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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Canada to retaliate with dollar-for-dollar tariffs against U.S. products
The United States is engaged in an escalating trade war on several fronts, with Canada, Mexico and the European Union fighting back after the Trump administration announced tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum imports. Canada is the biggest supplier of both metals to the U.S. and its retaliation plan will slap tariffs on $16.6-billion worth of U.S. steel and aluminum imports as well as other products, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said. The countermeasures will go into effect on July 1. The U.S. duties will take effect as of midnight tonight. Mexico responded by imposing “equivalent” measures on farm and industrial products, which are expected to hit states with heavy agricultural production, many of which supported U.S. President Donald Trump. Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, called the U.S. actions “totally unacceptable.” Canada, Mexico and the European Union were initially exempt from the tariffs when they were imposed earlier this year in the name of “national security.” All three are U.S. allies. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the Trump administration’s move an affront to the relationship between Canada and the U.S. The tariffs have heightened tensions ahead of next month’s G7 meetings, which will be held in Charlevoix, Que. It is unclear yet how America’s allies, many of which the U.S. is in the midst of a trade war with, will react at the summit. (for subscribers)
How did it get to this point? We have a guide on the trade file that breaks down everything you need to know.
John Ibbitson writes that the U.S. president has launched an assault on the West: “Bretton Woods. The Marshall Plan. GATT. NATO. In the late 1940s, the United States forged a military and economic alliance with its European, Canadian and Pacific allies that we call the West, which brought peace and prosperity such as the world had never seen. For the past seven decades there has been no major war between great powers. Over those decades, extreme poverty fell from three-quarters of the world’s population to less than a tenth, and global life expectancy increased from 48 years to 70 years. But Donald Trump doesn’t like the Western alliance − for reasons that we must leave to future historians − and Thursday, he took a big step toward wrecking it by imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.” (for subscribers)
Public money, private influence: How some of our vital public institutions are vulnerable
His name is Spiros Papathanasakis. He is a tireless campaigner for the poor, but also for corporations and his friends. A Globe investigation reveals the influence of one man’s decades-long odyssey through Ontario’s public institutions. Mr. Papathanasakis is probably best known for his role in running the Cabbagetown Youth Centre, where he acts as an advocate for at-risk youth. But over the course of two decades, four public institutions in Canada’s most populous province have been manipulated by external forces. The Globe investigates how they are connected. (for subscribers)
Investigative reporters Greg McArthur and Karen Howlett take you behind the scenes of their four-year odyssey investigating three levels of government and four public institutions in this video.
Doug Ford says he isn’t breaking promise to release fully costed platform
Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford is defending his party’s decision to quietly release a list of pledges with dollar figures attached to them instead of a fully costed platform. Mr. Ford, speaking in London, Ont., said he is “not breaking my promise at all” to release a fully costed platform ahead of election day. Both the Ontario Liberals and NDP have released a fully costed platform. Mr. Ford has said that once in power the PCs would find billions in unspecified “efficiencies.” He also added that his party would run deficits for the first two or three years before finding a path to balance. The Tories haven’t released a plan to eliminate the deficit but Mr. Ford insists that his is the “only party that’s fiscally responsible.”
Ontario votes in one week. If you need to get caught up on the leaders, the parties, the platforms and what’s happened, we’ve built a guide to the election campaign.
Ancient genes reveal first Americans separated and reunited on their way south
How did people first settle the continents of North and South America? According to the most extensive genetic survey of early North Americans, hunter-gatherers came from Siberia 18,000 to 15,000 years ago and split into two distinct groups where they remained in isolation for centuries. Later, the populations that were once together were united once again when generations populated what is now known as Central and South America. Christina Sheib, the lead author on the study, says that “we’re seeing a lot more movement throughout time than I think people assumed.” The interpretation posited in the study, if correct, sheds light on how the ancestors of the Indigenous peoples in North and South America adapted to environmental and societal factors.
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MARKET WATCH
Canadian stocks finished flat on Thursday after the United States moved to impose tariffs on metal imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union, prompting retaliatory measures from some of its trading partners. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.08 per cent to close at 16,061.50. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.02 per cent to end at 24,416.19, the S&P 500 lost 0.69 per cent to finish at 2,705.31 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.27 per cent to close at 7,442.12.
