Canada column for
Sunday, June 4/17
THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By Jim Fox
Canada’s Conservatives
are looking to Andrew Scheer to rebuild the party that was swept aside by the
Liberals in the 2015 vote.
It took 13 ballots
for party members to select Scheer, 38, a Saskatchewan Member of Parliament and
former Speaker of the House of Commons, as their new leader.
In a narrow margin,
he was declared the winner with 50.95 percent over leadership front-runner
Maxime Bernier of Quebec with 49.05.
Scheer told cheering supporters the goal is
for the Conservatives to form the government in 2019 by defeating Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.
In promising “renewed
hope for Canada,” Scheer said that the “pain and hardship the Trudeau Liberals
are causing Canadians is just temporary.”
Scheer said he will
balance the budget within two years, ending the Liberal job-creating
spending spree, and provide tax credits for home-schooled children and those
attending private schools.
The victory makes
Scheer, who with wife Jill have five children, the Opposition leader in the
Commons.
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Ontario’s minimum
wage will jump to $15 an hour in 2019, Premier Kathleen Wynne said.
The raise will be phased in over 18 months,
rising to $14 an hour next Jan. 1 and to $15 the next January.
After that, the minimum will rise annually based
on the inflation rate.
The current Ontario minimum wage is $11.40
an hour and ranges across Canada from $10.72 in Saskatchewan to $13
in Nunavut.
Alberta’s rate will rise to $15 hourly in
October of next year.
The increase, which is
a concern for small business owners, is part of a bill that aims to
better protect part-time and contract workers, Wynne said.
---
News in brief:
- Prime Minister
Trudeau said he told U.S. President Donald Trump he is “deeply disappointed”
with his decision to pull out of the Paris agreement on climate change. “Canada
is unwavering in our commitment to fight climate change and support clean
economic growth,” Trudeau said. “Canadians know we need to take decisive and
collective action to tackle the many harsh realities of our changing climate,”
he added.
- The Canadian
government is providing an aid package of $867 million in loans for the
forestry industry, workers and communities impacted by softwood lumber tariffs
recently imposed by the United States. The aid includes support
to expand overseas markets and to help affected workers upgrade their skills
and find new opportunities. Foreign Affairs
Minister Chrystia Freeland said she is confident a fair agreement on
softwood lumber can be reached.
---
Facts and figures:
Canada’s dollar is lower
at 74.14 cents U.S. as the U.S. dollar is worth $1.348 Canadian before exchange
fees.
The Bank of Canada’s key interest rate is
steady at 0.5 percent while the prime-lending rate is 2.7 percent.
Stock markets are mixed, with the Toronto
exchange index up at 15,452 points while the TSX Venture index is down at 802
points.
The average price for gas in Canada is down at
$1.11 a liter or $4.21 (Canadian) for a U.S. gallon.
Lotto 6/49: (May 31) 1, 3, 8, 9, 12 and 40;
bonus 2. (May 27) 7, 15, 25, 26, 27 and 36; bonus 12. Lotto Max: (May 26) 14, 16,
18, 21, 38, 44 and 49; bonus 15.
---
Regional briefs:
- Public outrage
has resulted in a Montreal private elementary school no longer allowing
convicted sex killer Karla Homolka to help with kids. The school run by the Seventh-day
Adventist Church is where Homolka’s kids attend. She and ex-husband Paul
Bernardo were convicted in the rape and murder of Ontario teenagers Kristen
French and Leslie Mahaffy. Homolka was released after spending 12 years in
prison in 2005.
- Nurse Elizabeth
Wettlaufer has admitted killing eight elderly patients with insulin overdoses
because she was “overwhelmingly angry” about her life and saying God urged her
to do it. She will be sentenced June 26 for the deaths at three long-term care
facilities in Woodstock and London, Ontario. She also pleaded guilty to
attempting to kill four seniors and to two counts of aggravated assault.
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Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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