Morning Update: The hidden costs of unexploded bombs; Canada’s patchwork of consular services

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These are the top stories:

Unexploded munitions in Canada have become a massive financial liability

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The Department of National Defence estimates it will cost $115-million to clean up unexploded bombs on Canadian soil from military training. But a closer look at the numbers shows that the true cost will be way higher.

One key reason is DND only records a liability when it can make a reasonable estimate. But estimates aren’t available for most sites, leaving them off the books.

What’s more, DND says just 31 of 521 sites will require removal operations. But some say the department has been too quick to remove sites from its list in order to protect its budget.

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Canada’s patchwork of consular services leaves some citizens fighting for life and justice abroad

If Canadians are jailed, endangered or go missing abroad, Global Affairs is supposed to be in their corner. But there are unclear and inconsistent standards that favour some travellers over others, a Globe investigation has found.

Canadians have no legislated right to consular assistance, so the government has discretion in the services it provides. As a result, critics argue assistance favours those with easy problems or access to power.

Consular staff “have almost no capacity to assist you during an actual crisis,” said Lee Humphrey, the president of a consulting firm that helps Canadians overseas. “In fact, in several major crises I’ve been involved with involving kidnap victims and victims of violence, the Canadian consulate has put up roadblocks instead of opening doors.”

The top staff in Justin Trudeau’s government don’t reflect Canada’s diversity

While the Prime Minister has put forward gender-balanced cabinets, a Globe analysis shows the same standards aren’t applied to chiefs of staff.

Women make up 14 of the 37 senior staff positions, and racial minorities account for only four of the 37 posts. That compares with 18 out of 37 cabinet ministers who are women and seven who are racial minorities.

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Canada, U.S. look to safeguard critical minerals from China: The two countries have signed a memo of understanding to reduce their reliance on Beijing for rare-earth minerals that are critical to high-tech and military products. The materials are used in everything from smartphones to fighter jets.

Alberta’s public pension manager buying pipeline stake: Alberta Investment Management Corp. is teaming up with a major U.S. buyout company to acquire a 65-per-cent stake in the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which is expected to cost $6.6-billion.

Netanyahu survives leadership challenge: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu easily fended off Likud leadership challenger Gideon Saar. Israel is set for another election this March even as Netanyahu faces corruption charges. He also recently sent a letter to Trudeau urging him to condemn a possible probe into alleged Israeli war crimes.

MORNING MARKETS

World stocks scaled record highs on Friday and oil prices stayed buoyant in a holiday-shortened week, as optimism grew that a U.S.-China trade deal would soon be signed. The positive tone was set in Asia. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan jumped 0.8% to 555.39, a level not seen since mid-2018. It is up 15.5% so far this year. European shares were on course for their best year since the financial crisis. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.2%, helped by gains in export-heavy German shares.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

There’s a new generation gap, and young Canadians are falling through it

Globe editorial: “Rising spending on a rapidly growing demographic is no surprise. But it comes at a cost. And that cost is being shouldered by the younger generation. Canada has a fiscal generation gap, and it’s getting worse.”

Empty gestures trivialize the very serious challenge of climate change

Bjorn Lomborg: “It is absurd for middle-class citizens in advanced economies to tell themselves that eating less steak or commuting in a Toyota Prius will rein in rising temperatures. To tackle global warming, we must make collective changes on an unprecedented scale.” Bjorn Lomborg is director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center.

TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

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HOLIDAY READ

Ontario has built a first-of-its-kind screening program to help children with hearing loss

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Within weeks of Francesca’s birth, her parents learned that a common viral infection, passed from mother to baby in utero, had made their daughter deaf in both ears. But thanks to a pilot program, Francesca’s case became the first in Ontario to be caught by a new screening program. She received implants that helped restore hearing, and can now comprehend words and speak as well as any toddler. The success of Ontario’s program raises questions about why other parts of Canada have yet to follow its lead.

MOMENT IN TIME

Dian Fossey is found murdered

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Dec. 27, 1985: It’s been 34 years since Dian Fossey was found hacked to death by machete in her cabin in Rwanda, but her murder remains unsolved. After encountering mountain gorillas during her travels to East Africa in 1963, Fossey came home and switched careers, no longer an occupational therapist but a researcher studying the primates. She created the Karisoke Research Center in northern Rwanda and immersed herself among the animals. Her observations helped change the public perception of gorillas from that of dangerous beasts to animals with individual personalities, akin to humans. She became the world’s leading expert on mountain gorillas and Fossey developed a close relationship with the animals, but her reputedly volatile personality made it difficult for fellow humans to befriend her. She made many enemies, from poachers and farmers to government officials, fellow researchers and conservationists. Some suspect poachers were responsible for her death. Others believe she died at the hands of gold smugglers. She was 53. While Fossey had predicted the imminent extinction of the mountain gorilla, the population of this subspecies of gorilla is growing owing to conservation efforts. Last year, the Switzerland-based International Union for Conservation of Nature upgraded their status from “critically endangered” to “endangered.” – Wency Leung

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