Skip to main content
evening update newsletter

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 23, 2018Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press

Good evening,

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Trudeau lauds TPP agreement as 'the right deal' for Canada

The revised trade agreement, without the United States, follows two days of high-level talks in Tokyo between Canada and the 10 other remaining Trans-Pacific Partnership economies. The partners will now work toward signing the agreement by early March. While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave his support for the renegotiated agreement, Canadian industries are split on the deal. Agricultural producers are expected to benefit while dairy farmers and substantial sections of the Canadian auto industry have come out in opposition.

Oscar nominations 2018: You can thank Trump and Weinstein for this year's slate

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled its 2018 Oscar nominations this morning. Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water paced all movies with 13 nominations, while Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk finished in second with eight nods. The Globe and Mail's Barry Hertz writes on why the Oscar nods are all about addressing various cultural urgencies, and pacifying specific industry players. As always, when the Oscar nominee list is revealed, there are some worthwhile candidates that are left off the list. Interested in figuring out who else was nominated? You can see the full list and read The Globe's reviews here.

Trudeau, in Davos speech, tells global super rich that Canada won't follow U.S. on tax cuts

Mr. Trudeau is currently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It was at the annual gathering of politicians, business bigwigs and global elite that Mr. Trudeau delivered a message that "too many corporations have put the pursuit of profit before the well-being of their workers … but that approach won't cut it any more." His comments suggested that Canada won't follow the U.S. in its tax-cutting, regulation-slashing ways.

Police probing Bell Canada data breach; up to 100,000 customers affected

Police are investigating a new data breach at Bell Canada, which says hackers have illegally obtained customer information, primarily subscriber names and e-mail addresses. The attack comes about eight months after hackers accessed nearly 1.9 million Bell customer e-mail addresses as well as 1,700 names and phone numbers.

Tsunami scare puts B.C.'s emergency warning protocol to the test

Hundreds of people, who evacuated their homes in several coastal British Columbia communities due to a tsunami warning issued after a powerful earthquake struck off Alaska, were back in their homes a few hours later. "Although the tsunami warning was eventually suspended, this event demonstrates that coast warning systems do work," B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said.

A couple of years ago The Globe explored how Canadian scientists are preparing for "the big one," the earthquake that has the potential to become the worst natural disaster in Canadian history. Experts estimate that there's a one-in-three chance that such an event will happen in the next 50 years. If you're interested in what would happen to our financial system if "the big one" struck, Report on Business looked at the financial fault lines.

This is the daily Evening Update newsletter, a roundup of the important stories of the day and what everyone is talking about that will be delivered to your inbox every weekday around 5 p.m. ET. If you're reading this online, or if someone forwarded this e-mail to you, you can sign up for Evening Update and all Globe newsletters here. Have feedback? Let us know what you think.

We also have a new weekly newsletter called Amplify that will inspire and challenge our readers while highlighting the voices, opinions and insights of women at The Globe and Mail. Amplify will have a different guest editor each week - a woman who works at The Globe - highlighting a topic of the author's choice. Sign up today.

MARKET WATCH

Canada's main stock index inched up slightly on Tuesday, led by technology and energy shares, offsetting declines in health care and telecommunication companies. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index closed up 0.06 per cent to end at 16,357.55. Meanwhile, U.S. stocks advanced as strong results from Netflix helped lift the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average were hemmed in by declines in Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble. The Dow fell 0.01 per cent to finish at 26,210.33, the S&P 500 gained 0.22 per cent to close at 2,839.14 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.71 per cent to end at 7,460.29.

WHAT'S TRENDING

In the latest example of consolidation in Canada's fragmented restaurant industry, Cara, the country's largest full-service restaurant company, said that it will acquire its upscale competitor The Keg in a deal valued at about $200-million in cash and shares. Cara plans to change its name after the deal closes.

TALKING POINTS

Innovative health-care programs exist – and work

"Our not-quite-universal medicare system, for all its faults and failures, provides good care most of the time, despite the medical, technological, administrative, political and financial challenges that providing health care to an aging population of 36 million entails. Practitioners are, by definition, problem solvers. Sometimes, policy makers and administrators latch onto those solutions, and scale and spread them so others can benefit." André Picard

Hunters: To protect our social licence, we have to stop killing animals we don't eat

"Here's the important part: most people can accept the idea of suffering and death if the hunter kills to fulfill a basic life requisite, such as feeding one's family; in contrast, most people oppose killing inedible animals for trivial reasons, such as feeding one's ego." Chris Darimont

After the Sears debacle, why is Ontario making it easier to underfund pensions?

"Leaving retirees to scramble in their golden years is cruel, and it is unconscionable to expect an overtaxed middle class to foot the bill for corporate chicanery. If governments won't stop companies from dodging their pension obligations, it's just a matter of time before we see the next Sears Canada. And that's a prospect that should worry us all." Rita Trichur (for subscribers)

LIVING BETTER

What impact will electronic cigarettes have on public health at large? It depends on whether the alternative to smoking helps individuals quit smoking or if it helps encourage youth to try traditional cigarettes. The findings are part of a major report commissioned by the U.S. Foood and Drug Administration. "In some circumstances, such as their use by non-smoking adolescents and young adults, their adverse effects clearly warrant concern," said David Eaton, of the University of Washington, who headed the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine committee that studied the issue. "In other cases, such as when adult smokers use them to quit smoking, they offer an opportunity to reduce smoking-related illness."

LONG READS FOR A LONG COMMUTE

A Canadian genius in Silicon Valley is leading the race to launch the driverless car

Canadian robotics genius Chris Urmson and his mysterious Silicon Valley startup are racing to commercialize the driverless car. But they're going up against his old employer, Google, plus just about every carmaker and tech giant in the world. (For subscribers)

Canadian archaeologists show a way forward for Indigenous reconciliation

The profession has long been involved in saving the evidence of that inconvenient Canadian truth: that Indigenous people were here first. But it has often done so clumsily and even brutally, and now many archeologists are determined to mend their ways.

Evening Update is written by Josh Hargreaves, 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.

Interact with The Globe