Car travel to Florida eased, as U.S. land border with Canada to reopen in Novemer

   Canada column for Sunday, Oct. 17/21

    THE CANADIAN REPORT

   By Jim Fox

    The decision to reopen the U.S.-Canada land border to non-essential travel will make it easier for Canadians to get to Florida and their Sun Belt winter destinations.

   Details are still being worked out but the plan is for the U.S. to reopen its land borders to vaccinated non-essential visitors on Nov. 8 after being closed for 20 months.

   Travelers will need to show proof of COVID-19vaccinations to Customs and Border Protection officials upon request.

   What it means is that Canadians can drive to the U.S. on day trips and family visits and beyond as Canada has allowed fully vaccinated Americans to do since Aug. 9.

   The Public Health Agency of Canada is still advising against non-essential international travel during the pandemic.

   The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working on the operational details, such as what will constitute acceptable proof.

   Canadians have been getting around the land-border crossing ban by flying but they face quarantines and negative testing to return.

   It’s still not clear whether people who received doses of two different vaccines, estimated to be four-million Canadians, will be considered fully vaccinated for travel purposes.

   Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, speaking in Washington, said no decision has been made to end the need for a negative test to return home.

    ---

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recently re-elected Liberal minority government will get down to business on Oct. 26.

   That’s the day he will unveil his new cabinet and prepare for this government’s third mandate.

   The challenges will be focused on finishing the fight against COVID-19 and rebuilding the pandemic-ravaged economy, he said.

   That work will prepare for the recall of Parliament on Nov. 22 after the election win on Sept. 20.

   The Prime Minister has also spoken by phone to the opposition leaders about Canadian priorities during the pandemic’s fourth wave.

    ---

    News in brief:

   - Canada's Big Six banks will join the Net-Zero Banking Alliance ahead of the UN climate summit in Glasgow later month. The global alliance commits members to aligning their lending and investment portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050. They will also set intermediate targets for 2030 or sooner. The industry-led alliance is the banking component of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, chaired by UN special envoy and former Bank of Canada Gov. Mark Carney.

    ---

    Facts and figures:

   Canada’s dollar is higher at 81 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.24 in Canadian funds, 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 higher, with the Toronto index at 20,929 points and the TSX Venture index 933 points.

   The average price for gas in Canada is higher at $1.45 a liter (Canadian) or $5.55 for a U.S. gallon.

   Lotto Max: (Oct. 12) 7, 11, 13, 30, 38, 40 and 43; bonus 45. (Oct. 8) 5, 16, 19, 21, 23, 31 and 36; bonus 46.

   Lotto 6/49: (Oct. 13)   2, 7, 8, 11, 19 and 27; bonus 24. (Oct. 9) 1, 11, 19, 27, 28 and 38; bonus 8.

    ---

    Regional briefs:

   - Ontario’s controversial vaccine passport has started a phased rollout to provincial residents to confirm their COVID-19 status. The enhanced certificate can be downloaded or mailed on paper with its scan able QR code for businesses using the Verify Ontario app. It confirms vaccinations required for access to higher-risk settings in Canada’s most-populous province including indoor restaurant dining, movie theaters, gyms, sporting events and concerts. covid-19.ontario.ca/proof-covid-19-vaccination 1-(833) 943-3900.

    - Randy Bachman of the iconic Canadian rock band the Guess Who has “taken care of business” as one of his song titles was called. After 45 years, he has finally found his cherished 1957 Gretsch guitar in Tokyo. The rare 6120 Chet Atkins’ model was stolen from a Toronto-area hotel in 1976. It was finally found through a fan's creative use of facial recognition software. The current owner, Japanese musician Takeshi, said she would trade the guitar for another one from Bachman.

 -30-

 Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com

Canada Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole's job at risk after election defeat

    Canada column for Sunday, Oct. 10/21

    THE CANADIAN REPORT

   By Jim Fox   

    Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole said he expects to stay on in the job even as members of his party are reviewing their options.

   This follows a crushing election defeat last month when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals were returned to office with a minority government.

   There were 159 Liberals elected while the Conservatives ended up with 119 members, two fewer than under former leader Andrew Scheer.

   O’Toole said he is confident he will remain the leader and said the party increased its share of the vote in Ontario and new members in Atlantic Canada.

   Within the party there’s a petition with several thousand signatures to review O’Toole’s leadership earlier than scheduled in 2023.

   “We must learn the lessons of the election, share constructive feedback and remain united,” said.

   The election loss was due to Trudeau “using the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to divide Canadians,” he added.

    ---

    Taking a family vacation at an expensive resort in Tofino, British Columbia “was a mistake and I regret it,” Prime Minister Trudeau said.

   He apologized for snubbing invitations to be at events on the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

   The new national holiday is “an important moment for all of us – Indigenous and non-Indigenous – to reflect and to remember,” he said, noting abuses of native people from years ago.

