The flags of the United States, Canada and Mexico fly in the breeze at the Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans, on April 21, 2008.Judi Bottoni/The Associated Press
TOP STORIES
Confidence waning in Ottawa's ability to renegotiate NAFTA: poll
Canadians are increasingly concerned about the renegotiation of the North American free-trade agreement as U.S. President Donald Trump's rhetoric has shifted from suggestions of a tweak to slamming Canadian dairy policy as a disgrace. A new Nanos Survey found fewer than half of Canadians – 46 per cent – now feel confident or somewhat confident that Canada can protect its interests in the negotiations, which begin this month in Washington. That's down from 59 per cent in a February survey. (for subscribers)
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Gatlin's win at worlds renews calls for lifelong doping bans
When Justin Gatlin flew past Usain Bolt to win the 100 metres at the world athletics championships on Saturday, he not only ruined the storybook ending to Mr. Bolt's career – he also left track fans and officials squirming at the optics. For a sport desperate to move beyond a history of doping, Mr. Gatlin's victory over Mr. Bolt, who finished third, was an awkward moment and reopened the debate about whether athletes who test positive for banned drugs should receive a lifetime ban. The 35-year old American is a two-time doping offender.
Tensions rise as Kenya's election could be decided on a digital battlefield
In one of Africa's most technologically advanced economies, a hotly contested election on Tuesday could be decided on a new electronic battlefield. Polls show that Kenya's election is a tight race between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his archrival, opposition leader Raila Odinga. The kidnapping and murder of a senior election official and the deportation of two foreign election advisers have added explosive new twists to the campaign. The outcome could be determined by shadowy new techniques: social-media manipulation, voter data harvesting and potentially even the threat of illicit interference in electronic vote tallying.
Lawyers make a case for saving preliminary inquiry
A judge's dismissal of first-degree murder charges against three men after a preliminary inquiry is fuelling arguments that the pretrial screening mechanism should be preserved. The ruling in a Toronto case comes as the federal government prepares changes to the criminal-justice system aimed at reducing the time to bring a case to trial. Justice ministers are anxious to reduce delay, after the Supreme Court of Canada set time limits last summer for completing criminal trials. But the Canadian Bar Association, representing lawyers, points to the Toronto case as a demonstration of the preliminary inquiry's importance.
Canadian banks, major companies near cyberthreat deal with federal spy agency
A collective of Canada's largest banks and major companies from other key sectors is on the cusp of an agreement to gain access to a federal spy agency's trove of information about cyberthreats. The partnership, expected to be sealed within weeks, would create an information pipeline between the Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange (CCTX), the federal department of Public Safety and the secretive Communications Security Establishment (CSE), Canada's electronic spy agency. The initiative is significant because Canada has relatively few forums for government cybersecurity experts to communicate threat information to their counterparts in the private sector.
THE LOOKAHEAD
Canadian stocks poised for second-half bounce back
A strong earnings season is unfolding on both sides of the border, but in only one of those markets are stocks ringing in new all-time highs. Second-quarter profits in both Canada and the United States are handily beating analysts' estimates, adding to evidence of a recovery from the recent downturn in earnings. But Canadian stock performance so far this year continues to lag major U.S. indexes. A narrowing of that gap is overdue, according to Brian Belski, chief investment strategist at BMO Nesbitt Burns. (for subscribers)
WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT
There's no easy solution to Canada's border problem
"The latest spate of asylum seekers crossing the border over dirt paths in Quebec has once again sparked some, including Conservative politicians, to ask why Ottawa doesn't press Washington to allow those people to be turned back to the United States. There is, after all, a deal in place with the Americans that allows Canadian border guards to turn back asylum seekers who arrive at official border crossings from the United States – but not in between them. Many have called for the Canadian government to close that 'loophole.' But the Americans don't want to close it. They don't want to go through a lot of trouble to stop migrants from leaving the United States. It's time to stop thinking there are easy, wave-of-the-pen solutions for Canada's border problem." – Campbell Clark
Foreign traders are loving the loonie, but how long can it run without its legs?
"The speed of the loonie's ascent is cause for nervousness among watchers of Canada's economic recovery, which has surely been aided by a cheap currency. How will the country's 2017 economic growth spurt fare under a considerably stronger dollar? And what if it keeps moving even higher? Could the currency knock the recovery off the rails? Not easy questions. But to understand the implications of the Canadian dollar's rally, what matters is not just how much the currency has risen, but why." – David Parkinson (for subscribers)
Will we learn from LNG's failure in B.C.?
"Right up to the most recent B.C. election in May, the British Columbia government had been promising three to five new liquefied natural gas plants that would generate between $130-billion and $270-billion in government revenue and create more than 75,000 jobs. Cancellation of the Petronas project, which was among the most advanced and economically viable of B.C.'s 19 proposed LNG plants, clearly exposes the fallacy of the government's promise. … If there is good news in this story, it is that B.C. was not successful in speeding up development. If it was, the multibillion-dollar LNG projects would be coming on stream after the LNG price collapse, would be losing billions and would, no doubt, be demanding taxpayer subsidies to stay afloat." – Thomas Gunton
In the fashion industry, McShopping has gone global
"The cheap-chic revolution has brought affordable fashion to the masses and, thanks to better monitoring of offshore factories, provided millions of decent jobs in developing countries. It also has its downsides. Massive amounts of 'disposable' clothing end up in landfills each year. When clothes are this cheap, we don't think twice about chucking what we bought last month for something even trendier. Instead of four fashion seasons, we now have at least 12. Worst of all, the fast-fashion industry has come to resemble the fast-food industry. A few big global chains have now squeezed out most local purveyors of French fries and fashion alike." – Konrad Yakabuski
HEALTH PRIMER
Feeling lonely? Volunteering just two hours a week may help, study finds
Volunteering at least two hours a week may go a long way toward helping to ease feelings of loneliness and social isolation, a study of recent widows suggests. Researchers found, as expected, that feelings of loneliness were much more intense among recent widows than married people. But the recent widows who started volunteering at least two hours a week developed lower levels of loneliness on par with married people who spend similar amounts of time giving back to their communities.
MOMENT IN TIME
The Globe warns of more railway corruption
Aug. 7, 1867: The British North America Act specifically called for the creation of an Intercolonial railway to link Quebec and Ontario with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. But The Globe was worried the corruption that had enveloped the creation of the Grand Trunk Railway in the 1850s would seep into the Intercolonial's development. In a front-page "political retrospective," it outlined the kickbacks and inside deals that John A. Macdonald and his cronies arranged when the Grand Trunk network was built in Ontario and Quebec. In an editorial in the same issue, it asked each reader to "decide for himself whether it is wise to entrust the same men with the task of constructing the Intercolonial Railway." In the upcoming elections, The Globe said, voters should "support candidates who have proved themselves to be in the past devoted to the interests of the people, and careful guardians of the public purse." – Richard Blackwell
Morning Update is written by Steven Proceviat.
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