Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
The Globe and Mail has learned that Canada may reinforce its military mission to Ukraine.
Sources say that newly appointed Defence Minister Anita Anand is considering deploying hundreds of additional troops to support the Canadian soldiers already in Ukraine on a training mission. Other options being looked at include moving a warship into the Black Sea, or redeploying some of the CF-18 fighter jets currently based in Romania.
The discussions in Ottawa are happening amid a debate over whether additional NATO forces would deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from further aggression against his country’s neighbour.
As The Globe’s Mark MacKinnon writes, any reinforcement would be intended as a message to Mr. Putin, who has raised alarm for the second time this year by amassing troops and equipment near his country’s borders with Ukraine. Videos posted online show thousands of battlefield weapons – including tanks, armoured personnel carriers and multiple-launch rocket systems – being moved toward Ukraine from their regular bases in other parts of Russia. By some estimates, there are now just shy of 100,000 Russian soldiers within a short drive of Ukraine – a country Mr. Putin has never seen as a fully sovereign state, and one he is determined to keep from joining the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
How to respond to Russia’s renewed pressure on Ukraine looms as Ms. Anand’s first major international test since she was appointed Defence Minister last month.
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Jury in Ahmaud Arbery death trial convicts three men of murdering the 25-year-old
Three white men were convicted of murder on Wednesday for chasing and shooting Ahmaud Arbery as he ran in their Georgia neighbourhood, with a jury rejecting a self-defence claim in a trial that once again examined the issues of race and guns in the United States.
The verdict was delivered by a jury consisting of one Black man and 11 white men and women, after about a two-week trial in the coastal city of Brunswick. The case turned on whether the defendants had a right to confront the unarmed 25-year-old last year on a hunch he was fleeing a crime.
Gregory McMichael, 65, his son Travis McMichael, 35, and their neighbour William (Roddie) Bryan, 52, were charged with murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit a felony. They face a minimum sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Coalition of environmental groups threatens to sue Alberta Premier Jason Kenney over inquiry remarks: At least eight environmental groups are demanding that Kenney retract and apologize for statements saying a public inquiry found they spread misinformation about the province’s oil and gas industry. The groups have given the Premier a week before they say they would file a statement of claim against him.
Greens to choose interim leader tonight with ex-MP Paul Manly the favourite: Manly, the former MP who lost his British Columbia seat in the election, is the favourite to take on the challenge. He is being backed by former leader Elizabeth May and former interim leader Jo-Ann Roberts, who was urged to take on the job again.
Angela Merkel leadership era at an end as Olaf Scholz announces coalition deal among German parties: The Leader of Germany’s Social Democrats said the new government will try to modernize Europe’s largest economy and bring the curtain down on the Angela Merkel era. Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats, the ecologist Greens and the libertarian Free Democrats want to accelerate the transition to a green economy and digitalization while maintaining fiscal discipline.
B.C. human rights commissioner report outlines racial disparities in policing: An analysis of data from five police services across the province shows “profound racial disparities” and it is calling for changes to address discrimination in policing. The report includes a series of recommendations for the B.C. government as part of a submission to a special committee of the legislature that’s looking at changes to the province’s Police Act.
Stress Test podcast – Inflation is squeezing our finances. What can we do about it?: If you drive a car, buy groceries or pay for shelter, chances are you’ve noticed that right now you’re paying a lot more for things than you did last year. With the inflation rate higher than it’s been in decades, how concerned should you be?
MARKET WATCH
Energy and technology lifted Canada’s main stock index midweek while U.S. stock markets staged a late rally on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday due to positive economic data including jobless claims hitting a 52-year low that showed the economy remained strong.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 94.66 points to 21,548.43.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rebounded in late trading and was down just 9.42 points at 35,804.38. The S&P 500 index was up 10.76 points at 4,701.46, while the Nasdaq composite was up 70.09 points at 15,845.23.
The Canadian dollar traded for 78.88 cents US compared with 78.70 cents US on Tuesday.
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TALKING POINTS
Even the courts agree: Injunctions should not prevent journalists from doing their jobs
“When the police fail to distinguish between protesters and the media, we risk serious injustice. And it’s the job of the courts to ensure the police are alive to this distinction, by including wording in injunctions that explicitly deal with access for the media.” – Peter Jacobsen
The millennial and Gen Z dream of home ownership is being exploited in ways that just make houses more expensive
“What makes the invest-in-real-estate trend unique is that it works against young people owning a real house or condo on their own, free and clear. When investment companies buy up houses to offer to investors, it means more players competing for a limited pool of properties for sale and higher prices.” – Rob Carrick
Toronto is diverse, but the names of its streets and buildings aren’t
“To diversify the pool of Canada’s leading philanthropists whose names are put on buildings, immigrant communities and the leading entrepreneurs and business people among their ranks must be made to feel a greater sense of belonging and ownership toward their city, and given responsibility over our collective fate.” – Alidad Mafinezam
LIVING BETTER
The truth about women and burnout: Self-care is a crock
Vancouver songwriter and instructor Leah Abramson bristles when told that she should do more self-care to avoid burnout. In addition to work duties, Abramson has a child and takes care of her aging parents. Her weeks are spent caregiving for her daughter, shuttling her parents to medical appointments and using her daughter’s nap time to squeeze in more work hours. It’s a frantic routine many women can relate to.
“It just feels like one more thing to add to my to-do list,” Abramson says.
Suggesting women should go for a jog, grab a nap or take a bath with scented candles is not only unhelpful, experts say, it places blame on the individual when it is usually the organization or workplace that needs a rework.
So, what is helpful as part of burnout prevention? From a systemic or organizational level, workplaces need to make policy and infrastructure-based changes to ensure women are properly supported.
TODAY’S LONG READ
BlackNorth Initiative unveils guide to help companies improve corporate diversity
The BlackNorth Initiative – a non-profit focused on tackling anti-Black systemic racism in corporate Canada – has unveiled a detailed guide aimed at helping employers tangibly advance race-related diversity initiatives within their organizations.
Branded as the Racial Equity Playbook, the guide is geared toward employers that signed the BlackNorth pledge, a series of commitments made by some of Canada’s largest companies in the summer of 2020. The pledge challenged them to tackle systemic racism by hiring more Black people and elevating Black employees to senior leadership roles.
A Globe and Mail analysis published in July, exactly a year after hundreds of companies committed to the pledge, found that many had shown little or no clear progress toward meeting many goals to which they committed.
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Rob Gilroy