Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Toronto’s Black residents received an apology from the city’s interim police chief on Wednesday as the force released previously unseen race-based data showing disproportionate use of force on them, although the gesture was immediately rejected by some.
Interim chief James Ramer said the force needs to do better.
“As an organization, we have not done enough to ensure that every person in our city receives fair and unbiased policing,” he said at a news conference. “For this, as chief of police and on behalf of the service, I am sorry and I apologize unreservedly.”
The newly released statistics show Black people faced a disproportionate amount of police enforcement and use of force and were more likely to have an officer point a gun at them – whether perceived as armed or unarmed – than white people in the same situation.
Toronto Police Chief James Ramer attends a news conference at Toronto Police headquarters on Oct. 15, 2020.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
U.S. Fed hikes rates by three-quarters of a percentage point, flags slowing economy
The Federal Reserve raised its target interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday to stem a disruptive surge in inflation, and projected a slowing economy and rising unemployment in the months to come.
The rate hike was the biggest announced by the U.S. central bank since 1994, and was delivered after recent data showed little progress in its battle to control a sharp spike in prices.
U.S. central bank officials flagged a faster path of rate hikes to come as well, more closely aligning monetary policy with a rapid shift this week in financial market views of what it will take to bring price pressures under control.
“Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher energy prices and broader price pressures,” the central bank’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement at the end of its latest two-day meeting in Washington. “The committee is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2% objective.”
The statement continued to cite the Ukraine war and China lockdown policies as sources of additional inflation pressures.
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, June 15, 2022.Seth Wenig/The Associated Press
Chinese President Xi tells Russian President Putin all sides should work to resolve Ukraine crisis
Chinese President Xi Jinping told Russian leader Vladimir Putin Wednesday that all sides should work toward resolving the crisis in Ukraine “in a responsible manner.”
“China is willing to continue to play a role in this regard,” Mr. Xi said in a phone call.
Despite intense international pressure, Beijing has refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and has repeatedly called for a negotiated settlement. China claims neutrality in the war, but Mr. Xi has yet to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Chinese diplomats and state media frequently boost Russian propaganda and disinformation.
In the lead-up to the invasion, Mr. Putin travelled to Beijing for the Winter Olympics, where he met with Mr. Xi. They released a joint statement blasting NATO expansion and criticizing the West. After Russian troops rolled into Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi said ties between Russia and China remained “rock solid.”
Read more Ukraine-Russia coverage:
- Russian government slashes sale price of Kinross mines in half
- Ukraine defies Russia’s ultimatum to surrender eastern city of Sievierodonetsk
Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin looks towards each other during their meeting in Beijing, China, on Feb. 4, 2022.Alexei Druzhinin/The Associated Press
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Canadian home sales, prices fall for second straight month in May as ‘new interest-rate reality’ sinks in: Canadian home prices and sales dropped in May in a second straight month of declines, as a sharp jump in borrowing costs rattles the market and makes it harder for homebuyers to get a mortgage.
‘COVID hasn’t gone away’: Five things health experts say we must do to end the pandemic: It may be tempting to put the pandemic in the past, now that governments have eased public-health restrictions and waste-water testing suggests rates of infection have declined since early spring. But the struggle against COVID-19 isn’t over, says Dr. Gerald Evans, a member of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table.
Meet Christine Jones, the Canadian set designer who imagined the wizarding world of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: As soon as you enter Toronto’s CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, you’re already in an immersive visual world imagined by the show’s Canadian-American set designer, Christine Jones.
Money laundering report faults B.C. Liberals and RCMP, but finds no corruption evidence: A report into money laundering in British Columbia says lack of attention by the RCMP let the crime rise unchecked, allowing billions into the financial system, while provincial politicians knew suspicious cash was circulating in Vancouver-area casinos but didn’t do enough to stop it.
MARKET WATCH
North American stock markets broke multi-day losing streaks after the U.S. Federal Reserve adopted the largest interest rate increase since 1994 and vowed to remain aggressive in tackling soaring inflation.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 63.05 points to 19,611.56.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 300.70 points at 30,668.53. The S&P 500 index was up 54.51 points at 3,789.99, while the Nasdaq composite was up 270.80 points or 2.5 per cent at 11,099.15.
