Canada column for Sunday, April 4/21
THE CANADIAN REPORT
By Jim Fox
Days after Ontario’s restaurants opened their patios and offered indoor dining; a blanket lockdown is keeping them closed to battle the pandemic.
Doug Ford, premier of Canada’s most-populous province with 15-million residents, said advice from health and medical experts left him no choice but to enact an “emergency brake” at the start of the Easter weekend.
Unlike previous lockdowns, this one covers the entire province for the next 28 days.
Along with no patio dining as the warm weather has returned, the lockdown means restaurants can only offer pickup and delivery with no inside dining.
The order, as the third wave of the pandemic takes hold, forces the closing of personal services such as hair salons, gyms and spas as well as tight customer numbers inside big box stores, grocers and for church services.
Across Canada, other provinces are taking action of their own to deal with rising infection totals as vaccines dwindle in.
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The proposed $188.7-million deal offered by Air Canada to buy Transat AT Inc. airline has fallen through.
Canada’s largest airline pulled out of the deal after being advised that it would face regulatory hurdles in Europe.
Air Canada is reviewing its other options as this opens the way for other domestic companies to seek the Montreal-based tour operator.
There were competition concerns covering numerous transatlantic routes with the proposed remedies called “insufficient.”
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said the two sides are “examining next steps.”
As well, airlines have been in talks with the Canadian government about a possible aid package over the virus impact.
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News in brief:
- Canada’s central bank said the economy is “proving to be more resilient than anticipated” to the virus with associated containment measures as it kept its key interest rate steady. The Bank of Canada’s trend-setting rate remains at 0.25 percent. It also said that consumers and businesses are adapting to containment measures and housing market activity has been much stronger than expected. There remains “considerable economic slack and a great deal of uncertainty about the evolution of the virus and the path of economic growth,” it said.
- Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.is offering $25 billion to buy Kansas City Southern railway. This would create the first rail network connecting Canada, the United States and Mexico. It would offer a single integrated rail system connecting ports on the U.S. Gulf, Atlantic and Pacific coasts with overseas markets, the railway said. The deal is subject to government regulatory approval.
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Facts and figures:
Canada’s dollar returns 79.5 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar is worth $1.257 Canadian before exchange fees.
The Bank of Canada key interest rate is steady at 0.25 percent while the prime lending rate is 2.45 percent.
Canadian stock markets are higher, with the Toronto index at 18,990 points and the TSX Venture index at 960 points.
The average price for gas in Canada is higher at $1.245 a liter (Canadian) or $4.73 for a U.S. gallon.
Lotto Max: (March 30) 12, 22, 25, 30, 37, 38 and 45; bonus 2. (March 26) 2, 4, 16, 24, 25, 27 and 49; bonus 29.
Lotto 6/49: (March 31) 3, 7, 8, 12, 37 and 40; bonus 41. (March 27) 15, 16, 17, 30, 36 and 40; bonus 34.
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Regional briefs:
- Five people were injured when 70 cars and trucks piled up in wintry conditions on the Trans-Canada Highway in Alberta. The highway near Brooks was closed for hours during a blizzard with white-out conditions. Police said the crash happened at about 8 a.m. in the westbound lanes Drivers were warned to avid travel due to blowing and drifting snow, icy roads and poor visibility.
- There was a happy ending in the search for a three-year-old boy missing in the woods for almost four days. Ontario Provincial Police Constable Scott McNames caught a glimpse of something bright blue on the ground in the forest. It turned out to be Jude Leyton, alive and well who had been missing near Kingston after wandering away from a fishing camp where his family was staying.
Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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