Canada column for
Sunday, Feb. 17/19
THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By Jim Fox
The Canadian
government is warning against travel to Haiti where widespread civil
disobedience has trapped hundreds of people on vacation, missionaries and medical
aid workers.
Efforts were being
made this weekend to shuttle 117 Canadians on an Air Transat chartered vacation
to the Port-au-Prince airport by helicopter as roads are blocked by dissidents
asking up to $1,000 to allow cars through.
Canadians should
avoid all travel to the Caribbean country as the government works to help people
trapped there, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Canada is warning that
the “security situation could further deteriorate quickly” and people should “consider
leaving by commercial means while they are available.”
Dr. Emilio Bazile
from Ottawa said his medical team made a run for the airport and came upon a
“lawless nightmare.”
They ended up
hiring an ambulance for $250 to get them there, he said.
Haitians are rioting
to demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moise and over skyrocketing
inflation and an embezzlement scandal.
---
The cabinet of
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces an ethics investigation over allegations of
political interference in a case against
engineering company SNC-Lavalin.
Trudeau denies that his office pressured former
attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould – who just resigned – to help the company
in a corruption and fraud investigation.
The scope of the
ethics probe is whether the government was pushing for the negotiation of a remediation
agreement with SNC-Lavalin rather than a trial.
Ethics commissioner
Mario Dion is investigating whether there was a violation of the Conflict of
Interest Act.
---
News in brief:
- A British
newspaper reports of a police investigation into a claim of sexual assault against
former British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell. The Daily Telegraph said the woman
worked at Canadian High Commission in London when Campbell was commissioner. Scotland
Yard is looking into the alleged incident from 2013 while a spokesman for
Campbell said it was investigated and dismissed.
- Some 70,000 fans
are looking to “spend the night together” as the Rolling Stones announce its
only Canadian tour date on the June 29 Canada Day weekend in Oro-Medonte, north
of Toronto. Some fans, however, could “get no satisfaction” when they found steep
ticket prices of up to $200 for general admission and much higher for premium
seats. The outside event will take place at Burl’s Creek near Orillia,
Ontario.
---
Facts and figures:
The Canadian dollar
is higher at 75.50 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.324 Canadian before
bank exchange fees.
The Bank of Canada’s
key interest rate is steady at 1.75 percent while the prime-lending rate is 3.95
percent.
Stock markets are higher, with the Toronto
exchange index at 15,838 points while the TSX Venture index is 615 points.
The average price for gas in Canada is higher at
$1.039 a liter or $3.94 (Canadian) for a U.S. gallon; 97.7 cents a liter in
Ontario.
Lotto 6/49: (Feb. 13) 5, 19, 24, 29, 36 and 41; bonus 9.
(Feb. 9) 1, 24, 35, 41, 42 and 49; bonus 18. Lotto Max: (Feb. 8) 18, 23,
31, 32, 36, 38 and 43; bonus 27.
---
Regional briefs:
- It has been a
brutal winter for weather across the country, with every type of frozen
precipitation, high winds and ice-laden sidewalks and roads. The latest blast
in the Toronto area and eastern Canada is being blamed on a “Colorado low
pressure system.” Vancouver, the west coast city known for its mid, rainy
winters, isn’t escaping. It has received up to 35 centimeters
(14 inches) of snow in three days the past week.
- An Illinois woman
who came to Canada to commit a terrorist act in Halifax is appealing her life
sentence with no parole for 10 years as being too harsh. New court documents
reveal details of the thwarted St. Valentine’s Day massacre in 2015. Lindsay
Souvannarath, 27, was arrested at the Halifax airport, planning an attack with gas
bombs, guns and knives at the Halifax Shopping Center.
-30-
Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment