Morning Update: Ontario, Quebec stress risk of socializing amid surge in COVID-19 cases

Good morning,

With cases of COVID-19 hitting levels not seen since the spring, the governments of Quebec and Ontario are pleading with citizens to restrict their social lives as the much-feared fall wave begins to take hold in the country’s two-largest provinces.

Quebec announced 896 new cases on Sunday, while Ontario reported 491, the highest counts in each province since May.

Ontario said Friday it was altering last call for bars and restaurants to 11 p.m., while Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé issued a “challenge” to avoid contacts outside the home for 28 days.

But as governments emphasized the risk of socializing, researchers and local officials continued to call for clearer data about the source of outbreaks, so people can make informed decisions about how to change their behaviour.

In other COVID-19 news

• Just weeks into the school year, new pandemic rules are quickly colliding with old ones, as classroom cohorts burst families' carefully curated social bubbles.

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Trump paid $750 in income tax in 2016, 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump paid US$750 in income taxes in both 2016 and 2107, according to reporting by The New York Times Sunday evening.

The Times reported that Trump paid no income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years, despite receiving US$427.4-million through 2018 from his reality-television program and other endorsement and licensing deals.

Trump has consistently refused to release his taxes, departing from standard practice for presidential candidates, saying they are under audit.

The Times reported that Trump was able to minimize his tax bill by reporting heavy losses across his business empire. The Times said Trump claimed US$47.4 million in losses in 2018, despite claiming income of at least US$434.9 million in a financial disclosure that year.

Trump denied the report on Sunday, calling it “total fake news” at a White House news conference.

• Read more: 18 revelations from a trove of Trump tax records
• Trump’s tax revelation could tarnish image as successful business mogul that helped fuel rise

The Globe’s Adrian Morrow: U.S. election could be decided by new Supreme Court appointee Amy Coney Barrett

‘Suwalki Gap’ is key to Russia’s efforts to keep Belarus in Kremlin orbit

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The quiet city of Suwalki in northeast Poland is known by locals and tourists for its glittering lakes and rugged hills. But, for generals and presidents, it is considered to be the likely site of the first battle if war ever broke out between Russia and NATO.

As The Globe and Mail’s Mark MacKinnon reports, this is NATO at its narrowest point: a less-than-100-kilometre-wide supply line via Polish territory that connects the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to the rest of the alliance.

NATO military planners refer to this densely forested region as the “Suwalki Gap.” They believe this is where Russia would strike first in the event of a major war – and it’s what makes the pro-democracy uprising in Belarus significant far beyond that country’s borders.

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Two decades after the Burnt Church crisis, disputes flare up over Indigenous fishing rights in Atlantic Canada: Twenty years before a wharf in Saulnierville, N.S., became a flashpoint in the fight over Indigenous fishing rights in Atlantic Canada, a similar scene played out in New Brunswick on the water outside Miramichi. It was a violent, emotional battle over the Mi’kmaq people’s right to set their own rules for a commercial fishery. Two decades later, that tension remains – this time, causing strife in Canada’s most lucrative lobster fishing zone in southwestern Nova Scotia.

Latest ‘disappearance’ in Rwanda is met with muted reaction from Trudeau government: Rwanda’s swoop across international borders to arrest a Hollywood-lionized hero, an action that human-rights groups have criticized as an illegal “enforced disappearance,” has failed to dent the broad wall of support that the Rwandan government has built up over decades from Western leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

UN calls for ceasefire as Armenian and Azerbaijani forces clash: Fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces has erupted again over the disputed separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the territory’s defence ministry said 16 soldiers and two civilians have been killed and more than 100 others wounded.

Trump issues permit for $22-billion Alaska to Alberta railway: Proponents of a $22-billion railway linking Alberta and Alaska can start work on a host of Canadian and U.S. approvals it will require after Donald Trump announced that he will issue a presidential permit allowing the border crossing.

Ottawa on track for decision on high-frequency trains between Toronto and Quebec City in ‘coming months:’ Transport Minister Marc Garneau says the federal government is coming close to making a decision on whether to green-light a proposed overhaul of Via Rail’s passenger rail service between Toronto and Quebec City.

MORNING MARKETS

Bargain hunting lifts European shares: European shares opened higher on Monday after strong economic data from China helped lift sentiment in the Asian session, but the U.S. dollar was in demand with investors cautious over the second wave of COVID-19 and upcoming U.S. elections. Just before 6 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 1.2 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 rose 2.44 per cent and 1.61 per cent, respectively. Japan’s Nikkei closed up 1.32 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.04 per cent. New York futures were higher. The Canadian dollar was trading at 74.71 US cents.

Looking for investing ideas? Check out The Globe’s weekly digest of the latest insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and what investors need to know for the week ahead. This week’s edition includes pandemic defensive moves, three REIT picks and overlooked value stocks.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

The presidential debate won’t be a game changer

David Shribman: “While debates sometimes result in good theatre – the way Mr. Trump menacingly hovered around his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton four years ago, for example – they seldom lead to new insights or major swings in the polls.”

Why real news matters amid the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and fake news

Warren Fernandez: “At a time when so much has been turned on its head, this much has become clear: Real news matters. The truth matters. Objectivity matters. Balance and fairness matter.”

Courtesy of Ford, Canada’s EV moment has suddenly arrived. Are governments ready for it?

Adam Radwanski: “Maybe this country really could pair its automaking expertise with its reserves of minerals needed for EVs, as Wednesday’s Speech from the Throne suggested, for a uniquely attractive supply chain.”

TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

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LIVING BETTER

Never leave the house? You can still stay in shape

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Are you feeling a little soft after six months in near-isolation? You’ve no doubt read about the rush to create home gyms, with reports of exercise equipment flying off store shelves and into Canada Post and UPS trucks across North America.

However, you don’t need to turn your home space into a replica of Goodlife Fitness. The most common misconception about strength training is that “more” is better.

More reps, more sets, more weight (that last one is an especially pernicious myth). The simple fact is, more is not better. “More” often only leads to broken bodies and bruised egos. So what then is the formula for fitness? There are many, but consider this: Intensity of Effort + Quality of Movement = Gains For Days.

MOMENT IN TIME:

School on an Alberta Blackfoot reserve

For more than 100 years, photographers have preserved an extraordinary collection of 20th-century news photography for The Globe and Mail. Every Monday, The Globe features one of these images. This month, as the new school year begins, we’re looking at photos taken in educational settings.

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Peter Black, shown above reading in the library of Old Sun Community College in 1972, was one of the first students to attend the school, which initially operated as a satellite campus of Calgary’s Mount Royal College. Operating in the Old Sun residential school on the Siksika Nation in Gleichen, Alta., the community college offered general courses such as English and mathematics for its bilingual – English and Blackfoot – adult students. The school was named after Chief Old Sun or Naato’saapi, a respected and renowned Blackfoot medicine man and warrior who lived in the 1800s. Today, the community college is operated and governed by the Siksika Nation and continues to offer adult education as well as postsecondary diploma programs.

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