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Captain Christine Sinclair plays her final international game as she retires from Canada's national women's soccer team after a friendly match against Australia in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Dec. 5, 2023.
Hard Numbers: Soccer legend retires, First Nations vote, Trains chug toward zero, Brazil beckons
48,112: Canadian women’s soccer legend Christine Sinclair closed out her career in style this week, leading the national team to victory over Australia before 48,112 adoring fans in Vancouver. Sinclair’s 190 goals scored in international matches are the highest total notched by any woman or man who has ever played the game.
6: It took six rounds of voting, but the Assembly of First Nations has selected a new chief, putting Cindy Woodhouse, the Assembly’s regional director in Manitoba, in charge of the nationwide advocacy group. She takes over after a period of turmoil at the top — the last elected head was ousted in June over allegations that she harassed employees. Key issues for the Assembly include the housing crisis, drinking water access, and a controversial bill that would grant local governance rights to Métis — a distinct community of Canadians of mixed indigenous and European heritage. Many First Nations say the bill would enable Métis to encroach on First Nations’ rights and lands.
0: All aboard! This train is going to zero. The US and Canada have pledged to work together to develop zero-emissions locomotives as part of a broader plan to make the US-Canada rail sector net-zero (i.e., it will reduce at least as much carbon as it produces) by 2050. The focus will be on hydrogen-powered and battery-powered motors.
80.90: With winter blowing in, what better time to consider a sunny getaway to Brazil. Not only is it about to be summertime there now, but the Brazilian government has just launched a new e-Visa program for US and Canadian citizens. It costs $80.90, and the entire application and approval process is handled online. Boa viagem!
A Philippine flag flutters from a Philippine Navy ship
Hard Numbers: Canada “shows force” in South China Sea, First Nations first in Manitoba, Chinese companies indicted for fentanyl trade, Ottawa pours out gravy for milk farmers, Canada/US factory woes
1,800: More than 1,800 participants from Canada, the Philippines, the UK, Japan, and the US are currently conducting joint naval exercises in the South China Sea. The maneuvers are seen as a “show of force” at a time when China has become increasingly bold about advancing its unrecognized territorial claims in the region.
1: For the first time in history, a member of the First Nations has been elected premier of a Canadian province. A former journalist and rapper, Wab Kinew, originally from the Onigaming First Nation in Ontario, won Manitoba’s election on Tuesday. Kinew’s left-wing New Democratic Party ran on a platform that focused on improving the province’s health care.
8: The US government this week unsealed indictments of 8 Chinese companies it says were shipping chemicals to drug cartels in Mexico for use in manufacturing fentanyl and other illegal narcotics. US drug overdose deaths from opioids like fentanyl have more than tripled over the past decade. China responded to the charges by saying Washington is “scapegoating” Beijing. For more on half a century of the US “War on Drugs,” see here.
333 million: Canada has launched a $333 million fund to compensate the country’s dairy producers for market share lost as a result of Canada’s free trade agreements. While that sounds like a lot of money, Canada’s dairy farmers say that the concessions Ottawa made as part of the trade pacts cost them $450 million annually.
47.5: A key monthly indicator of Canadian factory output fell to its lowest level in more than three years, as the “S&P Global Manufacturing Purchase Managers Index” dipped half a point in September to 47.5. Any reading below 50 indicates that the sector is contracting. Analysts say a sluggish global economy and persistently high interest rates have suppressed orders from Canadian factories. But south of the border, things are looking a bit rosier – the monthly PMI in the US ticked up almost one and a half points to 49.0 in September.