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WHAT’S TRENDING ON SOCIAL
Comic Samantha Bee is under fire for referring to Ivanka Trump, advisor and daughter to the president, with a vulgar slur on her TBS comedy show.
TALKING POINTS
Trump leaves mark on NFL’s new protest policy
“The U.S. President has largely helped define the NFL player protests as a demonstration against the flag and the men and women who risk their lives defending it. Ironically, Mr. Kaepernick began his act of defiance by sitting during anthems. After a meeting with a former NFL player and Green Beret, Nate Boyer, he started going down on one knee instead. It was Mr. Boyer’s idea, as he thought it was also an act of deference to the flag. It was never intended to be unpatriotic. Rather, it was solely intended to draw attention to police brutality against black citizens without provocation. Almost on cue, the day the NFL announced its new policy, police in Milwaukee released bodycam video of officers using a taser on a black man outside a drugstore at 2 a.m. Turned out it was a player with the NBA Milwaukee Bucks, who was questioned by an officer for parking horizontally across the painted lines of a couple of stalls while he dashed inside to buy something. The lot was virtually empty. Soon, a phalanx of mostly white officers arrived, and quickly, Sterling Brown, who had done nothing to provoke the police, was on the ground, moaning from electric shock. This is what the NFL anthem protest is all about. Now the league has killed it, and it should be ashamed.” — Gary Mason
Ahead of G7 summit, will Trudeau sidestep the many potential pitfalls?
“Canada will probably steer the summit to significant success, although it is likely to extend its long-standing focus on security topics. The summit is set to produce historic support for military force against Syria’s use of chemical weapons; more unified, effective, punitive and deterrent action against Russia through stronger sanctions, cybersecurity and support for Ukraine; and new moves against terrorism and nuclear and missile proliferation. Additionally, Charlevoix will be the G7’s and world’s first genuine gender equality summit, via the innovation of linking gender to issues of economic growth, society and sustainability. Other probable developments include fostering co-operation on trade and investment and ecological protection against plastics and coastal pollution, as well as addressing climate change and overfishing, and supporting resilient communities and clean energy. Such success will be enhanced by Charlevoix’s isolated setting, the experience of its participants, the likeability of Mr. Trudeau, and Mr. Trump’s love of striking high-profile deals.” — John Kirton and Brittany Warren
The U.S. is tearing children from their parents – and so are we
“In Manitoba, almost 90 per cent of children in foster care are Indigenous. A recent study in the journal Pediatrics following almost 6,000 teenage mothers in the province found that those who were in foster care themselves were seven times more likely to have their own children put into care. Apprehending children instead of finding a way to help their mothers succeed is creating another generation of fractured Indigenous families. It also highlights another long history of separating parent and child: the global scourge of young or unwed mothers seen as unfit to raise their own babies. The list of marginalized families that Canada tears apart is long. Black children are also overrepresented in foster care, the latest form of black familial disruption. Migrant workers are often denied the ability to bring their loved ones here, either entirely, or only after such a long delay that parents and children have become strangers.” — Denise Balkissoon
LIVING BETTER
Want to garden but don’t have a large expanse of back yard or front yard space? Tending to your own plot of earth, no matter how small, is correlated with a variety of positive health outcomes. David Turnbull, horticultural director of a gardening and flower festival, says it’s most important to first consider your garden’s viewing perspective: “Is the view for you from the inside of your condo or apartment, from the outside when enjoying your space, or for someone from the outside of your property?”
LONG READ FOR A LONG COMMUTE
As goes Peterborough, so goes Ontario. Who will voters choose?
Ontario is one week away from election day and opinion polls are largely showing that it has boiled down to a two-party race between the Ontario Progressive Conservatives and the Ontario NDP, with the governing Liberals in third place. Since 1977, Peterborough has elected MPPs from the parties that form the government. The Globe’s Roy MacGregor looks at who’s running and what’s at stake in the bellwether riding.
Evening Update is written by Mayaz Alam and Kristene Quan. 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.
Mayaz Alam