Skip to main content
morning update newsletter

Good morning,

These are the top stories:

Ottawa is launching nationwide consultations on a handgun ban

The move is set to kick-start a debate just over a year before the next federal election, with the Conservative Party already coming out against a ban. Tory Leader Andrew Scheer said it would be “completely ineffective.” The consultations might include public hearings, expert panels and an invitation for written submissions. The Liberals are taking the step amid pressure to enact tougher gun legislation after a mass shooting in Toronto in July. City councils in Montreal and Toronto have called on Ottawa to ban handguns and assault weapons. An existing bill before Parliament sets out new restrictions on firearms, but doesn’t specifically address the issue of handguns.

This is the daily Morning Update newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or if someone forwarded this e-mail to you, you can sign up for Morning Update and all Globe newsletters here.

Toronto is set to proceed with a 25-ward election. Here’s what happens now

The ruling: Doug Ford’s plan to cut Toronto’s city council from 47 to 25 seats is all but assured after a panel of appeal judges granted a stay to a lower-court ruling that called his intervention unconstitutional. The stay allows Ford to back off a vow to use the notwithstanding clause. Go here to read more about why the appeals court struck down the original ruling.

Our editorial board says the stay is a welcome bit of sound judgment: “The original lower-court ruling barring the cuts seemed novel to us, and the Court of Appeal stay reinforces our opinion that it is likely to be overturned on full appeal. Above all, the stay should allow the city to move forward with an election this fall and leave enough time for voters and candidates to be properly heard.”

The election: The city clerk, which had expressed concern about the timing of the Oct. 22 vote, has now said nominations for the new election will be reopened and accepted until Friday. The new wards are set to put a number of incumbents in the hot seat as they look to keep a spot on a smaller council. Here’s what the change in boundaries will look like:

Open this photo in gallery:

In opinion, Marcus Gee says there’s no proof the cuts will improve efficiency: “The Ford government insists it is all worthwhile. Toronto needs to get a lot done and a streamlined city council will hop to it. It’s a good applause line, but where is the evidence? How do we know that 25 councillors will be more efficient than 47?” (for subscribers)

For everything you need to know about the election, read our explainer.

In Montreal, the city’s mayors are warning the province not to shrink their councils

Ford’s move to slash Toronto’s council size prompted François Legault, the conservative Coalition Avenir Québec leader polls show is most likely to become premier Oct. 1, to float the idea of trimming Montreal’s civic democracy. The city’s last period of reorganization earlier this millennium left Montreal with 103 mayors and councillors plus separate towns and suburbs with 113 elected officials. Legault had said that “there are many councillors in Montreal” but that he wanted to discuss any possible changes with local officials. But city hall passed a unanimous motion telling provincial politicians not to make any changes. Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante put things pointedly: “We all need to stand up and let it be known we wouldn’t stand for it.”

U.S. politics roundup: Kavanaugh, Sessions, Flynn

The Republican chair of the Senate judiciary committee has set Friday morning as the deadline for Christine Blasey Ford to decide whether she will talk to lawmakers about her allegation of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. If Ford doesn’t testify on Monday, Kavanaugh’s chances for confirmation would likely be boosted.

President Donald Trump has renewed his attack on Jeff Sessions: “I don’t have an attorney-general,” the President said. His frustration stems from Sessions’s decision to recuse himself from the Russia probe, which Trump believes helped lead to Robert Mueller’s special counsel appointment.

Former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn will be sentenced on Dec. 18. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia as part of a deal to co-operate with Mueller’s investigation.

Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

North Korea says it will demolish at least one additional weapons facility

The rogue state said it would do so under the watch of international inspectors – but it also said the offer was contingent upon securing concessions from the United States (for subscribers). The announcement came as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang. The pair signed commitments to take steps to diminish military threats on the Korean Peninsula; they also pledged to put forward a joint bid for the 2032 Olympics, while Kim is set to visit Seoul in the near future, a first for a North Korean leader.

MORNING MARKETS

Stocks rise

A bounce in world stocks in relief that the fresh U.S. and Chinese tariffs on reciprocal imports were less harsh than feared continued on Thursday, although investors remained wary about the next steps in the U.S.-Sino trade war. Tokyo’s Nikkei only inched up, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite lost 0.1 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were up by between 0.3 and 0.6 per cent by about 6 a.m. ET. New York futures were also up. The Canadian dollar is at about 77.5 US cents.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Kavanaugh hearing: When you’re a well-connected judge, can you do anything?

“If he were applying for any other job, his list of alleged offences – which includes not only sexual assault but compulsive gambling, accruing massive debt that was paid off in unexplained ways and multiple instances of perjury – would halt the application process. But this is not any job, it is the Supreme Court in the Donald Trump era. Judge Kavanaugh seems to have been chosen by the President primarily for his insistence that a president cannot be indicted.” – Sarah Kendzior, St. Louis, Mo.-based commentator

The latest hiring taboo: class

“We love stories of rags to riches, and rightly so. In North America, we adore hearing about the scholarship student becoming a CEO, or of the person who immigrates with a few dollars to his name then ends up a mega-success. We are all about income mobility, and are happy to talk about it. What we do not talk about is “class,” maybe because it is a so distasteful a topic as to be taboo. And yet, class diversity exists and arguably should be a consideration in building a balanced and effective workplace, and by extension a productive economy.” – Linda Nazareth

Leona Alleslev and the unseemly politics of crossing the floor

“The defection of Leona Alleslev is hardly a political earthquake. Her departure this week from the government benches to the ranks of the Official Opposition does not coincide with a steep decline in Liberal popularity or highlight a particular party failing. … She has not departed from the Liberals on a niche matter of principle, but has instead damned (albeit vaguely) the party’s whole approach to fiscal policy and foreign affairs, which has not changed since 2015. In that case, one wonders why she told voters she was a Liberal in the first place. It’s a rare feat in Canadian politics to betray voters by being insufficiently loyal to your party, but an instructive one. Perhaps we should thank Alleslev for managing it.” – Globe editorial

LIVING BETTER

Raw chicken – even frozen breaded kind – requires safe handling

The Public Health Agency of Canada recently released a statement warning Canadians to be careful when preparing chicken products, after a dozen outbreaks of salmonella linked to raw chicken – including the frozen variety. Unlike a raw chicken breast, which harbours salmonella on its surface, breaded products like nuggets can have salmonella throughout. There’s also no way to tell if those nuggets have been thoroughly cooked, since they look white on the inside whether they’ve been in the oven for three minutes or 20.

MOMENT IN TIME

Queen Elizabeth 2 launched

Open this photo in gallery:

Evening Standard/Getty Images

Sept. 20, 1967: Tens of thousands of people gathered to watch the Queen launch a cruise liner named after her on Sept. 20, 1967. “May God bless her and all who sail in her,” the monarch said before pressing a button that sent the massive, 58,000-tonne luxury ship into the water. The vessel made its maiden voyage to New York nearly two years later, on May 2, 1969. It would go on to become the ultimate, and final, symbol of the golden age of ocean liners. Although the ship was one of the last of its kind, as more people opted to cross the Atlantic by airplane, the QE2 would go on to carry 2.5 million passengers, and complete 25 world cruises and 812 Atlantic crossings. The British government even used it as troop carrier during the Falklands War in 1982. Cunard, the cruise line that made the ship, retired the QE2 in 2004. The company sold her to Dubai World, an organization that manages businesses for the government of Dubai, in 2007. This year, after a more than US$100-million restoration, the QE2 opened as a floating hotel in the port of Mina Rashid. It’s cruising days are over, but its legacy floats on. – Dave McGinn

If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday morning, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe