Canada column for
Sunday, March 18/18
THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By Jim Fox
Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau has assured steelworkers that he “has their backs” in the event
of punishing tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trudeau’s
assurances came during visits to steel plants in Hamilton and Sault Ste. Marie,
Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan.
Canada and Mexico
have been temporarily reprieved from worldwide tariffs of 25 percent on steel
and 10 percent on aluminum as the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations
continue.
Trump, however, now
admits trying to mislead Canada by insisting to Trudeau that the U.S. has a
massive trade deficit with Canada.
In a fundraising
speech, Trump said he “had no idea” of the numbers, adding: “I
said, ‘wrong, Justin’ . . . I didn’t even know.”
Figures from the
2018 White House Economic Report signed by the President says the U.S. has a
trade surplus of $2.6 billion with Canada on a balance-of-payments basis.
Canada sells about
85 percent of its steel and aluminum to the U.S. as the country’s largest
foreign provider.
---
Canadians have
reason to smile as a worldwide survey finds that Canada is the seventh happiest
place in the world.
The annual World
Happiness Report puts Canada in the same place as a year ago.
The ranking of 156
countries based on factors including health, life expectancy, social support,
freedom of choice, trust and gross domestic product ranks Finland first
followed by Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland.
The U.S. slipped to
18th place from 14, partly due to “ongoing epidemics of obesity, substance abuse
and untreated depression,” said report co-editor Jeffrey Sachs.
---
News in brief:
- Polls suggest
that Doug Ford will lead his Conservatives to victory in the June 7 Ontario
election. Ford was named party leader in a tight race with Christine Elliott to
succeed Patrick Brown who resigned after allegations of sexual misconduct.
Brown will not be running for re-election and is “fighting” to clear his name. A
poll by Campaign Research put the Conservatives at 43 percent, the governing
Liberals at 27 percent and the New Democrats with 23 percent.
- As Toys 'R' Us
has an unhappy ending in the U.S. with its bankruptcy, efforts are being made
to keep the stores open in Canada. The iconic toy chain with billions of
dollars in debt is closing state-side as the company says it is “in
discussions” to sell its Canadian business with 82 stores as a going concern.
---
Facts and figures:
The value of Canada’s dollar has slipped to
76.36 cents U.S. while the U.S. greenback returns $1.309 in Canadian funds
before exchange fees.
The Bank of Canada’s key interest rate is
steady at 1.25 percent while the prime-lending rate is 3.45 percent.
Stock markets are higher, with the Toronto
exchange index at 15,711 points while the TSX Venture index is 833 points.
The average price for gas in Canada is up at $1.207
a liter or $4.58 (Canadian) for a U.S. gallon.
Lotto 6/49: (March 14) 1, 9, 10, 19, 33 and 43; bonus 21.
(March 10) 2, 10, 28, 43, 44 and 48; bonus 39. Lotto Max: (March 9) 13, 18,
20, 26, 32, 35 and 47; bonus 12.
---
Regional briefs:
- There were more
days of lights out and travel disruptions as Atlantic Canada was lashed by
another late-winter snowstorm. Environment Canada said there were up to 16
inches of snow across the region with winds of up to 70 m.p.h. and heavy rain
in Newfoundland. Power was out temporarily for 51,000 customers in Nova Scotia
and 4,300 in New Brunswick as heavy wet snow brought down tree limbs and lines.
- A “new type” of
northern lights has been discovered by Canadian amateur scientists. It’s a
glowing ribbon of purple, and sometimes green, running east to west in the
night sky photographed by aurora borealis chasers. Scientists say it’s associated
with a subauroral ion drift with a powerful current created by charged
particles in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
-30-
Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment