Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Canadians Shapovalov, Auger Aliassime advance at Wimbledon
First, Denis Shapovalov blasted into the quarter-finals of Wimbledon with a straight-sets victory over higher-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain. Félix Auger Aliassime took five sets to defeat Germany’s Alexander Zverev and punch his ticket to the quarter-finals in a match that was temporarily suspended by a rain delay.
It’s a first for Canadian tennis to have two Wimbledon quarter-finalists.
On Wednesday, Shapovalov meets Russia’s Karen Khachanov, and Auger Aliassime takes on Matteo Berrettini of Italy.
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CMHC reverses pandemic lending changes in face of lost market share
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is easing its underwriting criteria for mortgage loan insurance after changes it made last year were not effective and caused it to lose market share.
The federal housing agency says that it returned to considering a gross debt service ratio of up to 39 per cent and a total debt service ratio of up to 44 per cent for borrowers who have a strong history of managing payment obligations. It will also now request at least one borrower or guarantor have a credit score of at least 600.
Last July, the agency required a minimum credit score of at least 680 and limited the gross and total debt servicing ratios to 35 and 42 per cent respectively, which it expected to decrease purchasing power by up to 11 per cent.
COVID-19 developments: Canadian travel rules, British restrictions to end and more
Starting today, more relaxed rules apply to returning Canadian travellers who are fully vaccinated and have negative COVID-19 test results and symptoms - here’s what you need know.
In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson today set out his plans to end social and economic COVID-19 restrictions in England in two weeks, in a test of whether a rapid vaccine rollout offers enough protection from the highly contagious Delta variant. The step would eliminate formal limits on social contact, the instruction to work from home, and mandates to wear face masks.
And city council in Calgary has voted to repeal its masking bylaw, days before the start of the Stampede. Calgarians will no longer be required to wear face coverings indoors, except in city-owned spaces and vehicles, including public transit.
Opinion: COVID-19 cases are down, but variants are still a concern. Is it time to drop the mask? - André Picard
Trudeau announces federal funding for Algoma in election campaign-style appearance
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has unveiled federal funding of up to $420-million for Algoma Steel to phase out coal-fired steelmaking in a speech at Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., further fanning expectations that his government is preparing to send Canadians to the polls.
He teased that a similar announcement would be coming about another steel company, this time in Hamilton.
Asked about the campaign-like appearance of today’s event, he said the announcement had been in the works for a while and the groundwork was laid out in the spring federal budget.
ALSO IN THE NEWS TODAY
Lytton wildfire update: The wildfire that tore through the village of Lytton, B.C., levelling most of the community and killing at least two people, is believed to be human-caused, the B.C. Wildfire Service said. It is still investigating what exactly sparked the blaze, but said it appears it started in the community and spread from there.
Read more: B.C.’s heat wave and fires were driven by climate change, and they won’t be the last. What must we do next?
Death toll rises in Miami condo collapse: The remains of three more people were discovered by rescuers today, as they searched through fresh rubble after the last of the collapsed Florida condo building was demolished, allowing crews into previously inaccessible places. That raises the death toll to 27 while another 118 remain missing.
Stanley Cup final Game 4 tonight: The Montreal Canadiens are on the brink of elimination, trailing the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning 0-3 in the series.. The Habs are looking to reverse course, but after a tough year, are they up for another challenge? Meanwhile, Montreal police are increasing their presence as fans gather. Check back later tonight at GlobeSports.com for the score and highlights.
Porter sets new service date: Porter Airlines is pushing back the date it plans to resume flying to Sept. 8 from July 20, following several delays in the nearly 18 months after it suspended flights due to the pandemic.
RIP Matiss Kivlenieks: Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Matiss Kivlenieks, 24, has died from what the team said was an apparent head injury in a fall, but a medical examiner later said the cause was chest trauma as a result of a fireworks mortar blast.
Wendy Mesley retires: CBC television news anchor and journalist Wendy Mesley has retired from the public broadcaster after 38 years.
Subscribe to our Olympics newsletter: Tokyo Olympics Update features original stories from Globe reporters in Canada and Tokyo, will track Team Canada’s medal wins, and looks at past Olympic moments from iconic performances.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s benchmark stock index closed at a record high today, getting a boost from a rally in energy stocks and rising oil prices after OPEC+ nations failed to reach a deal to boost production. Wall Street was closed today for the Fourth of July holiday.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 55.35 points or 0.27 per cent to an all-time peak of 20,281.46.
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TALKING POINTS
Amid shameful residential-school revelations, I cannot remain a Catholic
“In my six decades, I have been many kinds of Catholic: a cradle Catholic, a confirmed Catholic, a convenient Catholic, a lapsed Catholic, a renewed Catholic and a conflicted one. Now I am nothing but ashamed.” - Bernadette Hardaker
Amanda Boyden’s new book, I Got The Dog, is commendable for offering little in the way of schadenfreude
“Short of politicians, white supremacists or residential school deniers, few people had elicited such a sense of outrage from the Indigenous population as Joseph Boyden did. ... I’ve heard worse things said about the man in powwow parking lots [than in the book].” - Drew Hayden Taylor
LIVING BETTER
Today’s episode of The Decibel podcast: Soaring prices have made it harder to afford a house in Canada than it has been in three decades. So how do you cool the housing market? Real estate reporter Rachelle Younglai explains how we got here, why the measures taken by governments so far haven’t helped, and what else could be done to get prices under control.
TODAY’S LONG READ
The global soybean market has been upended. Can Canada come out on top?
Jim Millington, CEO of Canada Protein Ingredients, in a soybean field near the Food Development Centre in Portage la Prairie, Man., June 17, 2021.Shannon VanRaes/The Globe and Mail
When Jim Millington crossed the border from North Dakota to Manitoba in late May, the trunk of his Toyota Highlander hybrid SUV was full – but not just with luggage from his business trip to Fargo. It also contained an undisclosed number of 10-kilogram bags of soy flakes and five-litre jugs of crude soybean oil.
Mr. Millington didn’t want to reveal the quantities of these soybean products because his new company, Canada Protein Ingredients, is in the midst of scale-up trials for a proprietary process to produce non-GMO soybean protein isolate for human consumption. He doesn’t want to tip off any potential competitors to the volume CPI’s processing plant will manufacture when it comes online, likely at the end of 2022 or early 2023.
The Ontario-based company’s foray into the soybean protein isolate market is a first for this country. There is currently no Canadian processor making that type of isolate – the high-protein ingredient in tofu, tempeh and other plant-based alternatives to meat. “We’re adding value to a Canadian crop,” Mr. Millington said, “and we’re keeping a lot of that value here at home.” Read Kathryn Blaze Baum’s full story here.
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