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TC Energy Corp. is terminating the Keystone XL pipeline, ending a project that appeared to have run out of options after Joe Biden pulled its permit as one of his first official acts as U.S. President.

The Calgary-based company’s decision on Wednesday formally ends a 13-year regulatory odyssey that saw the proposed pipeline blocked twice by former president Barack Obama and revived by his successor Donald Trump. The project’s cancellation is a significant blow to Alberta, whose economy has struggled in the face of constrained pipeline access and whose government bought an ownership stake last year.

Keystone XL, which had become a focal point for climate change activists in Canada and the U.S., was designed to ship 830,000 barrels of crude a day along a 1,947-kilometre route from Hardisty, Alta., to Steele City, Neb. It would have given Alberta oil companies a long-sought direct route to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

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A yard in Gascoyne, N.D., which has hundreds of kilometres of pipes stacked inside it, on April 22, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Alex PanettaAlex Panetta/The Canadian Press

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Travel rules to ease for fully vaccinated Canadians in July, while Ottawa works out vaccine passport standards

The federal government unveiled plans yesterday to ease border restrictions in early July for fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents, but acknowledged a national vaccine passport system in the works to verify that people have been immunized won’t be ready in time.

The changes also mean qualifying travellers who arrive by air can skip government-mandated quarantine hotels.

Starting early next month, fully vaccinated Canadians, permanent residents and other essential travellers will be subject to a far shorter quarantine – measured in days, not weeks – as long as they test negative for COVID-19, Ottawa announced Wednesday. The new rules will apply to people who travel to Canada more than two weeks after their final shot, Health Minister Patty Hajdu said.

Read more:

Moderna to exceed revised delivery target of COVID-19 vaccines for Canada

Canadian study shows success of treatment for blood clots connected with AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccination

Manitoba launches vaccine lottery to offer incentives to get a shot, offering $2-million in prizes

Ontario urged to reduce 12-week interval between AstraZeneca doses

Editorial: Thanks to a coming boost to Canada’s vaccine supply, pandemic victory is finally in sight

Residential day school students reach settlement deal with Ottawa

Former students who attended residential schools during daytime hours and their children have been recognized for the harms they experienced in a proposed settlement agreement after a 14-year legal battle.

The agreement, which will have to be approved by the Federal Court, proposes $10,000 for each eligible day scholar as well as $50-million for a Day Scholars Revitalization Fund, designed to support healing as well as the reclaiming of language and culture.

“That harm is what is being recognized today,” Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett said in an interview with The Globe and Mail. “Just by attending these schools, harm was done and the harm is still being done in the intergenerational trauma amongst the descendants and communities.”

Konrad Yakabuski: Even after Kamloops, the Catholic Church opts for obfuscation

China lags on innovation - can it catch up?

Nathan VanderKlippe, The Globe’s Asia correspondent, has watched China change since he moved to Beijing in 2013. In the latest in his series on China, he looks at innovation, and how the country’s government is spending billions to try and catch up in making the building blocks of industry.

Other new pieces in this series include China prizes education, so why are some children still left behind? and, Why do so many Chinese international students in Canada end up back home?


Going for gold under the cloud of COVID-19 makes the Tokyo Summer Games an Olympics like no other. Tokyo Olympics Update is here to help you make sense of it all, with original stories from Globe reporters in Canada and Tokyo, tracking Team Canada’s medal wins, and past Olympic moments from iconic performances.

Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop


ALSO ON OUR RADAR

NDP Leader urges federal government to act on online hate following London attack: NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the federal government must introduce long-promised legislation that forces online platforms to quickly remove illegal hate speech upon notice. His comments follow this week’s deadly attack on a Muslim family in London, Ont.

The Decibel podcast: Host Tamara Khandaker speaks to London, Ont., residents Javeed Sukhera and Jeff Bennett about experiencing and witnessing racism in London, and what needs to happen to move the conversation forward on Islamophobia in Canada.

Opinion: Islamophobia begins with ideas. It always ends in violence

Ontario to use notwithstanding clause to override ruling on election advertising: Premier Doug Ford’s government is calling back the Ontario Legislature to invoke the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause and override a recent court ruling that tossed out new rules limiting third-party political advertising before elections.

