Good evening,
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Bank of Canada drops talk of coming rate hike, cuts growth outlook
The Bank of Canada has abandoned talk of hiking interest rates and says the economy will grow much more slowly than expected this year (for subscribers).
As expected, the central bank left its key interest rate unchanged at 1.75 per cent, saying the economy still needs low-rate fuel to counter a global slump and weak business activity at home.
BoC Governor Stephen Poloz and his central bank colleagues now say Canada’s economy will grow just 1.2 per cent this year, down from an estimate of 1.7 per cent just three months ago, before recovering next year.
The Canadian dollar dropped sharply after the announcement this morning, briefly slipping below 74 U.S. cents.
Flooding updates for Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario
Trans-Canada down to one lane near Fredericton: Rising waters have reduced the Trans-Canada Highway to a single lane east of Fredericton, and officials say the portion between Oromocto and Riverglade will be closed to traffic altogether as of 7 p.m. As the Saint John River continues to rise in the south, officials are warning residents of flood-prone areas to get out while they can.
State of emergency in Ontario: Meanwhile, the Central Ontario town of Bracebridge has declared a state of emergency after a number of local roads were washed out by the rising waters. Officials are advising people in a flood-prone neighbourhood to relocate. The mayor says residents should not assume things will improve in the coming days.
Quebec not out of danger: Authorities say rain forecast over the coming days and melting snow could further raise the water levels in the region between Gatineau and Montreal.
In depth: Flood maps, which show areas that are likely to flood, are invaluable sources of information for homeowners and civic officials. Yet the vast majority of Canadians do not have easy access to such maps.
The latest on the bombings in Sri Lanka
The suspects: Details have began to emerge in Sri Lanka of a group of nine, well-educated Islamist suicide bombers, including a woman, from well-to-do families who slaughtered 359 people in Easter Sunday bomb attacks. Intelligence officials believe that Mohamed Zahran, a Sri Lankan preacher known for militant views, may have been the mastermind.
Security shakeup: Sri Lanka’s President shook up the country’s top security establishment after officials failed to act on intelligence reports warning of possible attacks (for subscribers). The head of defence forces, the defence secretary and national police chief will all be replaced, but President Maithripala Sirisena did not say by whom.
New Progressive Conservative minority elected in Prince Edward Island
PEI voters have elected the Progressive Conservatives to a minority government, the province’s first since the 1800s. The Greens placed second – their best showing ever in Canadian provincial politics. The Tories, led by Dennis King, were elected in 12 ridings, while the Greens took eight. The incumbent Liberals fell to five seats, and Premier Wade MacLauchlan lost his seat.
Opinion: “Despite leading in the polls provincially for well over two years, a Green government was never really in the cards in 2019.” Peter McKenna, chair of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Playoff action: The NBA’s Toronto Raptors advance in historic fashion after beating the Orlando Magic in four straight games to take the series 4-1 (for subscribers). They will meet the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round. The schedule still to be determined.
All Canadian teams are out of the NHL playoffs, after the Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Boston Bruins (for subscribers). It’s the third Game 7 heartbreak for Leafs fans in seven years at Boston.
No screen time for babies, WHO says: The World Health Organization has issued its first guidance for how much screen time children under 5 should get: no more than one hour a day – and none at all for those younger than 1.
Joshua Boyle trial suspended: The assault trial of former Afghanistan hostage Joshua Boyle will be delayed for weeks or even months while the courts settle a dispute over whether his sexual history with his wife is admissible evidence.
B.C. health official calls for decriminalization: Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s health officer, has issued an urgent call to remove criminal penalties for people who use and possess personal amounts of illicit drugs, calling it a “necessary next step” in the response to the overdose crisis.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index fell today, as financial shares slipped after Bank of Canada held interest rates steady and energy stocks dropped (for subscribers). The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite index was down 82.88 points at 16,586.52.
Wall Street shrugged off some earnings misses and traded little changed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 59.34 points to 26,597.05, the S&P 500 lost 6.43 points to close at 2,927.25 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 18.81 points to 8,102.01.
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TALKING POINTS
The early days of Joe Biden’s campaign may make or break his run
After months of keeping Democrats guessing, Mr. Biden is set to enter the race himself on Thursday, becoming the 20th candidate in a crowded field. Rarely have Democrats been so ideologically divided, with this primary race shaping up to be a bitterly fought battle. - Konrad Yakabuski (for subscribers)
The Liberals’ CMHC mortgage madness is another subprime crisis waiting to happen
“This is a subprime lending plan that ought to raise red flags with taxpayers, who backstop the CMHC. The incentive is clearly aimed at millennials who can’t afford homes in the country’s largest cities.” - Rita Trichur (for subscribers)
The hulking, unstoppable Avengers: Endgame is genius, but of an evil and shockingly boring variety
“Endgame isn’t a movie in the traditional sense; it is a gaping maw intent on gobbling up the cultural conversation for the explicit purpose of fattening its belly.” - Barry Hertz (for subscribers)
LIVING BETTER
Margaret Atwood has chosen Barbara Gowdy’s 1998 novel The White Bone for The Globe and Mail’s new Book Club for subscribers. The novel was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, Governor-General’s Literary Award for Fiction and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Catherine Bush’s original review for The Globe described it as “a quest story" that “takes its readers into an alternate world seen through the eyes of an alien intelligence.” Find out how to participate and get all the latest updates at tgam.ca/bookclub.
LONG READ FOR A LONG COMMUTE
Nik Sharma: How the James Beard Award nominee went from immunology to food blogging
Nik Sharma puts his own story front and centre in his first cookbook, the James Beard Award-nominated Season, and his own hands on the cover, sprinkling a red spice onto a green cucumber salad. The 38-year-old California resident comes from Mumbai. He moved to the United States, he says, for two reasons: to study immunology and to come out. “There were no positive stories about gay men in India, none about them living their lives freely and openly. I knew I had to get out.”
After completing his studies, he worked as a lab researcher on the treatment of diseases in Washington, where he met Michael Frazier. In his off hours, he’d cook, introducing his now-husband to the food he grew up with, as well as reinventing North American classics, and blogging about his discoveries. When they moved from the East Coast for Mr. Frazier’s work, he encouraged Mr. Sharma to try writing about food full-time. With his blog as his calling card, Mr. Sharma soon landed a column at the San Francisco Chronicle.
His culinary project is one of reverse imperialism, the cook from the colonized culture reworking the foods of the colonizer to suit his palate, a representative of the East commenting on the cuisine of the West. Here, Mr. Sharma speaks about spicing up American classics, how science relates to recipes and the hardest part of blogging (for subscribers).
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