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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
‘This win means everything’: The Raptors won a historic championship and all of Canada is celebrating
Just moments after the buzzer went off, Toronto erupted in noise: their Raptors had just beat the Golden State Warriors 114-110, securing the first NBA title in franchise history after an emotionally-charged lead-up to Game 6 that filled fans with nervous anticipation. Thousands of fans streamed into the streets – not just in Toronto, but in cities across the country.
It’s the first major professional sports championship for a Canadian team since 1993, when the Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series. What does this championship mean? According to Jim Naismith, grandson of the man who invented basketball: “It’s incredible to think of my granddad’s winding road, and the remarkable journey that this Ontarian’s simple game has travelled before it finally came home.”
Relive the celebration and look through the night in photos. It’s unclear whether Raptors fans got much sleep, but they have the weekend to rest up before the celebration parade, which will take place on Monday from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and run from Exhibition Place to Nathan Phillips Square.
With stressed-out minds at ease now that the title is clinched, one more thing lingers: whether or not NBA Finals MVP and Canadian sports hero Kawhi Leonard will have a long-term future with the team. The Raptors only acquired Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs last July, and as a free agent after June 30, he’ll have his pick of teams.
The player didn’t provide many answers during the post-game press conference. “I’m about to enjoy this with my teammates and coaches and I’ll think about that later,” said Leonard. Cathal Kelly writes: “What does matter is that now – as long as they can keep the band together – is that the Leonard era has just begun.”
(Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images)Cole Burston/Getty Images
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Ottawa says pot edibles, topicals and extracts to hit shelves no earlier than mid-December
Health Canada released details today on how it will regulate a “limited selection” of next-generation cannabis products – such as edibles, topicals and extracts – which will be “gradually” for sale at the end of the year.
Since the law will take effect on Oct. 17, and federal cannabis license holders will need to provide 60 days notice to the agency before they start selling the new products, the first products to hit shelves won’t be available for purchase until December, 2019, at the earliest.
The Canadian market for these pot products is worth about $2.7-billion annually, a recent report by Deloitte estimated, with edibles contributing more than half of that amount.
Find out everything you need to know about edibles regulations here. (for Cannabis Professional subscribers)
Hong Kong’s youth, anxious to be heard by China, are turning from talk to violence
An unpopular bill that would allow China to extradite those they call fugitive criminals from Hong Kong more easily has galvanized activists in the Chinese territory who feel demands for change aren’t enough anymore.
Youth in particular are standing against the legislation, mobilizing in huge numbers. Globe Asia correspondent Nathan VanderKlippe reports on “a demoralization that has darkened the demeanour of a young generation in a city plagued by tensions in recent years.”
VanderKlippe took a 16-second video Wednesday that showed youth effectively rushing to put out tear gas bombs – thrown into the street by riot police – with water bottles before they could do any damage. What started as peaceful demonstrations last Sunday turned more violent as the week progressed, and police also used baton charges, rubber bullets and pepper balls to clear away the tens of thousands of people in the streets near government buildings. New protests are planned for Sunday and Monday, the prospect of which has alarmed Hong Kong authorities after police accused protesters of attacking them with bricks and sharpened metal sticks. (for subscribers)
Government support is wavering for the bill: over 20 former government officials or Legislative Council members have signed a statement urging for Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam to stop the political conflict and put the legislation on hold. Lam has staunchly supported the bill, and is backed by Beijing, but thus far a legislative schedule including no hearings for Monday and Tuesday.
WHAT ELSE IS ON OUR RADAR
Liberals want to prohibit more assault weapons rather than ban handguns: Ottawa has officially ruled out a countrywide ban on handguns – despite requests from the cities of Toronto and Montreal to do so – saying that the potential effectiveness would not outweigh the high price tag. The Liberals will be running on a plan to prohibit and buy back some military-style assault weapons that are currently legal in Canada.
Sudan’s ruling military acknowledges security forces committed violations: An investigation is under way after Sudan’s ruling military acknowledged that security forces committed “painful and outrageous” violations when they made a sweeping crackdown starting with a protest sit-in camp in Khartoum last week. “We feel sorry for what happened,” said the spokesman for the military council. “We will show no leniency [towards perpetrators]."
Tax and living costs in eight Canadian and U.S. cities, compared: The grass isn’t always greener on the other side, or in the other country. Though the assumption is that Canadians are more highly taxed than Americans, that isn’t always true – the gap isn’t as wide as you think, and the cost of living can have a huge impact on whether you’ll be better off in one city over another. Tim Cestnick analyzes the data across eight major cities.
U.S. appeals court orders new review of transgender military ban: U.S. President Donald Trump has made a gain in his efforts to ban most transgender people from the military. An appeals court has ordered the judge who ruled against the policy – who said it likely violated the constitutional rights of transgender service members and recruits – to reconsider and give the military’s judgment more deference.
Bell Fibe fails for some during final moments of Raptors game, again: Some Bell customers saw a large error message on a blank screen during the final three minutes as the Toronto Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors, leaving them dismayed and disappointed. Similar issues arose when several thousand customers missed the final 30 seconds of Monday’s Game 5. Bell has since apologized.
Uproar over borough’s attempt to rebrand Fête Nationale celebration: An attempt to rename one neighbourhood’s branch of an annual June celebration as a “Summer Solstice” festival prompted a huge amount of backlash, including death threats to organizers, denunciations by Montreal’s mayor and criticism by the Premier of Quebec. “Our idea was to see big," the spokeswoman for the event explained, but the name has since been changed back to Fête nationale in keeping with tradition.
MARKET WATCH
As global stocks edged lower, Canada’s main stock index enjoyed an afternoon rally today. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite index was up 62.65 points at 16,301.91.
Global equity markets lost ground, however, as weak Chinese data stoked investor anxieties over a global growth slowdown and mounting fears of a U.S.-Iran confrontation added to geopolitical uncertainty, sending oil prices higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 17.16 points to 26,089.61, the S&P 500 lost 4.66 points to end at 2,886.98 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 40.47 points to 7,796.66.
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TALKING POINTS
Without civilian oversight, sexual-assault survivors in the military will not be well served
“How can we expect a military justice system that is highly hierarchical, male-dominated and incentivized to support the military’s operations to serve survivors of sexual assault?” – Dr. Maya Eichler is the Canada Research Chair in Social Innovation and Community Engagement. Leading Seaman (ret.) Marie-Claude Gagnon is the founder of the military sexual-trauma survivors group It’s Just 700.
Read news coverage about a new study on sexual assault convictions in the military here.
No, Ottawa is not out to kill pipelines with Bill C-69
“The Liberals have shown a willingness to improve the bill. It remains imperfect, but it is not the death blow predicted by pipeline advocates.” – Globe editorial
LIVING BETTER
Bank of Nova Scotia serves up credit cards that save travellers money
Scotiabank is helping its globe-trotting customers avoid pesky fees and stoking tough competition with other big banks at the same time. Beginning August 1, retail clients will be able to get a revamped Scotia Gold American Express card that does not charge the usual 2.5-per-cent markup on purchases made in foreign currencies. This card will run alongside their similar Scotia Passport Visa Infinite, which was launched in March, 2018
According to the bank’s senior vice-president of credit cards, Brett Mooney, Scotiabank clients with cards that don’t charge the foreign transaction fee are saving $150 a year.
For customers shopping around, other cards without a foreign transaction fee include the Home Trust Preferred Visa, as well as a trio of Mastercards from both HSBC Canada and Brim Financial, a new player.
LONG READ FOR A LONG COMMUTE
I love you, man: Why do men have such a difficult time maintaining friendships?
If men won’t really talk to one another about the problems in their lives, then companionship isn’t much better for you than loneliness. That’s what Dave McGinn learned the hard way after he separated from his wife after 15 years of marriage. Months later he still hadn’t told anyone – not even the friends he’d had since junior high. He was talking to the men around him, but he wasn’t really sharing, and as a result, he was left without the emotional support he so deeply needed.
In this moving personal essay, McGinn takes readers through his emotional journey, from grappling with his lack of close personal relationships to decisively moving toward being a better person.
After speaking to a myriad of researchers on male friendships and adult loneliness, he learned that he needed to better incorporate disclosure, reciprocity and emotional vulnerability into his life. “Aren’t these all things we want men to have? Not just because it would be better for men, but for everyone?” he writes.
Evening Update is written by Samantha McCabe. 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.