Trudeau Liberals win minority government as before in Canadian election

    Canada column for Sunday, Sept. 26/21

    THE CANADIAN REPORT

   By Jim Fox

    Much remains the same as Canadians elected a Liberal minority government while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prepares to recall Parliament.

   Trudeau’s Liberals easily defeated his major opponent, Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives, in Monday’s vote, 159-119.

   It wasn’t the majority government Trudeau was seeking so the government will again have to rely on the socialist New Democrats for support on major bills to head off a non-confidence vote and another election.

   There was much criticism that Trudeau called a general election during a pandemic but he said it was necessary to get a mandate to continue from Canadians, even as the vote cost $610 million to hold.

   “You are sending us back to work with a clear mandate to get Canada through this pandemic and to the brighter days ahead,” he said as his victory was confirmed.

   Trudeau, 49, Prime Minister for six years through three elections, is the son of the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

   He called on Canadians to “stand together” and to work for “real climate action, $10-a-day child care, affordable homes for middle-class families and for our shared journey on the path of reconciliation.”

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    Canadian voters have elected the first Green Party Member of Parliament from Ontario while defeating the environmental party’s leader.

   Mike Morrice of Kitchener-Center won one of two seats for the party along with former Green leader Elizabeth May of Saanich-Gulf Islands in British Columbia.

   The party’s current leader, Annamie Paul, failed to win in her Toronto district, finishing fourth to Liberal incumbent Marci Ien.

   Greens are involved in issues such as social justice, the environment and nonviolence that are related to world peace.

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    News in brief:

   - Plans are moving ahead to change the name of Ryerson University in Toronto over its namesake’s connection to Canada’s residential school system. The schools were government sponsored to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture years ago. The university’s board of governors endorsed removing references to Ryerson. The board said it is in keeping with “Egerton Ryerson’s history and legacy.” The calls to change the institution’s name intensified in recently after more than 1,300 unmarked graves of Indigenous children were found on the former sites of the schools.

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   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 20,394 points and the TSX Venture index at 878 points.

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

   Lotto Max: (Sept. 21) 4, 8, 11, 14, 15, 34 and 45; bonus 7. (Sept. 17) 3, 6, 10, 26, 29, 35 and 45; bonus 30.

   Lotto 6/49: (Sept. 22) 5, 14, 19, 30, 38 and 40; bonus 27.  (Sept. 18) 9, 26, 29, 36, 40 and 41; bonus 27.

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   Regional briefs:

   - They’re calling in the Canadian Armed Forces and help from other provinces to Alberta's overwhelmed intensive-care units under attack by the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said the Canadian Red Cross might also be activated. Aircraft and crews are transferring patients to hospitals in other parts of the country. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has apologized for mishandling the pandemic and opening up the province too early. He also announced a vaccine passport system now in effect.

   - Damage is approaching $77 million in insurance claims by a wildfire that began on Aug. 2 in British Columbia. It has grown to consume 325 square miles and is known as the White Rock Lake fire. The Insurance Bureau of Canada said the fire has destroyed 78 properties in Central Okanagan. It has become one of the most destructive blazes in the province this year and is expected to result in more than 800 claims. Fire fighters say it is now “under control.”

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 Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com