Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Scorching heat that has devastated Spain, Portugal and France with wildfires and hundreds of deaths in recent weeks is moving north to the United Kingdom, where officials worry people will be left ill-prepared for unprecedented temperatures.
The highest temperature ever recorded in the U.K. was 38.7 on July 25, 2019, in Cambridge. On Monday, the temperature hit 38.1 in Surrey, and forecasters say much of central England could reach 43 on Tuesday.
The heat was already affecting travel Monday – some rail services were disrupted over fears train tracks could warp, while two airports were also closed temporarily – and some hospitals cancelled surgeries because operating rooms were too hot.
There was no relief for other parts of Western Europe. In Spain and France, thousands were forced to flee their homes to escape wildfires worsened by swirling winds.
The common warning throughout Europe was that global warming is expected to make deadly, extreme temperatures a more regular occurrence. “Climate change kills,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday.
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Russia’s Gazprom warns Europe it cannot guarantee future supplies
Despite Canada agreeing to return a repaired turbine for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that ships Russian oil to Germany, Gazprom has told its European customers in a retroactive force majeure declaration that it can’t guarantee future gas deliveries.
“Gazprom’s declaration of force majeure regarding Nord Stream 1 is both unsurprising and entirely predictable,” said the head of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress advocacy group, Ihor Michalchyshyn. His group is among the chorus of critics who have slammed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for deciding to return the turbine, thereby breaking his own government’s sanctions against Russia.
Trudeau defended the decision by saying he did not want Canada to be responsible for interruptions of natural gas to European customers.
Business groups, Tories seek changes to Canadian tax system after Amazon findings
Tax-minimization strategies like those employed by Amazon (and revealed in a Globe and Mail investigation last week) create an uneven playing field where small businesses are the big losers, critics in industry groups and government opposition say.
“For years, small, independent businesses have worried that large multinationals can use complex corporate structures to minimize their taxes in Canada,” said Dan Kelly, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. “Without vigilance from Ottawa, these giant companies can have an unfair advantage over smaller firms.”
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Ottawa begins consultations on emissions cap for oil and gas sector: To meet its targets for cutting overall CO2 emissions, the Liberal government is considering either a cap-and-trade system that sets regulated limits on emissions from the oil and gas sector, or modifying the carbon price for heavy industrial emitters to create price incentives to drive down emissions.
Montreal booms, but headwinds are coming: About 4,700 jobs were created as part of $1.74-billion in non-Quebec investment in Montreal through the first half of 2022. But a sluggish global economy and questions about new language laws could combine to slow that economic growth, officials say.
Legal profession growing attuned to mental-health issues: Recent studies show rates of mental illness are much higher in the legal field than in the general population, and two prominent judges argue it’s part of the toll taken on people who strive relentlessly to succeed as lawyers and judges.
Suncor to explore Petro-Canada sale: Activist investor Elliot Investment Management has forced a shakeup at Suncor, Canada’s largest oil sands producer, including the appointment of three new directors who will be tasked with assessing a possible sale of its Petro-Canada gas-station network.
MARKET WATCH
Monday’s early gains on Wall Street were wiped out by the close after reports surfaced that Apple plans to slow hiring and spending growth next year, but energy stocks rallied north of the border, fuelling a higher close for the Canadian benchmark stock index.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 215.65 points, or 0.69 per cent, to 31,072.61, the S&P 500 lost 32.31 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 3,830.85 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 92.37 points, or 0.81 per cent to 11,360.05. On Bay Street, the S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 201.17 points, or 1.09 per cent, at 18,595.62.
The Canadian dollar traded at 77.02 cents US, up from 76.77 cents US on Friday.
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TALKING POINTS
Joe Biden’s futile trip to Saudi Arabia
Bessma Momani: “Mr. Biden claimed U.S. foreign policy would change from the Trump era. Yet there was Mr. Biden this weekend giving MBS a fist-bump and proceeding to sit across the table from the man who, for ordering the dismemberment of Mr. Khashoggi’s body, was dubbed Mr. Bone Saw. Saudi media reported that MBS used the meeting with Biden to point out the U.S.’s own human rights failures, from the 2004 Abu Ghraib prison abuses when the U.S. occupied Iraq to the most recent whitewashing of the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.”
Canada keeps making labour market mistakes by missing recession-era opportunities
Steve Tobin and Parisa Mahboubi: “During economic downturns, such as the one at the start of the pandemic, governments have focused too narrowly on income support when, in addition, they should also use these periods as opportunities to make the right investments in people and skills. There is no better time to do this than during a recession, when the cost of training an unemployed worker is low compared with having a worker take time off for formal training in prosperous times.”
LIVING BETTER
Still hungry after a meal? Here are five nutrient-packed foods to fill you up
Including the following healthy foods in meals can help you feel satisfied longer after eating. Leslie Beck explains why they are filling and what nutritional perks they come with, plus tips on how to add them to your meals and snacks.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Is kelp a climate solution? This B.C. company says its seaweed can help cut methane emissions
Workers Coburn Webster, left, and Jay Holder trim sugar kelp during the harvest at the Cormorant farm site in Tofino, B.C., on April 20, 2022.Chad Hipolito/The Globe and Mail
Seaweed cultivation is the fastest-growing sector in aquaculture, and Cascadia Seaweed Corp., a company based on the shores of Vancouver Island, is betting big on it. Proponents like Cascadia CEO Mike Williamson see kelp hitting a number of sweet spots in modern agriculture: it’s a renewable resource that can be used in food for both people and livestock, it has been shown to aid digestion in cows and as such could reduce methane emissions, and First Nations have partnered in harvesting it, boosting Indigenous economic development. If the fledgling sector can rise to several environmental and economic challenges, it has the potential to be a game changer.
Read the feature by Wendy Stueck.
Evening Update is compiled and written weekdays by an editor in The Globe’s live news department. 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.
Mason Wright