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NIIGAANWEWIDAN JAMES SINCLAIR . . . . . .A11LESLIE BECK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A12JOHN DOYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A14ADAM RADWANSKI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1ZABEEN HIRJI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B3CATHAL KELLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B9

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OTTAWA/QUEBEC EDITION ■ MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 ■ GLOBEANDMAIL.COM

630 DAYS THAT MICHAEL KOVRIG AND MICHAEL SPAVOR HAVE BEEN JAILED IN CHINA | tgam.ca/jailed-canadians

Tens of thousands of peoplemarched on the palace of Bela-russian President Alexander Lu-kashenko on Sunday, demandinghe resign, as large-scale protestsagainst the long-time, authoritar-ian leader entered their fourthweek.The crowd appeared to be at

least as large as those of the pre-vious two Sundays, when esti-mates put the protesters’ num-bers at more than 100,000. Thedemonstrators deployed an an-gry, acerbic wit but virtually noviolence, and for the third week-end in a row, authorities re-frained from widespread use offorce or mass detentions.The large turnout indicated

that the explosion of popular fu-ry against Mr. Lukashenko thatbegan with the Aug. 9 presiden-tial election is nowhere close toabating. He claimed a landslidevictory that is widely believed tohave been falsified and respon-ded to the mass demonstrationsthat followed with a violentcrackdown.Belarus, like Ukraine, is a stra-

tegically located former Soviet re-public, wedged between Russiaand the former eastern bloc na-tions that have becomedemocra-cies and joined the North Atlan-tic Treaty Organization and theEuropean Union. Mr. Lukashen-ko, who turned 66 on Sunday, hasled Belarus since 1994, aligninghimself with Russia while build-ing a government tougher on po-litical dissent than any other inEurope.On Sunday, protesters

marched through the mainstreets of Minsk, the capital, pasta war monument encircled by ra-zorwire and camouflage-clad sol-diers and toward the Independ-ence Palace, one of Mr. Lukash-enko’s residences. At the palace,the protesters stoppedwhen theywere met by an imposing line ofriot police officers that wasbacked by at least three militaryarmoured-personnel carriers.They chanted, “Go away!” in

the direction of the palace. Sinceit was his birthday, there was al-so: “Lukashenko, come out! Wewill congratulate you!”Mr. Lukashenko did not come

out, but his press secretary re-leased a photograph of him in awhite T-shirt and black bullet-proof vest in front of the palace,clutching a rifle.

BELARUS, A7

Fury mountsin Belarusas calls forLukashenko’souster enterfourth weekANTON TROIANOVSKI MINSK

‘We are the government,”John Achkar declares witha grin, as he takes a breakin the shadow of an aban-

doned gas station that has become thehub of a grassroots relief effort in the shat-tered Geitawi neighbourhood of east Bei-rut.The 29-year-old is an entrepreneur and

stand-up comedian, but the deadly seri-ous look in his eyes broadcasts that he’snot entirely kidding.Mr. Achkar is among the founders of a

group of volunteers who, in the wake ofthe massive Aug. 4 explosion that de-stroyed parts of the Lebanese capital,

stepped in when the country’s actual gov-ernment failed to act. The day after theblast, Mr. Achkar and three friends decid-ed someone had to organize who gotwhat help, and when, in Geitawi.They took over a gas station that had

sat derelict for three years and declared itthe headquarters of their emergency re-sponse – and, maybe, a revolution.Three weeks later, the rebranded “Na-

tion Station” is an impressive sight, help-ing residents with food, clothing, homerepairs and medical needs.The organizers say that, once they’re

done rebuilding their city, they’ll be readyto fill the void in their country’s politicstoo.“We’re filling the gap, and showing

we’re here when the government fails,”Mr. Achkar said.The Nation Station volunteers I met are

emblematic of the push to change Leba-non in the wake of the port explosion.They are the good guys – “the streets,” asForeign Minister François-Philippe Cham-pagne put it during his visit to Beirut lastweek – that Western governments are try-ing to support as they push to reform astate that has collapsed under the weightof corruption and the overwhelming pres-ence of Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed mi-litia that controls much of what’s left ofthe Lebanese state.Mr. Achkar and his friends are just the

latest in a long line of Lebanese optimists.Their predecessors – the older genera-tions who once thought they couldchange this country – eventually had thehope knocked out of them by the vio-lence, and the threat of violence, that con-stantly hangs over politics here.

BEIRUT, A8

After explosion in Beirut, young volunteers help rebuild the city– and have eye on rebuilding politics, tooMARK MACKINNONSENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENTBEIRUT

By now, the halls at Dennis FranklinCromarty High School in Thunder Bay areusually filled with the excitement andnerves of anxious students starting a newschool year.In 2020, however, the First Nations

school is largely empty as it starts its pro-gram later and online.Unable to secure enough funding to ad-

dress pandemic risks, Dennis FranklinCromarty (DFC), a school for studentsfrom 24 First Nations in Ontario’s remoteNorth, decided to offer virtual learning forthe first seven weeks.For now, most of its anticipated 150

students will stay in their communitiesinstead of moving to Thunder Bay, asteachers deliver curriculum in virtualclassrooms.“Stress levels are high, anxiety levels

are high, just because we don’t know, wedon’t know what the options are, what

the answers are,” teacher Aaron Guthriesaid.“We’re trying to prepare for multiple

different angles, trying to make sure thatwe do the best we can.”As provinces map out measures and

modify timetables to help protectstudents from COVID-19, First Nationschools have largely been left to handlepreparations themselves.The federal government announced

only days ago that it would provide $112-million in funding for schools on reservesto help pay for things such as ventilation,personal protective equipment and clean-ing supplies.This was in addition to a $2-billion

commitment to aid provinces andterritories with their school plans.But it’s unclear whether any of that

money will help off-reserve First Nationsschools, such as DFC and Pelican FallsHigh School in Sioux Lookout, which aredesignated as provincial private schoolsbut receive education funding fromIndigenous Services Canada to operate.

SCHOOLS, A7

Funding delay leaves First Nationsschools scrambling to safely reopenWILLOW FIDDLERLOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTERTHUNDER BAY

BIKAS DAS/ASSOCIATED PRESS

REPORT ON BUSINESSFederal benefits plan astep toward guaranteedbasic income B1

OBITUARYBlack Panther starChadwick Boseman wasa ‘true fighter’ B15

COVID-19India records world’s biggest single-day jump invirus cases as restrictions begin to ease A5

CANADA’S BUCHANAN HELPS LYONWIN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TITLE

Kadeisha Buchanan, a Canadian national soccer team star,celebrates with her Lyon teammates B11

Kadeisha Buchanan hoists the trophy after Lyon’s victory in San Sebastian, Spain, on Sunday. VILLAR LOPEZ/GETTY IMAGES

[ SOCCER ]

Leonard Cohen’s estate is threat-ening legal action after DonaldTrump’s re-election campaigntwice used the Montreal musi-cian’s Hallelujah during the Presi-dent’s acceptance speech at theRepublican National Conventionlast week.In a statement, Mr. Cohen’s le-

gal representativesaid theRepub-lican National Committee or RNChad requested permission to playthe song, which the estate reject-ed. But the RNC went ahead any-way.“We are surprised and dismay-

ed that the RNC would proceedknowing that the Cohen estatehad specifically declined theRNC’s use request, and their rath-er brazen attempt to politicizeand exploit in such an egregiousmanner Hallelujah, one of themost important songs in the Co-hen song catalogue. We are ex-ploring our legal options,” saidMichelle Rice, a lawyer forMr. Co-hen’s estate.“Had the RNC requested an-

other song, YouWant it Darker, forwhich Leonard won a posthu-mous Grammy in 2017, we mighthave considered approval of thatsong,” she added.BrianMonaco, president of So-

ny/ATV Music Publishing, con-firmed in a statement that theRNC had sought permission “ontheeveof thefinaleof theconven-tion” to stage a live performanceof the song.Mr.Monaco said Sonyhad also “declined” the RNC’s re-quest.The RNC did not immediately

respond to a request for com-ment.The convention played a re-

corded cover version of the songbyToriKelly right afterMr. Trumpfinished speaking at the WhiteHouse Thursday evening, as fire-works overhead spelled out“Trump.”Opera singerChristoph-erMacchiothensangthesong livefrom aWhite House balcony.Mr. Trump’s 70-minute speech

was largely focused on attackinganti-racism protesters, claimingthat “mob rule” would take overthe country if he failed to win re-election.

The President has a history ofusing popular songs without per-mission. Neil Young, the RollingStonesandtheestateofTomPettyhave also complained about Mr.Trump appropriating their workat campaign rallies.Mr. Cohen died the day before

the 2016 election. He was 82.Some commentators pointed

out that themournful toneofHal-lelujah was also a clanging juxta-position to the mood Mr. Trumpwas trying to create. Its lyrics de-

scribe the biblical David as a “baf-fled king” and recount that thesinger “did my best, it wasn’tmuch”but“it allwentwrong”andthat the only thing to be “learnedfromlovewashowtoshoot some-body who outdrew you.”“I don’t know who pro-

grammed themusic for the grandfireworks finaleof theRepublicanNational Convention on Thurs-day night, but clearly they hadn’tlistened to the words of Cohen’ssignature song,whichuses its gor-geous melody … to deliver somestark thoughts on the inevitabledisappointment of being alive,”wroteMikaelWood, amusic criticfor the Los Angeles Times.Mr. Trump’s understanding of

previous musical selections hasbeen similarly questionable.He has repeatedly played Mr.

Young’sRockin’ in the FreeWorld atcampaign events, including thelaunch of his first presidential bidin 2015. The song’s lyrics deride aprevious Republican president,GeorgeH.W.Bush:“Wegotathou-sand points of light for the home-lessman/Wegot a kinder, gentler,machine gun hand.”Mr. Young, a dual citizen of

CanadaandtheUnitedStateswhocampaigned forBernie Sanders inthe Democratic primary, took Mr.Trump’s campaign to court thisyear. His lawsuit describes thePresident’s re-election bid as “adivisive, un-American campaignof ignorance and hate.”Mr. Trump also regularly used

the Stones’ You Can’t Always GetWhat YouWant as the closingmu-sic for his speeches for severalyears. In June, theband said it hadrepeatedly sent the Presidentcease-and-desist notices, whichhe had ignored. The Stones andperforming rights organizationBMI said they were considering alawsuit.

Cohen estate threatens legal actionafter GOP convention uses HallelujahADRIAN MORROWU.S. CORRESPONDENTWASHINGTON

We are surprisedand dismayed that the RNCwould proceed knowingthat the Cohen estate hadspecifically declined theRNC’s use request … .Had the RNC requested

another song, You Want itDarker, for which Leonard

won a posthumous Grammyin 2017, we might haveconsidered approval

of that song.MICHELLE RICELAWYER FOR

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Formore than 100 years, photographers have preservedan extraordinary collection of 20th-century news pho-tography for The Globe and Mail. Every Monday, TheGlobe features one of these images. This month, we’relooking at the great summertime sport of baseball.

Sparky Anderson was just getting started inhis baseball career in this 1961 photo, as theToronto Maple Leafs second baseman leapsto complete a double playwith shortstopBil-

ly Moran. It was International League (IL) action,and the future hall-of-famemanagerwas a key partof the Leafs, the Triple-A team that won the previ-ous year’s championship. The name International

League is a bit of a misnomer now – all the teamsare based in the northeastern United States – butfor decades, it included powerhouses in TorontoandMontreal. Torontowaswhere Babe Ruth hit hisfirst pro home run. Montreal was famous for givingJackie Robinson – who would go on to break thecolour barrier in major-league baseball – his startin the minor leagues. The IL, the major feederleague to the bigs, is currently on a COVID-19 hia-tus. PHILIP KING

Subscribers and registered users of globeandmail.comcan dig deeper into our News Photo Archive attgam.ca/newsphotoarchive.

NEWS PHOTO ARCHIVE

CANADA AND THEINTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

GRAPHIC ARTISTS

A2 O THE GLOBE AND MAIL | MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020

MOMENT IN TIME

Are you over the ageof 65? You’d do wellto ensure your proteinintake is sufficient A12

Darlene McLeod recallsthe long, meanderingbut fulfilling path togetting her degree A14

These actions can helpnon-profit boardsimprove diversity attheir organizations B3

[ COLUMNISTS ]

LESLIEBECK

OPINION

FIRSTPERSON

ZABEENHIRJI

OPINION

When you have the world’s largest academic research centre in deep learning,it’s no surprise that people will come from all over, including Silicon Valley, tobe a part of it. Founded by Yoshua Bengio, one of the pioneers of AI, Milastands at the forefront of the artificial intelligence revolution. This uniquevantage point led our researchers to create the Montreal Declaration for aResponsible Development of AI, an important document that will ethicallyguide us into the future of this emerging technology.See how the University of Montreal is making the world a better place with AI.www.umontreal.ca/artificialintelligence

A deepcommitmentto deeplearning.

MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 | THE GLOBE AND MAIL Q A3NEWS |

The destruction of a Sir John A.Macdonald statue that stood indowntown Montreal since 1895 isreigniting political debate overthe legacy of Canada’s first primeminister amid an internationalmovement to confront racism.The prominent monument in

the city’s Place du Canada publicsquarewas first erected four yearsafter he died in office.Alberta Premier Jason Kenney

weighed inwith heated language,describing theprotesters that top-pled the statue as a “mob” and“rovingbandof thugs.”Heofferedto install it on the grounds of theAlberta Legislature in Edmontonif the statue is not wanted by theCity of Montreal. Quebec PremierFrançois Legault also commentedonline, describing the incident asunacceptable vandalism andcalled for themonument to be re-stored.TheincidentSaturdayisthelat-

est in a series across the countryas Macdonald statues are fre-quently defaced by protesters

highlighting aspects of his politi-cal career that are widely viewedas racist. Although the first primeministerwascelebratedforhisna-tion-building and overseeing theconstruction of the Canadian Pa-cific Railway, his career includedsupport for Canada’s residentialschools system and the 1885 Chi-nese Immigration Act that im-posed a head tax on Chinese im-migrants.The statue debate is now

heightened by growing citizenmovements this year calling ongovernments and institutionssuch as police forces to addresssystemic racism.This year, there’s been a wave

of marches in Canada and theUnitedStatesbygroupscalling formajor policy changes when itcomes to policing and minoritycommunities. Several profession-al sports leagues, including theNational Basketball Association,National Hockey League andsome professional baseballteams, took up the cause this pastweek, suspending games to high-light institutional racism after Ja-cob Blake, a Black man, was shotseven times in the back by policein Kenosha, Wis.TheMontreal protestwas orga-

nized by the Coalition for BIPOC(Black, Indigenous and people ofcolour) Liberation, which de-scribes itself as a collective of so-cial justice groups and communi-ty activists from across the coun-

try. The group’s Facebook pageposted a video of the Macdonaldstatue comingdown, alongwith amessagecalling for the removalofall statues and plaques that pro-moteanti-Black racismoranti-In-digenous racism. The group alsocalls for a 50-per-cent budget cutto theMontreal police, withmon-ey reinvested in Black and Indige-nous communities, among othersocial policy demands.

An individual who respondedvia the group’s e-mail account de-clined an interview request.University of Manitoba native

studies professor Niigaanwewi-dam James Sinclair said in an in-terview Sunday that removingstatues that areoffensive to Indig-enouspeopledoesnotmeanCan-ada is erasing its history.“I think the people have spo-

ken,” he said. “If we keep a statue

up where it is inherently violenttoward Indigenous peoples, thenwe’re saying that today’s violenceagainst Indigenous peoples isokay.”Prof. Sinclair said theMontreal

protest is part of a long-buildingmovement in support of Indige-nous languages and culture. “…Through marches, through cele-brations, through round dancesand parking lots and streets andhighways, this is all part of a con-versation that’s ongoing into thefuture,” he said. “And it’s peace-ful.”Prof. Sinclair said the tone of

the protests contrasted with Mr.Kenney’s comments.“Who’s the one being violent?

… Who’s calling that group amob?” he said. “By the way, if youput it up in Edmonton, people inEdmontonwill take it down.”Assembly of First Nations Na-

tional Chief Perry Bellegarde saidin a statement that Canadashould make a greater effort tohonour important Indigenousleaders.“Before anything else, Iwant to

say that neither I nor theAssemb-ly of First Nations condone vio-lence.Historyhasnotalwaysbeenfair to First Nations peoples butwe are living in a special timewhen we are making ourselvesheard as never before. We havethe opportunity to look at thetruths of our collective historyandtoraiseupIndigenousleaders

who also contributed greatly tothe growth and development ofCanada,” he said in a statement.“We need to tell our stories andhave our stories live alongsidethose of our brothers and sisters.”Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante

said she strongly condemned theacts of vandalism and that “suchgestures cannot be accepted ortolerated.” In an online state-ment, she said that some histori-calmonuments are at theheart ofemotional debates but that it isbetter toputthemincontextrath-er than remove them.She said the city’s public art of-

fice will secure the monument’sperimeter and analyze options.“For itspart, the[Montrealpolice]will conduct its investigation,”she said.Canadian Heritage Minister

andMontreal-areaLiberalMPSte-ven Guilbeault provided the fed-eral government’s response.“Our government has always

stoodwith thosewhodonothavea safe space to express them-selves.While the currentdebate isimportant, we believe that dia-logue is a better engine for pro-gress than isolated acts of vandal-ism like we witnessed [Satur-day],”hesaid inane-mailedstate-ment.“Ourgovernmentwillcontinue

to advocate for public places thatare inclusive, safe and free fromall forms of violence or harass-ment.”

A headless statue of Sir John A. Macdonald lies on the ground after being pulled down in Montreal on Saturday. GRAHAM HUGHES/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Canada’s’s first primeminister both honouredand reviled as historicwounds confronted indivisive re-evaluation

BILL CURRY OTTAWA

If we keep a statue upwhere it is inherently

violent towardIndigenous peoples,then we’re saying thattoday’s violence againstIndigenous peoples is

okay.NIIGAANWEWIDAM JAMES SINCLAIR

UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA PROFESSOR

Statue debate reignited after protesterstopple Macdonald monument in Montreal

A4 O THE GLOBE AND MAIL | MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump’s intelli-gence chief on Sunday defended his de-cision to cease in-person congressionalbriefings on election security, whileDemocrats said the move would sup-press critical information about foreignelectionmeddling andwarned theymaysubpoena testimony.John Ratcliffe, the President’s new di-

rector of national intelligence and aclose Trump ally, accused U.S. lawmak-ers of leaking classified informationfrom a July 31 briefing to promote whathe called false narratives for politicalpurposes.“A number of members of Congress

went to a number of different publica-tions and leaked classified information,again, for political purposes, to create anarrative that simply isn’t true, thatsomehowRussia is a greater national se-

curity threat than China,” Mr. Ratcliffetold Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures.Mr. Ratcliffe is a former lawmaker

who defended Mr. Trump during con-gressional probes into Russian efforts toinfluence the 2016 election.Democratic lawmakers accused Mr.

Ratcliffe of trying to block them fromquestioning intelligence officials in a bidto conceal information on how Russiahas been interfering in the 2020 presi-dential election to help Mr. Trump, as itdid in 2016.“You can say things in awritten report

that are not correct, and you can’t besubject to questioning about it,” Repre-sentative Adam Schiff, Democraticchairman of the House intelligencecommittee, told CNN’s State of the Unionprogram.“When you can hide behind docu-

ments or withhold documents and nothave to answer questions about it, it letsyou conceal the truth. And in this case,concealing the truth is concealing Rus-sians are again intervening to help thePresident in his re-election,” he said.Mr. Schiff denied leaking any classi-

fied information from the July briefing.“I haven’t, my staff hasn’t. I can’t

speak for what all the members of thecommittee have done or not done, in-cluding a lot of the Republican mem-

bers,” he said.The intelligence community has

warned that Russia is trying to “denigra-te” Mr. Trump’s 2020 Democratic oppo-nent, Joe Biden, and that Iran and Chinaare also trying to sow disinformation.Mr. Schiff vowed he would “compel” theintelligence community to handover in-formation to Congress on the threat, in-cluding potentially through the use ofsubpoenas.Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar,

a former presidential candidate, toldABC’s This Week that Mr. Ratcliffe’s deci-sion was an “outrage” at a time whenmultiple foreign governments were try-ing to “break into” the Nov. 3 election.However, Senator Ron Johnson, Re-

publican chairman of the Senate home-land security committee, played downthe significance of Mr. Ratcliffe’s deci-sion when speaking with CNN’s State ofthe Union, saying the Democratic re-sponse had been “blown so way out ofproportion.”A bipartisan investigation by the Sen-

ate intelligence committee found thismonth that Russia meddled in the 2016U.S. presidential election to help Mr.Trump at the direction of Russian Presi-dent Vladimir Putin.

REUTERS

U.S. national intelligence director John Ratcliffe, shown in Washington last December, says lawmakers leaked classified informationfrom a July 31 briefing ‘to create a narrative that simply isn’t true, that somehow Russia is a greater national security threat thanChina.’ Mr. Ratcliffe has halted in-person congressional briefings on election security. DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES VIA AP

U.S. head of intelligencestands by testimony banDemocrats threatensubpoena over Trumpappointee’s decision to limitcongressional briefingson 2020 election security

DAVID MORGAN WASHINGTON

D id Justin Trudeau push out BillMorneau because the latter’s$41,000 in unreimbursed WECharity expenses compound-

ed the Liberals’ embarrassment, or be-cause he wanted a relaunch with a newfinance minister as the face of the post-pandemic agenda?Either way, Mr. Trudeau got what he

wanted. And in a stark way.Days of public speculation about Mr.

Morneau’s future left him twisting inthe wind, until the Prime Minister cameback from a holiday, and his financeminister of five years was out. Gone.Then, in one swift stroke of the

sword, Parliament was cut off, too, withprorogation – but not for the usual peri-od of a week or so, taken when govern-ments want to reboot and relaunch anew agenda in a Speech from theThrone. This was a five-week shutter-ing, a duration that parliamentary ex-perts always advise against, in casethere’s a need for emergency legislationin an crisis. Like, say, a pandemic.Yet the move disrupted parliamen-

tary hearings by multiple committeesthat were poking through annoying tid-bits on the WE Charity controversy,even if they weren’t massive new reve-lations. And it kept new ConservativeLeader Erin O’Toole from taking a seatin the House of Commons until he hashis back against the wall – forced totake a stand on the Liberal recoveryagenda in at least two confidence votesthat in theory could trigger a snap elec-tion.The last two weeks of August put one

thing clearly on view: the ruthlessnessof Justin Trudeau.His political brand may still revolve

around empathy, and over the firstmonths of the pandemic, his popularityrose as he promised Canadians he’dhave their backs. But in recent weeks,his personal and political moves havebeen all about tough calculations.There was a mischaracterization, fed

as much by his opponents as his sup-porters in the days he was running forthe top job in 2014 and 2015, that Mr.Trudeau was some kind of soft, squidgykid who needed somebody to make thetough decisions. People talked abouthis EQ – his emotional intelligence quo-tient. There was going to be team deci-sions and collegiality and listening andsensitivity.His move to prorogue broke his 2015

promise not to use the action to “avoiddifficult political circumstances” – apromise that highlighted former primeminister’s Stephen Harper prorogue in2008 to avoid a vote on a non-confi-dence motion.If Mr. Trudeau just wanted a Throne

Speech on Sept. 23, he could have pro-rogued Parliament in mid-September.But he wanted an edge on his politicalopponents.With Mr. Morneau, we only saw a

messy example of Mr. Trudeau’s hardedge with his own ministers.He put John McCallum and Stéphane

Dion in his first cabinet for their experi-ence, but he tired of hearing old handslecture, so in 2017 he sent them off todiplomatic posts.The reassignments were made public

before Mr. Dion had decided if he want-ed to be ambassador to both the Eu-ropean Union and Germany – and, as itturns out, his hosts didn’t want the dualappointment.Mr. Morneau played along with Mr.

Trudeau by resigning and announcingthe Prime Minister will back his bid tobe secretary-general of the Organiza-tion for Economic Co-Operation andDevelopment. There is now a team ofofficials working on the campaign, butit won’t be easy: The past two secretar-ies-general have been a Mexican and aCanadian, and Europeans might be ex-pecting one of their own to get the job.Will Mr. Trudeau campaign hard for aminister he just let go?After all, Mr. Trudeau has shown he

is willing to let Canadian candidatesdangle even if they have a good shot atan international post.When General Jonathan Vance, the

Chief of the Defence Staff, asked to beput up as a candidate to be chairman ofthe North Atlantic Treaty Organiza-tion’s military committee in Brussels –a moderately prestigious post availableonly to outgoing national militarychiefs – Mr. Trudeau’s answer was no.Gen. Vance was appointed by Mr.

Harper, and didn’t exactly fit the styleof Mr. Trudeau’s Prime Minister’s Office.But he was the longest serving chief ofthe Canadian military, and a Canadianwho was probably the favourite for aNATO headquarters post, up against aDutch general and a less-experiencedPolish general.Yet Mr. Trudeau didn’t back Gen.

Vance, who announced his retirementin July.Mr. Trudeau, it turns out, isn’t the

soft, EQ prime minister. By 2020, weshould know he has a ruthless streak.

Prorogation andMorneau’s removalfurther confirmTrudeau’s abilityto be ruthlessCAMPBELLCLARK

OPINION

Canadians won’t be getting access to at-home COVID-19 tests, a decision byHealth Canada that is being challengedby public-health experts who say at-home testing could play a significantrole in managing the pandemic.They argue that the benefits of at-

home testing greatly outweigh anyrisks.Colin Furness, an infection control

epidemiologist and assistant professorat the University of Toronto, said thatat-home testing could be a powerfulway of preventing viral spread. If every-one in Canada were able test them-selves every day, he said, then “you’dhave no pandemic.”“I think it’s a travesty that Health

Canada would stand in the way ofhome testing with saliva/paper tests,”he said in an e-mail.Health Canada, which regulates what

medical and diagnostic tests are avail-able on the market, won’t be approvingat-home tests for COVID-19 because ofconcerns about their accuracy whenused by the public.“While Health Canada recognizes

that home self-testing could make itpossible for a greater number of peopleto be tested … we have concerns aboutthe risks of home self-testing,” said EricMorrissette, spokesman for Health Can-ada.“Without the guidance of a health

care professional, there is a significantrisk that a patient could use the hometest kit improperly or misinterpret theresults.”Mr. Morrissette also said the federal

department was concerned that heathcare agencies wouldn’t be able to prop-erly track test results, preventing themfrom tracing the spread of the virus.“This information is key to impor-

tant public-health decisions involvingdisease control during an outbreak.”The development of an at-home test

for COVID-19, which can be completedentirely on one’s own without the needfor a lab, has been the aim of manycompanies and innovators worldwide,and some have gotten close to achiev-ing this goal.In the U.S., the Food and Drug Ad-

ministration recently approved a self-contained test from Abbott Laborato-ries that is the size of a credit card andprovides results in 15 minutes, but stillrequires a health worker to perform theswab.The test uses lateral flow assay tech-

nology to deliver a result similar to atest for strep throat; thedownside is that it mightnot have the same accu-racy as the more widelyused polymerase chain re-action test (PCR), whichrelies on a lab for resultsand is done with a swab.A Yale University labo-

ratory has also developeda test using saliva insteadof a swab – it is being usedby the National BasketballAssociation – but the sam-ple still needs to be sent toa lab for results.And in Britain, at-home

swab kits are available tothe public, but samplesmust also be sent by mailto a lab, and test results become avail-able after several days.Dr. Furness said that instead of think-

ing of at-home testing as a purely diag-nostic device, Health Canada shouldtreat it as a screening tool in which peo-ple who test positive would then go totheir doctor for a test to confirm it.“The objection about tracking again

takes this to be a definitive diagnostictest [ordered by a physician], ratherthan as a screening test, which is howit should be seen for home use,” hesaid.While at-home tests might have less

sensitivity and miss some cases, he said

“it would also catch asymptomaticcases that might have otherwise goneundetected,” which would help stop thespread of the virus.Ashleigh Tuite, an epidemiologist at

the University of Toronto, said the deci-sion not to approve at-home test was“paternalistic” on the part of HealthCanada and indicated a lack of trust inthe public.“I think throughout this pandemic

there’s been a lot of pushback where, interms of interventions that could help,they were seen from the medical com-munity that the public won’t know how

to use it properly,” shesaid.Dr. Tuite said the same

kind of reaction occurredat the start of the pan-demic with regards tomasks, when medical ex-perts were concerned thatpeople were not going toput their masks on andtake them off safely, orthat they would touchtheir faces more. Thoseconcerns “have not borneout,” she said.“I think there’s some-

thing similar happeningwith the idea of these at-home tests, the concernthat if you put the tech-

nology in the hands of the general pub-lic, they’re going to misuse it, or they’renot going to understand how to use it,”Dr. Tuite said.“But I don’t think that’s a fair judg-

ment.”She said Health Canada’s concern

that at-home testing would make itmore difficult to track where positiveresults are occurring could be ad-dressed with public-education efforts.“There needs to be education, and so

I think the messaging would be, ‘If youhave a positive test, you need to isolateimmediately, and you should go get aPCR test.’ ”

Public-health experts decry Health Canada’sdecision not to approve at-home testingCHERISE SEUCHARAN

While Health Canadarecognizes thathome self-testingcould make it

possible for a greaternumber of peopleto be tested …

we have concernsabout the risks

of home self-testing.ERIC MORRISSETTEHEALTH CANADA

SPOKESMAN

| NEWS

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MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 | THE GLOBE AND MAIL O A5

A fatal shooting during a night ofpolitical conflict in Portland hasyet again escalated tensions inthe city and further inflamed theissues of crime, protest and racethat U.S. PresidentDonald Trumpis trying to make a focus of presi-dential politics.A man affiliated with a right-

wing group was shot and killedSaturday as a large group of sup-porters of Mr. Trump travelled ina caravan through downtownPortland, which has seen nightlyprotests for three consecutivemonths.The pro-Trump rally drew

hundreds of trucks full of sup-porters into the city. At times,Trump supporters and counter-protesters clashed on the streets,with people shooting paintballguns from the beds of pickuptrucks and protesters throwingobjects back at them.Coming on the heels of the fa-

tal shooting of two protesters and

the wounding of a third in Ke-nosha, Wis., on Tuesday night,the incident was an ominous signamid an escalation of weaponryand of rhetoric as protests of po-lice violence and presidentialpolitics merge.ChadWolf, the acting secretary

of the Department of HomelandSecurity, on Sunday left open thepotential to surge federal law en-forcement to quell unrest in Por-tland.During an interview on ABC’s

This Week, Mr. Wolf said “all op-tions continue to be on the table”to deploy more federal agents toPortlanddespite the strong oppo-sition of local leaders who saysuch tactical teams have onlyheightened tension in the pro-tests.Mayor Ted Wheeler said the

shooting left his heart heavy, andhe denounced violence. But hepointed to the combative and un-yielding rhetoric of Mr. Trump asa generator of the country’s esca-lating polarization and violence.In a news conference, he calledon the President to work withhim and others to help de-esca-late tensions.“We need to reset. The Presi-

dent needs to reset. I need to re-set. This community needs to re-set. And America needs to reset,”Mr. Wheeler said. “It’s going totake his leadership in the White

House. And it’s going to take myleadership here in City Hall.”But Mr. Trump appeared to re-

spond live on Twitter to the may-or’s remarks,mockingMr.Wheel-er and calling him “wacky” and a“dummy.”“He would like to blame me

and the Federal Government forgoing in, but he hasn’t seen any-thing yet,” Mr. Trump wrote.A video that purports to be of

the Saturday night shooting inPortland, taken from the far sideof the street, showed a smallgroup of people in the road out-side what appears to be a parkinggarage. Gunfire erupts, and amancollapses in the street.The man who was shot and

killed was wearing a hat with theinsignia of Patriot Prayer, a far-right group based in the Portlandarea that has clashedwith protes-ters in the past. Joey Gibson, theheadof the group, said Sundayhecould not share many details butcould confirm the man was agood friend and supporter of Pa-triot Prayer.The Portland Police Bureau

said that officers heard reports ofgunfire shortly before 9 p.m. andfound a victim with a gunshotwound to the chest. It was deter-mined that the victim had died.They did not release any informa-tion about a possible gunman.“This violence is completely

unacceptable, and we are work-ing diligently to find and appre-hend the individual or individu-als responsible,” Chief ChuckLovell said early Sunday.Mr. Trump reiterated his call

that the National Guard shouldbe brought in to Portland, sayingpeople want law and order.“They want Safety & Security,

and do NOT want to Defund ourPolice!” Mr. Trump tweeted Sun-day.At the scene Saturday night,

police officers blocked off theroad and medics attended to aperson who appeared to have achest wound.The shooting capped a volatile

week in the United States that be-gan when police in Kenosha re-peatedly shot a Black man, JacobBlake, prompting new protestsagainst racism and police brutal-ity that included the cancellationof professional sports games.During the unrest after the

shooting of Blake, Kyle Ritten-house, a 17-year-old Illinois resi-dent, was charged in connectionwith the fatal shootings of twoprotesters.Portland has seen nightly

demonstrations since the killingof George Floyd in police custodyin Minneapolis in May, some ofwhich have included crowdssmashing windows, lighting firesand throwing fireworks at law en-

forcement. In recent days, right-wing demonstrations have alsosprung up in the city, and Mr.Trump has repeatedly highlight-ed the unrest in Portland as evi-dence of the need for a tougherlaw-and-order response to thechaotic protests over police vio-lence and racial injustice thathave swept through many Amer-ican cities.Police havemade dozens of ar-

rests in recent days as they havechased protesters through thestreets, at times knocking themto the ground. Police said theymade 10 arrests Saturday night,although it was not immediatelyclear how many were participa-nts in the pro-Trump rally andhow many were countering theevent.Chief Lovell said on Sunday

that one challenge with the con-tinuing conflict is that there aresometimes not enoughofficers tokeep various groups separatedenough to avoid conflict.“We can’t be everywhere at

once,” he said.Chief Lovell said the city’s offi-

cers need additional resourcesand he is working with the Ore-gon State Police. He said it mayget to the point where the cityneeds support from the NationalGuard.

NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

Protester’s death in Portland raises political tensionsMan affiliated witha right-wing groupwas shot and killedduring a pro-Trumprally on Saturday

MIKE BAKER PORTLAND, ORE.

India registered 78,761 new coro-navirus cases on Sunday, the big-gest single-day spike in the worldsince the pandemic began, just asthe government began easing re-strictions to help the batteredeconomy.The surge raised India’s tally to

more than 3.5 million, and cameas the government announcedthe reopening of the subway inNew Delhi, the capital. It also willmove ahead with limited sportsand religious events next month.A country of 1.4 billion people,

Indianowhas the fastest-growingdaily coronavirus caseload of anycountry in the world, reportingmore than 75,000 new cases forfour straight days.One of the reasons is testing:

India now conducts nearly onemillion tests every day, comparedwith just 200,000 two monthsago.A significant feature of India’s

COVID-19 management, howev-er, is the growing rate of reco-vered patients. On Sunday, the re-covery rate reached nearly 76.5per cent.The Health Ministry credited

its strategic policy of “testing ag-gressively, tracking comprehen-sively and treating efficiently” insupervised home isolation andhospitals.But COVID-19 fatalities contin-

ue to mount and soon India willhave the third-largest death toll,after the United States and Brazil,even though it has had far fewerdeaths than those two countries.India is now reporting around

1,000 COVID-19 deaths every day.So far, more than 63,000 Indianshave died from the disease.Even as eight states remain

among the worst-hit regions andcontribute nearly 73 per cent ofthe total infections, the virus isnow spreading fast in the vasthinterlands, with health expertswarning that September could bethe most challenging month yet.

Early last week, members of asmall secluded tribe in the re-mote Andaman and Nicobar Is-lands tested positive for the coro-navirus.So far, the biggest contributor

to the new surge has been thewestern state of Maharashtra,home to the commercial capitalof Mumbai. It alone has account-ed for more than 24,000 deathsand nearly 21 per cent of all cases.India’s economy – the fifth

largest in theworld – has been se-verely hit by the pandemic. Butdespite the surging cases, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and histeam have been pushing for a re-turn to normalcy to ease the pain.The federal government on

Saturday said the crowded sub-way, a lifeline for millions of peo-ple in New Delhi, will reopengradually starting Sept. 7.Schools, colleges and movie the-atres will remain closed until theend of September.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

A health worker in Chennai checks people’s temperatures at a COVID-19 testing camp on Sunday, the same dayIndia set a global record when it reported 78,761 new infections in 24 hours. ARUN SANKAR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

India records world’s highest single-day jumpin virus cases, total now more than 3.5 millionNEW DELHI

Rising floodwaters have hit Sudan’s capital of Khartoumhard in recent days, as weeks of heavy flooding countrywideleft at least 90 people dead and destroyed tens of thousandsof homes, the country’s Interior Ministry said Sunday.Sudan’s military said it deployed troops to help evacuate

people andbuildbarricades inKhartoumaswell as distributefood, after flooding there cut roads and swept away housesand belongings. Footage circulated online showing residentsof Khartoum erecting barricades and other shields as waterfrom the Nile River swept through several districts.Flash floods have ravaged swaths of Sudan including the

capital since late July, injuring about four dozen people anddamaging or destroying 57,000 houses countrywide, the In-terior Ministry said.More than380,000people inall butoneof Sudan’s 18prov-

inces have been affected by heavy rainfall and flooding sincethe start of the rainy season in July, according to official sta-tistics. Most of the affected families were forced to seek shel-terwith relatives andhost communities, according to theUNOffice for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.The flooding also damaged at least 43 schools and 2,671

health facilities across the country, the UN agency said.Also late lastmonth, seasonal rainfall and flooding caused

the collapse of the Bout Dam in the southeastern Blue Nileprovince. The collapse released 5million cubicmetres of wa-ter and flooded at least 13 neighbourhoods in the town ofBout, the UN said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Floods in Sudan swampKhartoum, at least 90 deadnationwide since late JulyCAIRO

HARARE Zimbabwe’s parks authorities are investigating thedeath of 11 elephants in a forest in the west of the country,a parks spokesman said Sunday.The carcasses of the elephants were discovered on Friday

in Pandamasue Forest, located between Hwange NationalPark and Victoria Falls. Blood samples have been taken to alaboratory for analysis to determine the cause of theirdeaths, said Tinashe Farawo, spokesman of the ZimbabweNational Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.The dead elephants were found with the tusks still on

their bodies, ruling out poaching. In recent years poachersin Zimbabwe have poisoned dozens of elephants and thenhave taken their ivory tusks to sell them to illegal traders.“We can only ascertain the cause of death after the tests.

But we have ruled out cyanide poisoning,” Mr. Farawo toldthe Associated Press. “Only elephants were affected, novultures or any other animals were affected. Initial testsshow that it is not cyanide. We are also ruling out poachersbecause the tusks were intact.”The deaths of the elephants in Zimbabwe appear similar

to the deaths last month of more than 275 elephants inneighbouring Botswana. ASSOCIATED PRESS

ZIMBABWE RULES OUT POACHERS AS IT PROBESMYSTERIOUS DEATHS OF 11 ELEPHANTS

NEWS |

A6 O THE GLOBE AND MAIL | MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020

Zoey Lawrence will startGrade 2 in Calgary with amask that her parents

think she’ll likely lose. Thestraps, she complains, hurt herears. But through trial and error,the six-year-old and her motherhave concluded that disposablemasks are more comfortablethan the cloth.“It seems better to wear the

masks than to not wear them,”said Immanuela Lawrence, whosaid she believes her children,Zoey and Cory, 8, will adjust towearing masks throughout theday.Allison Stordeur, a Calgary

mom of four, said she will sendher seven-year-old daughter toschool with colour-coded pencilcases – green to store cleanmasks and red for the used – tohelp keep things organized.“A full day wearing masks is a

long day,” she said. “But once sherecognizes this isn’t somethingshe can whine about, and itchanges, it will be okay.”As schools across the country

prepare to reopen, some Cana-dian school boards havemandat-ed, or are strongly recommend-ing, masks for the youngest chil-dren in the system: Pupils asyoung as 4 or 5 will be required towear them not only in the halls,but also during some lessons,and through much of the day.But as some parents grapple

with the new rules that can beviewed as common-sense publichealthmeasures for kids learningin close confines with one anoth-er, some health professionals seeit as a counterproductive edictfor children still only learning toread or sit quietly in their seats.All-day masking for young chil-dren, they argue, is less effectivethan measures such as physicaldistancing, and could pose a seri-ous challenge to actual learningin the classroom.“The thing I think is incontro-

vertible is thatmasks are going tointerfere with communication inthese young children,” said Jef-frey Pernica, the head of the pe-diatric infectious-disease divi-sion at Hamilton’s McMaster Uni-versity. The masks “are going tobe distracting to these youngchildren, because they are so forme and many of my colleagues –and we are adults.”Early in August, the Edmonton

public school board announcedit is “asking” pupils in kindergar-ten to Grade 3 who are “physical-ly, psychologically or develop-mentally able to wear a mask todo so.” The Calgary board said itwould be requiring all pupils, in-cluding the youngest ones, towear a mask when physical dis-tancing is difficult to maintain

for a “prolonged period.” In thepast two weeks, the Waterloo Re-gion District School Board, thePeel District School Board andthe Toronto District SchoolBoard have said they also intendto make masks the norm for allpupils, starting in kindergartenor Grade 1.Young children “will accept it

as the normal” said Meg Sorg, apediatric nurse practitioner andassistant professor at Indiana’sPurdue University who has writ-ten about the importance ofteaching young kids to wearmasks.“They’re resilient, and they’re

just excited to get back to theirfriends and some semblance ofnormal,” she said, noting thatyounger children will want towear the same masks as their ol-der peers. “I have a three-year-old who loves wearing his maskbecause he’s doing what hisbrothers are doing.”However, Dr. Pernica said any

school board considering thistype of rule needs to weigh thebenefits versus the harm.“The kids are not going to be

able to take off their mask whenthey go to their office, like I do,”he said, adding that makingmasks mandatory draws atten-tion away from more effectivemeans of keeping COVID-19 fromspreading in schools, such as bet-ter screening or allowing parentsto take time off work when theirchildren have symptoms.And, of course, kids will be

kids: “I have a colleague whose

child returned home one daywearing somebody else’s mask.”But educators without the

means to reduce class sizes arelooking for other measures tocontain the spread of COVID-19.They also can’t ignore recentstudies that indicate young chil-dren can indeed contract andtransmit coronavirus – contraryto the thinking just a couple ofmonths ago – although they maynot be as likely to spread the dis-ease and generally have mildersymptoms, if any.The American Academy of Pe-

diatrics and the U.S. Centers forDisease Control and Preventionalso have said that children olderthan 2 should wear masks inclose quarters, including school.The Alberta Teachers’ Associ-ation (ATA) said it would preferclass sizes be reduced to allow forphysical distancing of at leasttwo metres, but where that’s notpossible, “then students shouldwear masks, regardless of age.”Still, those Canadian school

boards that have already setmask rules for younger childrenare being more stringent thanprovincial authorities, whichhave mostly focused on maskrules for students in Grade 4 andup.They also seem to go up

against the school guidance is-sued in July by Toronto’s Hospi-tal for Sick Children, where agroup of medical experts that in-cluded Dr. Pernica recommendedthe use of masks for high-schoolstudents, and perhaps middle-

school students, when physicaldistancing cannot be main-tained.Ontario Premier Doug Ford cit-

ed that study earlier this month,telling reporters he was skepticalthat little kids would be able tokeep from “fiddling” with theirmasks. “I have four girls and Iknow when they were little, fouror five years old, it would havebeen hard to keep the mask on.”In British Columbia, a BC Cen-

tre for Disease Control informa-tion page states that for youngchildren over the age of 2, masksare generally not recommended,as they can be irritating and maylead to increased touching of theface and eyes.“To think of, particularly a

young child, 10, 11, 12, sitting allday in a classroom with a maskon is probably not realistic,” B.C.Provincial Health Officer BonnieHenry said in early August.“There’s lots of things we can

do to make those environmentssafe without requiring someoneto sit with a mask on for long pe-riods of time.”Simon Fraser University’s

MAGPIE Research Group said thismonth that one of the lessonsfrom its mathematical models isthat preventive measures such asmasks are most effective againstthe spread of COVID-19 whenmeeting new people for short pe-riods of time. But when peopleare together for a longer span, us-ing masks and other barriers toreduce transmission has muchless impact than physical dis-

tancing.“The discomfort of using a

mask may be too much to expectof elementary school children for30 hours a week of school,” add-ed the group that models thespread of infectious disease.For younger children, the chal-

lenge won’t be just that they arewearing masks but that theymight, at times, be trying to learnfrom a teacher who is also wear-ing one.Facial cues are incredibly im-

portant for young children, andthose whose first language is notEnglish, said Jason Schilling,president of the ATA. His mem-bers, he said, will have to get cre-ative to create a strong classroomlearning environment while stillwearing a mask.“[Children] learn a lot by

watching how the teacherworks,” he said.“That element of teaching is

kind of gone.”Another Calgary parent, Sha-

naz Pasha, said the mask ques-tion seems trivial compared withmany other COVID-19-related is-sues in the education system, in-cluding the stops and starts fam-ilies might have to grapple withthis fall if there are further out-breaks.Still, Ms. Pasha said it’s impor-

tant her son, going into Grade 3in Calgary, wears a mask. “Re-gardless of how I feel, or what mypersonal opinion is about it, wehave to be responsible and do themost reasonable thing in termsof health.”

Do harms outweigh the benefitsof requiring young children to wear masks?Some experts saychildren should focus onother ways of keepingvirus from spreading

KELLY CRYDERMAN CALGARY

Dave and Immanuela Lawrence help their children, Zoey, 6, and Cory, 8, put on their masks in Calgary on Wednesday. When it comes to her childrenheading back to school, ‘it seems better to wear the masks than to not wear them,’ Ms. Lawrence says. TODD KOROL/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

School boards in Canadian citieslike Toronto and Calgary sayphysical distancing will be hardto guarantee on many of theirschool bus routes.Students who spend their days

in physically distanced class-rooms could be sent home onbuses that are at full capacity andcarrying children from differentcohorts. Boards across the coun-try have created protocols to en-sure student and driver safetyduring the COVID-19 pandemic,but some bus drivers say they arestill feeling unsafe.KevinHodgkinson, the general

manager of the Toronto StudentTransportation Group (TSTG),said that it will be “near impos-sible” to achieve physical distanc-ing on the group’s buses. TSTGworks with seven companies thatdrive nearly 50,000 students toToronto District School Boardand Toronto Catholic DistrictSchool Board schools every day.Mr. Hodgkinson expects that

about 40,000 students will be rid-ing school buses this year, manyof which will be full, seatingabout 70 kids.Students will need to wear

masks at all times while on thebus unless a medical conditionprevents them from doing so.Siblings will be seated together,but buses could also be carrying

students from multiple cohorts.“Unfortunately, when you’re

dealing with transportation,you’re [also] dealingwith geogra-phy,” Mr. Hodgkinson said. “Sowe’re picking up students fromany of the groups in the geo-graphical areas going to a partic-ular school.”Buses will be organized by co-

horts, with the oldest studentssitting in the back, and youngeststudents sitting at the front. Busdrivers will be given personalprotective equipment, and havean empty seat separating them

from students.RobRobson, a bus driverwork-

ing for Durham’s French Catholicschool board, said that buses athisWhitby school could also be atfull capacity.“I’m concerned. I’m 60 years

old, I’ve got a little bit of highblood pressure, but there are oth-er drivers that are older that havefar more severe conditions,” hesaid. Sixty per cent of the prov-ince’s school bus drivers are overthe age of 60, according to theOntario School Bus Association(OSBA).

The direction Mr. Robson hasreceived has been disparate; theschool bus company that em-ploys him says students who donot have a mask must still beboarded. A friend working for an-other company will be providedwith medical masks for studentswho forget theirs. Both driversdrop students off at the sameschool.“That’s the problem, there is

no flow of information,” Mr. Rob-son said. “[Drivers] want to goback, but without information,how do you make a decision?”Some drivers in his region

have considered taking leaves ofabsence. On Thursday, OBSApresident Nancy Daigneault esti-mated there could be an 8-per-cent to 10-per-cent driver short-age this year.“We’re really hoping that the

announcement by the Minister[of Education] and the Premierwill help alleviate that,” Ms. Daig-neault said.On Wednesday, the Ontario

government announced that$70-million in federal fundingwould be allocated to studenttransportation, specifically tofund the Driver Retention Pro-gram and route protection. Ms.Daigneault said route protectioncould generally involve payingfor cleaning supplies or driversfor the time they spend cleaningbuses, but that she is awaitingfurther details.

In Alberta, the Calgary Boardof Education says its school buseshave been capped at 48 studentsas a result of adjustments that areunrelated to the pandemic. Butthe board’s manager of transpor-tation services, Brenda Gibson,said this would still not allow twometres of physical distancing be-tween students.All drivers and students on

their buses will wear masks, andboarding will be done from backto front, oldest to youngest. Sib-lingswill be seated together. Driv-ers will clean buses at the end oftheir shifts, but a single shift of-ten includes multiple routes atdifferent schools,Ms. Gibson said.“We have prepared as much as

possible and we understand thatwe may face new or changing in-formation,” she added. “We willbe flexible and responsive towhat our health officials ask. Wehave done everything we can toprepare for our students return-ing.”In Ontario, Unifor Local 4268

president Debbie Montgomery,who represents 2,500 bus drivers,said officials should have beenplanning for school bus safetysince spring.“They are the forgotten quo-

tient, but probably the most im-portant and themost risky part ofthis plan,” she said.“Every driver feels thatway.We

should have been talking [aboutschool buses] way before this.”

No guarantee of physical distancing on buses, school boards sayMUGOLI SAMBA

Students arrive for the first day of school at École élémentaire catholiqueJonathan-Pitre in Manotick, Ont., on Aug. 19. Students could be senthome on buses that are at full capacity and carrying children fromdifferent cohorts. DAVE CHAN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

| NEWS

MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 | THE GLOBE AND MAIL O A7

The education announcementcame after First Nations leadersin Northern Ontario accused thefederal government of discrimi-nation for ignoring back-to-school plans from educators andtribal councils, who have beentrying to navigate how to returnto school safelywithout addition-al financial support. First Nationsleaders say that puts the well-be-ing of thousands of students injeopardy.Deputy Grand Chief Derek Fox

of Nishnawbe Aski Nation said ina statement that he was disap-pointed in the government’s de-lay to commit funding and that“educators, parents and studentsare now forced to scramble daysbefore the school year is sup-posed to start.”Indigenous Services Minister

Marc Miller said he understandsthe complexities of education inthe North, where it often be-comes a “jurisdictional tangle”with the province when it comesto funding First Nations students.He didn’t provide any clarity

about how Indigenous ServicesCanada will distribute the newfunds, but said the $112-millionwill be for on-reserve schools,while First Nations studentsstudying off reserve will be sup-ported through the provincial al-location – $760-million in Onta-rio’s case.The minister said the govern-

ment remains committed to pro-viding assistance to communitiesas specific needs arise, through “anumber of resources.” These in-clude, he says, the $685-millionIndigenous Community Supportfund directed toward communi-ties and organizations, on and offreserve, for elder support, foodinsecurity, educational aid forchildren and mental-health as-sistance.A spokesperson for Ontario’s

Ministry of Education, TedChang,said in a statement to The Globeand Mail that First Nationsschools are the responsibility ofthe federal government, but thatthe province will work with Otta-wa to ensure that the schoolshave access to the money an-nounced.Dobi-Dawn Frenette, executive

director of Northern NishnawbeEducation Council, the tribalgroup that oversees DFC and Pel-ican Falls, says they’ve accessedpieces of provincial funding tohelp offset costs for resourcessuch as laptops. The province hasalso supplied protective equip-ment for DFC and Pelican Falls.Ms. Frenette said they are

working with First Nations to setup classrooms for their studentsin their communities, but the re-ality of life in the remote Northpresents its own compoundingchallenges for students, parentsand educators.“Many of our studentsmaynot

have access to a learning device,access to [internet] connectivity,they may not have access to astudy space, many of our com-munities don’t have clean drink-ing water,” she said, adding thatshe estimates they will need $5.5-million to $7.5-million for theirback to school plan that includessupporting in-classroom and re-mote learning.Ottawa’s funding announce-

ment comes too late to helpschools initially because back-to-school plans for the start of theyearhave alreadybeenmade. Theschools hope to be able to makeuse of those funds in the comingweeks andmonths so they can in-crease in-classroom learning.LikeDFC,Matawa First Nations

operates a high school in Thun-der Bay for students from its ninecommunities. Education manag-er Sharon Nate said the First Na-tion received no response fromIndigenous Services to its $25-million pandemic proposal,which included retrofitting facil-ities and improving internet ca-pacity.She said itwas unreasonable to

expect themtousecoreandexist-ing funding to address theseneeds. The Matawa EducationCentre in Thunder Bay wouldnormally see around 160 studentsthis fall but are expecting 100 to120 when they open their doorsSept. 3 to both in-class and re-mote learning.Assembly of First Nations sta-

tistics show that more than halfof First Nations schools in thecountry don’t have high-schoolprogramming and that 78 percent of First Nations students inOntario have to leave their com-munities to attend high school,includingmost of the 49 commu-nities in Nishnawbe Aski Nation.Parents John and Beatrice Fox

from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inni-nuwug (KI), 600 kilometresnorth of Thunder Bay, said theydreaded that prospect even priorto COVID-19.When the pandemichit, they were prepared to keeptheir 15-year-old daughter Heidihome.But another option emerged.

The Fox family found out aboutthe Home Away program thatwas started in 2019 by the Inde-pendent First Nations Alliance, atribal council representing fiveFirstNations. Theprogramallows45 students from two of its com-munities, KI andMuskratDam, tolive in residences and boardinghomes in Sioux Lookout, Thun-der Bay and Southern Ontariowhile attending local public high

schools,“I feel safe, like with their own

house, their own bathroom andit’s not that far,” Mr. Fox saidabout the distance to Sioux Loo-kout from their home inKIwherehe and his wife will stay.Matthew Hoppe, the chief ex-

ecutive of Independent First Na-tions Alliance (IFNA) in SiouxLookout, says academic successwill be difficult to achievethrough remote andonline learn-ing. He said their program pro-vides “wraparound” services toensure students have academicandmental-health supports suchas tutoring, land-based activitiesand counselling because of thechallenges they face when com-ing out to urban centres.“Our goal is to provide that

learning environment, providethose resources, provide thosepeople, provide that support, andallow these kids to thrive,” hesaid.Pikangikum First Nation is one

of the few communities in Nish-nawbe Aski Nation with a highschool that goes up to Grade 12,which allows its young people toremain in the communities. Een-chokay Birchstick school willopen its doors to 568 students be-tween Grades 6 and 12, while 538students from kindergarten toGrade 5 will have laptops to starttheir school year from home.Education director Kyle Peters

says theyhaven’t received any ad-ditional funds from IndigenousServices or the province to assistwith costs related to reopening,but he’s keeping receipts andhopes to get reimbursed for ex-penditures. Those include$80,000 for three charteredplanes to safely transport itsteachers into the community,where there have been no report-ed cases of COVID-19.

Dobi-Dawn Frenette, executive director of Northern Nishnawbe Education Council, says they are working withFirst Nations to set up classrooms for their students in their communities, but living in the remote Northpresents many challenges. PHOTOS BY DAVID JACKSON/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Schools: Ottawa remains committed to providingassistance to communities, minister says

Top: Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School teacher Aaron Guthrie standsin his vacant classroom as he prepares for distanced learning. He saysteachers are ‘trying to make sure that we do the best we can.’Above: With no returning students for the school year because ofCOVID-19 protocols in remote communities, the school in Thunder Bay isvacant except for faculty as they prepare for distanced learning.

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Police said more than 100 people had been detained inMinsk, but protesters felt safety in numbers in the citystreets amid the sea of white-and-red national flags used bythe opposition. One group staged a mock funeral proces-sion for Mr. Lukashenko, complete with a makeshift coffin;another carried a huge cloth figure of a cockroach, one ofthe nicknames that Belarussians have given to their Presi-dent.“People have gotten tired of everything and stopped be-

ing afraid,” Karina Romanovskaya, a 37-year-old protesterwho works in retail, said shortly after a column of riot policeofficers marched by to chants of “Shame!”“I am proud to live in such a wonderful country,” she said.But a path to unseating Mr. Lukashenko, who insists the

West is fomenting the demonstrations, remains far fromclear. He faced a backlash after mass beatings and the deten-tion of thousands of protesters in the days after the electionand is now avoiding scenes of violent repression that coulddiscredit him further.Instead, he appears determined to wait out the protests,

detaining activists and expelling foreign journalists whiletouting the backing of his most important ally, Russian Pres-ident Vladimir Putin. Mr. Putin recently said that Russianlaw enforcement officers were prepared to come to Mr. Lu-kashenko’s defence should the situation in Belarus spin“out of control.”The Belarusian Association of Journalists said that the

accreditation of 19 journalists had been revoked, the Reu-ters news agency reported Sunday. They included a videojournalist and a photographer from Reuters, as well as jour-nalists from the BBC and the French news agency AgenceFrance-Presse, the news organi-zations said.Mr. Lukashenko’s political op-

ponents have stressed that theyare not trying to loosen ties be-tween Belarus, a country of 9.5million people, and Russia. Theyare all too aware of what hap-pened after a popular uprisingtoppled a pro-Moscow presidentof Ukraine in 2014. Russia seizedCrimea from Ukraine and backeda separatist insurgency in east-ern Ukraine.To underscore the bond be-

tween Mr. Putin and Mr. Lukash-enko, the Kremlin said the Rus-sian President wished his coun-terpart a happy birthday in a phone call Sunday and invitedhim to a meeting in Moscow in the coming weeks. It was atleast their fourth phone call this month.The two leaders “confirmed a mutual determination to

further strengthen the Russian-Belarusian alliance andbroaden mutually beneficial co-operation in all directions,”the Kremlin said.Protesters conceded that they had no clear idea how to

force Mr. Lukashenko’s departure, but said they had to con-tinue to take to the streets. Otherwise, they said, he willhave free rein to crack down even further.“It’ll be like North Korea here,” said Andrei Korsakov, 47,

a computer programmer. “We are doing what we can.”Many of Mr. Lukashenko’s prominent critics have been

jailed or forced into exile, including protest leaders andthree men who had planned to run against him. His leadingopponent in the election, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, said shehad won, but fled the country.The protests have been largely led by women, and thou-

sands of women marched against Mr. Lukashenko in Minskon Saturday, setting the stage for Sunday’s demonstration.At one point, the women pushed through a line of riotpolice officers, video footage showed, who hesitated to useforce against them.On Sunday, one of the few protest leaders who is still free

and in Belarus, Maria Kolesnikova, walked up to the maskedriot officers guarding the presidential palace and flashed aheart sign with her hands, a symbol of the protests.“Take care of yourselves, guys,” she told the police, in a

scene recorded on video and posted on social media. “Wewill save you. We’re with you until the end.”She then turned with a megaphone to the protesters and

urged them to remain peaceful.

NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

Belarus: Lukashenko seemsdetermined to wait outprotests, detain activists

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The protests havebeen largelyled by women,and thousandsof womenmarched againstMr. Lukashenko inMinsk on Saturday,setting the stagefor Sunday’sdemonstration.

OTTAWA The federal Conservatives are calling on WE Char-ity to release a series of documents the Toronto-basedyouth organization promised to hand over to a House ofCommons committee before Prime Minister Justin Trudeauprorogued Parliament.But WE is pushing back against the Tories’ request, with

the organization’s legal counsel saying it amounts to “poli-tics, not proper process.”The Tories’ request is contained in a letter sent Sunday

from Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre and ethicscritic Michael Barrett to Craig and Marc Kielburger, thebrothers who co-founded WE more than 20 years ago.It represents the official Opposition’s latest effort to

continue digging into the decision to have WE run a multi-million-dollar student-volunteer program, after Mr. Tru-deau temporarily shuttered several Commons committeeinvestigations by proroguing Parliament on Aug. 18.In their letter, Mr. Poilievre and Mr. Barrett note the

Kielburgers and other WE officials committed to providemembers of Parliament with answers to several questionsthey were unable to answer while appearing before thefinance committee.The Kielburgers spoke to the finance committee via

videolink on July 28, at which time they insisted WE wasnot chosen to run the Canada Student Services Grant be-cause of the organization’s ties to Mr. Trudeau and othermembers of the Liberal government.In a statement to the Canadian Press on Sunday, a law-

yer for WE appeared to reject the Conservatives’ request.“Mr. Poilievre’s letter amounts to politics, not proper

process,” William McDowell said. “The committees ceasedto exist with the prorogation of Parliament. There is nocommittee to receive the documents.”Mr. McDowell added that “when there is a new commit-

tee, our clients will be pleased to communicate with theclerk of the new committee regarding the production ofdocuments.”All committee work officially ends when Parliament is

prorogued.But the committees can reconstitute themselves and

continue their studies when it resumes. That is expected tohappen after the throne speech on Sept. 23 as oppositionparties hold a majority of seats on all committees.THE CANADIAN PRESS

WE LAWYER CALLS LATEST CONSERVATIVE REQUESTFOR STUDENT-VOLUNTEER DOCUMENTS ‘POLITICS’

NEWS |

A8 O THE GLOBE AND MAIL | MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020

Members of the older generations told methey are worried that Lebanon, deeply di-vided along sectarian lines, is headeddown a dark path, similar to the tunnelthat led the country into a 15-year civil war.That fighting ended with an agreementthat saw political and economic powershared between the country’s Christian,Sunni, Shia and Druze communities. It’s asystem of compromises – now rotten withpatronage and corruption – that many Le-banese blame for the port disaster. Theblast is believed to have been caused by anenormous stockpile of ammonium nitratethat was left unattended in a warehouseformore than six years, while a successionof leaders ignored warnings about it.The Nation Station volunteers believe

they’re offering an alternative model forhow the country can be governed – withorganization, compassion and new lead-ers untainted by corruption. The youthssay they’re slowly gaining the confidenceof those who have known no other Leba-non than the one that has been ruled, andnow run into the ground, by the sectarianwarlords.In Geitawi, the group of around 150 vol-

unteers is succeeding where the country’sgovernment didn’t even try. More than 250hot meals a day are delivered with a kitch-en set upwhere the pumps used to be. Thegarage is used to distribute donated cloth-ing to those who lost their belongings. Up-stairs in the station itself, a team of volun-teers keeps a database of who needs whatin the surrounding neighbourhoods. Theydispatch teams to help repair homes, andto connect those in needwithmedical andpsychological assistance. They’ve raisedupward of $220,000 through onlinecrowdfunding, and have an auditing teamthat makes sure none of that money getsmisspent. “Politically we feel like we haveindependence. We feel the impact andwe’re being taken seriously by the oldergeneration, who see we can do this,” saidJosephine Abou-Abdo, a 29-year-old de-signer who runs the kitchen at Nation Sta-

tion. “We all think there is something big-ger happening.”It does indeed feel like events are in

motion in Lebanon. But not everyoneshares the peaceful intentions of theyoung people at Nation Station.

Others have tried to change Lebanon.Each time, the effort was brought to abloody halt.Three decades ago, the Taif Agreement

– named for the city in Saudi Arabia whereit was signed – was supposed to bringpeace, and perhaps even independence, tothe country after a civil war that saw Syria,Israel and the United States, among otherplayers, send soldiers to fight and die inLebanon.On Nov. 5, 1989, the country’s new par-

liament elected RenéMoawad, amoderateMaronite Christian, as the country’s firstpostwar president. Seventeen days later, a250-kilogram car bomb killed Mr. Moawadand 23 others in the middle of Beirut, end-ing that brief era of reconciliation. The as-sassination, widely believed to have beencarried out by the Assad regime in neigh-bouring Syria, was never credibly investi-gated. After all, the Syrian army remainedin central and north Lebanon as guarantorof the country’s post-civil war “security”(while Israel occupied much of the southuntil 2000).The political leaders who came afterMr.

Moawad were all deferential to Damascus,until the ascent of Rafik Hariri, a billio-naire Sunni Muslim businessman whomade himself popular by personally fund-ing much of the reconstruction of the Le-banese capital. But when Mr. Hariri beganto push for genuine change in Lebanon –an end to Syria’s occupation of the coun-try, and a debate over whether the Shiamilitia Hezbollah should be allowed tomaintain its status as the only group thatkept its weapons after the civil war – hewas killed in 2005, along with 22 others, byanother massive car bomb blast in theheart of the city he tried to rebuild.“Anyone who was vocal or efficient on

the ground was terminated, which terror-ized all the rest,” saidMarwanHamadeh, aformer cabinet minister and close ally ofMr. Hariri who survived a 2004 attempt onhis own life. “We’re still living under thisreign of terror.”Mr. Hariri’s assassination resulted in

massive street protests that forced Basharal-Assad to withdraw the Syrian armyfrom Lebanon after a 29-year stay. Butwhen an international court delivered itslong-awaited verdict this month, it foundthat it was a member of the Iran-backedHezbollah that carried out the murder.And Hezbollah remains. Over the 15

years since Mr. Hariri was eliminated, themilitia has grown into a political jugger-naut.While Taif mandated that the president

should always be aMaronite Christian, theprime minister a Sunni Muslim and thespeaker of parliament a Shia Muslim, Hez-bollah has become powerful enough tohave an effective veto over all three posts.And while all the other sectarian militiashanded in their weapons, Hezbollah keptand expanded its arsenal, saying it neededto be able to defend the country from Is-rael.Many Lebanese see the Aug. 4 explo-

sion as a result of Hezbollah’s hold on thecountry. The port, it’s widely believed, wasused by the group to smuggle weaponsand other illicit goods into and out of thecountry.In the aftermath of the blast, anger

erupted into the streets, with protestersdemanding – and getting – the resignationof prime minister Hassan Diab and hisgovernment. But that’s not what the pro-testers are really after.The slogan of Lebanon’s latest political

uprising, which began last fall – and whichresumed with new fury since the explo-sion, after pausing for the coronaviruspandemic – is “all of them means all ofthem.” As in, the protesters want Leba-non’s entire ruling elite to go. That meansHezbollah, too, this time.After Mr. Diab’s resignation, the protes-

ters set their sights on an even bigger tar-

get, President Michel Aoun, an ally of Hez-bollah who saw and ignored a July 20 let-ter warning him about the growing dangerposed by the ammonium nitrate stockpilein the port.Then-Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasral-

lah spoke, and drew a red line. In a tele-vised speech onAug. 14, hewarned repeat-edly about the possibility of civil war.A protest calling for Mr. Aoun’s resigna-

tion was quickly cancelled. Instead ofpushing to overthrow the country’s politi-cal elite, the youths at Nation Station de-cided their revolution would be to focuson rebuilding the devastated neighbour-hoods around them, and to show whatwas possible in Lebanon if everyonelooked past sectarianism.But it’s not just Hezbollah that stands in

their way. Mr. Achkar, the organizer, sayshe was forced to leave his home last weekafter his parents received a warning aboutan online post of his that mocked Presi-dent Aoun. Nation Station also received arecent visit from supporters of Samir Gea-gea, the Christian warlord-turned politic-ian – a rival of Hezbollah and Mr. Aoun –who holds sway over this part of Beirut. Itdeteriorated into a shouting match.“They were asking ‘Do you still support

Geagea?’ I said: ‘The only problem wehave in Lebanon is people like you. As

People gather at Nation Station in the Geitawi neighbourhood of Beirut on Aug. 19. Volunteers converted an abandoned gas station into a grassroots relief headquarters after the deadlyport blast in the Lebanese capital. They help residents with food, clothing, home repairs and medical needs.

Beirut: ‘We’re still livingunder this reign of terror’

Former Lebanese cabinet minister MarwanHamadeh says the survival of Lebanon as astate is at stake.

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAFAEL YAGHOBZADEH/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

FOLIO

MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 | THE GLOBE AND MAIL O A9

long as we have people like you who stillrespect the warlords, we will never havepeace,’ ” said Hussein Kazoun, who runsthe warehouse at Nation Station.Mr. Kazoun, a 28-year-old organic farm-

er, is a tattooed free spirit with a Shiamother and a Sunni father. But he knowsthat in his encounter with Mr. Geagea’ssupporters, hemay have stepped too closeto an invisible line.“At least if I die, everyone will know

why,” he said with a bitter laugh.

A common complaint among the pre-

dominantly Christian residents of eastBeirut following the port explosion is thatthey don’t feel the other Lebanese sectsare sharing their pain – or helping cleanup.While the young volunteers working atNation Station say they no longer careabout religious or political affiliations,there’s nonetheless a sense among theirparents’ and grandparents’ generationsthat the Sunni and Shia areas of the capital– which were protected from the worst ofthe blast by the city’s grain silo – aren’tsuffering.But in the Sunni neighbourhood of

Hamra, another crisis is top of mind: Thepresence of thousands of refugees fromSyria who – because the refugees aremainly Sunnis – were never welcomed inChristian areas such as Geitawi. Hamra, al-ready crowded, has seen its populationswell by an estimated 25 per cent. Housingand food costs have risen, and the numberof beggars on the streets has skyrocketed.It’s not a burden the Christian and Shiaareas of Lebanon are helping Hamra bear.Fourteen years ago, when Israel invaded

the mainly Shia south of the country –hoping to disarm and dismantle Hezbol-lah – areas such as Hamra and Geitawiwere left unscathed as bombs fell on theShia-populated southern suburbs of Bei-rut. I felt an astonishing sense of whiplashwhen, after reporting from the devastatedsouth of the country, I’d drive back toHamra and see people sitting outside incafés, almost oblivious to what was goingon a few hours’ drive away.In the Christian areas now wondering

about the lack of solidarity among theirfellow Lebanese, people danced anddrank until dawn in 2006, while the Shiasouth burned.Then and now, moving between the

Sunni, Shia and Christian areas is like vis-iting three different countries. Three dif-ferent Lebanons. That, some believe, iswhere the country is headed next.“It has gone beyond any imaginable

thing,” Mr. Hamadeh, who is Druze, said ofthe escalating political and economic cri-ses. “The survival of Lebanon as a state,independent within its borders, is at stake.We could have, in two or three months, adivided country. … It’s not that we willhave two states – but four or five.”

Most of the people I met during a week ofreporting in Lebanon spoke of the grow-ing possibility of violence. The country’sproblems – a collapsing economy, politicalgridlock, the COVID-19 pandemic, loom-ing food shortages and now the port disas-ter – are too many and too large for any-

one to see a way out.The only unworried analysis came from

Mohammed Obeidi, a political scientistbest known for his connections to theleadership of Hezbollah. “Nothing willhappen,” he confidently predicts when wemeet in a café inside a deserted Beirutmall. Mr. Obeidi casts himself, andHezbol-lah, as being on the side of thosewhowantto see change in the country, and an up-rooting of the corrupt elite. Though, ofcourse, “all of them means all of them”can’t apply to Hezbollah.Mr. Nasrallah erred, Mr. Obeidi said, by

allying himself with corrupt politicianssuch as Mr. Aoun and parliamentaryspeaker Nabih Berri. But that doesn’tmean Hezbollah should be held culpablefor the disaster in the port. (Mr. Obeidisaid Hezbollah, which controls a landborder with Syria in the south of Leba-non, didn’t need to use the port to smug-gle weapons, as it has been accused of do-ing.)“Hezbollah is responsible because they

participated in the governing group… but[Hezbollah] are not corrupt,” Mr. Obeidisaid. “It’s disproportionate to put all thesepeople in the same basket.”(Mr. Aoun’s supporters use a version of

the same argument – just because the sys-tem is corrupt doesn’t mean the Presidentis. “It’s unfair to say he’s responsible foreverything that happened,” said AlainAoun, anMP and nephew of the President.“And the solution is not [President Aounresigning and] the country going into avoid.”)Mr. Nasrallah’s Aug. 14 speech was in-

deed “a warning” to the protesters, Mr.Obeidi said. “The other parties don’t havethe ability or the will to get involved in awar with Hezbollah. … The youth, whodon’t know the history, would find outthat it’s not a joke to get involved in awar.”But Michel Moawad, the son of Leba-

non’s assassinated president, said thecountry cannot carry on as before, withHezbollah – and by extension Iran – dom-inating the rest. “We need the neutrality ofLebanon. We cannot be part of the Iranianaxis, and have an economy reliant on U.S.dollars and Arab and Western support,”Mr. Moawad said in an interview at hisfamily’s home, shortly after resigning hispost as MP to show his solidarity with theprotesters calling for wholesale change.“Hassan Nasrallah was very clear in re-

fusing everything I’m saying. But what isthe alternative? The alternative is hungerand chaos.”

Inmanyways, Lebanon’s future will be de-

cided outside the country’s borders.French President Emmanuel Macron willvisit Beirut on Tuesday, promising to offera new vision of how Lebanon should berun.In a speech on Sunday, Mr. Nasrallah

pushed back against the “hypocrites andliars” and vowed to “support reforms thatgo as far as possible.” Meanwhile, the sec-tarian political factions that have ruled Le-banon appeared closer to settling on acandidate for prime minister: the Leba-nese ambassador to Germany, MustaphaAdib.How far Mr. Macron gets in reforming a

country that France once ruled will de-pend less on what Lebanon’s various lead-ers want to do than on what their foreignpatrons will allow them to do. Will Hez-bollah’s backers in Iran and Syria be will-ing to make compromises? It seems un-likely while the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, whosupport Christian and Sunni groups in thecountry, are ramping up a campaign ofpressure against Tehran.While the geopolitical struggle plays

out, many Lebanese are heading for theexits. Flights into Lebanon since Aug. 4have often been half-empty, while flightsout have been crammed, leading to chaot-ic scenes in Rafik Hariri International Air-port, the country’s only functioning linkto the outside world.It’s a routine that has played out re-

peatedly in recent history. The Lebanesediaspora is estimated to be twice the sizeof the country’s 6.8 million population.(The 2016 census found 220,000 Cana-dians who claimed Lebanese descent.)Many left during the civil war, then re-turned after Taif – only to leave again fol-lowing the assassination of Mr. Hariri andthe 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. Now a newexodus appears to be under way.“The older generation are saying that

even during the war, it was not as toughas now,” said Nayla Tueni, the chief exec-utive officer of the an-Nahar newspaper.Her father, Gebran Tueni, was amongthose killed in a string of assassinationsin 2005. “You want to stay strong and be abeliever, but sometimes you are weakand you wonder ‘do I have to pay thisprice? Do my kids have to pay thisprice?’ ”Even at Nation Station, the bravado

about making change blends with de-spondency. “We’ve tried revolution, we’vetried social activism. If people vote for thesame people [in the next election], thenenough,” said Ms. Abou-Abdo, the kitchenmanager.“We can say we tried, and you will see

me in Canada.”

Volunteers distribute food at Nation Station. Organizers of the relief effort say that once they’re done rebuilding their city, they’ll be readyto fill the void in their country’s politics, too.

John Achkar helped found a grassroots reliefeffort after the port blast in Beirut.

Hussein Kazoun runs the Nation Station’swarehouse.

Josephine Abou-Abdo is in charge of makingmeals for community members in need.

Hassan Nasrallah was veryclear in refusing everythingI’m saying. But what is thealternative? The alternativeis hunger and chaos.MICHEL MOAWADFORMER LEBANON MP

Michel Moawad resigned as MP in Lebanonafter the port blast to show solidarity withprotesters calling for change.

NEWS |

A10 O THE GLOBE AND MAIL | MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020

EDITORIAL PHILLIP CRAWLEYPUBLISHER AND CEO

DAVID WALMSLEYEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

No politician in Canada would put it this bluntly, butthe fact is that the return to school this fall will be asituation in which important theories about the

transmission and virulence of COVID-19 will be tested in thefield on a large number of subjects, and new data will be col-lected.An experiment on schoolchildren, in other words.This isnotmeant toalarmparents.Anexperiment is vastly

different from a gamble; Canadian governments are not roll-ing the dice and hoping for the best.But the reality is that, aftermonthsof correctlyurgingCan-

adians to stay away from each other, especially indoors, andto wear masks when they can’t maintain a minimal physicaldistance, the same elected officials are saying it is possible toput children into school – some masked, some not – whilekeeping them, their teachers and their parents safe.It is also a fact that the return to classrooms is being justi-

fiedon thebasis of COVID-19 research that is preliminary andstill evolving. We know more than ever about the virus, itseffects and its process of transmission. But, as the TorontoHospital for Sick Children said in its recent Guidance forSchool Reopening, there is still a “knowledge gap.”The return to school, the Sick Kids report says, “represents

an opportunity to conduct rigorous research that will helpclose the knowledge gap and will therefore continue to im-prove and inform decision-making during the school year.”No wonder, then, that some parents and teachers are anx-

ious. Many are pushing governments to shrink class sizes,hiremore teachers, enforcemoremask-wearing and, in somecases, to postpone the start of the school year to ensure thatevery possible precaution is in place.In British Columbia last week, two fathers filed a lawsuit

alleging that the province’s reopening plan treats studentsand teachers as “guinea pigs.” They are demanding that thegovernment implement stricter physical-distancing mea-sures, reduce class sizes and require students to wear masksin all classrooms. Both men suffer from underlying medicalconditions that make them vulnerable to COVID-19.In Quebec, a group of parents has filed a lawsuit asking

that virtual learning be available for all students, andnot justfor those who provide a doctor’s note exempting them fromattending class in person.In Ontario last week, three teachers’ unions said the prov-

ince’s reopening plan violates the Occupational Health andSafety Act, and that the Labour Ministry needs to cap classsizes at 20 in order to make physical distancing possible andkeep teachers safe.And in Ottawa last week, the Liberal government an-

nounced it was giving the provinces $2-billion to spend onsmaller classes, better ventilation, more protective equip-ment and other measures that can help make the return toschool as safe as possible.“Over the past week or so, I’ve heard from somany Liberal

MPs, so many parents across the country, who are still ex-tremely worried about how that reopening is going to go,”Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.This page has argued that the public-health justification

for reopening schools is sound.The sharp decline in new cases and deaths in Canada is

proof that physical distancing andmask-wearingwork. Com-munity transmission has been reined in for the most part,and there is consistent evidence that theeffects of thediseaseon children are very limited.There is also evidence, outlined in the Sick Kids report,

that keeping children out of school for long periods leads tosevere health and welfare impacts.In short, there are concrete, defensible reasons to believe

that thedecision to reopen schools is the right one. Therewillbe outbreaks, no doubt. But they can be contained if theproper procedures are followed, and rapid testing and con-tact tracing are available.At the same time, however, governments must acknowl-

edge that they don’t have all the answers. Theneed to reopenis certain; the precise means to do so safely is not. Govern-ments need to listen to parents and teachers, and they mustbe ready to change course if conditions change, or new evi-dence emerges.Governments are right to base their decisions on science

and evidence, whichmeans they have to be prepared to altertheir plans if the evidence demands it.

Plans to openschools needto be flexible

WESTERLY WINDS

Re Mr. O’Toole: What NationalUnity Crisis? (Aug. 28): JustinTrudeau’s adroit handling of thepandemic should not be justifi-cation for dismissing Albertan“issues.” Doing the right thingshould be expected, not seen as afavour to Alberta.References to the Trans

Mountain pipeline expansionsuggest Albertan support for Mr.Trudeau is a commodity to bebought with taxpayer funds. Wecan get excited by the pipelinewhen it is finished. Why shouldthis project create a political debtfor Alberta?This past Canada Day was the

first time in my life that raising aCanadian flag in this provincefelt like a political statement.When the book about Mr. Tru-deau’s time in government iswritten, I fear it may be titled,“While Canada Slept.”Greg Schmidt Calgary

STILL SEEKING JUSTICE

Re Justice Is Supposed To BeBlind (Editorial, Aug. 28): TheGlobe’s editorial points to the im-portance of the facts in the deathof Regis Korchinski-Paquet.While the report of Ontario’s Spe-cial Investigations Unit clears To-ronto Police of criminal liability,her family does not agree withthe findings and will issue theirown report.The SIU report indicates that

police and paramedics respon-ded to calls of domestic violenceand a potential mental-healthcrisis.Would the outcome have been

different if civilian crisis-re-sponse professionals led the in-teraction with Ms. Korchinski-Pa-quet and her family, accompa-nied by police? This question, aswell as implicit bias againstracialized and Indigenous com-munities, might best be exploredthrough an inquest or inquirytasked with reviewing what hap-pened, identifying systemic is-sues and developing recommen-dations, rather than finding fault.Steve Lurie CM; Co-chair, Toronto

Police Services Mental Health andAddictions Advisory Panel; Toronto

DRIVER’S TEST

Re Should You Send Your ChildTo School? A New System CouldHelp Parents Decide (Aug. 24):Contributor Rita Achrekar com-pares decision-making for re-turning to school with decision-making at a traffic light, describ-ing an amber to mean “slowdown.” According to the OntarioHighway Traffic Act, Section 144says that amber means stop, ifthe stop can be made safely.If parents make their back-to-

school decision on the traffic-light risk-assessment model,their children should only go if

there is a green light.Henry Van Drunen Stratford, Ont.

Re Provinces Set Protocols ForSick Students (Aug. 27): TheGlobe reports that Ontario is “re-lying on the ‘professional judg-ment’ of teachers and principalsto determine when a childshould be sent home fromschool.”I am a teacher. Teaching is my

profession. That is what I amtrained to do. But in class I alsohave to be an (untrained) nurse,psychologist, therapist, couplescounsellor, priest, social worker,cleaner, administrator, handy-man and ersatz mother – whynot add medical doctor to myunqualified qualifications?Gisela Koehl Thornhill, Ont.

FAIR FALLOUT

Re Fairs Struggle To Stay Afloat InPandemic Age (Aug. 25): In addi-tion to being sources of joy foryoung and old alike, annual fairsare prime sources of funding forother programs, usually moneylosers, such as riding camps, 4-Hand other programming forschoolchildren. They provide acritical bridge to our local historyand enhance our understandingof the role agriculture plays inour economy. They create mea-ningful links between urban andrural communities.While the loss of fairs would

be painful, the loss of collateralprograms and activities wouldhave a long-term impact few ofus can imagine. Fairs are an im-portant part of our society andwe should do whatever we can tosupport them.Roy Wright Calgary

ADD IT UP

Re BoC Aims To Better InformCanadians On Central Bank’s In-flation Targets (Report on Busi-ness, Aug. 26): I imagine thatmany of the Canadians who“routinely overestimate infla-tion” are those who have recent-ly gone grocery shopping.Patty Benjamin Victoria

WEAK SIGNAL

Re If They Build It… (Letters,Aug. 27): If it were that easy fortelecoms to build networks in ru-ral and remote parts of Canada,as believed by Robert Ghiz of theCanadian Wireless Telecommu-nications Association, would itnot have been done already?The federal government previ-

ously funded telecoms to providemobile internet services to theseareas, and all that residents got, ifthey were fortunate enough to bein direct sight of a cellular tower,was slow speeds and data caps.The last mile – where people livebehind trees, around rocks andon islands – is still underserved,

because that is where costs lie.There does not seem to beenough return on investment fortelecoms.Rural municipalities should be

funded to bury conduit on allroads and streets as they aremaintained. This would allow lo-cal internet service providers toreduce costs by reducing feespaid to telecoms and hydro com-panies for use of their infrastruc-ture.This would equalize service

levels with urban areas and pro-vide equal opportunities for eco-nomic growth, social well-being,education for students and re-mote medical support.Jorma Ikavalko Alliston, Ont.

TWO SOON

Re Dancer Became An Early StarOf CBC Television (Obituary, Aug.24): In September of 1952, whenCBC Television first went on air, Iwas a technician in the lightingdepartment. I encounteredLorraine Thomson there, in Stu-dio 1, dancing in the light-enter-tainment programs that were sopopular during those first headydays of Canadian TV. Even after Imoved into other areas of TVproduction, we’d run into eachother from time to time, and theconversation was as though wewere still back in Studio 1.I was saddened even more af-

ter I read of the death of anotherdancer from that era, AnnaMcCowan-Johnson (whom Iknew at that time as Anna Wil-mot). She died two days afterLorraine. In the 1950s, theywould have shared the same stu-dio floor – perhaps on some ofthe same shows – as two of themany dancers who populatedthe variety programs.To lose two such winning

dancers in such a short time ismore of a memento mori thanthose of us of that age needed.And yet, what a treat to be re-minded of them, and that era.Garth Goddard Toronto

BEST OF BRITAIN

Re British Motor CompanyLaunches The Mini (Moment inTime, Aug. 26): In 1967, during agap year working in London, Itook a day trip to Windsor.Walking back to the train sta-

tion down a street bordering thewalls of Windsor Castle, a gatesuddenly opened. Out drovePrince Charles in his BMC Mark 1Mini – a most fitting climax to aday seeing the royal sites!Russell Smith Toronto

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The subject who is truly loyal to the chief magistrate will neither advise nor submit to arbitrary measures - Junius

Letters to the Editor should beexclusive to The Globe and Mail.Include name, address and daytimephone number. Keep letters under150 words. Letters may be edited forlength and clarity. E-mail:letters@globeandmail.com

SINCLAIR STEWARTDEPUTY EDITOR

CHRISTINE BROUSSEAUASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR, NEWS

ANGELA PACIENZAEXECUTIVE EDITOR

SHAWNA RICHERASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR,FEATURES AND SPORTS

GARY SALEWICZEDITOR, REPORT ON BUSINESS

DENNIS CHOQUETTEMANAGING EDITOR, ROB AND INVESTIGATIONS

TONY KELLEREDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR

NATASHA HASSANOPINION EDITOR

MATT FREHNERHEAD OF VISUALS

SYLVIA STEADPUBLIC EDITOR

| NEWS

MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 | THE GLOBE AND MAIL O A11

OPINIONNEWS |

ties are more susceptible to thespread of the virus due to poor in-frastructure, overcrowded hous-ing, and immune systems com-promised by poverty, and APTNhas been there with reporters,filmmakers, and storytellersacross Indigenous territories.Like all Indigenous stories,

though, it’s not just about tellingthem; it’s about understandinghow to tell them, and what theymean.For example, it’s evident that

the pandemic has laid bare Cana-da’s century and a half of geno-cide – its biggest secret. Secretsare exposed by truth, and truthcan only be told by thosemost af-fected by the secret. This is why,among many reasons, Canada’s“other” national broadcaster is soimportant.APTN started with a radical

idea: that Indigenous peoplesmust tell their own stories, to em-power us to design our own waysof articulating who we are, whywe are here, andwhere we are go-ing if we are to truly self-deter-mine.Indigenous writers and actors

had occasionally done this on ra-dio programs and television spe-

In the midst of the COVID-19pandemic – when nervousCanadians were desperately

looking for news sources to helpthembe informed about the sick-ness – many tuned in to the Abo-riginal Peoples Television Net-work (APTN).APTN National News, which

has enjoyed an online viewershipbump of 28 per cent during thepandemic, is the primary – andoften the only –media outlet cov-ering Indigenous experiences inCanada.The effect of the pandemic on

our communities has been a cru-cial story: Indigenous communi-

cials, but the idea of a 24-hournetworkdesigned, runby, andde-livered by Indigenous peoplesseemed impossible.Nevertheless, in the midst of

land struggles at Oka and ElijahHarper’s infamous “no” to theMeech Lake Accord, a group ofgrassroots media activists begantobuild interest in anetworkwiththe Canadian Radio-televisionand Telecommunications Com-mission.In 1991, they succeeded, and

Television Northern Canada(TVCN) was birthed by a nation-widevolunteerboardofdirectors.TVCN would be renamed APTNon Sept. 1, 1999, launching intoninemillionhouseholdsover twochannels (APTNNorth and APTNSouth) with a weekly and, later,daily news program.Over the years, APTN has de-

veloped home-grown documen-taries, shows, episodic programs,a website, and an on-demandstreaming service, as well as itsflagship program: APTNNationalNews, one of the most importantmedia services in the country.It’s one of the only places In-

digenous languages can be heardin media, with nearly 30 per cent

of APTN programming in Inukti-tut, Cree, Innu, Ojibway, Dakota,Halkomelem, Maliseet, Mi’kmaq,Northern Tutchone, Oji-Cree andMohawk.Writers, reporters, and pro-

ducers have won national awards– including many from the Cana-dian Association of Journalists.The organization consistently ap-pears in the list of Canada’s Top100 Employers.But APTN is more than just a

network; it’s a national institu-tion. The network has fostered acritical mass of Indigenous jour-nalists who have spread through-out the country. It’s become ahub for Indigenous writers whoare taking television productionin new directions. Its program-ming connects remote communi-ties and provides a much-neededservice for elders to preserve tra-ditional knowledge and youth tohope for the future.APTN has become one of the

most important spaces in thiscountry for conversations, de-bates, and imagining Indigenouslifewhile creating a different Can-ada than the one we have inher-ited. In 2015, APTN was called up-on by the Truth and Reconcilia-

tion Commission to take a leadrole in reconciliation and helpCanada by providing “leadershipin programming and organiza-tional culture that reflects the di-verse cultures, languages, andperspectives of Aboriginal peo-ples.” APTNhas taken this role se-riously, expanding into markets,creating partnerships, and broad-casting stories never seen before.For example, APTN partnered

with Sportsnet in 2018 to broad-cast Hockey Night in Canada inPlains Cree – a first for an Indige-nous language. This partnershipwas so successful the project wasrenewed, with plans to producesix games a year over the nextthree seasons.APTN is the only place that

provides full coverage ofAssemb-ly of First Nations elections, polit-ical events such as protest campsat Standing Rock, N.D., and theIndspire Awards. And the net-work’s most popular annualevent is Indigenous Day Live,which attracts more than a mil-lion viewers and is staged acrossmultiple cities in Indigenouscommunities across Canada.It’s been a long 30 years. But

the journey has just begun.

Let’s fete Canada’s ‘other’ national broadcasterThe Aboriginal PeoplesTelevision Networkmay be more importantright now than ever

NIIGAANWEWIDAM JAMESSINCLAIR

OPINION

Anishinaabe and a columnist withThe Winnipeg Free Press

As we watch the Americanelection drama unfold,Canadians are generally

positive in their view of Joe Bi-den’s candidacy and the pro-spects of the defeat of DonaldTrump in November. Mr. Trumphas been unpleasantly aggressivein dealing with Canada, not onlyon trade but regarding thebroader political relationship, aswell.Mr. Trump described NAFTA –

negotiated by a previous Repub-lican administration – as theworst trade deal ever, claimingCanada had been ripping off theU.S. for decades. The trade rene-gotiations with the Trump teamwere tough and unpleasant.Most recently, Mr. Trump reap-plied import surcharges on Can-adian aluminum, citing concernsabout national security. Therewere those personal insults di-rected at the Prime Minister afterthe 2018 Charlevoix G7 summit.White House trade adviser Pe-

ter Navarro repeated unalloyedinsults toward Canada in his newbook on Mr. Trump’s foreign pol-icy and in a recent CNN inter-view.All of this has reinforced a

strong Canadian desire to see thereturn of a more respectful andproductive bilateral relationshipunder a Biden presidency.On the global stage, Mr. Biden

would begin restoring the U.S. toa position of international com-mitment and leadership, revers-ing the unilateralism of Mr.Trump’s America First agenda.As the Washington-based Centerfor Strategic and International

Studies said earlier this year,contrary to Mr. Trump’s disdainfor global alliances, Mr. Biden“unashamedly embraces a U.S.-led, rules-based international or-der with an emphasis on reduc-ing trade barriers and settingglobal trade standards.”All of this has reinforced a

Canadian perception that theDemocratic Party is an easiergroup of folks to deal with, theDemocrats sharing much of thesame world view as Canada.Some of this has merit. But it isimportant to temper this withthe hard realities of Americanpolitics and the driving factors inthe U.S.-Canada bilateral rela-tionship.No doubt Canada punches

above its weight in Washington,due to carefully honed strategiesand the myriad of mature con-nections we have throughoutAmerican political, business and

social levels. However, there arelimits to the influence Canadacan ultimately bring to bear inWashington, whatever the politi-cal complexion of the adminis-tration or whatever party is as-cendant in the Congress.To begin with, there’s a strong

anti-free-trade sentiment in theDemocratic Party, even with Mr.Biden’s embrace of multilateral-ism and open markets. This ispartly due to the influence of or-ganized labour, such as the Unit-ed Auto Workers, which was asteadfast opponent of NAFTAand other deals such as theTrans-Pacific Partnership.Leading Democrats, such as

Bernie Sanders and ElizabethWarren, hated NAFTA and cam-paigned against it. Hillary Clin-ton said she would renegotiatethe agreement when she wasrunning for president. When hewas a congressman, Mr. Sanders

even tabled motions urging U.S.withdrawal from the WorldTrade Organization.It’s worth remembering that

it’s often Democratic politiciansfrom border states that havebeen the most critical of Canadaand difficult to deal with interms of bilateral trade. As an ex-ample, over many years when hewas chair of the Senate financecommittee, former Democraticsenator Max Baucus of Montanaconstantly railed against what hesaid was unfair Canadian soft-wood-lumber imports.So while the tone may change

under a Biden presidency, therewill be ongoing trade tensions ofgreater or lesser intensity, somebeing elevated to full-blowntrade wars. Witness the perpetu-al softwood-lumber dispute tar-geting Canadian imports, run-ning for more than 35 years, re-lentlessly waged whether Repub-

licans or Democrats have been inoffice. This dispute rages on,with the most recent WTO deci-sion in Canada’s favour releasedlast week.Underlying this tough stand is

the iron-clad U.S. adherence toits trade remedy laws, meaningthe ability to slap on anti-dump-ing and countervailing dutiesand, when desired, various formsof import restrictions. While os-tensibly stemming from WTO-agreed rules, the U.S. has createdits own complex and unforgivingtrade remedy system. These lawsare sacrosanct, enjoying virtuallyunassailable bipartisan support.None of this gainsays the fact

that a Biden administrationwould bring a reversal of the ag-gressive belligerence and unilat-eralism in Trump’s foreign pol-icy. There would be an end to theweaponizing of unilateral tariffs,although not necessarily a com-plete reversal when it comes toChina. But over all it can be ex-pected that Mr. Biden wouldabandon Mr. Trump’s unbridleduse of national-security sur-charges to hit out at allies.That being said, no Democrat-

ic president or Congress will re-strain deployment of U.S. tradelaws by American companiescombatting imports of goods orservices claimed to be unfairlypriced. No Democratic adminis-tration will refrain from usingthose laws to counter attemptsby foreign governments, includ-ing Canada, to tax American dig-ital service providers. So whileCanadians take comfort in thepossibility of Donald Trump go-ing down in flames in November,it would be naive to expect a di-minution in use of Americantrade laws as one of the mainweapons of U.S. policy. It meansCanada will be as much in thecrosshairs as any other country,even with the Democrats in con-trol.

Don’t expect just sweetness and light under BidenLAWRENCE HERMAN

OPINION

Former Canadian diplomat, counselat Herman & Associates and a seniorfellow of the C.D. Howe Institute

Supporters watch Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden address the final day of the Democratic NationalConvention, on Aug. 20, at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Del. CAROLYN KASTER/AP

On Aug. 20, the federal gov-ernment announced theextension of the Canada

Emergency Response Benefit(CERB) andupcoming changes toEmployment Insurance. Not sur-prisingly, the federal public ser-vice appears to have tinkeredwith existing programs ratherthan initiating a clear departurefrom the status quo on incomesecurity. In this period of proro-gation, the Prime Minister hasstated that time is needed for re-flection while the governmentputs together its plan for goingforward post-COVID. The ThroneSpeech is the perfect opportunityfor the government, with the sup-

port of the opposition, to put anend to the tinkeringwithEmploy-ment Insurance and move for-ward with real solutions.The current Employment In-

surance system has left 40 percent of unemployed Canadiansunprotected for decades. Tinker-ing with it is not a “rethink” – it is“old think” and it evades the coreissue. If we truly want to addressthe gaps in our system and fightpoverty, we need to take a hardlook at not just EI, but at other in-come support programs as well.The issue is the risk and reality ofpoverty now faced by welfare re-cipients who are prevented fromworking by program rules, andthe 70 per cent of those beneaththe poverty line who are employ-ed but at “working poor” wages.Over three million Canadians fallinto this category – too many ofwhom are Black, Indigenous andnew immigrants of colour. Anytinkering with existing programsleaving these “old normal” prob-lems unaddressedwillmake littledifference.

“Path dependency” is a term ineconomics describing how gov-ernments gobackand forth in thesame path or furrow, time andtimeagain, at various speeds, per-haps a bit to the right or left, butalways in the same furrow. Even-tually, the furrow gets deeper anddeeper, further and further awayfrom the sun and becomes a ruteasily flooded. That is not whatCanadians deserve from their na-tional government.Like the Guaranteed Income

Supplement for Canadian resi-dents over the age of 65, whichtops up anyone with a monthlyincome of less than $1,500, wehave the capacity to protect thosebetween ages 18 and 64 from liv-ing in or falling into poverty,working poor or otherwise. Tin-kering at the edges or succumb-ing to the chimera of evasive in-crementalism will solve none ofthe fundamental problems thatwere starkly revealed by the pan-demic. The chance tomake a sub-stantial change for the better forthose who live in poverty – their

families and neighbourhoods,their health status and life pro-spects – is required of all of uswho value the idea of equality ofopportunity, not just for the for-tunate and well off, but for allCanadians.The pathologies of poverty al-

ways produce poor health out-comes. This was confirmed dur-ing the pandemic. Part-time, un-derpaid employees of long-termcare facilities, with no benefitsand holding down several jobs indifferent homes, became the in-nocentvectorsof thenewcorona-virus. Low-income areas were hitharder. If fewer people lived inpoverty, societywouldpay far lessin health care costs. If the PrimeMinister and new Minister of Fi-nance want a fairer society, re-vamping income support pro-grams – rather than merely tin-keringwith them–would replacethe politics of evasion with thepolicies of courage. This also ap-plies to the other federal politicalparties and leaders, especiallyduring a minority Parliament.

Right now, parliamentarianshave a rare opportunity for genu-ine innovation. It would be socie-ty-changing.I know of no policy principles,

in anyof our political parties, thatembrace opportunity and fair-ness for only the well off. All ourMembers of Parliament have arare andhistoric chance to carveanew path through the thicket ofrules-based bureaucratic Band-Aids that have sustained the con-tinuum of ineffective, inefficientprograms that have failed to re-duce the staggering costs of pov-erty to society and not helpedmillions of poor and working-poor Canadians. The Sept. 23Speech from the Throne is theperfect opportunity to put theseplans in place.There is little room on this

challenge for any partisan preen-ing by our parties and leaders.There is a lot of room for leader-ship, collaboration and courage.Canadians, having seen the dev-astation wrought by COVID-19,have the right to expect no less.

Tinkering with EI leaves the core problems unresolvedHUGH SEGAL

OPINION

Mathews Fellow in Global PublicPolicy at the Queen’s School ofPolicy Studies, senior adviser at Airdand Berlis, LLP, and a formerConservative senator

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A12 O THE GLOBE AND MAIL | MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020

LIFE & ARTS HEALTH & WELLNESS | OPINION | PUZZLES | WEATHER

| NEWS

Protein is important forhealth at all ages, but espe-cially so when we’re older.

Eating the right amount ofprotein, at the right times, is keyfor preserving muscle mass andmuscle strength as you age. Andthat’s crucial for maintaining in-dependence and quality of life.Yet, older adults turn protein

into muscle less efficiently andneed to eat more of it to supportmuscle health, a task that can bechallenging for some. Reducedappetite, chewing difficulties andsocial isolation can reduce foodintake.Here’s a primer to help opti-

mize your protein intake.

PROTEIN, RESISTANCE TRAININGAND HEALTHY AGINGAge-related muscle loss, calledsarcopenia, doesn’t begin whenyou’re at the age of 65, or 50 forthat matter. After 30, you beginto naturally lose muscle at a rateof 3 per cent to 5 per cent everydecade. Early changes may besubtle in your 40s or 50s, but sar-copenia can be debilitating forolder adults.Advanced declines in muscle

mass and strength can affectdaily activities such as gettingout of a chair, lifting a bag of gro-ceries or walking up a flight ofstairs. Sarcopenia also predispos-

es older adults to falls and bonefractures.While consuming enough pro-

tein is necessary to build and re-pair muscle, resistance trainingis the most potent stimulus ofmuscle protein synthesis. Resist-ance training is any type of exer-cise that forces your skeletalmuscles to contract, such as freeweights, weight machines, resist-ance bands and whole body ex-ercises.Research has demonstrated

that done two to three days aweek, resistance exercises buildmuscle mass and strength, pre-serve bone density and maintainindependence and vitality withage.Protein does more than help

slow age-related muscle loss. Italso helps maintain healthybones and a strong immune sys-tem. Amino acids from proteinfoods are also used to make hor-mones, enzymes, neurotransmit-ters and many other body com-pounds.

HOW MUCH PROTEIN?The official daily recommendedintake for adults is 0.8 grams ofprotein for every kilogram (2.2.pounds) of body weight, anamount that’s necessary to pre-vent a protein deficiency. Butmany experts agree that thisisn’t enough for older adults tomaintain muscle mass and func-tion.

According to Stuart Phillips, aprofessor in kinesiology atMcMaster University and a Tier 1Canada Research Chair in Skele-tal Muscle Health and Aging,healthy older adults should aimfor 1.2 grams protein for everykilogram body weight daily.For a 77-kilogram (170-pound)

person, that translates into 93grams of protein a day. For per-spective, three ounces of chickenhave 27 grams, three ounces ofsalmon have 19, one cup Greekyogurt has 24, one half-cup oflentils has 9, one-quarter-cup ofpumpkin seeds has 9, one egghas 6 and one cup oatmeal has 4.If you do resistance training,

Phillips advises trying to reach1.6 grams of protein for every

kilogram each day. That’s an ad-ditional 30 grams of protein for a77-kilogram person.Older adults who are under-

nourished or have an illnesswould benefit from consuming1.2 to 1.6 grams protein for everykilogram a day.

TIMING MATTERSEating more protein is notenough, though. Older adults al-so need to spread their proteinintake evenly during the day tooptimize muscle mass andstrength.Doing so, research has found,

is associated with higher musclestrength scores, compared withskewing protein intake to dinner.Eating too little protein at break-fast and lunch won’t adequatelyprime muscles to take up aminoacids.Divide your daily protein re-

quirement by the number ofmeals you eat in a day. If you eatthree meals and need 90 gramsof protein, for instance, include30 grams at breakfast, lunch anddinner.

FOOD VERSUS POWDERMost people can get all the pro-tein they need from diet alone.Along with amino acids, protein-rich foods also contribute essen-tial nutrients such as zinc, iron,calcium, magnesium, potassium,folate, vitamin D and fibre.While protein powders don’t

offer the package of nutrientsthat whole foods do, they may beuseful for individuals who have adecreased appetite or difficultyeating.

Leslie Beck, a Toronto-basedprivate practice dietitian, is Directorof Food and Nutrition at Medcan.

Over 65? Pay attention to your daily protein intakeEating enough ofthe nutrient will helppreserve muscle massand health later in life

LESLIEBECK

OPINION

Coupled with resistance training, eating the right amount of protein, at the right times, is key for preservingmuscle mass and muscle strength as you age. ISTOCK

SPONSOR CONTENT PRODUCED BY RANDALL ANTHONY COMMUNICATIONS. THE GLOBE’S EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT WAS NOT INVOLVED IN ITS CREATION.

assessment was that he was growingtoo quickly, and that his tendonswere pulling on his muscles, makingthem weaker. I thought there mustbe more to the story, and we saw aneurologist.”The delay in diagnosing Samuel’s

disease is not unusual for someone

My message to otherswho have SMA is

find something youlove and chase it.Don’t stop yourselffrom trying anything.Yes, it can be hardsometimes, but I’mlooking forward toa bright and healthy

future.Samuel Cormier

is living with spinal muscularatrophy (SMA)

It’s great that Samueland I can discusshis challenges andsuccesses. For otherpeople, I want to help

them understandhow to detect thesigns of potential

SMA, so they can geta diagnosis as earlyas possible and helptheir child maintain agreater quality of life.

Michel Cormieris the father of Samuel Cormier

like him who has SMA Type III, alsoknown as juvenile SMA.SMA is a rare genetic neuromus-

cular disease that affects the part ofthe nervous system that controlsvoluntary muscle movement. Amistake in genetic coding means aloss of motor neurons, importantcells in the spinal cord, which leadsto progressive muscle weakness andatrophy (muscle wasting).There are four main types of SMA,

from Type I to IV, differentiated byseverity, age of onset and achievingkey motor-function milestones. TypeI, which is seen in infants, is the mostsevere form of the disease. In TypeIII, the diagnosis can occur up to 18years of age.In recent years, there have been

significant advances in SMA, leadingto new options for disease stabiliza-tion and improved motor function.Samuel’s diagnosis was the begin-ning of the journey that has broughthim to his life today – one of greatermobility and growing independence.It has been rewarding to set goals

and overcome obstacles, Samuelsays. “I was in a wheelchair for awhile and now I’m walking, so that’sa great achievement. I started to ridemy bike a bit, and I skated last year

for the first time in years.”Both Samuel and Michel have a

positive outlook and are inspired totalk openly about SMA – to supporteach other, as well as to raise aware-ness about the disease to help otherfamilies who may be affected.“It’s great that Samuel and I

can discuss his challenges andsuccesses,” explains Michel. “Forother people, I want to help themunderstand how to detect the signsof potential SMA, so they can get adiagnosis as early as possible andhelp their child maintain a greaterquality of life.”Samuel says he is also boosted

by his supportive circle of friendsand by focusing on what he can do,rather than any limitations. He lovesdrawing and art and is consideringbecoming a tattoo artist.“My message to others who have

SMA is find something you loveand chase it,” he says. “Don’t stopyourself from trying anything. Yes, itcan be hard sometimes, but I’m look-ing forward to a bright and healthyfuture.”

For more information, visit theSMA Beyond Childhood page oncare.togetherinsma.ca.

Top: Samuel Cormier; bottom left: Michel Cormier; bottom right, Samuel (on the right) and hisbrother Guillaume sharing their love of hockey when younger. SUPPLIED

From left to right: Samuel, Michel and Guillaume Cormier. SUPPLIED

our years ago, when he was16, Samuel Cormier was

diagnosed with a rare neurologicaldisease called spinal muscular atrophy(SMA). It was difficult news to hear,but Samuel, now 20, sees that day asa notable turning point.“I’ll remember the moment when

I got the diagnosis for the rest of mylife. Finally, I knew what I had.”Samuel’s father, Michel Cormier,

was also relieved to learn that hisson’s growing muscle weakness anddeclining mobility had a name, andnow, the family could see a pathforward.“I was shocked and sad at first, but

I knew I had to be strong and learnwhat we could do to make life betterfor Samuel,” he says. “Nothing elsemattered besides getting him thetools and treatment to help him suc-ceed in life.”The Cormiers, who live in Trois-

Rivières, Quebec, had been lookingfor answers for several years. WhenSamuel was a young child, Michelnoticed his son had some mildmobility problems, but nothing toraise alarm. By the time Samuelwas around 14, however, his lack ofstrength was more pronounced andbecoming debilitating. “After a whileit was affecting everything,” saysSamuel. “It was hard to get dressedand go up the stairs, I would sud-denly trip, and I had to quit playinghockey, which I loved.”Visits to doctors didn’t offer much

reassurance, says Michel. “The

Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness MonthThanks to new approaches, care outcomes for people with SMA are better than they’ve ever been

One young man’sjourney with spinalmuscular atrophy:

After years ofuncertainty, diagnosis

leads to solutionssupporting greater

mobility andindependence

F

DIAGNOSING LATER-ONSET SMA CAN TAKETIME AS SYMPTOMS ARE SIMILAR TO OTHERNEUROMUSCULAR CONDITIONS

teen with weakness that they havethin muscles – that they’re not asfit as their friends due to delayedmotor development. There are manypotential causes of that, and it won’tnecessarily lead to a complete neuro-logical evaluation. As they get olderand closer to being full-grown, if theirmuscle mass has not followed theirgrowth, it will become more obviousthat further investigation is needed.

What symptoms indicate possibleSMA beyond childhood, and whattype of testing is done?You look at muscle mass and abso-lute strength and signs of fatigabilityand decreasing ability to performcertain activities like climbing stairs.Finding those will prompt you todo electromyography (EMG), a neuro-physiological test. That will allowyou to see if it’s primarily a muscular,nerve or spinal cord disease. If itseems the loss of neurons originatesfrom the spinal cord, we will requestgenetic testing for SMA.

What are the advantages of genetictesting?Thanks to the progress of genetictesting, we are able to accurately

diagnose SMA. Decades ago,researchers identified the geneinvolved in SMA – the survivalmotor neuron (SMN1) gene. Thisgene produces the SMN protein,essential for normal neurologicaldevelopment, particularly of themotor-system pathways. Years ofresearch allowed the developmentof a DNA test to detect errors in theSMN1 gene, which allows us to ruleout or confirm a diagnosis of SMAand guides us to offer the mostappropriate care.

Why is appropriate management oflater-onset SMA key?This truly is a time of treatment revo-lution for SMA. We are document-ing clinical benefits in many of ourpatients, including adolescents andadults, with new approaches. Thanksto genetic tests, we are able todiagnose and subsequently manageto improve symptoms and maintainindependence. The key is timelyintervention, and the earlier thediagnosis, the more we are likely toinfluence the course of the disease.Ultimately what we want for ourpatients is stronger muscle functionand improved quality of life.

Q&A WITH DR. BERNARDBRAIS, NEUROLOGIST ANDCO-DIRECTOR OF THE RARENEUROLOGICAL DISEASESGROUP OF THE MONTREALNEUROLOGICAL INSTITUTEAND HOSPITAL OF MCGILLUNIVERSITY.

Why might it be difficult to diag-nose the types of spinal muscularatrophy (SMA) in which symptomsworsen later in life, in adolescence(Type III) or adulthood (Type IV)?Rare diseases in general can oftenlead a patient on what is called “adiagnostic odyssey.” With SMA,the later the onset, the milder theform; then the harder it is to pick upclinically, since for mild muscle weak-ness, there are numerous possiblediagnoses.If there is no known family history

of SMA, a physician may tell a young

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ADULTS WITH SPINALMUSCULAR ATROPHY (SMA)

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SPINAL MUSCULAR ATROPHY(SMA) & REHABILITATION

Muscular Dystrophy Canada is committed to providing critical support and to ensure Canadians affected byneuromuscular disorders have better health outcomes and achieve their goals.

For more information about SMA, other neuromuscular conditions or about our programs and services, research activities and or other ways to be involved please visit our site.To register for our next webinar, visit muscle.ca/discover_MD/webinars

A14 O THE GLOBE AND MAIL | MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020

The defining sound of the recentConservative Party leadershiprace was the sound of someonebarking up the wrong tree. Such is

certainly the case with the winner ErinO’Toole and his “Defund CBC” plan.

On his website there is this: “As Conser-vative leader and Canada’s next PrimeMinister, I’ll defund CBC television andsave taxpayers billions. Here’s how I’ll getit done: End all funding to CBC Digital; cutfunding for CBC English TV and News Net-work by 50%, with the goal to fully priv-atize CBC by the end of my first mandate;maintain funding for CBC Radio and CBC/Radio-Canada. It’s 2020. Canadians havehundreds of channels to choose from,thousands of online options, and lots ofCanadian content. We don’t need CBC Tele-vision. When I’m Prime Minister, they willlose their funding. None of this will be easy,but it’s long overdue.”

By the way, if you go to his site be pre-pared for a pop-up prompt asking you for$5. Five bucks is an interesting figure, sincethe CBC costs Canadians roughly $30 eachyear. That’s among the lowest costs per-capita for public broadcasting in the world.

O’Toole’s plan amounts to a ruse. Theenemy he sees is CBC TV and CBC News. Heacknowledges that CBC Radio is popularand that, in Quebec, CBC/Radio-Canada isa vital service. The ruse is to eliminate theannoyance that is CBC English TV andkeep the good bits of the CBC. It is boguspolicy. CBC TV’s mandate needs to be reas-sessed and its performance vigorouslyscrutinized. Declaring “Defund CBC” be-fore that scrutiny is done amounts to emp-ty sloganeering.

Reading O’Toole’s plan to keep part ofCBC/Radio-Canada and throw away theannoying parts, this column was remindedof the famous “What have the Romans ev-er done for us” bit in Monty Python’s Life ofBrian.

