Morning Update: The last Canadian Armed Forces rescue flight from Kabul’s airport departs today

Good morning,

As Canada’s rescue flights from Kabul airport end today, five days ahead of the U.S. Aug. 31 deadline, thousands of people hoping for refuge in Canada will be left to flee to third countries instead.

A senior government official told The Globe and Mail that a C-17 Globemaster plane is scheduled to fly out of Hamid Karzai International Airport mid-afternoon, Afghanistan time.

“Drawing down takes considerable time. It is not done overnight and comes with significant risk. As the Americans finalize their drawdown to meet their deadline, partner nations including Canada must draw down our troops, assets and aircraft ahead of the Americans,” Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said. “These moves are necessary for the U.S. to safely maintain control of the airport until they depart.”

The United States and allies urged people to move away from Kabul airport due to the threat of an Islamic State terror attack.

In an alert issued on Wednesday evening, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul advised U.S. citizens to avoid travelling to the airport and said those already at the gates should leave immediately, citing unspecified “security threats”.

Britain and Australia issued similar advisories.

More on Afghanistan

Naomi Alboim and Karen Cohl: Ordinary Canadians can help Afghans settle successfully in our communities

Konrad Yakabuski: Biden keeps digging himself a hole on Afghanistan

Explainer: Afghanistan is under Taliban control. How did we get here?

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Doug Ford’s office tells ministers not to campaign for Erin O’Toole

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office has told his cabinet ministers not to campaign for federal Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, and to refrain from posting about interactions with federal candidates on social media, The Globe and Mail has learned.

Laura Stone and Marieke Walsh report that the reason given to cabinet was that ministers have their plates full with their own files, and Mr. Ford’s team expects they will be too busy to get involved federally.

As climate disasters come to museums’ doorsteps, curators decide what to save or leave

As ash fell onto the Westbank Museum in West Kelowna, B.C., and water bombers swooped down into Okanagan Lake, the small group inside the building had to take stock: reviewing which artifacts they would rescue first, in the event that a nearby wildfire overtook their area.

Questions they asked themselves as they drew up the list: What is irreplaceable? What would insurance cover? What will fit into firesafe bins? Or into the other storage containers they have? “At the end of the day,” says the museum’s executive director Jeremiah Ryder, “there’s a lot of stuff that we’re just going to have to hope for. And that’s tragic.”

As The Globe’s Marsha Lederman reports, climate change is forcing cultural institutions across Canada to take a closer look at their plans for extreme weather and future hazards.

Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop

ALSO ON OUR RADAR

The Decibel: Justin Trudeau, Erin O’Toole and Jagmeet Singh are announcing all kinds of promises to Canadians. But what is this election campaign actually about? Reporter Marieke Walsh discusses with guest host Laura Stone.

Trudeau ‘concerned’ by China ship deal; Tories vow to end it: Responding to The Globe’s reporting about a Chinese state-owned shipbuilder selected to supply a ferry for a Crown corporation, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said he was troubled by the deal but declined to say whether his government would cancel it. Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus, however, said his party under Erin O’Toole would scrap the contract.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh pledges to ‘cap fees’ on cellphone and internet service: “The same way we look at building roads and bridges, we need to look at building the infrastructure to connect people with high-speed internet,” said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh at an outdoor election campaign event in Windsor, Ont., on Wednesday.

The Globe’s Canadian federal election 2021 explainer: Get the latest updates and essential reading ahead of the Sept. 20 vote.

MORNING MARKETS

World stocks slip: World stocks were broadly lower on Thursday following a charge on Wall Street that drove indices to record highs for the second straight day. Just after 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.40 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.58 per cent and 0.48 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.06 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.08 per cent. Wall Street futures were mixed. The Canadian dollar was trading at 79.31 US cents.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Catastrophe unfolding in Afghanistan poses electoral risk for Liberals

“If you think it’s callous to link the electoral fortunes of a political party to thousands of expats and Afghans who aided the Canadian mission, and who are now at risk in Kabul, remember Alan Kurdi.” - John Ibbitson

The average American’s lack of care for Afghanistan illuminates an inherently dangerous view

“A singular tragedy has been unfolding over the past several weeks in Afghanistan, and poll results show that Americans do not consider the identity or character of the country’s government to be of singular importance.” - David Shribman

Erin O’Toole’s sunny ways have caught Justin Trudeau off guard

“Sporting a cherubic grin, he’s coming across as peppy and prepared, a happy warrior on the hustings, although he still trails Mr. Trudeau and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in personal approval ratings.” - Lawrence Martin

Ottawa bungled the Afghan rescue operation, and Afghans relying on Canada will die because of it

“The end in Afghanistan has been a fitting denouement to the war in Afghanistan: An affair horribly mismanaged by people who ought to have known better, heaping suffering upon people who deserved better.” - The Globe Editorial Board

TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

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LIVING BETTER

At 70, I found my boudoir photo shoot incredibly empowering

“You must be joking, I thought. At 70 years old, the last thing I was thinking about was having someone take my picture in my birthday suit – no matter what my friends were suggesting,” writes Mary G for The Globe’s First Person.

“Would I have to hold my stomach in all the time? Having children does not lend itself to a flat belly. What about my breasts? They too have seen better days. Gravity seems to take hold once you get to 50, not to mention grey hair, wrinkles and scars.”

MOMENT IN TIME: AUG. 26, 1977

Quebec adopts Bill 101, the Charter of the French Language

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The Parti Québécois was new in power and full of revolutionary fire when it introduced its Charter of the French Language, or Bill 101. It was designed to achieve nothing less than making French the dominant language in virtually every area of Quebec society. Immigrants would now be educated in French, professionals would have to speak French, and most large businesses would have to operate mainly in French. Commercial signs would need to be written in French, too. The “father” of Bill 101, the psychiatrist and politician Camille Laurin, saw it as a form of “group therapy” that would help instill self-esteem in francophones. It would also help storm the heights of the Quebec economy, long dominated by the English language. No surprise: Many anglophones felt attacked, and tens of thousands left the province. This wasn’t the first language law (French was already the official language of Quebec) and it wouldn’t be the last (current Premier François Legault is seeking to bolster the status of French even further with his proposed Bill 96). But perhaps no single act better symbolizes the rise of francophone nationalism that has defined Quebec for the last half-century. - Eric Andrew-Gee

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