Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
BoC holds its key rate at 5 per cent
The Bank of Canada has hit pause on its rate-hike campaign, keeping its benchmark interest rate steady in response to growing evidence that the Canadian economy has begun to stall.
But the central bank said it remains worried about stubborn inflation and has left the door open to future increases if consumer price growth accelerates again.
The widely expected decision offers some respite to borrowers who have seen 10 interest-rate increases since March, 2022. Still, the housing market is not expected to rebound as quickly as it did in the spring on concerns about future hikes.
Read more: Inflation and high interest rates are affecting Canadians’ mental health, report finds
Opinion: Dear premiers: No, the Bank of Canada is not an ogre - Globe editorial
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Day 2: Criminal trial of Ottawa trucker convoy organizers
Police officers were more prone to be “swarmed” by crowds during enforcement actions as time progressed during the trucker convoy in Ottawa in early 2022, Ottawa Police Inspector Russell Lucas testified today.
He is the second Crown witness in the criminal trial of Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, two key organizers of the protests that became entrenched in Ottawa’s downtown core for more than three weeks.
Lich and Barber are facing criminal charges of mischief, obstructing police and intimidation, as well as one charge of counselling for each of those three offences.
Lucas told the court that the size of the convoy exceeded initial police expectations, and his service was stretched thin after its arrival.
New Ontario Housing Minister pledges open Greenbelt review
Paul Calandra is promising a public process and says he is looking at new measures to hold developers accountable for building homes.
The provincial government continues to reel from the political fallout over its decision to open parts of the environmentally protected Greenbelt to housing development.
Calandra met with reporters for the first time since taking over the role of Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister in the wake of Steve Clark’s resignation on Monday, after two highly critical government watchdog reports about the decision to develop on Greenbelt land.
Read more: Greenbelt fiasco makes a mess of development order
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
War in Ukraine updates: A Russian missile struck an outdoor market in eastern Ukraine, killing 17 people and wounding dozens, officials said. The attack took place as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to the country with more than US$1-billion in new funding for Ukraine, including military and humanitarian aid.
Enbridge’s big deal: The pipeline giant is betting on the long-term value of natural gas, announcing after markets closed yesterday that it is buying three U.S. utilities for US$9.4-billion to create the continent’s largest natural-gas utility. Concerns over the financial impact on the company, however, pushed the share price lower today. But not all investors were spooked: Enbridge’s $4-billion stock sale to fund the acquisition sold out within hours of being launched late yesterday.
Return to Yellowknife: An evacuation order has been lifted for the Northwest Territories capital three weeks after a nearby wildfire forced the city’s 20,000 residents out of their homes. Thousands of vehicles are expected to head back in the coming days and the airport is set to reopen today.
Canada advances to semi-finals: With a 100-89 win over Slovenia this morning, Canada moves on at the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup to play Serbia on Friday morning.
Giller Prize long list revealed: The Globe’s Menaka Raman-Wilms, host of The Decibel podcast, is among the authors nominated for Canada’s most prestigious award for fiction. Her first novel, The Rooftop Garden, is a story about a lost childhood friend, rising oceans and a trip to Berlin.
MARKET WATCH
Wall Street stocks closed lower with the Nasdaq leading declines after stronger-than-expected services sector data fueled concerns that sticky inflation would mean that interest rates stay higher for longer. Canada’s main stock index followed suit amid a broad-based decline.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 198.78 points or 0.57 per cent to 34,443.19, the S&P 500 lost 31.35 points or 0.7 per cent to end at 4,465.48, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 148.48 points or 1.06 per cent to 13,872.47.
The S&P/TSX Composite index slid 186.80 points or 0.92 per cent to 20,226.96. The Canadian dollar traded at 73.33 U.S. cents
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TALKING POINTS
If Canada’s political parties are too hungry for money, let them have less
“It’s never been easier or cheaper for parties to ‘get their message out’ (apparently there’s this thing called the internet). They don’t need to spend anything like as much as they do. The only reason any of them do is for fear of being outspent by the others.” - Andrew Coyne
Many are leery of B.C.’s new report-card system – and rightly so
“Parents will become frustrated because they don’t truly understand how their child is doing – or at least it will feel that way.” - Gary Mason
LIVING BETTER
Personal finance columnist Rob Carrick offers this playbook for debt and investing as we look ahead to a U-turn for interest rates. His tips include snapping up high-rate GICs and taking a step back if you’re thinking about locking in a variable-rate mortgage.
TODAY’S LONG READ
In Europe, the sleeper train makes a comeback
A European Sleeper train prepares to depart. The line runs between Brussels and Berlin.Supplied
Three nights a week, the European Sleeper train eases out of Berlin’s central station at about 11 p.m.
Over the next 10½ hours, the train rumbles west, stopping in seven cities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the final destination, Brussels. With any luck, its passengers – who booked seats, padded bunks or proper beds for the night – get the type of rest that befits the company name.
European Sleeper is betting that travellers want overnight rail service that links major cities of the continent, harking back to the golden age of rail transportation. It’s not alone in this push. State-owned Austrian Federal Railways, or ÖBB, is bulking up what is already the longest overnight rail network in Europe. The upstart Midnight Trains of France, which bills itself as a “hotel on rails,” is hoping to launch in 2025. Read the full story by Matt Lundy.
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