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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Calgary voters reject city’s pursuit of 2026 Winter Olympics

Calgarians have spoken and their answer to a 2016 Winter Olympics bid is no. About 56 per cent of those who voted in a plebiscite yesterday were against continuing with the bid, which had the support of Mayor Naheed Nenshi. He argued it would see more than $2-billion in federal and provincial money flow into projects the city needs. Others worried that the city’s battered economy could not afford the multibillion-dollar event.

While the plebiscite was non-binding, Mr. Nenshi said city council would likely vote to suspend the bid on Monday. That would leave only Stockholm and a joint Italian bid in contention for the 2026 Games.

Cathal Kelly’s takeaway: “After this organizational disaster, no local Canadian politician is going to be stupid enough to wave the Olympic flag in public. The core message the issue projects has flipped from ‘I want the whole world to know how great this city is’ to ‘I want to steal all your money.’”

May’s Brexit deal gets crucial cabinet backing, but still faces battle in parliament

British Prime Minister Theresa May won the backing of her senior ministers for a draft European Union divorce deal today. (for subscribers) It was not immediately clear whether any ministers had resigned over the deal, which May hopes will satisfy both Brexit voters and EU supporters by ensuring close ties with the bloc after Britain leaves on March 29. She now has to push the deal through a vote in the British parliament, its date to be determined.

Fears of a global economic slump on the rise, Bank of Canada says

Fears that a global economic slump could impair the financial system are up sharply since the summer, according to a Bank of Canada survey of banks, insurers, pension funds and other market players, Barrie McKenna writes. (for subscribers) Roughly 40 per cent of respondents said they worry about a deterioration in global economic conditions, up from 25 per cent in June.

“What the survey is picking up is what people are reading in the news,” Bank of Canada senior deputy governor Carolyn Wilkins told reporters today. Those headlines include U.S.-China trade tensions, as well as economic struggles in Argentina, Brazil, Turkey and other emerging markets. The threat of cyberattacks remains the top concern of respondents.

Toronto ties homicide record with 89th victim of the year

If one more person is killed in Toronto this year, it will have been the most murderous year in the city’s history, Molly Hayes writes. Toronto’s 89th homicide victim died after a​ shooting in North York early this morning.

The death marks an unsettling milestone for the city. The last time 89 people were killed in one year in Toronto was 1991. The brazenness of some of the shootings, at busy times in high-traffic downtown areas, has prompted calls for a clampdown on guns and gun violence.

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MARKET WATCH

Canada’s main stock index was flat on Wednesday despite climbing energy and materials stocks. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 0.01 per cent to 15,133.12.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks were down as financial shares slid on fears of tightening regulations on the banking industry. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.81 per cent to 25,081.65, the S&P 500 lost 0.75 per cent to 2,701.82 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.9 per cent to 7,136.39.

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TALKING POINTS

How Donald Trump gave Canada a Chinese gift

“Canada has never had as a leading partner a government and system whose values are so at odds with our own. Our primary relationships have always been with liberal, democratic, rule-of-law societies. The People’s Republic of China is not a regime that lives according to the rule of law. A law in Canada is enforceable, even against the government. A law in China is a piece of paper.” - Globe editorial

Hearts can change: The fragile redemption of Axl Rose

“The GNR frontman began tweeting his criticism of the Trump administration soon after the election in November, 2016, and has not let up since. This week, after Mr. Trump blamed ‘poor’ forest management for the California wildfires that have killed at least 42 people, Axl had a quick comeback. Any ‘purported’ mismanagement was due to ‘lack of federal funding,’ he wrote. ‘Only a demented n’ truly pathetic individual would twist that around n’ use a tragedy to once again misrepresent facts for attempted public/political gain …’ Well, I did not see that one coming.” - Denise Balkissoon

The future of academic freedom and the curious, disturbing case of Derek Pyne

“Like many universities facing a crisis, TRU has handled the situation about as poorly as one can. Instead of being open about what is going on, the school has effectively gone to ground, citing legal constraints and privacy rights. As far as why Prof. Pyne was suspended, all the school has said is he used defamatory language and accusations in his writings on the matter. Many have urged president Alan Shaver to clear the air about what is taking place. So far, he has remained silent.” - Gary Mason

LIVING BETTER

When you’re entertaining, do you sometimes feel you spend more time in the kitchen than with your guests? Julie Van Rosendaal has a strategy for you: party platters or boards. Acting almost like a tiny buffet or mini-bar, boards eliminate the need to time several elements of a meal and can easily accommodate a wide variety of appetites. Bonus: they act as a focal point that stimulates conversation as everyone nibbles. You can find ideas, ingredients and recipes for five themed party platters here. (for subscribers)

LONG READS FOR A LONG COMMUTE

Is voluntourism worth it? I’m not sure my trip to Nicaragua did much good

"Before I left I had read online that I’d probably be spending between 21 to 28 hours per week volunteering with additional hours in the evenings and weekends to support community activities. We didn’t spend more than 10 hours total digging the garden and I felt like I was getting in the way of the community initiatives I was involved with more than working alongside them. ...

“It is impossible to help someone you don’t understand, and this is often the problem when good-intentioned volunteers travel to developing countries. But you don’t need to travel outside of Canada to make a difference in someone else’s life. The most important thing you can do is build a relationship with someone different from yourself.” - Kaitlyn Bailey

When Barry Met Harry: A first-timer’s journey into the Harry Potter cinematic universe

I cannot adequately explain my decades-long aversion to Harry Potter, film editor Barry Hertz writes.

Perhaps it’s because when J.K. Rowling’s books first came out, I was less interested in the whimsy of wizards, more consumed by the crippling anxiety of high school. Maybe it’s because I never gelled with the fantasy genre as a whole: J.R.R. Tolkien mystified, and Frank Herbert frustrated – odder still as I was otherwise the perfect pimply portrait of an adolescent geek. Was it all just too British? (That doesn’t make sense either, as I fancy a Doctor Who episode now and again, and also dropping the verb “fancy” into casual conversation.) ...

Now it’s been 17 years since the first Harry Potter film was released, and the season’s most anticipated new movie is this weekend’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald – a sequel to a prequel to an eight-part megafranchise, whose story makes absolutely no sense unless you’ve seen the 21½ hours of content that came before.

After years of using one excuse or another to avoid watching and reviewing the films, now it was finally time to put my childish thoughts away, and remedy a gaping cultural blind spot. And to preface any owl-delivered hate mail: Yes, I stuck only to the films. To boil boil toil and trouble it down (first and last magic pun, I promise): Cinematic adaptations should work as standalone works of art; my job at The Globe and Mail is focused on film; and damn, have you seen how long those books are?

Evening Update is written by S.R. Slobodian and Omair Quadri. 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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