Morning Update: Companies tied to ArriveCan app awarded federal contracts worth $1-billion

Good morning,
Three government contractors involved in developing the ArriveCan app have received hundreds of federal contracts worth more than $1-billion over the past 13 years.
Until now, the federal government has not been able to provide a clear breakdown of how much contract work the three companies have been awarded. The new numbers were provided to MPs on the public accounts committee and a copy was obtained by The Globe and Mail.
The three companies have been at the centre of parliamentary scrutiny into the sharp increase in federal outsourcing on professional services, which has more than doubled from about $8-billion a year in 2016 to projections of more than $21-billion last year.
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Northern Israelis evacuated in October wonder if they’ll ever return home
Early in the war in Gaza, the Israeli government ordered the evacuation of 60,000 people from towns close to the Lebanese border amid fears that Hezbollah would open a second front.
Some, like Rubi Bar and her family, left their home on Oct. 16, thinking the internal exile would last maybe two weeks at the most. Instead, Ms. Bar and her husband and three kids have been living in two adjoining rooms of the Dan Hotel in Jerusalem – 185 kilometres away from their four-bedroom bungalow in the town of Shlomi – for almost seven months.
And with the Israeli military still regularly exchanging fire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia across the northern border, many like the Bars have no idea when they might be able to safely return home.
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In Nova Scotia, Mi’kmaq elders and provincial agency seek to revive floundering – and controversial – seal hunt
Scraping a seal’s thick white blubber off its hide, boiling it in a large metal drum over an outdoor fire and stretching the silvery pelt across a wooden frame – these are a handful of skills mostly lost among Mi’kmaq.
But a few elders who remember eating the rich, oily meat and rendering bottles of seal oil into medicine as children are reviving the practice. Some are working with Perennia, a provincial development agency that, for the past five years, has organized grey seal hunts around the coastline of Cape Breton and is working to build a seal industry in Nova Scotia.
Perennia’s initiative, funded by provincial and federal government programs, is still in its pilot phase, said the agency’s manager of seafood Ashley Sprague. But she said the goal is a commercial seal fishery, focused on using every part of the animal, which would generate economic opportunities for Mi’kmaq and rural coastal communities in Nova Scotia.
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U.S. medical-testing giant Quest Diagnostics close to acquiring LifeLabs, sources say: One of the largest U.S. medical-testing companies is the leading contender to acquire Canada’s biggest diagnostics platform, LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services, from its pension plan owner.
How Body Shop Canada is coping after filing for creditor protection and the failure of its parent company: Since the Body Shop Canada filed for protection from its creditors in early March, it has shut down 33 locations in Canada, suspended all e-commerce sales and laid off roughly 220 employees. In order to keep the stores operating, the company will need to find ways to bring in more inventory.
Contract talks reach impasse in labour dispute at B.C. ports: Contract talks between employers and the longshore union at B.C. ports have reached an impasse, raising concerns about disruptions to Canada’s supply chain.
‘Faster and cheaper than we dared think possible’: An authoritative figure on the global shift toward a low-carbon economy will arrive at a Canadian climate-policy summit this week with a message that momentum is much stronger than it might appear, at a moment of turbulence. Lord Adair Turner heads the Energy Transitions Commission, an international coalition of senior executives and policy leaders.
Nearby wildfire brings back painful memories for Fort McMurray: A wildfire near Fort McMurray, Alta., almost quadrupled in size over the weekend, as dry conditions fuelled the blaze and brought back painful memories of one of the country’s costliest disasters eight years ago.
Global stocks are nearing record highs in a week where inflation figures could make or break expectations for earlier U.S. rate cuts, while Chinese activity data will test optimism about a sustained recovery in the world’s No. 2 economy.
The MSCI All-World index nudged higher while Europe’s STOXX 600 held near record highs and U.S. stock futures rose 0.1 per cent.
In early trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.016 per cent, Germany’s DAX was down 0.18 per cent and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.078 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.13 per cent lower at 38,179.46 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.8 per cent to 19,115.06.
The Canadian dollar traded at 73.16 U.S. cents.
Into the fire: In the Northwest Territories, we canoed through climate change
“We swam in Long Lake with a horde of townspeople. We bought books by Richard Van Camp and Alison McCreesh and other local authors at a great independent bookshop called the Book Cellar. We even did a load of laundry at the Arctic Laundromat, though our clothes still smelled of smoke afterward. By then, all but one of the roads out of Yellowknife were blocked by wildfires. And planes were still unable to fly to the Yellow Dog Lodge.” – Manjushree Thapa
Five affordable Canadian places worth exploring this summer
With the cost of travel skyrocketing over the past few years because of inflation, more people are choosing to vacation closer to home. But even travelling domestically can still be expensive in Canada, where a return ticket across the country can cost $600 to $800, not to mention springing for a rental car when you land.
If you’re willing to skip the flight and drive your own vehicle, some cities and regions are cheaper than others. These five destinations are rich in experiences that don’t require spending a fortune.
Canadian soldiers liberate the Netherlands
For more than 100 years, photographers and photo editors working for The Globe and Mail have preserved an extraordinary collection of news photography. Every Monday, The Globe features one of these images. This month, we’re showcasing the relationship between Canada and the Netherlands.
In September, 1944, the First Canadian Army started to take back the Netherlands from the Germans. It pushed out the Nazis first in the Scheldt estuary, and then cleared the northern and western part of the Netherlands. Most of the country had been flooded by the Germans. And many areas were intentionally starved in what was known as Hongerwinter, the Hunger Winter. It was a brutal campaign, in which more than 7,500 Canadians were killed. But by spring, the tide had turned. On May 5, 1945, in Wageningen, Canadian general Charles Foulkes accepted the unconditional surrender of German forces. There was celebration across the Netherlands. To say the Dutch were elated at their freedom is to understate the enormity of their gratitude to Canada. More than 300,000 Dutch – mostly civilians – died because of the war, and the country has never forgotten the Canadian effort and sacrifice. May 5 is known as liberation day in the Netherlands. Philip King.
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