Good morning,
We’re pressing pause on this newsletter for Good Friday, returning as usual on Monday. Have a great long weekend.
These are the top stories:
Here’s where things stand on pipelines and the carbon tax from coast to coast
Jason Kenney says his first order of business once he’s sworn in as premier on April 30 will be to enact legislation that would allow Alberta to cut off oil shipments to B.C. But the move, which would drive up gas prices, is bound to set off a legal confrontation: When Rachel Notley’s NDP government first passed that bill, B.C. launched a lawsuit in response. If Kenney pushes forward with it again, B.C. says it will go to the courts again.
Kenney’s motivation for the “turn-off-the-taps” bill is B.C.’s opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which he argues is needed to get Alberta oil to overseas markets. And on the Trans Mountain front, Ottawa says it’s aiming to decide whether to reapprove the project by June 18. (for subscribers)
While Alberta’s premier-designate wants to go to battle with B.C., he’s taking a more conciliatory approach with Quebec in his bid to build pipelines eastward. But Premier François Legault has already shot back, saying “There is no social acceptability for a new oil pipeline in Quebec.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Kenney might both want to get Trans Mountain built, but on carbon taxes they stand diametrically opposed. Kenney plans to repeal the levy put in place by Notley, and he’ll follow that up by becoming the third province after Saskatchewan and Ontario to launch a legal challenge to the federal initiative. Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says Ottawa will impose a carbon price if Kenney nixes the provincial one.
Barrie McKenna argues that Kenney is selling false hope to Albertans on pipelines: “By vowing to roll back the departing NDP government’s price on carbon and scrap a plan to ban coal-fired electricity by 2030, Kenney is setting up Alberta for a protracted fight – with Ottawa, with its own energy industry and with potential buyers of its oil and gas.” (for subscribers)
And over in Ontario, Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government has launched a taxpayer-funded advertising campaign slamming the federal carbon tax. The provincial NDP says the ads are “a blatant misuse of public dollars.”
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A redacted version of the Mueller report is being released today
And Democrats may start filing subpoenas as early as Monday to obtain the full report on Russian interference, depending on how much U.S. Attorney-General William Barr opts to publish. Barr is scheduled to hold a news conference at 9:30 a.m. ET this morning to discuss the 400-page report.
What we’re watching for: All eyes are on whether there will be new details on the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia, and whether the President acted to impede the inquiry.
What we know so far: Barr’s summary of the report, released last month, said Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion with Russia, but left it to the Attorney-General to make a decision on possible obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump. Barr concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence of obstruction.
Mark Norman’s lawyers are arguing that Michael Wernick waived privilege
The federal government’s claim of solicitor-client privilege should be disregarded because the outgoing Privy Council Clerk spoke publicly during his SNC-Lavalin testimony about the Norman case, the Vice-Admiral’s lawyers argued in his pretrial hearing. The defence said Wernick’s comment that “the easiest way to deal with the Norman matter was to let the judge decide what was relevant” meant that legal advice didn’t factor into his decision on how to handle documents.
It’s the latest effort by Norman’s lawyers to try to obtain unredacted documents, including a 60-page Wernick memo to Trudeau about the Liberal government’s decision-making, related to the accusation that the Vice-Admiral shared secrets about a shipbuilding contract.
Two elections are approaching in PEI and Newfoundland
If the polls can be believed, we may see the election of Canada’s first Green government when residents of Prince Edward Island head to the polls this coming Tuesday. The provincial Liberals have run the province for the past 12 years, but they’re facing stiff competition from the Progressive Conservatives and the Greens. (for subscribers)
Over in Newfoundland and Labrador, Premier Dwight Ball has called a vote for May 16 in a race that will pit the incumbent Liberals against the PCs.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Nova Scotia is ordering a moratorium on police street checks after a report that found black people are stopped five times more than white people. Justice Minister Mark Furey, himself a former police officer, said the province needs “to address the fear and mistrust” the practice has caused.
North Korea says it has test-fired a new type of 'tactical guided weapon. It’s not yet clear exactly what was tested, but it’s not likely a banned ballistic missile test. That would be a major blow to already-stalled nuclear disarmament talks between the North and the United States. North Korea said on Thursday it no longer wanted to deal with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and said he should be replaced in talks by someone more mature, hours after it announced its weapons test.
