Evening Update: Trudeau says CSIS responsible for not informing MP about China’s targeting of him

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

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada’s spy service is responsible for the decision not to inform Conservative MP Michael Chong in 2021 that he and his family were being targeted by the Chinese government after he led an effort for a parliamentary motion that condemned Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs as genocide.

Trudeau said he didn’t know about the threat until The Globe and Mail reported on a 2021 top-secret assessment by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Security experts said it’s hard to imagine intelligence assessments of the kind The Globe has reported on would remain at CSIS and be circulated no further.

Chong said foreign interference is not a new phenomenon and affects many people besides him.

Russia accuses Ukraine of trying to kill Putin

Russia warned it would retaliate “anywhere and any time” after accusing Ukraine of attempting to kill President Vladimir Putin with a drone attack at the Kremlin. The 70-year-old Putin was said to be unharmed.

Videos posted to Russian social media accounts showed what appeared to be a small drone flying over the red brick walls of the Kremlin late at night before the object exploded in a burst of flame above the Kremlin Senate.

The Ukrainian government immediately denied involvement in the incident. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office suggested the incident could be a false-flag operation that Russia could use to justify some kind of escalation in the 14-month-old war.

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Loblaw executives call out suppliers for ‘outsized cost increases,’ as grocers face anger over food inflation

The accusation that suppliers are increasing prices happened on a call to discuss the company’s quarterly earnings today. Loblaw chief financial officer Richard Dufresne said that so far this year, suppliers have increased the company’s product costs by nearly $1-billion (which is less than the increases seen last year, but still more than double historic norms).

Loblaw reported that its adjusted profits grew by 10 per cent in the first quarter, as grocery prices continue to rise and sales of high-margin drugstore items such as beauty products and over-the-counter medicines remain strong.

One industry representative said the accusation is untrue and an attempt to deflect anger grocers have faced for not doing enough to fight food inflation.

Press Freedom Day

In Mark MacKinnon’s 20 years of working in Russia, first as The Globe and Mail’s Moscow bureau chief and later as a visiting correspondent, the regime’s attitude toward him and his colleagues slowly shifted from indifference to confrontation. While independent Russian media has been under intensifying pressure for years, it has only been since Putin launched his full-scale war against Ukraine that Russia has become a truly dangerous place to be a foreign reporter.

For Press Freedom Day, MacKinnon writes about how it’s become more dangerous than ever for foreign reporters to do their jobs in Putin’s Russia.

• Opinion: With the rise of AI-generated propaganda, journalism is more important than ever
• Editorial: On Press Freedom Day, imagine a world without journalism

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

The Fed’s rate increase: The U.S. Federal Reserve reinforced its fight against high inflation by raising its key interest rate by a quarter-point to the highest level in 16 years.

Real estate: Toronto home sales jump 27 per cent in April. The number of new listings was up 6.5 per cent after adjusting for seasonal influences, but is still well below the 10-year average.

Coronation: King Charles has work to do to cultivate ties with Canada and for the country to get to know him better, Governor-General Mary Simon says in an interview

Sudan war: The United Nations was seeking assurances from both sides of Sudan’s conflict on the safe delivery of aid after six trucks of humanitarian supplies were looted and air strikes in Khartoum undermined a new ceasefire.

Listen to The Decibel: The missing two billion trees Trudeau promised, as explained by The Globe’s energy and environment reporter Matthew McClearn

Rewards programs: Aeroplan partners with Bell to offer more perks to travellers (Plus: how does Aeroplan stack up again WestJet’s reward program?)

Canada Digital Adoption Program: Ottawa’s $4-billion program to help small businesses upgrade their digital technology is off to a slow start.

MARKET WATCH

Stocks fall on nagging uncertainty about Fed rate path

North American stocks ended lower today, reversing gains after comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell left investors wondering what the U.S. central bank’s next move would be with interest rate hikes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 270.29 points to 33,414.24, the S&P 500 lost 28.83 points to 4,090.75 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 55.18 points to 12,025.33. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended down 52.88 points at 20,354.68, its third straight day of declines.

The Canadian dollar traded for 73.44 cents U.S., compared with 73.43 cents U.S. on Tuesday.

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TALKING POINTS

On a team stacked with stars, Maple Leafs’ Knies quickly becoming a fan favourite

“There’s a long way to go before we see where this Leafs team fits on the great roll call of the last 30 years. They could be anywhere from one of the good ones to the special one.” - Cathal Kelly

Agreement between Treasury Board and public service workers shows working from home is here to stay

“The entrenched conservatism among the senior ranks of the federal public service makes such an outcome unlikely any time soon. But the opportunity is there. For those who champion increased diversity in the federal bureaucracy, here’s your chance, courtesy of the work-from-home revolution.” -John Ibbitson

Justin Trudeau is trying to break the internet – and not in the viral sense

“We can find new audiences for Quebecois content, better fund our news outlets, address the harms of online child sexual exploitation, and crack down on the scourge of digital harassment – and we can do it all without wrecking the internet as we know it.” -Justin Ling

LIVING BETTER

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Coming soon: Better For It

People love to share their wins, but shy away from telling us about their losses. And yet, the best business leaders and entrepreneurs know that failure is a big part of making something worthwhile.

Introducing Better For It, a brand-new business podcast from The Globe and Mail, which explores how our mistakes shape us. Join host Temur Durrani, as he speaks to noteworthy Canadian entrepreneurs who failed, learned from their mistakes and built back better. Subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode.

• Also listen to Stress Test podcast: How soaring rents are transforming student life

TODAY’S LONG READ

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What the Writers Guild of America strike means for Canadian television audiences and creators

Yesterday, 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America went on strike after the major studios and streamers failed to reach a deal with the union representing TV and movie writers for a new three-year collective agreement.

But what does the strike mean for us Canadians? We answer that question for both the audiences who consume vast amounts of American content, and the homegrown creatives whose livelihoods depend on U.S. series and films shot within our borders.

Evening Update is written by Sierra Bein. 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.