Canada column for Sunday, May 17/15
THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By
Jim Fox
A
soccer fan who thought it was fun to shout sexually explicit taunts at a female
TV reporter doing a broadcast has lost his $106,000 a year job.
CityNews
reporter Shauna Hunt said she is “fed up” with men coming up to her microphone
and verbally harassing her.
It
happened again at a Toronto FC soccer match, so Hunt challenged a group of men
about why they would do such a thing.
They all laughed and repeated the obscenities that were filmed by the TV
crew.
Several of the men were identified after the TV station showed the video
and posted it on social media.
This led to a man identified as Shawn Simoes being fired by Hydro One
for violating the company’s code of conduct.
Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment said it will ban all harassers from
its facilities for a year and provide more security for reporters.
A
similar “vulgar stunt,” now called a trend across North America, was caught on
camera by CityNews in Calgary and led to an arrest.
Reporter
Meghan Grant was conducting an interview when someone in a passing truck shouted
obscenities at her.
They got the license number and police followed up, resulting in a $402
fine for the stunt.
---
Bombardier plans to reduce its workforce by 1,750 employees starting in
June due to weak demand for some of its business jets.
There will be about 1,000 jobs lost in Montreal, 480 in Toronto and 280
in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Economic conditions in markets including Latin America, China and Russia
led to reduced production of its Global 5000 and 6000 aircraft.
Despite
the short-term softness in international markets, the company is “well-positioned
to be the market share leader in the aerospace sector,” said Eric Martel, president
of the business aircraft division.
---
News
in brief:
-
Abid Gilani, a senior vice president with Wells Fargo in New York, was one of
eight people killed in the Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia. Gilani, 55,
has been in Virginia where he and his mother, who lives in Toronto, had
attended his uncle's funeral. The married father of two attended Laurentian
University and the University of Saskatchewan and had worked for Scotiabank and
RBC Dominion Securities.
-
Former Toronto mayor Rob Ford is at home recovering after doctors removed a
large cancerous tumor from abdomen. Doctors consider the operation to have been
a success. He was forced to drop out of the mayoralty race for reelection last fall
because of his medical condition but was elected a councilor. He gained
notoriety last year after admitting to drug and alcohol abuse.
---
Facts and figures:
The
Canadian dollar has advanced to 83.19 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns
$1.2019 in Canadian funds, before bank exchange fees.
The
Bank of Canada’s key interest rate is steady at 0.75 percent while the
prime-lending rate is 2.85 percent.
Markets
are mixed, with the Toronto Stock Exchange index down at 15,085 points and the TSX
Venture index up at 694 points.
The
average price of gasoline is higher at $1.1044 a liter or $4.196 (Canadian) for
a U.S. gallon.
Lotto 6/49: (May 13) 3, 16, 24, 40, 41 and 48; bonus 20. (May 9) 1, 16,
21, 22, 33 and 43; bonus 7. Lotto Max: (May 8) 1, 7, 17, 27, 32, 44 and 48;
bonus 18.
---
Regional briefs:
- Outgoing
Alberta premier Jim Prentice, who has quit politics, said he takes “full responsibility”
for the devastating election loss to the socialist New Democrats. In the May 5
vote, his Conservatives were reduced to 10 members in the legislature from 70
and ended the party’s 44-year rule. Interim Conservative Leader Ric McIver said
the party was “too quick to raise taxes and too slow to cut spending.”
-
The Mounties are reviewing recommendations in a report into the shooting deaths
of three officers last year in Moncton, New Brunswick. As well, the force faces
labor code violations linked to training and equipment. One of retired
assistant commissioner Alphonse MacNeil’s 64 recommendations was that the force
should have issued its officers high-powered assault rifles sooner as they could
have made a difference.
-30-
Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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