Agitator Reg wants rid of the Romansand asks that broad question. The upshotis, “All right, but apart from better sanita-tion and medicine and education and irri-gation and public health and roads and afreshwater system and baths and publicorder, what have the Romans done for us?”One can imagine O’Toole’s team trying toplacate supporters who loathe the CBC byinstinct and want it defunded and dead. Avoice chimes in: “But CBC Radio is pop-ular. Can’t kill that.” Another voice asserts,“We’d lose Quebec if we killed Radio-Cana-da.” Finally, O’Toole is all, “Okay, okay, we’lljust kill off CBC English TV!”

This country needs a national publicbroadcaster in the television arena. It’s notabout choice, it’s about cultural safeguard-ing. We sit next to the culture behemoth ofthe United States and Canadian TV story-telling would wither and die without apublic TV broadcaster.

Besides, it’s about jobs, dollars and com-mon sense. The impact of arts and culturespending in the economy is vastly under-rated by Conservative politicians. Accord-ing to Statistics Canada, in Ontario alone in2019, arts and culture represented $25-bil-lion, or 3.3 per cent of the gross domesticproduct, and 286,232 jobs. Those are jobsallowing people to spend, save and paytaxes. It costs money to make Canadiandrama and comedy for CBC TV, and inpure economic terms, it’s money wellspent.

In this Defund CBC debate it’s always il-lustrative to look at what Canadian com-mercial TV is offering. On Monday, Aug. 31,in prime time, CBC TV is airing repeats ofMurdoch Mysteries and Frankie Drake Mys-teries. Two middling-good dramas but bothCanadian-created and -mad, and sold tobroadcasters around the world. CTV sim-ply simulcasts two American reality series,American Ninja Warrior and Love Island.Citytv channels offer a mind-numbing twohours of The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons– Ever. Global has two U.S. network sitcomsand a repeat of the Canadian-made PrivateEyes. In terms of sensible investment inCanadian creativity and job creation, CBCTV wins the night.

As long-suffering readers will know, thiscolumn takes a dim view of CBC TV’s cur-rent situation. It is poorly run by mediocri-ties and the pandemic has illuminated theCBC’s weaknesses, just as it has thrownlight on many institutions that failed thetest that the pandemic emergency pre-sents. CBC TV failed to execute its role as apublic service during an emergency; it hasnot been a vehicle for the public good, asenvisioned in its mandate.

Now is the time to fix all that, not cancelCBC TV, as O’Toole envisions. “None of thiswill be easy,” his plan states. Well, fixingCBC TV will be even harder, but it must bedone.

The entire plan is, of course, a sop toConservative CBC-haters. They are noisyand go about the world – well, Twitter –convinced that Rosemary Barton is in lovewith Justin Trudeau and that, as a result,all CBC TV News is biased. Recently, formerleader Andrew Scheer made a point of at-tacking CBC TV news while being inter-viewed by the outlet, failing to see the iro-ny of complaining about unfair coveragewhile being covered.

He was barking up the wrong tree, asusual, and O’Toole’s Defund CBC plan isjust as bogus.

Erin O’Toole’s‘Defund CBC’ planis bogus policyJOHNDOYLE

OPINION

TELEVISION

This week, First Person looks at heading back to class,something that’s always challenging, even without apandemic.

When I first decided to complete my de-gree, nearly 20 years after I had started itat the age of 19, I had intended to havemy diploma mailed to me, rather than

attending a commencement ceremony. “I don’t wantto embarrass myself by making a big deal after allthis time,” I initially thought.

But I quickly changed my mind. It is a big deal: It isa big deal to do something you love, it is a big deal topersevere, it is a big deal to be a little bit brave.

Years of untreated depression and anxiety com-bined with family collapse slowed my initial progressthrough my studies, occasionally even grindingthem to a halt in my early 20s. By the end of my fifthyear, I wasn’t quite done, nor was I finished by theend of my sixth. My peers had long since graduatedand had moved on to new degrees, to new careers, tonew cities, even to new continents. I admired them, Ienvied them and I felt entirely stuck.

I had begun to move on myself, meeting andmarrying my husband, considering new fields ofstudy, embracing new hobbies. Although I still lovedwhat I was studying, I was tired of feeling left behindby my former classmates and I was tired of paying forthe insult. It felt foolish and even indulgent to con-tinue throwing money at my studies.The feeling was somehow intensifiedby the fact that I was now married andwhat had been only my debt was nowours. I quit my retail job, got a job in anoffice and didn’t bother registering forclasses that fall. It was 2005 and I wasthree short courses shy of satisfyingmy degree, mere steps from the finishline of my academic marathon.

Life happened. We moved back and forth acrossOttawa. An old friend died far too young, promptingmy husband and I to ask, “What are we waiting for?”and we had our first child. We navigated moves, jobs,a house fire and having another child; it had been sixyears since I’d last set foot in a classroom.

Three weeks after our second child was born, thesmall program at Carleton from which I had almostgraduated had an anniversary reunion, a chance foralumni to see each other again. I went, carrying myexceedingly new baby with me in a powder-bluesling, her tiny presence a welcome shield against theobvious question: “What are you doing now?”

One of our professors gave a short lecture – onPlato’s Theaetetus, delightfully tying in Buffy the Vam-pire Slayer – and I sat in that familiar room, the seatsand lectern unchanged, listening to a familiar voicedelivering familiar words, but the world was differ-ent. I was different, now sitting there as a mother.But it stirred something old inside me: that thrill andexcitement at turning thoughts into words andwords into ideas. I still desperately wanted to learn.

I had always said I would go back, that I wouldcomplete my degree. “I’ll go back when the time isright,” I would say; “I’m just waiting for it to workout.” But it never quite did. As a stay-at-home parentto two young kids, it was never convenient, especial-ly with our family of four living on one income. I keptwaiting for something, some sign or maybe permis-sion, before I felt free to choose for myself.

Inheritance can be an awkward thing. It’s moneyunearned, the circumstance of it largely unwelcome.By the time my mother and then my grandmotherdied, it had been 10 and 12 years since I had last regis-tered for classes. I didn’t want money: I wanted mymother and I wanted my grandmother, here andhealthy and breathing. Instead, I got slips of paperwith numbers on them, a pale and pathetic ex-change. But a few years later, outside the blast-zoneof loss, I thought about where I was, where I hadbeen and my days ahead. I realized that the thingsthat had stood in my way – grief and depression, fi-nances, toddlers – no longer did. My children weresolidly in the middle of childhood, my mind andmood were thriving and the gifts left behind by mymother and grandmother lightened my financialburden.

“What am I waiting for?” I asked myself.It felt like I had been waiting for my chance – for

my time – forever, and I worried that if I continuedputting off my return to class, I would end up waitingfor the rest of my life. But I was deeply afraid: afraidthat my intellect had atrophied from years of con-versing almost exclusively with small children, aswell as afraid that I would disrupt and unsettle ourentire family by extricating myself from our estab-lished pattern. As afraid as I was, though, waiting wasno longer tolerable.

My knees quaked mildly from a combination ofnerves and copious cups of coffee as Ihurried from the bus to the classroomthat first evening. Settling into my seat,surrounded by students in their early20s with laptops, I pulled out my note-book and pen, my old standbys fromyears past. Everything felt new and fa-miliar, frightening and entirely com-fortable. I was back in my element.

The first three months of my return to class, Ispent almost all my spare time on my studies. Iwould wake before dawn, pulling on woollen socksand layers of fleece to sit at my desk in the corner ofthe dining room with a cup of coffee steaming besidemy laptop and books. Every evening when I wasn’t atclass I could be found in that spot, folded into myfuchsia desk chair as my family moved through theirnights past me. Lectures and reading, meticulousnote-taking, writing papers and studying for exams –it was exhausting and wonderful. Words and ideaswere a feast, and I was ravenous. I had not realizedjust how hungry I had become until I dug in.

My daughters have watched me study; they havewatched me dedicate myself to my own hard work.They have seen me satisfy my own hunger, break outof what I had been and venture into whatever mightcome next. My younger daughter asked me, just be-fore finals, “What will you do when you aren’t sittingin your pink chair, Mommy?” It startled me, realizinghow noticeable the shift in my life had been for her,how easily she had adapted, and that she, too, couldsee that this was only my beginning.

My older daughter tells me she is proud of me. I’mproud of me, too. Marching across that stage in mygown and hood at my convocation last November, Iwas grinning from ear to ear. And although I couldn’tsee them in the crowd, I know my husband anddaughters were, too.

Darlene McLeod lives in Ottawa.

IT’S NEVER TOO LATETO GRADUATE

ILLUSTRATION BY APRIL DELA NOCHE MILNE

Nearly 20 years after starting my degree at 19, walking across the stageat my convocation felt particularly fulfilling, Darlene McLeod writes

FIRST PERSON

I had always said Iwould go back, thatI would complete

my degree.

Have a story to tell? Please see the guidelines on our website tgam.ca/essayguide,and e-mail it to firstperson@globeandmail.com

First Person is a daily personal piece submitted by readers

| NEWS

TODAY’S SUDOKU SOLUTION TODAY’S KENKEN SOLUTION

MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 | THE GLOBE AND MAIL O A15

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BRIDGEBY STEVE BECKER

The United States won the1996 World Olympiad Women’sTeams, defeating China in the96-deal final. The final marginover the Chinese, who over thepast three decades have becomea world bridge power, was 70 In-ternationalMatch Points.

In the final, the Chinese wom-en got off to a fast start, lead-ing by 20 IMPs after the first 32deals. But the Americans gained66 IMPs in the next 16 deals andnever trailed again.

Today’s hand is the one thatthrust the U.S into the lead forgood. When Jill Blanchard andIrina Levitina held the North-

South cards, they reached sixclubs as shown. Blanchard’sdouble of two spades was of the“negative” variety, and Levitinacuebid four spades over East’sthree-spade nuisance bid to indi-cate a powerful hand. Blanchardfelt a five-club bid would not dojustice to her excellent supportfor that suit, so she leaped toslam.

West led a low spade, andEast withheld the king as Southwon with the ace. Declarer drewthree rounds of trump, endingin dummy, and ruffed a spade inher hand, felling the king. Thisallowed Levitina to discard one

of her heart losers on the spadequeen, so the slam came rollinghome.

At the other table, the Chi-nese South, Zhang Yalan, alsoopened one club, but her bidwas strong, artificial and forc-ing, saying nothing about clubs.Juanita Chambers bid threespades, and North, Gu Ling,bid three notrump, ending theauction without the Chineselocating their excellent clubfit. North made 11 tricks, butthe Americans gained 12 IMPs.

South dealer.North-South vulnerable.

The bidding:

South West North East1 [C] 2 [S] Dble 3 [S]4 [S] Pass 6 [C]Opening Lead – six of spades.

MONDAY, AUG. 31, 2020

Each row and eachcolumn must containthe numbers 1 through6 without repeating.

The numbers withinthe heavily outlinedboxes, called cages,must combine usingthe given operation (inany order) to producethe target numbers inthe top-left corners.

Freebies: Fill insingle-box cages withthe numbers in thetop-left corner.

3.

2.

INSTRUCTIONS1.

ACROSS1 Hollywood success means

nothing to Mark (5)8 Absolutely certain it’s a

photographic term (8)9 The rest of the birds (5)

10 Fish thrash around wildly (8)11 Boss is given a letter

to scrutinise (5)12 A note that spells trouble (3)16 Happen to discover (4,2)17 Clare wanders behind

parking lot (6)18 Some brief title

for a newt (3)23 Value but throw out (5)24 Insecure sort of job

many want (8)25 A picking-up point (5)26 Left a section in a

document (8)27 Images in solid form (5)

DOWN2 A range of crumpets (8)3 Mishap caused by stress

– I’d go into that (8)4 Frustrated being of

idle disposition (6)5 Less in sum maybe (5)6 Looks after objects (5)7 He has skill and courage (5)

12 Copy out of the paper (3)13 Choose a new top (3)14 Protected me with

misplaced ardour (8)15 Guard sent to a

breached line (8)19 A man of iron who doesn’t

make good money? (6)20 Confidence in the theatre (5)21 Breaks up bridges (5)22 An account to settle? (5)

CHALLENGE CROSSWORD

CRYPTIC CLUES QUICK CLUESACROSS1 Ignominy (5)8 Commonly designated (2-6)9 Limbless reptile (5)10 Hold back (4,4)11 Burn superficially (5)12 In favour of (3)16 Straight man (6)17 Concord (6)18 Drain away (3)23 In the lead (5)24 To say nothing of (3,5)25 A plastic material (5)26 Be conspicuous (5,3)27 River of Paris (5)

DOWN2 Acknowledge merit of (4,2,2)3 Succeed (4,4)4 Tuber vegetable (6)5 Having sharp taste (5)6 Ask for as a right (5)7 Habitually lazy person (5)12 Payment for a service (3)13 Massage (3)14 Luxurious existence (4,4)15 Be sparing (2,4,2)19 Nonsense (6)20 Force of explosion (5)21 Thick slice of meat (5)22 Escape adroitly from (5)

Solutions to today's Sudoku and Kenken can be found in the Life & Arts contentarea of the A section. Crossword solutions will be with tomorrow's puzzles.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8

9

10

11

12 13 14 15

16 17

18 19

20 21 22 23

24

25

26

27

ACROSS: 1 Chablis, 5 Belie, 8 Barefaced, 9 Kit, 10 Loot, 12 Tall tale, 14 Nature,15 Top hat, 17 Take note, 18 Stem, 21 Bar, 22 Audacious, 24 Eased, 25 Someday.DOWN: 1 Cabal, 2 Air, 3 Loft, 4 Such as, 5 Bad blood, 6 Like a shot, 7 Entreat,11 Outskirts, 13 Iron hand, 14 Notable, 16 At odds, 19 Messy, 20 Scum, 23 Old.

ACROSS: 1 Remains, 5 Hopes, 8 Ploughman, 9 Tug, 10 Deck, 12 Doublets, 14 Crater,15 Cotton, 17 Wildfire, 18 Dyer, 21 Eft, 22 Easy-going, 24 Deeds, 25 Olympus.DOWN: 1 Rapid, 2 Moo, 3 Inga, 4 Samson, 5 Handbook, 6 Patiently, 7 Signs on,11 Charlotte, 13 Leaflets, 14 Cowherd, 16 Fresco, 19 Rages, 20 Ugly, 23 Imp.

FRIDAY'S CRYPTIC

FRIDAY'S QUICK

©2020 KENKEN Puzzle LLC. KENKEN is a registered trademark of Nextoy, LLC. Dist. by Andrews McMeelwww.kenken.com

KENKEN

SUDOKU DIFFICULTY RATING:HIIII

INSTRUCTIONS Fill in the grid so that each row of nine squares, each column of nineand each section of nine (three squares by three) contains the numbers 1 through 9in any order. There is only one solution to each puzzle.

AMSTERDAMATHENSBANGKOKBEIJINGBERLINBRUSSELSCOPENHAGENFRANKFURTHONG KONGJERUSALEMLAS VEGASLONDONLOS ANGELESMADRIDMIAMI BEACHMOSCOWNEW DELHINEW YORKNICEORLANDOPARISPHOENIXROMESAN FRANCISCOSEOULSINGAPORESYDNEYTOKYOWASHINGTON

BANFFBARRIEBRANDONCALGARYCHARLOTTETOWNCHICOUTIMICHURCHILLCORNER BROOKCORNWALLEDMONTONHALIFAXHAMILTONHUNTSVILLEIQALUITJASPERKELOWNAKINGSTONLONDONMONTREALNIAGARA FALLSNORTH BAYOTTAWAPRINCE GEORGEPETERBOROUGHQUEBECREGINASASKATOONSAULT S. M.SAINT JOHNSEPT-ÎLESST. JOHN’SSUDBURYTHUNDER BAYTHOMPSONTORONTOVAL D’ORVANCOUVERVICTORIAWHISTLERWHITEHORSEWINNIPEGYELLLOWKNIFE

-30-30

19/9R36/25S33/26T27/19R21/11R

18/11PC18/14PC20/11R29/27T38/21S40/26S

18/13PC26/17S

26/16PC30/28T

29/19PC33/27T

24/20PC25/19PC33/25T

19/10PC35/28T21/15R19/15S29/24R29/26T20/11S32/25T26/22R

19/11PC35/26S32/26T

33/21PC21/12R

18/10PC18/14S19/10R30/28T34/20S38/26S

20/13PC26/18S

28/16PC30/28S

21/12PC33/28PC24/20R

25/19PC34/26T

19/11PC37/29R

26/16PC19/16PC31/24R28/26T

17/11PC28/25R27/21R

21/12PC33/24S32/26T30/19S

18/12PC19/12PC18/14PC19/12R30/27T33/21S39/27S

21/16PC25/19S28/17S31/28T18/10R31/27T25/21R

25/19PC34/25T

21/15PC39/30R26/17R

18/15PC25/22R28/26T

25/16PC30/27R30/23R

TODAY TUES. WED.16/7PC

23/16PC18/8S

20/13PC16/10R18/7S16/8R16/9R

21/14S17/13PC19/11PC24/18PC22/15S15/5PC

16/10PC23/14R23/18S

25/17PC21/13S

26/19PC21/14S22/13S

18/11PC22/17S20/9S18/9S

17/11S23/14PC18/11S16/9PC

19/11PC22/16PC20/11R15/7R

23/19PC19/12PC20/14PC21/13PC22/12PC

15/9R18/8PC11/6PC

18/12PC25/18R21/11R25/11S20/13S

22/14PC11/8R16/6S

26/18PC19/12S21/12S

26/19PC23/16R13/4PC

18/12PC30/16S23/19R

26/20PC24/18PC26/21T22/14R23/18R19/10R24/18R

24/15PC21/11PC20/10PC22/15PC22/12S

15/12PC15/10PC22/14PC22/15PC13/7PC

26/21PC21/13T

22/14PC22/14S24/14S15/5R

21/12PC11/6R

18/4R24/15R21/10R18/6R

20/15PC20/14R11/8PC

19/11PC26/16T16/8R

19/16PC26/17T22/13R11/5R16/6R

26/10PC25/17T26/16T25/17R26/18R21/10R24/15T18/8PC25/15T21/17R18/9R15/8R

21/14R19/15PC15/14R

17/12PC22/8R

21/15PC14/6R

27/17T21/11R

22/14PC21/13PC24/11PC14/6PC22/11R11/4PC

TODAY TUES. WED. IQALUIT15/5PC

HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY13/4R

ST. JOHN’S19/11PC

HALIFAX19/11PCMONTREAL

21/13SBOSTON25/15PC

TORONTO23/19PC

WASHINGTON26/22R

ATLANTA30/22T

MIAMI33/27T

SAN JUAN31/27T

NEW ORLEANS33/27T

HOUSTON34/27PC

PHOENIX35/28T

DENVER29/14R

CHICAGO28/21PC

WINNIPEG18/8PC

REGINA18/9S

CHURCHILL16/8R

YELLOWKNIFE11/6PC

WHITEHORSE15/9R

EDMONTON17/13PC

VANCOUVER20/14PC

PORTLAND24/12PC

LOS ANGELES26/17S

LAS VEGAS40/26S

Snow Rain Thunder Freezingstorm rain

Jet Warm Cold Occlusion TroughStream Front Front ©The Weather Network 2020

INUVIK13/7R

OTTAWA22/13S

NATIONAL FORECASTWORLD FORECAST

Daytime high, overnight low, and conditionsLEGEND

C CLOUDYFG FOGFR FREEZING RAINHZ HAZENA NOT AVAILABLEPC PARTLY CLOUDYR RAIN

RS RAIN/SNOWS SUNSN SNOWSF SNOW FLURRIESSH SHOWERST THUNDERSTORMSWWINDY

-20-10010203040

NEWS |

Famously,

ComingSept. 7, 2020

AN OPEN LETTER

Let’s set the record straight.

Our fried chicken has put the original in Original Recipefor over 75 years. It’s why everyone knows what our11 herbs and spices are without knowing what our11 herbs and spices are. It’s the only thing no one thinkstwice about digging into, straight out of a bucket.And it’s how 3 letters came to mean crispy, delicious

fried chicken – in every language.

So, when we hear about a certain “famous” chickensandwich, wewonder – is it really even famous at all?

Because you can’t have a famous chicken sandwichwithout famous chicken.

OTTAWA/QUEBEC EDITION ■ MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 ■ GLOBEANDMAIL.COM

COMPANIES

ALPHABET .............................................. B8AMAZON ................................................ B8APPLE ..................................................... B8BYTEDANCE ........................................... B3FACEBOOK ............................................. B8MICROSOFT ............................................ B8

TENNIS Vasek Pospisil’s fight for a union not getting much traction, Cathal Kelly says B9SPORTSB9-B14 AUTO RACING Lewis Hamilton only two wins behind Michael Schumacher’s F1 record B12

The federal Liberals are proposingnew emergency benefits that rep-resent a big step toward a nation-al guaranteed basic income, a

sweeping social program that has beendiscussed for decades in Canada but neverattempted on a large scale.According to the tenets of a guaranteed

basic income program, all adults are eligi-ble for government benefits that establisha floor for income, but those paymentsdecline as earnings from wages rise.That gradual reduction, or clawback,

means that the basic income benefit iseliminated entirely for higher earners.The Liberals aren’t going quite that far

with their plan to spend $22-billion over12 months on the Canada Recovery Bene-fit (CRB), as well as sickness and caregiverbenefits. The CRB will replace the CanadaEmergency Response Benefit (CERB),which expires at the end of September.The new program will pay $400 a week

– $100 less than the CERB – to those whohave lost some or all of their income dueto the pandemic and don’t qualify for Em-ployment Insurance. But the CRB allowsrecipients to earn much more incomethan either the CERB or EI before benefitsare reduced.Those and other elements of the CRB

resemble the features of a guaranteed ba-sic income – particularly in the way itwould allow some poorer Canadians toboost their earnings significantly.Derek Holt, head of capital markets ec-

onomics at Bank of Nova Scotia, said Ot-tawa’s extension of emergency benefitsopens up the possibility of a basic in-come, sometimes called a living wage.“The degree to which these programs aremultiplying and becoming permanentmay also be construed as a backdoor to-ward a living wage or permanent incomebenefit,” he wrote in a research note is-sued after the CRB announcement. In aninterview, Mr. Holt warned that the gov-ernment may find it difficult to wind upthose benefits, even if their original ratio-nale dissipates.Employment Minister Carla Qual-

trough did not rule this out last week,saying “it’s too early to tell” if the changes,which still need to be approved by Parlia-ment, will be temporary or permanent.

CRB, B5

With new benefitsplan, Liberals movetoward guaranteedbasic incomePATRICK BRETHOUR

TAX AND SPEND

CHRISTOPHER KATSAROV/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

RETAILGrocery giants are winning thebattle for market share in theonline shopping space B4

DIVERSITYThe Weeknd’s creative-workincubator Hxouse aims toboost Black careers B2

ACQUISITIONSTikTok bid hits snag asChina lays out new ruleson tech exports B3

In 2014, Calfrac shares hovered around $20 on the TSX. Today, after the devastation of an oil-price collapse and theCOVID-19 pandemic, Calfrac trades for about 15 cents. JEFF MCINTOSH/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Inside the tussle overan Alberta oilfield giantCalfrac Well Services is in a fight for its life againsta Texan rival that won’t take no for an answer

The tug-of-war over a beleagueredCalgary-based oilfield services company has WilksBrothers LLC of Texas coming out with allguns blazing in a plan to secure majorityownership of Calfrac Well Services Ltd.Calfrac,meanwhile, has labelledWilks a

“wolf in sheep’s clothing,” accusing it of us-ing “hyper-aggressive” tactics in an at-tempt to take over the company during apunishing industry slump without givingshareholders fair value.Calfrac is one of the best-known names

in the Canadian oil services sector. But likemany companies in the patch, its financesand share price have been devastated –first by the 2014-15 collapse in oil prices,then by COVID-19.The legal battle over recapitalizing Calf-

rac is the latest chapter in a years-longstruggle between the two industry main-stays. It spans multiple court actions intwo countries, and countless tit-for-tatnews releases. At its heart is control overlarge portions of the oilfield services sectorin Canada and the United States, whereWilks-owned ProFrac Services is Calfrac’sdirect competitor.

CALFRAC, B7

EMMA GRANEY ENERGY REPORTERCALGARY

[ OIL PATCH ]

On his first day as Conserva-tive Leader, Erin O’Toole hadwhat his office described as a“cordial” telephone conver-

sation with Justin Trudeau.Based on the way Ottawa’s political

culture normally works, their perfunc-tory pleasantries last week – in whichthe PrimeMinister and the new OfficialOpposition Leader chatted about theirfamilies and broadly exchanged somepolicy concerns – may be just abouttheir last civil conversation until one ofthem loses his job.That’s potentially a big problem,

when it comes to charting a path outof the biggest economic crisis of ourtime. Because some semblance of col-

laboration, between the people cur-rently running this country and thosewaiting in the wings to do so, could beneeded to steer Canada into a strongposition in the postpandemic world.It’s not just that politics as usualshould ideally be set aside in immedi-ate response to the current emergen-cy.On that front, there was some mild-

ly encouraging news coming out oftheir chat, when the Prime Minister’sOffice said Mr. Trudeau had offeredbriefings with Chief Public Health Offi-cer Theresa Tam to help the Conserva-tive Leader keep abreast of COVID-19developments.The greater undertaking, and the

one partisans are likelier to roll theireyes at, would be for the leaders andtheir parties to try to find some com-mon ground in plotting the economicrebuild to come.

Coming out of this unprecedentedeconomic disruption, Canada’s govern-ment will join others around the worldin launching policies aimed at revivingdevastated sectors and igniting newones to replace those that never recov-er.It will be responding not only to di-

rect effects of the pandemic itself, butto weaknesses it has highlighted (suchas work force supports, particularly forwomen) and global shifts it has poten-tially accelerated.Those range from decarbonization

and digitalization, to mounting protec-tionism and a reordering of trade rela-tionships driven partly by mountinghostilities between the United Statesand China.The implementation of policy re-

sponses, and any impact they have, isgoing to play out over many years.

RADWANSKI, B7

Why the postpandemic recovery will require politicalcollaboration, not politics as usualADAM RADWANSKI

OPINION

Pandemic lockdowns have promptedbusinesses, governments and other or-ganizations around the world to reth-ink what they do in person – and bothaugmented reality and virtual realitystartups are surging ahead in the race toreplace or replicate real life.What was once a niche slice of the

tech sector is suddenly a considerablemarket, with Canadian companies rac-

ing to take advantage. The retail, real es-tate and resource sectors are embracingit, while companies of all kinds are us-ing it for workplace training and med-ical professionals are adapting it intoboth training and remote work.Market research firm Future Market

Insights forecast this month that themobile augmented realitymarket alonewould beworthUS$3-billion by the endof this year – andUS$24-billion by 2030,with a compoundannual growth rate of23.2 per cent.

Surepoint Group, an industrial con-tractor based in Nisku, Alta., has beenusing VR-AR “mixed reality” MicrosoftHoloLens headsets formore than a yearalready to troubleshoot problems at re-mote sites.The headsets allow on-site staff to

send video to centralized experts, whoin turn can beam holographic imagesinto the headset to help solve the prob-lems,minimizing travel andpreventingproject delays.

REALITY, B5

Once a niche slice of the market, augmented andvirtual reality startups see a pandemic surgeJOSH O’KANE

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B2 O THE GLOBE AND MAIL | MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020| REPORT ON BUSINESS

The founders of the Weeknd-backed incubator Hxouse arelaunching a new program seriesand partnering with Toronto-Dominion Bank to openmore ca-reer opportunities to Black Cana-dians in creative fields, after yearsof frustrationover howCorporateCanadahas “tokenized”Black tal-ent.The Weeknd, his long-time

friend and creative director LaMar Taylor and sports-and-enter-tainment marketer Ahmed Is-mail launched Hxouse in 2018,with its name playing on theglobal pop star’s XO record labelandcreativebrand.The three self-made Black success stories fromthe Scarborough area in Torontofirst pitched Hxouse as an anti-dote to the flight of talent to citieswithmore creativeopportunities,such as Los Angeles or New York.The incubator offers support, re-sources and renowned mentorsfor people in industries such asmusic, fashion and film, to helplaunch their careers.On Monday, the founders will

launch Black Hxouse, an initia-tive that extends the incubator’soriginalmandate by removing ec-onomic barriers for communitiesfacing significant structural ca-reer barriers – in particular cre-atives who are Black, Indigenousor persons of colour (BIPOC) –through a mix of corporate part-nerships, grants, mentorship andnetworking.Mr. Taylor and Mr. Ismail, who

run the incubator day-to-day, saythey’ve spent too many years oftheir careers in the United Statesand Canada trying to justify theirworth as Black entrepreneurs inthe business world. “It’s extreme-ly terrifying to be the only Blackperson ina roomfilledwithwhitefaces,” Mr. Taylor said in an inter-view. “I still have PTSD from be-ing in those rooms.”The launch of Hxouse saw

them cross paths regularlywith Canada’s executive class,some of whose members rubbedMr. Taylor and Mr. Ismail thewrongway. Someapproached theincubator for partnerships that

would boost their brand whileoverlooking the creatives who’dgone through Hxouseprograms.Through Black Hxouse, the

founders plan to build direct rela-tionships with Canadian compa-nies in more meaningful ways toexpand hiring pipelines andcareer growth for BIPOC Cana-dians. Its first such partnership,announced Monday, is with TDBank.“The need to be more inten-

tional around the BIPOC commu-nity is something that I thinkwe’re very, very passionateabout,” said Claudette McGowan,TD’s global executiveofficerof cy-bersecurity. Hxouse, she said, “isa great example of an organiza-tion walking the walk, andreally engaging at that grassrootslevel.”Of the TD partnership, Mr. Is-

mail said that “their full supportand commitment to the long-term growth and development ofvulnerable communities weresincere and evident from thebeginning.”He sees the partnership as a

first step in connecting with Cor-porate Canada. “We’re trying tobuild a community that’s easyandaccessible for brands and cor-porations to hire from, and torecognize talent and promote

achievements in these amazingBIPOC communities.”The plans for BlackHxouse did

not emerge suddenly. Mr. TaylorandMr. Ismail began brainstorm-ing in 2019, first launching a pro-gram for Black women entrepre-neurs last February. But the kill-ing of George Floyd by a Minnea-polis policeofficer inMay, and thesubsequent calls to end violenceagainst, and systemic oppressionof, Black communities, accelerat-ed Mr. Taylor’s and Mr. Ismail’swork – just as Black Lives Mattermovements returned to the fore-front of public dialogue. Theywatched in dismay as countlessbrands made “performative”statements about supportingBlack communities, Mr. Ismailsaid.Worse, he continued, was a

tendencywithinCanada to ignoresystemic oppression of BlackCanadians andassume racism is aU.S. problem, preventing the cor-porate world here from makingmeaningful change. “In America,they have a glass ceiling,” Mr. Is-mail said. “In Canada, we have aconcrete ceiling.”Monday’s announcement will

reintroduce Hxouse’s dedicatedprogram for advancing Blackwomen’s careers while also ex-panding its broader strategy tosupport BIPOC Canadians. That

includes the promotion of whatMr. Ismail calls a “B365” contentseries and strategy to encouragebusinesses to invest in consistent-ly recognizing Black talent – rath-er than playing host to Black His-tory Month events in February,then bypassing Black staff forleadership roles, leaving them“tokenized.”“We were given a month that

felt like Groundhog Day,” Mr. Is-mail said. “Nobody wants charity.We want opportunity.”Although Black Hxouse will

focus on advancing the careers ofBlack Canadians, the founderssaid they hope to introducemoreprograms for other structurallymarginalized groups.“Given the fact that we, the

founders of Hxouse, are Black,and we come from a communitythat’s underrepresented,we felt itwas our duty to really come to thefront and lead the charge withthis program,”Mr. Taylor said. “Astime develops, we will be intro-ducingmoreprograms that touchon [other] underrepresentedcommunities, like Indigenous,trans andBlackqueer [communi-ties].”Zoey DashMcKenzie, an entre-

preneur and former Ontario pol-icy adviser who now managesstakeholder relations for Hxouse,saw firsthand how few Black

Canadians – and Black Canadianwomen – make it in the techworld. “I wasn’t hearing frompeople who look like me,” shesaid. But the creatives who gothrough Hxouse’s programs get abroader, more equitable view ofentrepreneurship, she said,thanks to deliberate effort andglobal connections.“They get to hear from people

with lived experience that looklike them, lived in their commu-nities – it’s kind of magical,”Ms. McKenzie said.Drew Hall is an alumni of

Hxouse’s original incubator pro-gram. The connections he madethere helped launch his career,which includes doing brand de-sign for artists andathletes. “Theymake sure you can really carryyour own when you get intorooms,” said Mr. Hall, a 27-year-old Black multidisciplinary de-signer from Hamilton.But he still feels barriers for

Black creatives and has noticed apattern as he navigates a globalindustry: “I face a lot more bar-riers within the Canadian scenethan the American scene.”The founders of Black Hxouse

hope to change that. “A Black kidgrowing up won’t realize he’s asuperhero,” Mr. Taylor said, “if hedoesn’t see equal representationin front of him.”

Hxouse launches career program for Black CanadiansThe Weeknd-backedincubator offersresources, mentorsfor people in creativeindustries to helpsupport their careers

The founders of Hxouse will launch Black Hxouse, an initiative that extends the incubator’s original mandate by removing economic barriersfor people of colour through a mix of corporate partnerships, grants, mentorship and networking. NOTORIOUSLENSES

JOSH O’KANE

Four of China’s five largest state-owned banks said theyhave increased their provisions against bad debt to brace forfuture losses owing to the impact of the global coronaviruspandemic.All five reported their biggest profit falls in at least a

decade and an increase in soured loans when announcingtheir half-year results on Sunday and last week.The results highlight the impact of the pandemic and the

economic slowdown on Chinese banks that bucked the first-quarter global trend with higher profits and steady badloans.Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. (AgBank) said “the lag-

ging impact of the epidemic and the risk of uncertainty areexpected to be further transmitted to the banking industry,”in its half-year results on Sunday.China Construction Bank Corp. (CCB), the country’s sec-

ond-largest lender by assets, said it plans to assess creditrisks and up provisions, just asBank of China Ltd. (BoC) said thesame.Even more directly, Bank of

Communications Co. Ltd. (Bo-Com) said on Friday it had boost-ed “provisions to counter the fu-ture impact of the pandemic.”As the pandemic batters econ-

omies globally, BoC, the most in-ternational of China’s large statebanks, said it would keep guard-ing against global financial mar-ket risks in the second half.Net interest margins (NIM), a

key gauge of bank profitability,fell at Industrial and CommercialBank of China (ICBC) – theworld’s largest commercial lend-er by assets – as well as BoCom,CCB and AgBank.But at BoC, NIM improved slightly to 1.82 per cent from

1.8 per cent three months earlier.AgBank’s fell to 2.14 per cent at the end of June from

2.17 per cent at the end of March, while at ICBC it narrowedto 1.98 per cent at the end of the second quarter, from 2.2 percent at the end of the first.Non-performing loan (NPL) ratios rose at the big five

banks during the reporting period, with that of ICBCincreasing to 1.5 per cent by the end of June from 1.43 percent three months earlier, and that of CCB rising by0.07 percentage points in the second quarter to 1.49 percent.Chinese commercial banks overall posted a 9.4-per-cent

drop in first-half net profit to 1-trillion yuan ($190.8-billion),according to data from the China Banking and InsuranceRegulatory Commission.

REUTERS

Large Chinese banksboost bad-debt provisionsover COVID-19 risks

As the pandemicbatters economiesglobally, BoC,the mostinternationalof China’s largestate banks, saidit would keepguarding againstglobal financialmarket risks inthe second half.

THE CANADIAN MEDICALPROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION

DR. LISA CALDER

The Canadian MedicalProtective Association (CMPA)is pleased to announce theappointment of Dr. Lisa Calderas CEO effective August 31,2020. Dr. Calder will alsoassume the position of BoardChair of Saegis, CMPA’ssubsidiary.

An award winning emergencyphysician, researcher, andteacher. Dr. Calder is anauthentic and collaborativeleader who is committedto improving healthcare forCanadian physicians andpatients. Since graduatingfrom her Emergency Medicineresidency at the Universityof Ottawa 15 years ago,Dr. Calder has steadilyhoned her knowledge andleadership skills—includingobtaining a Master of Sciencein Epidemiology, completingFellowships in patient safetyleadership, serving as an awardwinning Associate Professor,practising emergency medicine,and joining the CMPA asthe Director of Medical CareAnalytics.

The CMPA delivers efficient,high-quality physician-to-physician advice and assistancein medical-legal matters,including the provision ofappropriate compensation topatients injured by negligentmedical care. Our evidence-based products and servicesenhance the safety of medicalcare, with the goal of reducingpatient harm and healthcarecosts. As Canada’s largestphysician organization and withthe support of our more than100,000 physician members,the CMPA collaborates,advocates, and effects positivechange on important healthcareand medical-legal issues.

cmpa-acpm.ca

MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 | THE GLOBE AND MAIL O B3REPORT ON BUSINESS |

Treasury officials in Britain arepushing for tax hikes to plugholes blown in public financesby the coronavirus pandemic,two leading British newspaperssaid.Such hikes will enable the

Exchequer to raise at least £20-billion ($35-billion) a year, andsome could be introduced in theNovember budget, the SundayTelegraph said.The Sunday Times newspaper

said officials were drawing upplans for a £30-billion “tax raid”on the wealthy, businesses,pensions and foreign aid.In its budget, the government

also plans to raise both capitalgains tax and corporation tax,the Sunday Times added.Finance Minister Rishi Sunak

is considering a proposal toboost corporation tax to 24 percent from 19 per cent, a movethat would raise £12-billion nextyear, rising to £17-billion in2023-24, the paper said.The Treasury did not immedi-

ately respond.Britain’s economic recovery

from the shock of the pandemichas gathered pace, data showedthis month, but governmentborrowing has exceeded £2-trillion and fears of future joblosses are mounting.The economy still faces a long

recovery after shrinking by arecord 20 per cent in the secondquarter, the largest decline ofany big country.Britain entered lockdown in

late March and shops in Englandonly reopened fully on June 15.REUTERS

U.K. TREASURY PROPOSINGTAX HIKE TO FILL GAP LEFTBY PANDEMIC, REPORTS SAY

As the sale of TikTok enters its final stages,Beijing is saying it wants the last word.In a bureaucratic two-step, China on Fri-

dayupdated its export control rules to cov-er a variety of technologies it deemed sen-sitive, including technology that soundedmuch like TikTok’s personalized recom-mendation engine. Then on Saturday, thecountry’s official Xinhua news agencypublished commentary by a professorwho said the new rule would mean thatthe video app’s parent, the Chinese inter-net giant ByteDance Ltd., might need a li-cence to sell its technology to anAmericansuitor.Beijing’s last-minute assertion of au-

thority is an unexpected wrinkle for a dealas two groups race to buy TikTok’s U.S. op-erations before the Trump administrationbans the app. Taken together, the rulechange and the commentary in officialmedia signalled China’s intention to dic-tate termsover apotential deal, thoughex-perts said it remained unclear whether theChinese government would go as far as tosink it.Themoves fromBeijing ensnare TikTok

and potential American buyers includingMicrosoft Corp. and Oracle Corp., wedgingthem in themiddle of a tussle between theUnited States and China over the future of

global technology. Beijing’s displeasurealone could scare off TikTok’s suitors,many of whom have operations in China.TikTok is the most globally successful appever produced by a Chinese company, andthe conflict over its fate could further frac-ture the internet and plunge the world’stwo largest economies into adeeper stand-off.“At a minimum they’re flexing their

muscles and saying, ‘We get a say in thisand we’re not going to be bystanders,’ ”said Scott Kennedy, a senior adviser at theWashington-basedCenter for Strategic andInternational Studies who studies Chineseeconomic policy.“It could be an effort to outright block

the sale, or just raise the price, or attachconditions to it to give China leveragedown the road,” he said.If Beijing blocks the sale of TikTok, it

would effectively be calling the Trump ad-ministration’s bluff, forcing the U.S. gov-ernment to actually go through with re-stricting the app and potentially incurringthe wrath of its legions of influencers andfans. Ordering companies such as AppleInc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google to takedown TikTok in app stores globally couldalso prompt further anger against theTrump administration and even lawsuits.China’s changes to its export rules came

just as ByteDance had signalled that it wasclose to reaching a resolutionon the futureof TikTok’s business in the United States.President Donald Trump this month is-sued an executive order restricting Amer-icans’ dealings with TikTok beginning inmid-September. He and other WhiteHouse officials have said the app could bea Trojan Horse for data gathering by theChinese Communist Party, an accusationthat ByteDance has denied. That set off the

deal negotiations.In Friday’s update to the export control

rules, China’s Commerce Ministry and itsScience and Technology Ministry restrict-ed the export of “technologybasedondataanalysis for personalized information rec-ommendation services.” TikTok plays upits ability to use technology to understandusers’ interests and fill their feeds withmore of what they will enjoy watching.In the Saturday article published by

Xinhua, a professor of international tradeat China’s University of International Busi-ness and Economics, Cui Fan, said that By-teDance’s technologies would most likelybe covered by the new export controls.“If ByteDance plans to export relevant

technologies, it should go through the li-censing procedures,” the article cited Prof.Cui as saying. Any sale of TikTok wouldmost likely require the transfer overseas ofcode and technical services, the articlesaid.“It is recommended that ByteDance se-

riously study the adjusted catalog, andcarefully consider whether it is necessaryto suspend the substantive negotiation ofrelated transactions, perform the legaldeclaration procedures and then take fur-ther actions as appropriate,” Prof. Cui wasquoted as saying.Mr. Kennedy said it was exceedingly

rare for a professor to make commentsabout a specific, in-progress deal, and itsignalled that ByteDance would now haveto consult Chinese authorities about thecontrols.Mr. Kennedy saidChina’s ultimatemoti-

vation in holding up or thwarting the dealcould be, at minimum, a “knee-jerk asser-tion of sovereignty.”

NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

People in Beijing check their phones next to a TikTok advertisement on Aug. 24. If Beijing eventually blocks the sale of social-media appTikTok, it would force the U.S. to move ahead on the Trump administration’s threat to restrict the platform. TINGSHU WANG/REUTERS

China’s revised export-control rulesmark potential upset for TikTok dealExpert says Beijing’s changesto guidelines late last weekmay be an effort to block sale,raise price, or attach conditions

PAUL MOZURRAYMOND ZHONGDAVID McCABE

COVID-19 continues to have a pro-found effect on our lives and live-lihoods. Across Canada, we’veunited in common purpose to re-

spond, recover and ultimately thrive – acause for optimism. However, we’ve alsobeen reminded in recent months thatwe’ve failed to live up to our declared val-ues of equity, diversity and inclusion.One issue we must address is the limit-

ed diversity on boards of non-profit orga-nizations. While we’ve made good pro-gress with women, that is not the casewith racialized groups. The recent 2020Diversity Leads report, released by the Di-versity Institute at Ryerson University,found that while 51 per cent of Toronto’spopulation is racialized, just 16.2 per centof voluntary-sector board directors are ra-cialized.In Vancouver, 49 per cent of the pop-

ulation is racialized, compared with 16.8per cent of directors. A scan of websites ofnon-profit organizations indicates thatmany prominent boards have zero Black,Indigenous and people of colour – or BI-POC – directors.These numbers speak volumes. A large

proportion of non-profit boards simply donot reflect the talent pool, nor the peoplethey serve. When boards don’t have direc-tors with diverse lived experience or whounderstand important histories and cul-tural nuances of the groups they serve,can they optimally govern and address

the needs of the entire community?Diversity is a demographic fact in Cana-

da. Inclusion is a choice.Inclusion has many benefits. When ef-

forts are made to harness diversity andcreate an environment where all can con-tribute their best, it changes the quality ofconversations, leads to creativity and in-novation and fosters a constructive chal-lenge that strengthens governance. Ittakes new behaviours and ways of doingthings to harness this diversity.Much work is required to fully address

systemic barriers, but we must act now.We don’t need to wait for yet another re-search report.As civic leaders sitting on non-profit

boards, we must act and model for others.Consider taking these actions:

TALK ABOUT IT ANDESTABLISH BASELINE DATAPut diversity on your next meeting agen-da and have a meaningful, possibly un-comfortable, conversation. Then invest indeeper learning.Collect diversity data, disaggregated for

racialized groups, as experiences vary.This is a pretty simple task and will helpyou determine your current state.

AIM HIGHER. SET GOALSAND REPORT TRANSPARENTLYEstablish representation goals. Organiza-tions set goals for all important issues.Transparently communicate goals andoutcomes through annual reports, web-sites and donor communications to stayaccountable and inspire others. If wearen’t keeping score, we’re just practising.Advocate for transparent diversity re-

porting for the sector.

ASSESS DIRECTOR RECRUITMENT POLICIESReview director recruitment policies andpractices, including the skills matrix, toidentify systemic barriers – then take de-

liberate action to remove them.For example, do all directors need to

have fundraising capacity as individualsor through corporate or personal affilia-tions? Consider adding lived experienceor deep understanding of histories andcultures of racial and cultural groups inour communities to the skills matrix.

CAST A WIDER AND DEEPER NETRequest each director to identify at leastone BIPOC candidate. Be cautious of “cul-ture fit” – this can be code for “just-like-me” hiring. Look outside existing net-works, not simply the usual places. Con-sider a self-nomination process.

INCLUSION MEANS INTEGRATIONProvide customized onboarding supportand continued mentoring for new direc-tors. Pay attention to board culture. Dem-onstrate inclusive behaviours and watchfor microaggressions. Diversity withoutinclusion is hollow.

BE OPEN TO LEARNING AND ENHANCINGYOUR PRACTICESThis is not a one-and-done. Be open tofeedback, learning and continuing im-provements.The talent is out there, but boards need

to recognize the value of diversity and casta wider net. History has shown progresswill be glacial without strong leadership,ambitious goals, clear accountability andbold actions.This is amoment to collectively address

systemic racism against Black, racializedand Indigenous peoples, and achievegreater inclusion. It’s not simply the rightthing, it’s also the smart thing to do. Whenindividuals achieve their full potential, sodo organizations, economies and socie-ties.One thing is for sure: More of us must

speak up and, more importantly, takemeaningful action. If not now, thenwhen?

Not-for-profit boards also need diversity. If not now, then when?ZABEEN HIRJI

OPINION

Chair of CivicAction, a non-profit city-buildingorganization that brings together establishedand rising leaders from all sectors to addresspressing issues in the Greater Toronto andHamilton Area. She is also executive adviseron the Future of Work at Deloitte, andexecutive-in-residence at Simon FraserUniversity’s Beedie School of Business inVancouver.

B4 O THE GLOBE AND MAIL | MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020| REPORT ON BUSINESS

DILBERT

Confronting a climate crisisthat threatens the fossil fuelindustry, oil companies are

racing to make more plastic. Butthey face two problems: Manymarkets are already awash withplastic, and few countries arewilling to be dumping groundsfor the world’s plastic waste.The industry thinks it has

found a solution to both prob-lems in Africa.According to documents re-

viewed by The New York Times,an industry group representingthe world’s largest chemical-makers and fossil fuel companiesis lobbying to influence U.S. tradenegotiations with Kenya, one ofAfrica’s biggest economies, to re-verse its strict limits on plastics –including a tough plastic-bagban. It is also pressing for Kenyato continue importing foreignplastic garbage, a practice it haspledged to limit.Plastics-makers are looking

well beyond Kenya’s borders.“We anticipate that Kenya

could serve in the future as ahub for supplying U.S.-madechemicals and plastics to othermarkets in Africa through thistrade agreement,” Ed Brzytwa, di-rector of international trade forthe American Chemistry Council,wrote in an April 28 letter to theOffice of the United States TradeRepresentative.The United States and Kenya

are in the midst of trade negotia-tions, and the Kenyan President,Uhuru Kenyatta, has made clearhe is eager to strike a deal. But thebehind-the-scenes lobbying bythe petroleum companies hasspread concern among environ-mental groups in Kenya and be-yond that have been working toreduce both plastic use andwaste.Kenya, like many countries,

has wrestled with the prolifera-tion of plastic. It passed a strin-gent law against plastic bags in2017, and last year it was one ofmany countries around theworldthat signed on to a global agree-ment to stop importing plasticwaste – a pact strongly opposedby the chemical industry.The chemistry council’s plas-

tics proposals would “inevitablymeanmore plastic and chemicalsin the environment,” said GriffinsOchieng, executive director forthe Centre for EnvironmentalJustice and Development, a non-profit group based inNairobi thatworks on the problem of plasticwaste in Kenya. “It’s shocking.”The plastics proposal reflects

an oil industry contemplating itsinevitable decline as the worldfights climate change. Profits areplunging amid the coronaviruspandemic, and the industry isfearful that climate change willforce the world to retreat fromburning fossil fuels. Producersare scrambling to find new usesfor an oversupply of oil and gas.Wind and solar power are becom-ing increasingly affordable, andgovernments are weighing newpolicies to fight climate changeby reducing the burning of fossilfuels.Pivoting to plastics, the indus-

try has spent more than US$200-billion on chemical and manu-facturing plants in the UnitedStates over the past decade. Butthe United States already con-sumes as much as 16 times more

plastic than many poor coun-tries, and a backlash against sin-gle-use plastics has made ittougher to sell more at home.In 2019, U.S. exporters shipped

more than 1 billion pounds ofplastic waste to 96 countries in-cluding Kenya, ostensibly to berecycled, according to trade sta-tistics. But much of the waste, of-ten containing the hardest-to-re-cycle plastics, instead ends up inrivers and oceans.And after China closed its

ports to most plastic trash in2018, exporters have been look-ing for new dumping grounds.Exports to Africa more than qua-drupled in 2019 from a year earli-er.Ryan Baldwin, a spokesman

for the American ChemistryCouncil, said the group’s propos-als tackle the global importanceof dealing with waste. The lettersays that there is “a global needto support infrastructure devel-opment to collect, sort, recycleand process used plastics, partic-ularly in developing countriessuch as Kenya.”The talks are in early stages,

and it is not yet clear if trade ne-gotiators have adopted the indus-try’s proposals. But industriestypically have a strong voice inshaping trade policy, and busi-ness lobbyists have won similarconcessions before.In talks withMexico and Cana-

da in 2018, for instance, chem-icals– and pesticides-makers lob-bied for, and won, terms makingit tougher for those countries toregulate the industries. At thesame talks, trade negotiators,urged on by U.S. food companies,also tried to restrict Mexico andCanada from warning peopleabout the dangers of junk foodon labelling but dropped the planafter a public outcry.The Kenya proposal “really

sets off alarm bells,” said SharonTreat, a senior lawyer at the non-partisan Institute for Agricultureand Trade Policy who hasworkedfor more than a decade advisingtrade talks in both the TrumpandObama administrations. Cor-porate lobbyists “frequently offerup very specific proposals, whichthe government then takes up,”

she said.Last year, Kenya was one of

many countries around theworldthat signed on to a global agree-ment to stop importing plasticwaste – a pact strongly opposedby the chemical industry.E-mails reviewed by the Times

showed industry representatives,many of them former trade offi-cials, working with U.S. negotia-tors last year to try to stall thoserules.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s 386-acre plastics plant outside Pitts-burgh is billed as the anchor for anew petrochemical hub in Appa-lachia, a region reeling from thecollapse of the coal industry.Plants such as these have revolu-tionized the plastics industry byturning fracked natural gas intothe manufacturing material formillions of plastic bottles, bags,clamshell containers, drinkingstraws and a parade of otherproducts, tapping into a seeming-ly endless supply of cheap shalegas from America’s booming oiland gas fields. Among local com-munities, the plants have raisedair pollution concerns.

Across theU.S., almost 350newchemical plants are in the works,according to an industry tally, to-gether representing oil compa-nies’ life-or-death bet on plasticsas the future.But now the coronavirus pan-

demic has caused not only oiland gas prices to plummet, butplastics prices, too. Last month,oil giants including Shell, ExxonMobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.reported some of their worst fi-nancial results in history, leadingsome analysts to questionwheth-er the new plastics plants woulddeliver on the profits the compa-nies expected.A Shell spokesman said that

while the “short-term outlook forthis business is challenging,” overthe long term, “products derivedfrom petrochemicals will contin-ue to grow and provide attractivereturns.” An ExxonMobil spokes-man said the company “sharessociety’s concern about plasticwaste” and aims to investmore insolutions to end it. Dow referredqueries to the American Chemis-try Council. Chevron did not re-spond to requests for comment.Against that backdrop, Mr. Ke-

nyatta visited theWhite House inFebruary, eager to start tradetalks. Kenya currently can sendmost of its exports to the UnitedStates duty-free under a regionalprogram, but that expires in 2025.The petrochemicals industry

sensed an opening.Exxon Mobil has forecast that

global demand for petrochemi-cals could rise by nearly 45 percent over the next decade, signif-

icantly outpacing global econom-ic growth and energy demand.Most of that would come fromemerging markets.The American Chemistry

Council’s April 28 letter to thetrade representative’s office laidout the group’s vision. Kenya’sgrowing ports, railways and roadnetworks “can support an expan-sion of chemicals trade not justbetween the United States andKenya, but throughout East Afri-ca and the continent,” Mr. Brzyt-wa wrote.To foster a plastics hub, he

wrote, a trade deal with Kenyashould prevent the country frommeasures that would curb plasticmanufacture or use, and ensureKenya continues to allow trade inplastic waste, demands that ex-perts said were unusual and in-trusive.Those terms could “literally

encapsulate every kind of bagban, bottle ban,” said Jane Patton,a plastics expert at the Center forInternational EnvironmentalLaw. She called it an industry-ledeffort “to erode these democrat-ically enacted policies” in foreigncountries.Daniel Maina, founder of the

Kisiwani Conservation Networkin Mombasa, Kenya, said thetrade talks were coming at a par-ticularly vulnerable time, as Ke-nya was starting to feel the eco-nomic effects of the pandemic. “Ifthey were to force this sort oftrade agreement on us, I fear wewill be easy prey,” he said.

NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

Kenya is key to Big Oil’s plan to flood Africa with plasticHIROKO TABUCHIMICHAEL CORKERYCARLOS MUREITHI

People root through waste plastic and other garbage at a dump in Nakuru, Kenya. Hit by plunging profits and falling demand for fossil fuels, the oilindustry is pushing a U.S. trade deal with Kenya that weakens rules on plastic manufacturing and disposal. KHADIJA M. FARAH/THE NEW YORK TIMES

After China closed itsports to most plastic

trash in 2018, exportershave been looking fornew dumping grounds.Exports to Africa morethan quadrupled in 2019

from a year earlier.

Shutdowns during the CO-VID-19 pandemic led to asurge in online buying, and

many Canadian retailers say thecrisis has significantly accelerat-ed their plans for e-commerce de-velopment. But the biggest bene-ficiary is not a Canadian retailer.Nearly 80per cent of people re-

ported buying something fromAmazon. com Inc. in the past sixmonths, according to a July sur-vey of 1,350 Canadians by Toron-to-based firm Solutions ResearchGroup. That was far ahead of oth-er retailers including WalmartInc., Costco Wholesale Corp. andCanadian Tire Corp.But one area where Amazon

has not yet built a large presencein Canada is in online groceryshopping, which has grown sub-stantially in recentmonths. Near-ly half of those surveyed said theyhave bought groceries online inthe past six months. Familieswith children were the biggestonline grocery shoppers, with 57

per cent saying they had boughtin the past sixmonths, and 47 percent in the past month.The big question for many re-

tailers iswhether thesehabitswillstick as the economy reopens,and as consumers feel safe ven-turing out once again.“Among those who ordered

groceries online, 53 per cent saidthis would be something they

would continue to do ‘long afterthe pandemic is over,’ ” said Solu-tions Research president KaanYi-git. “My take is, there will be asoftening of these grocery num-bers as things open up … buteven then, you’d better find an-other business to be in unless youareprepared todeliver to the con-sumer’s door, if that’s what theywant.”

Will the online grocery shopping surge last?SUSAN KRASHINSKY ROBERTSONRETAILING REPORTER

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MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 | THE GLOBE AND MAIL O B5REPORT ON BUSINESS |

But the pandemic promptedSurepoint staff to use the head-sets for other purposes, too, in-cluding giving clients project up-dates from afar because theycan’t travel. Soon they realizedthat same gear could allow peo-ple in remote communities to getaccess to health specialists whocan’t be there in person. Thecompany has since launched awhole new business line to get itsgear to these communities.Chief executive officer Trevor

Muir is now a VR and AR evange-list: “It’s actually easier to thinkof cases you couldn’t use it for,because what you can do is un-limited.”The company’s HoloLens

headsets include software madeby Fredericton’s Kognitiv Sparkthat eases data transfer evenwhen a person is so remote thatthey have a single bar of recep-tion on a 3G network, Mr. Muirsaid.By exchanging and visualizing

information to solve problems inextremely remote locations, Kog-nitiv Spark’s Remote Spark soft-ware can drastically reduce traveltime and budgets, its CEO YanSimard said. Though that valueproposition was enticing beforethe pandemic, it’s skyrocketingnow: Mr. Simard expects revenueto jump by a factor of four –may-be even five – this year versuslast.“I think we’re at the beginning

of a big trendwheremixed realityis going to be embedded moreandmore in industrial work,” Mr.Simard said.Many of the major players in-

vesting in augmented reality andvirtual reality are the usual WestCoast U.S. heavyweights – includ-ing Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc.,Qualcomm Inc., Google parentAlphabet Inc. and MicrosoftCorp. Among those making thebiggest use of the technology arereal estate companies, who aredoing virtual stagings and openhouses to give prospective buyerspandemic-safe home tours, ande-commerce operators. SomeShopify Inc. web stores now letshoppers project 3-D images ofproducts such as bikes in front ofthem using mobile devices.The mobile ad-technology

company Native Touch was gear-ing up a newARproduct last win-ter when the pandemic struck.Revenue plummeted for the

Montreal- and Toronto-basedcompany as clients pulled out

and took their ad spends withthem, so staff accelerated theirhunt for customers who’d wantAR ads. Eventually, Native Touchconnected with Clearly, theFrench-owned, Vancouver-basedeyewear maker that lets prospec-tive buyers virtually “try on” itsglasses on its website – and of-fered to extend that ability to itsadvertisements.This summer, the two compa-

nies rolled out ads that allowedpeople who saw the Clearly adson mobile devices to try on threedifferent kinds of glasses right inthe app. The result was muchhigher engagement, said NativeTouch CEO Saad Uddin – like tak-ing a car for a test drive beforeeven visiting a showroom. Adviewers who “tried on” the glass-es were 10 times more likely tovisit Clearly’s web store.After early pandemic layoffs,

Native Touch is now hiring again,and speaking to clients in a varie-ty of industries. “Everyone is get-

ting ready to push their digitalbudgets,” Mr. Uddin said.The boon in AR and VR ex-

tends to training opportunities,too. “As businesses push class-room training to thewayside, thisis a way to do collaborative learn-ing remotely,” said Lorne Fade,co-founder of Toronto’s VRVision Inc.Though the four-year-old

company has developed VR sys-tems that allow seniors and peo-ple unable to travel to try “bucketlist experiences,” it’s spent muchof the past two years focused onimmersive training.That includes fire-safety train-

ing and hazard identificationtraining with VR headsets, thelatter of which Mr. Fade says hiscompany provides for a large au-to company. Inbound calls havetripled since the pandemic beganas companies increasingly seekways to train staff remotely, hesaid: “VR allows you to physicallyre-enact tasks, so it works really

well for training efficacy.”This shift has also prompted

changes to medical training. TheVancouver company PrecisionOS Technology Inc. launched in2017 to help orthopedic surgeonswith training. The company usesFacebook’s Oculus Quest headsetto simulate surgeries in a virtualenvironment. “We never had theability to fail in a safe, low-riskenvironment,” said Danny Goel,its CEO and an orthopedic sur-geon himself.The pandemic, he said, has

forced a reduction in the numberof people who can enter manyoperating rooms, preventingsome health care professionalsfrom real-life training opportuni-ties.As a result, the company has

since expanded into orthopedicsurgical nurse training, too. Vir-tual reality, Dr. Goel said, “is go-ing to help drive a major changein how we think about educationin health care.”

Reality: Lockdown accelerated everything from remote training to virtual sales pitchesFROM B1

VR Vision co-foundersLorne Fade, left, and RoniCerga demonstrate theToronto company’s VRand AR headsets, whichare used extensively inimmersive training.CHRISTOPHER KATSAROV/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Someadvocates of a basic incomewelcomed the CRB as a first steptoward a full-fledged program,pointing to amore generous pay-mentstructure thatdoesn’tdupli-cate private-sector wage inequi-ties.“It corrects for problems in the

labourmarket rather than simplypatching them up,” says SheilaRegehr, chair of the Basic IncomeCanadaNetwork,whopraised theCRBas “moving in the right direc-tion” toward a basic income guar-antee.Amajorpartof thatmove is the

floor for benefits that the Liberalshave set, $400 a week. It meansworkers who had full-time mini-mum wage jobs and lost incomebecause of the pandemic wouldreceive benefits that range from66per cent of their previous earn-ings inNunavut (whichhas Cana-da’s highest hourly minimumwage, $16), to 94 per cent in Sas-katchewan (with the country’slowest, at $11.32). The earnings ofpart-time workers could actuallyincrease, even if they did not findemployment to topuptheirbene-fits.In any case, the lower-wage

worker would be better off thanunder the pre-existing rules forEmployment Insurance, whichreplace just 55 per cent of wages.(However, theLiberals alsoarees-tablishing a $400 floor for EI pay-ments, sopeopleonEmploymentInsurance are not treated differ-ently. The CRB is designed forthose who don’t qualify for EI,mostly the self-employed andthose who have just entered thework force.)Ms. Regehr said the floor for

payments is “extraordinarily im-portant,” adding that she arguedfor such a change to EI maternityand parental leave benefits in the1990swhenshewasa federalpub-lic servant.Although the floor for the Can-

ada Emergency Response Benefitis $500 a week, the new programis far more generous than theCERB in allowing recipients tosupplement their benefits withearnings. And in a sharp breakwith the structureof EIpayments,

the CRB allows recipients to con-tinue to receive benefits even ifthey are working full-time.Under the CERB, recipients

could earn only $1,000 a month;one additional dollar of earningscost them the entire $2,000 bene-fit. But CRB benefits are not re-duced until a recipient earns$38,000 in a given year. After thatpoint, each dollar of earnings re-duces theCRBbenefit by 50 cents,to be repaid when filing incometaxes, with the full 26 weeks ofbenefitsbeingclawedbackentire-ly once a recipient earns $58,800.The structure is much less gener-ous under EI, where the 50-per-cent clawback starts on the firstdollar earned.Minimum-wage earners on

CRBwouldnotevencomeclose tothe income level at which theclawback starts. A full-time mini-mumwage in Ontario, based on a37 1/2 hour week, is $27,300; aworkerwouldneed to earnnearly$20 an hour before the clawbackkicked in, and could earn morethan$30anhourbefore thebene-

fit was entirely eliminated.Taken together, those ele-

ments of the CRB create an earn-ings floor for lowerearnersandal-low them to increase their in-comesbyworking. Theminimumwage earner in Ontario, for in-stance, who found new employ-ment immediately could contin-ue to collect the CRB while work-ing, ending up with an incometopping $37,000 – an increase ofmore than a third.Similarly, a self-employed

worker could receive the benefit,minus any clawback, while stillearning nearly all of their regularincome. Any involuntary reduc-tion in income, as long as it wascaused by the coronavirus eco-nomic crisis, is sufficient to qual-ify.Ms. Qualtroughwas not availa-

ble for an interview. Butwhen sheannouncedtheCRBlastweek, shesaid she did not agree with theidea of a universal basic income,and that the Liberals preferred totarget benefits to those most inneed.

However, that preference fortargeting isn’t at oddswith a basicincome guarantee. Ms. Regehrnotes that even a full-fledged ba-sic income guarantee program isnot universal, in the sense that allcitizens receive payments. In-stead, she says, a basic-incomeguarantee is universal in thesense that, like health care, it isavailable to those who need it.That seconddefinitionwould stillmean the government was pro-viding targeted aid.Ms. Regehr said another note-

worthy change is the less strin-gent conditions attached to CRBbenefits; recipients need only at-test that they earned $5,000 in2019 or 2020, that they have lostemployment income, and thatthey are looking for work. Quali-fying for EI is more difficult thanfor the CRB, but the governmentis setting a lower bar during theeconomic crisis.The CRB bears some similari-

ties to the basic income proposalMs. Regehr’s group floated in Ja-nuary. Under that plan, single

adults would receive $22,000 ayear, but would lose 40 cents foreach dollar of earnings, with ben-efits being entirely eliminatedonce their income rose above$55,000.But there is at least one signif-

icant difference: the CRB has amuch narrower base. It excludesthose eligible for EI, those not inthe work force and those whohave continued to work butwhose wages are lower than thebenefit. Because of that narrowerbase, it is much less expensivethan a full-fledged basic incomeguarantee.Last month, the Parliamentary

Budget Officer estimated the six-month cost of a basic incomepro-gram to be between $47.5-billion(with a 50-per-cent clawback ofbenefits from earnings) and$98.1-billion (with a 15-per-centclawback.) All of its scenarios as-sumed that some existing socialspendingandtaxcreditswouldbewrapped into the basic-incomepayments, with exceptions madefordisability andotherpayments.However, a universal basic in-

come approach, in which all Can-adians receive payments, wouldbe vastly more expensive. JackMintz, president’s fellow at theSchool of Public Policy at the Uni-versity of Calgary, estimated in apaper for the Macdonald-LaurierInstitute that such a program,paying $30,000 per household,would cost $420-billion. Payingfor it would entail either a highflat tax rate of 49 per cent, or evenhigher marginal rates under pro-gressive taxation.In an interview, Mr. Mintz said

theCRBcouldbeviewedasa“par-tial step” toward a basic income,although it currently applies onlyto working people, and other so-cial spending has not been wrap-ped into it.Thenext step, he said, could be

expandingEI into a systemofuni-versal payments to lower- andmiddle-income working people.“We’ll have to see how far theywant to go down the road.”

Tax and Spend is a weekly seriesthat examines the intricacies andoddities of taxation and governmentspending.

CRB: New program allows recipients to supplement their benefits with earningsFROM B1

People line up at a Service Canada office in Montreal in March. Last month, Canada’s Parliamentary BudgetOfficer estimated the six-month cost of a basic income program to be between $47.5-billion and $98.1-billion.PAUL CHIASSON/THE CANADIAN PRESS

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IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES’ CREDITORS ARRANGEMENTACT, R.S.C. 1985, c. C 36, AS AMENDED

AND IN THE MATTER OF H WORK, LLC, RGN-GROUP HOLDINGS,LLC, RGN-NATIONAL BUSINESS CENTERS, LLC, RGN-FORT

LAUDERDALE III, LLC, RGN-COLUMBUS IV, LLC, RGN-CHICAGOXVI, LLC, AND RGN-CHAPEL HILL II, LLC

(collectively, the “CHAPTER 11 DEBTORS”)PLEASE BE ADVISED that this Notice is being published pursuantto an order of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (CommercialList) (the “Canadian Court”), granted on August 24, 2020(the “Recognition Order”).

PLEASETAKENOTICE that theChapter11Debtorscommencedvoluntaryreorganization cases (the “Chapter 11 Cases”) pursuant to chapter 11of title 11 of the United States Code with the United States BankruptcyCourt for the District of Delaware (the “US Court”). In connectionwith the Chapter 11 Cases, the Chapter 11 Debtors have appointedRGN-National Business Centers, LLC as the foreign representative ofthe Chapter 11 Debtors (the “Foreign Representative”). The ForeignRepresentative’s address is 3000 Kellway Drive, Suite 140, Carrolton(Dallas), Texas 75006.

AND TAKE NOTICE that pursuant to the Recognition Order issuedby the Canadian Court under Part IV of the Companies’ CreditorsArrangement Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-36 (the “CCAA”), (i) RGN-NationalBusiness Centers, LLC was recognized as “foreign representative”; (ii)the Chapter 11 Cases were recognized as “foreign main proceedings”;(iii) a stay of proceedings against the Chapter 11 Debtors was granted;(iv) KSV Kofman Inc. was appointed as the Information Officer withrespect to the proceedings in the Canadian Court; and (v) certain ordersentered by the U.S. Court in the Chapter 11 Cases were recognized bythe Canadian Court.

AND TAKE NOTICE that materials filed with and issued by the CanadianCourt may be viewed online at: https://www.ksvadvisory.com/insolvency-cases/case/rgn-national-business-centers. If you wish toreceive copies of such materials or obtain further information in respectof the matters set forth in this Notice, you may contact the InformationOfficer at:

KSV KOFMAN INC.150 King Street West, Suite 2308Toronto, Ontario, M5H 1J9Attention: Mitch VininskyEmail: mvininsky@ksvadvisory.com

PLEASE FINALLY TAKE NOTICE that Canadian counsel for the ForeignRepresentative is:

STIKEMAN ELLIOTT LLP5300 Commerce Court West199 Bay Street, Toronto ON M5L 1B9Attention: Lee NicholsonEmail: leenicholson@stikeman.com

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surviving him two children, one of whom is Edward HerbertWoods whose whereabouts are unknown;

b) a grant of administration for the estate of Herbert Alvin EdwardWoods (the “Estate”) was issued to CIBC Trust Corporation, theAdministrator of the Estate on December 3, 2018;

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B6 O THE GLOBE AND MAIL | MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020| REPORT ON BUSINESS

F lexible short-term work-spaces from companies suchas WeWork, Spaces or Regus

were once hailed as the future ofthe office as more peoplebranched off into startups, free-lance and gig work that allowedthem to work from anywhere,with only intermittent need foroffices.As the conceptmatured, larger

businesses moved to fill some ofthe spaces, looking to off-loadempty buildings and expensivelease agreements from their bal-ance sheets. At WeWork, the en-terprise division accounted formore than 50 per cent of its corerevenue for the first time in thesecond quarter of this year.Then the COVID-19 pandemic

arrived. Many businesses rushedto set up staff for remoteworking,and others have vastly differentoffice setups owing to physical-distancing protocols.WeWork drastically cut capaci-

ty in shared spaces to promotedistancing, filling every otherdesk in shared spacesonce toutedasnetworkingmeltingpots. Largelounges have been cut to 18 seatsfrom 25, while smaller loungeshave had occupancy cut to sixfrom 10, or to four from six. Meet-ing-room capacity has also beenhalved, according to the compa-ny’s guidebook.WeWork Canada vice-presi-

dent Stephen Tapp said that de-spite capacity cuts, the companyhas not seen a dent in sales be-cause the enterprise business in-volves other companies whomanage their own capacity – andin many cases need additionalspace to spread out their employ-ees.Colin Scarlett, executive vice-

president of Colliers Canada, saidhehashad several clientsmove tosmaller head offices but supple-mentwith client-facing flex spacefrom a co-working company.“To pick up and move into ei-

ther a smaller spaceorpotentiallya bigger space, there’s a capitalcost component to that:Youneedto build walls, put carpet down,buy furniture. Where if youmoveto a co-working company, the co-

working company spends all thatmoney for you,” Mr. Scarlett said.Canadian co-working compa-

ny Workhaus previously cateredto companies with four to 12workers, with no one firm dom-inating the culture inWorkhaus’sshared spaces. Unfortunately,some of those upstarts simplycan’t afford to keep an officespace any more, even a small,shared one.“Like most other co-working

spaces, a key difficulty is that wetake on all the exposure in thelong-term lease.And in return,weoffer completely flexible rentalterms,” Workhaus partner andchief operating officer RyanSpeers said. “Young startups andsmall businesses have been im-pacted severely…wesawa signif-icant, substantial drop in revenueimmediately, as soon as the lock-out came into effect.”Mr. Speers said it makes sense

that larger companiesmay canceltheir long-term leases downtownand instead rotate staffers in andout of smaller, flexible workspaces such as Workhaus, whichnow offers services for the CO-VID-19 era such as scheduling

desk availability and collectinginformation for contact tracing.But even before COVID-19, co-

working spaces were not easy tooperate.WeWorkwas losingmon-ey and cut 20 per cent of its workforce in 2019. The pandemic hasalso tarnished many of the previ-ously alluring aspects of co-work-ing spaces: locations in crowdeddowntown cores, open-conceptshared floor plans and social andeducational events.CBRE research estimated that

between the end of 2017 to 2019,there was a 79-per-cent increasein thenumberof square feet dedi-cated to co-working in Canada –but two players, WeWork andIWG, own nearly 60 per cent ofthe Canadian market.That mass scale has only be-

come more important as peoplereturn to work in a pandemic,said Wayne Berger, Toronto-based chief executive of IWGAmericas, which operates Spacesand Regus.“We are seeing companies

turning to their employees andgiving them options,” Mr. Bergersaid. “Employees are still con-cerned about utilizing mass tran-

sit, are trying to determine whatthe back-to-school [world] lookslike. Workers aren’t fully able todetermine what their schedulelooks like, and also there’s differ-ent levels of comfort in comingback toadowntownurbancore…we are seeing a very high demandin suburban locations and alsoplaces like Regina, [Ontario ci-ties] Barrie, Oakville, Mississau-ga, Markham, Hamilton, [andBritish Columbia’s] Burnaby,Richmond. It gives people someoptions to work closer to wherethey are.”As co-working spaces become

increasingly corporate, small in-dependents such as Toronto’s theWorkaround are positioningthemselves as local businessesthat offer more safety and men-tal-health benefits to people whodon’t want to be exposed to largeor busy shared spaces where con-tagions could spread.“The successof co-workingwill

be in niche [co-working spaces],”said Amanda Munday, founderand CEO of the Workaround. “It’slike a gym. I’m a little worried togo back to a big corporate gymwhere you don’t know who’s

coming in the door. But I’m will-ing to return to my local studio,because it’s the same 10 people Isee all the time from the neigh-bourhood.”A big pre-COVID-19 selling

point for the company was drop-in desks, used by upward of 700people since the companyopened in 2018. The desks wereideal for individuals working on abig deadline who needed a fewweeks of focus here or there, saidMs. Munday, whose client basecentred on entrepreneurs whoneeded on-site child care.Despite the droves of belea-

guered working parents – coopedup at home and craving a deskand colleagues to chat with dur-ing the pandemic – that “hot-desking” model is no longer via-ble. The Workaround has had topivot to monthly membershipsfor desks that can only be used bymembers of the same household.“We all know it’s impossible to

work at home, it’s really difficultwith two working parents – a di-sasterbyanyone’sdefinition,”Ms.Munday said.

