Calgary Police Chief Rick Hanson addresses a news conference in Calgary, Alta., Monday, July 14, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntoshThe Canadian Press
Calgary begins Canada's first external audit of sexual-assault case files
The Calgary Police Service has begun reviewing closed sexual-assault cases with outside advocates, a Canadian first. The force is auditing closed cases in tandem with representatives from sex-assault centres, medical staff and an official with Alberta's Ministry of the Status of Women. Calgary police began working on the project after a Globe and Mail investigation revealed police in Canada dismiss one in five sex-assault allegations as unfounded. That designation means the investigating officer didn't believe a crime occurred. The Calgary initiative is modelled after a program pioneered in Philadelphia, which has seen its unfounded rate drop from 18 per cent to 4 per cent. Calgary's unfounded rate was 10 per cent, well below the national average, "but we can always do better," said Staff Sergeant Bruce Walker, the head of force's sex-crimes unit.
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Opioid guidelines to be reviewed after conflict-of-interest revelations
Canada's Health Minister has ordered an independent review of new national opioid-prescribing guidelines. Jane Philpott said the review is needed to ensure the standards aren't "tainted by the influence of industry." The news comes at the same time a Globe review found nine of the 28 people on the panel that crafted the new guidelines received money from drug companies, including Purdue Pharma, the firm behind the OxyContin painkiller that triggered Canada's opioid epidemic. Two of those nine people voted on the guidelines. McMaster University received $618,248 from Health Canada to craft the new standards. The school had pledged to exclude medical experts who received money from drug companies from voting on the guidelines.
Canada threatens U.S. over aerospace as countdown to NAFTA talks begins
On the same day the White House filed notice to trigger a countdown to North American free-trade agreement talks, Ottawa shot back by threatening to back out of a multibillion-dollar purchase of Boeing fighter jets if the U.S. goes ahead with trade action against Bombardier (for subscribers). Boeing had previously levelled accusations against Bombardier, saying the Montreal-based company's C-series jets have an unfair market advantage because they're subsidized by the Canadian and Quebec governments. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced yesterday that it would investigate the accusations. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland promised to "defend the interests of Bombardier, the Canadian aerospace industry and our aerospace workers." NAFTA renegotiation talks are set to begin in mid-August.
For Republicans and Trump, a long, painful road ahead
Donald Trump called the investigation into possible ties between his campaign and Russia "the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!" On Wednesday, former FBI director Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel to independently oversee the Russia probe. Trump also denied reports that he asked FBI Director James Comey – whom he fired last week – to shut down the agency's investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The continued stream of revelations is bound to plague Republican attempts to execute their broader agenda, experts say.
MORNING MARKETS
Major markets were largely on the rise Friday, but the U.S. dollar limped towards its worst week since August and world stocks headed for their first weekly fall in five, as storms surrounding Donald Trump's U.S. presidency and Latin America's biggest economy, Brazil, began to calm. Tokyo's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng each gained about 0.2 per cent, while the Shanghai composite was up marginally. In Europe, London's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were up by between 0.4 and 0.7 per cent by about 5:45 a.m. (ET). New York futures were also up, and the Canadian dollar was above 73.5 cents (U.S.). Oil prices were heading for a second week of gains on growing expectations that big crude exporters will extend output cuts to curb a persistent glut in inventories.
WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT
Look twice before judging an Indigenous person
"Everything we think we know is contained in the stories we tell ourselves. The paradigm we occupy, our reality, is merely the confluence of multiple stories. One of those stories is the lazy, dirty, drunken Indian story. It has been around since first contact. We were told it during the colonial period. It was repeated to us during the residential-school era and is repeated today in the media. … The story doesn't just impact non-aboriginal people. It is heard and understood by aboriginal peoples as well. It affects how we see the world. … I have to challenge myself over and over again in order to see what is actually in front of my face. Anyone who claims not to be racist – who doesn't check their stories with every encounter – fails themselves as well as others. We owe it to ourselves to look twice. It's a matter of respect." – Harold Johnson, Indigenous lawyer and writer
Pillar suspension doesn't address baseball's continued intolerance
"Five years ago, Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar took the field wearing an eye-black patch emblazoned with a homophobic slur. … On Wednesday, Blue Jays centre fielder Kevin Pillar did the same thing as Escobar. Pillar didn't write the slur – "faggot" – down. He yelled it at an Atlanta pitcher. But it's the same principle. … Before the clubhouse opened on Thursday, the Jays had decided Pillar's punishment – a two-game suspension. … What Pillar's punishment cannot fully address is the creeping sense that while the world is growing more tolerant, baseball isn't keeping pace. There's only so many times this sort of thing can happen when the knee-jerk response – 'Hey, I didn't mean to say that thing I just said because it's totally not like me' – makes any sense. Two times on one club in five years is two times too many." – Cathal Kelly
HEALTH PRIMER
As a doctor, I helped women trying to conceive. Then I became a patient
"Over the past few years, I too have become a patient going through infertility treatment and have had to cope with the burden that this carries emotionally, physically and financially. … In our journey, my husband and I have been labeled infertile, sub-fertile, unexplained, having decreased ovarian reserve, unlucky and just plain old. … I generally do not share my personal stories, but it has become clear that we need to discuss these things openly so we can all feel a little less alone. As with any topic related to our reproductive organs – such as miscarriage and abortion – infertility can carry a significant stigma that makes it difficult to discuss." – Sheila Wijayasinghe, family doctor at St. Michael's Hospital
MOMENT IN TIME
World's first national park service
May 19, 1911: The world's first national park service was created in 1911, when the Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act was given royal assent. Along with the Act, Canada created the Dominion Parks Branch – now Parks Canada – and appointed journalist-turned-political-secretary James Harkin to oversee the protected areas, including the hot springs of what would become Banff National Park. Harkin was an inspired conservationist and scientists came from abroad to study his work as he helped expand Canada's national parks in the east and west. In 1914, he spearheaded the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada to expand federal protection to historic sites, beginning in the east with Fort Howe in New Brunswick. To date, Canada has 46 national parks, 171 national historic sites under Parks Canada's care and four marine conservation areas – all free to explore this year to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday. – Jessica Caparini
Morning Update is written by Arik Ligeti.
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