNING MARKETS

European shares fall to two-week lows as COVID-19 cases rise: European shares fell on Monday as rising COVID-19 infection rates in Europe prompted renewed lockdown measures in some countries, casting doubt over the economic recovery, with a lack of U.S. stimulus also weighing on sentiment. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 3.18 per cent just before 6 a.m. ET. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 slid 2.9 per cent and 2.79 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finished down 2.06 per cent. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.63 per cent. New York futures were sharply lower. The Canadian dollar was trading at 75.61 US cents.

Looking for investing ideas? Check out The Globe’s weekly digest of the latest insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and what investors need to know for the week ahead. This week’s edition includes four income ETF picks, skyrocketing transport stocks and fair fees for advice.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

After Abe: Can an old hand steer Japan through stormy seas?

J. Berkshire Miller: “With a new captain at the helm, Japan faces daunting economic and security headwinds. But the world needs the principled, balanced and pragmatic voice of Japan in the international forum now more than ever – and it is Mr. Suga’s time to take the wheel”

Can Canada pivot from pandemic to progress?

Kim Pate: “Dismantling systemic racism and implementing infrastructure, economic and legal supports will assist all Canadians in contributing to the country’s economic recovery and well-being – and the Throne Speech must deliver a map for how the government can lead the way.”

Saying goodbye to the most glorious summer I have ever had

David Sax: “Like that tan, summer has faded. Fall officially arrives in a few days, the cold winds are blowing from the lake and the world is bearing down, like a hurricane up the coast.”

TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

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LIVING BETTER

End of the runway? Fashion world mulls post-COVID-19 future

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It’s the September fashion week season, but this is no typical year.

With most designers showing their wares online only, style in the COVID-19 era is largely limited to streaming fashion shows on an iPad from the couch – probably with slippers in place of stilettos.

But the pandemic is offering the fashion industry a moment to reset and look to the future. It’s a time where creatives can bend the rules to move forward, and a chance for others to reassess the unnecessarily huge carbon footprint that fashions weeks produce.

MOMENT IN TIME:

A one-room schoolhouse

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For more than 100 years, photographers have preserved an extraordinary collection of 20th-century news photography for The Globe and Mail. Every Monday, The Globe features one of these images. This month, as the new school year begins, we’re looking at photos taken in educational settings.

Students take to the chalkboard at a one-room schoolhouse in King City north of Toronto, in a small community built during the Great Depression of the 1930s by the local Catholic parish. The schoolhouse was built on land donated by the local McCabe family and led by Father Francis McGoey of the Sacred Heart Church. The school was run by nuns, one of whom described Father McGoey as a “man interested in social justice.” His work included a “back to the land” movement that involved providing acres of land to Toronto families impoverished by the economic devastation of the Depression, as a means of rebuilding their lives in the rural setting through “self-sustaining” efforts like agriculture. Today, the Sacred Heart Parish operates two schools for students from kindergarten to Grade 12.

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