Canada column for
Sunday, Dec. 22/19
THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By Jim Fox
As Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau settles into his second term, he plans to take on a new persona.
He will adopt a
“lower-profile, more businesslike approach” in his role that was somewhat
tarnished in his first term.
The government’s
achievements on major issues were obscured by the focus on him and his talk of
sunny ways’ values.
As the son of the
late, flamboyant Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the younger politician restored
the Liberals status in Parliament with his celebrity status.
His image, however,
was “tarnished by ethical lapses, misadventures on the world stage and the
embarrassing revelation during this fall’s federal election campaign that he
had repeatedly donned blackface in his younger days,” the Canadian Press
newswire said.
In his year-end
address, Trudeau, who heads a minority government that has to work with
opposition parties in order to survive, said he will take a “more respectful
and collaborative” approach.
---
It’s the end of an
era as the last vehicle rolled off the now-abandoned assembly line at General
Motors in Oshawa, east of Toronto.
A pickup truck was
the last on the line at the plant that employed 2,600 workers.
The closing was
part of GM’s plan announced last year to end production at the plant and four
others in the U.S. in a massive restructuring.
The facility is
being converted into a test track for autonomous and advanced vehicles to employ
300 workers.
GM started
producing cars in the city in 1918 and opened the assembly plant in 1953.
At its peak in the
1980s, it employed 23,000 people, producing up to 730,000 cars and trucks
a year.
---
News in brief:
- The rate of inflation
moved higher last month to 2.2 percent, pushed by higher gas prices. It was the
first annual increase since October 2018, Statistics Canada reported. Gas
prices rose almost one percent compared with a drop 6.7 percent in October. The
Bank of Canada, which is keeping its key interest rate steady, said it expected
inflation to increase temporarily ue to changes in gas prices
- “It’s almost as
if normal doesn’t happen anymore,” said David Phillips, Environment Canada
chief meteorologist in listing the top weather events of the year. There was
everything from thunder at the North Pole to farmers needing both drought and
flood insurance in the same crop year. There were months of freezing
temperatures in southern Canada while the Arctic was so warm it lifted the
country’s average temperature to above normal, he said.
---
Facts and figures:
The Canadian dollar
has advanced to 76.03 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.315 Canadian before
exchange fees.
The Bank of Canada’s
key interest rate is steady at 1.75 percent while the prime-lending rate is 3.95
percent.
Canadian stock markets are higher with the Toronto
exchange index at 17,118 points and the TSX Venture index 548 points.
The average price
for gas in Canada is higher at $1.12 a liter or $4.33 for a U.S. gallon.
Lotto Max: (Dec. 17) 19, 20, 23, 29, 35, 40 and 47; bonus
31. (Dec. 13) 2, 12, 14, 15, 26, 34 and 39; bonus 48.
Lotto 6/49: (Dec.
18) 18, 22, 25, 36, 38 and 44; bonus 8. (Dec. 14) 9, 12, 17, 23, 41 and 44;
bonus 3.
---
Regional briefs:
- The
Transportation Safety Board is investigating a fiery Canadian Pacific Railway
freight train derailment in Saskatchewan that spilled 1.5-million litres of
oil. The derailment of 33 oil tank cars and a hopper car near Guernsey resulted
in a massive fire. No one was injured and no waterways were affected,
investigators said.
- The latest
seasonal drink sensation in the Maritimes is Chicken Bones liqueur that
combines cinnamon-chocolate candy with corn spirits. The pink hard candy known
as Chicken Bones has long been a Christmas treat in Atlantic Canada. Now the
new drink that draws inspiration from the candy’s distinct flavour is in big
demand. Moonshine Creek Distillery in Waterville, New Brunswick partnered with
St. Stephen-based candy maker Ganong to produce it.
-30-
Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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