Note to readers: The Evening Update newsletter will pause tomorrow for the Canada Day holiday and resume on Monday, July 4.
Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Supreme Court of Canada upholds expansions to rape shield laws in 6-3 ruling
The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld a federal law that expands the privacy rights of complainants in sexual-assault trials, saying Parliament was justified in trying to protect their dignity and encourage them to report such crimes.
Since 2018, a defendant in a sexual-assault trial who possesses a complainant’s e-mails, texts, diaries or other personal records must obtain the permission of a judge in a pretrial hearing to use them for their defence.
The law establishing the new process also gave complainants the right to be represented by counsel in “rape-shield” hearings on the admissibility of evidence about their sexual history.
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War in Ukraine developments: Canadian volunteer fighter severely injured, Russian troops abandon Snake Island, plus more
A Canadian military veteran who served in Bosnia and Afghanistan before volunteering to fight for Ukraine will spend Canada Day lying seriously wounded in a hospital, hoping an online campaign will raise enough money to pay for his evacuation home to Ottawa.
JT, as the 50-year-old career soldier is known, is the third Canadian to be wounded in the war, after the truck he was in backed over an anti-tank mine on May 15. He suffered a severe concussion. His left arm was broken, and much of his left tricep had melted away. His legs and buttocks were also badly burned.
He said the only reality he can focus on is the moment he will be back home in Canada, to hug his friend Erika, who is running the GoFundMe campaign to get him out of Ukraine.
JT, a Canadian volunteer fighter, shows one of his pictures from the front lines in Ukraine.Anton Skyba/The Globe and Mail
Elsewhere, Russian forces have withdrawn from the strategic Black Sea outpost of Snake Island in a victory for Ukraine that could loosen the grip of Russia’s blockade on Ukrainian ports.
Russia said it was a “gesture of goodwill” to show Moscow was not obstructing UN efforts to open a humanitarian corridor allowing grains to be shipped from Ukraine. Ukraine said it had driven the Russian forces out after an artillery and missile assault overnight.
Speaking at the NATO summit in Madrid, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to give Ukraine six Canadian-made drone cameras, to complement the roughly 20 cameras sent earlier this year.
And U.S. President Joe Biden said the United States will provide another US$800-million in weapons and military aid to Ukraine.
Read more: Russia targeting commodities in its war with Ukraine to create food shortages, break West’s resolve
Canada and NATO: Montreal the site of new climate centre, Trudeau says
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that Montreal will host NATO’s new climate centre as radical climate change evolves into a serious security risk for the military alliance.
Canada will also host the new North American headquarters of NATO’s tech centre but didn’t say where it would be located.
Trudeau also said that Canada will send more troops to Latvia as part of NATO’s ambitious effort to shore up its vulnerable eastern flank on, or close to, the Russian border.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Poilievre joins Ottawa march: Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre joined the final leg of a march led by a Canadian soldier, James Topp, charged for speaking out against COVID-19 vaccine requirements that has sparked promises – and fears – of a new wave of protests in the capital.
Airlines cutting flights: WestJet’s CEO says the airline made a series of schedule reductions between March and May and will be flying 32 per cent fewer flights in and out of Toronto Pearson International Airport in July than in 2019. His remarks come after Air Canada said it is cancelling 154 flights per day in July and August, or 15 per cent of its schedule, citing “unprecedented strains” on the airline industry from resurgent travel.
GDP down 0.2 per cent: Canada’s economy slowed unexpectedly in May, according to preliminary data from Statistics Canada, but economists don’t expect this to deter the Bank of Canada pushing ahead with a major interest rate hike on July 13 to try to tame inflation.
Food labelling rules: Ground meats will not have to carry a warning label under Health Canada’s new nutrition labelling policy, Ottawa has announced, reversing its initial position. The rules requiring labels on foods that are high in sugar, salt or saturated fat will come into effect in January, 2026.
New SCOTUS justice: Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in today as a U.S. Supreme Court justice, making history as the first Black woman on the country’s top judicial body. She replaces liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, 83, who officially retires today.
Canadians out at Wimbledon: Canadians Bianca Andreescu and Denis Shapovalov were both eliminated from Wimbledon after suffering second-round losses in the Grand Slam tennis tournament today.
MARKET WATCH
Wall Street ended lower today, with the S&P 500 seeing its biggest first-half plunge since 1970. The Nasdaq had its largest-ever January-June percentage drop, while the Dow suffered its biggest first-half percentage plunge since 1962.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 253.88 points or 0.82 per cent to 30,775.43, the S&P 500 lost 33.45 points or 0.88 per cent to end at 3,786.25, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 149.15 points or 1.33 per cent to 11,028.74.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index slid 217.28 points or 1.14 per cent to 18,861.36. The loonie traded at 77.7 U.S. cents.
Canadian markets are closed tomorrow for the statutory holiday. Wall Street will trading pause trading on Monday for Independence Day.
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TALKING POINTS
Americans are more liberal and tolerant than ever. Too bad about their institutions
“As a big majority of them have become more tolerant, their governing and legal institutions have been captured by a fringe minority who are very much not so. It’s as if the overall climate has improved, but today’s weather is terrible.” - Doug Saunders
If police aren’t seen to put civilian lives before their own, how does the institution survive?
“Portapique and Uvalde will likely never see police in the same way, and those observing the calamity from the outside very well might not either.” - Robyn Urback
LIVING BETTER
Canadians who bank with federally regulated financial institutions will now receive electronic alerts if their account balance runs low or they’re close to reaching their credit limit on products such as personal credit cards and lines of credit. The automated messages are among Ottawa’s new requirements taking effect today aimed at boosting protections for consumers.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Communities skip the fireworks, focus on reconciliation ahead of sombre Canada Day
Police outside Parliament Hill on June 29, 2022.BLAIR GABLE/Reuters
In Moose Cree First Nation, along the shores of James Bay, the chief and council have designated July 1 as a day of mourning. In Vancouver, three First Nations will preside over the largest Canada Day celebration outside of Ottawa, dubbed Canada Together.
And a ferry ride away, in Sechelt, B.C., the traditional Lion’s Club pancake breakfast will be followed by an orange shirt walk and parade to honour people who attended residential schools, including local shíshálh Nation members.
Across the country, Canada Day will look a little different this year. Scores of towns and cities will weave reconciliation themes into a holiday that has long spurned Indigenous people. But doing so hasn’t come without controversy, a constant bedfellow of Canada Day since its inception as Dominion Day in 1879. Read Patrick White’s full story here.
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