   His office said that he earlier spoke at a sombre ceremony on Parliament Hill as residential school survivors shared stories and by phone.

    ---

    News in brief:

   - Health officials are advising Canadians to be cautious around events to mark our Thanksgiving on Monday due to the pandemic.

   This includes limiting the number of people gathering and being aware of those who are not fully vaccinated .

   It is also best to do as much as possible outdoors and to wear masks while inside and keep your distance from each other, they advise.

   Children are urged not to crowd around doors and wearing masks for Halloween.

   - A wave of terminations is expected due to mandatory workplace vaccine policies nationally.

   The number of employers requiring workers to be fully inoculated against COVID or risk losing their jobs continues to grow.

   This includes governments, institutions and companies with deadlines to be fully vaccinated or face firings and unpaid leave.

   Public service workers, air travel and rail employees must be fully vaccinated by the end of this month.

   The mandate mirrors provincial policies, such as in Nova Scotia where school and health-care workers are required to have two doses of a vaccine by the end of November.

    ---

    Facts and figures:

   Canada’s dollar is higher at 80 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.25 in Canadian funds, 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 higher, with the Toronto index at 20,460 points and the TSX Venture index 877 points.

   The average price for gas in Canada is higher at $1.43 a liter (Canadian) or $5.40 for a U.S. gallon.

   Lotto Max: (Oct. 5) 2, 10, 18, 19, 25, 42 and 48; bonus 21. (Oct. 1) 4, 8, 15, 39, 40, 42 and 48; bonus 5.

   Lotto 6/49: (Oct. 6) 7, 18, 19, 38, 42 and 46; bonus 31. (Oct. 2) 8, 17, 18, 19, 48 and 49; bonus 26.

    ---

    Regional briefs:

   - The British Columbia government  will proceed with construction of an eight-lane tunnel under the Fraser River between Richmond and Delta. Costing $4.15 billion, it will replace the George Massey Tunnel that has frustrated drivers for decades and will connect the cities on Highway 99 by 2030.

   - A lost camera mounted on a seal has been recovered after three years on the Nova Scotia ocean floor. The “trove of research data ” includes hours of video and was recently dragged up in fishing gear. It shows its lifestyle along with ocean conditions around Sable Island.

 -30-

 Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com

Canada will have new Parliament this month; return to busines after election

    Canada column for Sunday, Oct. 3/21

    THE CANADIAN REPORT

   By Jim Fox

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will name his new cabinet later this month after his Liberals were returned with a minority government.

   In keeping with election promises, Trudeau, 49, said Parliament will return to business “before the end of fall” and implement a federal vaccine mandate as soon as possible.

   With his government given a new mandate in the snap election, Trudeau said “Canadians made it very clear the kinds of things they want us to work on.”

   Exact dates are still to be worked out, “but we are busy getting into the business of delivering on an ambitious agenda that Canadians laid out,” he said.

   A highlight of his first week was the freeing from a Chinese prison of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, move assisted by President Joe Biden.

   They were released after being detained on espionage charges since Dec. 10, 2018.

   It happened once Canada dropped an extradition case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

   She was being held in house arrest in Vancouver for the U.S. Department of Justice on fraud and conspiracy charges over sanctions against Iran.

   Some of Trudeau’s priorities are climate measures, $10-a-day child care and affordable housing.

    ---

    Canadians marked their first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to remember the Indigenous children who disappeared years ago from “residential schools.”

   It became a new federal holiday where Canadians were to reflect on the abuses, even deaths, of Native children at the many of the Catholic church-run institutions.

   The Truth and Reconciliation Commission estimates that 6,000 to 15,000 children died while attending the schools with hundreds of unmarked graves found this year.

   The intent of the schools was to strip Indigenous people of their culture and language to be replaced with a Christian faith and English language.

   Some 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children were forced to attend the schools from the 1870s and 1996 when the remaining ones were closed.

    ---

    News in brief:

   Alberta has had its second-highest daily tally of COVID-19 deaths with 34 fatalities as doctors issued another desperate plea for a province-wide lockdown.

   Intensive-care doctors with the Alberta Medical Association are urging the government to begin a “firebreak” lockdown of public places.

   “We understand that implementing province-wide public health restrictions should be a last resort measure, used only in the direst of times,” said Dr. Paul Parks.

   “As we face the largest wave of COVID-19 infections ever seen in our province during this pandemic, we cannot overstate how dire the times have become,” he said.

    ---

   Facts and figures:

   Canada’s dollar is steady at 78 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.28 in Canadian funds, 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 lower, with the Toronto index at 20,104 points and the TSX Venture index 860 points.

   The average price for gas in Canada is steady at $1.37 a liter (Canadian) or $5.20for a U.S. gallon.

   Lotto Max: (Sept. 28) 2, 5, 8, 18, 23, 31 and 35; bonus 43. (Sept. 24) 5, 13, 28, 35, 41, 49 and 50; bonus 34.

   Lotto 6/49: (Sept. 29) 3, 5, 38, 39, 41 and 48; bonus 28. (Sept. 25) 3, 8, 10, 35, 46 and 48; bonus 17.

    ---

    Regional briefs:

   - Thirty-nine miners trapped underground at Vale’s Totten Mine in Sudbury, Ontario were rescued unharmed after three days. They slowly made their way to the surface assisted by rescue teams and built-in safety measures. They were trapped after the collapse of an internal elevator and used ladders and ropes to escape from almost one-mile deep. The mine produces copper, nickel and precious metals and employs about 200 people.

   - Travel within the “Atlantic Canada bubble” is continuing to open up. In Nova Scotia as of Monday, anyone who travels from another Canadian province or territory needs to complete the Safe Check-in Form and may need to self-isolate for seven days when they arrive in or return. People who are fully vaccinated or have isolated already in Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland and Labrador can enter Nova Scotia without self-isolating again or if they are exempt.

 -30-

 sJim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com

Canada's new cabinet to be announced with return to Parliament later: Canada news roundup

   Canada column for Sunday, Oct. 3/21

 

   THE CANADIAN REPORT

   By Jim Fox

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will name his new cabinet later this month after his Liberals were returned with a minority government.

   In keeping with election promises, Trudeau, 49, said Parliament will return to business “before the end of fall” and implement a federal vaccine mandate as soon as possible.

   With his government given a new mandate in the snap election, Trudeau said “Canadians made it very clear the kinds of things they want us to work on.”

   Exact dates are still to be worked out, “but we are busy getting into the business of delivering on an ambitious agenda that Canadians laid out,” he said.

   A highlight of his first week was the freeing from a Chinese prison of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, move assisted by President Joe Biden.

   They were released after being detained on espionage charges since Dec. 10, 2018.

   It happened once Canada dropped an extradition case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

   She was being held in house arrest in Vancouver for the U.S. Department of Justice on fraud and conspiracy charges over sanctions against Iran.

   Some of Trudeau’s priorities are climate measures, $10-a-day child care and affordable housing.

    ---

    Canadians marked their first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to remember the Indigenous children who disappeared years ago from “residential schools.”

   It became a new federal holiday where Canadians were to reflect on the abuses, even deaths, of Native children at the many of the Catholic church-run institutions.

   The Truth and Reconciliation Commission estimates that 6,000 to 15,000 children died while attending the schools with hundreds of unmarked graves found this year.

   The intent of the schools was to strip Indigenous people of their culture and language to be replaced with a Christian faith and English language.

   Some 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children were forced to attend the schools from the 1870s and 1996 when the remaining ones were closed.

    ---

    News in brief:

   Alberta has had its second-highest daily tally of COVID-19 deaths with 34 fatalities as doctors issued another desperate plea for a province-wide lockdown.

   Intensive-care doctors with the Alberta Medical Association are urging the government to begin a “firebreak” lockdown of public places.

   “We understand that implementing province-wide public health restrictions should be a last resort measure, used only in the direst of times,” said Dr. Paul Parks.

   “As we face the largest wave of COVID-19 infections ever seen in our province during this pandemic, we cannot overstate how dire the times have become,” he said.

    ---

   Facts and figures:

   Canada’s dollar is steady at 78 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.28 in Canadian funds, 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 lower, with the Toronto index at 20,104 points and the TSX Venture index 860 points.

   The average price for gas in Canada is steady at $1.37 a liter (Canadian) or $5.20for a U.S. gallon.

   Lotto Max: (Sept. 28) 2, 5, 8, 18, 23, 31 and 35; bonus 43. (Sept. 24) 5, 13, 28, 35, 41, 49 and 50; bonus 34.

   Lotto 6/49: (Sept. 29) 3, 5, 38, 39, 41 and 48; bonus 28. (Sept. 25) 3, 8, 10, 35, 46 and 48; bonus 17.

    ---

    Regional briefs:

   - Thirty-nine miners trapped underground at Vale’s Totten Mine in Sudbury, Ontario were rescued unharmed after three days. They slowly made their way to the surface assisted by rescue teams and built-in safety measures. They were trapped after the collapse of an internal elevator and used ladders and ropes to escape from almost one-mile deep. The mine produces copper, nickel and precious metals and employs about 200 people.

   - Travel within the “Atlantic Canada bubble” is continuing to open up. In Nova Scotia as of Monday, anyone who travels from another Canadian province or territory needs to complete the Safe Check-in Form and may need to self-isolate for seven days when they arrive in or return. People who are fully vaccinated or have isolated already in Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland and Labrador can enter Nova Scotia without self-isolating again or if they are exempt.

 -30-

 

Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com