Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Ingrid Ainsworth, former Montrealer, first Canadian identified among Florida condo-collapse victims
Ingrid (Itty) Ainsworth has been identified among the victims of the condominium collapse in Surfside, Fla. She is one of four Canadians believed to have been buried in the rubble. The three other Canadians have yet to be located. The body of Ainsworth’s husband, Tzvi Ainsworth, was also recovered.
The couple met in Montreal, settled in Australia and later relocated to Surfside four years ago in order to be closer to Ingrid’s family. They leave behind seven children and were due to welcome two grandchildren days before the collapse late last month. This past Mother’s Day, Chana Wasserman, their daughter, had a tribute on a blog post to Ingrid, describing her as having a sunny outlook on life: “She surpasses the saying, ‘Seeing the world through rose-coloured glasses.’ ”
Read more: Ten more victims found in Miami condo rubble; death toll 46
Trudeau offers assistance to Haiti in wake of president’s assassination
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered assistance to the people of Haiti following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, who was attacked at his private residence in Port-au-Prince early Wednesday. After the United States, Canada is the second-largest donor to Haiti. It has provided some $1.5-billion, including $1.15-billion in development assistance, to the Caribbean nation since the 2010 earthquake.
Haiti is now in a state of emergency, and questions are mounting over who will succeed Moïse. Confusion over his replacement threatens to exacerbate instability in the country, which has been plagued by increased polarization, gang activity and COVID-19 cases.
Timeline: Key events in Haiti’s tumultuous history
Developing story: Voting under way to name new national chief
Five candidates were still in the running to become the new national chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), a position that involves representing the interests of its more than 900,000 members before the Prime Minister, the federal cabinet and premiers. The first-ballot results put Muskowekwan First Nation Chief Reginald Bellerose, of Saskatchewan, at the top, followed closely behind by RoseAnne Archibald, the advocacy organization’s Ontario regional chief. Both garnered nearly a quarter of the more than 300 votes cast this round.
Voting is still under way, with the next batch of results expected at around 7:15 p.m. ET. The vote comes amid renewed scrutiny on Canada’s record on reconciliation following the discoveries of unmarked graves at the sites of former residential schools across the country.
A draft resolution to delay the virtual election was shot down yesterday.
Exit interview: Perry Bellegarde on Kamloops residential school as a wakeup call on ‘genocide’ in Canada
B.C. wildfire’s economic toll to take months - if not years - to tally
From disrupted communications networks to damages to forestry operations, the devastating wildfire that that ripped through the town of Lytton, B.C., is expected to have widespread implications for the region’s economy.
Coming to grips with the full economic toll may take months – even years. At the same time, its effects are already been felt by local businesses in the village. “I know stock has been lost – but we won’t have any type of a tally until [the fire season] is done,” says Kevin Boon of the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association.
Opinion: As climate change increases the risk of fires, Canada’s approach to wildfire management isn’t working
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.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Canada’s Shapovalov heads to Wimbledon semi-finals to face world No. 1 Djokovic: Denis Shapovalov has put doubts about his ability to consistently perform to rest after his victory over Karen Khachanov 6-4 3-6 5-7 6-1 6-4. He will face off on Friday against Novak Djokovic, ranked No. 1, for a spot in Sunday’s Wimbledon final. Fellow Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime’s run at Wimbledon ended after losing to Italy’s Matteo Berrettini.
National Ballet of Canada appoints Hope Muir as new artistic director: After a nearly two-year wait, the National Ballet of Canada has tapped Toronto-born Hope Muir, who led the Charlotte Ballet in North Carolina, as its new artistic director.
‘Never say die’ is Canadiens’ mantra during Stanley Cup final: Tonight’s Game 5 will be fought on Tampa Bay ice, where the Bolts will be looking to claim hockey’s greatest prize, while the Habs will be working to extend the final.
Japan mulls ban on all spectators at Tokyo 2021: Authorities are reportedly considering a ban on all Olympic spectators, 16 days before the Games kick off, as Japan is expected to declare a state of emergency to mitigate the spread of the virus.
In the latest Decibel: Vaccine passports have been hailed by proponents as a key measure to reopening the economy. But for critics like Canadian Civil Liberties Association’s Cara Faith Zwibel, they raise a number of privacy and equity concerns. In Canada, their widespread adoption remains an open question. (ICYMI: Calgary Stampede to be first major Canadian event to ask attendees for proof of COVID-19 vaccination)
G20 on cusp of agreement on global corporate tax rate, German finance minister says: German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz is optimistic that member states are close to reaching a deal that could see new rules on where companies are taxed and a tax rate of at least 15 per cent. That package was backed by 130 countries last week and will be brought before G20 finance ministers for political endorsement at a meeting in Venice this weekend.
Claiming bias, Trump sues Twitter, Google, Facebook: Former U.S. president Donald Trump is pursuing class-action status for the lawsuits against the three tech giants, a move that would mean representing the interests of others users of Twitter, Facebook and Google’s YouTube who allege their right to free speech has been unfairly curtailed.
MARKET WATCH
Lower crude oil prices, coupled with a further dip in bond yields, hurt two of the bigger sectors on Canada’s main stock index and sent it slightly lower midweek.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 9.43 points to 20,290.60 despite hitting a record intraday high in earlier trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 104.42 points at 34,681.79. The S&P 500 index was up 14.59 points at 4,358.13, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.42 points at 14,665.06.
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TALKING POINTS
I made mistakes. But my departure wasn’t the solution to the CBC’s problem with racism
“... My silence backfired as players on all sides used me as a cudgel to advance political interests. While some journalists offered public support, my most vocal defenders were free-speech warriors who wanted to make me a cautionary tale about the dangers of cancel culture.” - Wendy Mesley
High-frequency rail sounds good – but does Via have to run it?
“Give thanks that they are merely talking about ‘high-frequency’ rail, and not the sort of ‘high-speed’ lines common in Europe and Asia, which would require not just adding track here and there, as currently envisaged, but a whole new network. The last time this was seriously studied, in 2009, the costs were estimated at roughly $12-billion in today’s dollars. And that was just for the Montreal-Toronto portion.” - Andrew Coyne
LIVING BETTER
What it’s been like to invest during a pandemic
Investing has been one of the biggest financial headlines during the pandemic. We saw the stock market crash in its early days, followed by a tremendous rebound. Meme stocks and cryptocurrencies have dominated discussions. In the final episode of season three, Stress Test makes sense of what this means for Gen Z and millennials, and hears from listeners about how they reacted to all the ups and downs of the pandemic.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Mary Simon, who has been appointed Governor-General, poses for a portrait July 6, 2021, at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que.Dave Chan/The Globe and Mail
Governor-General Mary Simon dedicated career to reshaping Indigenous policy in Canada
Mary Simon, representing Inuit in Canada, spoke from the floor of the House of Commons to welcome the federal government’s historic 2008 apology to former students of residential schools.
She began in Inuktitut, as a way of showing the Inuit culture remains strong, and said the apology filled her with hope.
“Let us not be lulled into an impression that when the sun rises tomorrow morning, the pain and scars will miraculously be gone. They will not,” she said. “But a new day has dawned, a new day heralded by a commitment to reconciliation and building a new relationship with Inuit, Métis and First Nations.”
Now, 13 years later, as the discovery of unmarked graves on the sites of former residential schools generates a new awareness of this dark chapter of the country’s past, Ms. Simon has been named as Canada’s governor-general, the first Indigenous person to hold the role. Read the full story by Bill Curry and Menaka Raman-Wilms.
Evening Update is written by Beatrice Paez. 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.