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These are the top stories:
Trudeau controls waiver of cabinet confidentiality on SNC
Retired judge John Gomery, who presided over the sponsorship inquiry, said he was initially rebuffed by senior bureaucrats when he asked for access to cabinet minutes related to the scandal. The Liberal prime minister of the day, Paul Martin, eventually overrode the senior bureaucrats and agreed to provide access to all available information.
Mr. Trudeau and other federal officials have said Privy Council Clerk Ian Shugart, who reports to Mr. Trudeau, decided to offer only a limited waiver to the Ethics Commissioner and the RCMP for their inquiries into the SNC-Lavalin matter.
Governance expert and University of Moncton professor Donald Savoie said the Clerk “has no choice but to play by the rules as the custodian, but cabinet can decide to release whatever it wants to release."
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May, Singh attack Scheer as he targets Liberal record at leaders’ debate
The leaders clashed on the economy, social programs and climate change as they tried to articulate their positions at the Thursday debate hosted by Maclean’s/Citytv. But with a key player absent from the stage in Toronto, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May directed most of their attacks at Mr. Scheer. The only representation Justin Trudeau had at the debate was an empty lectern. The Liberals announced last week that he wouldn’t take part in the Maclean’s/Citytv debate or a Munk debate on foreign policy − both of which he participated in during the 2015 election. This was the first federal leaders debate for Mr. Scheer and Mr. Singh. After the formal leaders’ handshake at the top, Ms. May, the political veteran on stage, walked over to Mr. Trudeau’s empty podium and mimed shaking his hand.
- Opinion: (John Ibbitson): By skipping first debate, Trudeau gives rivals chance at warm-up round
Liberals target millennials with expanded home buyer subsidies
Justin Trudeau says a Liberal government would expand its new first-time home buyer program to boost affordability in major centres, a move designed to appeal to young voters but expected to have little impact on the overall real estate market. Mr. Trudeau also unveiled a 1-per-cent tax on non-Canadians who leave their homes in Canada empty while living abroad. The annual tax would apply nationally, and would come in addition to any other municipal taxes home buyers pay in cities such as Vancouver. A new B.C. tax on vacant homes has had a significant impact on speculation, Mr. Trudeau said, but has had a knock-on effect of pushing investors to other parts of the country.
- Opinion: (Rob Carrick) The dream of home ownership for all is dying, but politicians keep pretending otherwise
Russian police carry out mass raids against addresses affiliated with opposition leader Navalny
More than 150 addresses affiliated with opposition leader Alexey Navalny were raided across the country, a massive effort seen as punishment for a summer of political unrest. An estimated 1,000 police officers – some wearing masks and riot gear as they smashed through doors – took part in raids targeting the offices of Mr. Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, as well as the homes of some of his supporters, in Moscow and 40 other cities. The officers disabled security cameras before they confiscated computers and other equipment and told the activists that the raids were part of a money-laundering investigation into Mr. Navalny’s group. The co-ordinated police action came just days after Mr. Navalny’s supporters showed their growing clout via a municipal election Sunday in Moscow.
- Opinion: (Doug Saunders) This may be Putin’s endgame, says Garry Kasparov – but it’s our move
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
As big tech adds fuel to a housing crisis in San Francisco, poorer residents live in RVs: Homelessness in Silicon Valley has surged 30 per cent in the last two years to more than 30,000 people, mainly because more people are living in cars and recreational vehicles.
Boris Johnson denies lying to the Queen over Brexit crisis: With less than 50 days until the country is due to leave, he says Parliament was suspended to allow the government to present its legislative program.
Canadian film company alleges interference by Ottawa after CMF pulls funding on Huawei docudrama with ties to Stephen Bannon: Days before the teleplay Claws of the Red Dragon was set to air on the cable channel New Tang Dynasty Canada, the channel’s U.S. counterpart announced on Aug. 23 that Mr. Bannon would join the project as an executive producer, acting in the capacity of U.S. distributor.
Thousands detained in Indian Kashmir since special status scrapped, official data shows: Authorities in Indian Kashmir have arrested nearly 4,000 people since last month, the most clear evidence yet of the scale of one of the disputed region’s biggest crackdowns.
Mississauga announces ‘She The North’ rally for Bianca Andreescu: The city says it will give Andreescu a key to the city and unveil an “Andreescu Way” street sign at the event.
MORNING MARKETS
Shares, bond yields perch at six-week highs: World shares climbed to a six-week high alongside benchmark government bond yields on Friday, as markets cheered signs of progress in U.S.-China trade talks and another powerful slug of stimulus from the European Central Bank. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei finished the week’s final session up 1.05 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.98 per cent. In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.19 per cent around 5:30 a.m. ET. Germany’s DAX added 0.16 per cent. France’s CAC 40 was up 0.19 per cent. New York futures were positive. The Canadian dollar was trading at 75.62 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Trudeau is rich, Scheer isn’t poor – and the truly broke don’t have a say in politics
Denise Balkissoon: “Campaigning is an unpaid, overtime job. It requires savings to live on, and, for parents, reliable, affordable childcare. Perhaps if more former shift-work nurses sat in the House of Commons, we’d finally have universal daycare.”
Instagram makes the outdoors more accessible
Mélissa Godin: “Increasing the number of people that can access the outdoors and national parks should be part of our project of building a more equal Canada.” Godin is a Rhodes Scholar, a National Geographic Explorer, and a GroundTruth Project Fellow.
Why Canada’s skills mismatch is cause for concern
Parisa Mahboubi: “Governments can also help reduce both the overskilling and underskilling problems with policies that enhance labour market flexibility and ease labour mobility.” Parisa Mahboubi is a senior policy analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Start your weekend movie-watching plan early: from would-be blockbusters to under-the-radar indies. Writer-director Lorena Scafaria’s Hustlers opens Sept. 13 and ambitiously seeks to balance its crime narrative with sharp comedy. Official Secrets, directed by Gavin Hood and starring Keira Knightley, is based on the book The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War, by Marcia Mitchell and Thomas Mitchell. Another option that is already available digitally is Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!, the sequel to Morgan Spurlock’s famously divisive fast food documentary – this time he’s taking on the “Big Chicken” industry.
Read more with The Globe and Mail’s guide to every feature film arriving this weekend.
MOMENT IN TIME
Library and Archives Canada
Sept. 13, 1759
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec, was a decisive battle in the Seven Years’ War – which was fought in Europe, India and North America – and in Canada’s creation. While France focused on the fight in Europe, Britain attacked French colonies overseas. James Wolfe was appointed general of the British assault against the fortress city of Quebec. After a series of failed attempts to take the city, Wolfe and 4,500 soldiers travelled up the St. Lawrence River under the cover of night to land on a plot owned by a farmer named Abraham Martin, for whom the battle is named. The British army spanned the plain with a formation that was about one kilometre long and two flanks deep. The French army, led by general Louis‑Joseph de Montcalm, was the same size as its opponent, but was largely made up of militia and Indigenous warriors. Both generals died in the hour-long battle that saw the British win the city. The French never regained the fortress and, a year later, Montreal surrendered to the British. With the 1763 Treaty of Paris, Britain had officially won New France. —Stefanie Marotta
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