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Federal government to force cannabis firms to disclose investor information

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The federal government wants more information on investors in Canada’s cannabis industry, and is hoping to prevent organized crime from infiltrating companies that produce legal marijuana. Health Canada says it plans to give itself new powers to obtain detailed and up-to-date financial information from companies with licences to produce and sell cannabis. The information would be required for new production licences, and be used to re-evaluate current ones. In cases where red flags are raised, the information would be used to suspend licences. The new disclosure rules are among proposed regulations Ottawa unveiled in a report on Monday that also includes requirements for plain packaging and health warnings. (for subscribers)

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Canada will not sever ties with Huawei but protections exist, Goodale says

Despite the opposition parties urging the federal government to re-evaluate the risks of allowing Chinese tech giant Huawei to sell smartphones and telecommunications equipment to Canadians, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says that Ottawa will not block Huawei from doing business in Canada. The government says Huawei is being monitored and measures are in place to protect Canadian telecommunications systems from potential cyber spying. Mr. Goodale faced questions in the House of Commons on Monday after The Globe reported that three former directors of Canada’s key national security agencies want Ottawa to heed the advice of U.S. intelligence services and cut ties to Huawei. (for subscribers)

Facebook takes hit as data misuse revelations engulf social-media giant

Facebook Inc. shares fell sharply on Monday as regulators turned up the heat on the social-media giant over reports that a political consulting firm working for Donald Trump’s presidential bid obtained personal data from millions of U.S. users without their permission. The news rattled the technology sector over growing concerns about how social-media companies handle and profit from the troves of personal data they collect while still maintaining users’ privacy. You can read more about Christopher Wylie, the Canadian whistleblower, here.

What is Cambridge Analytica, and what did it do? Read our guide to the Facebook scandal and its political fallout.

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Export Development Canada wins order to ground Gupta jet

A judge in Johannesburg has ordered the controversial Gupta brothers to ground their Canadian-financed luxury jet after Canada’s export agency expressed fears that the Bombardier plane could be used for criminal activities. The federal government’s export bank, Export Development Canada, provided US$41-million in financing to the Guptas in 2015 to help them purchase the US$52-million Bombardier jet. But now the Guptas are fugitives from justice, evading South African arrest warrants on corruption charges, and the Canadian bank says it has no idea where the plane is located. The export bank, EDC, has been criticized for making the loan to the Guptas at a time when corruption allegations against them had been widely reported.

Uber pulls driverless cars off Toronto roads after pedestrian fatality in U.S.

Uber pulled its test fleet of self-driving cars off public roads in Toronto and other cities after one of the vehicles hit and killed a woman in Arizona in the first pedestrian fatality attributed to this emerging technology. Police in Tempe, a suburb of Phoenix, said the 49-year-old woman was hit Sunday night by a vehicle that had a human attendant aboard but was operating in autonomous mode. Uber issued a statement saying “our hearts go out to the victim’s family.” In the transportation industry, such a death was widely considered inevitable as the number of self-driving vehicles multiplied, but it still sparked shock waves. “One of the problems … is that there are too many people who are overhyping the technology,” said Barrie Kirk, executive director of the Canadian Automated Vehicles Centre of Excellence near Ottawa. “All hardware, all software, fails occasionally.”

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

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The Globe and Mail leads National Newspaper Award nominations

In-depth coverage of the killing of Muslim worshippers at a Quebec City mosque, reporting on questionable sexual-assault policing in Canada, an examination of torture and corruption in Asia and an essay on asylum seekers crossing into Manitoba were recognized within The Globe and Mail’s pack-leading 18 nominations for the National Newspaper Awards. You can see the full list of Globe nominees and read their work, here.

