Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
CBC and Radio-Canada, the country’s English and French public broadcasters, say a budget shortfall of $125-million is the reason they are eliminating 600 jobs and leaving 200 other positions unfilled.
Along with the job cuts, CBC will be reducing its English and French programming budgets, resulting in fewer renewals and acquisitions, new television series, episodes of existing shows and digital original series.
Some of the 600 union and non-union layoffs “will begin immediately; most will take effect over the next 12 months,” according to a statement.
Israel orders Gaza evacuations as it widens offensive, but Palestinians are running out of places to go
Palestinians who fled their houses amid Israeli air strikes shelter at a United Nations-run school in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Dec. 4, 2023.IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/Reuters
Palestinians in southern Gaza faced an agonizing choice today: stay in the path of an expanded Israeli military campaign or flee, knowing there are fewer and fewer parts of the territory that remain safe from Israel’s air strikes.
Since the collapse of a week-long truce Friday, Israel’s military has ordered mass evacuations from parts of Khan Younis, a southern Gazan city, further reducing the space available for Palestinians by more than a quarter.
Palestinian health officials say Israeli bombardment has killed several hundred civilians since Friday, and aid workers warned that the humanitarian crisis would worsen if more people were forced to crowd into less territory.
Christine Sinclair changed the trajectory of Canadian sports for the better
At the 2012 London Olympics, the Canadian women’s soccer team lost a critical semi-final match against the Americans, but in some ways it gained much more than that: the legend of Christine Sinclair was cemented that day.
In the process, Cathal Kelly writes, hockey began to give some ground to other sports in the national consciousness.
Sinclair, who will play her final international match tomorrow in Vancouver, would later lead Canada to the bronze medal, but it was her spectacular three-goal performance and her outspokenness on the officiating that would elevate her from notable Canadian to national hero.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Canada’s plan to trap methane: At the United Nations COP28 climate summit in Dubai today, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced draft regulations to capture methane emitted during oil and gas production.
Toy retailer’s new mastermind: Canadian retail veteran Joe Mimran and his partners are stepping in to rescue Mastermind Toys and the majority of its stores.
B.C. biotech’s epilepsy drug shows promise for treating depression: Xenon Pharmaceuticals, whose effective epilepsy treatment contains a molecule that may also hold promise as an antidepressant, has risen to become Canada’s most valuable drug developer.
MARKET WATCH
Stocks lower as megacaps give back gains, bond yields rise
Stock markets in North America ended down today, putting the brakes on a rally that peaked Friday. Anticipated U.S. employment data out later this week made investors cautious about which direction the Federal Reserve will take U.S. interest rates.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended down 42.66 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 20,410.21. The S&P 500 declined 24.85 points, or 0.54 per cent, to end the session at 4,569.78 points. The Nasdaq declined 119.54 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 14,185.49 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 41.06 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 36,204.44 points.
One Canadian dollar could be bought for 73.86 US cents.
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TALKING POINTS
New federal greenwashing rules will do little to prevent deceptive environmental claims
“The federal government’s minimalist changes are surprising, as the need for clearer, more stringent greenwashing rules is one of the few areas where civil society groups, academics and companies seemed to agree. Two weeks ago, a group of 92 firms and experts publicly called for a clearer legal framework to counter greenwashing, restore consumers’ trust in Canadian firms and allow well-intentioned companies to reap the rewards of their investments in green innovation.” – Julien Beaulieu and Wren Montgomery
Cop-out: A police podcast is the latest sign of eroding responsiveness to journalists
“In the days … that followed [an armed standoff in Saanich, B.C., between police and a pair of outlaw brothers], the police would only provide terse updates before eventually refusing outright to answer questions, even simply walking away from the lectern when their statements had been read. In that context, a podcast seems like a direct insult – a brash reflection of the disregard the police have for the media’s role in oversight of powerful institutions.” – Jimmy Thomson
Public lands hold the key to Canada’s housing crisis. If only we knew where they were
“Without knowing the data, researchers like us can’t help governments with identifying which parcels of public lands are most useful for housing. These data are profoundly important in overseeing what public authorities are doing with respect to our shared resources. And this oversight makes a difference: for example, after obtaining registry data in Ontario, reporters were able to show that some land assessments were unfairly skewed.” – Alexandra Flynn
LIVING BETTER
Eight easy ways to swap out meat with plant-based food
A new study shows that swapping out animal proteins for plant proteins is a dietary change linked to lower risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and premature death. This doesn’t mean you have to adopt a vegan diet. Even small daily diet shifts can benefit cardiometabolic health.
Oompa Loompa, doom-pa-dee-bop, Chalamet’s Wonka is a musical flop
Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka in Wonka.Jaap Buittendijk/Warner Bros.
Barry Hertz has something to say
about the new flick featuring Chalamet
Wonka fans: it’s not very sweet
But Barry’s new lyrics are the real treat!
TODAY’S LONG READ
Canadian companies diverge on diversity disclosures, with no fix in sight
These days, institutional investors are increasingly backing firms with strong commitments to diversity at the board and executive level, and the data to back them up. At risk of losing out, many Canadian companies are making diversity disclosure a priority.
But without a Canada-wide standard, companies must navigate a hodgepodge of rules, standards and requirements. Canada’s provincial and territorial securities regulators are deeply divided on a possible national standard, perhaps hopelessly so. The country’s stock exchanges have not put forward any requirements. And the world-leading regulations implemented in Ottawa in 2015 are limited in scope.
The Globe has found, through its 22nd annual Board Games research, that Canadian companies are still struggling to navigate the field of diversity disclosure.
Read the article by David Milstead and more from Board Games: our 22nd annual corporate governance rankings report.
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