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morning update newsletter

Good morning,

A year after Canada’s worst mass shooting, there is still no good explanation for why the gunman did what he did – or why it took police so long to stop him. On the grim anniversary, many are troubled by the lack of answers. Nova Scotians paused Sunday in a moment of silence for the victims, as memorial signs, banners and messages of remembrance appeared around the province.

One major question that still lingers: Why did Canada’s alerting system stay silent as a gunman killed 22 people?

Statistics released to The Globe and Mail show that the province has since issued more police emergency warnings than the rest of Canada combined. Officials issued direct-to-cellphone alerts for nine emergencies since late April, 2020, while seven other events elsewhere in Canada triggered such warnings.

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Family and friends of the victims of the April, 2020, murder rampage in rural Nova Scotia walk to the RCMP detachment as they mark the one-year anniversary in Bible Hill, N.S., on Sunday, April 18, 2021.Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press

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Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to unveil pandemic budget

The federal budget will include an extension of wage and rent subsidies through to September, $100-billion of new stimulus money for housing, transit and green technology, and sets the stage for a national $10-a-day child-care program, according to four federal sources.

The stimulus program will also have a heavy focus on small and medium-sized businesses, including a new hiring incentive for employers. The sources said the budget will include incentives for first-time homebuyers as well as significant tax credits to encourage people to make their homes more energy efficient.

Also: Canadians are divided on whether new federal funding for programs should come with conditions.

  • Campbell Clark: The Liberals promise a budget for 2030, but can they resist spending it all on 2021?
  • Adam Radwanski: This federal budget is a pivotal moment for Canada and climate change

What else to watch for in this long-awaited pandemic budget. Freeland is due to present the budget at about 4 p.m. ET


Ontario lowers age for AstraZeneca, revises measures

The Ontario government is scrambling to remake its COVID-19 response plan.

Late Sunday, the government said it would begin offering the AstraZeneca vaccine to anyone 40 and older this week, lowering the previous age threshold of 55. The new vaccine eligibility comes after a weekend of fierce criticism of Premier Doug Ford’s decision to give increased powers for police to stop and question people outside their homes, he has since backtracked the new powers.

The Globe and Mail spoke with more than half a dozen members of the advisory table during the weekend and several say they considered resigning in protest, but feared the move would only worsen the government’s next steps.

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


ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Inside MEC, the beleaguered retailer’s bid for a comeback: In 2020, after years of mounting losses, and saddled with more than $70-million in debt, MEC’s balance sheet was in no shape to withstand the pandemic. Long-term strategy took a back seat to short-term survival.

Alexey Navalny’s team calls for protests amid reports of failing health: The Russian opposition leader started a hunger strike more than three weeks ago to protest against prison authorities’ refusal to allow him to be seen by a private doctor.

Officers injured after shots fired while on patrol in Minneapolis: The Minneapolis area was on heightened alert for a verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial in George Floyd’s death, when two National Guardsmen were fired upon as they provided neighbourhood security after the police killing of a 20-year-old Black man.


MORNING MARKETS

Global stocks near record highs: World shares traded near record highs on Monday, as markets were generally upbeat about the prospects for a global economic recovery from COVID-19, ahead of a busy week for earnings. Just before 6 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.09 per cent. France’s CAC 40 gained 0.22 per cent. Germany’s DAX slid 0.20 per cent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.01 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.47 per cent. New York futures were little changed. The Canadian dollar was trading at 80.13 US cents.

Looking for investing ideas? Check out The Globe’s weekly digest of the latest insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and what investors need to know for the week ahead. This week’s edition includes cryptocurrency ETFs, stocks’ raging bull run and silver’s appeal.


WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Cannabis has been legal for almost three years. So why don’t we want to get high off Ottawa’s supply?

Ben Kaplan: “There’s another reason why people buy illegal cannabis, and it’s race. A Black man in his mid-30s, whom I met through Cannabis Amnesty, a Canadian non-profit dedicated to expunging criminal convictions of non-violent cannabis offences, buys illegal pot as a matter of principle – and pride.”

Infertility is isolating. So why don’t more men talk about it?

Jon Waldman: “One in six Canadian couples struggle with fertility issues, so a person doesn’t need to feel isolated as much as we may believe.”

Take a virtual hike through our urban ecosystems and the threats they face from humans

Jason Ramsay-Brown and Kathleen Fu: In cities like Toronto where ravines and valleys define the landscape, what we imagine is unspoiled wilderness is being constantly changed by urbanization, non-native species and pollution. Here, a naturalist and an illustrator show you what to look for.


TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

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David Parkins/The Globe and Mail


LIVING BETTER

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Floortje/iStockPhoto / Getty Images

How to be a better dairy consumer

The controversy known as “Buttergate” started when home bakers began to notice that butter didn’t seem to beat or spread as easily as it once did. The purported reason? Supplements added to cows’ feed containing increasing levels of palmitic acid, the dominant saturated fat in milk fat.

The outcry on social media re-upped the environmental and human rights concerns around the use of palm products, but also potential health consequences to consumers. If you’re pondering switching to plant-based butters and spreads in order to avoid palm products, be sure to check the label first.


MOMENT IN TIME: News photo archive

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Céline Dion and Shania Twain celebrate as they walk on stage to accept their International Achievement Awards at the Juno Awards Sunday in Hamilton, Ont., March 9, 1997.Moe Doiron/The Canadian Press

The Juno Awards, 1997

For more than 100 years, photographers and photo librarians have preserved an extraordinary collection of 20th-century news photography for The Globe and Mail. Every Monday, The Globe features one of these images. This month, we’re marking the 50th anniversary of the Juno Awards, which will be broadcast on May 16 on CBC.

Canadian women knocked the music world off its axis in the mid-1990s: Shania Twain with her monster hit album The Woman in Me, Alanis Morissette with Jagged Little Pill and Céline Dion with so many successes, it was hard to keep track – and still is. In 1997, all three won International Achievement Junos and Canadian Press photographer Moe Doiron caught Dion and Twain at Hamilton’s raucous Copps Coliseum as they picked up their awards (Morissette was in India at the time). Both have had personal struggles since – Twain divorced her producer, Mutt Lange, in 2010, and Dion’s husband and manager, René Angélil, died in 2016. Yet both still push themselves hard. Twain is set to resume a Las Vegas residency after COVID-19 lifts, and Dion will take off on yet another world tour. John Daly

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