MORNING MARKETS

Stocks mixed

Global equities were treading water on Tuesday ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting, while investors reassessed their views of tech stocks following a slump in Facebook’s shares after reports of data misuse. Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.5 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.1 per cent and the Shanghai composite rose 0.4 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.1 per cent by about 6:10 a.m. ET, with Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 down, though by less than 0.1 per cent. New York futures were down. The Canadian dollar is holding its own, albeit at a depressed level just above 76.5 US cents. Oil prices rose by almost 1 per cent, lifted by a weak U.S. dollar, tensions in the Middle East and concerns of a further fall in Venezuelan output.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

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Liberal government takes cautious approach to Mali peacekeeping

“Canada is timidly back. The Liberal government announced the return to UN peacekeeping in a timorous voice. In a press scrum, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland let slip that caution is the watchword for the mission that Canadian Forces will take on in Mali. The government, she said, wanted to make ‘a real contribution in as careful a way as possible.’ That was an apt description for what Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced: Two transport helicopters and four attack helicopters will be sent to Mali, with crews, support troops and medical staff. It’s not boots on the ground, in the sense that Canadian troops won’t patrol dangerous areas of Mali, a country where Islamist terrorists harass civilians and have killed 99 United Nations peacekeepers so far. It is birds in the sky, and that’s a lot less risky.“ — Campbell Clark (for subscribers)

The coming carbon tax showdown

“Not so long ago, Justin Trudeau’s energy strategy looked so simple. It rested on a Grand Bargain. Canada would build a pipeline or two, and the citizens would do penance in the form of carbon taxes that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Everybody –environmentalists, the oil industry and right-thinking Canadians – would be happy. Today, that bargain is looking mighty shaky. Opponents of Trans Mountain aren’t interested in it. Alberta’s Premier, Rachel Notley, will probably lose her job next year because she has delivered carbon taxes but no pipeline. Her nemesis, Jason Kenney, is planning to abolish the carbon tax as soon as he beats her (as is likely). He points out that it has utterly failed to secure a social licence for pipelines ... And now, the anti-carbon-tax crusader Doug Ford could well become premier of Ontario. It’s hard to see how Mr. Trudeau will impose his grand bargain on the provinces if Alberta and Ontario are in open revolt.” — Margaret Wente

What we can learn from Hedley’s #MeToo demise

“Without question, we should seek to eradicate sexual violence, and to live in a world in which women and men co-exist peacefully. And yes, the #MeToo phenomenon has been successful at placing a high-power lens on an uncomfortable subject matter and the once-common cultural practice of happily sweeping victims’ suffering under the rug. It has offered a long overdue voice to the vulnerable in an unprecedented way. But its unintended side effect has only further polarized the issue of sexual assault, distilling it down to blindly taking sides, irrespective of whether doing so actually moves us forward.” — Debra Soh

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HEALTH PRIMER

Why ergonomics must be part of any workplace wellness plan

Prolonged sitting has been associated with numerous health issues, including cardiovascular problems, increases in musculoskeletal discomfort, and decreases in concentration and productivity. With the average office worker spending over 65 per cent of their time at work in a sedentary seated position, it’s important to make sure your office set-up is appropriate for your specific needs. Dr. Wayne Albert examines the most common office ergonomic challenges, and possible solutions.

MOMENT IN TIME

Rita Joe dies



March 20, 2007- They called her Gentle Warrior. But the woman known as the poet laureate of the Mi’kmaq people had battle scars, earned from childhood. Rita Bernard was born in Whycocomagh, Cape Breton, on March 15, 1932. Her mother died when she was 5; her father when she was 10. She lived in numerous foster homes and suffered abuse. At 12, she arrived at Shubenacadie Indian Residential School. She thought it looked like a castle; later, she compared it to prison. After four years there, she had to relearn Mi’kmaq, her native language, as she later recounted in her poem, I Lost My Talk. She eventually married Frank Joe and they raised eight children, including two foster children. “Only a housewife with a dream,” as she described herself, she began writing in her 30s. But she went on to publish seven books, including an autobiography, Song of Rita Joe, and was awarded the Order of Canada. I Lost My Talk eventually became the basis for a National Arts Centre show and was quoted in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. “Let me find my talk, so I can teach you about me,” it ends. Rita Joe died March 20, 2007, an unfinished poem in her typewriter. Marsha Lederman



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Morning Update was written by Kiran Rana

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