Morning Update: A new housing strategy; David Cassidy dies

Share

Good morning,

These are the top stories:

A new national housing strategy is being unveiled today

And it's set to include rent subsidies for low-income Canadians who are on waiting lists for social housing. The plan will also emphasize a shift from traditional social housing to mixed-use developments that see higher-rent tenants subsidize lower-rent occupants. That's a new approach cities like Edmonton and Toronto are already exploring. The new money will also help fund the renovation of 300,000 existing social-housing units. The federal government's $40-billion, 10-year strategy is expected to focus more on low-income households than the middle class.

Rob Carrick ponders whether the strategy will address unaffordability in Toronto and Vancouver: "The story of these two cities is that while sales levels have been volatile in the past couple of years, prices have increased at a higher rate than income. You have to wonder if the tradition of middle-class home ownership in these cities will fade away should these trends continue."

This is the daily Morning Update newsletter. If you're reading this on the web, or if someone forwarded this e-mail to you, you can sign up for Morning Update and all Globe newsletters here.

If you like this newsletter, you might want to subscribe to our Evening Update newsletter. It's a roundup of the important stories of the day that will be delivered to your inbox every weekday around 5 p.m. ET.

Robert Mugabe has resigned as Zimbabwe's president after 37 years of dictatorship

His resignation letter was read in parliament just an hour after politicians had started debating a motion to impeach him. Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans flooded into the streets of the capital to celebrate the news, Globe and Mail correspondent Geoffrey York reports from Harare. "We are free now," said one man. "We've had no jobs and no work for many years. But everything will be okay now. I'm very happy." Zimbabwe has been beset by an economic downturn and mass unemployment. There is optimism that the new military-backed leadership will bring with it economic reforms, although the possibility of full democracy or full human rights are less likely.

Here's World Peace Foundation president emeritus Robert Rotberg's take: "Zimbabwe is not about to become a democracy, only a somewhat more ordered and much less economically madcap country. Nor will rampant corruption cease."

Health Canada is eyeing opioid restrictions for a popular painkiller

Tramadol prescriptions rose 30 per cent between 2012 and 2016, according to a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. The drug has been marketed as a non-opioid for a decade despite the fact that the World Health Organization classifies it as an opioid. Manufacturers' scientific descriptions even refer to tramadol as an "opioid analgesic." Now, Health Canada is launching a review of the drug's classification in light of the CIHI findings. Canada is in the midst of an opioid crisis, in part due to the overprescribing of opioids. And while prescriptions for some opioids have gone down, according to the report, tramadol and hydromorphone dispensing has spiked.

Partridge Family star David Cassidy died at the age of 67

Cassidy rose to fame playing heartthrob Keith Partridge on the show about a family musical group, which ran from 1970 to 1974. He turned that spotlight into millions in record sales under both the Partridge Family name and as a solo artist. He died yesterday of organ failure. Earlier this year Cassidy's family revealed he had been diagnosed with dementia.

Globe arts reporter Marsha Lederman reflects back on her love of the show: "I can … cite plot lines in some detail from Partridge Family episodes I watched when I was 5. The stuff we grow up on is formative. So when a star we grow up watching or listening to dies, a part of our foundation, even a teeny bit, gets chipped away. It's something we become more familiar with as we age, even if it's a feeling we don't ever really know how to deal with. And this is something, I'm afraid, there is no cure for."

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The CRA blocks calls and often gives taxpayers wrong information

That's according to a new report from the federal Auditor-General. The Canada Revenue Agency says 90 per cent of its callers connect with a call-centre agent or the automated system. But the report found that didn't include 29 million calls it blocked in one year out of a total of 53.5 million. In reality, the CRA only answered 36 per cent of calls between March, 2016 and March, 2017. And when the auditor's office made 255 calls to the agency to test the accuracy of the information being provided, it found wrong answers were given almost 30 per cent of the time.

MORNING MARKETS

Global shares scaled another record high on Wednesday, propelled by a bullish growth and company earnings outlook, as well as investors' unflagging enthusiasm for tech stocks. Tokyo's Nikkei gained 0.5 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng and the Shanghai composite each rose 0.6 per cent.  In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was up 0.3 per cent by about 5:45 a.m. ET, the Paris CAC 40 was up slightly, and Germany's DAX was down 0.2 per cent on its political problems. New York futures were up, and the Canadian dollar was below 78.5 cents (U.S.). Oil prices jumped, with U.S. light crude at a 2-1/2-year high after faults on the Keystone pipeline dented Canadian deliveries to the U.S., where crude inventories were also reported to be falling.

Heads up: The Globe now provides all users access to real-time stock quotes for both Canadian and U.S. markets. Go here to find out about the major changes to our Globe Investor site.

WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT

Andy Byford shows how effective leadership is the better way for the TTC

"His time [as head of the Toronto Transit Commission] shows how important leadership can be for an organization. Effective leaders set a clear, ambitious goal – in this case, to haul the TTC into the 21st century. They make sure everyone in the organization understands that goal. They measure progress toward reaching it. They get out among the troops, leading by example. They are frank about the problems facing the organization, but positive about the future. … Byford didn't invent any of these ideas. You can find them in any management handbook. But he put them into practice with rare skill and zeal. He now heads to New York City Transit as chief executive. He calls it 'arguably the toughest job in transit right now.' They are lucky to have him. If anyone can fix New York's subway mess, it is Andy Byford." – Marcus Gee

Site C might be past the point of no return

"The NDP waited 16 long years to return to government and make the kind of big, tough decisions that [hydro-electric dam project] Site C represents. They are also choices that begin to consume, sometimes ferociously, the well of political capital a government has stored up at the beginning of its mandate. As many administrations in this country have discovered, it sometimes doesn't take long to use it all up. Which way will the government go? I'm not sure. But early in 2017, when she was still premier, Christy Clark said she hoped to get the project "past the point of no return." In the end, she may have accomplished her goal. And Site C could be her most noteworthy legacy, for better or worse." – Gary Mason

HEALTH PRIMER

Do I always have to take the full course of antibiotics?

Doctors have long told patients to take every pill in order to fully wipe out the bacteria causing an infection. But some experts have started to voice concern about the "collateral damage" caused by antibiotics, since they also attack other bacteria that may be beneficial to the body. That could cause the good bacteria to develop resistance to the drugs and later transmit the resistance to bacteria that causes harm. But the science on stopping before your dosage is out remains unclear. If you are feeling better, talk to your doctor before stopping the medication.

MOMENT IN TIME

Orange Revolution begins in Ukraine

Kiev Nov. 22, 2004: Ukrainians were too placid to protest. That was the narrative until Nov. 21, 2004, anyway, when Ukrainians saw their country's presidential election stolen right in front of their eyes. Exit polls showed the pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko winning with 58 per cent of the vote. But official results the next day gave the win instead to his Moscow-backed rival, Viktor Yanukovych. Thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets of Kiev that night, chanting Yushchenko's name, and wearing the orange colours of his campaign. Many pitched tents and vowed not to leave Kiev's main square, known as the Maidan, until their man was president. The Orange Revolution forced a revote that Yushchenko handily won. But Yanukovych got his revenge in 2010, winning the presidency in a vote no one contested – until protesters returned to the streets four years later to force him from office in another revolution. – Mark MacKinnon

Morning Update is written by Arik Ligeti.

If you'd like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday morning, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.