Mail stopped in various cities across Canada due to rotating strikes

   Canada column for Sunday, Oct. 28/18

   THE CANADIAN REPORT

   (c) By Jim Fox

   The mail isn’t going through in numerous cities across Canada as postal workers stage rotating strikes to back contract demands.

   About 9,000 members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers left their jobs for two days at the largest sorting plant and customer base in the Greater Toronto Area.

   This created delivery delays for tens of thousands of Canadians awaiting letters and parcels across the country.

   Canada Post workers also left their jobs in Vancouver, Niagara, Kelowna, Sudbury, Saint John, Calgary, Sherbrooke and Red Deer.

   The union says the major issues are health and safety, equality for rural and suburban mail letter carriers and an end to “precarious work.”

   Canada Post spokesman John Hamilton the workers have been offered increased pay, job security and improved benefits.

   The rotating walkouts continue even as the Canadian government has appointed a mediator,  Morton Mitchnick, a former chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board, to help reach a negotiated settlement.

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   Waterloo Region’s cities of Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge in Ontario have been ranked the best place in Canada for new high-tech start-ups.

   A report by the United Kingdom’s Expert Market came to the conclusion after surveyed 25 cities across Canada comparing the availability of tech talent, entrepreneurial spirit, venture capital, internet speeds and cost of living.

   The region edged out Toronto and Montreal and has been for years ranked second to Silicon Valley in California.

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   News in brief:

   - The family of slain billionaire philanthropists Barry and Honey Sherman of Toronto and Miami have offered up to $10 million as a reward for information that would solve their deaths. Lawyer Brian Greenspan, hired by the family, said there have been major shortcomings in the police investigation into the deaths. There have been no arrests in what police called a targeted double homicide in their Toronto mansion last December. Barry was the founder of Apotex, a generic drug product giant.

   - Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation says real estate prices are showing signs of easing but the market remains “highly vulnerable.” That’s due to stricter mortgage rules, rising interest rates and smaller growth of inflation-adjusted disposable income, leading to reduced demand for housing and a decline in prices. Most “vulnerable” are Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria and Hamilton, the federal agency said.

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   Facts and figures:

   Canada’s dollar is lower at 76.32 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.31 Canadian before bank exchange fees.

   The Bank of Canada’s key interest rate was raised by 0.25 percent to 1.75 percent while the prime-lending rate moved to 3.95 percent.

   Stock markets are lower, with the Toronto exchange index at 14,888 points while the TSX Venture index was 643 points.

   The average price for gas in Canada is lower at $1.199 a liter or $4.55 (Canadian) for a U.S. gallon.

   Lotto 6/49: (Oct. 24) 4, 11, 19, 23, 24 and 34; bonus 20. (Oct. 20) 4, 12, 16, 25, 30 and 31; bonus 8. Lotto Max: (Oct. 19) 10, 15, 16, 17, 19, 27 and 38; bonus 9.

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   Regional briefs:

   - There’s been a major delay in completing construction on the new Champlain Bridge over the St. Lawrence River in Montreal. As one of Canada’s biggest spans, carrying 58-million vehicles and 200,000 buses annually, it was to open by the end of the year. The federal government has confirmed that due to approaching winter conditions, the work on the $4.2-billion project can’t be completed until next June.

   - Even the “Cookie Monster” approved of Porter Airlines decision return its sweet in-flight treat. There was an outcry when the airline switched from its renowned chocolate chip shortbread from Canada’s Cookie It Up for a Scottish shortbread. Now the latest uproar is over the decision by Nieuport Aviation, manager of the terminal lounges at Toronto Island’s airport to drop free snacks and drinks as the no-longer free lounges and restaurant options have been expanded.

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Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com