Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Canada’s inflation rate went up to 3.4 per cent last month, with an acceleration in a number of core measures of consumer price growth demonstrating that inflation is turning out tricky to rein in.
Housing prices continue to be a source of financial strain, and rents a source of inflationary pressure, as the country contends with a short supply of units. The Bank of Canada has previously said that lowering inflation back to its 2-per-cent target, which it doesn’t expect to hit till 2025, could be a bumpy ride. Matt Lundy reports.
- Canada’s inflation rate ticked up to 3.4% in December. Here’s what happens next
- How economists and market bets for Bank of Canada rate cuts are reacting to Canada’s inflation data
- Canada stuck in ‘population trap,’ needs to reduce immigration, bank economists say
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Federal government clamps down on university research partnerships with China, Russia and Iran
Ottawa has released long-awaited national security rules to safeguard science and advanced technology from landing in China, Russia and Iran. The rules would ban federal granting agencies and the Canada Foundation for Innovation from funding sensitive technology research at any university, laboratory and research institution if they’re working with military, national defence or state security bodies of countries that could pose a risk to national security.
- CSIS asking for authority to disclose foreign-interference threats to universities, provinces and cities
Cities grapple with shortfalls, property tax increases
The cost of living is growing for homeowners in Canada. Cities, struggling to balance their books amid growing budgets and lingering pandemic effects, are eyeing property tax increases well beyond the rate of inflation. Toronto could be up more than 10 per cent this year, while in Vancouver the last two annual property tax increases add up to nearly 20 per cent. Calgary and Edmonton are up this year between 5 and 10 per cent and Halifax is likely to land somewhere similar.
City officials have been warning for years that repeatedly low tax hikes would create future problems for municipalities, while critics would argue that cities have been taking on too much, such as supporting refugees and tackling the opioid crisis. Experts are advocating for a different type of funding model, one that questions whether property taxes are the best way to fund all city services.
- Explainer: How are municipal rates calculated and what do they pay for?
- Rob Carrick: Does owning a house in Toronto make you rich enough to afford a 10.5-per-cent property-tax hike?
- Opinion: Gripped by Toronto’s annual budget panic? Just wait for the surplus
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Notley steps down: Former Alberta premier Rachel Notley is stepping down as leader of the province’s NDP, a post where she spent almost a decade. She said she’ll stay on until the next leader is chosen, and that she doesn’t know her next steps after that.
Woman killed in Calgary: A woman was shot and killed in front of an elementary school in Calgary this morning in what police said is believed to be a case of domestic homicide. The suspected killer was found dead a short distance away and there is no further risk to the public, police said.
Carbon rebate explained: Carbon fuel charge rebates are now available for people living in provinces where the federal carbon fuel charge is collected. Here’s how much you could get.
Complaining about Rogers: For the first time in 15 years, the federal telecom and television ombudsman received more complaints about Rogers than any other Canadian provider, according to a report today.
Gaza: Qatar and France have brokered a deal with Israel and Hamas to deliver urgent medication to some 45 Israeli hostages held in Gaza in return for aid for the most vulnerable civilians. Residents of Gaza also reported today that Israeli tanks were back in northern parts of the strip after they had left last week, reigniting some of the most intense fighting since the new year. Gaza health authorities report more than 24,000 people have died in the Palestinian enclave so far during the war.
Grocery prices: Experts say Loblaw’s decision to reduce discounts on soon-to-expire food is a move to match competitors. The grocery giant was previously offering discounts of up to 50 per cent on items nearing expiry but has now moved to lower its range to between 30 and 50 per cent.
Burger King deal: The Toronto-based parent company of Tim Hortons is buying its largest Burger King franchisee in the United States, with more than 1,000 locations, in a US$1-billion deal.
European Swifties to have a not so cruel summer: Taylor Swift fans are behind high air travel demand in Europe as they follow the pop star’s Eras tour between May and August, according to one travel company.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index declined more than 100 points today while U.S. stocks ended lower as well.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 113.79 points at 20,948.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 231.86 points at 37,361.12. The S&P 500 index was down 17.85 points at 4,765.98, while the Nasdaq composite was down 28.41 points at 14,944.35.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.17 US cents.
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TALKING POINTS
Florida’s plan to import drugs from Canada is a non-starter
“Practically speaking, Canada, a country of 40 million, cannot produce enough drugs to supply the U.S., a country of 332 million. Even supplying drugs to Florida – which has half the population of Canada – could trigger major domestic shortages.” – André Picard
When will Doug Ford rein in Ontario’s foreign-student industry?
“It would make a lot more sense if the province acted. It could set policies that would effectively cap the numbers but encourage universities and colleges to recruit top-notch talent, instead of allowing colleges to pay hefty commissions to recruiters to pack substandard two-year programs and offer a (sometimes false) promise that it will be a path to permanent residency in Canada.” – Campbell Clark
The G7 can prove its commitment to Ukraine by seizing Russian assets
“Canada would do well to remind nervous Europeans that this is no time to go wobbly and appease Mr. Putin, because the future of Ukraine – and Europe – now hang in the balance.” – Lloyd Axworthy and Fen Osler Hampson
LIVING BETTER
You failed at work. Could that actually be a good thing?
Our instinctive aversion to failure and fear of rejection is often what keeps us stuck.Jay Yuno/Getty Images
Many of us suffer from the human inability to admit our own mistakes. Despite widely accepted slogans such as “fail fast, fail often,” the stigma behind making a mistake remains. That’s why one Harvard professor decided to write a book about the subject. Read more to know when to switch gears and losing the fixed mindset.
TODAY’S LONG READ
A nation’s paper: How The Globe covered two pandemics a century apart
Members of the Soeurs du Bon Pasteur, an order of Quebec nuns, mask up in 1918 to care for victims of the Spanish influenza pandemic, which killed about 50,000 Canadians at a time when the country was home to only eight million people.Archives Soeurs du Bon Pasteur
The wave of influenza that swept across Canada and the world in the autumn of 1918 was far worse than COVID-19 in the 2020s. Yet The Globe’s coverage seriously underplayed one and not the other. In this essay, Kelly Grant explores why.
This is an excerpt from A Nation’s Paper: The Globe and Mail in the Life of Canada, a collection of history essays from Globe writers past and present, coming this fall from Signal/McClelland & Stewart.
Evening Update is written by Maryam Shah. 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.