Canada column for
Sunday, May 24/20
THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By Jim Fox
The Canadian government
is helping the provinces boost efforts to test people for the COVID-19 virus and
trace anyone who may have come into contact with it.
Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau is taking a cautious approach to restart the economy as the
number of new cases continued to increase in Ontario, Canada’s most populous
province.
There are 83,000
cases of the virus with 6,500 deaths across Canada.
Economic recovery
efforts are moving ahead in Quebec and New Brunswick while Alberta’s public
health restrictions are easing.
Ontario is among
the provinces deciding schools will remain closed for the rest of the current
term and reopening some businesses.
Federal support for
testing and contact-tracing to isolate positive cases are essential to control
the pandemic now and in the future, Trudeau said.
The government has revised
its earlier suggestion on wearing masks in public as health authorities are now
urging their use.
In other
developments, Air Canada is offering customers whose flights were canceled due
to the pandemic travel vouchers with no expiry date while those with refundable
tickets can now receive a refund.
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Tragedy struck the Royal
Canadian Air Force’s Snowbirds aerobatic team on a goodwill mission across
Canada.
One of the team’s
Tutor jets fell from the sky over Kamloops, British Columbia killing Halifax
native Capt. Jennifer Casey.
She ejected from
the plane that crashed in a neighborhood while the pilot Capt. Richard
MacDougall of Moncton, New Brunswick ejected and landed on a roof with injuries
considered to be non-life threatening.
The team was
winding up a cross-country fly-over tour aimed at boosting the spirits of
Canadians during the pandemic.
---
News in brief:
- Calling it “very,
very high pollutant,” Joe Biden, the presumptive U.S. Democratic nominee, said
he would scrap Keystone XL pipeline if elected president. “I’ve been against
Keystone from the beginning – it is tar sands that we don't need,” he said.
Biden didn’t comment on the importance of the Alberta-to-Texas pipeline to
Canada and the U.S. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said Biden would have to
explain why he’d kill a partly finished project.
- Tobi Lutke,
founder of Canadian e-commerce firm Shopify Inc., said the future of office
spaces will change after the pandemic retreats. He made the comment while
announcing the Ottawa-based company with 5,000 employees and contractors
worldwide valued at $119 billion, will allow staff to work from home
permanently. It’s the end of “office centricity,” he said.
---
Facts and figures:
The Canadian dollar
has advanced to 71.45 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.399 Canadian before
exchange fees.
The Bank of Canada’s
key interest rate remains at 0.25 percent while the prime lending rate is 2.45
percent.
Canadian stock
markets are higher with the Toronto index at 14,913 points and the TSX Venture
index 536 points.
The average price
for gas in Canada is up to 94.3 cents a liter (Canadian) or $3.58 for a U.S. gallon.
Lotto Max: (May
19) 22, 23, 24, 25, 37, 40 and 49; bonus 19. (May 15) 7, 30, 32, 40, 47, 48 and
50; bonus 16.
Lotto
6/49 (May 20) 8, 23, 25, 34, 37 and 47; bonus 4. (May 16) 1, 6, 7,
14, 26 and 48; bonus 49.
---
Regional briefs:
- Meteorologists
are predicting an active hurricane season with numerous tropical storms that
could impact Atlantic Canada. People should prepare for damaging weather, said Bob
Robichaud of the Canadian Hurricane Center. Similar to U.S. predictions, the
center expects six to 10 storms that could become hurricanes. Last year there
were 18 named storms including hurricane Dorian that roared into Canada’s Maritimes
causing $140 million in damage.
- Wildlife safaris
are being held as a “safe adventure” at the Toronto Zoo. The Scenic Safari lets
visitors drive their cars on staff-only roads including a visit to the lion
cave. There is also Zoo Keeper commentary along the way on the “real-life
African safari” at the home of 5,000 animals.
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Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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