Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Search for missing children at site of former Kamloops residential school yet to be exhausted, expert says
The search for the remains of children who died while attending the Kamloops Indian Residential School has yet to be exhausted, according to Sarah Beaulieu of the University of the Fraser Valley. The effort in May found some 200 unmarked graves on the site of what was once Canada’s largest residential school for Indigenous children.
Beaulieu, who performed the search using ground-penetrating radar technology, said that, although nothing has changed in her findings, she can’t offer a more conclusive analysis unless excavations take place.
“This is a long process that will take significant time and resources,” Kukpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir of the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation said during a livestreamed press conference Thursday. “They were children, robbed of their families and their childhood. We need to now give them the dignity that they never had. Those are our next steps.”
Read more: Penelakut Tribe still investigating former residential school site on Vancouver Island
Explainer: What we know about residential schools’ unmarked graves so far
Former chief of defence staff Jonathan Vance charged with obstruction of justice
Retired chief of the defence staff Jonathan Vance has been charged with one count of obstruction of justice in connection with the military’s investigation into allegations of misconduct.
The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) said the charge against Vance, formerly the country’s top soldier, will be pursued in the civilian justice system.
A specialized unit within the military police, the CFNIS is responsible for investigating serious and sensitive matters, including cases that relate to employees and Canadian Armed Forces personnel serving in Canada and abroad.
Entire communities on standby for evacuation orders as wildfires rage in B.C.
A combustible mix of hot, dry and windy conditions is fuelling more than 300 fires in B.C., where entire communities are on heightened alert for evacuation orders. Large swaths of the province are now ranked at a high to extreme risk of wildfires.
Evacuation orders have been issued for 10 of the 26 fires that B.C. Wildfire service has designated as potentially threatening or highly visible, affecting more than 1,400 properties.
Most of those orders span huge areas of the central Interior but residents of 41 properties in the Okanagan also were asked to leave.
Read more: B.C. vows to improve ambulance system after heat wave overwhelms emergency services
CSIS gets clearance to use new investigative powers abroad
Canada’s spy agency has expressly been given warrants to undertake investigations abroad even if it means running afoul of another country’s laws.
Federal judge Simon Noel gave the go-ahead to Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) five months ago, but the court has only begun to shed light on the reasons behind the top-secret decision this week.
Though CSIS has been able to investigate security threats domestically and internationally, there’s long been a degree of uncertainty over the parameters of those powers abroad.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Nova Scotia RCMP get approval to send emergency alerts directly to phones: The province has created a new system that allows the RCMP and Halifax police to issue emergency alerts directly to residents. It comes more than a year after a shooting rampage that left 22 people dead and raised issues about the process for notifying the public to threats.
EU companies can ban headscarves under certain conditions, court says: Companies operating in the European Union that need to project an image of neutrality can prohibit employees from wearing a headscarf in those circumstances, the bloc’s top court ruled.
Mosque in Southwestern Ontario vandalized: The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Canada, a Muslim association, said the Baitul Kareem Mosque was severely vandalized and robbed of tens of thousands of dollars. Waterloo regional police believe that one or more suspects were responsible for what the association called an act of hate.
Capital Gazette gunman found criminally responsible for killing five in newsroom: The gunman who killed five people in 2018 in the newsroom of the Capital Gazette, a Maryland newspaper, was found criminally responsible. The jury rejected the defence’s mental-illness arguments.
Brookfield revises hostile bid for Inter Pipeline after losing legal fight: Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP has gone back to the drawing board again, raising the cash price for its hostile takeover of Inter Pipeline Ltd. after losing a legal battle tied to its bid. The company said it is now willing to pay $20 a share in cash to Inter Pipeline, up from $19.50 a share. Its initial offer in February was $16.50.
ROM returns from COVID-19 hiatus with new great whales exhibit: The Royal Ontario Museum reopens Saturday with a new exhibit that promises the public an “up close and personal” visit with three great whales.
Blue Jays’ return to Canadian soil ‘trending in a very good direction,’ public health official says: Toronto Blue Jays could soon be playing on home soil, said Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada’s Deputy Chief Public Health Officer. He said discussions about granting the team an exemption to COVID-19 travel rules have been “trending in a very good direction.”
Canadian home sales tumble for third month: Canada’s home-buying frenzy has started to taper off, as buyers’ attitudes shift from fears of missing out to “wait and see” mode.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index edged higher on gains from metals and consumer staples as investors made defensive moves ahead of a possible pullback.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 36.48 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 20,183.72. Consumer staples rose just over 2 per cent.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 53.79 points at 34,987.02. The S&P 500 index, meanwhile, was down 14.27 points at 4,360.03, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 101.82 points at 14,543.13.
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TALKING POINTS
EU’s sweeping climate plan serves notice to the world
“There is no question that the EU seeks to push other countries to more ambitious action as governments seek to limit the average global temperature increase to 1.5 C, in hopes of preventing worse droughts, storms and coastal erosion. The question is whether the rest of the world will heed the call.” - Jeffrey Jones
The cornerstone of U.S. democracy is crumbling
“As with so many other things in the U.S., extreme partisanship has taken over the voting-rights debate. It was thought that the Jan. 6 mob attack on Capitol Hill, encouraged by Mr. Trump, would make Americans come to their senses over how their democracy was at the precipice. It didn’t. GOP lawmakers and their supporters have dug in.” - Lawrence Martin
LIVING BETTER
Coming Soon: Going to the movies post-lockdown
Would-be moviegoers in Ontario have been given the green light to watch films in theatres – just in time for the summer-blockbuster season. In the latest Decibel, film editor Barry Hertz talks about what they can expect, why people might want to go back after streaming everything from the comfort of their couch and what summer flicks he’ll be seeing on the silver screen.
TODAY’S LONG READ
South Africa expands its military deployment to fight a domestic crisis years in the making
A member of the South African National Defence Force patrols the streets on July 13, 2021, in Soweto, Johannesburg. The civil unrest is also fuelled by high unemployment and social and economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit the country hard.James Oatway/Getty Images
It will be the biggest military deployment in South Africa since the end of apartheid: About 25,000 soldiers are being mobilized in a last-ditch bid to quell some of the worst looting and destruction in the country in decades.
Less than two days after authorizing 2,500 troops to tackle the violent unrest, the South African government realized this was not enough. It swiftly doubled the number to 5,000 soldiers on Wednesday and then announced a new plan for a tenfold increase, a move that will require an extraordinary call-up of military reserves. Read the full story by Geoffrey York.
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.