Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said this morning that, if re-elected, his party would ban military-style assault weapons, such as the notorious AR-15, which has been used in numerous U.S. mass shootings but has little role in Canadian gun violence. But he stopped short of an outright ban on handguns and instead said a new Liberal government would grant municipalities unspecified powers to ban them.
Trudeau made the announcement in Toronto near the site of the July, 2018, mass shooting on Danforth Avenue, which is a focus of an in-depth Globe and Mail investigation into what the gun control debate is missing. More than a year ago, amid the national debate over a handgun ban following the shooting, reporters Patrick White and Tom Cardoso set out to collect data to answer one question central to the debate: Where do the guns found at crime scenes come from?
What they uncovered were myriad complexities, including the fact that no agency tracks on a national scale where the guns used in crime come from. In an effort to build a national picture of crime-gun sourcing. The Globe filed more than 40 access-to-information requests to governments and the largest metropolitan police forces in the country. We also spoke to dozens of academics, policymakers and people with law enforcement experience to determine what kinds of data points we should be asking for, and requested a laundry list of information, including: the type of gun, whether it was used in a crime, how many times it was used in a crime, whether the gun had been traced and, if so, the results of that trace.
What they found were roadblocks, blind spots and one worrying fact: Often, guns are not traced at all.
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Donald Trump ‘surprised’ by Justin Trudeau’s history of blackface
The U.S. President, who has faced accusations of racism and bigotry himself, expressed surprise when asked during an Oval Office press conference what his thoughts on Trudeau’s controversial past use of blackface were. Trump said he was surprised “when I saw the number of times,” but seemed at a loss for words beyond that: “I’ve always had a good relationship with Justin. I just don’t know what to tell you,” he said.
As The Globe’s Washington-based U.S. correspondent Adrian Morrow reports, Trudeau was also subject to mockery on late-night television last night with jokes largely premised on the clash between Trudeau’s actions and the American perception of Canada as a more progressive and inclusive country than the U.S.
Meanwhile, Trudeau said this morning he will be calling NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, the first racialized federal leader Canada has had, to personally apologize for wearing blackface in the past.
- Background: Trudeau’s blackface and the 2019 federal election: A guide to the story so far
- Opinion: “The conversation in this election campaign is now on who Justin Trudeau really is. And there are so many questions about blackface to keep people talking.” – Campbell Clark
- Editorial: “What Mr. Trudeau did in the past speaks to his character. How he has responded this week, in the present, speaks to it far more.”
Students around the world participate in mass climate protests
A wave of climate change protests swept across the globe today, with hundreds of thousands of young people in Australia, Asia, Europe and North America participating in marches, rallies and demonstrations to urge world leaders headed for next week’s UN climate summit to act now.
Some Canadian boards and administrations are supporting the global call to action and are allowing or even encouraging students to miss class for the cause. The majority of Canada’s climate strikes will occur on Sept. 27, including in Montreal, where climate activist Greta Thunberg will be in attendance.
- Background: From Friday’s global climate strike to the UN’s summit: What you need to know
- Opinion: What debt do rich countries owe the ones that’ll get shafted by the climate crisis? – Elizabeth Renzetti
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who is on a trade mission to Ohio, took part in a fireside chat with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney at the North American Strategy for Competitiveness gathering and, while discussing the oil industry and the construction of pipelines, said Ottawa “doesn’t see eye to eye with a lot of the premiers.” He went on to explain that many provinces had gone Conservative recently, calling it “a clean sweep right across the country.”
Walmart Inc. told staff today it was discontinuing the sale of e-cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery products at its U.S. stores. In an internal memo seen by Reuters, the retailer said growing federal, state and local regulatory complexity and uncertainty were behind its decision.
The union representing Ontario’s Catholic school teachers has filed a complaint against the provincial government with the Ontario labour relations board over recent changes to class sizes. In a statement to members obtained by The Canadian Press, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association says the province essentially pre-empted contract negotiations when it amended regulations related to class sizes last month.
Facebook Inc. has suspended tens of thousands of apps on the social networking platform, as part of the company’s ongoing app developer investigation it began in March, 2018, in response to the Cambridge Analytica row, reports Reuters.
