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A senior government source confirmed yesterday that the classified version of a national-security watchdog report that alleged some parliamentarians are aiding foreign governments’ interference in Canadian democracy identifies some of those accused.
Also yesterday, the Official Opposition demanded that the government release all the names: “Canadians have the right to know who,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said, as he urged the Liberals to identify these parliamentarians.
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians released a report Monday that said a number of federal politicians are collaborating with countries such as India and China. Among the allegations are that they shared privileged information with foreign diplomats and accepted money from foreign governments or their proxies.
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Bank of Canada cuts key interest rate for the first time in four years
The Bank of Canada cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point yesterday, lowering borrowing costs for households and businesses for the first time in four years, and marking a turning point for the Canadian economy after the biggest inflation and interest-rate shock in decades.
The central bank’s governing council lowered the policy rate to 4.75 per cent from 5 per cent, a two-decade high reached last summer after 10 rapid-fire rate hikes in 17 months.
The move won’t do much, by itself, to reduce monthly payments on mortgages, car loans or lines of credit. But it kick-starts a monetary policy easing cycle that should see interest rates fall further in the coming quarters, offering some relief to borrowers, homeowners facing mortgage renewals and indebted governments.
- Bank of Canada delivers rate relief to consumers, paving way for stronger spending
- Rob Carrick: A guide to what lower rates will mean for mortgages, housing and returns on all those safe parking spots for cash
- Opinion: How fast and how far for further rate cuts, Bank of Canada?
- Opinion: Be prepared, additional rate cuts from Bank of Canada will be very gradual
At an emotional D-Day ceremony at Canadian War Cemetery in France, relatives, veterans remember those lost
They came from Pimicikamak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba with a flag and prayers, to honour one of their own, a young soldier who died taking the beaches of Normandy in 1944.
Rose Beardy died on July 30, 1944, at the age of 26. His brother Sandy returned home to Cross Lake, Man., and spoke of a dream he’d had the night before Rose died, when he saw his brother in heaven.
Rose’s great-grandson, Tyrell Muskego, was part of a group of more than 20 high-school students from Pimicikamak Cree Nation who travelled to France to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day yesterday.
They joined a couple of hundred people and a dozen Second World War veterans for a ceremony at the war cemetery, which contains the graves of nearly 2,100 Canadian soldiers. After the speeches, wreath layings and a moment of silence, the students gathered around Beardy’s grave. They draped a Pimicikamak flag over his tombstone, held hands and prayed.
- At Juno Beach ceremony, Canadian veterans, leaders remind us to ‘stand for democracy’
- World leaders, veterans commemorate D-Day’s 80th anniversary in Normandy
- ‘We were happy to see them’: Children of D-Day remember the Canadians who landed on Normandy’s shores
- In small Normandy villages, a special reverence for Canadian liberators lives on
- ‘It’s the invasion! It’s D-Day! At last!’ What Canadian soldiers saw on Juno Beach in 1944
Tyrell Muskego, 18, from Cross Lake, Man., stands at the grave of his great grandfather who died in World War II, in the Canadian War Cemetery in Beny-Sur-Mer, in northern France, on June 5, 2024.Kiran Ridley/The Globe and Mail
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Also on our radar
Critics decry Biden’s new border strategy: President Joe Biden’s executive order promising strict new action to curb illegal migration into the United States will do little to solve the problem, officials in border states say. Critics of the plan say Biden seems to be seeking gains ahead of the presidential election by adopting some of former president Donald Trump’s tactics.
Border strike on the horizon as negotiations continue: Discussions are under way to stop a possible strike this week by workers involved in Canadian operations at the U.S. border, where hundreds of thousands of people and billions of dollars in goods and services flow every day. The Public Service Alliance of Canada says labour action by 9,000 Canada Border Services Agency employees will begin at 4 p.m. on Friday if continuing negotiations do not result in an agreement.
ANC considers Canadian-style minority deal: After suffering a humiliating drop in its electoral support, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress is considering a Canadian-style minority government arrangement to maintain its grip on power. The potential agreement would have some parallels with the deal negotiated by the Liberals and NDP in Canada in 2022.
Israeli strike on Gaza school: An Israeli strike early Thursday on a school-turned-shelter in central Gaza that the military claimed was being used as a Hamas compound killed at least 30 people, including five children, according to local health officials. Meanwhile, the United States, Britain, Canada, Germany and several other countries called on Hamas, which rules Gaza, to accept a proposal announced by U.S. President Joe Biden for a permanent ceasefire in the enclave, according to a joint statement.
Morning markets
World stocks were on the brink of an all-time high ahead of what was widely expected to be the European Central Bank’s first interest rate cut in nearly five years.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.7 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.2 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.9 per cent and France’s CAC 40 added 0.4 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.55 per cent higher at 38,703.51, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.28 per cent to 18,476.80.
The Canadian dollar traded at 73.05 U.S. cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Editorial: “Albertans expected Danielle Smith to fight Ottawa on issues such as climate and fiscal policy. They didn’t expect the Alberta Premier would do so much battling with municipalities in her own province. Her government says Bill 20, the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, will make elections fairer and elected municipal officials more accountable. Instead, the legislation is a ham-handed power grab for obscure ends, even with recent amendments.”
Doug Saunders: “Mr. Modi has never governed in a coalition, either as premier of Gujarat or as Prime Minister. He is accustomed to ordering executive measures – such as crackdowns on the media and on internet access, and the persecution and jailing of critics, journalists and opposition figures – that would not be tolerated in a coalition. This could leave him vulnerable to a non-confidence vote.”
Today’s editorial cartoon
Editorial cartoon by David Parkins, June 6, 2024.Illustration by David Parkins
Living better
Maximize your meals by cooking over an outdoor fire
Cooking over a fire is a deeply primal pleasure. Utilizing the existing heat of a dying fire to precook veggies is a great way to get a head start on future meals, and generate more complex flavours. Here’s a delicious recipe for fire-roasted eggplant and onion baba ghanoush.
Moment in time: June 6, 1933
First drive-in theater in Camden, N.J., 1933.ullstein bild Dtl./Getty Images
First drive-in movie theatre opens in Camden, N.J.
It was a very American invention. “Sit in your car,” invited the original tagline. “See and hear movies.” Beckoned by such a harmony of Hollywood and Detroit, who could say no? The answer, by the middle of the century, was hardly anyone. The first iteration in Camden, N.J., came with tinny sound and laboured to turn a profit, but drive-in movie theatres spread wildly across the United States in the next three decades, peaking at about 5,000 by the mid-1960s. The reasons for that popularity are a digest of postwar American culture: the proliferation of kids (who could be noisy at the drive-in); the rise of teen culture (where better to neck?); the adoration of the automobile; and, in the country that gave us the shopping cart and the washing machine, a lust for consumerist convenience. Eric Andrew-Gee, 2016
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