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Sunday, September 2, 2018

Court overturns Canadian government's OK of Trans Mountain pipeline expansion


   Canada column for Sunday, Sept. 2/18

   THE CANADIAN REPORT
   (c) By Jim Fox

   Ruling that native groups were not consulted properly, the Federal Court of Appeal has overturned the Canadian government’s approval of the contentious Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
   The three-member court’s unanimous decision was a major victory for environmentalists and Indigenous groups fighting the project.
   They ruled that the National Energy Board’s review of the proposal was flawed and the government could not rely on it to approve the expansion.
   The 710-mile Kinder Morgan pipeline carries crude and refined oil to British Columbia ports from Alberta.
   This means halting the recently started expansion and sending it back to the review phase to examine impacts of ship tanker traffic and consulting more thoroughly with First Nations.
   The decision comes as pipeline shareholders approved a deal to sell the pipeline and expansion project to the Canadian government for $4.5 billion, not including construction costs that could be as high as $9.3 billion.
   Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government intends to have the pipeline expansion built “in the right way” and accepts the court’s criticism of the approval process.

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   Hundreds of back-to-school shoppers were forced to abruptly leave one of Toronto’s largest shopping malls when gunshots were heard.
   Panic erupted at Yorkdale Shopping Center Thursday afternoon after two groups of men got into a fight and several shots were fired, police said.
   The mall was ordered closed for the rest of the day as police searched unsuccessfully for those involved.
   No one appeared to be injured and the incident was another in a continuing summer of violence in the city.

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   News in brief:
   - Talks to try to revamp the contentious North American Free Trade Agreement are to resume Wednesday in Washington after failing to produce a deal. U.S. president Donald Trump said he wanted Canada to reach an agreement with the U.S. and Mexico by Friday (Aug. 30). He now notified Congress that his administration intends to sign a trade agreement in 90 days with Mexico and wants Canada to agree to the terms.
   - Economists expect the Bank of Canada will leave interest rates steady on Tuesday after reports the Canadian economy grew by 2.9 percent in the second quarter of the year. The Gross Domestic Project was unchanged in June. Canada’s dollar strengthened at mid-week by investor optimism of a potential agreement to revamp the trade agreement with the U.S. and Mexico.

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   Facts and figures:
   Canada’s dollar is lower at 76.66 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.304 Canadian (before bank exchange fees).
   The Bank of Canada’s key interest rate is steady at 1.5 percent while the prime-lending rate is 3.7 percent.
   Stock markets are mixed, with the Toronto exchange index lower at 16,262 points while the TSX Venture index is up at 724 points.
   The average price for gas in Canada is slightly lower at $1.303 a liter or $4.95 (Canadian) for a U.S. gallon.
   Lotto 6/49: (Aug. 29) 7, 8, 14, 23, 35 and 40; bonus 39. (Aug. 25) 3, 6, 12, 24, 43 and 49; bonus 46. Lotto Max: (Aug. 24) 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 20 and 29; bonus 30.

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   Regional briefs:
   - A Guatemalan man was arrested for smuggling foreigners to the U.S. from Canada through an underground railway tunnel to Detroit. Police said Juan Antonio Garcia-Jimenez, 53, who lives in Windsor, Ontario, was allegedly paid thousands of dollars to help at least five migrant farm workers use the tunnel under the Detroit River. This was “one of the most dangerous methods I have seen,” said Chief Patrol Agent Douglas Harrison.
   - A large sinkhole continues to expand after swallowing trees, picnic tables and part of a parking lot in Oxford, Nova Scotia. Amy Tizzard, a geologist with the Nova Scotia Department of Energy and Mines, said the “still-unpredictable” sinkhole’s growth has slowed. The muddy hole had undercut the pavement at a Lions Club parking lot and playground equipment was removed when cracks threatened to also take it down.

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Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com

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