Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
The head of Canada’s spy service says an investigation is under way to find the leakers of highly classified information on Chinese election interference, and suggested the whistle-blowers may have been frustrated with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handling of Beijing’s activities in the democratic process.
Appearing before a Commons committee investigating Chinese interference, David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, declined to answer questions about whether the government ignored warnings of China’s influence operations in the 2019 and 2021 elections.
Vigneault faced questions about whether there are any tensions between CSIS and the Prime Minister’s Office. The director said: “There are means that exist already for people to express their discontent regarding relations with the Prime Minister’s Office.”
More coverage:
- Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation returning donation with link to China
- Foreign interference did not affect outcome of 2021 election, report says
- John Ibbitson: An inquiry into foreign interference may restore trust in electoral process
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Putin says Ukraine group attacks border region, Kyiv rejects accusation as ‘provocation’
Videos of men appearing to be members of the Russian Volunteer Corps, a group of ethnic Russians who have been fighting on the Ukrainian side, appeared online today. They had purportedly staged a cross-border raid into Russia.
The daring thrust into the Bryansk region of western Russia could go down in history as a bizarre footnote to this war or the moment Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine finally boomeranged onto his own country’s soil, writes Mark MacKinnon.
Or, amid warnings from Ukrainian officials that the attack on Bryansk may have been a false flag operation, it may be used by Putin to justify whatever he does next. The Russian President called an emergency meeting of Russia’s National Security Council after the incident and, within hours, went on national television to denounce the “terrorist” attack, which he said was aimed at destroying the country’s language and culture.
Read more:
- In Warsaw, art brings solace and hope to Ukrainian refugees
- Ukraine to rebuild war-damaged homes using money seized from Russian-controlled banks
- Michael Bociurkiw: Amid rumblings of a Russian-backed coup, Moldova needs the West’s help
Nordstrom to exit Canada, will close all 13 stores
Luxury retailer Nordstrom Inc. is exiting Canada by closing 13 stores and laying off 2,500 employees, the latest U.S. chain to retreat from a market in the face of domestic competition.
Seattle-based Nordstrom began to wind down stores in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario on Thursday by filing for creditor protection. As part of the court-supervised process, the company has shut down its e-commerce platform. The chain plans to close its six Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack stores by the end of June.
“We entered Canada in 2014 with a plan to build and sustain a long-term business there. Despite our best efforts, we do not see a realistic path to profitability for the Canadian business,” said chief executive officer Erik Nordstrom in a press release.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Indigenous community accuses Imperial Oil, Alberta government of covering up industrial leak: A drainage pond at the Kearl Oil Sands project overflowed last month, spilling an estimated 5.3 million litres of industrial wastewater laced with pollutants into the environment. Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, downstream from the site, says it was kept in the dark.
Death toll in Greece train crash rises to 57: Carriages were thrown off the tracks, crushed and engulfed in flames when a high-speed passenger train with more than 350 people on board collided head-on with a freight train this week. They were on the same track. Among the dead were university students returning home after a long weekend.
Moncton RCMP killer Justin Bourque’s sentence reduced: New Brunswick’s highest court says it had no choice but to reduce the sentence of Bourque, the man who used a semi-automatic rifle to kill three Mounties in Moncton in 2014. The ruling was based on last year’s Supreme Court of Canada decision that struck down a 2011 federal law that made it possible for judges to extend parole ineligibility periods beyond 25 years for people convicted of multiple murders.
Three skiers killed in avalanche near Invermere, B.C.: RCMP say the three were among 10 heli-skiers caught by the slide in the backcountry near the Panorama Mountain Resort, about 150 kilometres southwest of Banff, Alta.
Egypt unveils newly discovered chamber inside Great Pyramid: Egypt’s antiquities authorities on Thursday unveiled a newly discovered, sealed-off chamber inside one of the Great Pyramids at Giza, just outside Cairo, that dates back 4,500 years ago. The corridor – on the northern side of the Pyramid of Khufu – was discovered using modern scanning technology.
MI5 missed chance to stop bombing at Ariana Grande concert: Britain’s security services missed a “significant” opportunity to take action that might have prevented a 2017 deadly suicide bombing at the end of an Ariana Grande pop concert in Manchester, an inquiry into the attack concluded on Thursday.
MARKET WATCH
U.S. and Canadian stocks erased early losses to end higher on Thursday, as Treasury yields pulled back from earlier highs following comments from Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic about his favoured path of interest rate hikes for the central bank.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 77.43 points or 0.43 per cent at 20,337.21.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 341.73 points or 1.05 per cent at 33,003.57. The S&P 500 index was up 29.96 points or 0.76 per cent at 3,981.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 83.50 points or 0.73 per cent at 11,462.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.45 cents US compared with 73.46 cents US on Wednesday.
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TALKING POINTS
Bruins’ Bertuzzi deal a winning move for NHL execs
“Sports executives are no longer project managers. They are politicians. The goal isn’t getting things done. It’s getting re-elected. You do that by promising things that may happen.” – Cathal Kelly
The worst thing about Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown isn’t what most of us are angry about
“But when we get mad at Netflix for closing what is effectively a free-access loophole, that is ultimately entitlement – fuelled by expectations set over the years by venture-capital-rich companies too willing to play with fire and disrupt without responsible foresight, yes, but entitlement all the same.” – Adrian Lee
The B.C. NDP and Alberta’s UCP agree on one thing: a budget spending spree
“In a tale of two provincial budgets, one province governed from the right and one from the left, the story is not about differences but instead a long list of similarities.” – The Editorial Board
LIVING BETTER
Ten new Canadian wines to buy right now
For anyone planning wine tours, there are some current favourites to watch for. Depending on the rules governing wine shipments to your province, you can grab choice Canadian wines by ordering online for home and office delivery. Bright and refreshing, the Bella Terra Sauvignon Blanc 2021 comes from a Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., vineyard and would be a great aperitif or oyster wine. It has a rating of 90/100. See the rest of Christopher Waters’ picks.
TODAY’S LONG READ
The Art Gallery of Ontario’s expansion: A machine for showing art
Rendering of an aerial view of the AGO's new wing.Rendering by Play-Time, courtesy of Art Gallery of Ontario, Diamond Schmitt, Selldorf Architects and Two Row Architect
On Thursday, the Art Gallery of Ontario released initial designs for its major new expansion. It will be named the Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery, in recognition of a $35-million gift from Reiss – the Canada Goose CEO and chair. The AGO says this is among the largest donations in its history.
And yet while the addition will be large, with 40,000 square feet of new galleries, its architecture will be extremely restrained. “If you couldn’t see the edges of the building, that would be fine by me,” the architect Annabelle Selldorf said this week.
Four drawings released by the AGO tell the story. From the street, it looks like a tall cloud formation, picking up the colours of the sky. The designers, Selldorf Architects alongside Ontario firms Diamond Schmitt and Two Row Architect, plan to wrap the building in a material, such as terracotta tile, that can actually provide such an effect – “like the light in a watercolour,” as Selldorf put it.
Evening Update is written by Prajakta Dhopade. 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.