Canada
column for Sunday, Aug. 10/14
THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By
Jim Fox
Ontario has offered to provide free hospital treatment in Canada to
children injured in the Israeli-Palestinian fighting as a humanitarian gesture.
Five hospitals, including Toronto’s world-renowned Hospital for Sick
Children, have agreed to treat the children, with some medical staff members offering
to work at no charge.
“It’s one of those rare instances where we can make a modest but important
difference,” said Ontario Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins, one of the founders
of the group War Child Canada.
Ontario would take the most serious cases from both Gaza and Israel if
the children cannot receive treatment at home and would be able to make the
journey to Canada.
Details about arranging transportation for the children and one or more of
their family members and entry into Canada are being sorted out while Israeli
and Palestinian authorities have indicated they’re willing to co-operate.
The idea began with a plea from Izzeldin Abuelaish, a Palestinian doctor
who lost three daughters in the 2009 Gaza conflict. He is now a professor at
the University of Toronto.
---
“Canada is rapidly becoming a nation of part-timers,” Paul Ashworth of
Capital Economics in Toronto, said of the latest job statistics.
Only 200 jobs were added to the economy last month, not the 20,000
predicted after an unexpected 9,400 decline in June.
Over the past year, full-time employment has declined by 3,100 positions
while part-time work has jumped by 118,500.
Statistics Canada reported the country’s unemployment rate actually dropped
one-tenth of a point to 7.0 percent last month because 35,400 people gave up looking
for work.
---
News in brief:
-
Justin Bourque, 24, of Moncton pleaded guilty Friday to three counts of
first-degree murder in the shootings of three Royal Canadian Mounted Police
officers in the New Brunswick city. He also admitted to two counts of attempted
murder in the wounding of two other Mounties. Constables Fabrice Gevaudan,
Douglas Larche and Dave Ross were killed after confronting a man carrying a
rifle in a residential area on June 4.
-
A London, Ontario woman has been arrested after her car crashed while in
reverse into a Costco store, killing a six-year-old girl and injuring her three-year-old
sister and their pregnant mother, Danah McKinnon-Bozek, whose baby later died.
Ruth Burger, 65, faces charges of criminal negligence causing death and bodily
harm.
---
Facts
and figures:
Canada’s
dollar is lower at 91.15 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.0970 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 unchanged at 3 percent.
Stock
markets are lower, with the Toronto exchange index at 15,193 points and the TSX
Venture index at 994 points.
The average price of a liter of gasoline in Canada is down to $1.2934 (Canadian).
Lotto 6-49: (Aug. 6) 8, 10, 11, 21, 24 and 44; bonus 12. (Aug. 2) 4, 10,
14, 19, 36 and 41; bonus 48. Lotto Max: (Aug. 1) 1, 2, 5, 10, 11, 25 and 34;
bonus 36.
---
Regional briefs:
-
Alison Redford, who resigned as Alberta’s premier in June over an expenses
scandal, has now also quit her job as a member of the legislature. This follows
further allegations of misspending that current Conservative Premier Dave
Hancock said are “extremely” disappointing. He has asked the police to
investigate allegations that Redford and her office used taxpayer money
inappropriately and for personal and partisan purposes.
-
The driver of a dump truck that struck the Burlington Skyway bridge, closing its
Toronto-bound lanes for three days over the holiday weekend, could be liable
for repairs that could top $1 million, police say. The scrap-metal truck with
its box raised smashed into an overhead truss and construction scaffolding,
causing structural damage. Sukhvinder Singh Rai, 34, of Brampton was arrested
for impaired driving.
- McCain
Foods is closing its French fries’ plant in Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward
Island. The company blamed a shift in the market for French fries from North
America to other parts of the world. When the plant closes in October, 121 jobs
will be lost.
-30-
Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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