Canada column for Sunday, Jan. 30/22
THE CANADIAN REPORT
By Jim Fox
Looks like we got us a convoy.
Truckers are sitting on a pile of cash in the millions of dollars as their anti-vaccine protest rolls into Canada’s capital.
Tens of thousands of trucks have seen much support – amounting in $6 million in GoFundMe donations to support the cause.
Their cross-country cavalcade targets the Canadian government in Ottawa this weekend to show opposition to the latest Canada-U.S. cross-border order that truckers in both countries must be vaccinated against COVID-19 to cross.
Truck drivers warn this will lead to food and product shortages and is a violation of their rights.
They have been mobilizing all week from all parts of the country as far as British Columbia and some from the U.S. to oppose all public health mandates.
Called the Freedom Convoy 2022, they made their way to Parliament Hill for the weekend showdown.
Mike Millian, president of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada, said the group’s original message has been hijacked by far-right and extreme rhetoric.
“It’s a fringe minority in the truck convoy with unacceptable views that don’t represent Canadians,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
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Canada’s central bankers have decided not to raise the trend-setting interest rate now but the time is coming.
Bank of Canada Governor Macklem said there is a shift in monetary policy to avoid tackling rising inflation with a rate increase from 0.25 percent where it has been for two years.
The annual inflation rate is 4.8 percent, the highest in 30 years.
He cited the ongoing uncertainty around the Omicron variant during the pandemic means the bank isn’t ready to make a move yet.
But it signals that “interest rates will now be on a rising path” later this year,” Macklem said.
With the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, rates were kept low to ensure that consumers and businesses had access to low-rate loans to keep the economy afloat.
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News in brief:
- The Public Health Agency of Canada has detected more than 100 cases of a new Omicron subvariant known as BA.2, doubling. This is twice the number of infections from the virus detected earlier. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said the BA.2 subvariant is being “watched closely” and most of the cases involve international travelers. Some researchers say it could be more contagious but little is known about it yet.
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Facts and figures:
Canada’s dollar is lower 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 20,559 on Friday while the TSX Venture index was 834 points.
The average price for gas in Canada is nearing a record high at $1.48 a liter (Canadian) or $5.62 for a U.S. gallon.
Lotto Max: (Jan. 25) 11, 13, 18, 20, 23,30 and 40; bonus 37. (Jan. 21) 10,14, 21, 26, 28, 36 and 50; bonus 41.
Lotto 6/49: (Jan. 26) 5, 22, 25, 30, 32 and 46; bonus 45. (Jan. 22) 7, 12, 27, 31, 37 and 44; bonus 35.
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Regional briefs:
- The cleanup is continuing into its second week to remove three-decade record snowfall from Toronto streets. Work crews removed 100,000 tons of snow from main roads and residential side streets after the blizzard dumped two-feet of snow on Jan. 17. The snow was replaced by bone-chilling Arctic air with temperatures below 0 F. Nova Scotia and eastern Canada are preparing for a fierce winter storm with high winds and snow moving up the Atlantic Seaboard.
- Burnaby, a neighbor to Vancouver, has signed a global treaty that recognizes the climate crisis and an urgent need to eliminate fossil fuels City council voted unanimously to endorse a treaty calling on governments and corporations to speed up the transition to clean energy. Mayor Mike Hurley said it supplements a climate emergency declaration in 2019. “To avoid the worst effects of climate change, it is clear that the global community must support a rapid and just transition away from fossil fuels,” he said.
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