THE CANADIAN PRESS

Co-working companies adapt to COVID-19 measuresBusinesses such asWeWork have cutcapacities to allow forphysical distancingin shared work spaces

AN ITA BALAKR ISHNAN TORONTO

People walk past signage for co-working company WeWork in Beijing in May. Even before the pandemic, the company was losing money and cut 20per cent of its work force in 2019. WANG ZHAO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Qatar announced on Sundaychanges to its labour laws, raisingits minimum wage on Sunday by25 per cent to 1,000 riyals ($359) amonth and scrapping a require-mentforemployeestoget theper-mission of their employers tochange jobs.It is the latest in a series of la-

bour reforms by the 2022 FIFAWorld Cuphost, which in the leadup to the tournament has facedaccusations thatmigrantworkersare exploited.The new minimum wage is

non-discriminatory and appliesto all workers, the Labour Minis-try said. Companies must alsoprovide workers with accommo-dation and food or an additionalcombined monthly stipend of800 riyals, it said.The United Nations’ labour

agency welcomed the changes.The International Labour Or-

ganization said Qatar was to be-come the first country in the re-gion to adopt anon-discriminato-ryminimumwage.It also said, in addition to other

reforms, removing the need foremployees to obtain a No Objec-tion Certificate from their em-ployers tochange jobs“effectivelydismantles” the “kafala” system.The “kafala” sponsorship sys-

tem is common in Gulf states,where visas for foreign workersare tied to their employer.Qatar last December scrapped

restrictions on leaving the coun-try for hundreds of thousands ofdomesticworkers left out of earli-er reforms.The changes announced on

Sundaywill come intoeffect in sixmonths, theLabourMinistry said.

REUTERS

Qatar raisesminimumwage as partof labour-lawreformsDUBAI

MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 | THE GLOBE AND MAIL O B7REPORT ON BUSINESS |

And that means their effective-ness will be badly hindered if thestrategy resets every time there’sa change in government or evenif that looms as a possibility.Consider industrial policy, es-

pecially. There are all kinds ofthings that Ottawa could do, aspart of its recovery strategy, to tryto attract investment – subsidiesfor specific sectors, tax breaks, in-frastructure upgrades, skillstraining. But investors will behesitant to make long-term com-mitments based on any of those,if they know the incentives couldbe abruptly yanked away when-ever there is an election.In a functioning democracy,

rival parties obviously need tooffer varying options to voters.And when it comes to economicpolicy, the two leading Canadianones have genuine differences ofopinion. Mr. O’Toole has sig-nalled, for instance, a more skep-tical approach toward dealingswith China than the one Mr. Tru-deau has taken. His Conserva-tives will in almost any scenariobe somewhat more concerned bythe scale of deficits than willMr. Trudeau’s Liberals, more in-clined toward tax cuts, more un-reservedly supportive of fossilfuel industries.But the parties also agree on

more than they like to let on.Based on some of Mr. O’Toole’sleadership-campaign messagingaround the pandemic’s lessonthat Canada needs to be more“self-reliant,” and on recent con-versationswith Conservative pol-icy experts, that may includesome shift away from the rela-tively laissez-faire economic ap-proach that has been in voguesince the 1980s. And to some ex-tent it could involve an embraceof more interventionist ap-proaches to building competitiveadvantages.They also may not be that far

apart on the need to modernizesupports to promote what theLiberals call “inclusive growth,”which is to say reducing pre-existing economic inequalitiesrather than having more Cana-dians left out of the recovery.The Tories’ criticism of the Lib-

erals’ early steps toward employ-ment-insurance reform has beenfairly muted, for instance, andthere has been less reflexive Con-servative dismissal of calls for a

national daycare program thanwhen the Liberals implementedone 15 years ago, only to have itswiftly scrapped when StephenHarper took office.But even in areas where par-

ties may broadly agree, there isalways a risk of a new govern-ment reinventing the wheel, toavoid their predecessors gettingany credit, and in the processslowing the path to whatever theintended outcome.Ideally, Mr. Trudeau and

Mr. O’Toole may respond to thestakes of this pivotal moment inhistory by establishing a contin-uing dialogue with each other.Along with leaders of the otherparties, they could find agree-ment on certain policy prioritiesand some of themeans to pursuethem, then make those publiclyknown to help build public andinvestor confidence.That wouldn’t necessitate

glossing over differences, neces-sarily. If they agreed that clean-economy transition is a worthy

goal, for example, they could stillcontinue to have differing takeson themerits of a carbon tax. Butthey could also conceivably agreeon specific green sectors thatthey want to support, particularforms of research and develop-ment funding or loan programsand tax mechanisms that theyagreed would help clean-techcompanies scale up.If lack of mutual trust makes

that level of co-operation unreal-istic, there’s another way thatMr. Trudeau could take some ini-tiative – during this period whenhis government still has only afairly vague idea of what its neweconomic agenda will look like –to try to avoid a recovery-plan-ning reset whenever the Liberalslose office.Rather than relying mostly on

ideas and advice offered behindclosed doors by ideologically like-minded policy advisers, he couldestablish amore public andmorecross-partisan process. If, say, anappointed panel included some

of the best and brightest fromConservative (and New Demo-cratic) policy circles alongsidethose from Liberal ones, it couldresult in a consensus recoveryroadmap that compelled futuregovernments – whatever theirstripe – to adopt at least somerecommendations.There would be echoes of the

way Mr. Trudeau’s governmentapproached the NAFTA renego-tiations during its first term,when it enlisted high-profileConservatives such as former in-terim leader Rona Ambrose andformer minister James Moore toserve alongside labour leadersand others on an advisory coun-cil. But there would have to be amore ambitious emphasis onpolicy development and less of apre-established preferred out-come.Even that may be too much to

expect, particularly when a mi-nority Parliament has the nextelection perpetually looming.The Liberals prefer to campaign

by suggesting that any popularinitiative on their part will be re-versed by the Conservatives. TheTories want to be able to pounceon any Liberal policy rollouts go-ing awry. Neither often sees polit-ical benefit in shared ownership.If those considerations prevail,

perhaps it would be best for Otta-wa’s inevitable late-summer elec-tion speculation to culminate inan actual federal campaign thisfall. Possibly one of the partieswould emerge with a majoritygovernment and some runway.But even a four-year term

would be over before the projectof navigating the postpandemicfuture was complete. And it’s justas likely that an election wouldresult in another minority Parlia-ment and no more stability thancurrently exists.A better bet, for politicians

seeking to build legacies out ofthis dark moment, would be toseize opportunities to untetherthe coming rebuild from electioncycles.

Radwanski: Liberals and Conservatives agree on more than they like to let on

New Tory Leader Erin O’Toole has signalled that he has a more skeptical approach toward dealings with China than the one Mr. Trudeau has taken.DAVE CHAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

FROM B1

In 2014, Calfrac shares on theToronto Stock Exchange hoveredaround $20. Two years later, theprice had crashed to $1.25. Thesedays, Calfrac shares trade forabout 15 cents.Calfrac reported a net loss of

$277-million for its second quar-ter ended June 30, after revenuesplunged by 79 per cent. And it isstaggering under $947-million inlong-term debt.“We’re mortified to be in this

spot,” company founder andexecutive chairman Ron Mathi-son told The Globe and Mail.As Calfrac pondered a recap-

italization plan this summer toavoid insolvency, Wilks – whichalready owns almost 20 per centof Calfrac – tossed out what itcalled a fiscal “life raft.” It pro-posed to buy up a large swath ofthe Calfrac debt it doesn’t al-ready own, swap the debt forshares and pay the strugglingcompany $80-million in cash.The swap and payment wouldhave given Wilks a 60-per-centequity stake in Calfrac.A special committee formed

by Calfrac’s board of directorsgave the Wilks plan a hard pass,but the Texans are not steppingdown. “We are patient andthoughtful and persistent, andwe’re not done here,” Matt Wilks,chief financial officer of ProFrac,told The Globe and Mail.Mr. Wilks contends that Cal-

frac is the perfect vehicle to spurmuch-needed industry consoli-dation through acquisitions onboth sides of the border, espe-cially once the Canadian compa-ny’s balance sheet is cleaned up.Consolidation is already a

reality in the energy sector, saysAroon Sequeira, chairman of Ed-monton-based investment bankSequeira Partners.Mr. Sequeira expects it to con-

tinue as small companies face fi-nancial strain due to low crudeprices and a harsh investmentclimate.Unable to access capital, those

companies are vulnerable to ac-tivist shareholders and creditorswho may want to take a run atthem, he says.Mr. Mathison agrees that con-

solidation in the patch is longoverdue, but says Wilks hasn’t

shown how it would operate twocompanies that compete directlywith one another.“How do you compete for

work if you have guys on bothsides of the street? Who’s goingto get the best crews? Who’s go-ing to get the best pricing?” hesaid.“I don’t know how you do

that. I think it’s conceptuallyflawed. You’d be continuouslycolliding.”In a practical sense, the Wilks

proposal was wiped off the tablewhen the Calfrac committee re-jected it. But the offer looms as afiscal elephant in the room asCalfrac’s current shareholdersand debt holders prepare for sep-arate votes on Sept. 17 on theboard’s recapitalization plan.The board says its proposal

would avoid insolvency by swap-ping roughly $510-million worthof debt for equity as part of acourt-supervised restructuring,lowering debt by $571.8-millionand annual interest expenses by$52.7-million.It would also keep Calfrac in-

dependent, saying in a circular toinvestors that “giving up controlof [Calfrac’s] future destiny is amatter of considerable impor-tance to stakeholders.”Mr. Mathison said 78 per cent

of holders of Calfrac unsecur-ed notes have signalled their

support for the board’s plan,though he’s under no illusions avote will spell the end of Wilks’sinterest in gaining control ofCalfrac.“If they want to buy the busi-

ness after the restructuring, theycan do that. But that is a differ-ent set of rules and they’ll beforced, effectively, to be transpar-ent,” he said.Wilks contends its proposal

will significantly de-lever Calfracand provide a “superior recoveryto stakeholders at all levels ofCalfrac’s capital structure.”It even set up a website called

A Fair Calfrac to promote itsplan, urging stakeholders to voteagainst the board’s proposal.“We have put together a pro-

posal that leaves the companywith a better balance sheet andleaves stakeholders in a betterposition than what the companyhas provided, where the onlywinners are insiders,” Mr. Wilkstold The Globe.He insists his company is “a

white knight, protecting theexisting stakeholders from in-siders stealing the company” anda deal that would see “a fewselect insiders … disproportion-ately enriched,”“The overall attempt here is to

paint us as being the bad guythat they’re protecting the com-pany from, but it’s just incredibly

dishonest,” Mr. Wilks said.But Mr. Mathison said it is

“laughable” for Wilks to paint it-self as a saviour.“They’re trying to do some-

thing which is so obviously intheir own, distinct best interest,”he said.“They’re trying to buy 60 per

cent of the business for whatwould be the lowest considera-tion for a business of this naturein recorded history, while at thesame time saying that they’reproviding the stakeholders a bigbenefit.”Pointing to recent court ac-

tions in which Wilks has arguedagainst granting Calfrac legalbankruptcy protection in Canadaand the U.S., Mr. Mathison saidWilks is trying to push Calfrac in-to insolvency and pick up its as-sets for a fraction of their worth.“So you’re a minority share-

holder and some guy says, ‘I’mtrying to protect you,’ ” he said.Yet Wilks is also saying, in es-

sence, “ ‘I’m going to try as hardas I possibly can – spare no ex-pense, hire the best attorneys –and I’m going to try to putyou into insolvency,’ which, bydefinition, would result in theshareholders getting nothing,”Mr. Mathison said.There are other wrinkles as

well. Under the board’s recapital-ization plan, Calfrac will issue$60-million in new notes with alien against the company. Ofthat, $18-million will go to G2S2Capital Inc., a Halifax-based in-vestment company under ArmcoCapital Inc.Armco founder George Ar-

moyan has bet big on buying upoil and gas company debt overthe past two years.His company owns about 20

per cent of oil service outfits Tri-canWell Service Ltd. andWesternEnergy Services Corp. Last year itacquired 16 per cent of BonavistaEnergy Corp. and was a key partof its recapitalization.A further $13-million of lien

notes are earmarked for MatcoInvestments Ltd., chaired byMr. Mathison. Of the rest, $14-million will go to an ad hocgroup of current debt holdersand $15-million to any notehold-ers who want to buy in.Mr. Wilks said issuing lien

notes to G2S2 essentially hands it

the reins of Calfrac, which flies inthe face of the board’s fiduciaryobligations to shareholders. Healso argued that striking a spe-cial committee to examine hisproposal – but ignore G2S2 –amounted to a double standard.Mr. Mathison countered that

Calfrac received specific legaland financial guidance on its fi-duciary duties, and followed thatadvice to a T. He said Calfractried to get Wilks to the tableearly on, but when it ignored theovertures, the Canadian compa-ny turned its attention to G2S2.“What is the likelihood that

we were going to cavalierly dis-regard them, when we know thatthey’re armed with the highestprice lawyers in Texas, in NewYork, and they’re going to try ashard as they can to do somethingwhich benefits only them?” hesaid.Mr. Armoyan told The Globe

he didn’t expect such an uglyfight between Calfrac and Wilks.“It’s unfortunate it’s getting thisdirty and this nasty,” he said.Yet Mr. Mathison and Mr.

Wilks both say there’s not asmuch bad blood as a casual ob-server might think.That’s despite years of public

scuffles, including a $100-millionlawsuit Calfrac launched in 2018,accusing Wilks of attempting todrive up its financing costs withthe goal of acquiring Calfrac’sU.S. operations. Wilks counteredthat Calfrac caused its own prob-lems by not being drastic enoughin addressing its debt.“In a backhanded way I ad-

mire how single-mindedly theyare focused on their own self-in-terest. That is the American way,and it’s a kind of a bare-knuckledway,” Mr. Mathison said.As for Mr. Wilks, he said his

company isn’t out “beating ourchests and starting fights withpeople.”“I know that’s a narrative that

some would like to put into themarket, but we’re seen as goodstewards and market participa-nts,” he said.“There’s no reason for conflict

here. The stakes are too high forthat.“There’s an opportunity to do

what’s right for everyone, and Ihope that all stakeholders getthe fair shake that they deserve.”

Calfrac: ‘We’re mortified to be in this spot,’ company founder saysFROM B1

Like many companies in the Canadian oil services sector, Calfrac WellServices’ finances and share price have been affected by COVID-19.JEFF MCINTOSH/THE CANADIAN PRESS

MEETING DATESDATA SUPPLIED BY ISSUING COMPANIES THROUGH THE SERVICE OF CDS CLEARING AND DEPOSITORY SERVICES INC.* = CHANGE IN PREVIOUSLY REPORTED INFORMATION % = CANCELLED MEETING; @ = ADJOURNED MEETING; A = ANNUAL; S = SPECIAL; G = GENERAL; X = EXTRA; E = EXTRAORDINARY

Aben Resources Ltd. Sep 09 Oct 14 AGAnsar Financial and Dev Corp Sep 18 Oct 31 AGAphria Inc. Sep 18 Nov 05 AGSAustralis Capital Inc %Aug 04 Sep 22 ASAvicanna Inc. Sep 15 Oct 20 AGSBee Vectoring Technologies Int Sep 18 Oct 23 AGSBB1 Acquisition Corp. Sep 09 Oct 14 ASCardero Resource Corp. Sep 15 Oct 29 AGCascadero Copper Corporation Oct 09 Nov 18 AGSClean Teq Holdings Limited Aug 26 Oct 15 AGComstock Metals Ltd. Sep 14 Oct 19 AGSCondor Resources Inc. Sep 17 Oct 22 AGConverge Technology Solutions Sep 09 Oct 14 AGCorby Spirit and Wine Limited Sep 16 Nov 12 ACypress Development Corp. Sep 09 Oct 14 AGSDiscovery One Investment Corp. Oct 06 Nov 06 AG

Eastmain Resources Inc. *Aug 24 Oct 05 SEncore Energy Corp Sep 18 Oct 28 AGSFabled Copper Corp. Sep 14 Oct 19 AGSFacedrive Inc. Sep 18 Oct 29 ASFacedrive Inc. %Aug 18 Oct 01 ASFluroTech Ltd. Sep 14 Oct 28 AGFolkstone Capital Corp Sep 18 Oct 23 AGSFr Biss Dividend Income CC Sep 10 Oct 30 SFr Biss Money Market CC Sep 10 Oct 30 SFr Mutual Global Discovery CC Sep 10 Oct 30 SFr Quo Bal Growth CC Port Sep 10 Oct 30 SFr Quo Bal Income CC Port Sep 10 Oct 30 SFr Quo Div Equity CC Port Sep 10 Oct 30 SFr Quo Div Income CC Port Sep 10 Oct 30 SFr US Monthly Income CC Sep 10 Oct 30 SFr US Monthly Income Hedged CC Sep 10 Oct 30 S

Fr US Opportunities CC Sep 10 Oct 30 SFr US Rising Div CC Sep 10 Oct 30 SFr US Rising Div Hedged CC Sep 10 Oct 30 SFranklin ActiveQuant U.S. CC Sep 10 Oct 30 SFranklin Biss Cdn Bal CC Sep 10 Oct 30 SFranklin Biss Cdn Equity CC Sep 10 Oct 30 SFranklin Global Growth CC Sep 10 Oct 30 SFranklin Quo Growth CC Port Sep 10 Oct 30 SFreshii Inc. Sep 14 Oct 30 AGHollister Biosciences Inc. Sep 09 Oct 16 AGInternational Battery Metals L Sep 14 Oct 27 AGSLe Chateau Inc. Sep 18 Oct 22 ASLeoNovus Inc. Sep 08 Oct 08 SMaritime Resources Corp. Sep 15 Oct 20 AGMeryllion Resources Corporatio Sep 14 Oct 27 AGSMeta Growth Corp. Sep 08 Oct 13 S

Metalla Royalty&Streaming Ltd. Sep 16 Nov 04 AGMineworx Technologies Ltd. Sep 17 Oct 22 AGMG Capital Corporation Sep 15 Oct 20 AGSNexco Resources Inc. *Sep 03 Oct 13 AGSNortec Minerals Corp Sep 17 Oct 22 AGNorthIsle Copper and Gold Inc. Sep 18 Oct 28 AGOculus VisionTech Inc. Sep 22 Nov 16 AGSPerformance Energy Services In Aug 25 Sep 24 AGPopReach Corporation Sep 15 Oct 20 AGSPyrogenesis Canada Inc. Aug 17 Sep 22 ASQMX Gold Corporation Sep 17 Oct 27 ASRealia Properties Inc. Aug 24 Sep 24 SRidgeline Minerals Corp. Sep 15 Oct 20 AGSRise Gold Corp. Aug 10 Sep 18 SRockwealth Resources Corp. Sep 15 Oct 22 AGSRoyal Coal Corp. Sep 17 Oct 22 AS

Silver Sands Resources Corp. Sep 15 Oct 28 AGStrata-X Energy Ltd Sep 14 Oct 19 AGSStrikepoint Gold Inc Sep 14 Oct 19 AGTartisan Nickel Corp. Sep 03 Oct 19 ASTempleton Emerging Markets CC Sep 10 Oct 30 STempleton Glob Smaller Com CC Sep 10 Oct 30 STempleton Growth CC Sep 10 Oct 30 STempleton Growth Fund, Ltd. Sep 10 Oct 30 ASTempleton Intl Stock CC Sep 10 Oct 30 SToscana Energy Income Corp. %Aug 17 Sep 23 ASUnigold Inc. Sep 22 Oct 27 AGSX-Terra Resources Inc. *Aug 17 Sep 21 ASXanadu Mines Ltd. *Aug 25 Oct 01 EXS Financial Inc *Aug 21 Sep 25 ASYukoterre Resources Inc. *Aug 17 Oct 06 ASZecotek Photonics Inc. Sep 09 Oct 16 S

RECORD MEETING TYPEDATE DATE

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B8 O THE GLOBE AND MAIL | MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020

GLOBE INVESTOR| REPORT ON BUSINESS

MONDAY

Japan reports latest industri-al production, retail sales andconsumer confidence data.Germany and Italy report

consumer price index and Italyreports second-quarter GDP.China releases purchasing

managers indexes (PMI).India releases second-quar-

ter GDP.Canadian industrial product

and raw materials indexes forJuly are released.Canadian building permits

for July are reported, forecast byBMO to rise by 3 per cent.

TUESDAY

Japan releases jobless rate,capital spending and manu-facturing PMI numbers.Euro area releases manu-

facturing PMI data, plus employ-ment and inflation numbers.U.K. also releases manufacturingPMI.Canada’s Markit manu-

facturing PMI for August isreleased.U.S. Markit manufacturing

PMI for August is released.U.S. releases manufacturing

ISM PMI report.U.S. reports construction

spending for July. It’s expectedto rise 1 per cent.U.S. Treasury Secretary Ste-

ven Mnuchin testifies on coro-navirus measures.Canadian and U.S. auto sales

expected to be released.Earnings include: H&R BlockInc., Alimentation Couche-TardInc.

WEDNESDAY

Germany releases latestretail sales numbers and Britainreveals nationwide house prices.Canada labour productivity

for the second quarter is report-ed. BMO expects a rise of 7.5 percent.U.S. ADP national employ-

ment report is released.U.S. reports factory orders.

Consensus is for a 4.1-per-centrise.U.S. releases Beige Book, a

reading of current economicconditions.Earnings include:Macy’s Inc.,Guess Inc.

THURSDAY

Japan, Britain and euro zonerelease PMI data. Euro zone alsoreleases retail sales numbers.Canada merchandise trade

deficit for July is reported. BMOexpects a $2-billion deficit.U.S. reports jobless claims for

previous week, expected to fall56,000 to 950,000.U.S. reports goods and ser-

vices trade deficit. Consensus isfor a deficit of US$51.9-billion.U.S. Markit services and

composite PMI are released.Earnings include: Transcon-tinental Inc., Barnes & NobleEducation Inc., Ciena Corp.,Campbell Soup Co., Fluor Corp.

FR IDAY

Germany releases factoryorders for July.Canada employment for

August is reported. BMO expectsa net gain of 375,000 jobs, andthe unemployment rate drop-ping to 10 per cent from 10.9 percent. Average hourly wages areexpected to rise 5 per cent froma year earlier.U.S. reports non-farm pay-

rolls for August. Consensus is fora net gain of 1.486 million jobswith the unemployment ratedropping to 9.8 per cent from10.2 per cent. Average hourlyearnings are expected to rise 4.5per cent from a year earlier.Canada Ivey purchasing

managers index is released.Earnings include: LaurentianBank of Canada

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOWFOR THE WEEK AHEAD

U.S. technology giants are in-creasingly dominating thestock market in the midst ofthe coronavirus pandemic,

even as they draw accusations of unfairbusiness practices, and some investorsfear the pump is primed for a tech-fuelledsell-off.The combined value of the S&P 500’s

five biggest companies – Apple Inc., Ama-zon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp., FacebookInc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. –now stands at more than US$7-trillion, ac-counting for almost 25 per cent of the in-dex’s market capitalization. That com-pares with less than 20 per cent prepan-demic.The quintet’s burgeoning share prices

reflect a transition to an increasingly tech-nology-driven economy that has been ac-celerated by the coronavirus outbreak, asdoorways fill with Amazon packages,homebound families stream movies andfriends commiserate on Facebook.Yet the companies are drawing opposi-

tion. U.S. lawmakers are accusing them ofstifling competition, a charge also levelledin recent days against Apple by EpicGames Inc., creator of the popular videogame Fortnite.Some investors worry the companies

powering this year’s equity rally could be-come the market’s Achilles heel if a legalassault, a shift to undervalued names or amove higher in bond yields dries up appe-tite for technology stocks.“People see these companies as win-

ners and investors are willing to pay anyprice to own them,” said MichaelO’Rourke, chief market strategist atJonesTrading. “That’s always a risk.”One potential threat comes from an ar-

ray of investigations and legal actions.The latest came last Monday, when a

federal judge temporarily blocked Applefrom cutting off all the developer ac-counts of Epic Games, pending a full hear-ing on the issue. It was a partial win forEpic, which had called Apple’s rules an an-ticompetitive abuse of power.The standoff centres on Apple’s App

Store, which forms the centrepiece of aUS$46.3-billion-a-year services business

that has helped buoy the company’sshare price. The decision “is just a firstbattle of many on the horizon,” said DanIves, an analyst at Wedbush Securities.“From a valuation perspective, there’sclearly an overhang around antitrust.”Last week’s Apple court decision may

be a taste of things to come for technologygiants, whose influence has been one ofthe few issues capable of galvanizing bi-partisan interest among lawmakers.Alphabet, Facebook, Amazon and Ap-

ple face a series of federal governmentprobes into allegations that they unfairlydefend their market share, with litigationagainst Alphabet possible later this year.The opposition is a worry for investors

hoping the companies will continue deliv-ering robust growth that justifies their val-uations.Amazon said it operates in a “fiercely

competitive” market, citing U.S. CensusBureau data that only about 10 per cent ofU.S. retail sales occur online.Apple declined comment. The compa-

ny previously said it competes vigorouslyagainst Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. andother Android device makers in the smartphone markets.Alphabet declined comment. It previ-

ously said it competes with Amazon, Mi-crosoft, Comcast Corp., AT&T Inc. andmany others.Facebook and Microsoft had no imme-

diate comment.For some investors, the companies em-

body a dilemma that has dogged them atvarious times during the past decade.Many have found that cutting exposure totech-related shares has limited portfolioperformance over the long term.The Big Five have seen their shares

jump 22 per cent or more to record highsthis year, with Amazon soaring 86 percent. By comparison, the median stockperformance across the S&P 500 year-to-date is a 4-per-cent drop.The companies’ “increased market

share … provides potentially huge oppor-tunities supporting growth prospects overmany years,” said David Polak, equity in-vestment director at US$1.7-trillion Cap-ital Group, which owns shares of big tech-nology companies.Still, someworry that a bad patch in the

companies’ widely owned shares couldtrigger violent swings in broader markets.Goldman Sachs analysts said in a recent

report that the S&P 500 “has never beenmore dependent on the continuedstrength of its largest constituents.”A change of sentiment toward Big Tech

could take a comparatively heavier toll onthe shares of less profitable technologycompanies that have rallied alongside themarket’s giants.Investors justify these stocks on the ba-

sis that “this time it’s different,” said EdCole, managing director of equities atUS$27-billion Man GLG. “It rarely ever is.”

REUTERS

Too big to prevail? Big Tech’shot streak spooks some investorsCombined value of five largestU.S. tech companies nowmakes up nearly 25 per centof S&P’s market capitalization

LAWRENCE DELEV INGNE BOSTON

People queue at an Apple store in New York on June 22. Apple is one of four largeU.S. tech companies that are facing a federal government probe into allegations that theyunfairly defend their market share. ANGELA WEISS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

MuchofEuroperemainsoff limitstoAmerican tourists because ofthe pandemic, but the region islooking like an attractive desti-

nation for stock investors.While euro zone stocks remain in a

slumprelative to theU.S. stockmarket’s re-cord-shattering rebound, they could bepoised for solid gains as the global econo-my continues to reopen, analysts say.Energy,materials and industrial compa-

nies tend todobetterwhen the economy isemerging from a downturn, and are likelyto see improved earnings as businesses re-open. And Europe has a bigger share ofstocks in these categories thanWall Street.These types of companies, known as cy-

clical stocks, also tend to benefit when in-flation rises, something that analysts ex-pect will happen as the global economystrengthens.“Whenwemove fromsurviving thepan-

demic to thriving in the rebound, Europe-an stocks ought to do better,” said DavidKelly, chief global strategist, J.P.MorganAs-set Management.Bettingonstocksthatrelyonanexpand-

ing economy may sound unwise in themiddle of a recession and pandemic withno clear end in sight. That’s why investorsthis year have doubled down on tech com-panies that provide everything fromstreaming video, internet access, smart-phones and other electronic devices thatpeople stuck at home because of the coro-

navirus have come to rely on.But the reopening of businesses in Eu-

rope, massive government spending andthephasingoutofrestrictionsonpublic lifehave stoked expectations that the region’seconomy will recover more rapidly thanthe United States.“The region sports a robust health in-

frastructure, exposure to apickup in globalgrowth and galvanized policy responsewith room for more stimulus,” BlackRockinvestment strategists wrote in a researchnote last month. “As a result, we see it of-fering better risk-reward than traditionalbeneficiaries of a growthpickup: emergingmarkets.”In a follow-up note this month, Black-

Rock said it still expects cyclical Europeanstocks to make gains, even as some coun-tries have renewed lockdowns to contain aresurgence in the virus.Euro zone stocksdon’t look soattractive

when comparedwith howU.S. equities aredoing this year. The S&P 500 index is up 7.4percent,while theStoxxEurope600index,excludingcompanies inBritain, isdown5.6per cent.Still, that’s not stopping investors from

taking the plunge. Two of the biggest Eu-rope-focused exchange-traded funds haveseen inflows surge this summer, partly re-versing a big outflow in March, April andMay. The Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF,which has US$12.51-billion in assets undermanagement, has seen about US$529-mil-lion in inflows so far thismonth,making itthe fund’s best month this year. The MSCIEurozone ETF, which excludes companies

in Britain and other European countriesthat don’t use the euro, had its first inflowsthis year in June, taking inUS$486-million,and inflows have continued rising since.Results fromanewBankofAmerica sur-

vey echo the growing interest in Europeanequities. The survey, which was conductedearlier this month and involved 181 fundmanagers with nearly half a trillion U.S.dollars in assets under management,found that respondents’ allocation of eurozone stocks is now at its highest level sinceMay, 2018.While the fund managers’ stock portfo-

lios remain skewed most heavily towardtechnology, health care and consumer dis-cretionary stocks, they said they have be-gun to shift intoEuropeanstocksandotherassets that tend to do better at times ofhigher inflation, somethingmore thanhalfof therespondentsexpect tosee in thenext12months.When inflation appears, it typically

shows up in commodity prices, which canhelp drive earnings growth for industrial,materials and energy companies.European stocks’ appeal would unravel

should the pandemic worsen, leading tobroad business closings and crippling theeconomic recovery, for example.“Something could go wrong with the

coronavirus response inEurope, or it’s pos-sible no vaccine works,” Mr. Kelly said. “Ifthat happens, and Europe and the UnitedStatescontinuetowallowinthiscrisis, thensome of the cyclical argument goes away.”

REUTERS

Strategists take upbeat long view on European stocksALEX VEIGA LOS ANGELES

MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 | THE GLOBE AND MAIL O B9

SPORTS Jays keep the fun goingas Teoscar Hernandezhits a two-run single inToronto’s victory B10

Julian Alaphilippe paystribute to his late fatherwith emotionalTour de France win B10

REPORT ON BUSINESS |

The Toronto Raptors looked un-recognizable when they returnedto playoff action on Sunday, afteran emotional week in whichNBA players boycotted theirgames to speak out against rac-ism.The Boston Celtics clobbered

the NBA defending champions112-94 in Game 1 of their highlyanticipated second-round play-off series.The Raptors struggled to hit

shots and went an uncharacter-istic 10-of-40 from three-pointrange.Jayson Tatum and Marcus

Smart scored 21 points each forBoston, while Jaylen Brown

scored 17 and Kemba Walker re-corded his first career postsea-son double-double with 18points and 10 assists. Centre Da-niel Theis had 13 points, with 15rebounds and a pair of blockedshots.Kyle Lowry, who suffered a

sprained left ankle last Sunday,was back and led Toronto with 17points, eight assists and six re-bounds. Serge Ibaka had 15points, Pascal Siakam had 13, OGAnunoby 12, Fred VanVleet 11and Norm Powell 10.It had been a week since the

Raptors swept away the Brook-lyn Nets.The days in between were

long and difficult, filled withhard conversations about sys-temic racism. At times, as Lowry

attested, they considered leavingthe bubble. The boycott by NBAplayers spurred the sports worldtoward a screeching halt. Thebasketball players decided tostay in Orlando and created anaction plan: arenas becomingpolling stations; a social-justicecoalition; and ads about civic so-cial engagement and voting.Then they rapidly had to flip

their minds back to basketball.“Our job is to play basketball,

but we also have a job and a plat-form to speak up,” Lowry said onhis postgame video call Sunday,while wearing a Black Lives Mat-ter hat. “It’s a hard job and we’reprofessionals and we’re men –Black men. We have to be able todo both. It’s something I takepride in.”

There was a moment of si-lence before the game for threefriends of the league who diedduring this overwhelming week– former all-star Cliff Robinson,popular college coach Lute Ol-son and actor Chadwick Bose-man. Then the players andcoaches linked their armsaround one another once againto kneel for the anthems.The Raptors looked in a fog

from the start, clanking shots,getting beat to rebounds. Theykept turning over the ball – threeof Lowry’s five came in the firstfive minutes. Smart out-muscledthem. They got into foul troubleand squabbled with refereesabout the pettiness of manywhistles.Nurse began the second quar-

ter with both Ibaka and Marc Ga-sol on the floor and switched updefensively to a zone. Torontomanufactured a mini-rally, pull-ing to within seven, but the mo-mentum fizzled.“Nothing was going right,

nothing, the ball wasn’t bounc-ing our way, we were making baddecisions, and the whistle wasfunky, layups were being missed,wide-open threes were beingmissed, it was hard,” Nurse said.“I was just trying to search foranything to slow them down.”The Celtics were so good, it

made you forget they were with-out their star, Gordon Hayward,

who has an injured ankle.The Raptors were creating

open shots but could not knockthem down. They shot a clunky28.9 per cent from the field inthe first half, after which theytrailed 59-42. Toronto made a lit-tle dent in that disadvantagethrough the second half, but theCeltics kept hopping ahead, byas much as 24.Boston bottled up VanVleet,

but undeterred, he kept shoot-ing. The point guard, who hadbeen so sensational in the open-ing round against Brooklyn, shot3-of-16 on this bizarre afternoon.Powell was 4-of-12, Siakam 5-of-16, Lowry 5-of-12.The Raptors, who typically

feast on transition buckets,scored only seven fast breakpoints on Sunday. They createdturnovers, but then couldn’tscore. Boston’s Robert Williamsthrew down a late windmilldunk that demonstrated howthoroughly the Celtics were dic-tating.A five-point Lowry burst of

energy in the fourth lookedpromising for a minute, but itwasn’t enough to spark some-thing against a foe like Boston ona day like this.It was the fourth time this sea-

son that the Celtics beat the Rap-tors.The two teams will face off in

Game 2 on Tuesday.

Toronto Raptors' Serge Ibaka, centre, is hemmed in by a group of Boston Celtic defenders as he goes for the net during Game 1 of Eastern Conference semi-final playoff action in the NBA’sFlorida bubble on Sunday. Boston won 112-94. ASHLEY LANDIS/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

‘Nothing was goingright,’ Nurse says asCelts flummox RaptorsAfter emotional week, defending champions had trouble both scoring anddefending against Boston in opening game of second round of NBA playoffs

RACHEL BRADY

About a year ago, Canada’sVasek Pospisil became thego-to interview when you

were looking for a revolutio-nary’s perspective on tennis.Pospisil wasn’t a loud critic of

tennis’s structure, wherein indi-vidual tournaments dictate ev-erything and the players line upto tug a forelock. He was the onlyconsistent critic.“There was a Deloitte report

that said they have never seen astructure this disastrous insports. … We are battling a mo-nopoly of power,” Pospisil told apacked media room at Wimble-don. Unfortunately, the roomwas about the size of a refriger-ator box, and “packed” in this in-stance meant six or seven peo-ple. Over in the main mediaroom, some top-five player wastalking about effective groundstrokes in front of a concert-

sized crowd.Last year was not a good revo-

lutionary moment. The weatherwas too nice and the WiFi at thecottage never works as you wantit to. This year, however, the sit-uation on the ground haschanged somewhat. Everybody’sitching for a fight.Tennis has been going on for a

while, but it returns to front-of-mind on Monday with the startof the U.S. Open.The first COVID-19 major is in

danger of being a dreary tele-vised affair. No other tennis tour-nament is so associated with thefans in attendance, many ofwhom have been drinking sincethe morning of the day before.What’s a late match at the U.S.Open without boorish hooting?We are about to find out.Both of last year’s champions

– Bianca Andreescu of Canadaand Rafael Nadal of Spain – havetaken a pass. Roger Federer ruledhimself out in June by opting forknee surgery.The top storyline will be Sere-

na Williams’s attempt to win a

record-tying 24th Grand Slam.Six of the top 10 women’s playersin the world are absent and Wil-liams is about to turn 39. Thismay not be her last chance, but itdoes feel like her last bestchance.But the story-grabbing head-

lines the day before a ball isstruck in anger involve Pospisil.Along with Novak Djokovic, he isstarting a new players’ union.They’re calling it the ProfessionalTennis Players Association(PTPA). Its goals are still a bitloosey-goosey, but according toPospisil, it will “have an impacton decisions being made that ef-fect [sic] our lives and liveli-hoods.”In launching the effort, Djo-

kovic and Pospisil both quit theATP players’ council. Djokovichad been its president.The PTPA claims it is not in-

tent on replacing the ATP, but isinstead designed to give the play-ers “self-governance.”You can say all sorts of things,

but that sounds like the dictio-nary definition of a breakaway

group. All we’re debating here isthe timeline.Unions – everyone likes those

again, right? Even one-percenterunions? That’s the memo I got.The streets are ablaze and we’reall union men again.That right there is the first

problem with the PTPA – men.KELLY, B13

Everybody’s itching for a fight at the U.S. OpenCATHALKELLY

OPINION

Vasek Pospisil, above,and Novak Djokovichave started a newplayers’ union, butCathal Kelly says itsgoals are still a bitloosey-goosey.PASCAL GUYOT/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

B10 O THE GLOBE AND MAIL | MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020| REPORT ON BUSINESS

Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-runsingle with two out in the ninthinning, lifting the Toronto BlueJays to a 6-5 win over the Balti-more Orioles on Sunday.Hernandez came up with the

bases loaded and grounded asingle into left field. Pinch runnerSantiago Espinal scored easilyand Randal Grichuk slid in safelyjust ahead of the throw by leftfielder Mason Williams.“I knew they would try to

throw [inside],” Hernandez said.“My plan was to get a pitch mid-dle inside the plate and try to puta good swing on it. I was thinkingto pull the ball and get the barrelon the ball.”Toronto also won Friday night

on a game-ending hit. It has foursuch wins in 12 home games inBuffalo.“I just talked to my parents

and they said I’m putting themthrough this every game,” BlueJays manager Charlie Montoyosaid. “Stay in shape, keep thosehearts going, because it’s everygame. I’ve never seen anythinglike it. It’s fun when you’re win-ning games like this.”Orioles manager Brandon

Hyde took some consolation inhow his team stayed in the game,taking leads on three separateoccasions.“I’m proud of our guys coming

back and taking the lead in thetop of the ninth,” Hyde said. “Wejust didn’t finish it.”Cole Sulser (1-4), who surren-

dered a game-ending homer toGrichuk on Friday, issued threewalks and surrendered Hernan-dez’s hit to take the loss.Jose Iglesias delivered a go-

ahead run-scoring single on adribbling infield single in the topof the ninth inning against To-ronto reliever Anthony Bass (2-1).

