Canada column for
Sunday, March 31/19
THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By Jim Fox
Support in this
election year is eroding for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals after allegations
of political interference and gaffes.
Opinion polls show
the Conservatives under leader Andrew Scheer now lead the Liberals 37 percent
to 28 percent.
To back up her
earlier testimony in Parliament about charges of political interference in a
court matter by the government, former Attorney-General Jody Wilson-Raybould on
Friday released a recording of a phone call.
She was speaking
with former Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick who repeatedly urged her to have
prosecutors drop bribery charges against engineering company SNC-Lavalin in
favor of a “deferred prosecution agreement.”
Wilson-Raybould,
who later quit her job, advised that the government was “treading on dangerous
ground” and she “can’t act in a partisan way and it can’t be politically
motivated.”
Another gaffe
happened as Trudeau apologized later for a sarcastic thank you to an Indigenous
protester at a fund-raising dinner.
---
There could be more
fallout this week for the federal government as a carbon tax will begin in
Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick.
The opposition Conservatives
are reminding voters it will cost them more – up to 10 cents a liter (38 cents
a U.S. gallon) – for gas.
As well,
home-heating fuel and groceries will also increase in price.
The tax levies a fee on the production, distribution or use of fossil
fuels based on how much carbon is emitted by electricity, natural gas and oil.
---
News in brief:
- Fiat Chrysler has
announced it is eliminating a third shift at its plant in Windsor, Ontario and
cutting 1,500 jobs. It was said to be the result of lower consumer interest in the
Pacifica and Grand Caravan vehicles made at the plant across from Detroit. The
job and production cuts will take place starting on Sept. 30. The company
recently said it will spend $4.5 billion US to build a new assembly plant and
renovate four others in Michigan while creating 6,500 jobs.
- Canadian farmers
are going to be hit hard by China’s move to refuse $2 billion in canola
imports. The unexpected move is suggested to be part of growing hostility since
Canadian officials arrested Meng Wanzhou of the telecom giant Huawei at the
request of the U.S. China said it found
hazardous organisms in the shipments from two major canola exporters.
---
Facts and figures:
The Canadian dollar
is higher at 74.9 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.335 Canadian before
bank and credit card 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 mixed, with the Toronto
exchange index up at 16,102 points while the TSX Venture index is lower at 626
points.
The average price for gas in Canada is steady
at $1.20 a liter or $4.56 (Canadian) for a U.S. gallon; $1.14 a liter in
Ontario.
Lotto 6/49: (March 27) 16, 19, 22, 28, 34 and 48; bonus 49.
(March 23) 3, 6, 20, 22, 23 and 24; bonus 19. Lotto Max: (March 22) 1, 3,
20, 21, 27, 28 and 44; bonus 43.
---
Regional briefs:
- Cruise season has
started in Vancouver with the arrival of the Emerald Princess at Canada Place.
The Port of Vancouver is expecting a record-breaking season with more than a
million cruise ship passengers, most of them moving to and from Alaska. They
will arrive on 290 ships now through Nov. 1, up 21 percent from last year.
- Montreal food-based artist Cosimo Cavallaro
wants to “make America grate again” by building a wall of cheese along the
U.S.-Mexico border. His almost two-mile wall that’s six feet high is made of
expired cheese bricks. He’s erecting the work of art in the California sun at
Tecate. He has a liking for cheese art as it “smells of love and passion .
. . and is a loving wall, a welcoming wall.”
-30-
Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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