Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Weather delays flight to evacuate Canadians from China’s coronavirus epicentre; U.S. to help
Ottawa has secured space on board a U.S. plane to evacuate a “few dozen” Canadians from the Chinese city of Wuhan, Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne says.
The U.S. plane will leave a few hours after an evacuation flight organized by the federal government that is set to carry 211 Canadians out of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the flight that was scheduled to take stranded Canadians out of China had been delayed because of weather conditions.
Meanwhile, a cruise ship carrying 251 Canadians has been quarantined off the coast of Japan south of Tokyo following a confirmed outbreak of the new coronavirus.
Ten people have tested positive for the virus, but none are Canadian, said a statement from Princess Cruises. The ship will remain under quarantine for 14 days in Yokohama.
In China, officials are vowing even stricter measures to control the spread of the coronavirus. Authorities have already placed tens of millions of people under lockdown.
Opinion: “Consumers may be flocking to stores to buy surgical masks to guard against the coronavirus – clearing out store shelves across Canada – but is this really the best course of preventative action? According to our research, the answer is no.” - Hyo-Jick Choi, biomedical engineer and assistant professor, University of Alberta
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Senate acquits Trump on impeachment charges; Romney breaks Republican ranks
As widely expected, the Republican-led Senate voted to acquit U.S. President Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment this afternoon. Republican Senator Mitt Romney broke ranks with his party and joined Democrats in voting to convict.
Trump had already pivoted toward winning re-election in November with a State of the Union address that sounded more like a campaign speech, pitched his presidency as the “great American comeback."
Much attention, however, was on House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who ripped a copy of the speech seconds after Trump finished delivering it. Today she said had not planned to tear it up, but decided to do so after she could not find a page “that didn’t have a lie on it."
Analysis: The impeachment debacle may have actually helped prolong the Trump era - David Shribman
Opinion: Donald Trump is winning, and Nancy Pelosi knows it - Konrad Yakabuski
Canada to press Iran to send downed Ukraine Flight 752 black boxes to France
Canada has asked for international help to pressure Iran to give up the black boxes recovered from the wreckage of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne says.
He and Transport Minister Marc Garneau have met the leaders of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which is based in Montreal, to try to break a logjam.
Iran doesn’t have the equipment to extract information from the data recorders. Canada wants the black boxes sent to France for analysis, while Iran has asked other countries to lend it the gear so it can do the analysis itself.
Separately, Hassan Shadkhoo, whose wife Sheyda was killed when the Ukrainian airline was shot out of the sky by an Iranian missile, says he wants the people responsible to be tried at the International Criminal Court. The 41-year-old chemist was returning to Canada after visiting her mother in Iran.
Shadkhoo said the Iranian regime may be criminal, but he believes the U.S. should bear responsibility for the events leading up to the crash.
WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING
Ontario education strikes continue tomorrow: Thousands of Ontario elementary students will be out of school tomorrow days because of a province-wide strike. The head of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario says contract talks broke off last week following a government proposal to gut a hiring regulation for supply teachers and cut special education supports.
Plane skids off runway, breaks apart in Istanbul: A plane flying into an Istanbul airport skidded off the runway and crashed, breaking into three pieces. One person is dead and at 157 injured, a Turkish official says.
Montreal to ban plastic bags: Mayor Valerie Plante says Montreal will move to fully ban the sale of plastic bags by the end of 2020, as current measures that limit retailers to selling thicker bags haven’t worked to reduce the use of plastic.
Court orders Khadr to answer questions about confession: An Ontario Superior Court has ordered former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr to answer questions from relatives of a slain U.S. soldier trying to collect on a wrongful-death award. The questions relate to a 50-point agreed statement of facts he signed as part of a guilty plea to five war crimes, which he has since disavowed.
Pete Rose seeks MLB reinstatement: Pete Rose again has asked Major League Baseball to end his lifetime ban, saying the penalty is unfair compared with discipline for steroids use and electronic sign stealing.
MARKET WATCH
Wall Street stocks rallied for a third straight day on encouraging U.S. economic data and waning fears of the financial fallout from a virus out of China.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 483.22 points to 29,290.85, the S&P 500 gained 37.10 points to close at 3,334.69 and the Nasdaq Composite added 40.71 points to end at 9,508.68.
Canada’s main stock index also rose, boosted by a 3.7-per-cent surge in energy stocks. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed up 138.86 points at 17,651.59.
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TALKING POINTS
The Trans Mountain decision just delivered a gusher of legal clarity
“The court’s ruling is a reminder of the state of the law on the duty to consult and accommodate. It is a deep constitutional obligation, but it has clear limits. The court repeatedly underlined them.”- Globe editorial
Never mind the USMCA, or Trump’s China pact, trade wars aren’t over
The steepest cost of the trade wars goes well beyond higher prices, lost jobs, farm bankruptcies and disrupted supply chains. Non-trivial though those costs may be, the greatest harm will result from the descent of the trading system toward rule of the jungle." - Paul Blustein, senior fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation
LIVING BETTER
Flair Airlines is offering passengers an unlimited travel pass for three months amid rising competition between budget carriers. The pass costs $700 for limitless domestic flights from Feb. 13 to May 13. Flair offers routes between seven cities, all in Western Canada except for Toronto. Earlier this month, Swoop unveiled a sale offering 100,000 seats for a base fare of $1 before taxes and fees.
LONG READ FOR A LONG COMMUTE
Harry and Meghan’s new Victorian life: How Vancouver Islanders are getting along with their royal neighbours
(Photo by Melissa Renwick for The Globe and Mail)Melissa Renwick/The Globe and Mail
As far as landing pads go, North Saanich seems at first glance an unlikely choice for Prince Harry and Meghan. But maybe it’s not. The locals, with their gumboots, walking sticks and wet Labradors, really put the British in British Columbia. Harry must feel right at home. The nearby deli carries curry pies, Cornish pasties and Scottish crisps. Sea Cider, a local cider house, offers decent scrumpy.
Ever since Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, decamped for Vancouver Island with their son, Archie, late last year as a prelude to stepping down from their royal duties, British Columbians have been reacting with bemusement over the bit role the island has been playing in the psychodrama roiling England.
While they remain on Vancouver Island, the young family’s mostly septuagenarian neighbours on “the peninsula,” as the Saanich Peninsula is locally known, are feeling deeply protective of them. The nearest café, where Harry has stopped for sandwiches and coffee, has posted a sign reading “No press zone” to its front door, making its allegiance clear. Read Nancy MacDonald’s full story here.
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