Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
The federal government will temporarily suspend its random COVID-19 testing at airports in an effort to ease one of the bottlenecks leading to hours-long customs wait-times, missed connections and cancelled flights.
The change will take effect on Saturday, said a joint-statement from four cabinet ministers released Friday. The random testing at airports will be suspended until July 1 when it will be moved off-site.
In the meantime, testing of unvaccinated travellers will continue at the airports but that program will also be moved off-site as of July 1, the statement said.
This change follows today’s news that the U.S. is dropping the requirement that people arriving in the country by air test negative for COVID-19.
As high inflation lingers, retailers brace for a tapped-out consumer
After months of a lockdown-related boom in loungewear, more formal attire is bouncing back, and shoppers are gravitating to brighter hues as they return to offices, weddings and cocktail parties.
But behind the lighthearted summery atmosphere lurks mounting anxiety in the retail sector. In addition to the problems that have dragged on for months – rising costs for raw materials and for transporting goods to store shelves – new factors are further complicating many companies’ operations.
For one, consumers are becoming more pessimistic as inflation drags down confidence in the economy. Buying patterns are shifting as people recoil from rising prices but also look to spend more on rebounding service sectors. The war in Ukraine is further driving up high commodity prices. And some retailers have swung from empty shelves to a glut of inventory, which they may struggle to off-load at reasonable margins. While many retailers knew things would start to change this year, some retail operators have been caught off guard by just how much consumer behaviour has changed. The Globe’s Susan Krashinksky Robertson and Matt Lundy have the full story.
More on inflation:
- U.S. inflation hit a new 40-year high of 8.6% in May
- Bank of Canada warns high household debt and elevated home prices pose top risks to economy
- Analysis: Despite government’s rosy view, indexed pensions and benefits are not keeping up with inflation
Ukraine calls for more help as it holds off Russian forces during ongoing battle in east
Ukrainian officials pleaded to the West for quicker deliveries of artillery and battlefield rocket systems, to hold off Russian forces at a critical time in the battle in the east. Officials say the war in the east has become primarily an artillery battle, in which they are severely outgunned by Moscow.
Heavy fighting was still being reported in Sievierodonetsk, the small eastern city that has become the focus of Russia’s advance in the war.
Within Ukraine, officials said they were worried about the spread of deadly cholera and dysentery in the southern city of Mariupol, where tens of thousands of civilians live in ruins captured last month after being pulverized by Russian siege.
Read more:
- Britain, UN official condemn Donbas death sentences against captured Britons
- Gary Mason: Macron has embarrassed France with his comments on the Ukraine war
What is your ‘welcome to Canada’ moment? Share your story with The Globe: For Canada Day, we want to hear from readers who weren’t born in Canada but have embraced the country as their new home. Whether it was buying your first toque, voting in your first election, camping in a national park or something else entirely, we want to hear about the moment you knew you had found your home in Canada.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Canada adds 40,000 jobs in May, unemployment rate falls to record low: The economy added 40,000 jobs in May, driven by a gain in full-time jobs as the labour market continued to tighten and wages pushed higher, Statistics Canada said Friday.
Dominic Barton tapped to advise Canada on Indo-Pacific strategy: Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has recruited an Indo-Pacific advisory committee that includes several pro-China advocates, among them Dominic Barton, Canada’s former ambassador to Beijing.
What to take away from first prime-time Capitol attack hearing: While the basics of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol are well known, the committee is trying to tell the story of how it happened, and how to prevent it from ever happening again, for history. Here are five takeaways.
- ICYMI: Prime-time Jan. 6 hearing was gripping portrayal of Donald Trump as the mastermind behind effort to overturn election by David Shribman
Planning for papal visit to Canada continues as Francis cancels Africa trip: Plans continue for the Pope’s visit to Canada this summer even as the pontiff has cancelled a trip to Africa on doctors’ orders. He is expected to deliver an apology to Indigenous people for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in residential schools during the much-anticipated visit.
MARKET WATCH
Stocks on Canada’s main index tumbled on Friday to a two-week low as stronger-than-expected U.S. consumer price data stoked fears that the Federal Reserve would continue with its aggressive policy tightening to tame soaring inflation.
Wall Street was also down sharply as the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) accelerated to an annual rate of 8.6% on record-high gasoline prices the rising cost of services.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended down 289.07 points, or 1.4 per cent, at 20,274.82, its lowest closing level since May 20. For the week, it lost 2.5 per cent.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 880.00 points or 2.73 per cent ending at 31,392.79. The S&P 500 index was down 116.96 points or 2.91 per cent, closing at 3,900.86, while the Nasdaq composite was down 414.21 points or 3.5 per cent at 11,340.02.
The Canadian dollar traded for 78.27 cents US compared with 79.09 cents US on Thursday.
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TALKING POINTS
Women’s rights are worth fighting for, even 30 years later
“We were emboldened. Women were being recruited to run for political office in record numbers. The #MeToo movement, delivering justice to those who had been harassed at the workplace, was about to break wide open. It was a dark time, but there was light on the horizon. Perhaps that was a false dawn.” – Elizabeth Renzetti
Why ‘vote them off the island’ should be left to reality TV, not refugee policy
“The idea was imported from Australia, where the practice first gained ground in 2001 when a freighter ship picked up a few hundred asylum seekers and the Liberal government refused to allow it entry.” – Doug Saunders
If Marco Mendicino misled Parliament, he has to go
“If the Trudeau Liberals were trying to convince people they had something to hide with regard to the decision to invoke the federal Emergencies Act, they could hardly do a better job.” – Andrew Coyne
Doug Ford’s big win in Ontario comes with big expectations on housing
“The fine balance for this second-term Premier will be giving hope to those workers who some day want to own, who now feel it’s out of reach, while not rocking the boat too much for people already invested in the housing market.” – Kelly Cryderman
LIVING BETTER
Your guide to a sustainable kitchen
Most Canadians – 80 per cent, in fact – said it was a personal goal in 2022 to make more sustainable choices when it comes to buying food, clothing and other essentials. The first step you can take toward a more sustainable kitchen is to shake up your grocery shopping habits, writes Gayle MacDonald. Decrease the potential for wasted food by pre-shopping your kitchen and scouring your fridge or pantry and taking stock of what is needed. Making a meal-plan before heading out to the shops also helps so you only buy what you will use.
TODAY’S LONG READ
The good life begins outdoors
A young girl jumps into the waters of Sproat Lake in Port Alberni, B.C.JONATHAN HAYWARD/The Canadian Press
“The realization that I am simply happier outside, was cemented during that intense spring of 2020,” writes David Sax. “Trapped in the house, forbidden to enter other buildings, outdoors was the only place to turn. For months I walked loops around the city, bundled up and hung out in backyards, ate picnics with frozen fingers on park benches, and forced my children out until they begged me in tears to go home.”
“What choice did I have? There was only so much screen time we could tolerate,” he writes. Eventually, necessity gave way to pleasure, says Sax; everything – eating, cooking, drinking, conference calls, exercise – was better if you did it outdoors. “But as the pandemic recedes, and the great indoors beckons unrestricted, I’m left wondering whether we might actually be better off in the open air, and if this moment is our last chance to shift the balance a little more out, for our own good.” Read his full ode to the outdoors and why he thinks the waning of COVID-19 shouldn’t force us back inside.
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.