Canada column for
Sunday, July 24/16
THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By Jim Fox
U.S. soldiers who
fled to Canada rather than fight the war in Iraq are urging Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau to let them remain in the country.
Marine Corporal
Dean Walcott, who has lived in Ontario since 2006, said he is “shocked and
dismayed” court cases are still pending.
Jeremy Brockway,
another Marine, came to Canada in 2007 with severe post-traumatic stress
syndrome to “save his life,” wife Ashlea said.
Trudeau earlier expressed
support for the two dozen or so remaining war dodgers and said the government
was looking into the issue.
His father, the
late prime minister Pierre Trudeau, gave sanctuary to about 100,000 U.S.
deserters and draft dodgers in the 1960s.
War resister Rodney
Watson, who has a Canadian-born son, has spent almost seven years in a church
sanctuary in Vancouver to avoid deportation.
Michelle Robidoux
of the War Resisters Support Campaign said U.S. soldiers who sought refuge in
Canada should be welcome to stay.
---
The Canada Child
Benefit plan took effect this month, giving Canadian families up to $6,400 a
year for each child under the age of six and $5,400 for children six to 17.
The payments are
tax-free and will help to lift 300,000 children above the poverty level, Prime
Minister Trudeau said.
It will be based on
family income and the full amount will be given to those earning less than
$30,000 a year and be eliminated for those above $190,000.
The plan, which assists
with the costs of raising children, replaces other supplement programs while
families can receive an additional $2,730 a year for each child with a
disability.
---
News in brief:
- Air Transat will
compensate passengers whose flight was canceled in Scotland when the pilots
were arrested on suspicion of drunkenness. Jean-Francois Lemay said the pilots
have been suspended as an internal and police investigations are underway.
Jean-Francois Perreault and Imran Zafar Syed were detained shortly before they
were to fly an Airbus A310 with about 250 passengers to Toronto.
- The Canada Border
Services Agency is moving to tighten rules under the “trusted traveler”
programs such as Nexus and Canpass Air that speeds people through customs and
immigration. The programs are intended only for low-risk, known citizens who go
through express lanes. New rules are being planned to ban some people from
getting the access.
---
Facts and figures:
Statistics Canada said
the annual inflation rate held steady last month at 1.5 percent as lower fuel
and grocery prices offset higher costs for cars, electricity and air travel.
Canada’s dollar is lower
at 75.95 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.316 Canadian, before exchange
fees.
The Bank of Canada’s
key interest rate remains at 0.5 percent while the prime-lending rate is 2.7
percent.
The Toronto Stock
Exchange index is at a high for the year at 14,585 points while the TSX Venture
index is higher at 768 points.
The average price for
gas in Canada has dropped to $1.01 a liter or $3.83 (Canadian) for a U.S.
gallon.
Lotto 6/49: (July
20) 14, 15, 16, 43, 44 and 46; bonus 38. (July 16) 15, 25, 26, 33, 38 and
47; bonus 27. Lotto Max: (July 15) 19, 30, 31, 36, 40, 44 and 49; bonus
6.
---
Regional briefs:
- There are
concerns over a higher number of crimes across Canada last year, with a still
modest 604 murders, up 15 percent, for the whole country of 35-million people.
Overall, the crime rate rose by 3 percent, the first increase in 12 years.
Statistics Canada said while the per-capita crime rate was higher, it has
generally fallen since the early 1990s. The rate rose 12 percent in Alberta,
stayed the same in Ontario and fell 12 percent in Prince Edward Island.
- Some good luck
has followed bad for Alberta forest fire evacuee Jason Wheeler who won $1
million in tax-free cash. The Lotto 6-49 winner was among the 80,000 people
forced to flee a huge wildfire in Fort McMurray. He plans to give back to charities
such as the Canadian Red Cross, SPCA and food banks that helped his family.
-30-
Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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