Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
As Canada reopens, the labour market roars
After two months of job losses, the economy added 230,700 positions in June and the unemployment rate fell to 7.8 per cent from May’s 8.2 per cent, Statistics Canada said Friday. To date, Canada has recovered 89 per cent of its pandemic job losses. The summer months are poised for additional gains as the country hits vaccination goals and restrictions are relaxed.
In accordance with reopening, there’s pressure to return employees to the workplace – especially in downtown Toronto’s office hub. Some however, like Sun Life, will let employees choose. As workplaces reopen, rapid COVID-19 tests could become the norm this fall.
More reopening and COVID-19 stories:
- Ontario to move to Stage 3 of province’s reopening plan on July 16, several days ahead of schedule
- Canada’s border agency expects travel spike on first weekend of eased restrictions
- Pfizer to seek U.S. authorization for third COVID shot as Delta variant spreads, though Ottawa says it has not received a similar request
New AFN National Chief RoseAnne Archibald lays out key issues, asked about allegations of harassment
Former Ontario regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), RoseAnne Archibald, from the Taykwa Tagamou Nation in Northeastern Ontario, has been elected national chief of the AFN. She is the first woman to hold the position in the advocacy organization’s 50-year history.
Over the next 100 days, Archibald says she wants to focus on key issues such as unmarked burial sites at former residential schools, the national action plan on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and fighting systemic racism in the health and justice systems. She also says she will prioritize climate change’s effects on Indigenous communities alongside a recovery plan as the pandemic wanes.
Asked on Friday about an internal investigation the AFN launched into allegations of harassment against her earlier this year, Archibald avoided specifics because of confidentiality but said that she is committed to workplace reform to prevent bullying and harassment. The Globe previously reported Archibald’s belief that the probe was retaliation for her campaign for more fiscal accountability at the AFN.
Opinion: RoseAnne Archibald will face challenges on all fronts as national chief of Assembly of First Nations
Liberals’ use of parliamentary funds prompts recall of ethics committee to discuss possible investigation
The House of Commons ethics committee is expected to meet Monday to discuss whether to investigate the hiring with parliamentary funds of two companies, U.S. database software company NGP VAN and Montreal-based company Data Sciences, that are central to the Liberal Party’s digital campaign operations.
This comes as four opposition members wrote a letter Thursday to the chair, asking for a meeting to launch an investigation into possible misuse of parliamentary funding. House of Commons rules require MPs to use taxpayer resources for parliamentary purposes only and not to subsidize the operations of political parties or re-election campaigns. The Liberals say the spending is purely for constituency outreach services, which is an allowed expense.
The Globe and Mail reported Monday that NGP VAN, which runs Liberal digital voter outreach, has been paid $1-million from parliamentary funds since 2016 to exclusively handle constituency case work for party MPs. Payments have also been received by Data Sciences, which oversees the Liberal Party’s digital operations during elections. In campaigns, Data Sciences works with NGP VAN on digital election activities.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
TSB investigates speculation that a train may have sparked deadly Lytton B.C. fire: Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board are examining whether a freight train caused the fire that burned down the village of Lytton in British Columbia’s Interior and killed two people. There has been widespread speculation among residents in the community that a passing train sparked the fire, which broke out last Wednesday and spread quickly throughout Lytton, destroying most of the community.
Shapovalov loses Wimbledon semi-final to Djokovic: Canada’s Denis Shapovalov lost to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic on Friday, ending what has been the Canadian’s best run at a Grand Slam. The win continues Djokovic’s quest for a sixth Wimbledon title and a chance to sweep all four Grand Slams this year.
Federal party leaders begin tours across Canada ahead of possible election: The federal party leaders are all hitting the travel circuit this week for the first major political tours after more than a year of lockdowns and with a potential election campaign looming. While Justin Trudeau has repeatedly played down the election speculation, the locations for their tours are significant and reflect the challenges and opportunities in front of them, Nanos Research founder Nik Nanos said.
Biden push for competition draws concerns for Canadian National takeover of Kansas City Southern: President Joe Biden’s push to increase competition in the U.S. economy is stoking new concerns that regulators will block Canadian National Railway Co.’s planned US$29.9-billion takeover of Kansas City Southern. Biden rolled out a signature economic policy on Friday by signing an executive order that encourages federal agencies to move aggressively to limit consolidation in sectors such as technology, health care and transportation.
Investigating the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse: Twenty-six Colombians and two Haitian-Americans – including one who purportedly used to work as a bodyguard for Canada’s embassy in Port-au-Prince – made up the armed group that killed president Jovenel Moïse, and eight men are still at large, Haitian police say. Police and intelligence agencies in the United States and Colombia are investigating links after arrests of their nationals by Haitian authorities.
The economic rebound is topping out, and stocks are at risk: “If it feels far too soon to be discussing peak anything, when the reopening is just getting started in many countries, including Canada, this is part of the great contradiction of pandemic-era investing. Even in the nascent stages of a formidable economic boom, it’s entirely possible for the investing climate to worsen.”
MARKET WATCH
The three major U.S. stock indexes rallied to record closing highs on Friday as financials and other economically focused sectors rebounded after a selloff sparked by growth worries earlier in the week. The S&P/TSX Composite Index Friday gained 196.74 points, or 0.98 per cent, to 20,257.95. Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 446.29 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 34,868.22. The S&P 500 gained 48.44 points, or 1.12 per cent, to 4,369.26. The Nasdaq Composite added 139.83 points, or 0.96 per cent, to 14,699.61.
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TALKING POINTS
Is now the right time for an election?
“The Liberals should not get too comfy. They do enjoy an advantage today, but it is likely overstated. The gap between the Liberals and the Conservatives will close. Anxiety about the future will grow as the stimulus winds down and awareness of our debt levels rise. It will be an election of mixed emotions – the relief that comes with vaccinations, hope for an opening of the economy, anxiety about the real jobs fallout from the pandemic. These will place intense scrutiny on all the political leaders. For the Liberals, the decision to call an election now carries both risk and reward.” -Nik Nanos
The best way to counter vaccine hesitancy? Don’t worry about conspiracy theories – just vaccinate more people
“… As more people get vaccinated and see that everything is okay, others may be more likely to follow suit. The best way to create this virtuous cycle is not to censor conspiracy theories but rather to vaccinate more people and spread the message that vaccines are indeed safe and effective. Seeking to prevent false beliefs from being aired simply gives ammunition to those claiming that the state is out to get them.” -Hugo Drochon
LIVING BETTER
Why I risked life and limb to save a newborn squirrel
“The pandemic has meant the loss of control of everything I took for granted… Listening to the news about the dangers and stress front-line workers, warehouse employees and migrant workers face makes me ashamed of the relative safety retirement provides. Perhaps rescuing a helpless baby is pushback. A tiny and timely attempt at redemption during the worst of times. A foolish act to gain a bit of wisdom.” -Clayton Klaver
TODAY’S LONG READ
An employee organizes pharmacy supplies at Beirut's Rafik Hariri University Hospital, where Lebanon's overlapping economic and social crises have made medicines hard to come by.Rafael Yaghobzadeh/The Globe and Mail
At this Beirut hospital, Lebanon’s financial crisis leaves doctors and patients paying the price
Lebanon’s acting prime minister, Hassan Diab – who resigned in the wake of last year’s port disaster but has remained in the post because the country’s quarrelling political factions have failed to agree on the shape of a new government – said this week that the country was “a few days away from social explosion.”
In the absence of a fully empowered government, efforts to negotiate a rescue package from the International Monetary Fund have collapsed.
The scarcity of medicines is a direct result of the financial crisis. For decades, Lebanon’s central bank has pegged the country’s currency to the U.S. dollar at the artificial rate of 1,500 pounds to US$1. That created an import-reliant economy and incentivized heavy government borrowing and spending, all the while feeding endemic corruption.
Evening Update is written by Ibnul Chowdhury. 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.