Chinese officials were expected to visit U.S. farmers in Montana and Nebraska next week as a goodwill gesture after the United States lifted tariffs overnight on over 400 Chinese products, but unexpectedly canceled the visit. The cancellations affected Wall Street’s main indexes, which dropped sharply as optimism on U.S.-China trade talks dimmed, Reuters reports.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index hit a record high in a broad-based rally on Friday, with energy shares outperforming as they continue to track gains in oil prices. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite index touched a fresh all-time high of 16,947.23 points and was on track to clock its fourth straight week of gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 160.19 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 26,934.6, the S&P 500 lost 15.08 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 2,991.71 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 65.21 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 8,117.67.
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TALKING POINTS
The U.S. has lost the Afghanistan war. Don’t let it botch the retreat
“The main challenge for the Trump administration will be to make [withdrawing from Afghanistan] look like something more noble, by extracting some visible concessions in exchange for its retreat.” – Doug Saunders
Bet your bottom dollar, the future of currency is digital
“The advent of various kinds of digital currency creates a new state of affairs. Since the launch of Bitcoin, the world has seen a wave of monetary innovation. Crypto-currencies have proliferated.” – Niall Ferguson
Canada’s youth cares about the election. But politicians must engage with them
“There has long been a sense that younger people don’t engage with civics, whether it’s casting a ballot on election day or engaging in dialogue with our elected representatives. But it’s not because we don’t care.” – Caro Loutfi is the executive director of Apathy is Boring
LIVING BETTER
Queen Elizabeth takes a full 360-degree turn at the edge of Hubbard Glacier, Alaska.
Cunard brings its refined cruise experience back to the Alaskan wilds
Going on a cruise has remained a popular vacation option and now that Cunard is back sailing in Alaska’s waters after a 27-year hiatus, travellers can enjoy the wilderness and beauty of the North as well as the elegance and classic comfort of the Queen Elizabeth. Cunard’s ship departs from Vancouver for a 10-day journey up the B.C. coast and past Haida Gwaii through Alaska’s Inside Passage with stops in Juneau and Glacier Bay enroute to the Hubbard Glacier. From the endless portraits of the Queen to the presence of the Golden Lion, a traditional English pub serving up pints of stout and nightly pub quizzes, the ship’s heritage is unmistakable, writes Emma yardley. And her best piece of advice: Look at the towns as jumping-off points to get out into Alaska’s wilder places.
Ten drool-worthy books to get you cooking this fall
Fall cooking returns to the kitchen and The Globe has compiled a top-10 list of the most promising new Canadian cookbooks. From Kosher Style: Over 100 Jewish Recipes for the Modern Cook by Amy Rosen to Tawaw: Progressive Indigenous Cuisine by Shane Chartrand and Jennifer Cockrall-King and Rocky Mountain Cooking: Recipes to Bring Canada’s Backcountry Home by Katie Mitzel, these titles are sure to not only satisfy your appetite, but your sense of adventure, too.
LONG READ FOR A LONG COMMUTE
Illustration by Kagan McLeod
Jody Wilson-Raybould book excerpt: We have come a long way toward reconciliation. But we are not there yet
For Jody Wilson-Raybould, transforming Canada’s relationship to Indigenous people is a mission passed down through the generations. The the former minister of justice and attorney-general says the work has only just begun. Now an independent MP for Vancouver Granville, she is the author of the new book From Where I Stand: Rebuilding Indigenous Nations for a Stronger Canada, from which this excerpt is taken.
“Creating a more just and equal Canada characterized by transformed relations with Indigenous Peoples is a deeply personal matter for me – it is the work I was raised to be a part of. In lighthearted moments, people might hear me refer to myself as “just a little Indian girl from a small fishing village on an island off the west coast of British Columbia.” But when I say this, it is actually expressing much about the multigenerational reality of who I am and where I come from, and why I approach the work of reconciliation the way I do.”
Today’s Evening Update was produced by Michael Snider. If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday evening, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.
Michael Snider