Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
The federal government’s top public servant supported a committee investigation that would release all relevant documents in the government’s decision to outsource the $912-million student volunteer program to WE Charity.
The release would include all related communications involving political staff in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Minister’s office with the public service. Ian Shugart, Clerk of the Privy Council, promised to share the contribution agreement between the federal government and WE Charity, and any private videoconference discussions related to WE.
In his view, despite questions on conflict of interest, both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau needed to be involved in such a major program decision.
Tuesday is the second day of House of Commons finance committee hearings as part of its review of the federal government’s since-terminated arrangement with WE Charity.
In opinion, Paul Deegan writes: “While questions surrounding the circumstances that led to Ottawa tapping WE to administer a $912-million student volunteer program are the federal government’s to answer, WE faces fundamental issues, too. It needs to reckon in a transparent manner with that relationship and with the flow of moneys between the not-for-profit WE Charity and the for-profit ME to WE, which defines itself as a ‘social enterprise'.” Deegan is the CEO of Deegan Public Strategies and a former public relations executive at Bank of Montreal and CN.
European Union clinches ‘historic’ stimulus package to repair shattered economies
In a landmark moment of unity for EU leaders and economists, an unprecedented €750-billion stimulus package in joint debt was signed off on early Tuesday to help member countries repair their pandemic-battered economies.
But the first payments will not start until mid-2021, meaning the hardest-hit countries – notably Italy, Spain and France – will have to find their own fiscal solutions to prevent their economies from deteriorating over the next year.
Italy and Spain, the EU’s third- and fourth-largest economies, will emerge as the biggest beneficiaries of the stimulus package. Meanwhile, France, Germany and the Netherlands will see payments worth less than 1 per cent of their GDP.
In opinion, Eric Reguly writes: “The naysaying EU leaders, the pandemic gun to their heads, had a good rethink about joint debt in particular and stimulus packages in general, and what they produced was unprecedented.”
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More COVID-19 coverage: Over a month after Becca Blackwood tested positive for COVID-19, she was unable to walk, struggling to talk and near delirious. Yet, her hospital chart read, ‘COVID resolved.’
She is part of a growing group of coronavirus survivors who refer to themselves as long-haulers and still haven’t fully recuperated.
Also: As COVID-19 infections rise in Alberta, students will prepare to return to school. Education Minister Adriana LaGrange will announce that students should prepare for “near normal” conditions in September, with some health measures in place, a source told The Globe and Mail.
In opinion, André Picard writes: “If there is one certainty, it is that economic recovery and parental sanity won’t happen until schools and daycares are fully operational again.”
Becca Blackwood, has experienced prolonged COVID symptoms, poses outside her home in Montreal, Quebec, July 15, 2020. (Christinne Muschi /The Globe and Mail)Christinne Muschi/The Globe and Mail
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Name change: In response to mounting pressure to eliminate their derogatory, colonial-era name, the Edmonton Eskimos agreed to change their team name.
Hacking spree: The U.S. Justice Department indicted two Chinese nationals over their role in what the agency called a decade-long cyber espionage campaign that targeted defence contractors, COVID-19 researchers and hundreds of other victims worldwide.
No guarantee: The University of Oxford’s potential COVID-19 vaccine could be rolled out by the end of the year, but the lead developer said criteria must be met, including positive late-stage trial results and producing large quantities of the vaccine.
Facebook labels Trump post: Facebook placed a “voting info” label on a post by U.S. President Donald Trump that said mail-in voting would lead to a “CORRUPT ELECTION.” This decision fanned the fire of pushback against the social media site’s decision not to act on the president’s inflammatory posts.
Ohio House Speaker arrested: Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four others were arrested Tuesday in a $60-million federal bribery probe. FBI agents were carrying out “law enforcement activity” on Householder’s farm, FBI spokesman Todd Lindgren said, without providing details.
New Jersey shooting: Following the shooting of a federal judge’s family in New Jersey, a self-described “anti-feminist” lawyer was found dead in the Catskills of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The FBI said he is considered the prime suspect in the attack.
MARKET WATCH
The S&P 500 edged higher on Tuesday, as investors rotated into economically sensitive cyclical stocks, optimistic that Washington will deliver a new round of stimulus to sustain the U.S. economic recovery from a pandemic-induced recession.
Financial, industrial and energy stocks gave the biggest boosts to the bellwether S&P 500 and blue-chip Dow as investors pivoted back to cyclicals. The march upward lost steam late in the session, and a drop in tech shares pulled the Nasdaq lower. The TSX closed modestly down as well, despite a big rally in energy stocks, as Shopify retreated 6.37 per cent.
The S&P 500 has moved into positive territory year-to-date, up 0.8 per cent. The Nasdaq has gained 19 per cent since Jan. 1, while the Dow remains down 6 per cent.
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TALKING POINTS
Saying ‘no’ to the Blue Jays reveals all the other ways Canada has failed to virus-proof the border
The Editorial Board: “Ottawa’s decision to send the Blue Jays on an indefinite road trip highlights all the ways Canada is still not ready to protect itself from renewed waves, and allow the economy and society to safely reopen, and stay open.”
Enforcing masks may seem impossible, but that was said about anti-smoking bylaws, too
Robyn Urback: “New bylaws can’t really be enforced in any sort of comprehensive, equitable way, since public-health authorities lack the resources for broad on-the-ground oversight. The onus has to be on businesses because municipalities (or, in the case of Quebec, the province) really don’t have much choice.”
The World Health Organization plays a key role in Canada’s response to the pandemic
Peter A. Singer: “For Canada, WHO’s value is not merely limited to the strength of this international response. There are also direct and practical benefits that support the efforts of federal, provincial and local public health officers, as well as policymakers right here in Canada. This has always been the case – from tobacco control to flu vaccine – but it’s even more needed now.” Singer is special adviser to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization.
LIVING BETTER
Cameron Diaz is selling wellness wine. But, is there such a thing as “clean” wine?
Cameron Diaz and entrepreneur Katherine Power’s new, “clean,” organic wine is a questionable wellness claim, like Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop lifestyle brand, that conveniently trades on misinformation to take advantage of a fundamental lack of consumer understanding.
With no nutrition, ingredient labelling or any obligation to report what goes into a bottle of wine, Diaz has capitalized on the vulnerability of North American consumers. On her Instagram page to 6.9 million followers, she claims that all commercial wines are stuffed with sinister additives and strange preservatives that are bad for you.
TODAY’S LONG READ
He is the most beloved game show host ever
This image released by Jeopardy! shows Alex Trebek, host of the game show.Carol Kaelson/The Associated Press
In March, 2019, Alex Trebek, host of the popular evening quiz show Jeopardy!, revealed a bombshell: he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and thrust into an uncomfortable spotlight.
Then, when COVID-19 hit, we recognized in his situation an acute version of our own: confronted suddenly with the unexpected prospect of our mortality, or of those we love and had taken for granted.
And so here we are now, prompted by the illness of a man who hosts a TV show venerating trivia to consider some of life’s most profound questions. Strange days.
Read more of Simon Houpt’s interview with Trebek, who turns 80 Wednesday and spoke about his new memoir, his terminal cancer diagnosis and his opinion of Donald Trump.
Evening Update is written by Hannah Alberga. 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.