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The B.C. port workers strike came to an end yesterday but business groups say Canada’s reputation as a reliable trading partner has taken a hit after billions of dollars worth of cargo shipments were disrupted.
The union and employers agreed to a four-year tentative deal negotiated by a federal mediator, sending the nearly 7,400 workers back to the ports after 13 days. But experts say the resulting supply-chain issues could take months to sort out – about one week for every day that that B.C. ports were shut down.
For many farmers, the strike proved too close for comfort. Some have renewed calls for Canada to categorize food products as essential – and therefore exempt from supply-chain issues arising from strikes such as this one. They argue a failure to do so undermines a $143.8-billion agricultural industry dealing with perishable products that deteriorate in quality when left sitting.
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De-Anne Sack, centre, of Sipekne’katik First Nation, reads a poem in dedication to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women as newly-appointed Interim National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Joanna Bernard, third from left, and other chiefs and delegates stand in support during the Assembly of First Nations annual general assembly in Halifax on July 13.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
Assembly of First Nations demands Manitoba, Ottawa work together on landfill search
The Assembly of First Nations denounced federal and provincial governments’ refusal to search a Winnipeg landfill for the remains of Indigenous women on the final day of the AFN general assembly yesterday.
The group demanded the authorities take immediate action to locate the remains of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and an unidentified woman whose remains have not been located and whom elders have named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe (Buffalo Woman).
Protesters have been blockading the Brady Road landfill since last week, when the province announced it would not support a search of the privately owned Prairie Green Landfill, which is north of the city. The city of Winnipeg is asking for a court injunction to remove the blockade, but the judge urged the two sides to come to a compromise without court interference. Court will resume on the matter later today.
In the shadows, and at detention centres, the fight against the Islamic State continues in Northeast Syria
Hailed as a ‘credible partner force’ by U.S. officials in the fight against terrorism, the Kurdish-led Syrian Defence Forces are holding enormous populations of suspected ISIS fighters in tenuously held territory.
In 2014 global extremists – including from Canada – travelled to join ISIS. Now many surviving militants have been captured or forced underground, their wives and children landing in massive displaced-persons camps in northeastern Syria. The United States has been urging global leaders, including Canada, to “repatriate, rehabilitate, reintegrate” their nationals from northeastern Syria rather than rely on local forces such as the SDF warehousing people indefinitely.
Over the years, the Canadian government had been accused of resisting calls to repatriate several Canadian nationals. But in the past year, Ottawa has changed course. Canada has repatriated 23 women and children from northeastern Syria in the past 10 months. This includes four Canadians brought home last October, 14 in April and another five this month. But the government did not release numbers about how many Canadians remain in the northeastern Syria region.
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Also on our radar
India launches rocket to the moon’s south pole: The mission follows a failed effort in 2019 to land a rover softly on the lunar surface. A successful landing would make India the fourth country – after the United States, the Soviet Union, and China – to achieve the feat.
The Hollywood actors’ strike effects Canada: American actors are on strike as of Thursday, joining Hollywood writers in the first dual strike since the 1960s. The action could see film productions in Canada come to a stop, while starless red carpets could mark TIFF as actors decline to promote films or distributors pull titles.
Tornado damages homes in Ottawa suburb: Environment Canada confirmed at least one tornado touched down in Barrhaven, about 20 kilometres from the city’s centre yesterday. More than 100 homes were damaged and one person was injured. A tornado also hit north of Montreal yesterday, but no damages were reported.
TD hires former Silicon Valley Bank employees: Four technology bankers from the Canadian arm of the failed Silicon Valley Bank have been hired by TD in an effort from the bank to catch up to other large lenders. Many Canadian banks have been talent hunting from SVB Canada as it struggles to find a buyer.
Elizabeth May was hospitalized for stroke: Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May says the health issue that landed her in the hospital last week was not fatigue, as initially reported, but a stroke. She has suffered no lingering neurological effects and looks forward to returning to her work as party leader.
First over-the-counter birth-control pill gets FDA approval: Women in the United States will soon be able to obtain contraceptive medication as easily as they buy Aspirin and eyedrops. The FDA approved once-a-day Opill to be sold without a prescription yesterday, though it won’t hit shelves until next year.
Business quiz: Did you catch all this weeks’ top business headlines? Test your knowledge with this week’s business and investing quiz.
Morning markets
Global markets gain: Global shares are mostly higher, buoyed by another rally on Wall Street fuelled by hopes that cooling inflation will help stave off more interest rate hikes.
Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.11 per cent. Germany’s DAX slid 0.24 per cent while France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.30 per cent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei dipped 0.09 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.33 per cent. New York futures were mixed.
The Canadian dollar was little changed at 76.22 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
The Vilnius Summit was a success, including for Ukraine
“The summit was never going to grant Ukraine immediate accession to NATO. To do so would call into question NATO’s Article 5 commitment that an attack against one ally is an attack against all. If allies are (wisely) unwilling to enter into a direct confrontation with Russia while Ukraine is not a member, there is no chance they would hasten Ukraine’s membership with an active conflict under way. So, full membership was off the table and Mr. Zelensky recognized this. For the same reasons, set timelines for accession were also not a real option.” – Kerry Buck
Bank of Canada’s latest interest-rate hike may be one too many
“The bank’s job is to sift through all this data and determine what overnight lending rate would bring inflation back down to its 2-per-cent target over the next 18 to 24 months. And it is this lag between rate increases and economic activity that raises red flags about this most recent hike.” – Steve Ambler and Jeremy Kronick
Today’s editorial cartoon
Editorial cartoon by Brian GableIllustration by Brian Gable
Living better
Estate planning starts with the five Ds
The importance of a good estate plan for the long-term health and happiness of your family can’t be understated. The Globe’s Tim Cestnick shares the first two steps of his five “Ds” of estate planning framework for crafting your plan: defining what is important to you and designing strategies to transfer your estate.
Moment in time: July 14, 1851
Gabriel Dumont in Red River, Manitoba, 1880sSupplied
It’s been called a most remarkable military feat. On this day in 1851, a Métis bison-hunting party from the Red River Settlement encountered a large Sioux encampment on the Grand Coteau or Missouri Plateau, southeast of present-day Minot, N.D. These Indigenous people regularly skirmished over bison, a conflict aggravated in the 1840s by declining herd numbers. This time, the Métis faced an enemy force of more than 2,000. Circling their carts into a defensive barricade and concealing themselves in rifle pits, fewer than 100 Métis hunters, including a young Gabriel Dumont, repelled repeated Sioux attacks throughout the day and into the night. The next morning, the men and their families chose to retreat – a seemingly foolhardy decision and a difficult military manoeuvre given the size of their camp. The Métis travelled only a few miles before they were once again forced to take up a defensive position and once again successfully held off the Sioux. After the Battle of Grand Coteau ended, a thunderstorm rumbled over the battleground and unleashed a torrential rainfall. It was as if the heavens were applauding the decisiveness of the Métis victory – they had lost only one scout. Bill Waiser
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