Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
The federal government unveiled its 2023 fall economic statement today, with promised spending to help build more affordable homes, support renters and clampdown on Airbnbs. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is also pledging to keep deficits to no larger than 1 per cent of GDP in future years, delivering a new promised limit as to how much the Liberal government is prepared to spend. Highlights from today include:
- Incentives to construct rental and affordable housing.
- Denying income tax deductions for Airbnbs in order to free up rental properties.
- Help for mortgage holders through a Canadian mortgage charter, which is largely a summary of existing rules aimed at reminding people of their rights when renegotiating a mortgage during higher interest rates.
- New deficit targets, including keeping the size of future federal deficits at no more than 1 per cent of GDP, starting in 2026-27.
Related reading:
- Six highlights from the fall economic statement as Canadians struggle with affordability issues
- Fall economic statement includes $129-million for news organizations
- Opinion: We need to consider Indigenous loan guarantees’ impact on Canada’s debt situation
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Latest developments from the Middle East
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked his government today to back a deal to clear the way for the release of some hostages that Hamas militants took to the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7. Talk of an imminent deal has simmered for days, with Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly saying Canada is keeping a close eye on it.
- A U.S. official briefed on the discussions facilitated by Qatar said the deal would include 50 hostages, mostly women and children, in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners and a pause in the fighting of four or five days.
- Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said three hospitals in Israeli-besieged northern Gaza had requested help with evacuating patients and that planning for that was under way.
- Read more from today’s news here: Netanyahu, Hamas chief indicate deal on Gaza truce and hostages is close
Canada inflation rate slowed to 3.1 per cent in October
Canada’s annual inflation rate fell to 3.1 per cent in October from 3.8 per cent in September, Statistics Canada said today in a report, matching analysts’ expectations. The Bank of Canada projects inflation will linger around 3.5 per cent until the middle of next year, before declining to its 2-per-cent target by mid-2025. Central bank officials were split on whether to raise interest rates in October, but ultimately held the policy rate steady at 5 per cent. The central bank’s next decision day is Dec. 6.
- Also: How markets and economists are reacting to today’s inflation data
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
U.S. politics: Running for president outside of the two main political parties in the United States is a path to failure. But while they’ve never won the White House, third-party candidates have both tilted the balance of presidential contests in the past and are churning electoral waters again.
- Analysis: Nikki Haley is barnstorming New Hampshire and looks like Trump’s biggest threat in primaries
Ukraine: More than 10,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022, with about half of recent deaths occurring far behind front lines, the UN Human Rights Office said today.
Education: Ontario’s public elementary school teachers’ union has reached a tentative agreement with the provincial government and school boards, averting any job action over the next three years.
Alberta daycare: A company that runs a commercial kitchen at the centre of an E. coli outbreak at multiple Calgary daycares has pleaded not guilty to municipal bylaw charges. A trial date has been set for Sept. 6, 2024.
Chad: Food aid for 1.4 million people in Chad, including refugees fleeing Sudan’s Darfur region, will end in January because of a shortage of funds, according to the UN World Food Programme.
In Her Defence: Did Helen really kill Miles? A burning question remains. As Helen works toward release from prison, we think about what made Miles who he was, and consider the legacy of his violence. Listen to Episode 8 of our podcast here.
Movies: Barry Hertz calls Nicholas Cage’s Dream Scenario a new thoroughly imaginative dark comedy that is easily the best thing that Cage has starred in for ages.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index consolidated some recent gains today as financial and energy shares lost ground, while investors weighed domestic inflation data that could support a shift to interest rate cuts over the coming months.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended down 136.50 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 20,109.97, after posting on Monday its highest closing level since Sept. 18. U.S. indexes were also modestly lower. The S&P 500 lost 9.19 points, or 0.2 per cent, to end at 4,538.19 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 84.55 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 14,199.98. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 62.75 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 35,088.29.
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TALKING POINTS
In Gaza, civilian evacuation looks like forced displacement. That cannot be the way forward
“Firstly, there are currently no guarantees that if Palestinians flee, they will be allowed to return. More than half of Gaza’s population are refugees, descendants of Palestinians who fled their homes in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War in what Palestinians call the Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe). While refugees’ right of return is enshrined in international human rights law, it has historically been denied to Palestinians.” – Lama Mourad and Stephanie Schwartz
Access to oxygen therapy shouldn’t be this complicated
“Medical-grade oxygen is considered a drug, so it requires a prescription. But while it’s classified as a drug, it is managed as a medical device, which complicates matters.” – André Picard
Why are our schools addicted to foreign student tuition? Because government was the pusher
“What’s more, the student visa system is now a feeder for both the temporary foreign worker stream and the permanent immigration stream. And for many foreign students, a shot at Canadian citizenship is what their tuition is really buying.” – Tony Keller
We must protect the most vulnerable Canadians from the risks of influenza
“At a time of overburdened health care budgets, and after our last respiratory virus season overwhelmed the health system, we need to make sure our vaccination policies and programs target the most vulnerable Canadians: seniors.” – Brian Conway
LIVING BETTER
Share the holiday gifts that are worth the money with The Globe
Illustration by Allison & Cam
The Globe wants to know: What’s the best bang-for-your-buck gift you’ve ever given or received? This could be a large purchase where splurging was worth it, or something small and affordable that brought endless delight. Whatever it is, both the giver and the receiver felt that rare combination of feelings – true gratitude, and zero buyer’s remorse. Share your gift with The Globe here.
TODAY’S LONG READ
How OpenAI’s Ilya Sutskever went from University of Toronto AI whiz to firing Sam Altman
Ilya Sutskever, Russian Israeli-Canadian computer scientist and co-founder and Chief Scientist of OpenAI, speaks at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv on June 5, 2023.JACK GUEZ/Getty Images
Long before Ilya Sutskever moved to oust OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, throwing the world’s most prominent artificial intelligence company into chaos and prompting nearly all of its 770 employees to threaten a mass resignation, he was a student at the University of Toronto, trying to coax a computer program to speak at a time when hardly anyone believed his approach had potential, if they knew about it at all. Globe reporters Joe Castaldo and Irene Galea report on the unfolding saga here.
- Explainer: What’s happening at OpenAI? A look at Sam Altman’s firing, his new role at Microsoft and more
Evening Update is written by Maryam Shah. 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.