Ryan Mountcastle hit his firsttwo big-league homers for Balti-more, which lost its fifth in a row.Mountcastle had three hits to runhis average to .393 (11 of 28) sincemaking his major-league debuton Aug. 21.Toronto earned its fourth

successive win. Vladimir Guerre-ro Jr. extendedhis career-best hit-ting streak to 12 games, and Her-nandez had two hits to extendhis hit streak to 11 games, also acareer high. Cavan Biggio extend-ed his on-base streak to 22 gameswith an RBI single in the fifth in-ning.Mountcastle led off the second

with a towering drive to left. Hehit a two-run shot in the sixth togive Baltimore a 4-3 lead. Bothhomers came off Toronto starterTanner Roark.“I finally got a ball in the air,”

Mountcastle said. “Today myswing felt pretty good, and it was

definitely enjoyable.”Iglesias, Renato Nunez and Pe-

dro Severino each had two hitsfor the Orioles, who dropped to0-6 against Toronto this season.Toronto tied it 4-4 with two

out in the eighth, getting a Her-nandez single and Guerrero walkbefore Rowdy Tellez camethrough with a run-scoring sin-gle.NOTES: Toronto shortstop

Bo Bichette (sprained knee) tookground balls, ran sprints and hitin the cage. Closer Ken Giles(forearm strain) felt good after abullpen session, and Montoyoenvisions “at least two more livebatting practices before he comesback.”Montoyo added: “If he looks

like he did before, there’s no rea-son why he wouldn’t be our clos-er again.” RHP Nate Pearson (el-bow tightness) and RHP MattShoemaker (shoulder inflamma-

tion) played catch from 90 and60 feet, respectively.

CABRERA HITS MILESTONE

DETROIT Jonathan Schoop hit atie-breaking home run in thesixth inning, and the Detroit Ti-gers finished off a three-gamesweep of the Minnesota Twinswith a 3-2 victory Sunday.Detroit has won five straight to

pull back to .500 on the season.Minnesota has dropped five in arow. But the game was also nota-ble in that Miguel Cabrera sin-gled. That was Cabrera’s 2,000thhit as a member of the Tigers.Moments later, the milestonewas announced, and Cabreracame out of the dugout for a cur-tain call in the empty ballpark.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Hernandez’s single gives Jays another winToronto’s fourth straightvictory is a careerhighlight for several,including Guerrero, whoextends his best hittingstreak to 12 games

M IKE HA IM BUFFALO

Blue Jays teammatescelebrate after TeoscarHernandez hit a walkofftwo-run single to defeatthe Baltimore Orioles atSahlen Field in Buffalo onSunday, extending theirwin streak to four. ‘I’venever seen anything likeit. It’s fun when you’rewinning games like this,’manager Charlie Montoyosaid.BRYAN BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES

Radek Faksa had a goal and two assists, Roope Hintz scoredthe last of three power-play goals byDallas and the Stars beatthe Colorado Avalanche 5-4 on Sunday night, taking a 3-1series lead in the Western Conference semi-final series.The Stars, who led 3-0 in the first period before Colorado

had its first shot on goal, saw their margin cut to one beforeHintz was patient with the puck about 7½ minutes into thethird period.There were only a couple of seconds left on a power play

whenhe scoredonDallas’s seventh shot during that segmentafter initially waiting for some traffic to clear.Dallas then got a gift goal only 32 seconds later when Ava-

lanche rookie defender Cale Makar, who had scored late inthe second period, tried to clear a puck from behind his ownnet and flubbed the attempt. Goalie Pavel Francouz didn’tsee it go in front of him, and Stars rookie Denis Gurianovknocked it in for a 5-2 lead.John Klingberg had a goal and

an assist for the Stars, who needonewin to get to their first confer-ence final since 2008. Game 5 isMonday, a previously scheduledback-to-back although initiallythose consecutive games weresupposed to be Games 5 and 6.Valeri Nichushkin, the former

Dallas player who had no pointsin the first 11 games this postsea-son for the Avalanche, scored twogoals. Vladislav Namestnikovadded a goal with 3.6 seconds re-maining when Colorado had anextra skater on the ice.Coloradowaswithin 3-2onMa-

kar’s goal with 25 seconds left inthe second period, only 11 sec-onds after they went on a 5-on-3advantage because of penaltiesagainst Blake Comeau (hooking)and Jamie Oleksiak (interference) at the same time.Makar made a pass across to Mikko Rantanen, and the

puck then went to Nathan MacKinnon before a pass that setup Makar’s one-timer from just inside the left circle.But the Avalanche couldn’t take advantage of the remain-

ing 1:24 of the power play to start the final period.Stars goalie AntonKhudobin, whohad nevermade a post-

season start before this year, stopped 33 shots.Dallas went ahead to stay on Klingberg’s goal just over six

minutes into the game, knocking in the puck after Francouzcouldn’t control Faksa’s shot. It was 2-0 less than three min-utes later after Fasksa poked in a score on a power play, andBenn added another goal with a man advantage with somenifty work and stick up off the ice midway through the firstperiod.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Stars extend series lead,close in on potentialconference final runEDMONTON

The Vancouver Canucks faced the Vegas Golden Knights in their playoffseries late on Sunday in the Edmonton bubble. The Canucks were trailingthe series 2-1 after losing 3-0 on Saturday. Details, globesports.com

ON OUR WEBS ITE

The Stars, who led3-0 in the first periodbefore Colorado hadits first shot on goal,saw their margin cutto one before[Roope] Hintz waspatient with thepuck about 7½minutes into thethird period. Therewere only a coupleof seconds left on apower play when hescored on Dallas’sseventh shot.

Tours, will anchor his status as adarling of French cycling fans,conquered by his thrilling ridingat last year’s edition, when heheld the race lead for 14 days.He is now back in yellow, be-

cause of time bonuses picked upfor winning the stage and on thefinal climb of the arduous day ofriding through mountains northof Nice. Alaphilippe is playingdown any hope of winning theoverall title in Paris in threeweeks, but he intends to cling on-to the jersey for as long as he can.Alaphilippe had identified

Stage 2 with its hill-climbs beforethe finish as particularly suited tohis punchy, aggressive style. Heand his Deceuninck-Quick Stepteam executed their plan likeclockwork.With teammate Bob Jungels

leading the way on the finalclimb, up to the Quatre Cheminspass on the outskirts of Nice, Ala-philippe first positioned himselfin his slipstream. He then racedoff with a sharp acceleration on aright-handbend, quickly openinga gap. He was chased down bySwiss rider Marc Hirschi and Brit-on Adam Yates, setting up athree-way fight for the stage vic-tory.Speeding into central Nice,

JulianAlaphilippe is backmakinga splash at the Tour de France andonce againwearing the iconic yel-low jersey.The French showman, who

more than any other helped turnthe 2019 edition into a thriller,again showered the Tour with hisclass and guile Sunday, poachingvictory on Stage 2 in the picture-postcard Mediterranean city ofNice and taking the overall racelead. A final burst of accelerationtimed with precision enabledAlaphilippe to shake two pur-suers and hold off the main packof riders furiously gaining groundon the finishing straight.Deprivedofwins sincehis feats

that enchanted French fans lastsummer, Alaphilippe kissed hisfinger and raised it to the sky ashe crossed the line, a tribute tohisfather who died in June. “I prom-ised myself that I’d win for him,”Alaphilippe said. “I hadn’t won asingle race this year yet. But I’vealways remained serious withmytraining despite the difficult mo-ments I went through. I dedicatethis victory to my father.”The stage win, his fifth in four

they collaborated in a strongheadwind to keep the chasingpack at bay. Alaphilippe adjustedhis helmet and tightened hisshoes as the trio then played awaiting game to see which ofthem would be first to place thefinal winning burst of speed. Ala-philippe outfoxed his pursuerswith his acceleration, holding offHirschi’s late charge. Yates wasthird.One of his teammates, Dries

Devenyns, was awed by the man-ner of the win. “I stopped on theside of the road to watch the last500 metres on a spectator’ssmartphone,” he said. “I shoutedwhen he won. He already did twoweeks in yellow last year, we haveit again, we are going to protect itas much as we can.”Over all, Alaphilippe has a

four-second lead over Yates, withHirschi in third place and threeseconds further back ahead ofMonday’s hilly Stage 3 from Niceto Sisteron.HugoHoule, a support rider for

the Astana Pro Team, finished123rd in Sunday’s stage to sit 121stover all. The 29-year-old fromSainte-Perpétue, Que., finished91st in last year’s Tour.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Deceuninck-Quick Step team rider Julian Alaphilippe, right, pays tribute to his late father by raising his fingersas he crosses the finish line in Nice, France, on Sunday. STEPHANE MANTEY/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Alaphilippe gets emotional afterStage 2 victory on Tour de FranceJOHN LEICESTERSAMUEL PETREQU IN NICE, FRANCE

MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 | THE GLOBE AND MAIL O B11REPORT ON BUSINESS |

Even with so few people around,Jon Rahm could hear from theother side of the Olympia Fieldsclubhouse that Dustin Johnsonhad made a 45-foot birdie on thefinal hole to force a playoff Sun-day in the BMW Championship.Resilient as ever, Rahm went

out and made some magic of hisown.Fromone end of the 18th green

to the other, Rahm’s putt fromjust more than 65 feet rolleddown the ridge and into the cup,setting off a roar so loud it nearlymade up for not having specta-tors.The course that all week felt

like a U.S. Open delivered thekind of excitement typical of theMasters.Rahm’s big birdie putt on the

first extra hole spared himthoughts of his blunder in thethird round, when he picked uphis ball on the fifth greenwithoutmarking it, leading to a one-shotpenalty and his only bogey of theweekend.He tore through the back nine

Sunday on his way to a six-under64, the lowest round of the week,to finish at four-under 276.Johnson, a 54-hole leader for

his third straight tournament andcoming off an 11-shot victory lastweek at the TPC Boston, birdiedthree of his opening four holes toopen a three-shot lead, dropped apair of shots around the turn andthen delivered in the clutch withhis 45-foot birdie putt on the lasthole for a 67.It was only good enough to

stay at No. 1 by a slim margin.He also stays at No. 1 in the Fe-

dEx Cup going to the Tour Cham-pionship, meaning he will startthe chase for the US$15-millionbonus at 10-under par, two aheadof Rahm, the No. 2 seed.Joaquin Niemann, the 21-year-

old fromChile, alsomade a spirit-ed run with a 67 and was in thelead until a bogey on the 14th andno birdies the rest of the way. Hetied for third with Hideki Mat-suyama, who had a 69.Tony Finau closed with a 65 to

finish three behind. They werethe only five players under par atOlympia Fields.Rahmwon for the second time

this year on the PGA Tour, andthe 11th time in his career world-wide.Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes

had reason to celebrate, too. Hewas on the verge of playing hisway into the top 30 who advanceto East Lake when he took a slop-py bogey on the 17th. Needing a

par on the 18th, he put his ap-proach into the front bunker,splashed out to five feet andraised both arms when it drop-ped. He finished with a final-round 71 to finish in a tie for 10th.The top 30 are assured spots in

at least three majors next year,along with the Sentry Tourna-ment of Champions at Kapalua tostart the year. The winners-onlyevent is taking the top 30 in theFedEx Cup from having lost threemonths of the season to the CO-VID-19 pandemic.

ERNST SHOOTS 63, RALL IESTO W IN NW ARKANSAS T ITLE

ROGERS, ARK. Austin Ernst ralliedto win theWalmart NWArkansasChampionship on Sunday for hersecond LPGA Tour title, closingwith an eight-under 63 for a two-stroke victory over Anna Nordq-vist. Four strokes behind Nordq-vist entering the round, Ernst hadthe best score of the day, making10 birdies and two bogeys at Pin-nacle Country Club. She joined2014 champion Stacy Lewis as theevent’s only American winners.The top Canadian was BrookeHenderson, who shot a final-round 69 to finish in a tie for 49th.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jon Rahm celebrates after making his putt on the first playoff hole in the final round of BMW Championshipat Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill., on Sunday. CHARLES REX ARBOGAST/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rahm makes magic withbiggest putt to win at BMWDOUG FERGUSONOLYMPIA FIELDS, ILL.

One week after Alphonso Davies lifted the ChampionsLeague trophy, fellow Canadian Kadeisha Buchanan cele-brated her fourth straight European crown as Lyon defeatedWolfsburg 3-1 on Sunday. Eugénie Le Sommer, Saki Kumagaiand Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir scored for Lyon as it clinched arecord-extending seventh Champions League trophy. It wasthe fifth straight European club title for Lyon but only thefourth for Buchanan, who joined the French powerhouse inJanuary, 2017.The 24-year-old fromBrampton, Ont., whohas 101 caps for

Canada, started at centre alongside Lyon captainWendie Re-nard.The 19-year-old Davies won men’s European glory with

Bayern Munich in a 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain.The only other Canadian to claim the Champions League

title is Calgary-born OwenHargeaves, who did it twice – withBayern Munich in 2001 and Manchester United in 2008. Butthe midfielder, through his father’s bloodlines, elected torepresent England internationally.Wolfsburg, seeking its third title after back-to-back tri-

umphs in 2013 and 2014, got on the board throughAlex Poppafter its French rival had opened a two-goal lead in the first

half.Wolfsburg also lost the final to

Lyon in 2016 and 2018. “Peoplesaid it was the best time to play usbecauseweweremissing somanyplayers, but we were the best sidein the first half by a long shot, andthe game was almost finished athalftime,” Lyon defender LucyBronze said after the win.“We’ve definitely got the stron-

gest squad in the world.”Le Sommer opened the scoring

in the 25thminute before Kumagai added to the lead shortlybefore halftime.Gunnarsdottir sealed the victory in the 88th after Popp

had got Wolfsburg on the board in the 58th.“It’s actually quite difficult to believe we have managed

our fifth straight title, to be honest.We’re super proud of our-selves, it was a very difficult competition … if you sign forLyon, you sign up to be awinner,” goalkeeper Sarah Bouhad-di said.It was the fourth final between the two clubs, and their

third in the past five years. Wolfsburg’s only triumph overLyon came in the first final between the teams in 2013.It was Wolfsburg’s first loss in 41 games, since a 4-2 home

defeat in the Champions League quarter-finals against Lyonin March, 2019. Lyon still hasn’t lost a competitive matchsince the French Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain inMay, 2018.In the semi-finals of the final-eight mini tournament

playedwithout fans in northern Spain, Lyon beat Paris Saint-Germain – whosematchday lineup included Canadians Ash-ley Lawrence and Jordyn Huitema – and Wolfsburg defeatedBarcelona.The final was played at Real Sociedad’s Anoeta Stadium in

the Basque city of San Sebastian. Athletic Bilbao’s SanMames stadium also played host to games.

THE CANADIAN PRESS, WITH A REPORTFROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AND REUTERS

Buchanan earnsfourth straightChampions title

Lyon players run toward the Women’s Champions Leaguetrophy after defeating Wolfsburg 3-1 in their final on Sundayin San Sebastian, Spain. GABRIEL BUOYS/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The 24-year-oldfrom Brampton,Ont., who has101 caps for Canada,started at centrealongsideLyon captainWendie Renard.

LONDON A month that began with Pierre-Emerick Auba-meyang winning the FA Cup for Arsenal ended with hisgoals clinching the Community Shield.Just like at the start of August for the showpiece that

ended the last pandemic-disrupted season, no fans wereallowed into Wembley Stadium on Saturday for this cur-tain-raiser to the new campaign against Liverpool.Aubameyang is taking to playing in an empty Wembley.The Arsenal captain scored twice in both the semi-

finals and final of the FA Cup. Although his opener in theCommunity Shield was cancelled out by Takumi Minami-no’s first goal in his 15th game for Liverpool, the strikernetted the spotkick that clinched a 5-4 victory over Liver-pool in the shootout after the match was 1-1 after 90minutes.Now, Arsenal is just waiting on Aubameyang signing a

new contract as he enters the final season of his currentdeal.Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta seems hopeful.“I am not worried,” Arteta said. “I am very positive he

is going to sign.”Aubameyang found the breakthrough in the 12th min-

ute, latching onto Bukayo Saka’s diagonal pass beforecurling into the net.The goal celebration was a tribute to actor Chadwick

Boseman, who died the previous day of cancer at the ageof 43. Aubameyang gave the “Wakanda Forever” saluteperformed by Boseman’s character in the 2018 film BlackPanther.The Premier League season will start a month later

than originally scheduled on Sept. 12 – with fans stillexcluded from stadiums.Arsenal will be hoping to finish far closer to the cham-

pions than last season. Arsenal finished 43 points behindLiverpool, but did beat Jurgen Klopp’s side after the titlehad already been sealed in July. This was a disappointingstart to the season for Liverpool after it became the earli-est-ever champions when it ended a 30-year title drought.“We created enough, had the ball quite a lot, but had to

be careful of their counterattack, deserved the equalizer,could have scored more, but when you don’t you have totake it,” Klopp said. “A penalty shootout is always a littlebit of a lottery and we were unlucky there, so congrat-ulations to Arsenal, that is how it is. We respect the com-petition.” THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUBAMEYANG SALUTES BOSEMANIN ARSENAL’S COMMUNITY SHIELD WIN

B12 O THE GLOBE AND MAIL | MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020

NBA PLAYOFFSFIRST ROUND

All Times EAsternAll GAmes AtOrlAndo, FlA.(Best-of-7)

EASTERNCONFERENCE

MILWAUKEE (1) VS. ORLANDO (8)(Milwaukee wins series 4-1)SAturdAyMilwaukee 118 Orlando 104

WESTERNCONFERENCEL.A. LAKERS (1) VS. PORTLAND (8)(L.A. Lakers win series 4-1)SAturdAyL.A. Lakers 131 Portland 122

L.A. CLIPPERS (2) VS. DALLAS (7)(L.A. Clippers win series 4-2)SundAyL.A. Clippers 111 Dallas 97

DENVER (3) VS. UTAH (6)(Utah leads series 3-2)SundAyUtah vs. Denver

HOUSTON(4)VS.OKLAHOMACITY(5)(Houston leads series 3-2)SAturdAyHouston 114 Oklahoma City 80

MondAyHouston vs. Oklahoma City, 9 p.m.

x—plAyed only if neCessAry.

SECOND ROUND

(Best-of-7)EASTERNCONFERENCE

MILWAUKEE (1) VS.MIAMI (5)(Series tied 0-0)MondAyMiami vs. Milwaukee, 6:30 p.m.

WednesdAy, Sept. 2Miami vs. Milwaukee, 6:30 p.m.

FridAy, Sept. 4Milwaukee vs. Miami, TBA

SundAy, Sept. 6Milwaukee vs. Miami, TBA

TORONTO (2) VS. BOSTON (3)(Boston leads series 1-0)SundAyBoston 112 Toronto 94

TuesdAyBoston vs. Toronto, 3 or 5:30 p.m.

ThursdAy, Sept. 3Toronto vs. Boston, TBA

SAturdAy, Sept. 5Toronto vs. Boston, TBA

MondAy, Sept. 7x-Boston vs. Toronto, TBA

WednesdAy, Sept. 9x-Toronto vs. Boston, TBA

FridAy, Sept. 11x-Boston vs. Toronto, TBA

All gAme times/ dAtes suBjeCt toChAnge.

ATP/WTAWESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

SAturdAyAt NewYorkPurse: $4,222,190SurfACe:Hardcourt outdoor

MENSINGLES— CHAMPIONSHIPNovak Djokovic (1), Serbia, def.MilosRAoniC, Thornhill, Ont., 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

DOUBLES— CHAMPIONSHIPPablo Carreno Busta, Spain, and Alex

de Minaur, Australia, def. Jamie Murrayand Neal Skupski, Britain, 6-2, 7-5.

WOMENSINGLES— CHAMPIONSHIPVictoria Azarenka, Belarus, def. Naomi

Osaka (4), Japan (walkover).

DOUBLES— CHAMPIONSHIPKveta Peschke, Czech Republic, and

Demi Schuurs (3), Netherlands, def. XuYifan, China, and Nicole Melichar (2),United States, 6-1, 4-6, 10-4.

MLSGP W L T GF GA Pt

EASTERNCONFERENCEToronto 8 5 0 3 14 7 18Columbus 8 5 1 2 12 2 17Philadelphia 8 4 1 3 12 8 15Orlando 8 4 2 2 15 10 14NY Red Bulls 8 3 3 2 7 9 11New England 8 2 1 5 7 6 11Montreal 7 3 3 1 10 9 10Atlanta 7 3 4 0 7 8 9New York City 8 3 5 0 6 8 9Cincinnati 8 2 4 2 6 12 8Chicago 8 2 5 1 8 14 7D.C. 8 1 4 3 8 13 6Nashville 6 1 4 1 3 8 4Miami 6 1 5 0 6 10 3WESTERNCONFERENCEKansas City 8 5 2 1 18 12 16Seattle 6 3 1 2 10 4 11Minnesota 7 3 2 2 14 11 11Portland 7 3 2 2 12 14 11Salt Lake 7 2 1 4 11 8 10Los Angeles FC 6 2 1 3 15 12 9Dallas 6 2 1 3 7 4 9San Jose 6 2 2 2 12 13 8LA Galaxy 7 2 3 2 10 13 8Colorado 7 2 3 2 10 14 8Houston 7 1 2 4 11 13 7Vancouver 8 2 6 0 7 16 6Note: 3 pts for a win, 1 for a tie.SundAy

Miami at NashvilleLos Angeles F.C. at Seattle

SAturdAy

Columbus 0 Cincinnati 0Dallas 3 Minnesota 1Kansas City 1 Colorado 1L.A. Galaxy 3 San Jose 2New York City 3 Chicago 1N.Y. Red Bulls 1 New England 1Orlando 3 Atlanta 1Philadelphia 4 D.C. 1Salt Lake 4 Portland 4

FridAy

Toronto 1 Montreal 0

EAST DIVISIONTampa Bay 24 11 .686 —New York 19 13 .594 31/2

Toronto 18 14 .563 41/2

Baltimore 14 19 .424 9Boston 12 22 .353 111/2

CENTRAL DIVISIONChicago 21 13 .618 —Cleveland 21 13 .618 —Minnesota 20 15 .571 11/2

Detroit 16 16 .500 4Kansas City 13 21 .382 8WEST DIVISIONOakland 22 12 .647 —Houston 19 14 .576 21/2

Seattle 14 22 .389 9Texas 12 21 .364 91/2

Los Angeles 12 23 .343 101/2

SundAy

Detroit 3, Minnesota 2N.Y. Yankees 8, N.Y. Mets 7, 8 innings,1st gameTampa Bay 12, Miami 7St. Louis 7, Cleveland 2Boston 9, Washington 5Chicago White Sox 5, Kansas City 2, 10inningsToronto 6, Baltimore 5L.A. Dodgers 7, Texas 2Seattle 2, L.A. Angels 1, 10 inningsN.Y. Yankees 5, N.Y. Mets 2, 8 innings,2nd gameOakland at Houston, ppd.

SAturdAy

Detroit8,Minnesota2,7 innings,1stgameN.Y. Yankees 2, N.Y. Mets 1Cleveland 2, St. Louis 1, 12 inningsKansas City 9, Chicago White Sox 6Houston4,Oakland2,7 innings,1stgameDetroit4,Minnesota2,7 innings,2ndgameTampa Bay 4, Miami 0Toronto 5, Baltimore 0Houston6,Oakland3,7 innings,2ndgameL.A. Dodgers 7, Texas 4Boston 5, Washington 3L.A. Angels 16, Seattle 3

FridAy

N.Y. Mets 6, N.Y. Yankees 4, 7 innings,1st gameToronto 5, Baltimore 4, 10 inningsN.Y. Mets 4, N.Y. Yankees 3, 7 innings,2nd gameTampa Bay 2, Miami 0Washington 10, Boston 2Chicago White Sox 6, Kansas City 5Texas 6, L.A. Dodgers 2Cleveland 14, St. Louis 2L.A. Angels 3, Seattle 2Minnesota at Detroit, ppd., 1st gameMinnesota at Detroit, ppd., 2nd gameOakland at Houston, ppd.

MondAyAll Times EAstern

Baltimore (Wojciechowski 1-3) at To-ronto (Anderson 0-0), 2:07 p.m.Seattle (Gonzales 3-2) at L.A. Angels(Sandoval 0-4), 4:10 p.m.Tampa Bay (Glasnow 1-1) at N.Y. Yan-kees (Tanaka 0-1), 7:05 p.m.Atlanta (Fried 5-0) at Boston (Brewer 0-2), 7:30 p.m.Cleveland (Bieber 6-0) at Kansas City(Keller 3-1), 8:05 p.m.Chicago White Sox (Giolito 3-2) at Minne-sota (Hill 1-1), 8:10 p.m.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALLAMERICAN LEAGUE NATIONAL LEAGUE

W L PCt GB W L PCt GBEAST DIVISIONAtlanta 18 14 .563 —Philadelphia 14 14 .500 2Miami 14 15 .483 21/2

New York 15 19 .441 4Washington 12 19 .387 51/2

CENTRAL DIVISIONChicago 20 14 .588 —St. Louis 12 13 .480 31/2

Milwaukee 15 18 .455 41/2

Cincinnati 15 19 .441 5Pittsburgh 10 21 .323 81/2

WEST DIVISIONLos Angeles 26 10 .722 —San Diego 21 15 .583 5Colorado 17 17 .500 8San Francisco 17 19 .472 9Arizona 14 21 .400 111/2

SundAy

N.Y. Yankees 8, N.Y. Mets 7, 8 innings,1st gameChicago Cubs 10, Cincinnati 1Tampa Bay 12, Miami 7St. Louis 7, Cleveland 2Boston 9, Washington 5Pittsburgh 5, Milwaukee 1L.A. Dodgers 7, Texas 2San Diego 13, Colorado 2San Francisco 4, Arizona 1N.Y. Yankees 5, N.Y. Mets 2, 8 innings,2nd gameAtlanta at Philadelphia

SAturdAy

Philadelphia 4, Atlanta 1N.Y. Yankees 2, N.Y. Mets 1Cleveland 2, St. Louis 1, 12 inningsChicago Cubs 3, Cincinnati 0, 7 innings,1st gameTampa Bay 4, Miami 0Milwaukee 7, Pittsburgh 6Cincinnati 6, Chicago Cubs 5, 7 innings,2nd gameL.A. Dodgers 7, Texas 4Boston 5, Washington 3Colorado 4, San Diego 3San Francisco 5, Arizona 2

FridAy

N.Y. Mets 6, N.Y. Yankees 4, 7 innings,1st gameN.Y. Mets 4, N.Y. Yankees 3, 7 innings,2nd gameTampa Bay 2, Miami 0Cincinnati 6, Chicago Cubs 5Washington 10, Boston 2Milwaukee 9, Pittsburgh 1Philadelphia 7, Atlanta 4, 11 inningsTexas 6, L.A. Dodgers 2Cleveland 14, St. Louis 2San Diego 10, Colorado 4Arizona 7, San Francisco 4

MondAyAll Times EAstern

Miami (Rogers 0-0) at N.Y. Mets (deGrom2-0), 1:10 p.m.St. Louis (Hudson 0-2) at Cincinnati (DeS-clafani 1-1), 6:40 p.m.Washington (Fedde 1-2) at Philadelphia(Howard 0-1), 7:05 p.m.Atlanta (Fried 5-0) at Boston (Brewer 0-2), 7:30 p.m.Pittsburgh (Williams 1-5) at Milwaukee(TBD), 7:40 p.m.San Diego (TBD) at Colorado (Marquez 2-4), 9:40 p.m.

TELEVISIONMONDAY (ALLTIMESEASTERN)

TENNIS

U.S. Open: First Round, TSN 1, 2, 3, 5, 11a.m., TSN 1, 3, 7 p.m.

BASEBALL

MLB: Baltimore vs. Toronto, SN Ontario,East, West, Pacific, 2 p.m.

HOCKEY

NHL: Boston vs. Tampa Bay, CBC, SNOntario, East, West, Pacific, 7 p.m.NHL: Dallas vs. Colorado, SN 1, Ontario,East, West, Pacific, 9:45 p.m.

BASKETBALL

NBA: Houston vs. Oklahoma City, TSN 4,5, 9 p.m.NBA: Milwaukee vs. Miami, TSN 5, 6:30p.m.

NHLSECOND ROUND

(Best-of-7)

EASTERNCONFERENCE

PHILA. (1) VS. N.Y. ISLANDERS (7)(N.Y. Islanders lead series 2-1)SundAyPhiladelphia vs. N.Y. Islanders

SAturdAyN.Y. Islanders 3 Philadelphia 1

TuesdAy, Sept. 1N.Y. Islanders vs. Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

ThursdAy, Sept. 3x-Philadelphia vs. N.Y. Islanders, TBA

SAturdAy, Sept. 5x-N.Y. Islanders vs. Philadelphia, TBA

TAMPA BAY (2) VS. BOSTON (4)(Tampa leads series 3-1)SAturdAyTampa Bay 3 Boston 1

FridAyTampa Bay vs. Boston (ppd., social sup-port)

MondAyBoston vs. Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.

WednesdAy, Sept. 2x-Tampa Bay vs. Boston, TBA

ThursdAy, Sept. 3x-Boston vs. Tampa Bay, TBA

WESTERNCONFERENCE

VEGAS (1) VS. VANCOUVER (7)(Vegas leads series 2-1)SundAyVegas vs. Vancouver

SAturdAyVegas 3 Vancouver 0

TuesdAyVancouver vs. Vegas, 9:45 p.m.

ThursdAy, Sept. 3x-Vegas vs. Vancouver, TBA

FridAy, Sept. 4x-Vancouver vs. Vegas, TBA

COLORADO (2) VS. DALLAS (3)(Dallas leads series 3-1)SundAyDallas 5 Colorado 4

FridAyColorado vs. Dallas (ppd., social support)

MondAyDallas vs. Colorado, 9:45 p.m.

WednesdAy, Sept. 2x-Colorado vs. Dallas, TBA

FridAy, Sept. 4x-Dallas vs. Colorado, TBAx—plAyed only if neCessAry.

All gAme times/ dAtes suBjeCt toChAnge.

CANADIANPREMIERLEAGUETHE ISLAND GAMES

At ChArlottetownGP W L T GF GA Pt

Hamilton 6 3 1 2 11 7 11Calgary 6 3 2 1 9 7 10Victoria 5 2 1 2 8 6 8Winnipeg 5 2 2 1 6 5 7York 5 1 0 4 7 6 7Halifax 5 1 1 3 8 7 6Ottawa 5 1 2 2 6 10 5Edmonton 5 0 4 1 4 11 1Note: 3 pts for a win, 1 for a tie.SundAy

Hamilton 2 Ottawa 0Victoria 2 Calgary 1

SAturdAy

Halifax 1 York 1Winnipeg 2 Edmonton 1

TuesdAy, Sept. 1All Times EAstern

Edmonton vs. York, 8 p.m.

WednesdAy, Sept. 3

Winnipeg vs. Halifax, 1 p.m.Victoria vs. Ottawa, 8 p.m.

NBAPOSTSEASONLEADERSG FG FT PTS AVG

Mitchell, UTA 5 60 46 188 37.6Leonard, LAC 5 56 43 164 32.8Harden, HOU 5 51 36 159 31.8Murray, DEN 5 59 14 154 30.8Antetokounmpo, MIL5 59 25 153 30.6Embiid, PHI 4 34 48 120 30.0Davis, LAL 5 51 40 149 29.8Doncic, DAL 5 49 38 148 29.6Vucevic, ORL 5 56 10 140 28.0James, LAL 5 48 28 137 27.4Tatum, BOS 4 38 18 108 27.0Jokic, DEN 5 51 13 132 26.4Lillard, POR 4 26 32 97 24.3Walker, BOS 4 33 23 97 24.3McCollum, POR 5 44 15 116 23.2Dragic, MIA 4 36 7 91 22.8Brogdon, IND 4 26 25 86 21.5Brown, BOS 4 27 22 86 21.5VanVleet, TOR 4 29 8 85 21.3Siakam, TOR 4 30 17 83 20.8Paul, OKC 5 40 12 102 20.4LeVert, BKN 4 27 18 81 20.3Warren, IND 4 32 9 80 20.0Butler, MIA 4 20 35 79 19.8Gordon, HOU 5 38 14 97 19.4Hardaway, DAL 5 36 8 97 19.4Schroder, OKC 5 34 18 97 19.4Not inCluding lAst night’s gAmes

NHL SCORING LEADERSG A Pts

Nathan MacKinnon, Col 7 13 20Brayden Point, TB 6 10 16Elias Pettersson, Vcr 5 11 16Nikita Kucherov, TB 4 12 16Mikko Rantanen, Col 5 10 15Miro Heiskanen, Dal 3 12 15Nazem Kadri, Col 7 7 14Brad Marchand, Bos 7 5 12Shea Theodore, VGK 4 8 12Sebastian Aho, Car 3 9 12Gabriel Landeskog, Col 2 10 12Mark Stone, VGK 6 5 11J.T. Miller, Vcr 5 6 11Ryan O’Reilly, StL 4 7 11Reilly Smith, VGK 4 7 11Cale Makar, Col 2 9 11Josh Bailey, NYI 2 9 11Quinn Hughes, Vcr 1 10 11Bo Horvat, Vcr 8 2 10Anthony Beauvillier, NYI 7 3 10Pierre-Luc Dubois, Clb 4 6 10Jamie Benn, Dal 3 7 10Mathew Barzal, NYI 3 7 10David Krejci, Bos 3 7 10Alex Tuch, VGK 7 2 9Denis Gurianov, Dal 7 2 9Joe Pavelski, Dal 7 2 9Connor McDavid, Edm 5 4 9Jonathan Toews, Chi 5 4 9David Perron, StL 4 5 9Andre Burakovsky, Col 4 5 9Kevin Hayes, Pha 3 6 9Brock Boeser, Vcr 3 6 9David Pastrnak, Bos 2 7 9Not inCluding lAst night’s gAmes

SATURDAYTORONTO5, BALTIMORE 0BAltimore AB r hBiToronto AB r hBiAlberto 2b 4 0 1 0 Biggio 2b 4 0 2 2Santander rf 4 0 2 0 Grichuk cf 5 0 1 0Iglesias ss 4 0 2 0 Tellez 1b 2 1 0 0Nú—ez 1b 3 0 0 0 Hernández rf4 1 2 0Severino dh 4 0 0 0 Gurero Jr. dh 4 1 2 2Sisco c 3 0 0 0 Shaw 3b 3 0 1 0Mountcastle lf4 0 0 0 Fisher lf 4 1 0 1Ruiz 3b 4 0 0 0 Jansen c 4 0 0 0Mullins cf 2 0 0 0 Panik ss 4 1 1 0Totals 32 0 5 0 Totals 34 5 9 5BAltimore 000 0Toronto 200 300 00x 5E—Santander (3), Ruiz (2). LOB—Balti-more 8, Toronto 9. 2B—Iglesias (10),Panik (2). SB—Hernández (5).BAltimore IP H R ER BB SOCobb L,1-3 4 8 5 4 2 2Valdez 3 1 0 0 1 5Phillips 1 0 0 0 0 2TorontoWalker W,1-0 6 4 0 0 3 4Borucki 1 1 0 0 0 0Cole 1 0 0 0 0 2Font 1 0 0 0 0 1Cobb pitched to 2 batters in the 5th.HBP—Phillips (Biggio). WP—Valdez.Umpires—Home, Marty Foster; First,Sean Barber; Second, Jeremy Riggs;Third, Alan Porter.T—2:44.

SUNDAYTORONTO6, BALTIMORE 5BAltimore AB r hBiToronto AB r hBiAlberto 2b 5 0 1 0 Biggio 2b 5 0 1 1Santander rf 4 0 0 0 Grichuk cf 3 2 1 1Iglesias dh 5 0 2 1 Shaw 3b 3 0 1 0Nú—ez 1b 4 1 2 0 Hernández rf5 1 2 2Severino c 4 1 2 1 Gurero Jr. dh 3 0 1 1Mountcastle lf4 2 3 3 Tellez 1b 4 0 1 1Mullins cf 0 0 0 0 Gurriel Jr. lf 3 1 0 0Williams cf-lf 4 0 1 0 Panik ss 2 1 0 0Ruiz 3b 3 1 1 0 1-Espinal pr 0 1 0 0Velazquez ss 2 0 0 0 McGuire c 2 0 0 0Totals 35 5 125 Totals 30 6 7 6BAltimore 010 003 001 5Toronto 000 120 012 6DP—Baltimore 0, Toronto 2. LOB—Balti-more 8, Toronto 8. 2B—Nú—ez (8), Gri-chuk (6), Shaw (2). 3B—Williams (1).HR—Mountcastle 2 (2). SB—Velazquez(3). SF—Grichuk (1). S—Velazquez (2),McGuire 2 (4).BAltimore IP H R ER BB SOLópez 4 2-3 3 3 3 3 3Fry 2 1-3 1 0 0 0 3Harvey, H, 1 2-3 1 1 1 1 0Scott, BS, 1-2 1-3 1 0 0 0 0Sulser, L, 1-4, 5-82-3 1 2 2 3 0TorontoRoark 5 8 4 4 2 5Kay 1 1 0 0 0 1Reid-Foley 2 1 0 0 0 2Bass, W, 2-1 1 2 1 1 1 0Roark pitched to 3 batters in the 6th.HBP—Roark (Nú—ez). T—2:58.

