Evening Update: Moderna delays pose challenges to COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, Ottawa acknowledges; Canadian home prices hit record highs in March

Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:

The latest COVID-19 developments: Vaccine supply updates, new record daily cases in Ontario and more

The Public Health Agency of Canada has acknowledged the challenges provinces and territories are facing with the disruptions in COVID-19 vaccine shipments from Moderna, as it confirmed the next delivery will also be delayed.

Shipments from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have increased significantly in volume since January, but while vaccines from Pfizer arrive regularly each week, more than a month has passed since a shipment from Moderna arrived complete and on time.

Meanwhile, Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, the point man for this country’s vaccine rollout, is aiming to ensure provinces aren’t left scrambling when doses don’t arrive as planned. He said today that 855,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine that were to have arrived last week are now in the country and distribution should wrap up today.

Ontario is reporting a new daily record high of 4,736 cases today, while Grey Bruce Health Unit is telling residents to stay home for the next two days as variants of concern surge. The advisory is on top of Ontario’s pre-existing stay-at-home-order.

Separately, a study by researchers at the University of Oxford has found that the risk of developing rare blood clots is eight to 10 times higher in people with COVID-19 than in those who have been vaccinated.

Read more:

• Health Canada stands by approval of AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines
• André Picard: On AstraZeneca’s vaccine, we’ve lost our risk perspective
• Canada negotiating contracts for COVID-19 booster shots in 2022, procurement minister says

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Conservatives pitch consumer carbon pricing through savings account

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole is proposing a loyalty-card style of carbon pricing in which consumers would see what they pay on fuel stored into an account that can be used for green purchases later.

The “personal low carbon savings account” is a signature policy of the party’s plan to tackle climate change, which was unveiled today.

Making consumers pay a carbon price represents a major shift for the party, which has long campaigned on scrapping the program introduced by the Liberals under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Canadian home prices hit record highs in March, reaching ‘uncharted territory’

Home sales and prices in Canada reached another record in March, with prices spiraling up in the smaller regions in Ontario and B.C.

There were 76,259 home resales last month, a 5-per-cent increase over February, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. That was 76 per cent higher over March of last year when the pandemic started and lockdowns halted open houses, depressed sales and prices.

The home price index, which adjusts for sales and pricing volatility, was up 3 per cent from February to March on a seasonally adjusted basis to a record high of $713,700. That was 20 per cent higher than March of last year. The national average home price was $716,828, an increase of 32 per cent year over year.

Canada’s telecom regulator to force national carriers to sell access to regional rivals who commit to building own networks

ALSO ON OUR RADAR

CRTC ruling on wireless: Canada’s telecom regulator will force the Big Three national wireless carriers and SaskTel to sell access to their networks to regional competitors who commit to building their own network infrastructure.

No testimony from Chauvin: The defence at the murder trial of former officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd rested its case Thursday without putting Chauvin on the stand, presenting a total of two days of testimony to the prosecution’s two weeks.

U.S. slaps sanctions on Russia: The United States has imposed a broad array of sanctions on Russia to punish it for alleged interference in the 2020 U.S. election, cyber-hacking, bullying Ukraine and other “malign” acts. The measures blacklisted Russian companies, expelled Russian diplomats and placed limits on the Russian sovereign debt market.

Asylum-seekers ruling: The Federal Court of Appeal has found that a pact between Ottawa and Washington to turn back asylum-seekers entering Canada from the United States does not violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The naked MP: William Amos, who represents the Quebec riding of Pontiac, appeared on the screens of his fellow members of Parliament completely naked yesterday during a virtual House of Commons session. “This was an unfortunate error,” he said in a statement. Government house leader Pablo Rodriguez has asked the Speaker of the House of Commons to investigate a leaked photo of the incident.

Worth a thousand words: A photo symbolizing “love and compassion” of an 85-year-old Brazilian woman getting her first embrace in five months from a nurse through a transparent “hug curtain” has been named the World Press Photo of the Year. You can see other winning images here.

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MARKET WATCH

The S&P 500 and the Dow hit record highs today as easing inflation concerns boosted demand for richly valued technology stocks, while upbeat earnings reports and strong March retail sales raised hopes of a broader economic rebound. Canada’s main index joined in closing at a record high, with materials stocks leading the charge, thanks to both precious and base metals prices advancing.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 305.10 points or 0.90 per cent to 34,035.99, the S&P 500 added 45.76 points or 1.11 per cent to end at 4,170.42 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 180.92 points or 1.31 per cent to 14,038.76. The S&P/TSX Composite rose 150.26 points or 0.78 per cent to 19,321.92.

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TALKING POINTS

Jason Kenney, once considered invincible, is facing an uprising

“There is a theory that the caucus revolt is being managed – that it’s a piece of performative theatre approved by the Premier as a way of satiating a restriction-angry rural electorate. I think that would be too clever by half.” - Gary Mason

The Olympic jean jacket perfectly captures our never-ending struggle with national identity

The Canadian look at Tokyo 2021 includes, but is not limited to, a graffiti’d jean jacket. It’s less Iggy Pop, and more the sort of thing your grandmother would wear to the bingo if they served Jagerbombs there. - Cathal Kelly

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LIVING BETTER

With the weather warming up, it’s time to transition your wardrobe and put away the gear that saw you through winter’s worst. The Globe consulted experts for a list of best practices for stashing it all away. Their tips include:

• Evaluate and donate: If you haven’t worn something in more than a year, it might be time to get rid of it.
• Protect your sweaters: You can deter moths with common items ranging from lavender satchels to bay leaves and sticks of spearmint gum.
• Prepare for a cold snap: As temperatures can fluctuate well into May, leave some base layers - such as wool socks and thermal underwear - handy in a drawer.

TODAY’S LONG READ

Vegan fast-food chain plans public offering as it seeks to disrupt traditional players

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Almost five years ago, James McInnes pulled into a celebration of all things barbecued – the annual Ribfest in London, Ont. – and started serving burgers made with chickpeas from a food truck called “McVegans.” His vegan knockoff of McDonald’s Big Mac – cheekily called a “Big McInnes” – quickly sold out, starting its maker on the road to an initial public offering planned for tomorrow.

Globally Local Technologies, the vegan fast-food chain founded by McInnes and his wife Vasiliki McInnes on the heels of their successful food-truck venture, is raising $4.2-million to help pay for 20 new North American locations over the next year by going public on the TSX Venture Exchange.

Launching restaurants in the midst of a pandemic seems counterintuitive, yet the company has lineups at existing outlets, along with reams of research showing an increasing number of diners want healthy choices on takeout menus. The pandemic has boosted demand for the chain’s to-go meals, and the vegan approach satisfies a basic consumer need, McInnes said: “We remove the guilt from fast food.” Read Andrew Willis’s full story here.

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