Canada column for Sunday, Dec. 11/16
THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By Jim Fox
Two Canadian
provinces are developing a plan to provide its poorest residents with a basic
income from the government.
Ontario is looking
to launch its program – the first of its kind considered in North America in
decades – next spring to provide a guaranteed annual income for people and
families in need.
Now Prince Edward
Island’s legislature has unanimously approved developing a similar pilot
project with the federal government.
It was felt that
such a plan would help families build their way back while reducing government
bureaucracy.
Ontario named
former senator Hugh Segal to study the options in a $25-million test project
that could involve paying people $1,320 a month in place of welfare and Ontario
Disability Support Program payments.
The PEI bill, introduced
by Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker, was supported by the Liberal
government and opposition parties.
“A universal basic
income could enable the greatest unleashing of human potential ever seen,”
Bevan-Baker said.
The pilot project
would also help determine the costs of a guaranteed income and whether it would
deter people from looking for work.
---
The fight against
climate change is the “most important issue” of this generation, U.S. Vice-President
Joe Biden told Canadian politicians in his last official visit.
At a state dinner
in his honor in Ottawa, Biden called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to help the
world as it moves through a period of deep uncertainty.
Other
“consequential” issues of the times include the fight against terrorism and
bolstering Eastern European allies against Russia, he said.
While not
mentioning President-Elect Donald Trump by name, Biden spoke of uncertainty
gripping Europe and the United States since Britain’s decision to leave the
European Union and the recent presidential election.
“The changes that
are going to take place are going to be astronomical,” he said.
Praising Canada as
an ally and a friend, he said the country is something the U.S. needs more than
ever.
---
News in brief:
- Viola
Desmond, who is often called Canada’s Rosa Parks, will be the first woman to be
depicted on the face of a Canadian bank note. Finance Minister Bill Morneau
said she will be on the $10 bill series that goes into circulation in 2018. Morneau
praised Desmond’s “dignity and bravery” for deciding to sit in a whites-only
section of a Nova Scotia movie theater in 1946.
- Toronto
politicians are considering a proposal by Mayor John Tory to impose
tolls on two major highways in and out of the downtown core. Adding fees for
the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway would provide money for transit
expansion, road repair and ease congestion, he said.
---
Facts and figures:
Canada’s dollar has advanced to 75.89 cents
U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.317 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.
Stock markets are higher,
with the Toronto exchange index at 15,317 points – an almost two-year high – while
the TSX Venture index is at 749 points.
The average price for
gas in Canada is higher at $1.025 a liter or $3.89 (Canadian) for a U.S.
gallon.
Lotto 6/49: (Dec.
7) 6, 7, 12, 32, 34 and 46; bonus 33. (Dec. 3) 3, 4, 7, 19, 30 and 48; bonus
21. Lotto Max: (Dec. 2) 5, 8, 20, 21, 29, 40 and 47; bonus 7.
---
Regional briefs:
- House prices and
the number of properties being sold in Vancouver should fall next year due to a
new tax on foreign buyers and revised mortgage regulations, the British
Columbia Real Estate Association says. The average sales price will drop 8.7
percent to $940,000 from $1.3 million this year, it said. As well house sales
will be off by 18.5 percent to 34,000 homes.
- O Christmas tree,
Montreal has a much ridiculed one that even fell just short of claiming the
title of North America’s tallest. The city’s “Charlie Brown Christmas tree” is
a spindly, lopsided balsam fir that had its top clipped off during shipping.
The 88-foot spectacle stands in the city’s Place des Festivals and has been the
butt of jokes worldwide.
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Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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