Canada column for Sunday, May 15/22
THE CANADIAN REPORT
By Jim Fox
The Canadian government has approved a $10-billion loan guarantee for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in western Canada.
An announcement said this is common practice and does not reflect any additional public funding for the high-profile oil pipeline.
Trans Mountain pipeline is Canada’s only oil pipeline system from Alberta to the West Coast and was bought by the federal government in 2018 for $4.5 billion.
Previous owner Kinder Morgan Canada Inc. was considering scrapping the planned expansion due to environmentalist opposition.
Scheduled to be completed in 2023, the project will twin the existing pipeline and boosting daily output to 890,000 barrels of crude oil, and 50-percent complete.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has said there will be no additional public funding for the pipeline but the government-owned project needs to secure third-party funding to complete the project.
Meanwhile, the massive Keystone XL pipeline was canceled over U.S. environmental concerns.
It would have covered 1,210 miles from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Nebraska and moved 830,000 barrels of crude from western Canadian oil fields to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries.
---
Gas prices across Canada have hit a new all-time record, closing in on $2 a liter ($7.60 for a U.S. gallon in Canadian funds).
Natural Resources Canada said they are still going higher, with Vancouver at $2.23 a liter, Toronto, $2 and Edmonton, $1.30.
As prices reached $2 in Atlantic Canada and $2.50 for diesel, some governments are looking at cutting excise sales tax on fuel.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs also said his province will ensure revenues from the record gas prices will go back to the public.
---
News in brief:
Ryerson University in Toronto is the latest institution being politically correct in changing its name. To be known as Toronto Metropolitan University, the change was prompted by growing calls to examine the legacy of Egerton Ryerson. Research showed he was an architect of Canada’s residential school system that separated 150,000 Indigenous children from their families to “Canadianize” them. A statue of Ryerson was also pulled down by students and protesters last year.
---
Facts and figures:
Canada’s dollar is lower at 77 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.30 in Canadian funds, before exchange fees.
The Bank of Canada’s key interest rate is unchanged at 1 percent while the prime lending rate at commercial banks is 3.2 percent or more.
Canadian stock markets are down, with the Toronto index at 20,110 points while the TSX Venture index is 700 points.
The average price for gas in Canada is rising to a national $1.93 a liter or $7.33 for a U.S. gallon in Canadian funds.
Lotto Max: (May 10) 6, 15, 18, 19, 20, 27 and 28; bonus 24. (May 6) 3, 6, 11, 18, 19, 28 and 41; bonus 26.
Lotto 6/49: (May 11)5, 10, 12, 34, 36 and 48; bonus 27. (May 7) 7, 12, 21, 28, 40 and 46; bonus 34.
---
Regional briefs:
- Water bombers have been sent to battle forest fires in Nova Scotia. The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center said the bombers are from Newfoundland and Labrador to help ground and air crews fight an out-of-control wildfire near Horseshoe Lake in Yarmouth County. The fire covers about 15 square miles and continues to grow with winds and low humidity. It has also led to air-quality alerts for the area.
- Canadians are being urged to remove bird feeders to help combat the spread of avian flu that has caused the deaths of 1.5-million birds. The infectious virus spread primarily among birds, mainly chickens, turkeys and ducks and attacks internal organs within the infected bird and usually causes death. The outbreak began across the country last year.
-30-
canadareport.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment