Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Early this morning, charges of resisting arrest and assaulting a peace officer against Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation were dropped.
The charges were dropped after the wide circulation of a 12-minute RCMP dashcam video, that showed an officer tackling Adam to the ground and punching him in the head.
Another investigation into a separate incident has opened, after a University of British Columbia nursing student alleged she was physically harmed by an RCMP officer during a wellness check in January.
Cases like Chief Adam’s have sparked debates about the future of policing at all levels of government. On Tuesday, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki appeared at a meeting of the House of Commons public safety committee meeting to discuss racism within the force. In the committee meeting, she was unable to cite examples of systemic racism within the RCMP.
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A public safety worker walks around at Toronto's Pearson International Airport for a "Healthy Airport" during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, June 23, 2020.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Even as parts of the country reopen, the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic continues to pose an unprecedented challenge to Canadian businesses. Today, Westjet announced it will be laying off 3,333 employees, and undertaking major restructuring to its operations, calling the current travel climate “the biggest crisis in the history of aviation.”
The Canadian economy as a whole has taken a hit. Fitch Ratings today downgraded Canada’s credit rating from triple-A to double-A-plus, the first change to Canada’s rating in almost 16 years. The ratings agency cited the growing federal deficit as justification for the downgrade.
Flynn Charges Dropped
An appeals court has ordered charges against Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, be dropped.
Flynn has twice pleaded guilty to the charges of contempt, related to lying to the FBI, in 2017.
Trump tweeted immediately after the court released its decision: “Great! Appeals Court Upholds Justice Departments Request to Drop Criminal Case Against General Michael Flynn.”
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Quarantined: The states of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York will be requiring visitors from states with high infection rates to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.
Over-spending: The Ontario Court of Appeals has ruled that Toronto city councillor Jim Karygiannis was improperly able to regain his job after being removed for reporting election over-spending, leaving residents of Toronto’s ward 22 temporarily without elected representation.
Rallying cry: After a lower-than-anticipated turnout at his first campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., President Donald Trump filled a Phoenix megachurch yesterday with an audience of young conservatives.
Funding announcement: The Ontario government will be providing long-term care providers with full funding for the rest of the year, regardless of occupancy rates, prompting fears of a shortage of long-term care beds.
MARKET WATCH
Wall Street’s three major indexes suffered their biggest daily percentage drop in almost two weeks, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 710.16 points, or 2.72%, to 25,445.94, the S&P 500 losing 80.96 points, or 2.59%, to 3,050.33 and the Nasdaq Composite dropping 222.20 points, or 2.19%, to 9,909.17.
Fears of a coronavirus resurgence in the United States, combined with lower than expected predictions from the IMF about global economic growth, led to the indexes decline.
Looking for investing ideas? Check out The Globe’s weekly digest of the latest insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and what investors need to know for the week ahead. This week’s edition includes a portfolio mix for right now, under-the-radar tech stock and where to put money during the pandemic.
TALKING POINTS
Ben Mulroney knows all about power and privilege in Canada
“So here we come to roost: Perhaps what Ben Mulroney – a far better broadcaster now than he was in 2003 – is doing is protecting the Mulroney name and brand, just as certain corporations are suddenly burnishing their brands, reviewing labels on goods that might be problematic in the context of anti-Black racism.” - John Doyle
Hardballer Jean Chrétien could have ended the China conflict
Rebuffed for the envoy role, Mr. Chrétien then proposed, this being a year ago, that Ottawa cancel the extradition process, allowing Ms. Meng to return home with the understanding that Beijing end its reprisals against Canada. That display of Canadian hardball would have enraged Mr. Trump, who is enraged on a daily basis. But the ‘unspeakable Mr. Trump,‘ as Mr. Chrétien has called him, is the last president to deserve any kind of special treatment from Canadians.” - Lawrence Martin
The justice minister has the power to free Meng. That doesn’t mean he should.
“Mr. Rock and Ms. Arbour aren’t arguing merely that the Minister of Justice has the formal legal power to intervene on Ms. Meng’s behalf, but that he should. That would be debatable even if China had not taken two Canadians hostage to enforce its demands: Canada has obligations under its extradition treaty with the United States that should not lightly be set aside.” - Andrew Coyne
LIVING BETTER
Rosé all day? Maybe not this summer – it’s time to shake things up with tequila-based cocktails sych as palomas, margaritas and simple tequila sodas. Charlene Rooke explores the growing popularity of the spirit, and shares craft tequila brands popping up in Canada that you can try.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Illustration by Chloe CushmanIllustration by Chloe Cushman
In part two of his series on the “man from nowhere”, the Globe’s senior international correspondent Mark MacKinnon details Russian President Vladimir Putin’s quest to remain in power indefinitely.
MacKinnon details Putin’s reported obsession with political strongmen like Serbia’s Slobodan Milosevic and Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi, pointing to a desire to remain in office at all costs.
Russian experts note the potential for Putin to face charges at the International Criminal Court if he leaves office, and for a future successor to hand Putin over to international courts in exchange for relief on Western sanctions.
Evening Update is written by Claire Porter Robbins. 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.