Evening Update: Unsupported by any evidence, Russia claims 162 Canadians have been killed in Ukraine

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

Jordan Mullins, a 26-year-old from Oshawa, Ont., was fighting in Ukraine. He caught shrapnel in his leg after his unit encountered Russian military. Now recuperating back home in Canada he nonetheless scoffs at a claim by Russia’s Defence Ministry last week that 162 Canadians have been killed in the four-month-old war.

The Russian Defence Ministry’s figures, published Friday in state-controlled media, paint a picture of almost 7,000 Western fighters, claiming that 601 are Canadian. The figures are likely intended for domestic consumption, as “proof” that Russia is fighting not only Ukraine but also NATO and the West.

The Canadian government refused to comment on the claim and there have been no known funerals for Canadian fighters in Ukraine.

Mullins is also unconvinced. “I’m quite sure our government would have to address over 100 of our citizens dying in a foreign conflict, no?”

• Opinion: With enough support, Ukraine can still defeat Russia
• From the arts: Ukrainian art in Canada reflects the war and our responses to it
• The show must go on: Ukrainian ballet dancers, now refugees in Paris, vow to keep dancing for their country

Canada to spend $4.9 billion to modernize NORAD

Today, Defence Minister Anita Anand announced that Canada has pledged $4.9-billion over six years to help the U.S. upgrade NORAD’s continental defences and address the growing threat posed by hypersonic missiles and advanced cruise missile technology developed by Russia and China.

Defence experts said the spending commitment, nine days before a NATO Leaders Summit in Madrid, appears to be an effort to create the appearance that Canada is devoting more money to the military

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On taming inflation

• News today: Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pledged to help central banks tackle inflation by cutting back on deficit spending, but Ms. Yellen was cool to re-opening Keystone pipeline talks as a way to reduce oil prices. The two politicians met in Toronto, addressing a growing fear among economists and investors that central banks will move too aggressively and force their economies into recession.
• Tax and spend: At the start of the pandemic, the federal Liberals often proclaimed that Ottawa was taking on debt so that Canadians wouldn’t have to. The rise of inflation has turned that mantra upside down. Now, you’ll have to cut your household budget – because Ottawa won’t cut its spending.
• David Parkinson: On taming inflation, Liberals’ fiscal policy is more a part of the problem than the solution
• Listen to the Decibel: What tools does the federal government actually have to help correct prices in grocery stores and at the pump? Bill Curry, The Globe’s Deputy Ottawa Bureau Chief, explains the limits to the levers that the governing Liberals can pull on for this economic quandary.

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Workers at Canadian National Railway go on strike: Workers in signals and communications have gone on strike at CN Rail in a development that threatens to exacerbate transport bottlenecks across the country in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Airport screening officers to protest ‘disrespect’ from Ottawa: The screeners are going public at more than 40 airports starting Monday with what they deem substandard pay and “disrespect” from the federal agency that oversees their work.

MPs may get panic buttons to boost security: Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino revealed he has been subject to death threats on social media in recent weeks and says he is looking into giving MPs panic buttons to increase their personal security.

National Gallery of Canada names Angela Cassie interim director and CEO: She’s taking over from Sasha Suda, who has been at the gallery’s helm for three years but is leaving for the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

MARKET WATCH

Canada’s main stock index rose on Monday after last week’s rout aided by gains in cyclical and financial shares, although trading volumes stayed low with U.S. markets closed for Juneteenth National Independence Day. Global stocks on Monday also chalked up modest gains.

Investors now await domestic inflation figures due on Wednesday and it will present a clear picture of the economic situation in Canada Sawhney said.

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TALKING POINTS

This graduation season, let’s all follow these seven sacred teachings

Tanya Talaga: “The actual purpose of your education is to help you open your mind to who you are, your purpose to why you are here and where you fit in the greater community of which you are a part. How can you make a difference for the greater good? This is the secret to living a balanced life: The Anishinaabeg call this mino-bimaadiziwin.”

The European Central Bank is running out of ammunition to fight a new debt crisis

Eric Reguly: “Mistakes have already been made, the biggest of which was ditching quantitative easing (QE), which is to end in July, instead of extending it.”

Why is cutting carbon emissions so hard? Consider the 5,000 pound hunk of metal in your driveway

Editorial board: “A lot of people like to imagine that fighting global warming is as easy as pointing the finger at the oil sands. Yes, there is big work to be done there to cut emissions. But Canada’s millions of SUVs and light trucks emit about two-thirds as much GHGs each year as the entire oil sands.”

LIVING BETTER

Here’s how to start working out again

Thoughtful and consistent effort may be the not-so-secret recipe for achieving your fitness goals, but we have to make room for unplanned interruptions. Treat your return as a long, meticulous warm-up, one in which you’re paying extra-careful attention to physical cues. How does your body feel? Slow and sluggish or responsive and ready? Maybe 15 minutes of movement is all you’ve got the energy for, and that’s okay. It can be a real challenge to minimize your exertion, especially if you’re used to performing at a high level. But what’s worse is asking for too much too soon.

Read the full strategy Paul Landini uses to rebuild all that lost momentum whenever his workout schedule comes screeching to a halt.

TODAY’S LONG READ

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Can NFTs help stop art piracy?

Canadian visual artists say piracy is rampant in their field, where unscrupulous operators offer framed reproductions, digital “paintings” and T-shirts featuring artworks to which they don’t hold the rights. Sometimes artists are credited; other times watermarks and signatures are removed. Indigenous artists are particularly hard hit with numerous examples of pirated art showing up on the T-shirts sold for Orange Shirt Day.

Now, advocates for artists’ rights are discussing other solutions, asking if the blockchain technology behind the NFTs so hyped in the art world could actually help artists control their imagery by including digital signatures. But NFTs can be expensive to mint, and require some know-how. Worse yet, many are already subject to their own ownership disputes as unscrupulous players flood a booming market

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.