Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
The week-long truce between Israel and Hamas expired today. Israel restarted its campaign against the militant group, launching air strikes that hit houses and buildings in Gaza Strip.
Israel’s military dropped leaflets over Gaza City and southern parts of the territory, urging people to flee to avoid the warfare. The resumption of the war will worsen the conditions for the two million people trapped in the southern part of the territory because of Israel’s assault on the north and lack of access to enter Egypt. There is also concern for what the fighting may bring for about 140 hostages still held captive by Hamas and other militants, after more than 100 were freed during the truce. Health authorities in the enclave said dozens of Palestinians have already been killed.
Militants also resumed firing rockets from Gaza into Israel. Fighting was also reported between Israel and Hezbollah along its northern border with Lebanon.
Related:
- Turkey, South Africa criticize Israel over Gaza war at COP28 climate summit
- Opinion: Sexual violence is the hidden crime of war. But we must not look away
- Thai hostages have reunion after homecoming from Gaza
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Canada’s unemployment rate rises to 5.8% as job gains fail to offset population surge
Canada’s unemployment rate ticked up to 5.8 per cent in November, from 5.7 per cent the previous month.
That is even though the country added almost 25,000 positions last month after an increase of 17,500 in October, Statistics Canada said today in a report. The gain was stronger than expectations on Bay Street.
But because the country is also growing at historically strong rates, and jobs are not being created at nearly the same pace at which newcomers are joining the labour force, the unemployment rate is still rising.
Climate change is making insurance coverage more expensive and more limited – and it’s only going to get worse
A growing number of Canadians are struggling with the impact of increasingly damaging weather on their ability to protect their property with affordable insurance. Meanwhile, disaster claims in the country have more than quadrupled over the past 15 years, accounting for $3.1-billion of insured losses in 2022, up from just $400-million in 2008, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC).
Climate change is fuelling the problem. Worsening disasters have already meant higher premiums and difficulty getting the necessary protection for homes and businesses, and that threatens to send ripples through the economy as rates increase.
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, which regulates the insurance industry, has deemed climate as a systemic risk to the economy and says providers must be able to show their strategies and finances will withstand increasingly costly weather-related damage.
More on climate change:
- Greenhouse gas emissions from record wildfires across Canada soared to new heights, with preliminary estimates indicating they could be double or even triple the emissions from industrial activity. But that statistic will not be included in Ottawa’s official tally.
- Eric Reguly writes that while it may be too early to call this year’s COP28, taking place in Dubai, “a woeful failure,” “the omens do not suggest a planet-cooling outcome.” He cited the “ever-bloated anatomy of the summits” as a big reason why COP28 is “probably doomed.” Read his full take.
Montreal-area community centres identified as ‘alleged Chinese police stations’ by RCMP threaten to sue force for defamation
Two community centres in the Montreal area are threatening to sue the RCMP over the force’s public comments about its investigation into whether these facilities were being used as illegal police stations by Beijing to intimidate or harass people of Chinese origin.
The community centres said that since the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced a probe in March, they have lost significant portions of their government funding, which came from the province of Quebec and Ottawa. Back in March, the RCMP told media it was investigating “alleged Chinese police stations in Quebec” and confirmed for journalists that these were the two community centres.
The Service à la Famille Chinoise du Grand Montréal and the Centre Sino-Québec de la Rive-Sud in Brossard, Que., announced Friday that they are seeking more than $2.5-million in damages from the Mounties because, they argue, the federal police force through public comments left the impression that they were operating illegal foreign police stations on behalf of the Chinese government. They deny that they are doing so.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
CSIS whistle-blower hopes to “force change”: A CSIS officer, among a group of whistle-blowers raising allegations of sexual assault and harassment in the spy agency’s British Columbia office, says she hopes their actions have “lit a match” to change what she calls a “dark and disturbing place.”
Changes at Simon & Schuster Canada: Three executives have left Simon & Schuster Canada in recent weeks, including celebrated editor Nita Pronovost, while the publisher has brought in Indigo Books and Music veteran Jeremy Cammy as its new vice-president for marketing, publicity and events.
U.S. House expels George Santos: The Republican Representative of New York was expelled from the U.S. Congress after a critical ethics report on his conduct. He was just the sixth member in the chamber’s history to be ousted by colleagues.
- In a Florida vs. California spectacle, DeSantis and Newsom provide a preview of U.S. election fights
Sandra Day O’Connor dies at 93: Retired Justice O’Connor, the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, died on Friday at the age of 93, the court said.
War in Ukraine: President Volodymyr Zelensky called for faster construction of fortifications in key sectors under pressure from Russian forces, particularly in eastern Ukraine, the focal point of Moscow’s advances 21 months into its invasion.
Most Canadians actually like to go to work: 55 per cent of respondents in an annual survey said they did, in fact, look forward to going to work. The Canadian Quality of Work and Economic Life Study, done by the University of Toronto with the help of the Angus Reid group, has surveyed 2,500 Canadian workers each year since 2019.
MARKET WATCH
U.S. and Canadian stocks rallied and the S&P 500 registered its highest close of the year on Friday, starting December on an upbeat note as remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell bolstered the view that key policy rates have peaked. Gold rose to an all-time record, helping to propel Canada’s TSX to a two-and-a-half-month high.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 216.58 points or 1.07 per cent at 20,452.87.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 294.61 points or 0.82 per cent at 36,245.50.The S&P 500 index was up 26.83 points or 0.59 per cent at 4,594.63, while the Nasdaq composite was up 78.81 points or 0.55 per cent at 14,305.03.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.04 US cents compared with 73.63 US cents on Thursday.
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TALKING POINTS
Canadian content quotas for pension funds: bad for pensioners, worse for Canada
“Among the many bad ideas in the Fall Economic Statement – reciprocity in procurement, a digital services tax, increased subsidies to the news industry – surely the worst was the scheme to tax people’s retirement savings to prop up the Canadian stock market.” – Andrew Coyne
Alberta to the world: We’ll take your greenhouse gas emissions
“I’m not sure being the world’s CO2 landfill is something you’d want screaming out of your tourism brochures.” – Gary Mason
Radical chic has become the look of the moment
“But it hit me recently, when on a streetcar with a group of similarly self-presenting individuals, that the early 2020s absolutely does have a signature look, albeit not one adopted by all.” – Phoebe Maltz Bovy
LIVING BETTER
Ten ways to save up to $1,000 this holiday season
The holiday season is always tough on the wallet but this year, with high inflation and a weakening economy, affording all the offerings of the festive season may be a little harder. Here are some tips to save despite it all. You don’t have to dine at home every single day to be frugal; deal websites such as Groupon, WagJag and LivingSocial offer discounts of 15 to 60 per cent off some restaurants. And, whether you’re looking to save on groceries or a specific gift, a digital deals app such as Flipp lets you browse flyers instantly.
TODAY’S LONG READ
An ode to a bookshelf: A life surrounded by stories is the only way to live
Oleksiy Mark/Getty Images/iStockphoto
“My house has more books in it than it has cups, or plates, or forks and spoons, or ornaments, or pictures, or towels and sheets, or even clothes,” writes Dawn Promislow. In a love letter to books, Promislow documents the journey physical tomes have taken with her throughout her lives – starting in South Africa, then London, England, then Toronto. “When I sit in a room, a room in my house, I always have a view of a shelf of books. Casting my eyes over such a shelf, I feel comforted and energized at the same time.” Read her full essay here.
Today’s 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.