Ottawa

The royal baby will soon be upon us

Tease the day: Get out of the way, all other news. There’s a new royal to be born.

Matt Dunham/AP

This morning, everything’s about labour—not your labour or my labour, nor any workers’ labour, mind you. This morning, Kate, the duchess of Cambridge, is in labour. In the quiet of early morning, she was admitted to the Lindo Wing at St. Mary’s Hospital, a building surrounded by so many reporters and cameras that you really hope all that extra weight doesn’t start opening up sinkholes. That’s how sinkholes work, right?

No matter. The Duchess of Cambridge is in labour, and now the entire world* will forget anything else is happening until the baby is born, named and officially in line for the British throne. Baby baby baby. If that’s your thing, you’d better stay tuned for lots of coverage from Maclean’s. We’re so ready for this.

Speaking of British mothers: The Ottawa Citizen ran a story this morning about Ken Smith, a man who’s spent most of his 69 years in Canada. He had a Canadian father, who fought—and was wounded—at Dieppe during the Second World War. But Smith isn’t a Canadian citizen. That’s because his British mother gave birth out of wedlock overseas, and his father was a British subject—Canada didn’t have its own citizenship until 1947—at the time. Smith’s caught in a strange limbo, where he can live in Canada indefinitely and benefit from many of the privileges citizens enjoy, but he can’t vote.

Various efforts to rectify the loophole, including an NDP motion introduced earlier this year, have so far been unsuccessful. Then-immigration minister Jason Kenney said in June that legislation would come soon. He’s no longer minister. Now, Jackie Scott, another non-citizen, is taking her case to federal court.

There’s no doubt about the citizenship of the baby that will eventually emerge from St. Mary’s Hospital. Not so for the thousands of Canadians who were born in Britain and have lived, without a country, into old age.

*Except for, you know, all the people who don’t care, or are preoccupied with other important things.


What’s above the fold this morning?

The Globe and Mail leads with the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway’s decision to stop leaving unattended trains on the main track in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. The National Post fronts Kate, the duchess of Cambridge, in labour. The Toronto Star goes above the fold with the Toronto Transit Commission’s new whistleblower program that allows employees to report wrongdoing among their colleagues. The Ottawa Citizen leads with calls for the protection of Canada’s boreal forest. iPolitics fronts the latest in the Wright-Duffy affair. CBC.ca leads with Kate, the duchess of Cambridge, entering hospital in labour. CTV News leads with the duchess of Cambridge in labour. National Newswatch showcases CBC Newscoverage of Royal Baby Watch.


Stories that will be (mostly) missed

1. Wedlock. Thousands of people who were born out of wedlock in the U.K. during World War Two have lived in Canada for over 60 years—but can’t obtain citizenship. 2. Muskrat Falls. As a regulatory board rules on an undersea cable meant to transfer hydroelectric power from Muskrat Falls to Nova Scotia, no one’s sure how the public will react.
3. Action plan. Only three people of 2,003 surveyed reported visiting a website touting the government’s economic plan. The feds advertised the website heavily during the NHL playoffs. 4. Mental health. Researchers say it’s unclear whether 74 million prescriptions of psychiatric drugs filled out in Canada last year are consistently improving Canadians’ mental health.
5. Rape. Marte Deborah Dalelv, a Norwegian woman in Dubai who reported being raped and was sentenced to a prison term for drinking and having sex outside or marriage, was pardoned. 6. Thai hockey. Hockey is taking off in southeast Asian nations that are building rinks for the first time. Regional tournaments are attracting more teams than ever from several countries.

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