Morning Update: Airbnb’s impact on rental market; Quadriga founder moved customer funds; Ontario health-sector layoffs

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These are the top stories:

Airbnb housing units are rented out so often, they’re unlikely to have permanent residents: study

More than 31,000 homes across the country were rented out so often on Airbnb in 2018 that they were likely removed from the long-term rental supply, according to a groundbreaking study by McGill University researchers.

As the popularity of short-term rentals has soared, the effect on rental supply in Canada’s cities, towns and rural areas has grown. This means that homes that were once used for renting, are now being used primarily by vacationers.

Like Tofino, small towns and cities across Canada are grappling with an explosion of Airbnb activity that poses a threat to local rental supply. But beyond housing supply, smaller communities are worried that these changes will affect the fabric of their communities.

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Quadriga’s founder moved user funds into his personal accounts, a new report says

Gerald Cotten moved large sums of customers’ money from the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange into his personal accounts at competing exchanges, court-appointed monitor Ernst & Young says.

The Canadian founder died in December while in India, leaving 76,000 users unable to access $214.6-million of their funds. Cotten was the only one who knew where the company stored its reserves and the passwords to access them.

According to Ernst & Young, Cotten also created artificial trading volume and inflated company revenue. “The margin account trading activities were subject to substantial fees and generated substantial losses,” the report says.

Ontario will lay off more than 400 people at local health integration networks, six other agencies

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said repeatedly during last year’s election campaign that not a single public-sector job would be lost if his Progressive Conservatives formed government. He has since changed his position to say that no front-line jobs will be eliminated.

A total of 825 back-office jobs will be eliminated, almost half of which are already vacant, which will save $250-million this fiscal year and $350-million a year after that.

“We understand that our plan will impact individuals’ lives,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said of the layoffs in a statement obtained by The Globe and Mail.

“That’s why we have asked agencies to responsibly avoid filling vacant positions and accept early retirements to minimize the impact of the reorganization into Ontario Health. We are eliminating duplicative administration and redirecting those savings to direct patient care.”

Masai Ujiri produced ID before his altercation with a sheriff, police say, but not proper credentials

The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the Toronto Raptors president told the deputy he was the team’s president and did present NBA identification, after The Globe described an eyewitness account of the officer being told that Ujiri was a Raptors executive, moments before the two became embroiled in a shoving match.

Ujiri appeared to be holding a red badge, but only officials with a purple badge and gold arm band were allowed on the court. This, multiple witnesses told The Globe, is what precipitated the incident between the officer and Ujiri.

This confrontation has stirred a fierce debate about racial profiling and raised questions about how the team president could be denied entry to the court in a moment of triumph, even if he had the wrong lanyard.

The police have said that Ujiri struck the officer in the face and that video footage backs up their account, but it has not been released and the body-cam footage, police said, switched off the instant Ujiri made contact.

Neither Ujiri, his team nor the league have spoken publicly about the altercation or what led to it, leaving the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office as the sole official narrator of the incident.

Mexico becomes first country to ratify USMCA trade deal

By a vote of 114 in favour to four against, Mexico’s Senate backed the trade deal tortuously negotiated between 2017 and 2018 after U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to withdraw from NAFTA if he could not get a better trade deal for the United States.

Canada, which has also fought with Trump over trade, is pressing ahead to ratify the deal. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to meet with Trump on June 20 in Washington to discuss ratification of the accord.

It’s in Trump’s interest to claim this as a first major trade victory as campaigning begins for the 2020 presidential election. His administration is working on a deal with congressional Democrats to ratify the agreement, showing the first tentative signs of movement.

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Trudeau promises to legislate implementation of UNDRIP if re-elected: The promise to harmonize federal laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is aimed at breaking an impasse in the Senate.

Pressure is mounting on Canada to hold the Saudis accountable for the Khashoggi killing: A United Nations report argues that sanctions should be placed on Mohammed bin Salman personally until his role can be fully investigated. The U.S. Senate, meanwhile, is set to vote on whether to block arms sales to Riyadh.

Man accused of last year’s Toronto van attack to stand trial before a judge: Alex Minassian, the 26-year-old allegedly behind the wheel during the van attack in April of 2018 is facing 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder.

Ottawa-backed Carrot Rewards app shutting down after failing to find a buyer: The app meant to be rolled out across Canada, that tracks your steps and provides the user with daily wellness quizzes, is shutting down after its funding ran dry.

MORNING MARKETS

Stocks climb

World stock markets rose on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled it was likely to cut interest rates next month, and the U.S. dollar and benchmark bond yields fell to multiyear lows. Tokyo’s Nikkei was up 0.6 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.2 per cent and the Shanghai Composite 2.3 per cent higher. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.4 per cent, Germany’s DAX 0.9 per cent, and the Paris CAC 40 was up 0.7 per cent at about 6 a.m. ET. New York futures were up and the Canadian dollar was at 75.77 US cents.

WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Ottawa seems to be out of ideas on devising a new kind of China policy

David Mulroney: “Getting China right requires us to get Asia right. That’s a challenge in itself, because Asia, apart from China, is still something of an afterthought for Canadian policymakers.” David Mulroney was Canada’s ambassador to China from 2009 to 2012.

On TMX and climate alike, Trudeau’s credibility is shot

Konrad Yakabuski: “And therein lies the rub. The Prime Minister has so tried to play both sides of the Trans Mountain issue that neither proponents nor opponents of TMX believe him any more.”

After bombshell Khashoggi report, expect oil-loving countries to shrug

Bessma Momani: “When the next journalist is killed at the hands of their government, we cannot say that we were not forewarned.” Momani is a professor at the University of Waterloo and senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation.

TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

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LIVING BETTER

Hitchhiking is not always the exciting experience people expect, at times it can be quite boring. The difference between moments of boredom and excitement on the road can be quite striking even.

Those who pick up people hitchhiking have all sorts of motivations. There are some who are trying to navigate loneliness, who want to unload their problems to a stranger. Some are do-gooders, inspired by their faith to help others along their journey.

There are lots of adventurous road warriors hoping to meet a like-minded person who shares their passion for risky experiences. Sometimes, the drivers are hoping that picking up a hitchhiker will be an adventure of its own. Read more about what you learn while hitchhiking across Canada.

MOMENT IN TIME

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June 20, 1942

Three Polish prisoners and one man from what is now Ukraine did what so many others could not: escape from Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi concentration camp. When car mechanic Eugeniusz Bendera told his friend Kazimierz Piechowski that he was on the list to be murdered, they hatched a plan to escape. Bendera could get access to a car and Piechowski worked in the block where guards’ uniforms and ammunition were kept. On this day in 1942, together with Stanislaw Gustaw Jaster and Jozef Lempart, they picked up a garbage cart and started walking toward the infamous Arbeit macht frei gate. Unsuspecting guards let them through and they headed straight for the stashed Nazi uniforms. Bendera stole a Steyr 220, the fastest car and one reserved for the sole use of the commandant. They piled in and drove to the main gate. But the gate didn’t open and the guards didn’t move. That is, until Piechowski started shouting orders at the SS guards, who quickly obliged. The four drove out of the camp and to safety. They were some of the 144 escapees from the largest Nazi death camp, where some 1.1 million people died or were murdered. Iain Boekhoff

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