Good morning. The federal government plans to bar access to medical assistance in dying on the sole basis of mental illness while providing an opening for those already eligible for MAID to request it in advance. More on that below, along with Mark Carney’s Person of the Year prospects and Terry Fox on the silver screen.
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Justice Minister Sean Fraser, left, and Health Minister Marjorie Michel outline next steps in the federal government’s MAID laws in the House of Commons on Wednesday.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
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MAID to be barred for patients whose sole condition is mental illness
The Liberal government is again reshaping Canada’s medical assistance in dying regime to close the door to those whose sole underlying condition is mental illness. At the same time, Justice Minister Sean Fraser announced that coming legislation will include measures to legally allow for advance requests for patients who will lose cognitive capacity to be able to consent to the procedure later.
The context: The Liberals faced pressure to make a decision on MAID for mental illness on two fronts. The law that currently bars access to it expires March 17. As well, a Conservative private member’s bill that proposed amending the Criminal Code to bar those with mental disorders from accessing MAID was up for a vote in the Commons. Fraser said the government felt it important to declare its position in advance of that vote.
The significance: The debate over who should be able to request a medical practitioner’s help to end their lives is one of the most fractious in Canada. The government has twice paused access on the basis of mental illness over concerns about the readiness of the health care system.
From the archives: The faces of MAID: Family and friends of Canadians who chose to die tell the stories of their loved ones.
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Planes depart and taxi to a runway at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Talks begin to privatize Vancouver airport
Vancouver International Airport is poised to become the first of the country’s large airports privatized by the federal government, as Ottawa’s advisers offer British Columbia Indigenous groups an opportunity to be minority investors, four sources say.
The plan: Along with Vancouver’s airport, Ottawa intends to sell concessions to run all or part of the airports in Calgary, Montreal and Toronto. The federal government, which wants Indigenous investment as part of a reconciliation strategy, will retain ownership of the assets, a structure that is common in Europe and Australia.
Opinion: A private airport concession need not be the bogeyman some think it is, Jordan Eizenga and Tim Murphy write.
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A Lithuanian flag flutters in Vilnius, site of this week’s Disinfo2026 conference.INTS KALNINS/Reuters
Canada drops sponsorship of anti-disinformation event
Ottawa pulled its sponsorship of Disinfo2026, an anti-disinformation conference that features panels talking about the U.S. as a foreign-interference threat, citing discomfort with how some panels are framed.
The event: Disinfo2026 is an annual conference on countering disinformation, with this year’s taking place in Lithuania this week. The Lithuanian government said it also withdrew its sponsorship and the EU’s diplomatic service did the same, participants told The Globe.
The dissent: The U.S. State Department in an e-mailed statement criticized the conference for proposing that the country is a source of foreign interference and manipulated information. It declined to say whether Washington raised concerns about Disinfo2026 with Canada and European countries.
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A customer enters a No Frills store in Toronto.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
What’s the price of a Thanksgiving feast?
Serving Thanksgiving dinner for four this weekend will cost $35.72, about three dollars more than last year, if you buy a humble seven-pound turkey and basic side dishes, a Dalhousie University study found. The Globe set out to price a more generous, cost-conscious spread at a variety of midtown Toronto grocery stores.
The experiment: The goal was to get a sense of what it costs to put a holiday dinner on the table for six, with a larger turkey, familiar sides and a couple of desserts, while testing whether shopping around to save is worth the extra effort. Ultimately, the spending gap at different stores came down to the cost of the bird.
Food for thought: Forget about turkey – stuffed cabbage can be the breakout star of your Thanksgiving table.
The Take
The Time designation is not a peace prize but is based rather on global influence and news impact. Prediction markets see Mr. Carney as a leading contender. As an international newsmaker he has eclipsed European and other leaders in becoming the standard bearer for an alternative geopolitical vision to the dictates of the megapowers.
A Nobel Peace Prize for Carney? Premature. Time Magazine’s Person of the Year award? Lawrence Martin gives his thumbs-up.
The Shot
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Building tops rise above a thick layer of fog at dawn in the Greater Vancouver cities of Burnaby and Surrey.Chris Helgren/Reuters
In fast-growing cities such as Vancouver and Toronto, there are pockets where the population is shrinking. What if we put more housing there?
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: The average asking price for Canadian rental units in September was $2,034, down 4.2 per cent from a year earlier, extending the streak of annual declines in the market to two full years.
Abroad: Former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is expected to face new criminal charges in the U.S. over allegations that Americans detained in the South American country were tortured.
Sovereignty: Elon Musk advocated for Quebec, Alberta and Saskatchewan to leave Canada in the aftermath of the separatist Parti Québécois’s provincial election victory.
Health: A 37-year-old Ontario father with Stage 4 melanoma expressed disappointment and heartbreak over the province’s repeated refusal to cover an out-of-country treatment that could save his life.
Explained: The English soccer club Manchester City’s distortion of financial statements has jeopardized its future in the Premier League and become a fiasco for its UAE ownership.
Review: Run Terry Run, the archival documentary about Terry Fox set to hit select theatres, deftly humanizes a Canadian mythological figure.
In memoriam: The actor Eva Marie Saint, who won an Academy Award for her Hollywood debut and astonished the industry with a firm independence, has died at 102.