Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Canada preparing second plane to evacuate citizens in China over coronavirus fears
Ottawa is waiting for Beijing’s approval to send a second plane to evacuate Canadians stranded in China’s Hubei province, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that the government is hoping to bring people home “very soon." Government sources said the second plane has been secured but may not be needed.
Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne said yesterday that Ottawa had secured a chartered plane that will stop in Hanoi until Chinese authorities give Canada approval to enter the closed airspace.
B.C. officials announced today that a second person in that province has tested positive for the virus, bringing the number of cases in Canada to five.
Meanwhile, the coronavirus lockdown has shuttered shops and cut off supplies even in the remotest parts of China, bringing the world’s most populous country largely to a standstill.
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Federal Court of Appeal upholds Trans Mountain pipeline approval
A Federal Court of Appeal panel says Ottawa fulfilled its obligations to consult with Indigenous people when it approved the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion after a second round of consultations.
In a unanimous decision, the panel dismissed challenges to that approval launched last summer by four Indigenous groups in British Columbia. The court acknowledged that they have a right to deep and meaningful consultation, but that does not give them a veto over the project.
The decision strips away one more layer of uncertainty over the $10-billion project, which is now owned by the government of Canada.
Context: Trans Mountain, Trudeau and First Nations: A guide to the story so far
After Iowa caucus chaos, Democrats release partial results with Buttigieg in the lead
We should have known the results of last night’s Iowa caucuses by now, but a buggy new smartphone app has delayed them by nearly an entire day, sowing confusion about the Democratic presidential nominating race.
When the Democratic Party did release partial returns this afternoon - with 62 of the state’s precincts reporting - former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg was leading with 26.9 per cent of the vote, followed by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders with 25.1 per cent.
The embarrassing technology debacle, which played out live on national television, revived persistent calls for Iowa to lose its status as the first to vote and to reform its archaic caucus process.
Opinion: “[U.S. President Donald] Trump, who some were calling the winner of the Democratic primary, was gleefully harpooning his rivals, wondering if they were going to blame the Russians for what happened.” - Lawrence Martin
Separately today in Washington, the Senate’s top Republican urged fellow senators to acquit Trump in his impeachment trial on charges arising from his dealings with Ukraine. The vote is scheduled for tomorrow, one day after Trump’s State of the Union speech tonight.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
TD cuts posted mortgage rate: Toronto-Dominion Bank has lowered its posted five-year fixed mortgage rate today from 5.34 per cent to 4.99 per cent, to narrow the gap between the benchmark and the special rates it offers customers.
Arrest warrant issued for Jacob Zuma: A South African judge has issued an arrest warrant for former president Jacob Zuma after noticing mysterious alterations and missing information in a hospital note that claimed he was too ill to attend his trial on corruption charges.
Softwood lumber tariffs could be reduced: In a preliminary decision, the U.S. Commerce Department has ruled that tariffs imposed on most Canadian softwood lumber sold south of the border could be reduced, which is expected to result in sharply lower duties by August.
MARKET WATCH
The Nasdaq hit a record high today and the S&P 500 posted its biggest one-day gain in about six months as fears of a heavy economic impact from the coronavirus outbreak waned after China’s central bank intervened.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 407.82 points to 28,807.63, the S&P 500 gained 48.67 points to end at 3,297.59 and the Nasdaq Composite added 194.57 points to close at 9,467.97.
The S&P/TSX composite index rose 132.97 points to 17,512.73.
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TALKING POINTS
Peter MacKay has gone and ruined Peter MacKay’s momentum for the Conservative crown
“In terms of early strategy, blending in with the wallpaper might have been the best approach for Team MacKay. If he stood very still, and he didn’t make a sound, he could have coasted his way to the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.” - Robyn Urback
Britain has chosen a 4G solution for a 5G system. That’s not going to work
“Britain’s attempt to let Huawei into a kind of souped-up 4G system is very instructive for the decision that Canadian ministers will make on the same question ... Canada should resist the temptation to do the same.” - Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, senior fellow in technology and innovation at the China Institute, University of Alberta
LIVING BETTER
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, Globe wine critic Christopher Waters offers his recommendations to celebrate. They include different takes on fruity white and sparkling styles and a mixed bag of red wines with juicy, refined or complex characters. And if romance isn’t in the cards, there’s a wine from See Ya Later Ranch.
LONG READ FOR A LONG COMMUTE
Handout
Photo project with Colin Kaepernick goes from Paper magazine to public art installation
Multimedia artist Shawn Theodore had “the best summer ever” last year when he was tapped by activist football player – and Paper magazine guest editor – Colin Kaepernick to take 10 photographic portraits. The portrait subjects include activist and scholar Angela Davis, the Exonerated Five (formerly known as the Central Park Five), #MeToo founder Tarana Burke and actress Taraji P. Henson. “We travelled from New York to Montgomery to L.A.,” the Philadelphia-based artist said. “It was just an amazing trip, to be with people who cared about the project.”
“The project” was an issue of Paper magazine that centred on Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights youth camps, which he founded in 2016. In all, Kaepernick has held the free youth-empowerment camps in seven U.S. cities and one “pop-up” camp in Amsterdam. For the Paper issue, Kaepernick chose people to be photographed who embody the 10 fundamental human rights at the core of his camps, inspired by the Black Panthers’ Ten-Point Program.
This month, at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre, the photos are having their world debut as a public art installation, part of the programming for Kuumba, Toronto’s 25-year-old celebration of Black History Month. Read Sono Motoyama’s full story here.
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