Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Biden and Putin will seek to ‘restore common agenda’ at Lake Geneva summit
On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a range of issues including conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, as well as U.S. concerns about election meddling and cyberattacks.
Biden also hopes to deliver the message that there will be consequences if Putin attempts the kind of destabilizing activity the U.S. believes he got away with under former President Donald Trump.
Expectations for the summit are incredibly low, writes Mark MacKinnon, Senior International Correspondent at The Globe. A success might mean simply allowing their respective ambassadors to return to their posts in Washington, D.C., and Moscow.
Earlier this week, as the G7 summit was ending, Biden told reporters that the Queen had asked him about Putin, as well as about China’s Xi Jinping.
Opinion: Biden-Putin summit could be a triumph of progress, or a triumph of low expectations – Aurel Braun
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Ontario to commit $10-million to identify residential school burial sites
The Ontario government announced Tuesday that it is pledging $10-million over three years to identify, investigate and commemorate residential school burial sites across the province.
This is the first large funding commitment by a provincial government for the burial sites. Ontario’s commitment follows the recent announcement of the remains of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia.
Corporations such as SNC-Lavalin have also recently offered to help First Nations scour sites at former residential schools to search for unmarked graves.
Meanwhile, some communities are grappling with what to do with the buildings of former residential and day schools that are still standing.
Green Party Leader Annamie Paul rejects calls to resign
Paul rejected a call for her immediate resignation Tuesday, suggesting it ignored the will of the party’s membership.
Over the weekend, the Quebec wing of the Green Party called for her resignation after Fredericton MP Jenica Atwin crossed the floor last week to join the Liberals. Paul has been blamed for the defection.
Atwin was one of only three Green MPs in Parliament, and held the only Green seat outside of British Columbia.
Since joining the Liberals, Atwin has also changed her position on Israel to align with her new party, an issue that had reportedly caused tensions in her former party.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Travel to resume in much of Atlantic Canada on June 23: Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador plan to lift border restrictions and open to travel from across the region next week. The announcement was made Tuesday as COVID-19 rates steadily decline across the region. The change in policy means that travellers won’t have to isolate for 14 days after entering each province.
Royal Bank expands reach into booming Canadian tech sector: The bank is officially launching RBCx this week, a new platform that will include a broader set of products to provide capital to fast-growing tech companies. RBCx is led by Bay Street venture capital veteran Sid Paquette.
CREA forecasts 19-per-cent jump in home prices for 2021: Canada’s real estate association has revised its home price forecast higher, even as activity cools across the country. The CREA predicts the nation’s average selling price will increase by 19 per cent this year.
Could hydrogen revive Alberta’s energy sector?: The recent cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline has highlighted the need for Alberta to transition away from an oil-based economy. On today’s episode of The Decibel, The Globe’s energy reporter, Emma Graney, discusses hydrogen fuel and the role it could play in helping to reach net-zero-emissions.
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MARKET WATCH
Canada’s benchmark stock index closed above the 20,200 level for the first time today, even as U.S. stocks sagged, as a 2-per-cent spike in oil prices to their highest in more than two years boosted the energy sector.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 73.67 points or 0.37 per cent to 20,231.32.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 94.40 points or 0.27 per cent to 34,299.33, the S&P 500 lost 8.56 points or 0.2 per cent to end at 4,246.86 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 101.28 points or 0.71 per cent to 14,072.86.
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TALKING POINTS
Why I’ve accepted an honorary doctorate from a school named after Egerton Ryerson
“Ruinous names from the past don’t deserve to be part of our future; our lost names and our lost children deserve to be found and remembered. One way to do that is through the education our names had once denied us.” – Tanya Talaga
Hitting ‘Control-Alt-Delete’ on the world’s biggest corporate tax loophole
“The steps that G7 countries are pledging to take could have a huge impact on the future of corporate taxation. They aim to reduce the ability of multinationals to use legal and accounting techniques to lower tax bills by shuffling profits and expenses out of countries such as Canada.” – The Globe and Mail Editorial Board
The London, Ont., attack highlights the urgent need for Canadians to reach out beyond their own communities
“Keeping a safe distance from those of different backgrounds can only offer an incomplete and fragile sense of security. All communities, irrespective of background, must emerge from their self-imposed cocoons and become more inclusive.” – Alidad Mafinezam, contributor to The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Clean up your finances now to adjust to life after the pandemic
For most Canadians, the pandemic changed our finances. Whether we lost income, took on new mortgages or saved on expenses, we’ve probably been thinking about money differently during the last year-and-a-half.
But as vaccines roll out and things start to change, our wallets and bank accounts could face another shakeup.
Toronto-based chartered professional accountant Vanessa Bowen, founder of financial coaching service Mint Worthy, says now is the time for Canadians to re-evaluate their monetary habits. She’s got five tips for how to clean up a budget as life starts to inch back to normal.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Supplied
Indigenous poet explores legacy of residential schools in mixed-media book
NISHGA, a new book by Jordan Abel, defies genre. The work puts together elements of memoir, poetry and found documents, as well as collages that juxtapose his father’s artwork with the author’s own words.
The book meditates on intergenerational trauma, contemporary Indigenous existence, and what the author calls the afterlife of residential schools.
This excerpt from NISHGA includes short passages and artwork from various parts of the book.
Evening Update is written by Menaka Raman-Wilms. 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.