Evening Update: Blinken calls on Israel to minimize civilian suffering; Canadian government airlift begins in Tel Aviv

Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:

The latest in the Israel-Hamas war

Visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Israel to minimize civilian suffering, as it tightened its siege of the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion.

Speaking five days after a surprise Hamas invasion, Blinken told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that while the U.S. “will always be there by your side” – and expressed horror at the images of what Hamas militants had done to Israeli citizens – Israel needed to take the humanitarian conditions in Gaza into account.

So far, Israel is not doing that. Israel declared a “full siege” of Gaza and its 2.3 million people on Monday, cutting off the supply of food, water, and fuel. Israel says the siege will remain in place until Hamas militants frees about 150 hostages.

The toll so far: Hamas’ assault killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers, and injured more that 2,700. At least 1,417 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and more than 6,200 have been injured since the war began, Palestinian health officials said.

Canadian developments: Four Canadians are reported missing after the Hamas attack on Israel on Saturday, federal government officials say. That’s in addition to the two Canadians who are confirmed dead and one who is presumed dead. Here is a look at the the Canadians killed or missing in the attack.

Meanwhile, Canadian government evacuation planes began leaving Tel Aviv’s airport today for Athens. From there, Ottawa has arranged for Air Canada planes to take passengers back to Canada at their own expense.

And Canada will provide an initial $10-million in humanitarian assistance “to address urgent needs in Israel and in the Gaza Strip,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said today.

Find more up-to-date information in our live blog.

Opinion:

• Canadian Jews are heartbroken - and extremely anxious about what will come - Marsha Lederman
• Quint’s statement highlights Canada’s lack of influence on global stage – Campbell Clark
• In Israel, it will take a long time for our souls to heal – Ayelet Tsabari

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Ottawa urged to accommodate tech giant on Bill C-18

News Media Canada, which represents some of the country’s largest news organizations, is urging the federal government to accommodate Google’s specific concerns regarding the Online News Act.

The legislation, aimed at getting tech companies to strike deals with media outlets for posting or linking their content, is scheduled to take effect Dec. 19. That creates an urgent deadline in the showdown between Google and Ottawa.

Google and Facebook parent Meta have strongly opposed the bill, describing it as unworkable. Facebook has already removed Canadian news from its platform to avoid falling under the terms of the legislation.

ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Rogers legal challenge: Melinda Rogers-Hixon and Martha Rogers have launched a legal challenge to obtain board documents that they say Rogers Communications is withholding from them, the latest development in a long-standing feud between warring factions of the family that controls the telecom giant.

Notwithstanding clause invoked: The Saskatchewan government has tabled legislation and the notwithstanding clause to prevent children under 16 from changing their names or pronouns at school without parental consent.

ArriveCan audit expands: Federal Auditor-General Karen Hogan is expanding her investigation into spending on the ArriveCan app to include new allegations of misconduct reported by The Globe and Mail. She also said she is disappointed top government officials had not told her team about a related investigation by the RCMP.

Blue Jays GM stays put: Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro says general manager Ross Atkins will return next season. The team was eliminated in a wild-card series last week in Minnesota and managed just one run over the two games.

MARKET WATCH

Canada’s main stock index closed lower, giving back some of this week’s rally, as hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data pushed up long-term borrowing costs and also weighed on Wall Street indexes.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index fell 163.60 points or 0.83 per cent to 19,500.24 after five straight days of gains. The dollar traded at 73.03 U.S. cents.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 173.77 points or 0.51 per cent to 33,631.10, the S&P 500 lost 27.34 points or 0.62 per cent to end at 4,349.61, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 85.46 points or 0.63 per cent to 13,574.22.

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TALKING POINTS

Canadian hockey players can no longer succeed in Canada

“Canada eats its hockey players, Montreal and Toronto in particular. They go in one end fired by the idea of making history. They come out the other end sooty, with all their clothes chewed off.” – Cathal Kelly

TFSAs are a smash hit with Canadians, but some people are wrongly putting money in RRSPs

“TFSAs are ideal for young adults because they suit both short- and long-term goals. Money is easily withdrawn from a TFSA and can be replaced at a later date.” – Rob Carrick

LIVING BETTER

There is still time for employees to reduce their taxes before year-end, columnist Tim Cestnick writes. He offers these ideas, including:

• If you expect a tax refund each year, consider filing Form T1213, Request to Reduce Tax Deductions at Source, in November (you’ll need to do this annually).
• If you’ve continued to work from home more than half the time in 2023, you can claim a deduction for home office expenses using Form T2200. The flat-rate option introduced during the pandemic is no longer an option.

TODAY’S LONG READ

Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour is saving movie theatres, and infuriating Hollywood studios

Open this photo in gallery:

A short list of the things Taylor Swift has radically altered over the course of her relatively young career: the concert industry, Nashville, Apple Music, the NFL, memes, the vocal cords of girls from the age of 8 through 12, Ticketmaster, the SEO profiles of Jake Gyllenhaal and Joe Alwyn and John Mayer and Harry Styles and Matt Healy, the very concept of social media marketing, U.S. presidential elections.

And now the world’s most famous pop star is set to save, or at the very least seismically transform, the movie theatre business.

This Friday, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is opening in theatres in more than 100 countries, including Canada, with the film guaranteed a minimum four-weekend run (far longer than the typical one- or two-night engagement a concert documentary might receive). Swift and her team have completely bypassed the traditional film-industry system to get The Eras Tour into theatres. Read the full story by Barry Hertz.

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