Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says Ottawa is launching a review of Canada’s membership in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as well as allegations raised by a former bank staffer who accused it of being “dominated by the Communist Party.”
Bob Pickard, the Canadian who was global communications director for the bank, resigned Tuesday, urging Ottawa to withdraw from this “People’s Republic of China instrument.” After his statement, Freeland said she was immediately halting all Canadian government activity at the institutions and launching an review of Canada’s involvement in the bank.
Last fall, Freeland embraced the idea of shifting trade to liked-minded democracies: an approach that would curb some commercial relations with countries such as Russia and China.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino rises during Question Period, in Ottawa, Wednesday, June 14, 2023.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Poilievre calls for Mendicino’s resignation
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino should resign or be fired over his office’s handling of knowledge that Paul Bernardo was being transferred to a medium-security prison.
Mendicino had said he was “shocked” by the transfer and only learned of it after it had happened. However, Correctional Services Canada sent a statement this week saying his office was notified about the pending transfer in March and again a few days before it happened.
Outside question period, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said a resignation wouldn’t solve the problem because there are now several examples covering three ministers’ offices in which the minister has said they didn’t receive critical information that was supposed to get to them.
Ottawa’s Volkswagen deal will cost $3-billion more than initial estimate
According to a new Parliamentary Budget Office report, the much anticipated electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant will cost more than the initial estimate because of additional money needed to offset taxes.
Ottawa and Ontario announced a deal with Volkswagen in April to provide the company $13.2-billion in federal subsidies for production support to build a battery plant in St. Thomas. That includes $700-million from Ottawa and $500-million from Ontario.
While the federal government has not published details of the deal, the PBO estimates that Ottawa, in order to stay competitive, would have to offer a tax adjustment to the “after-tax equivalency” offered under U.S. President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Brown’s departure leaves conservative vacuum on Supreme Court
Courts, unlike legislatures, do not have an official opposition. But Justice Russell Brown was the outspoken leader of the Supreme Court’s unofficial opposition. The court’s liberal orthodoxy was strong when Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper appointed Justice Brown.
Before leaving the court, he was the most powerful conservative voice and, to some, the strongest such judge in 40 years or more. Now he has resigned rather than face a public hearing into an allegation that he harassed two women at an Arizona hotel in January.
Justice writer Sean Fine writes about the change that Brown’s departure brings, and more about a conservative judge in the Canadian context.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Jobs: Bell Canada is eliminating roughly 1,300 positions as part of a reorganization, citing declining legacy phone revenues as well as losses in its news businesses and radio operations. The company will have 20 per cent fewer executive roles than it did in 2020.
Exclusive: Saadi Gadhafi’s Toronto penthouse rightfully belongs to the state of Libya, but to avert corruption it should remain subject to an international asset freeze until the North African country has a democratically-elected government, says a former diplomat.
The Globe in South Africa: The founder of one of South Africa’s biggest weapons manufacturers is playing a key backroom role in an international peace mission to Ukraine and Russia this week, The Globe and Mail has learned.
Ukraine: Ukraine reported incremental advances in its counteroffensive against Russian forces in what it described as “extremely fierce” fighting.
U.S. banks: The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged after having raised it 10 straight times. But the Fed also signalled that it may raise rates twice more this year.
Behind the scenes of Secret Canada: Why an FOI rejection “radicalized” this Globe reporter.
Listen to The Decibel podcast: Rob Carrick explains why Canadians owe so much and how over-indebted Canadians should be thinking about their finances.
MARKET WATCH
U.S. stocks end mixed after Fed signals more rate hikes to come
Strength in industrials and metals helped buoy Canada’s main stock index amid energy weakness Wednesday, while U.S. stock markets were mixed after the country’s central bank held interest rates steady.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 24.69 points at 20,015.09. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 232.79 points at 33,979.33.The S&P 500 index was up 3.58 points at 4,372.59, while the Nasdaq composite was up 53.16 points at 13,626.48. The Toronto market’s technology sector rose 1.1%, helped by a gain of 3.4% for e-commerce company Shopify Inc.
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TALKING POINTS
An art gallery paints a picture of Canada’s serious transparency problem
“And if it takes nine years for the public to find out about the authenticity of some paintings they may have financially supported in some way, what else do we not know?” - Marsha Lederman
The Trump charges are great for the Democrats – and America
“It’s all fodder for Republicans to make the case that the indictment was politically motivated, that it’s selective justice, that the system is being weaponized against them.” - Lawrence Martin
LIVING BETTER
Why we need to take comedy seriously
Studies support the idea that laughter confers a plethora of personal benefits. It causes us to take more oxygen into our lungs and to release endorphins to our brains, eases tension in our muscles and improves circulation, and activates our stress response by stimulating our heart rate and blood pressure.
Humour might be the most complex cognitive function in the animal kingdom, an extension of language that’s developed along with our social abilities. Also, humour has long been used by minority groups as a protective tool and coping mechanism. It’s not the cure, but it is good medicine. And sometimes, that’s all we have.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Bernina Express, Kreisviadukt in Brusio, GraubündenChristoph Benz/Tourism Switzerland
How to get off the beaten path in Switzerland
You might be familiar with Switzerland’s most popular destinations, and writer Claudia Laroye spent many hours wandering trails in the Swiss Alps, but Graubunden was not, until recently, on her radar. That tennis champ Roger Federer, one of Switzerland’s greatest athletes and its most famous tourism ambassador, spends time here intrigued her.
Starting from the city centre, booking a train ride into the hills, and finding a unique place to eat or book a wine cellar tour, use our Guide to help you find a great trip. Plus Graubunden does experience more sun than other Swiss regions, and snaking through misty valleys past high mountain peaks will be a treat.
Evening Update is written by Sierra Bein. 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.