Canada
column for Sunday, June 9/13
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THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By
Jim Fox
There are more concerns for Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives
as an Alberta member of the caucus has quit to become an Independent.
Edmonton
politician Brent Rathgeber said he left the Conservative party because its
ideals have been sacrificed to political expediency.
Rathgeber said a major concern was being told what to do, say and how to
vote “like a trained seal.”
“It's
difficult as a lawyer and as a Member of Parliament to find my role to be
subservient to unelected masters half my age at the Prime Minister's Office
(PMO),” he said.
The office is currently embroiled in a controversy over Harper’s now-former
chief of staff Nigel Wright’s secret check for $90,172 given
to Conservative Senator Mike Duffy to repay “improper” expense claims.
Two other former Conservative Senators are also being investigated over
expenses.
Harper said he did not know of the payment to Duffy, which Rathgeber
said is not surprising, as "a lot of stuff goes on in the PMO that the
prime minister doesn't know about."
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Canada will continue with its low-interest rate policy, says Stephen
Poloz who has taken over as governor of the central bank.
There are “risks” of keeping rates low for a long period and a tendency
to trigger excessive borrowing but the Bank of Canada must consider the impact
higher rates would have on the fragile economy, he said.
The bank’s next announcement on interest rates, now at 1 percent, will
be on July 17.
Poloz succeeded Mark Carney, who takes over as head of the Bank of
England next month.
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In business:
-
Things aren’t so sweet in candyland as Canada's Competition Bureau is alleging
there has been price fixing of chocolate prices. The bureau said it will move
ahead with criminal charges against Nestle Canada, Mars Canada and ITWAL Ltd.,
a network of independent wholesale distributors, as well as several company
officers. The allegations date back to 2007 and earlier.
- Now that the Canadian government has
blocked a $380-million deal for Telus Corp. to buy Mobilicity, Wind Mobile
wants to create a fourth national wireless competitor. The government ruled the
Telus deal would limit competition in the cellphone industry and that it will continue
to prohibit spectrum transfers – radio waves over which wireless networks
operate. Wind Mobile has reopened talks to buy Mobilicity to create a
“next-generation network.”
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Facts and figures:
The Canadian economy added 95,000 new jobs last month, the largest monthly
gain in more than a decade, that dropped the jobless rate by one-tenth of a
point to 7.1 percent.
Canada’s
dollar has advanced to 97.83 cents U.S. while the U.S. greenback returns $1.0221
in Canadian funds, before bank exchange fees.
The Bank of Canada’s key interest rate is steady at 1 percent while the
prime-lending rate is 3 percent.
Stock
markets are lower, with the Toronto exchange index at 12,377 points and the TSX
Venture index at 947 points.
Lotto 6-49: (June 5) 5, 15, 19, 31, 42 and 47; bonus 20. (June 1) 2, 7,
24, 37, 38 and 40; bonus 9. Lotto Max: (May 31) 5, 7, 10, 15, 22, 45 and 47;
bonus 23.
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Regional briefs:
- Ontario
Conservatives are asking the police to investigate the destruction of
government documents by senior members of former Liberal premier Dalton
McGuinty's office. Ontario's privacy commissioner said the chiefs of staff in
McGuinty's office and the Ministry of Energy broke the law by deleting emails about
two canceled gas plants. It was a bid to have Liberals elected in those areas
but cost taxpayers about $585 million, an investigation determined.
-
A by-election will be held in a bid for British Columbia Premier Christy Clark
to be returned to the Legislature. While her Liberals won the May vote, Clark
was defeated in her Vancouver district and seeks to return in the vote in
Westside-Kelowna. Former cabinet minister Ben Stewart said he would step aside
so Clark could run. No date has been set.
-
Alberta Premier Alison Redford stepped up efforts to promote a proposal to ship
oil to the East Coast in a speech to the New Brunswick legislature. There has
been increased interest in moving Alberta crude east, largely by converting an
existing natural gas pipeline, as environmental opposition has dogged proposals
for the Northern Gateway pipeline to British Columbia and Keystone XL to Texas
refineries.
-30-
Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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