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

Canada’s top Mountie says she wasn’t aware for several months that a report documenting morale problems among RCMP officers in Nova Scotia had been completed.

Commissioner Brenda Lucki testified Tuesday before the inquiry that is examining how a gunman driving a replica police car carried out 22 murders over 13 hours in mid-April, 2020.

Lucki said it was only in June of this year that she saw the “wellness report” that had been prepared for the RCMP about its Nova Scotia division. The report by Ottawa-based consultant group Quintet Consulting Corp. was completed in September, 2021.

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Ottawa signs EV deals with Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen

The federal government has signed separate agreements with Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, paving the way for the two German auto manufacturers to secure access to Canadian raw materials for batteries in electric vehicles.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz observed the signing ceremony at a Toronto event hosted by the Canadian-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

In a release, Ottawa said these agreements will “help secure Canada’s position as a leading centre of excellence for the manufacturing of electric vehicles and batteries.”

Health Minister appoints chief nursing officer to offer input on care concerns

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos has named Leigh Chapman to the newly reinstated role of chief federal nursing officer to weigh in on issues facing Canada’s health systems.

In February, Ottawa announced its plans to re-establish the position in recognition of the central role nurses played in keeping health care afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, a national shortage of qualified nurses has continued to stretch health systems thin.

Duclos says Chapman will play a “crucial” role in helping to stabilize the health workforce and make sure nurses’ perspectives inform health policy work.

Ukraine’s soccer league returns to the pitch as Russia’s invasion enters its seventh month

The players ran onto the field draped in Ukrainian flags and then stood side by side as President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered an impassioned address by video. They sang the national anthem, paused for a moment of silence to honour the war dead, and gathered around a banner that said, “We are of one courage.”

This was the first game of the season for the Ukrainian Premier League, the country’s top echelon of soccer, which abruptly shut down last April because of the war. It was also an act of resistance and a collective shout at the Russians that life here can carry on despite Moscow’s invasion and the constant threat of missile attacks, writes Paul Waldie from Kyiv.

Read more:

ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Two men found guilty of plot to abduct Michigan Governor: A jury convicted two men accused of conspiring to trigger “a second American revolution” by kidnapping Gretchen Whitmer, handing the U.S. government a victory in its second attempt to prosecute the case after a federal judge declared a mistrial about four months ago.

Quebec coroner investigates deaths of Inuuk women: The two women in their 20s were hit by cars within a 24-hour period over the weekend on separate Montreal highways.

Scotiabank profit rises 2 per cent: Bank of Nova Scotia said consumers and businesses look financially healthy and are even keen to borrow money as growing economic uncertainty over inflation and interest rates put pressure on key parts of its business in the fiscal third quarter.

Wimbledon fan taking legal action against Nick Kyrgios: A fan who Kyrgios accused of being intoxicated during the men’s Wimbledon final is bringing defamation proceedings against the Australian tennis player over what she describes as a “reckless and entirely baseless allegation.”

MARKET WATCH

The S&P 500 ended down on Tuesday as investors focused on data showing a slowing economy ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve gathering later this week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The TSX closed almost unchanged after a choppy session, although energy and materials stocks registered strong gains as commodities prices rose.

The S&P 500 declined 0.22 per cent to end the session at 4,128.73 points. The Nasdaq was unchanged at 12,381.30 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.47 per cent to 32,909.59 points. The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 10.43 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 19,985.35

The loonie was trading 0.7 per cent higher at 1.2960 to the greenback, or 77.16 U.S. cents, after four straight days of declines. Earlier, the currency touched its weakest level since July 15 at 1.3063.

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TALKING POINTS

The private-public debate is a distraction from health care’s real problems

“...We pretend that simplistic approaches such as “more private delivery” or “more public funding” will magically solve everything when the real problem in Canada is that the health system isn’t a system, but rather a series of unconnected services that often work at cross purposes, and with an almost total lack of oversight and planning.” - André Picard

Canada and Germany have been laying the groundwork for a much deeper solidarity that would enable collective action with democracies from all parts of the world. The foundation lies in the mutual respect between our two countries, and the mutual learning we have taken from one another.” - Jeremy Kinsman and Ben Roswell

LIVING BETTER

Tips on how to save money this back-to-school season

Back-to-school supplies can quickly add up, and parents under financial strain due to the rising cost of living may need to be strategic about how they approach this shopping season.

Alyssa Davies, founder of the Mixed Up Money website and author of Financial First Aid, recommends parents consider buying certain items second-hand or reusing older supplies from previous years if there are any left.

TODAY’S LONG READ

Replacing its police force has brought Camden, N.J., more peace but lingering questions about justice

Open this photo in gallery:

Peter Macpherson, a community outreach officer in Camden, N.J., greets a child outside a local business, part of the daily routine of the force's preventative policing.RACHEL WISNIEWSKI/The Globe and Mail

When he started out as a police officer at age 19, Gabriel Rodriguez was on a mission.

Having grown up in a housing project in Camden, N.J., Mr. Rodriguez was determined to crack down on the gangsters who made his neighbourhood unsafe. He regularly arrested three or four people a day. He took piles of guns and drugs off the street. He was shot at.

But over time, it became clear that his tactics weren’t working.

“After so many years of pro-active work and thousands of arrests, I realized that not much had changed,” he recalled. “Every time I came out, there was another person on that corner, there were more drugs being sold.” Read the full story by Adrian Morrow.

Evening Update is written by Beatrice Paez. 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.

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