The Bombardier CS 300 performs its demonstration flight during the Paris Air Show, at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris on June 15, 2015. Politicians, defence officials and Canada's aerospace industry have Monday circled on their calendars as the date to watch in Boeing's ongoing trade dogfight with Montreal-based Bombardier. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Francois MoriThe Associated Press
TOP STORIES
Canada aiding Sweden in Bombardier corruption probe
Canadian authorities have started to collaborate with their Swedish counterparts in the continuing corruption investigation into Bombardier Inc.'s $340-million (U.S.) contract to sell railway equipment in Azerbaijan, The Globe and Mail has learned. Sweden's National Anti-Corruption Unit has already charged a Bombardier employee based in Stockholm in connection with the awarding of the contract. Swedish officials have recently sought Canadian assistance to seize documents and electronic equipment in Canada, and potentially to conduct interviews in the country, sources familiar with the probe said.
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NAFTA talks stymied by uncertainty over U.S. agenda
Donald Trump's unpredictable personality and hostile opposition to free trade is looming over NAFTA talks as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his negotiating team remain uncertain as to what the U.S. President wants from a reformed pact, or whether he would even sign a deal and risk alienating his base, according to high-level sources. The Globe and Mail has spoken to key players to lay out the main challenges. Canadian officials have gotten the impression that they have a "constituency of one" (Mr. Trump) and are stuck in a "position where they want to please" the President rather than negotiate on issues of substance. (for subscribers)
American firms say NAFTA issues, Trump policies the top concerns in Canada-U.S. trade relations
U.S. corporations operating in Canada are warning that U.S. President Donald Trump's protectionist trade policies could hurt their cross-border business while uncertainty about the future of NAFTA is impeding investment decisions. In a Nanos Research survey of 53 companies to be released Monday, U.S.-headquartered firms said their biggest concerns about the bilateral trading relationship involve U.S. protectionism. These worries include the potential for major changes to, or even abrogation of, the North American free-trade agreement and the prospect for Buy-American provisions.
Merkel victory marred by rise of Germany's far-right party
Angela Merkel secured her fourth term as German chancellor but her victory was marred by a huge fall in her party's vote and the astounding rise of an extreme right-wing party. She retains her status as Europe's most powerful leader. There is no doubt she will continue to preach the virtues of free trade, the Paris climate change deal and Germany's ability to treat migrants as equal citizens. Her global role, however, might have to take a back seat to suddenly pressing domestic issues, notably stopping the rise of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the anti-immigrant, anti-Islam, euroskeptic party that took some 13 per cent of the vote.
Cathal Kelly: By sparking national anthem debate, Trump divides and conquers
Whenever the world gets too real, Mr. Trump picks a diversionary spat. Mr. Trump gets to burnish his anti-elite credentials while drawing attention away from the country's actual problems. It's a sick narrative of decline enthusiastically endorsed by the left. I'm sure it felt good for basketball star LeBron James to call Mr. Trump "a bum" on Twitter. He had good reason. But what's the next move? Because name-calling is not going to get anything done. Skipping the White House invite will not effect change. And once taking a knee becomes ubiquitous, it will also become meaningless.
THE LOOKAHEAD
All eyes will be on Stephen Poloz in his first speech since rate hike
When Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz ascends to the podium at a St. John's Board of Trade lunch this Wednesday, the speech he will deliver could be one of the most closely scrutinized of his central-banking career. Mr. Poloz's speech comes just three weeks after a Bank of Canada interest-rate increase that caught many off guard. The speech will deliver something the bank conspicuously didn't provide three weeks ago: A detailed accounting of the bank's current assessment of the Canadian economy and how that persuaded it to immediately raise rates without advance warning. (for subscribers)
MORNING MARKETS
Markets mixed
Global markets are mixed on Monday, and largely down, with New York poised for a weaker open. Tokyo's Nikkei gained 0.5 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.4 per cent, and the Shanghai composite shed 0.3 per cent. In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was down 0.3 per cent by about 4:15 a.m. ET, the Paris CAC 40 was down marginally, and Germany's DAX was up 0.1 per cent on the morning after Chancellor Angela Merkel's victory. New York futures were down, and the Canadian dollar was hovering at about 81 cents (U.S.). Several things are playing out in the markets, from the German election results to the posturing of the U.S. and North Korea. Oil prices rose to their highest in seven months after major producers said the global market is well on its way towards rebalancing.