The Canadian dollar traded for 77.23 cents US compared with 77.28 cents US on Tuesday.
The July crude contract was down US$3.62 at US$115.31 per barrel and the July natural gas contract was up 23.1 cents at US$7.42 per mmBTU.
The August gold contract was up US$6.10 at US$1,819.60 an ounce and the July copper contract was up less than a penny at US$4.16 a pound.
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TALKING POINTS
The absolute rejection of sedition should be a non-negotiable part of democratic politics
“Can Conservative supporters or Canadian voters trust a candidate who is unclear about his or her own views on the illegal and seditious overthrow of a duly elected government? What other critical institutional protections for Canadian democracy might someone who does not care about sedition also dismiss as unimportant: the presumption of innocence, freedom of the press, freedom of religion or multiculturalism?” – Hugh Segal
Partying with the Russians: the message is, this will all blow over some day
“The clear implication is that Russia’s crimes – including, according to a unanimous vote of Parliament, genocide – are not so serious as all that. It may be a pariah state now, diplomatically isolated and subject to the most severe international sanctions. But once all this war stuff blows over we can all get back to business: indeed, to business-as-usual.” – Andrew Coyne
Liz Cheney is making headway in slaying the Trump dragon
“At a time when the country’s democracy teeters, when a great many in her Republican party appear to be comfortable with a form of fascism, Ms. Cheney is showing the courage to confront them and their leader, Donald Trump, head on.” – Lawrence Martin
LIVING BETTER
The ultimate escape plan: Avoid the crowds and go skiing this summer
In the West, skiers enjoyed terrific late-spring conditions, with powder dumps landing in the Rockies as late as mid-May. This spring, there was no need to wait for the glorious sugary, corn-snow conditions to materialize or schuss through snow as mushy as mashed potatoes.
But even as most resorts pivot to mountain biking guests, some skiers and snowboarders just can’t bear to hang up their gear. Especially when the southern hemisphere finally opens to international travellers and winter snowfall is accumulating.
“I put away my flip flops [and] I pack my ski boots,” Squamish resident Jill Dunnigan said. “It just feels so wrong that it’s right.”
She runs a ski guide business in Whistler but still longs to immerse herself in another country’s culture and ski scene during the off season. One August she fell in love with everything else Argentina has to offer before working on her goggle tan. “[We explored] Buenos Aires, which is called the Paris of South America. We loved the food, the wine, it was just amazing from that perspective.”
Depending on just how far powderhounds want to travel, glacier skiing is possible all summer in the U.S. and Europe, while snow dumps in Australia and Argentina have meant some southern hemisphere resorts opened earlier than usual.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Backyard chickens in the Arctic? How one woman took a crack at chicken farming in Inuvik
Raygan Solotki and Daisy.Nancy Macdonald/The Globe and Mail
The rust-coloured hens running around like maniacs in Raygan Solotki’s downtown Inuvik yard are getting their first taste of the outdoors this year. It’s May, and they’ve spent the past seven months inside Ms. Solotki’s heated tool shed.
The beady-eyed survivors of an especially brutal Arctic winter are proof that even here, 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, backyard chickens can thrive. “Empowering people to grow their own food is super important,” says Solotki, the executive director of Green Iglu, a charity focused on food security. “But you’re never going to create vegetarians in the Arctic. And you’re not going to solve food insecurity with lettuce.”
Solotki, a former Inuvik town councillor and volunteer firefighter, got the idea for the birds after visiting Rovaniemi, a community in Lapland, Finland’s northernmost region. “They have a climate similar to ours and are producing enough cheese from their cow farm to feed their entire population.”
So she set out to prove that small-scale farming was possible in Canada’s Far North, too. Once the hens were inbound, however, Ms. Solotki began to panic: “Will they go stir crazy? What do they need? How much light do they need? Do they need to go for a walk? Like, do I need little chicken harnesses?”
She never did buy them leashes. “But I’m not gonna lie. My chickens have a great life.”
Evening Update is written by Emerald Bensadoun. 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.