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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Doug Ford orders review of appointments after departure of another Dean French relative
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has ordered a review of all pending patronage appointments after another post connected to his former chief of staff Dean French was revealed.
Katherine Pal resigned from the Public Accountants Council of Ontario today after revelations that she is a niece of French.
He resigned in the midst of a patronage scandal on Friday, hours after Ford abruptly revoked the appointments of two new agents-general that came with salaries of $165,000 to $185,000. One was French’s wife’s second cousin and the other was his son’s friend.
Opinion: “The scandal that rid him of Mr. French is the real opportunity for a reboot. Mr. Ford is an unusual politician and he had an obvious rookie leader problem: He is a non-managing premier who let an aide mismanage government.” - Campbell Clark
Raptors president Masai Ujiri happy to stay in Toronto, calls meetings with Kawhi Leonard ‘positive’
While Canadian basketball fans await word of whether superstar Kawhi Leonard will move on in free agency, Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri held an end-of-season news conference confirming that at least he is staying.
Reports surfaced shortly after the Raptors won their first NBA title that the Washington Wizards were preparing a lucrative offer to lure Ujiri. Today he called other teams expressing interest in him a “blessing,” but said he is happy in Toronto.
He also said he has met with Leonard, calling the discussions “positive” but he didn’t provide details.
Opinion: Cathal Kelly sets the scene: “Ujiri started out in a sweat. He moved to tears. He said his kids were Canadian. He said he wouldn’t go to the White House. He told a story about making up with DeMar DeRozan. He said he’d been talking to former coach Dwane Casey, and those two aren’t exactly best pals.”
In other Raptors news, forward Pascal Siakam – known to the faithful as Spicy P – last night won the NBA’s most improved player award.
End of an era as Bombardier sells regional jet program to Japan’s Mitsubishi
Bombardier has struck a deal to sell its money-losing Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) program to Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, bringing to a close the Montreal-based company’s commercial aviation ambitions after a three-decade expansion.
Mitsubishi will take over all the maintenance, support, refurbishment, marketing and sales activities for the CRJ but not its manufacturing operations.
Bombardier will build the remaining CRJ planes on order at a site in Mirabel, Que. It was not immediately clear how many workers would be kept on once the last of those remaining aircraft are built as expected by the end of next year.
In other airline news: Real estate developer Group Mach said today its $527.6-million bid to acquire tour operator Transat AT does not need to rely on funding from Quebec, making the offer more attractive than Air Canada’s.
Earlier this month, Group Mach made a bid to take Transat private at $14 a share, $1 more than Air Canada’s offer. But Air Canada argued its bid was more attractive as it was fully financed and did not require taxpayers’ assistance.
Transat is locked in an exclusivity period with Air Canada that ends tomorrow.
And: Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau has given his approval to Onex’s $3.5-billion acquisition of WestJet, which shareholders will vote on next month.
Get the latest and catch up on the background of the WestJet and Transat deals here.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Trump threatens Iran with retaliation: U.S. President Donald Trump today threatened to obliterate parts of Iran if it attacked “anything American” after Tehran said the latest U.S. sanctions had scuttled any chance of diplomacy, calling White House actions “mentally retarded.”
Wickenheiser headed to HHOF: Canadian women’s star Hayley Wickenheiser has been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility, and will become the sixth woman in history inducted. Separately, the NHL released its 2019-2020 schedule, which includes the annual outdoor Heritage Classic to be played in Regina and a Vancouver Canucks 50th anniversary celebration.
Climate change’s effect on New Brunswick: A new report says climate change events such as flooding and ice storms are affecting the health of New Brunswickers, and calls on government, communities and the public to take action.
New world No. 1 restaurant: Mirazur, on the French Riviera, was crowned No. 1 at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony, climbing from third last year to replace Italy’s Osteria Francescana.
Calgary wins hosting bid: Calgary will play host to the World Petroleum Congress, the so-called “Olympics of the oil and gas industry,” in 2023, and business leaders hope that it will serve as a tonic for the city’s economic funk.
MARKET WATCH
On Wall Street, equity markets slid today on disappointing economic data and uncertainty that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in July as has been expected.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 179.32 points to 26,548.22, the S&P 500 lost 27.97 points to end at 2,917.38, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 120.98 points to 7,884.72
In Toronto, the S&P TSX composite index dropped 152.19 points to 16,371.28, with all of the 11 major sectors finishing lower on the day.
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TALKING POINTS
The Conservative climate plan is a sad joke
“The Conservative plan has more holes in it than a fashionable pair of jeans. It makes no mention, unsurprisingly, of the party’s plans to build more pipelines across the country and the impact that would have on emissions.” - Gary Mason
Cautionary TV shows like Chernobyl and When They See Us are tough to watch, but that’s why you should
“Not only do I urge you to watch, I’d argue that you must. Because Chernobyl and When They See Us are not period pieces, and The Handmaid’s Tale is not pure fantasy. Everything they warn against is happening right now.” - Johanna Schneller
LIVING BETTER
If you’re planning on fixing your car before you trade it in, you could end up spending more money than you save. When dealers are figuring out the trade-in value of your car, they deduct what they think it will cost them to recondition your car. And it’s more than likely they can recondition or repair your car for a lot less money than you can. DIY repairs that aren’t done properly can also lower your car’s trade-in value.
LONG READ FOR A LONG COMMUTE
Founder Tobias Lütke on Shopify’s lack of profits, Canada’s ‘go-for-bronze’ mentality and life as a multibillionaire
It’s hard to imagine a CEO more willing to entertain an abstract idea than Tobias Lütke. The software-as-a-service industry probably lends itself to this quality more than most, given the intangible nature of the product. Even so, the German-born Lütke has a unique ability to carve through the clutter of business concerns to articulate problems and solutions at their essence.
The company Lütke and his team have built - now with more than 4,000 employees - is a growing force not only in the world of e-commerce, but in the Canadian economy. And as a facilitator and champion of entrepreneurial success, providing the tools to sell products online, it has the potential to make a material difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of small-business entrepreneurs around the world.
Read our interview with Shopify’s founder here.
Photo by Shalan and Paul for The Globe and MailShalan and Paul/The Globe and Mail
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