TOUR DE FRANCESECOND STAGE

SundAyAtNiCe, FrAnCe

A 185.9 kilometre ride fromNiCe HAutPAys toNiCe1. Julian Alaphilippe, France, Deceu-

ninck-Quickstep, four hours, 55 mi-nutes, 27 seconds; 2. Marc Hirschi,Switzerland, Team Sunweb, same time;3. Adam Yates, Great Britain, Mitchelton-Scott, 0:01 behind; 4. Greg Van Aver-maet, Belgium, CCC Team, 0:02; 5. Ser-gio Andres Higuita Garcia, Colombia, EFPro Cycling, s.t.; 6. Bauke Mollema,Netherlands, Trek-Segafredo, s.t.; 7. Al-exey Lutsenko, Kazakhstan, Astana ProTeam, s.t.; 8. Tadej Pogacar, Slovakia,UAE Team Emirates, s.t.; 9. MaximilianSchachmann, Germany, Bora-Hans-grohe, s.t.; 10. Alberto Bettiol, Italy, EFPro Cycling, s.t.11. Guillaume Martin, France, Cofidis,

s.t.; 12. Esteban Chaves, Colombia, Mit-chelton-Scott, s.t.; 13. Damiano Caruso,Italy, Bahrain McLaren, s.t.; 14. Alejan-dro Valverde, Spain, Movistar Team, s.t.;15. Pierre Latour, France, AG2R la Mon-diale, s.t.; 16. Miguel Angel LopezMoreno, Colombia, Astana Pro Team,s.t.; 17. Egan Arley Bernal Gomez, Co-lombia, Ineos Grenadiers, s.t.; 18. NairoQuintana, Colombia, Team Arkea-Sam-sic, s.t.; 19. Jesus Herrada, Spain, Cofi-dis, s.t.; 20. Richard Carapaz, Ecuador,Ineos Grenadiers, s.t.Also128.HugoHoule, Ste-Perpetue, Que.,

Astana Pro Team, 21:38.

OVERALL STANDINGS(After two stAges)1. Julian Alaphilippe, France, Deceu-

ninck-Quickstep, eight hours, 41 mi-nutes, 35 seconds; 2. Adam Yates, GreatBritain, Mitchelton-Scott, 0:04 behind; 3.Marc Hirschi, Switzerland, Team Sun-web, 0:07; 4. Sergio Andres Higuita Gar-cia, Colombia, EF Pro Cycling, 0:17; 5.Tadej Pogacar, Slovakia, UAE Team Emi-rates, s.t.; 6. Esteban Chaves, Colombia,Mitchelton-Scott, s.t.; 7. Davide Formolo,Italy, UAE Team Emirates, s.t.; 8. EganArley Bernal Gomez, Colombia, IneosGrenadiers, s.t.; 9. Richard Carapaz,Ecuador, Ineos Grenadiers, s.t.; 10. TomDumoulin, Netherlands, Team Jumbo-Visma, same time.Also121.HugoHoule, Ste-Perpetue, Que.,

Astana Pro Team, 21:53.

PGA TOURBMW CHAMPIONSHIP SCORES

SAturdAyAtOlympiA Fields, IllinoisYArdAge: 7,366; PAr: 70

FINALy-Jon Rahm, $1,710,000 75-71-66-64—276Dustin Johnson, $1,026,000 71-69-69-67—276Hideki Matsuyama, $551,000 67-73-69-69—278Joaquin Niemann, $551,000 72-71-68-67—278Tony Finau, $384,750 70-71-73-65—279Matthew Fitzpatrick, $337,250 70-75-68-67—280Jason Kokrak, $337,250 74-71-69-66—280Sebastian Munoz, $285,000 70-75-67-69—281Brendon Todd, $285,000 73-68-71-69—281Lanto Griffin, $247,000 70-73-70-69—282MACkenzie Hughes, $247,000 69-73-69-71—282Byeong Hun An, $192,375 73-74-68-68—283Patrick Cantlay, $192,375 71-68-75-69—283Brian Harman, $192,375 72-73-69-69—283Rory McIlroy, $192,375 70-69-73-71—283Paul Casey, $147,250 73-72-71-68—284AlsoCorey Conners, $49,129 76-69-70-72—287NiCk TAylor, $22,496 75-72-73-71—291

CORNERED OFF THE MARK SPEED BUMP BIZARRO

| REPORT ON BUSINESS

Lewis Hamilton led from start tofinish at the BelgianGrandPrix toclinch his 89th career win andmove two behind Michael Schu-macher’s Formula One record onSunday.The world champion was un-

troubledfrompoleposition,beat-ing his Mercedes teammate Valt-teri Bottas by eight seconds andfinishing 15 seconds ahead of RedBull’s Max Verstappen.It’s great for Hamilton, but he

understands F1 fansmight be get-ting a little bored. “You generally

know I don’tmake toomanymis-takes. I can imagine it’s definitelynot themost exciting [race],” Ha-milton said. “Of course I wouldloveawheel-to-wheel race. I hopewe have more of a race movingforward.”The only thing to elude him

was the extra point for the fastestlap, which he had until Renault’sDaniel Ricciardo took it on the fi-nal lap on his way to fourth place.Montreal’s Lance Stroll of Rac-

ing Point finished ninth, whileWilliams’s Nicholas Latifi of To-ronto was 16th.Hamilton’s fifth win from sev-

en races also extended his cham-pionship lead over Verstappen to

47 points with Bottas drifting 50back in third. Hamilton is fa-voured towin a seventh title to tieSchumacher’s record.“I do feel that I’mdriving atmy

best … I am 35 going towards 36,but I feel better thanever,”Hamil-ton said. “Last year was one ofmybest years, if not the best year, butinqualifying Ihadabitofa slump.Every year the goal is to improvephysically andmentally.”Bottas vowed, before this sea-

son and last, that he could takeHamilton’s crown. Yet he’s wononly one race. “It’s not over, thereare 10 left. I had a puncture in Sil-verstone, lost a lot of points withthat,” Bottas said. “If I gave up

now, I’d rather stay home.”Schumacher won five of his F1

titles consecutivelyduringaglori-ous era for Ferrari, but the proudItalian team is struggling badlynow. Sebastian Vettel finished13th and Charles Leclerc 14th.They are nowhere close to Hamil-ton in terms of speed, let alonechallenging him.Having secured a record-ex-

tending 93rd career pole, whichhe dedicated to American actorChadwick Boseman, Hamiltonmade a clean start and Bottaswasunable to exert pressure on thelong straight up to Turn 2.Verstappen,meanwhile,would

lovea faster car to take the fight to

Hamilton, but Red Bull has yet tobridge the gap with Mercedes. “Itwas pretty boring to be honest,notmuch todo,”Verstappen said.“It was not really enjoyable outthere.”Early into the 44-lap race, Wil-

liams driver George Russell andAlfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzicrashed heavily. Giovinazzi lostcontrol of his car and Russellswerved into the barriers to avoida loose tire from Giovinazzi’s carbouncing across the track. Bothclimbed out unhurt, while otherdrivers crawled at snail-like paceslowly over the debris.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Hamilton leads the pack at Belgian Grand PrixJEROME PUGM IRESPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, BELGIUM

MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 | THE GLOBE AND MAIL O B13

Back in April, an on-scheduleU.S. Open simply did notseem possible.

The novel coronavirus was atits peak in New York; a buildingon the tournament groundshousing indoor tennis courts wasconverted to a field hospital.The pandemic was locking

down much of society, includingsports. Wimbledonwas cancelledfor the first time in 75 years, theFrench Open was postponed andthe United States Tennis Associ-ation said it was considering “thepossibility” of changing its dates,too.OnMonday, the last day of Au-

gust, the 2020 U.S. Open will, in-deed, begin – as scheduled, albeitwithout any spectators, and withone player dropped from thefield because he tested positivefor COVID-19.Benoît Paire, a Frenchman

who was seeded 17th, was re-placed in the draw Sunday, astriking reminder of the circum-stances surrounding this attemptto ensure that the Grand Slamshow goes on.There are many other remind-

ers, such as the plastic signspropped up around the quieter-than-usual grounds, making amix of requests and commands.“Keep us all safe. Please wear a

mask & keep your distance.”“Unless you are eating, please

wear your mask in the diningarea.”“We’re Back! But hugging isn’t.

Some ways to say hello: virtualhugs; quick elbow taps. Please

avoid: hugs; fist bumps.”“Help us keep the bubble safe.

Let us know if you witness un-healthy behaviour,” with a phonenumber to call.Merchandise shops are filled

with empty shelves and un-dressedmannequins. Instead of amain plaza filled with fans eatingand drinking and comparing pur-chases and talking about tennis,there is a space for players tohang out, with a putting green,

basketball hoop and giant chessboard among the outdoor diver-sions offered.“When you’re walking to and

from practice – you have to getsomewhere for a certain time –it’s nice. You know that there’s noone around, that you’re not go-ing to get stopped,” said AndyMurray, who won the first of histhree Grand Slam titles at Flush-ing Meadows in 2012. “Yeah, it’svery quiet and very relaxed.”

Then Murray described histhoughts during his trek to thelocker room after a practice ses-sion last week.“I was like, ‘Wow, this is pretty

sad,’ because usually this place isjust filled with energy and atmo-sphere, like before the tourna-ment starts,” he said. “Now it’stennis players and their teamswalking around with masks on.It’s just all very different and a lit-tle bit sad.”

When play begins Mondaymorning in Arthur Ashe Stadium– where many seats are coveredby pieces of cloth with messagessuch as “New York Tough” and“Black Lives Matter” – 2016 run-ner-up Karolina Pliskova, thetop-seeded woman, will play An-helina Kalinina in the openingmatch.That distinction was not

earned by virtue of being rankedNo. 1, but because the womenwho hold the first two WTAspots, Ash Barty and Simona Ha-lep, chose not to participate be-cause of the pandemic.In all, six of the top eight wom-

en are missing, including 2019champion Bianca Andreescu.If the women’s event seems

unpredictable as can be – evenwith Serena Williams and her 23Grand Slam singles trophies inthe bracket – and it is hard toknow just how well anyone willdeal with lack of competition thisyear, the overwhelming favouritefor the men’s championship isNovak Djokovic.He is scheduled to begin Mon-

day’s night session in Asheagainst Damir Dzumhur, fol-lowed by two-time major cham-pion Naomi Osaka – who pulledout of the Western & SouthernOpen final with an injured lefthamstring – against Misaki Doi.“I always love playing in New

York. I think I’m not the only onewho shares the opinion that thisis probably themost exciting, en-ergetic, dynamic, explosive ten-nis court that we have in thesport,” Djokovic said. “It isstrange to see empty stands.”Rafael Nadal, last year’s cham-

pion, didn’t want to travel, whileRoger Federer ended his 2020season after two knee oper-ations.Djokovic is ranked and seeded

No. 1, is 23-0 in 2020 and is com-ing off a title at the Western &Southern Open on Saturday.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

U.S. Open will proceedas scheduled – albeitwithout spectators andPaire, who dropped outafter testing positivefor the coronavirus

HOWARD FENDR ICH NEW YORK

Benoît Paire makes a backhand return during a singles match at the Australian Open in Melbourne in January.The Frenchman was replaced in the draw for this year’s U.S. Open. DITA ALANGKARA/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The show must go on in New York

For all that’s been on NovakDjokovic’s plate as of late –including a painful neck and

his efforts to start a new players’association in men’s tennis – hejust keeps winning.He’s perfect in 2020, an ideal

way to head into the U.S. Open.Djokovic tiedRafael Nadal’s re-

cord by earning his 35th title at aMasters 1000 tournament, over-coming a sluggish start to beatCanada’sMilosRaonic 1-6, 6-3, 6-4in the Western & Southern Openfinal Saturday and improve to23-0 this season.“Has been challengingmental-

ly and emotionally for me to staysane and be able to compete onthe highest level and win this ti-tle,” Djokovic said. “Going on anunbeaten run so far this year ob-viously brings even more confi-dence each match.”Djokovic, 11-0 head to head

against 2016 Wimbledon runner-up Raonic, goes into the U.S.Open as the No. 1 seed and a bigfavourite. The Grand Slam tour-nament begins Monday.“What is that, 23-0?” Raonic

said playfully during the trophyceremony. “Honestly, if I start theyear off 3-0, I’m pretty happy.”Raonic, who entered the tour-

nament ranked No. 30, will breakinto the top 20 when next week’srankings come out. Despite theloss to Djokovic, the hard-servingveteran from Thornhill, Ont.,could be a force to be reckonedwith next week at the U.S. Open.Raonic, who has battled his

share of injuries throughout hiscareer, is not worried about the

tight turnaround from the West-ern & Southern to the U.S. Open,which begins Monday.“It’s not something I’m wor-

ried about,” he said.“I’m going tomake in every in-

stance the best decision for me,and there is going to be a lot of

factors that come into that.“I hope that I have a lot of

matches coming up in the U.S.Open. It’s something that it is anissue I havewhere I’m askingmy-self, ‘Is it the right thing to berushing to Rome to be playingright now?’ It would be a pretty

good problem to have.”During his runner-up speech

Saturday, Raonic said: “I’m astrong believer that we’re veryluckyup inCanada that every sin-gle personwalking on a street canfeel safe and I hope that there issome serious change that goes on

through the U.S., and that everyBlackman, woman, child can feelsafe in their own communities,on the streets.”“I’m not looking to become a

voice for tennis. I have my opin-ions. I have my beliefs. I thinkthat’s all, I’m really stepping outwhen I do share these things,” hesaid when asked about his com-ments.“There are certain things that

disturb me, that bother me. If Ifeel like there is something I canadd to a situation, I will participa-te as a representative of justMilosRaonic, nobody else.”Earlier Saturday, Victoria Aza-

renkawonher first tour title since2016, when Naomi Osaka pulledout of the women’s final becauseof a left hamstring injury.Djokovic also won theWestern

& Southern Open in 2018, and isnow the first man to win eachMasters 1000 event – one level be-low the Grand Slams – at leasttwice.Osaka initially felt a problem

with her leg in her first match ofthe Western & Southern Openandsaid shepulled thehamstringin the second-set tiebreaker ofher semifinal Friday.She called this an “emotional

week.” The 22-year-old Osakabrought thepush for racial justiceto the tennis tour by saying shewas not going to play in her semi-final, joining athletes in othersports who are sitting out in reac-tion to the shooting by a Wiscon-sin police officer of a Black man,Jacob Blake.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,WITH A REPORT FROMTHE CANADIAN PRESS

NEW YORK

Novak Djokovic holds his trophy after defeating Milos Raonic in their singles final at the Western & SouthernOpen in New York on Saturday. The Serbian player won 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. MATTHEW STOCKMAN/GETTY IMAGES

No stopping Djokovic as he heads into U.S. Open

It’s just men’s players at thispoint. Because the move to har-monize prize money betweenthe two tours got wide support,the broad agendas of the ATP andWTA are practically identical.So it feels a bit off to start up

something gender separate, evenif the goal is to eventually get ev-eryone under the same umbrella.The second problem is the top

end. Federer and Nadal have al-ready waved the idea away.On social media, Nadal said,

“It is time for unity, not for sep-aration.”Federer rebroadcast Nadal’s

message, using nearly the sameformulation: “… it’s critical for us

to stand united as players, and asa sport, to pave the best way for-ward.”Pospisil’s position all along

was not that everyone in tennisneeded a better deal, but that thepeople at the top needed to passsome of the gains down the lad-der to the people in the middle.Even in the midst of the CO-

VID-19 slowdown, Djokovic hasmade US$4.5-million in prizemoney this year. The 100th-ranked men’s player has made$140,000.That sounds like a decent re-

turn until you consider that ten-nis players are independent con-tractors. They pay for everythingthemselves – travel, accommoda-tion, coaching, racquets. A

hundred-and-forty grand is, atbest, a break-even proposition.It’s not a huge surprise that

the Nadals and Federers are theconservatives in this thing. Whywould theywant to change awin-ning game?But the call for “unity” is a bit

rich. You’re not exactly all in it to-gether if one guy leases a countryestate for the fortnight at Wim-bledon, and another guy is stay-ing at aMotel 6 out by the airport.The third problem is Djokovic.

Everywhere but on the tenniscourt, he’s had a terrible CO-VID-19. He’s been pumping up abrand of holistic medicine thatsounds a lot like witchcraft. Heouted himself as a vaccine agnos-tic (that’s being charitable). He

put on his own tournament, helda club night to close it and halfthe people there – including Djo-kovic and his wife – got CO-VID-19.Djokovic was always odd, but

now he seems seriously outthere. This is not the person to befronting any new movement.Which is a shame, because Djo-kovic is the brave one in this in-stance. He has no financial incen-tive to share, but that’s what he’spromoting. It may be an ego trip,but the goals are salutary.Based on early returns, the

PTPA is not catching much trac-tion. If the organizers want tokeep it front of mind, they willhave to pick an almighty fight.Because people do love to watch

the rich eat each other. They’lltune in to that soap opera for aslong as it lasts.Meanwhile, there is actual ten-

nis. On Sunday, it was reportedthat France’s Benoît Paire hadtested positive for COVID-19 afterentering the U.S. Open bubble.Now it’s a rearguard action tocontain this outbreak before itspreads widely.One of the running themes of

COVID-19 sports has been whogets it right from a health per-spective (the NBA, the NHL) andwho’s getting it wrong (MLB, U.S.college athletics).Let’s see how the U.S. Open

deals with multiple ruptures –not all of them epidemiological –at once.

Kelly: Pospisil and Djokovic’s new union is struggling to gain tractionFROM B9

TENNIS

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DEATHS

PENELOPE (PENNY) GERALDINEANN ARTHURSAugust 28, 2020

Penny Arthurs died peacefullyon August 28, age 73, after avaliant struggle with a virulentbrain tumour.Penny left an impression oneveryone she met with hervivid personality, unique styleand capacity to engagewarmly with everyone aroundher, best friend or totalstranger alike. An optimisticchild of the sixties, she hadlittle patience for convention,cant or rules. She loved allt h i ng s beau t i f u l andfascinating: theatre anddance, great meals and exotictravel, fine art and handicrafts,her cottage in Muskoka andh e r C a b b a g e t o w nneighbourhood. She lived forgreat design - in clothing andhome furnishings, in jewelleryand stage settings - and mostof all in gardens. For overthirty years she designedurban and country gardensand won the respect of bothclients and fellow landscapeprofessionals. In her ownwords, she gardened forothers for the delight oft a k i ng a spa ce andtransforming it from nothingto something beyond theirimagining, elegant, lovely anduseful.Born in Sheffield, and herselfan only child without so muchas a single cousin, Penny builther own family in Canada.Married for 46 years to HarryArthurs, a legal academic, shewas deeply devoted to hertwo talented sons and theirequally accomplished wives -Joshua (Malayna Bernstein)and Gideon (Erin Shields). Hergrandchildren - Eli, Carlo,Olive and Tallulah - occupied aspecial place in her heart andshe in theirs. The wholefamily pulled together tobring her comfort and joyduring her illness.Penny had a huge andcontagious appetite forfriendship. Her friends fromKent University’s first enteringclass remained close for thenext six decades; cottagecountry neighbours becamevirtual family members; herfellow "sisters of the soil" mettogether for many years. Wethank them all for theirsupport this year.Despite the difficulties posedby Covid-19, she receivedexcellent medical treatmentfrom Doctors Cusimano,Samawi, Ailon and Tadesco,and wonderful care from herpersonal support workers,Rose Marie and Marjorie. Forthose of you who knew her,celebrate her as you knowshe would want you to, witha glass of something you’vebeen keeping for a specialoccasion.

DEATHS

HELEN T. LOCKHART

Helen Theresa Lockhart (neeO’Connell, May 30, 1929, Sydney,NS) passed away on December 31,2019 in Toronto, ON. She was 90.Mrs. Lockhart was pre-deceasedby her husband of 60 years E.Earl Lockhart (1930-2017) and issurvived by her daughter LaurieLockhart of Toronto, her sonJoseph Lockhart of Welland, ONand four grandchildren, Nathanielof Toronto, Evan of Squamish,BC and Claire and Connor ofKitchener, ON.Helen was also pre-deceasedby her father, a steel worker,Richard O’Connell (1881 - 1963)and her mother Mary O’Connell(nee Ryan, 1889 - 1972) of Sydney;seven brothers, Gerald, Frank(died 1993), Edward (died 1997),Joseph (died 1999), Patrick (died2005), Leo (died 2009) of Sydneyand Richard of Halifax (died 2014);and three sisters, Margaret andAnn (Mrs. Pass, died 1986) ofSydney and Betty of Loggieville,NB (Mrs. O’Brien, died 2003).Helen appreciated Betty’s childrenkeeping in touch, especiallyMargaret, Theresa and family ofMiramichi, NB.Helen and Earl were married onNovember 16, 1957 in Torontoand settled there in Weston.Helen worked hard running herown cleaning business and whenEarl retired from CNR in 1989,they spent some of their bestyears summering in Muskoka atthe Shamrock Trailer Park, until2015. Helen was devoted to herhusband, family, friends andhome. She is greatly loved andmissed.There will be an interment ofHelen’s urn on September 2, 2020at Symington Cemetery (Hwy.11 and Kilworthy Rd., south ofGravenhurst, ON), alongside herbeloved husband Earl.

G . GWYNNETH MORAIS(nee Moir )

Of Skootamatta Lake, passedaway suddenly but peacefullyon Tuesday, August 25, 2020 atthe Perth & Smiths Falls DistrictHospital. Beloved wife of the lateJean Guy Morais. Loving motherof Robert “Bob” (Michelle), SylviaMorais-Jones (Doug) and MichèleFurlong. Granny will always becherished in the hearts ofher grandchildren Mathieu, Marc,Nathalie, Michaela (fiancé JacobMaloney), Brandon, Ariana, Elenaand Liam. She will be sadly missedby her sisters-in-law ThérèseMorais (Jean Rochon) and ClaireSt. Pierre (Jacques). Predeceasedby her sisters-in-law Charlotteand Madeleine. The family willreceive friends at the MilestoneFuneral Center, Northbrook onThursday, September 3, 2020from 1-3 p.m. where the FuneralService will follow at 3 pm.A private family intermentwill follow at the DempseyCemetery. Friends desiringmay contribute in Gwynneth’smemory to the charity whereher passion lived, the OttawaSchool of Art (www.artottawa.ca).Online condolences and memoriescan be shared with the family atwww.milestonefuneralcenter.com

THOMAS EDWARD ROTH

Passed away suddenly at St.Joseph’s Hospital on Friday,August 28, 2020. Belovedhusband of Pamela for sixtyyears. Treasured father of Davidand Michael (Lorraine), and proudpapa of Owen. Tom will begreatly missed by his manyfriends. Due to the presentrestrictions a private familyservice will be held. If desireddonations may be made to theCanadian Catholic Organizationfor Development and Peace or acharity of your choice. Onlinecondolences may be madethrough www.turnerporter.ca

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Kawhi Leonard had 33 points and 14 rebounds and the LosAngeles Clippers eliminated Luka Doncic and the DallasMavericks from the playoffs with a 111-97 victory Sunday inGame 6 of the first-round series.Doncic capped a superb first postseason with 38 points,

nine rebounds and nine assists, keeping it interesting intothe fourth quarter even while playing without injuredteammate Kristaps Porzingis.But with Leonard reaching the 30-point mark for his

career-best fifth straight playoff game and a strong defen-sive effort, the Clippers simply had too many answers.The No. 2 seed in the Western Conference advanced to a

second-round meeting with either Denver or Utah. Thesixth-seeded Jazz were trying to close that series out in sixgames later on Sunday.Paul George and Ivica Zubac added 15 points apiece for

the Clippers, who turned up their defence in this one afterwinning Game 5 with the best of-fensive performance in theirpostseason history, when theyshot 63 per cent and romped to a154-111 victory.Perhaps it was too much to

ask to be that sharp again after afour-day layoff, but they didn’tneed to be even while playingmost of the game without start-ing forward Marcus Morris, whowas ejected for a flagrant foulagainst Doncic in the first quar-ter.Leonard also had seven assists and five steals. The Clip-

pers said he was the first player in at least the past 20postseasons with 30 points, 10 rebounds, five assists andfive steals in a game.The Mavericks had only two field goals in the first six

minutes of the third quarter, both by Doncic, and by thetime he made the second the Clippers had opened the halfwith a 20-3 run that turned a six-point lead into a 77-54 lead.But Doncic kept coming at them, with a three-pointer

and two three-point plays in the final 1:28 to cut it to 85-74.He made another three-pointer that trimmed it to 88-82

with 9:27 to play, but Dallas couldn’t get any closer. LosAngeles began putting the ball in Leonard’s hands and hedelivered with eight straight Clippers points before consec-utive three-pointers by Reggie Jackson pushed it to 105-89.The Clippers led by two when Morris was ejected for

swinging his arm down and striking a driving Doncic in thehead or neck area, but the Clippers finished the quarterwith a 9-2 surge for a 34-29 lead. The Clippers picked uptheir defence in the second period, limiting the Mavs to 17points and 33.3-per-cent shooting to open a 57-51 advantageat the break.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Leonard leads Clippersover Mavericks tonab first-round series

The Clippers said[Kawhi Leonard] wasthe first player inat least the past 20postseasons with 30points, 10 rebounds,five assists and fivesteals in a game.

BR IAN MAHONEY LAKE BUENA V ISTA, FLA.

The law of averages says an Oklahoma City Thunder starterwill make a three-pointer relatively quickly on Mondaynight.Someone better, or else.Houston – which famously wasted a chance to reach the

NBA Finals by missing 27 consecutive three-pointers inGame 7 of the 2018 Western Conference finals – is a gameaway from the second roundof these playoffs, afterwatchingthe Thunder suddenly forget how to shoot Saturday night.TheRocketswill take a 3-2 series lead intoGame6 against theThunder in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on Monday night.“We’ll go back to the drawing board, see what we did well,

see what we didn’t do well,” Thunder guard Chris Paul said.Houston rolled in Game 5, winning 114-80 on a night

where the Thunder missed 14 consecutive three-pointers inone 19-minute stretch, during which the Rockets outscoredthem 55-25 – basically the entire winning margin.Thunder starters combined to miss their past 17 attempts

from three-point range and combined for the full game, Ok-lahoma City’s first-stringers were one for 21 from beyond thearc – the worst performance by any starting unit that tried atleast 20 three-pointers in a game since Portlandwent one for21 at New York on Nov. 13, 2001.“We’re connected, we’re very aware,” Rockets guard Eric

Gordon said Sunday. “A team like OKC, they’re a really goodteamand people don’t give themenough credit.…Ourmainthing is to stay in front of them andmake them take contest-ed shots.”Controlling emotions could be a challenge for both sides

in Game 6. Dennis Schroder led the Thunder with 19 pointsin Game 5 – 18 in the second quarter, when Oklahoma Cityhad its only lead of the night. But he was ejected midwaythrough the third for hitting Houston’s P.J. Tucker in themidsection; Tucker also was ejected after retaliating with ahead-butt.Schroderwas finedUS$25,000 Sunday formaking the con-

tact to the groin area; Tuckerwas finedUS$25,000 for escalat-ing the incident. Both will be available to play in Game 6.If the Rockets win Monday, they would play Game 1 of the

Western Conference semi-finals against the Los Angeles Lak-ers on Wednesday. The Lakers clinched their spot in the sec-ond round by ousting the Portland Trail Blazers in fivegames, finishing that series off with a win on Saturday night.A look at Game 6 of the Houston-Oklahoma City series:

ROCKETS VS. THUNDER

Houston leads 3-2. Game 6.

NEED TO KNOW: Oklahoma City is trying to avoid a fourthconsecutive first-round exit, while Houston is trying to get tothe second round for the fourth straight year.

KEEP AN EYE ON:What the score is at halftime, because ifit’s close: advantage, Houston. The Thunder have shown atendency to struggle after halftime in the bubble. OklahomaCity has been outscored by 92 points after halftime in 13games at Disney, failing to score 40 points in the third andfourth quarters combined four times.

PRESSURE IS ON: Houston. The Lakers would get nearly afull week to rest if the Rockets don’t win Game 6.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Oklahoma City goesback to the drawing boardT IM REYNOLDS

MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020 | THE GLOBE AND MAIL O B15OBITUARIES

To submit an I Remember: obit@globeandmail.comSend us a memory of someone we have recently profiled on the Obituaries page.

Please include I Remember in the subject field

Chadwick Boseman, the re-gal actor who embodied along-held dream of Black

moviegoers as the star of thegroundbreaking superhero filmBlack Panther, died on Friday athis home in Los Angeles. He was43.His publicist confirmed the

death, saying Mr. Boseman’swife, Taylor Simone Ledward,and family were by his side at thetime. A statement posted on Mr.Boseman’s Instagram accountsaid that he learned he had Stage3 colon cancer in 2016 and that ithad progressed to Stage 4.“A true fighter, Chadwick per-

severed through it all, andbrought you many of the filmsyou have come to love so much,”the statement said. “From Mar-shall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wil-son’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottomand several more, all were filmedduring and between countlesssurgeries and chemotherapy.”A private figure by Hollywood

standards, Mr. Boseman rarelypublicized details about his per-sonal life. He found fame rela-tively late as an actor – he was 35when he appeared in his firstprominent role, as Jackie Robin-son in 42 – but made up for losttime with a string of star-makingperformances in major biopics.Whether it was James Brown

in Get On Up, Thurgood Marshallin Marshall or T’Challa in BlackPanther, Mr. Boseman’s unfussyversatility and old-fashionedgravitas helped turn him intoone of his generation’s mostsought-after leading men.News of his death elicited

widespread shock and grief, andmany prominent figures in thearts world and civic life paid trib-ute to Mr. Boseman. Martin Luth-er King III, a human-rights activ-ist and the eldest son of MartinLuther King Jr., said the actorhad “brought history to life onthe silver screen” in his por-trayals of pioneering Black lead-ers.Former U.S. vice-president and

current Democratic presidentialnominee Joe Biden shared a poston Twitter saying Mr. Bosemanhad “inspired generations andshowed them they can be any-thing they want – even super-heroes.”Oprah Winfrey, also posting

on Twitter, wrote Mr. Bosemanwas “a gentle gifted SOUL.”“Showing us all that Greatness

in between surgeries and

chemo,” she added. “The cour-age, the strength, the Power ittakes to do that. This is what Dig-nity looks like.”Mr. Boseman had admired

T’Challa and Marvel’s Black Pan-ther comics since attendingHoward University, where heworked at an African bookstoreas an undergraduate.When the opportunity came

to bring the character – and hisfictional African homeland, Wa-kanda – to the big screen, Mr. Bo-seman embraced the role’s sym-bolic significance to Black audi-ences with a statesman’s prideand devotion. He lobbied for thecharacters to speak in authenticSouth African accents and ledon-set cast discussions about an-cient African symbolism andspirituality.The film, shot in 2017 after Mr.

Boseman received his diagnosis,was a cultural sensation – thefirst major superhero movie withan African protagonist and thefirst to star a majority Black cast.It was near universally praised bycritics for its thematic heft andarray of dynamic performancesfrom Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B.Jordan, Angela Bassett and oth-ers.Reviewing the movie for Slate,

writer Jamelle Bouie credited Mr.Boseman for imbuing the vener-ated comic-book hero with “bothregal confidence and real vulner-ability.”Audiences were even more

enthusiastic. Joyful armies offans participated in special out-ings and repeated viewings.Many came to theatres dressedin African-inspired clothing andaccessories, often using a greet-ing from the film, “Wakanda for-ever,” as a convivial rallying cry.The fervor helped make Black

Panther one of the highest-gross-ing movies of all time, with morethan US$1.3-billion in earningsglobally. Its success representeda moment of hope, pride andempowerment for Black movie-goers around the world. And itmarked an inflection point inHollywood, where decades ofdiscrimination against Black-ledfilms gave way to a new era ofincreased visibility and opportu-nity for Black artists.The statement on Mr. Bose-

man’s Instagram account said itwas “the honor of his career tobring King T’Challa to life inBlack Panther.”How the Walt Disney Co.

might continue the blockbusterfranchise without Mr. Boseman,if at all, was unclear. Although asequel had been scheduled for

release in 2022, filming had yetto begin. On Twitter, fans quicklymounted a campaign demand-ing that Disney not recast therole. The studio had no com-ment.Chadwick Aaron Boseman

was born on Nov. 29, 1976, in thesmall city of Anderson, S.C., theyoungest of three boys. Hismother, Carolyn, was a nurseand his father, Leroy, worked foran agricultural conglomerateand had a side business as an up-holsterer.

“I saw him work a lot of thirdshifts, a lot of night shifts,” Mr.Boseman told The New YorkTimes last year. “Whenever Iwork a particularly hard week, Ithink of him.”It wasn’t an upbringing that

suggested a future in Hollywood.Mr. Boseman was flanked by thetraditional working-class valuesof his parents on one side and anenvironment shadowed by rac-ism on the other. In an interviewwith Rolling Stone in 2018, he re-called being the target of racialslurs as a child while simplywalking down the street.His older brother Kevin, a

dancer who has performed withthe Martha Graham and AlvinAiley troupes and toured withthe stage adaptation of The Lion

King, was a guiding light. Mr. Bo-seman told the Times that hefirst gained the confidence topursue the arts while attendingKevin’s dance rehearsals.“He had the resolve to be like,

‘No – I have something; I’m go-ing to do it anyway, right orwrong,’ ” Mr. Boseman said offollowing his brother’s example.“And he was right.”Complete information on sur-

vivors was not immediatelyavailable.In high school, Mr. Boseman

was a serious basketball playerbut turned to storytelling after afriend and teammate was shotand killed. He enrolled atHoward University with thedream of becoming a director.While taking an acting class

there with the Tony Award-win-ning actor and director PhyliciaRashad, Mr. Boseman and hisclassmates were accepted to theBritish American Drama Acade-my in Oxford. The studentscouldn’t afford the trip, but Ms.Rashad helped finance it with as-sistance from a friend and futurecolleague of Mr. Boseman’s:Denzel Washington.After graduating, Mr. Boseman

moved to New York to work intheatre. He wrote and directedseveral plays, including DeepAzure and Hieroglyphic Graffiti,many of which were infused withthe grammar of hip-hop andpan-African theology. He lived inthe Bedford-Stuyvesant neigh-borhood of Brooklyn and earnedmoney by teaching acting to stu-dents at the Schomburg Centerfor Research in Black Culture inHarlem.A recurring role in the 2007-09

ABC Family series Lincoln Heightsbrought Mr. Boseman to Los An-geles, where he soon felt the al-

lure of movie stardom.“Before that, I had just wanted

to be an artist in New York,” hesaid.“I didn’t understand that com-

ing to L.A. and trying to be a filmactor was a completely differentthing.”Brian Helgeland, the writer

and director of 42, which gaveMr. Boseman his breakout role,attributed his quick rise in theindustry to his striking presenceon-screen. Mr. Helgeland said Mr.Boseman reminded him of stur-dy icons of 1970s virility, such asGene Hackman and Clint East-wood.“It’s the way he carries him-

self, his stillness – you just havethat feeling that you’re around astrong person,” Mr. Helgelandsaid.After starring in Black Panther,

Mr. Boseman reprised the role intwo Avengers films, Avengers: In-finity War (2018) and Avengers:Endgame (2019).He was developing multiple

projects as a screenwriter (he co-wrote an undeveloped script foran international thriller calledExpatriate) and as a producer (hewas a producer and star of the2019 detective movie 21 Bridges)for what he hoped would be afruitful new chapter in his career.Mr. Boseman continued to

take on roles with a sociopolit-ical edge.He appeared as a VietnamWar

hero in the Spike Lee epic Da 5Bloods, released in the spring,and a 1920s blues musician in afilm adaptation of Mr. Wilson’sMa Rainey’s Black Bottom, pro-duced by Mr. Washington andTodd Black, and due later thisyear from Netflix.A life-long admirer of Muham-

mad Ali, Mr. Boseman sought towield his celebrity to advance amoral cause.During this summer’s wave of

protests against systemic racismand police brutality, he ex-pressed support for the BlackLives Matter movement andjoined other Black entertainersand executives in calling on theindustry to cut ties with policedepartments.On-screen and off, he was

fuelled by a commitment toleave nothing on the table.“You want to choose a difficult

way sometimes,” he said, de-scribing his acting method to theTimes last year.“Some days it should be sim-

ple, but sometimes you’ve got totake chances.”

NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

PERFORMER, 43

Black Panther, which stars Chadwick Boseman as King T’Challa, was the first major superhero movie with an African protagonist and the firstto feature a majority Black cast. It became a cultural sensation upon release in 2018, and was praised near universally by critics and audiences. ASSOCIATED PRESS

BLACK PANTHER STAR WAS ‘A TRUE FIGHTER’The actor, who also portrayed several Black leaders over his career, was one of Hollywood’s

most sought-after leading men and used his fame to advance a moral cause

REGGIE UGWUMICHAEL LEVENSON

Mr. Boseman appeared in a string of biopics, including Get On Up, whichtold the story of James Brown. D STEVENS

When the opportunitycame to bring [T’Challa]... to the big screen,

Mr. Boseman embracedthe role’s symbolicsignificance to Black

audiences witha statesman’s pride

and devotion.

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