Morning Update: Trudeau deals with loss of four female ministers as he crafts new cabinet

Good morning,

Justin Trudeau will have to contend with the defeat of three female cabinet ministers as the Prime Minister crafts his senior leadership team in what’s expected to be a quick return to governing.

The three ministers failed to win their seats in Monday night’s election and Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna didn’t run in this campaign. The loss of four female ministers in total makes a significant cabinet shakeup likely. Trudeau has made gender parity a priority of his cabinets since his first victory in 2015.

More:

Erin O’Toole accused of ‘betraying’ Conservatives as he faces first leadership challenge

Lawrence Martin: If anyone should be stepping down, it’s the likeable Jagmeet Singh

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Suicides in Canada fell 32 per cent in first year of pandemic compared with previous year, report finds

Despite isolating lockdowns and a sharp rise in unemployment, suicides fell by 32 per cent in the first year of the pandemic compared with the year before it, according to a new report.

This is the lowest suicide mortality rate in Canada in more than a decade, says the study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

“This tells us there are things that we can do,” said the report’s lead author, Roger McIntyre, a University of Toronto professor of psychiatry and pharmacology. “We don’t need to accept suicide rates, we need to rethink how we’re approaching this from a policy perspective.”

Dr. McIntyre and his co-authors credited government-funded financial benefits and an increase in mental-health support with creating a sense of security in this country.

Video of U.S. border patrol agents on horseback chasing Haitian migrants causes uproar

Dozens of migrants, many of them Haitians, are fainting in the scorching Texas heat at a bridge where almost 15,000 congregated over the past week. Women and children have grown ill, suffering from diarrhea and other viral ailments. And U.S. authorities have vowed to investigate after a video showed border patrol agents on horseback chasing migrants.

President Joe Biden came into office pledging a more humanitarian approach to the country’s borders.

But the sudden arrival of large numbers of people in Del Rio, a small Texas border city, has cast the post-Trump U.S. in an ugly light and provided new fodder for critics of Mr. Biden.

More:

In Texas, border walls rise once again amid Haitian migrant crisis

In photos: U.S. border patrol’s treatment of Haitian migrants at Rio Grande crossing prompts outrage

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Alberta may have to enact hospital triage system: More than 1,000 patients are being treated for COVID-19 in Alberta hospitals, pushing the province closer to the possibility of having to activate a triage system for critical-care patients.

Editorial: It’s time to get vaccinated, or face the consequences

Kenney survives challenge to leadership: Alberta Premier Jason Kenney appears to have quelled another challenge from within his own ranks. A vote of non-confidence against him was withdrawn during a caucus meeting yesterday, but he did commit to an earlier-than-planned leadership review this spring.

New research shows benefit of pandemic lockdowns for birds: Researchers at the University of Manitoba gathered data on about 100 species of birds during the pandemic, which revealed the profound negative effect that normal human activity has on the animals, based on how much more abundant they became in high-traffic areas when human activity was curtailed.

Slow internet connection in Nunavut affects all aspects of residents’ daily lives: After a ransomware attack, the Nunavut government saw an opportunity to completely revamp its telecommunication system and change how some critical services are delivered to the public. But poor connectivity continues to keep Nunavut an internet desert and hampers all parts of residents’ daily lives.

Employee ownership idea gaining political traction: Major political parties in Canada are starting to embrace policy reform that would allow private companies to transfer ownership to employees, making the idea a potential area of co-operation in the new minority government.

Quebec faces lawsuit over oil and gas production ban: Quebec is preparing to close the books for good on oil and gas production in the province after a flirtation with the industry that stretches back decades. But companies with exploration permits aren’t packing up without a fight.

Canada’s last Nazi-era suspect dies at 97: Helmut Oberlander, the last Canadian facing allegations connected to Nazi war crimes, has died just as the federal government was in the final stage of its decades-long efforts to deport him.

MORNING MARKETS

Global markets shrug off hawkish Fed: World markets rallied on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve confirmed plans to start reeling in stimulus and China Evergrande shares leapt ahead of a crucial debt payment. Just before 6 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.43 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 gained 1.08 per cent and 1.09 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.19 per cent. New York futures were higher. The Canadian dollar was trading at 78.92 US cents.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Alex Munter: “We have an opportunity as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shapes his new cabinet. Shoring up the staffing of Canada’s health-care system should be the number one item in the mandate letter he drafts for the health minister. Everything else, including pandemic response, flows from that.”

Cathal Kelly: “But it’s good that the Jays have moved from their apologetic, rebuilding phase into their angry-at-the-world, contending phase. Up in these parts, that is the truest mark of a contender.”

TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

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LIVING BETTER

These are the credit cards with the most satisfied customers

Rob Carrick has a tip for finding the right credit card: one without annual fees. Check out what’s available in the no-fee category on websites like CreditcardGenious, GreedyRates, Ratehub.ca, Rates.ca, Savvy New Canadians and Young & Thrifty.

MOMENT IN TIME: SEPTEMBER 23, 1992

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Goalie Manon Rhéaume suits up for Tampa Bay Lightning

Manon Rhéaume made hockey history when she became the first woman to play in a National Hockey League game on this day 29 years ago. The goaltender from Beauport, Que., suited up for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a preseason contest against the St. Louis Blues. Playing one period, the 20-year-old allowed two goals on nine shots. It was the Lightning’s inaugural season in the NHL. Tampa’s general manager, Phil Esposito, admitted at the time that he invited her to training camp to generate interest in his new team. “A lot of people said to me, ‘Are you not afraid to look bad?’ or, ‘Aren’t they just inviting you because you’re a girl?’ " Rhéaume recalled in an NBC Sports interview. “I said to myself, ‘I don’t care why they’re inviting me.’ " The following season, she stopped eight of 11 shots in one period of a preseason game versus the Boston Bruins. Rhéaume was the first woman to sign a contract to play pro hockey, which led to a six-year career in the minor leagues. She remains the only woman to appear in an NHL game. Now 49, she coaches a girls’ team and runs the Manon Rhéaume Foundation, which provides scholarships to college-bound female athletes. Rachel Brady

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