Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Hong Kong’s pro-democracy lawmakers resign en masse
The resignations happened after Beijing authorized the city’s chief executive to remove legislators accused of violating the National Security Law.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam put her new powers into effect almost immediately, booting four members from the Legislative Council who had already been disqualified from the next round of elections.
All the remaining pro-democracy lawmakers subsequently said they would resign together in a show of support for their colleagues, who “are being disqualified by the central government’s ruthless move,” said Wu Chi-wai, chairman of the Democratic Party.
Read more: Ottawa urged to set up hotline for reporting intimidation, harassment by Chinese government agents
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Italy on the verge of second lockdown as new wave of COVID-19 cases swamps hospitals
Italy has surpassed one million infections, a signal that it is losing its battle to avoid a second pandemic lockdown.
On Wednesday, five Italian regions, including Tuscany and Umbria, were added to the restricted list, bringing the total to 12. The latest additions mean that more than half the country has fallen into the high-risk “red” category or the medium-high risk “orange” category, both of which place severe limitations on movement and shop openings.
Essentially, those regions are isolated. Residents cannot leave their regions, and non-residents cannot enter them, except for necessary work, study and medical reasons. Bars, restaurants and cafés are closed. In the highest-risk areas, residents are basically confined to their homes but can leave for work, to buy food or to see a doctor.
More coronavirus news:
- Ontario and Quebec report 1,400 COVID-19 cases, Manitoba reports deadliest day
- Alberta Health Services working to help manage outbreak at Edmonton long-term care home
- B.C.'s Interior Health authority issues COVID-19 alert to residents as cases rise in region
Trump files election-challenge lawsuit in Michigan as Biden focuses on presidential transition
U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign continued to search for ways to upend Joe Biden’s election victory. Trump’s camp filed suit on Wednesday in an attempt to stop Michigan from certifying results from the Nov. 3 election. Trump has declined to concede the election to Biden, instead lodging a flurry of lawsuits in pivotal states to try to back up his unsupported claims of widespread voting fraud.
Read more: Trump campaign files lawsuit to block certification of Pennsylvania voting results
Opinion: “He would appear to be settling in for a long fight: ordering his officials not to co-operate with the Biden transition team, firing his Secretary of Defence, instructing the Department of Justice, via his attorney-general, to look into allegations of voter fraud. And we are still 10 weeks from Inauguration Day.” – Andrew Coyne
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Conference on Syrian refugees: The Canadian government said it is “concerned” about Syria and Russia’s attempt to organize an international conference on the return of refugees to Syria, saying Canada will not be attending the event. The two-day conference was scheduled to begin Wednesday, even as civilians continue to die in the Syrian Civil War. Last week, children were killed during heavy shelling in Idlib province, including a four-year-old girl on her way to school. More than 5.6 million people have fled Syria since 2011, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), seeking safety in neighbouring Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and other countries.
All eyes on DeChambeau at the Masters: The most prestigious event in golf, and possibly all of sports, begins Thursday morning. The Masters, typically held in early April, gets a fall start this year because of the global pandemic. There will be no fans walking the course at Augusta National as 2019 winner Tiger Woods aims to defend his title. He’s considered a long shot, though, an underdog cast against the heavy favourite and heavy-hitting Bryson DeChambeau, who used his long game off the tee to capture the U.S. Open in September.
Cathal Kelly: Face it. This is going to be the worst Masters ever
Sixties Scoop survivors to mark key milestone: Thursday brings a ceremonial launch of a $50-million foundation aimed at healing the damage wrought by the practice of taking Indigenous children from their families and placing them in non-Indigenous homes. Establishment of the foundation was part of a hard-fought class-action settlement and a key demand of a lead plaintiff in the case.
MARKET WATCH
The Nasdaq closed higher today as investors switched back to technology stocks and away from economically sensitive sectors as they weighed COVID-19 vaccine progress against a virus surge and likely timing for an economic rebound. The TSX also closed with solid gains, with tech stocks leading the advance.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 23.29 points or 0.08 per cent to 29,397.63, the S&P 500 gained 27.17 points or 0.77 per cent to 3,572.70 and the Nasdaq Composite added 232.57 points or 2.01 per cent to end at 11,786.43.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 158.77 point or 0.96 per cent to 16,774.14.
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TALKING POINTS
On Remembrance Day, let’s remember the contributions of Indigenous veterans
“… In too many cases Indigenous peoples were repaid with betrayal by the Canadian government when they returned home from combat. Despite centuries of service by the Mohawks, for example, the Canadian government continues to refuse to honour treaty rights that date back to the 1600s. While recognizing this complicated history, on Remembrance Day we can honour and remember the many contributions of Indigenous veterans.” – Donald Maracle and Arthur Cockfield
The main philosophy of Erin O’Toole’s ‘principled conservatism’ is winning elections
“O’Toole has made clear in just a few months that his big, bold vision for modern conservatism is quite obviously about one core principle: winning. And while that might leave some small-c conservatives feeling cheated, big C-Conservatives are hopeful about the future of the party.” – Robyn Urback
LIVING BETTER
Urban real estate prices got you down? Try New Brunswick, the land of affordability
The pandemic has caused many to evaluate their living situations. A high cost of living, and steep real estate prices, has some people in urban centres seeking a new life away from the big city. This new reality is reflected in an eastern migration, especially to New Brunswick, where low housing prices are drawing newcomers, and expats, who are returning home for pre-retirement or retirement.
“We were looking at 15 years of saving for a detached home in Toronto; that’s when we started to look for other options,” said Madeline Taylor, who, along with her partner Mitchell Kingsley recently fled Toronto for New Brunswick. What they ended up buying was a 225-acre forested property with its own lake and a cabin too – all for less than $200,000.
TODAY’S LONG READ
A Dutch family hid me from the Nazis: I owe them my life
Illustration by Mark Kirkpatrick
"I can never pass Remembrance Day without reflection. This year we marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of The Netherlands. It meant freedom for Dutch men, women and children after a brutal five-year occupation by German military forces. More than 5,000 Canadian soldiers rest in Dutch soil and are mourned and remembered there annually. They were our liberators and will never be forgotten, for Canadians and Canada are seared into the collective memory of the population.
"I myself saw Canadian tanks chasing German half tracks down the streets of The Hague. On May 4, 1945, I was looking out the window of my mother’s small apartment where she had been hiding. A man across the street opened his door one day too early. He was shot by a retreating German soldier. I was dragged away from the window. I was not yet five years old.”
Read the rest of Robert Krell’s First Person essay here.
Evening Update is written by Jamie Ross. 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.
Jamie Ross