Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Extensive search has yielded no sign of Titanic tourist vessel, Coast Guard says
Developing story: In a race against the clock on the high seas, an expanding international armada of ships and airplanes is searching for a submersible that vanished in the North Atlantic while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic.
The search covered 26,000 square kilometres but turned up no sign of the lost vessel known as the Titan, U.S. Coast Guard officials say. Although they planned to continue looking, time was running out because the vessel had less than two days of oxygen left.
Authorities reported the Titan overdue Sunday night, setting off the search in waters about 700 kilometers south of St. John’s. Aboard were a pilot, renowned British adventurer Hamish Harding, two members of an iconic Pakistani business family and a Titanic expert.
Explainer: Here’s what is known so far about the missing submersible bound for the Titanic.
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The latest on the war in Ukraine: Slow rebuild in the country, plus Kyiv and other cities under attack
Russia has struck at military and infrastructure targets in Ukraine’s capital and across other parts of the country, including western areas far from the front lines, Ukrainian officials say. Russia’s Defence Ministry says its forces had hit and destroyed eight ammunition warehouses across Ukraine in the last 24 hours and repelled Ukrainian attacks in three directions.
The top priority for Ukraine and its allies remains winning the war that Russian President Vladimir Putin launched 16 months ago. But even with Russia still occupying about 15 per cent of Ukrainian territory and regularly launching attacks, governments and charities are increasingly turning their attention to reconstruction.
Delegates from more than two dozen countries and international institutions will gather tomorrow and on Thursday in London for this year’s Ukraine Recovery Conference, where they will try to map out the logistically difficult task of rebuilding a country while it’s still in the midst of a major war.
Students rehearse their graduation dance at the Lyceum of Bioresources and Nature Management in Irpin, west of Kyiv. More than a year after a heavy Russian assault on this area, the school is now whole again, thanks to $3.6-million in repairs funded by a consortium of international donors, including Canada..Anton Skyba/The Globe and Mail
Read more: African peace mission flounders in bid for Russian and Ukrainian support
CIBC ordered to fix mortgage underwriting lapses
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has been under remediation orders from Canada’s banking regulator for more than a year after an audit of its mortgage portfolio uncovered breaches of rules that limit how indebted borrowers can be, sources tell The Globe.
The issues involve thousands of clients, many of whom had lines of credit that were secured against their homes. When these lines were combined with a CIBC mortgage, the total credit available exceeded allowed regulatory ratios.
In other banking-related developments today, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions has raised the capital cushion that the biggest banks must hold. The banking regulator will increase the buffer – a reserve that banks build to soften the blow of an economic downturn – on Nov. 1, hiking it to 3.5 per cent from 3 per cent of a bank’s risk-weighted assets.
Read more: Pervasive sales culture at Canadian banks designed to push customers into high-fee products
Deputy minister left government weeks after Indigenous group called for his resignation
Timothy Sargent’s recent departure as deputy minister of Fisheries and Oceans happened just weeks after a national Indigenous organization privately called for his resignation over an e-mail dismissing their description of colonialism as “a gross misreading of history.”
His nearly three-decade career in the federal public service ended without a public explanation in October when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a shuffle of deputy ministers.
Government officials told The Globe that Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray became personally involved in the matter, apologizing to the recipient of the e-mail and raising Sargent’s actions with Janice Charette, the Clerk of the Privy Council and head of the public service.
ALSO IN THE NEWS TODAY
RCAF helicopter crashes: The Royal Canadian Air Force says the search and rescue operation is still ongoing for two members missing after a Chinook helicopter crashed during a training flight near Petawawa, Ont. Earlier, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters he had spoken the chief of the defence staff to express condolences for the members “who’ve been killed,” but the Department of Defence has not confirmed the deaths. Two other crew members had been found by first responders and taken to hospital.
Oil production outlook: New modelling from the Canada Energy Regulator suggests Canadian oil production will plummet by 2050 if the world achieves its Paris target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions within that time.
Hunter Biden to plead guilty: The son of U.S. President Joe Biden will plead guilty to federal tax offences but avoid prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal with the Justice Department that likely spares him time behind bars. The charges arose from a probe by Delaware U.S. attorney David Weiss, who was appointed by former president Donald Trump.
Date set for Trump trial: An initial trial date of Aug. 14 has been set in Florida on former U.S. president Donald Trump’s federal charges of willful retention of classified government records and obstruction of justice. Separately, an effort to disbar conservative attorney John Eastman, who devised ways to keep Trump in the White House after his defeat in the 2020 election, has begun in Los Angeles.
MARKET WATCH
U.S. stocks closed lower today as investors began the holiday-shortened week by taking profits in the wake of a sustained rally amid signs of weakening global demand. Canada’s main stock index was also down, led by declines in the energy and base metal sectors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 245.25 points or 0.72 per cent to 34,053.87, the S&P 500 lost 20.88 points or 0.47 per cent to end at 4,388.71, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 22.28 points or 0.16 per cent to 13,667.29.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 180.07 points or 0.9 per cent to 19,754.14. The loonie traded at 75.58 U.S. cents.
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TALKING POINTS
Conservative wins in two by-elections shows Poilievre’s efforts to win back PPC voters may be working
“Unhappy Mennonites had threatened to undermine confidence in the federal Conservative Leader in not one but two ridings where by-elections were held that night. In the end, the Conservatives easily held both seats, dealing a serious blow to People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier.” - John Ibbitson
If CRA can chase repayment from low-income Canadians, it can audit corporations, too
“The agency should reassess its attitude of indifference – billions of dollars, not to mention public trust in the tax system, could be at stake.” - Globe editorial
LIVING BETTER
Listen and learn: Festivals can transform cities by making space for overlooked people and cultures. The latest episode of the City Space podcast examines how we make sure festivals remain authentic and true to their communities.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Fergie Jenkins, Sr, Andy Harding and Ross Talbot.Courtesy of the University of Windsor, Archives and Special Collections/Supplied
New book explores the rich – and fraught – history of Black baseball in Canada
In recent years, baseball has worked to try reconciling with its racist past by shining a belated spotlight on the Negro Leagues, the assortment of associations that provided most of the opportunities for Black players in the United States before Jackie Robinson broke the modern-day major-league colour barrier in 1947. But while those efforts are important, they unintentionally obscure Canada’s own rich – and fraught – history of Black baseball.
One of the best known of those Canadian stories is of the Chatham Coloured All-Stars and their emergence in 1934, seemingly out of nowhere, to win the Ontario Baseball Amateur Association championship (Intermediate B division).
Their fame has grown recently, but Heidi L.M. Jacobs is the first author to produce a comprehensive account of both the triumphs and tribulations of the team, and the men themselves – their families, communities, and lives before and after baseball. Her 1934: The Chatham Coloured All-Stars’ Barrier-Breaking Year slid into bookstores earlier this month. Read the full story by Simon Houpt
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