WHAT EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT
Andrew Scheer conjures average Joes in takedown of Liberal tax plan
"The mechanic, the farmer and the female doctor. These are the people the opposition Conservatives highlight when they complain about the Liberal government's proposed small-business tax changes. They found that these figures are the Liberal public-relations soft spots. And they're quite right: If average Canadians think the tax changes target those kinds of people, they will oppose them. As Finance Minister Bill Morneau tries to adjust his proposals to win political support, he'd be smart to think about the mechanic, the farmer and the female doctor. If it's clear those people aren't being unfairly clobbered, most Canadians will likely think they're fair." – Campbell Clark (for subscribers)
Play nice and pay attention to what matters, Mr. Trump
"His failure to wrestle Republicans to pass a repeal of Obamacare and his dinnertime detente with Democrats underline perhaps the biggest threat to the Trump presidency. By failing to build bridges to his putative party allies, Mr. Trump is alienating the only political figures in Washington who could be his allies in what may be the real fight of the Trump years: the congressional Russia probes and the separate, and more threatening, investigation being led by special counsel Robert Mueller." – David Shribman
Montreal's mayor loves his job – a little too much
"Not since Jean Drapeau has a Montreal mayor so dominated civic life. Denis Coderre is everywhere, all the time. He's like his own cable news network. He's always on, talking at you, telling you why he's right, everyone else is wrong and if you don't like it, you can take a hike. If loving one's job was the sole criterion for getting to keep it, then Montreal's 44th mayor would deserve to be re-elected in a landslide on Nov. 5. But Mr. Coderre seems to love his current job just a bit too much for comfort." – Konrad Yakabuski
Newfoundland and the curse of energy independence
"Churchill Falls still haunts Newfoundland nearly half a century later. Under a now-infamous 1969 contract, Hydro-Quebec gets to buy virtually all the power from the Labrador hydroelectric project at pre-1970s oil crisis prices until 2041. The province vowed to do things differently to exploit the hydro potential of the lower Churchill River, including the Muskrat Falls project. Former premier Danny Williams rejected the idea of selling most of the power from Muskrat Falls to Hydro-Quebec, opting instead to go it alone. The unfortunate consequence of this energy hubris is that instead of being cheated by its neighbour, Newfoundlanders are fleecing themselves." – Barrie McKenna (for subscribers)
Real patriotism, Mr. Trump, isn't how you treat a flag. It's how you treat Americans
"By now, we know the routine. When Mr. Trump is flailing, he creates a battle between himself and a celebrity. The President's attack on Colin Kaepernick is yet another attempt of Mr. Trump's to distract the public from his failures, but this particular battle has more at stake. The President tweeted that Steph Curry, who had already stated he wouldn't be attending the White House, would no longer be invited. By attacking these athletes, Mr. Trump is launching a referendum on patriotism, race, and what it means to be a good American in a nation led by a man who praises dictators and refuses to outright denounce white supremacists." – Sarah Kendzior
HEALTH PRIMER
How can I tell if I have a dangerous amount of stomach fat?
Visceral fat is fat that collects around the abdomen and is associated with a host of medical problems, including heart disease, diabetes, heartburn and sleep difficulties. No one knows precisely when fat becomes dangerous, said Dr. Noyan Gokce, a staff cardiologist at the Boston University School of Medicine. But fat seems to behave differently when pushed close to organs such as the kidney, liver and pancreas, he said. The good news is that visceral fat does come off – perhaps even preferentially – with weight loss.
MOMENT IN TIME
Grisly murder rattles Kingston
Sept. 25, 1867: The Globe reported on a gruesome murder in Kingston, where a night watchman at a brewery was recently killed during a robbery. Four men from the United States, who had been "loafing about taverns in the neighbourhood" went inside Morton's brewery and started to bash open a safe with a sledge hammer. The watchman came to investigate, and was hit with a blunt object, then stabbed repeatedly with a knife. The four men took off with about $2,600, stole a boat at the waterfront and crossed to Wolfe Island. From the other side of the island, they hired a man to ferry them to Cape Vincent on the U.S. shore. The Kingston city police managed to follow their trail and tracked them down a few days later in Watertown, N.Y. "The men were extradited with very little trouble, and are now serenely lodged in the gaol here," The Globe's Kingston correspondent reported. – Richard Blackwell
Morning Update is written by Steven Proceviat.
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