G7 leaders urged to share vaccine supply with developing countries: Few issues throughout the COVID-19 pandemic have better illustrated the gulf between rich and poor countries than access to vaccines. The G7 countries have each ordered hundreds of millions of doses and are close to immunizing their adult populations. But developing countries lag far behind and in Africa alone just 2 per cent of people have had one shot.

Also: Biden looks to shore up U.S. alliances, promote democracy at G7 and NATO summits ahead of Putin meeting

Former top Bombardier executive charged in corruption probe: A former top employee of Bombardier Inc. has been charged in Sweden with aggravated bribery in connection with a lucrative contract the company won in Azerbaijan.

Most Canadians have reservations about Quebec’s push to amend Constitution, survey shows: Nearly three in four Canadians oppose or somewhat oppose Quebec’s plans to amend the federal Constitution for a new language policy unveiled by Quebec Premier François Legault last month, according to a new Nanos Research survey.

Opinion: Quebec’s Bill 96 has its merits, notwithstanding one big flaw

Gallagher excited for another chance to bring Cup to Montreal: Brendan Gallagher thinks back to the spring of 2014. He was 22 and completing his second season in the National Hockey League. The Canadiens put together a significant playoff run before they lost to the New York Rangers in the conference final. It was a disappointment, but Gallagher was buoyed by the confidence of youth. Surely, another chance to win the Stanley Cup awaited just around the corner. The next one didn’t come until now.


MORNING MARKETS

World markets await U.S. inflation figures: Global shares hovered near a record high and the U.S. dollar also held steady on Thursday, eyeing U.S. inflation data for any sign the Federal Reserve could start tapering its massive stimulus. Just after 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.25 per cent. Germany’s DAX was flat while France’s CAC 40 slid 0.22 per cent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.34 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.01 per cent. New York futures were little changed. The Canadian dollar was trading at 82.60 US cents.


WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

David Parkinson: “The Bank of Canada seems pretty intent on ignoring, as much as possible, the raging Canadian dollar. In most instances, that would be a bad idea. In the current circumstances, it may be good policy.”

John Ibbitson: “China is the world’s most populous country, with the world’s second-largest economy. And it is a nuclear power. But the evidence of its abusive treatment of ethnic minorities is beyond dispute. The government in Beijing has lost all moral authority. It has become a rogue state. A large and powerful rogue state, but a rogue state nonetheless.”

Kate Taylor: “You will see more realistic and interesting Black and Asian characters and stories on screen if you have more Black and Asian professionals behind the camera.”


TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

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Brian GableBrian Gable/The Globe and Mail


LIVING BETTER

Renters, here are seven financial advantages over homeowners

Renting can be expensive in its own right. But ideally, you can create a track of wealth creation that runs parallel to the property owner’s rising equity. You do this by investing the money you save because you don’t own. Here are seven ways to find the money.


MOMENT IN TIME: JUNE 10, 1937

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The Globe and Mail's new airplane, a De Havilland Dragon Rapide, moves slowly across the water, c. June 1937.John Boyd/The Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail unveils the Flying Newsroom

An article about The Globe and Mail’s first flying newsroom described the De Havilland Dragon Rapide as “an aristocrat of the sky” when it was unveiled on this day in 1937. The plane was painted orange, The Globe’s colour scheme of the day, and was fitted with two 200-horsepower engines. The Rapide carried five passengers and a pilot, and it could be fitted with wheels, skis or pontoons to land pretty much anywhere. One of its first missions was a tour of U.S. airports including those in Buffalo and Cleveland, reporting on their operations to inform how Toronto should develop its own airfield. It also flew to Montreal to cover the arrival of the first regularly scheduled flight between Britain and Canada – with First World War ace Billy Bishop observing from aboard the flying newsroom. A tour of mining operations in Northern Ontario followed for editor Sidney Norman, which he considered an “ultramodern” way to gather news. The aircraft was equipped with a wireless telephone and a revolutionary portable wire-photo transmitter. But the grand dreams of the flying newsroom were cut short by fire. The Rapide was destroyed during refuelling in Toronto less than three months after being put into service. Patrick Dell


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