Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
After an excruciating night of U.S. election returns that left several states with no declared winner, the picture became a bit clearer on Wednesday, but it was still too early to know who will become the next president of the United States.
Early Wednesday afternoon, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was projected to have won the key battleground state of Wisconsin by a narrow 20,000 votes, or less than 1 per cent. Just a few hours later, he was also declared the winner in Michigan.
Biden was also leading in Arizona and Nevada, but still trailed in Pennsylvania and Georgia, with many ballots still to be counted.
The victories for Biden in Wisconsin and Michigan take him to 253 electoral votes, while Trump has 214. It takes 270 to win the presidency.
While he wouldn’t declare victory, Biden said at an afternoon press conference in Delaware that he expects to win the presidency.
The campaign of President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has requested a recount of the tally in Wisconsin, and has launched lawsuits in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Overnight Wednesday, Trump falsely claimed unspecified “fraud” was being perpetrated and threatened to ask the Supreme Court to stop states from finishing their ballot counts.
Later Wednesday morning, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell discounted Trump’s early claim of victory and said Americans need to wait for all ballots to be counted.
Read more:
- U.S. election: Trump and Biden are in deadlock. Final results could take days. What happens next?
- Deadlocks in key states raise prospect of prolonged contest between Biden and Trump
- The world warily waits to see whether Biden or Trump won the U.S. election
- Democrats' Senate hopes fade as Republicans brush back multiple challengers
- U.S. Supreme Court may not have final say in presidential election, despite Trump threat
- Trudeau ready to work with whomever wins too-close-to-call U.S. election
Opinion:
Whatever the final result, Democrats lost the 2020 U.S. election:
“That so many Americans were willing to cast a ballot for Mr. Trump in spite of his egregious handling of the pandemic and his moral corruptness says something about the disconnectedness of Democratic elites. By pushing their party ever further to the left, and embracing identity politics, they alienated millions of moderate voters.” - Konrad Yakabuski
The election shows the United States is a broken country:
“Mr. Trump never set out to govern, but to rule – and to profit. Mr. Trump’s backers are a mix of corrupt plutocrats, theocrats, oligarchs, and other bad actors who seek to strip my country down and sell it off for parts. They view the American people are disposable, as their response to the COVID-19 crisis has made abundantly clear.” - Sarah Kendzior
Is this what democracy looks like?:
“As certainty about the final tally from the Tuesday’s election in the United States slowly materializes, the question remains: Can voting be enough to restore the democratic norms that have been under a full-scale assault during the Trump presidency?” - Debra Thompson
The longer the U.S. goes without a clear winner, the more dangerous it becomes:
"Conflicts over the validity of individual ballots inevitably slow down the vote-counting process. Litigation over these ballots and the standards used in counting them add more delay. And for a political system, undue delay is deadly.” - Charles Zelden
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The latest in coronavirus: Ontario reports 987 new COVID-19 cases, 16 additional deaths
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is defending his government’s new COVID-19 restrictions system, saying it will help the province respond early to flare-ups of the virus.
The province introduced the new colour-coded system yesterday, saying it would help fight the pandemic at a regional level. But health care experts say the new system is too lenient and will lead to further community spread of the virus.
Ford dismissed the criticism on Wednesday, asking if observers have looked closely at the new system’s details. Mr. Ford says it is designed to strike a balance between the needs of reopening communities and protecting people from the virus.
Related:
- Federal government’s COVID-19 spending lacks transparency, budget watchdog says
- British lawmakers approve month-long lockdown plan for England
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Quebec City police say it wasn’t necessary to issue mass public alert over sword attack: Quebec City police say it wasn’t necessary to issue a mass public alert during the Halloween night stabbing rampage that left two dead and five injured. A spokesman says police were comfortable not issuing a mass communication given few people were out and bars and restaurants were closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Alberta confirms human case of swine flu in central part of province: Alberta’s chief medical officer of health says Canada’s first confirmed case of H1N2v, a variant swine flu virus found in humans, has been detected in the central part of the province.
Poland delays implementing court ruling that would impose a near-total ban on abortion: Poland’s right-wing government has delayed the roll-out of a court ruling that would impose a near-total ban on abortions after two weeks of the largest protests the country has experienced since the 1989 collapse of communism.
Demonstrators block a street during a protest against the tightening of Poland's already restrictive abortion law on November 2, 2020 in Warsaw.JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images
MARKET WATCH
U.S. stock markets surged higher in the aftermath of a close U.S. election that will likely result in a continuation of divided government, while Canada’s main index was held back as the shine came off gold.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 59.59 points to 15,998.74.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 367.63 points to 27,847.66. The S&P 500 index was up 74.42 points to 3,443.44, while the Nasdaq composite index was up 430.21 points or almost four per cent to 11,590.78.
The Canadian dollar was trading at 76.12 cents US compared to an average of 76.07 cents US on Tuesday.
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LIVING BETTER
A credit card that rewards the stay-at-home life
The Globe’s personal finance expert Rob Carrick says the year of the pandemic is an odd time for banks to be in the business of offering travel reward credit cards.
But, he writes that cards such as the new BMO eclipse Visa lineup are a better fit for the lives we’re living. Spending a lot on food lately? These cards give you five times the points when you buy groceries, a restaurant meal and more.
And, if you aren’t interested in accumulating points for some hazy reward down the road, you can use a mobile phone app to redeem points earned with these cards to pay for purchases you just made.
TODAY’S LONG LISTEN
Restoring confidence: Dr. Theresa Tam on lessons learned from the pandemic
What has COVID-19 taught us about health care in Canada? In this episode of The Globe’s Restoring Confidence podcast, business columnist Rita Trichur speaks to Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam about key lessons from the pandemic and how the health care system needs to change to protect vulnerable citizens.
They also discuss how Dr. Tam handles criticism, and whether she has any regrets about Canada’s initial public-health response. Listen here or on your favourite podcast app.
Evening Update is presented by Rob Gilroy. If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday evening, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.