Evening Update: Ottawa and Ontario set to announce multibillion-dollar Honda EV deal
Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
The federal government and Ontario will announce a multibillion-dollar deal this week with Honda Motor Co. Ltd. that would see the company build a comprehensive electric-vehicle chain in the province, according to sources familiar with the project.
The deal with Honda includes a standalone battery manufacturing and a retooled car assembly plant, as well as facilities for both cathode materials and separator components, according to three sources. The battery and assembly plants will be in Alliston, Ont., where the company already manufactures vehicles.
Speaking at a First Nations conference in Toronto this morning, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the size of the investment will surpass other electric-vehicle deals in the province. The higher dollar figure will owe to Honda’s investment going much further across the supply chain than Volkswagen or Stellantis.
Talks to deal with plastic begin in Canada tomorrow. Here’s what’s at stake
This week in Ottawa, delegates from 174 countries will meet in the hopes of stemming the plastic tide, as Canada hosts the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution, or INC-4.
That committee, which falls under the umbrella of the United Nations Environment Program, was set up in 2022 with the goal of crafting an international, legally binding plastics treaty by the end of 2024. The Ottawa session is the last set of negotiations before the fifth and final session, scheduled for November in South Korea. So, the stakes are high, with delegates under pressure to nail down terms to regulate a substance used in everything from cars to medical equipment while coming up with ways to ensure that less of it winds up in oceans or landfills. Environment reporter Wendy Stueck breaks down what else to expect.
More Earth Day reads:
People take part in a ‘March to End the Plastic Era’ rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Sunday, April 21, 2024.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Chinese institute compiled profiles of Canadian MPs of Chinese descent
A research institute in China that is affiliated with the ruling Communist Party’s foreign-influence operations compiled extensive profiles of Canadian members of Parliament with Chinese ethnicity, two sources say.
The sources say this Chinese institute used large-scale data analytics and artificial intelligence to create detailed profiles in 2022. There are fewer than 10 MPs of Chinese descent in Canada’s House of Commons. The operation to gather information on these MPs was first detected by the Communications Security Establishment, Canada’s secret signals intelligence agency, and shared with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
This is the best matzo you’ve never had
For eight days in the spring, Jews honour their ancestors’ escape from slavery in Egypt. Passover’s allegorical meal, the seder, tells the exodus story with each ingredient. Parsley dipped in saltwater represents tears shed by the enslaved Jews. Charoset, a fruit and nut paste, signifies the mortar used to construct the Pharaoh’s buildings. Matzo has two meanings: The unleavened bread illustrates how the hastily fleeing Jews had no time for their bread to rise, and it also symbolizes their suffering – hence its nickname, the “bread of affliction.”
Ahead of Passover, Alexis Steinman visited a French factory working overtime for a deliciously thick bread.
There, a machine the size of a football field noisily whirred and thumped. Lined with a mix of knobs, wheels and dials like a Rube Goldberg contraption, the dough fed into one side of the machine was magically transformed into golden-brown matzo on the other end.
ladies boxing matza in the La Bienfasisante factory visit southwest France, where the 40-metre oven and Rube’s Goldberg-like machine crank out 9000 boxes of matza in one day.Alexis Steinman/The Globe and Mail
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Immigration: Asylum claims by international students have risen nearly 650 per cent in the past five years, figures obtained by The Globe and Mail show, as experts warn that the study-permit system is being exploited as a way to enter and remain in Canada.
Donald Trump’s hush-money trial: The prosecution cast his actions as election fraud in opening arguments Monday, painting his efforts to suppress accusations of infidelity as far more than a mere personal indiscretion or paperwork technicality.
Israel-Hamas war: Israeli troops fought their way back into an eastern section of Khan Younis in a surprise raid, residents said on Monday, sending people who had returned to abandoned homes in the ruins of the southern Gaza Strip’s main city fleeing once more.
Analysis: As deadline nears, global pandemic treaty talks hobbled by delays and quarrels, writes Geoffrey York.
Gildan: The Canadian clothing maker is reshaping its board of directors as it seeks to choke off a proxy campaign by dissident shareholders ahead of its annual meeting next month.
Capital-gains questions: Own a cottage or investment property? Here’s how to navigate the new capital gains tax changes.
MARKET WATCH
Stocks higher with major corporate earnings on tap
Wall Street stocks ended higher on Monday following a market sell-off in previous sessions as investors eyed a busy week for quarterly results from key companies that would provide a glimpse of the U.S. economy’s health. The TSX also rose, but underperformed due to a pullback in the materials sector.
The S&P 500 gained 43.37 points to end at 5,010.60 points. The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.11%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.67%. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended up 64.59 points at 21,871.96, its fourth straight day of gains after it hit a near six-week low last Tuesday.
The loonie was 0.4% higher at 1.3695 to the U.S. dollar, or 73.02 U.S. cents, adding to its winning streak since Wednesday and trading at its strongest level since April 12.
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TALKING POINTS
Toronto’s police chief has disqualified himself from that job
“Was Chief Demkiw crossing his fingers that, despite the evidence presented during the case, Mr. Zameer would be sent to prison anyway? That a man would be wrongfully convicted? That justice wouldn’t be served?” – Robyn Urback
The Bloc’s fake freakout over halal mortgages is ridiculous
”Halal mortgages are already available in many countries, including the U.S., Britain, Israel – and Canada. They are no more a threat to the secular state than laws about labelling kosher pickles or Quebec’s statutory Easter holiday.” – Campbell Clark
Danielle Smith launches what could be her biggest broadside yet at Ottawa
”The Premier said that the legislation is needed to ensure a break from Liberal ideology, to monitor whether the province is getting a fair share of per capita funding, and because Ottawa is treading too much on provincial turf.” – Kelly Cryderman
LIVING BETTER
Is decaf coffee bad for your health? Here’s what to know
Like coffee just for the taste but don’t want to deal with the caffeine hit? Decaf coffee is one option, with 97 per cent of caffeine removed. But recent news may have left some worried about the safety of decaf, with advocacy groups in the United States petitioning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban the use of methylene chloride in the decaffeination process owing to cancer concerns. Here’s where Health Canada stands on the chemical and how to avoid it when choosing decaf.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Shades of green: In environment coverage, The Globe’s green evolution has been a steady but imperfect process
In this excerpt from A Nation’s Paper: The Globe and Mail in the Life of Canada, a collection of history essays from Globe writers past and present (coming this fall from Signal/McClelland & Stewart), Gary Mason chronicles The Globe’s advocacy for environmental solutions backed by science. “The paper has often struggled to balance local interests and global concerns,” he writes.
Evening Update is written by Sierra Bein and Maryam Shah. 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.