Canada column for
Sunday, May 19/19
THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By Jim Fox
The work has resumed
to rewrite Canada’s deal with the United States now that the two countries have
ended their trade war.
It was a year-long standoff
when Canada retaliated with tariffs to counter the Trump administration’s punitive
fees on steel and aluminum imports.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an
unscheduled stop in Hamilton, Ontario while returning from Paris to make the announcement
Friday at a Stelco plant in Canada’s steel-manufacturing capital.
“Families will
know that their jobs are just a little more secure,” he told the workers.
Now Canada and the
U.S. can work together “to get the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA),
approved in the coming weeks,” he said.
The tariffs that
Trudeau said “didn’t make sense” were hurting Canadian and U.S. workers and
consumers and were a major obstacle to ratifying the new trade pact, he said.
Canada is removing $16
billion in retaliatory fees and ending legal action against the U.S. at the
World Trade Organization.
---
Former Canadian
media mogul Conrad Black, convicted of defrauding investors, has received a
full pardon from President Donald Trump.
He spent more than
three years in a Florida prison after his 2007 conviction in Chicago.
His media empire
once included the Chicago Sun-Times and the Daily Telegraph of London.
Black condemns his
conviction, blaming “the belligerence of several corporate governance
charlatans” and “grandstanding” by judges.
A former neighbor
of Trump at his Florida mansion, Black wrote a 2018 book called “Donald J. Trump:
A President Like No Other” that was highly flattering.
---
News in brief:
- Canada has offered to provide softwood lumber and steel for the
reconstruction of Paris’s fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral. Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau made the offer while touring the iconic monument. “This is truly
a piece not just of French history but of world history that needs to be
preserved,” he said.
- Onex Corp. is paying $5 billion to buy Calgary-based Westjet Airlines.
Founder Clive Beddoe said the Toronto-based private equity company is “an ideal
partner” that will keep its headquarters in Calgary. Meanwhile, Air Canada is
in talks to buy for $488 million vacation and travel company Transat AT Inc.
based in Montreal.
- There are more chances to win but with higher odds as Lotto Max goes
to two times a week, Tuesdays and Fridays. The lottery jackpot increases to $70
million from $60 million before extra $1 million prizes are offered. By adding
one number, 50, and choosing seven on a $5 ticket, the odds go up to 1 in 33
million.
---
Facts and figures:
The Canadian dollar
is lower at 74.28 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.346 Canadian before
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 16,401 points while the TSX Venture index is 609 points.
The average price for gas in Canada is steady at
$1.30 a liter or $4.94 (Canadian) for a U.S. gallon; $1.26 a liter in Ontario.
Lotto 6/49: (May 15) 5, 6, 32, 40, 42 and 47; bonus 17.
(May 11) 3, 12, 26, 27, 34 and 46; bonus 29. Lotto Max: (May 14) 9, 24,
27, 33, 40, 44 and 48; bonus 41. Lotto Max: (May 10) 16, 17, 31, 34, 36, 39 and
41; bonus 10.
---
Regional briefs:
- With the renewed
popularity of treasure hunting, an Edmonton company is cashing in with its search
for gold. GoldHunt says it has buried three chests with $100,000 each in gold
in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Starting June 1, participants can sign up for
$25 to get a map or $45 for one with clues, riddles and hints. goldhunt.ca
- The scenic Alberta
Rockies community of Canmore is seeking serenity now by asking long-term parking-lot
campers to hit the road. Town officials are banning overnight parking for about
100 people living in their vehicles. Mayor John Borrowman says the overnight
option had been intended to accommodate tourists.
-30-
Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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