Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
The rich, the powerful and the artistic gathered in Minneapolis on Thursday at a memorial for George Floyd as protests for justice continued.
The 46-year-old out-of-work bouncer died May 25 after a white police officer put his knee on Floyd’s neck as the Black man lay handcuffed on the pavement, gasping that he couldn’t breathe.
Hollywood stars, musicians and politicians sat in front of the golden casket in the first of three services planned in the days ahead. After the Minneapolis event, his body will be transported to North Carolina, where he was born, for a private family service on Saturday. A final service will take place Tuesday in Houston, where Floyd lived for most of his life.
“He was a human being. He had family, he had dreams, he had hopes. The real duty of one with this type of assignment is to underscore the value of the human life that was taken, which gives the reason the movement was occurring,” civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton said ahead of the gathering.
Across the United States, relative calm continued for a second straight night Wednesday following a decision by Minnesota prosecutors to charge the three other Minneapolis officers at the scene of Floyd’s death with aiding and abetting a murder.
On Thursday, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng made their first appearances in court, and a judge set bail at US$750,000 apiece. They were fired from the Minneapolis police force last week, along with Derek Chauvin, who is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death.
Floyd’s death has drawn an outpouring of support across the world, with thousands protesting against racism.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
CMHC to tighten lending standards for borrowers, potential homebuyers: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp is tightening lending standards for borrowers, Report on Business learned Thursday. Among the changes, the national mortgage insurance provider will ban potential homebuyers from borrowing funds to make a down payment, and raise the credit score required to get insurance from a minimum of 600 to 680.
Thousands break through barricades to hold Tiananmen Square vigil in Hong Kong: Thousands of people defied a police ban Thursday evening, breaking through barricades to hold a candlelight vigil on the 31st anniversary of China’s crushing of a democracy movement centred on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. With democracy snuffed out in the mainland, the focus has shifted increasingly to semi-autonomous Hong Kong, where authorities for the first time banned the annual vigil that remembers victims of the 1989 crackdown.
U.S. lawmakers preparing sweeping package of police reforms: Congressional Democrats are preparing a sweeping package of police reforms as pressure builds on the federal government to respond to the death of George Floyd and others in law-enforcement interactions. Efforts are expected to include changes to police accountability laws, such as revising immunity provisions and creating a database of police use-of-force incidents.
Trudeau avoids commenting on video of RCMP officer hitting Inuit man with truck: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would not respond directly on Thursday to a video that showed an RCMP officer striking an Inuit man with his truck, but acknowledged generally that systemic discrimination exists in Canada. The national police force has requested an outside police force conduct a criminal investigation into the actions of one of its officers in Nunavut after the video emerged on social media showing a Mountie driving a vehicle into an Inuit man.
Chinese and Iranian hackers targeted Biden and Trump campaigns, Google security official says: State-backed hackers from China have targeted staffers working on the U.S. presidential campaign of Democrat Joe Biden, a senior Google security official said on Thursday. The same official said Iranian hackers had recently targeted e-mail accounts belonging to Republican President Donald Trump’s campaign staff.
In Coronavirus news:
Ontario appoints Jane Philpott to lead pandemic data effort: Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government has appointed former federal health minister Jane Philpott to lead its pandemic data effort, in a bid to better integrate the province’s fragmented health care system in the face of the COVID-19 fight. Philpott will serve as the province’s special adviser on its new Ontario Health Data Platform.
‘Positive signs’ that impact of COVID-19 on Canadian economy has peaked, BoC deputy governor says: The Bank of Canada is seeing “positive signs” that the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis has peaked and that the Canadian economy will emerge better than some have feared, deputy governor Toni Gravelle said, but the central bank’s economic outlook still faces more questions than answers.
Venice for the Venetians? How COVID-19 is forcing this city to rethink its mass-tourism economy: As Italians emerge from lockdown, they are able to see an uncluttered Venice as it might have looked decades ago – and some want to keep it that way.
Canada part of effort to fund global vaccination organization for next five years: Canada is among more than 30 countries that have committed US$8.8-billion to fund a global vaccination organization for the next five years, but they came up short in pledging money for a specific COVID-19 inoculation program. The commitments came Thursday during a Global Vaccine Summit that was hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index ended the session lower on Thursday as most sectors had mixed results with real estate and energy stocks gaining. The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 0.45% to 15,505.60.
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks were down ending a four-day rally as investors exercised caution ahead of Friday’s U.S. jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.04% to end at 26,281.61 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.34% to 3,112.33, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.69% to 9,615.81.
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TALKING POINTS
Prime Ministerial pauses will abound as long as Trump is in office
“As much as we’d love to see some political leader, somewhere, step forward and challenge the kind of politics Mr. Trump stands for, it’s not likely to happen. There is simply far more to be lost than gained by getting into any type of fight with a leader as temperamental and unstable as this president. Especially one that wields the kind of political and economic might that he does.” – Gary Mason, national affairs columnist
Donald Trump’s ‘silent majority’ should not be underestimated – and anti-racism protests only fuel it
“The term made famous by Richard Nixon – who dismissed anti-Vietnam War protesters in a 1969 speech by appealing to the “great silent majority” of Americans – has now been appropriated by Mr. Trump amid the biggest anti-racism protests in years. But those who underestimate the resonance of Mr. Trump’s tweet could be in for a shock in November.” – Konrad Yakabuski, columnist
Building a country free from violence against Indigenous women and girls requires every Canadian to learn and act
“These calls are simple, but their impacts are extraordinary. We must embrace and live them to create a country where we can all live freely and fully. Until we take these actions meaningfully, Indigenous women and girls will continue to ask: Am I next?” – Alana Robert, Manitoba Métis anti-violence advocate
Will the ‘reshoring’ trend revive Canadian manufacturing?
“Canadian governments will need to strike an aggressive pose for this country to come out on the winning end of the reshoring trend. So far, however, there are few signs they have even begun to think seriously about it. They are lagging their U.S. counterparts in that regard.” – Konrad Yakabuski, columnist
LIVING BETTER
A guide to eating out again as restaurants start to open up
Canadians’ dining experience will be vastly different as restaurants across Western Canada and soon, hopefully, the rest of the country begin reopening as restrictions ease on the COVID-19 lockdown. Here are some tips for table manners in a post-pandemic world.
TODAY’S LONG READ
What happened when families were blocked from Canada’s long-term care homes
As public health officials moved quickly to halt the pandemic crisis in long-term care homes across the country, they unintentionally created another crisis. Nearly three months after restrictions were put in place banning people from visiting loved ones in seniors homes, family members and seniors advocates say a number of residents have died from dehydration and other feeding issues because they relied on relatives or caregivers during mealtimes, and these deaths were completely preventable.
Evening Update is written by Rob Gilroy and Omair Quadri. 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.