Evening Update: Canada’s inflation rate held at 3.1% in November

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

Canada’s inflation rate unexpectedly held steady last month as the services sector put upward pressure on consumer prices, a slight hiccup as the Bank of Canada looks to tame inflation.

The Consumer Price Index rose 3.1 per cent in November from a year earlier, matching October’s increase, Statistics Canada said in a report today. Analysts on Bay Street were expecting the inflation rate to ease to 2.9 per cent.

• Canada’s inflation rate held at 3.1 per cent in November. Here’s what happens next
• How economists and market bets for BoC rate cuts are reacting to today’s inflation data

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Freeland or Carney more popular choices for Liberal leader than Trudeau, survey finds

A new Nanos survey conducted exclusively for The Globe and Mail found Chrystia Freeland and Mark Carney are more popular choices to lead the Liberal Party than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau has been Liberal Leader since 2013 and Prime Minister since 2015. He polled at just 9 per cent. Freeland was the most appealing potential candidate for Liberal leader, at 18 per cent, while Mr. Carney, the former Bank of Canada governor, landed at 15 per cent.

Israel bombards south Gaza with air strikes, raids hospital in north as war grinds on

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Israeli troops raided one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza today and bombarded the south with air strikes that killed at least 28 Palestinians. Forces are moving ahead with their offensive with renewed American support in the face of growing international alarm. The air and ground war was launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel. It has so far killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians, displaced around 1.9 million people, destroyed much of northern Gaza and prompted attacks on U.S. and Israeli targets across the region.

• Canada to join U.S.-led naval mission to safeguard Red Sea from Iran-backed rebel attacks
• UN Security Council vote on Gaza humanitarian resolution delayed again in effort to avoid U.S. veto

ALSO ON OUR RADAR

McGill scholarships for out-of-province students: McGill University said today that it will offer scholarships to Canadian students from outside Quebec to cover the tuition increase the Quebec government plans to impose next year. The scholarships would be worth $3,000 annually, guaranteed for four years, starting next fall or winter of 2025.

Canada’s population growth: The country’s population grew by more than 430,000 during the third quarter, marking the fastest pace of population growth in any quarter since 1957.

Voyeurism trial: Judges should not factor whether an accused has a happy sex life with his wife into the sentencing decisions of sex-crime cases, says one of Canada’s foremost scholars on how the justice system responds to sexual violence.

Electric vehicles by 2035: Move over, gas-guzzling cars. The federal government has released new vehicle sales standards today, where by 2035 all new cars, trucks and SUVs sold must be zero-emission. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said this will encourage companies to make more battery-powered cars and trucks available in Canada.

Volcano eruption in Iceland: Lava from a volcano in Iceland seems to be flowing away from the only nearby town, offering hope for local residents, even though seismic activity could last months, officials said today. Flights were unlikely to be affected, the government said.

• In photos: A volcano erupts in southwestern Iceland and spews magma in a spectacular show of Earth’s power

COVID update: The World Health Organization classified the JN.1 coronavirus strain as a “variant of interest” today, but said it did not pose much threat to public health.

Marvel makes moves: Marvel Studios and the Walt Disney Co. dropped actor Jonathan Majors from all future projects after his conviction for assault and harassment yesterday, according to a person close to the studio. The move marks a stunning about-face for Majors, who was one of Hollywood’s fastest-rising stars.

Celine Dion: The Grammy Award-winning singer’s sister says Dion is focused on overcoming a rare neurological disorder called stiff person syndrome, but progress has been difficult as “she does not have control of her muscles.”

MARKET WATCH

North American stock markets extended their rally today, as last week’s dovish policy pivot from the Federal Reserve continued to reverberate and investors looked ahead to crucial U.S. inflation data. Canada’s main stock index rose to an 18-month high, led by financial and forest product shares.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended up 216.92 points, or 1.05 percent, at 20,839.63, its highest closing level since June 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 251.9 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 37,557.92, the S&P 500 gained 27.81 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 4,768.37 and the Nasdaq Composite added 98.41 points, or 0.66 per cent, to 15,003.22.

The Canadian dollar traded for 74.94 cents US.

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TALKING POINTS

Let’s not overlook the huge contributions that foreign students make to this country

“If the real problem is diploma mills where enrolment is more a ticket to immigration than to an education, or a source of cheap labour, then let’s tackle those problems at the source, rather than paint all students with the same brush.” – Mark Lautens

My father, Jimmy Lai, may be on trial. But it’s Hong Kong’s future that is on the stand

“I have not seen or heard my father’s voice since 2020. The cost of my father’s decision to stay in Hong Kong and stand up to tyranny could be that I never will again.” – Sebastien Lai

A dozen things to be thankful for in personal finance and investing as we exit 2023

“Among the lowlights were a slowing economy, inflation, persistently high borrowing costs and more people having trouble paying what they owe. But alongside these troubling developments are some trends that offer some encouragement about not only 2024, but beyond.” – Rob Carrick

LIVING BETTER

The Globe and Mail’s 2023 giant holiday crossword puzzle

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Test your mental mettle with this brain-twisting assortment of word, logic and number puzzles by Fraser Simpson, creator of The Globe and Mail’s cryptic crossword. Use #GlobeCrossword on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook or any other social network to share your progress.

• First Person: When playing Santa, I have one fleeting moment to convey the right message to children
• Books gift guide 2023: The best reads for everyone on your list
• Five ways to curb gift buying, so the holidays don’t end with a financial hangover

TODAY’S LONG READ

The dark history of mummering in Newfoundland

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As Newfoundland and Labrador’s mummers dress up for the holiday ritual this month, they take a look back at a time when the custom was treated as more fiendish than foolish. A tradition with English and Irish roots, mummery is when people go house to house in disguises, sometimes raising funds for charity along the way. The old-world tradition, brought to the island by Irish and English settlers, continues today in many of the small towns and hamlets that dot the coast of Newfoundland. Lindsay Jones reports.

Evening Update is written by Maryam Shah. If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday evening, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.