PLAYOFF ROUNDUP
The Winnipeg Jets are hoping to ride the high of an overtime win in Game 4 to take the series lead when they play the St. Louis Blues tonight (8:30 p.m. ET). Back at home, the team’s famous “Whiteout” street party will be at full capacity, with 11,000 tickets sold for those viewing the game outside the arena. (for subscribers)
Things are all tied at two games apiece between the Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins after Toronto fell 6-4 at home last night. Who’s to blame for the home team losing? Certainly not the Leafs’ anemic penalty kill. It must be Drake and his appearance at Scotiabank Arena, Cathal Kelley writes in this lighthearted take. (for subscribers)
The heartbreak continues for the Calgary Flames. They lost in overtime to the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 for the second time in five days on Wednesday and are now only one defeat away from elimination in the National Hockey League playoffs. They trail in the best-of-seven series 3-1 . Game 5 is Friday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Marty Klinkenberg reports.
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks mixed
Global shares erased this week’s gains on Thursday after weak manufacturing surveys from Asia and Europe stoked fears of a slowdown in global growth, adding to profit taking ahead of the long Easter weekend. Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.8 per cent, Hong Hong’s Hang Seng 0.7 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite 0.4 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.2 per cent by about 6:40 a.m. ET, while Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were up by between 0.2 and 0.5 per cent. New York futures were down. The Canadian dollar was below 75 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
In rallying around Notre-Dame, secular France celebrates its Catholic identity
Konrad Yakabuski: “No matter that barely 5 per cent of French Catholics regularly attend Sunday mass, or that the church itself is held in low regard by most, the entire country has united around a monument to its enduringly Catholic identity.” (for subscribers)
Ottawa should stop propping up immigration consultants
Ravi Jain: “Numerous immigration consultants were alleged to have exploited approximately 2,600 foreign workers and students, both in Canada and abroad, according to a recent Globe and Mail investigation. A few days later, the federal budget implementation bill explained how the budget’s allocation of more than $100-million over 10 years and then $10-million annually would be used to prop up immigration consultants again.” Ravi Jain is an immigration lawyer and vice-chair of the CBA National Immigration Law Section.
Canada’s new ‘gay coin’ is cause for celebration
RM Vaughan, on a coin marking the 1969 milestone when the Canadian government struck down the laws that made homosexuality illegal: “while things are far from perfect, queer rights are now on a coin. A coin. Think about it – something you use every day for the most mundane transactions now signals to the world that queer people exist, have rights and that there is a progress model in place, however flawed.” RM Vaughan is a Canadian writer and video artist based in Montreal.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail)Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
‘Brad can put together anything’: How an Alberta man with autism is building a life his own way
(Amber Bracken/The Globe and Mail)Amber Bracken
Brad Fremmerlid lives with severe autism. He can say only two words – “Brad” and “Dad” – and those just barely. He can’t read, write or communicate outside a few basic hand signals. He can’t navigate finding a public bathroom. He can’t cross a street alone.
But through his work, Brad has become a source of inspiration for people around the world, and especially families of others with autism, an example of what can be achieved with proper supports, Jana G. Pruden reports.
“There is hope,” his mother, Deb Fremmerlid, says. “Even when you don’t think there is.”
So far, Brad has done more than 1,000 jobs. He’s assembled wardrobes and dressers and bookshelves, gazebos and closet systems and entire kitchens. There hasn’t been a job he couldn’t do.
MOMENT IN TIME
The Great Montreal Flood
(George Charles Arless/McCord Museum)George Charles Arless/McCord Museum
April 18, 1886: By Sunday morning, Victoria Square was a lake. The flood waters that had inundated Montreal’s low-lying neighbourhoods of Pointe St. Charles and Griffintown the day before surged into the city’s core overnight. Firemen at the central fire hall on Craig Street, now St. Antoine Street, were seen paddling, too – from the station in rowboats. Along McGill Street, boatmen charged 50 cents to ferry people a few hundred feet. “Men could be seen hanging around unable to reach their homes which they had left on Saturday,” the Montreal Gazette reported. The flood-prone city had expected a deluge; dikes were reinforced, water pumps tested. Few, however, were ready when the St. Lawrence began rising behind a wall of ice that dammed the narrows near Longueuil. Pointe St. Charles was hit hardest, with water as deep as 2½ metres. “The sidewalks floated around and were used by inhabitants as rafts,” the Gazette reported. Flood waters began to subside early Monday. By 3 a.m., rafts along Craig Street were stranded, the Gazette reported, and “at the corner of Francis Xavier Street the crossing was dry.” A Royal Commission was struck to investigate the flood’s causes, leading to the construction of massive flood walls in Cité du Havre. – Mark Rendell
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Arik Ligeti