Good morning. Kamala Harris introduced herself – and her prosecutorial chops – to Donald Trump last night at the U.S. presidential debate. More on that below, along with the NDP’s need for distance from a “radioactive” Justin Trudeau and tricks for overcoming adversity from the wild. But first:
Today’s headlines
- Mélanie Joly says Canada will block U.S.-bound arms sales destined for Israel
- Liberals face a must-win by-election in Montreal as they try to hold onto their base
- For wild horses, Alberta’s arguments over agriculture and ecology are a matter of life or death
The two candidates on one stage.Brian Snyder/Reuters
U.S. Election
Harris on the offensive
At the very start of their only scheduled U.S. presidential debate, Kamala Harris walked over to Donald Trump’s side of the stage and extended her hand. He shook it. She then spent the next 105 minutes extending the bait – on the size of his rally crowds and inheritance, on his false election claims and fragile ego. Again and again, he took it.
Harris proved forceful and direct, if a little light on policy specifics, attacking Trump on the economy, his extremism and, especially, abortion, where she countered his rambling answer with a sharp defence of a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body. Trump stuck to familiar tropes and MAGA talking points, including a long digression about illegal immigrants in Ohio eating people’s dogs. At that point, ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis had to step in with a modicum of fact-checking. (No one is eating people’s dogs.)
Harris just laughed, as she did more than once in the debate, raising her eyebrows and resting her hand on her chin. Trump looked angry and rattled, but rarely looked in her direction. So will this head-to-head battle actually move the needle on their neck-and-neck polls? Probably not as much as the Taylor Swift endorsement, which Harris secured minutes after she left the stage.
Read more: Five key takeaways from Tuesday’s U.S. presidential debate; Tony Keller hands the night to Harris; David Shribman says the gabfest descended into a gong show.
Barbosa, a Barred Owl who lost an eye after a head trauma, is one of Hope for Wildlife's patients.Darren Calabrese/The Globe and Mail
Happiness
Call of the wild
Here’s everything you need to repair a two-inch crack in the shell of a snapping turtle: a few metal hooks, some surgical wire, a bit of super glue and a heavy dose of sedatives. (The drugs are for the turtle’s comfort, but they also help spare a veterinarian’s fingers.) At the Hope for Wildlife rehabilitation centre, 40 kilometres east of Halifax, a small team of staff and interns tend to the broken limbs and busted shells of dozens of endangered turtles each year – alongside roughly 7,000 animals from 250 species in need of their TLC.
Most of those injuries are the result of a painful brush with human beings. We’re bad news for wildlife: One recent study of 94 North American sanctuaries found that people caused the greatest share of damage to animals, far ahead of natural disturbances or disease. The non-profit Ontario Nature estimates that a wildlife-vehicle collision occurs in Canada every 38 minutes. Hope for Wildlife’s vets have nursed bobcats run over by snow plows, porcupines poisoned by lead pellets and a great horned owl that was trapped in a truck grille. They’re careful not to handle the animals more than necessary or talk too loudly as they go about their work – these critters need to maintain a healthy fear of humans to return to the wild.
And the majority of animals treated by Hope for Wildlife do get released back into nature, which led The Globe’s feature writer Erin Anderssen to wonder: What might they be able to teach us about resilience? In her new report – part of a year-long investigation into happiness – Anderssen spoke with Hope Swinimer, who founded the rehab centre in 1997. “Every animal out there will blow you away with its passion to survive,” Swinimer said.
But they also get by with a little help from their friends. Loneliness, Swinimer has observed, can deal a serious blow to recovery, so Hope for Wildlife’s staff encourage their furry and feathered patients to build connections with new buddies. Bruiser the goose – who came to the centre after knocking down an elderly lady at the park – has taken to sunbathing with a flock of ducklings. Ben the fox – who requires daily seizure medication after being shaken by a dog – now curls up in the same cubby as Frankie, who first arrived as a tiny, blind cub.
And at least one of the centre’s rehabbed animals can’t resist the occasional social call. Brook the otter was rescued from a ditch last year, weighing less than a loaf of bread. Swinimer cared for him personally until he was healthy enough to be released into a nearby lake – but Brook still drops by for lunch once in a while, announcing himself with a bang on her sliding doors and devouring the raw chicken breast Swinimer leaves out on her deck. She’s waiting for Brook to ghost her for a more suitable companion. “I am hoping he’ll find a girlfriend,” she told Anderssen, “and that will be that.”
The Shot
‘Justin Trudeau’s name is very radioactive in my parts of the country’
Justin Trudeau at the Liberal caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C., yesterday.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Alistair MacGregor, the NDP’s caucus chair, said his party’s deal with the Liberals had simply become untenable given the Prime Minister’s massive unpopularity. Jagmeet Singh and NDP MPs are midway through their caucus meetings in Montreal, where they’re hoping to snatch a riding away from the Liberals in Monday’s by-election. Read more here.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
Abroad: An Israeli strike hit a crowded Palestinian tent camp in Gaza, killing at least 19 people and wounding 60, Palestinian officials said. Israeli troops also held up a UN convoy aiming to vaccinate children in Gaza against polio.
At home: Tapped to lead an economic task force ahead of the next election, former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney isn’t revealing much yet about his specific advice for Liberals – or his own future in politics.
Sticker shock: Current Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem warned that global trade is being “rewired” by geopolitical tensions that could push up the price of goods.
Space walk: It may have taken an extra two weeks, but SpaceX rocketed its Polaris Dawn mission into elliptical orbit, with billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman poised to lead the first-ever private spacewalk on Thursday.