Canada column for Sunday, Aug. 23/20
THE CANADIAN REPORT
By Jim Fox
It’s not quite the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico but a “cable barrier” has been placed along a portion of the western Canadian boundary.
The U.S. Border Patrol has supervised the installation of the highway-type cable barrier between Washington State and British Columbia stretching from Surrey to Abbotsford.
Covering almost three miles, it’s said to curb “dangerous criminal enterprises” trying to enter the U.S. or Canada by way of a ditch in the rural location.
This will aid in “securing this portion of the border by deterring illegal vehicle entries in both directions,” said Acting Chief Patrol Agent Tony Holladay.
This is happening as the number of Americans trying to visit Canada is climbing while the border remains closed to all but essential travel.
The mutual ban by the two countries started in mid-March to protect against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There have been 12,819 Americans turned away at the shared border from since March.
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It isn’t business as usual as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decided it was time for his Liberal minority government to “take a pause.”
Proroguing or shutting down Parliament until Sept. 23 will put a halt to a committee investigating Trudeau for possible ethics violations and most other business.
Often known as a “reset button” in Canadian politics, the break will result with a new session of Parliament and a new agenda.
It’s also a gamble as the opposition parties can consider overthrowing the government in a non-confidence vote.
The action took
place as Trudeau’s Finance Minister Bill Morneau, also caught up in the WE
Charity scandal contract work, quit politics to be replaced by Deputy Prime
Minister Chrystia Freeland.
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News in brief:
- The Canadian government has extended the Canada Emergency Response Benefit into next month. It will then transition the millions of people still without work into a revamped Employment Insurance program. The benefits also include a form of paid sick leave that will cost the government $37 billion over the next year.
- The next leader of Canada’s federal Conservative party will be announced tonight (Sunday) as Peter MacKay and Erin O’Toole remain the front-runners in the mail-in vote. Leslyn Lewis and Derek Sloan are also in the race for leader Andrew Scheer’s job. He resigned after his party’s loss to the governing Liberals in the federal election last October.
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Facts and figures:
The Canadian dollar is higher at 75.86 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.318 Canadian before exchange fees.
The Bank of Canada’s key interest rate is unchanged at 0.25 percent while the prime lending rate is 2.45 percent.
Canadian stock markets are mixed with the Toronto index up at 16,517 points and the TSX Venture index down at 730 points.
The average price for gas in Canada is higher at $1.048 a liter (Canadian) or $3.98 for a U.S. gallon.
Lotto Max: (Aug. 18) 1, 2, 16, 32, 44, 46 and 50; bonus 6. (Aug. 14) 3, 22, 37, 39, 41, 43 and 44; bonus 20.
Lotto 6/49: (Aug. 19) 2, 17, 32, 37, 39 and 42; bonus 9. (Aug. 15) 6, 7, 11, 18, 22 and 43; bonus 9.
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Regional briefs:
- Brockville, Ontario will benefit by a $23.3-million federal-provincial government deal to have its 3M Canada plant produce up to 100 million medical-grade N95 respirator masks a year. The deal, announced by Prime Minister Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, is aimed at ensuring Canada is never again at the mercy of unreliable foreign suppliers of personal protective equipment during a pandemic, they said.
- Thunderstorms and a heat wave have helped to set British Columbia on fire. Among those forced from their homes are residents of 3,700 properties in Penticton near Sakha Lake and about 125 properties in the Upper Carmi area and Sakha Bluffs Provincial Park. As well, there have been 320 properties evacuated in Okanagan.
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Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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