Good morning. Air Canada is warning travellers of cancellations over the next few days as it returns to normal service. That’s in focus today – along with a look at the scattered declines of reading for pleasure, the global lobster industry and central banking independence.

Deals: Dayforce Inc., the human resources software company built out of Toronto entrepreneur David Ossip’s transformation of Minneapolis-based Ceridian Corp., confirmed it is in advanced talks to be acquired by Thoma Bravo for US$70 a share. It would be a multibillion-dollar deal that could mark one of the largest in a recent wave of software consolidation.

Real estate: In a country where homeownership is often seen as a financial rite of passage, some Canadian parents are turning to reverse mortgages to unlock the value of their homes to then gift the proceeds to family, often for a down payment in a sky-high real estate environment.

Food safety: A federal investigation into a deadly listeria outbreak last year has found significant flaws with an algorithm-based system deployed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency that oversees how often food-production facilities are inspected.

• S&P Global data released this morning are expected to show manufacturing still slowing down because of the trade war, but easing compared with last month.
• Investors are staying cautious ahead of an address by Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell tomorrow as well as earnings next week from tech giant Nvidia – now the vessel for market watchers’ existential anxieties about whether companies can actually bring AI to the masses.
• Earnings today include Walmart Inc.
• With third-quarter results due next week, analysts at Fitch Ratings wrote in a new report that Canada’s big banks are facing weaker growth, but strong capital should cushion the impact.

The disappearance of reading for pleasure: Reading for fun is on the decline, squeezed by time and economic pressures. A new study has found that daily reading for pleasure in the U.S. has dropped more than 40 per cent over the past two decades.

The Lobster Trap could set you free: If you’re looking for a new book to break out of a phone-fuelled reading rut, we recommend The Lobster Trap – a deeply reported and engaging study of a fishery’s global decline by Greg Mercer, an investigative reporter at The Globe.

• Mercer captures the economic upheaval for fishermen and seafood companies – and the gold-rush mentality that surrounds the industry. He also admits to puking on a boat a lot. (Disclaimer: I have known Greg since we were larval lobsters ourselves, and this weakness does not surprise me in the least.)

Catch up quick: Air Canada is working to recover from a three-day strike that halted more than an estimated 2,000 flights and forced it to suspend its financial outlook.

• Back in the air: Service resumed yesterday, but delays and cancellations might continue for up to 10 days.
• Revenue loss: Analysts peg the strike’s cost at about $61-million a day, with third-quarter earnings expected to fall by roughly $400-million.
• Contained damage: Market watchers said Air Canada’s solid financial position should limit lasting impact and brand fallout.
• Labour deal: A tentative four-year agreement provides raises of 16 to 20 per cent and pay for ground duties, transportation reporter Eric Atkins writes, setting the stage for contract talks this fall at WestJet and PAL Airlines.

Looking ahead: The CUPE federal court fight against the government’s use of the Labour Code’s Section 107 to order an end to strikes and send contract disputes to final arbitration could reshape Canada’s industrial relations landscape.

The government tried to use it to end the Air Canada flight attendants’ strike but ran up against a determined workforce that refused to leave the picket line. But Ottawa has used section 107 several times in the past two years to end labour disputes, including at both major railways and the ports. “The union fight against the use of 107 is fascinating and important,” Atkins told me. “So is the government’s newfound love of using it.”

The Globe’s editorial board says the strike was more than a simple labour dispute:

Steven Tufts, a professor in the faculty of environmental and urban change at York University, wondered if Air Canada’s management is facing its final days:

Air Canada urged travellers to double-check their itineraries before heading out, warning that schedules remain fluid. The airline also asked customers to build in extra time at the airport, recommending a three-hour buffer for departures.

The upside of low competition: Consumers might grumble about high fees and dismal service in Canada, David Berman writes, but investors have long recognized that there is another s