Labor unrest by teachers, border guards in Ontario; Canada immigration changes on refugee claims

   Canada column for Sunday, Dec. 16/12

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   THE CANADIAN REPORT

   (c) By Jim Fox

   Labor strife in Ontario has school teachers staging one-day strikes and border guards protesting at two of Canada’s busiest crossings.

   Parents are scrambling to arrange care for their children as elementary teachers hold day-long walkouts across the province over a bill that imposes a contract with no pay increase for two years and outlaws strikes.

   Premier Dalton McGuinty said the disruptions by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario were “regrettable” but the government won’t intervene unless the strikes last longer than a day.

   “This strike action is about the government’s unprecedented interference in the right to collectively bargain – a legal right provided for all people under Ontario law,” said federation president Sam Hammond.

   As well, high school teachers have withdrawn from all non-classroom work, including extracurricular sports and events such as holiday concerts.

   This action has prompted thousands of students to walk out of class to protest, with most backing their teachers.

   A walkout by some Customs and Immigration Union officers in a dispute over an order they wear name badges stalled traffic on Tuesday at the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor and Detroit and the Blue Water Bridge at Sarnia and Port Huron, Michigan.

   Union officials said displaying their names could lead to “unnecessary” safety risks by criminals who could find them.

Canada reviews plan to buy costly F-35 fighter jets; demands that Defense Minister resign

   Canada column for Sunday, Dec. 9/12

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   THE CANADIAN REPORT

   By Jim Fox

   A case of sticker shock could ground the Canadian government’s controversial plan to spend $25 billion to buy and maintain sophisticated F-35 fighter jets.

   Opposition politicians are demanding that Defense Minister Peter MacKay resign over skyrocketing costs for the jets and for not letting taxpayers know the real price tag to buy and operate the planes.

   The Royal Canadian Air Force wants to replace its CF-18 Hornets with 65 of the single-engine, radar-evading Lockheed Martin fighter jets.

   Auditor General Michael Ferguson, in a scathing report last April, concluded the jets could cost $10 billion more than the defense department has publicly acknowledged due to cost overruns and production delays.

   The government in the coming week is expected to release the results of a study into the costs, with news reports suggesting the price tag will soar to $40 billion.

   As well, a study is underway to compare the F-35 with other fighter jets including Boeing’s F-18 Super Hornet and the EADS Eurofighter.

Canadian politicans beset with conflicts, scandals, resignations

   Canada column for Sunday, Dec. 2/12

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   THE CANADIAN REPORT

   By Jim Fox

   Conflicts and scandals are taking their toll on Canadian politicians with the court-ordered removal of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and demands that Alberta Premier Alison Redford resign.

   Parti Quebecois politician Daniel Breton has left the Quebec cabinet for alleged “ethical transgressions” and two Quebec mayors quit earlier in a corruption inquiry.

   Ford is blaming a “left-wing conspiracy” as he appeals a ruling by Superior Court Judge Charles Hackland that ousted him as mayor for violating conflict of interest rules.

   The issue involves Ford taking part in a council vote over repayment of $3,150 in donations he solicited on city letterhead for his private football foundation for disadvantaged youths.

   Other mayors in the spotlight are Montreal’s Gerald Tremblay and Gilles Vaillancourt of Laval who resigned during an ongoing inquiry into construction industry kickbacks.

   London, Ontario Mayor Joe Fontana, a former Liberal Member of Parliament, is being investigated for misusing public funds to pay for his son's wedding. He is resisting calls for him to resign in the meantime.

   Opposition parties in the Alberta Legislature are calling on Redford to step down for an alleged conflict of interest.

   Redford denies claims she was involved in a decision to give a multi-billion-dollar tobacco litigation contract to her ex-husband's law firm.

No Canadian budget surprises or tax hikes: Flaherty

   Canada column for Sunday, Nov. 25/12

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   THE CANADIAN REPORT

   (c) By Jim Fox

   Canadians need not be concerned about any tax increases or “risky new spending schemes” in the next federal budget.

   Finance Minister Jim Flaherty made the comments, saying the Conservative government is moving toward its goal to balance the budget by 2015.

   Budget consultations with provincial leaders are to begin in the coming days as the latest figures show a deficit of $26 billion.

   That’s an increase of $5 billion from a forecast last March and is blamed on global economic weakness that has cut into commodity prices and tax revenues.

   Both Flaherty and Prime Minister Stephen Harper insist the government can still balance the budget in the next two years.

   The government is trying to strike a balance between reducing spending, maintaining an “appropriate tax base” and including measures to stimulate economic growth, Flaherty said.

   There will be no reductions in federal payments for education and health care while spending for such things as programs for seniors, people with disabilities and children will remain untouched, he added.

"Fiscal cliff" looms for Canada if U.S. topples over

   Canada column for Sunday, Nov. 18/12

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   THE CANADIAN REPORT

   (c) By Jim Fox

   Canadians could follow the United States in a plunge over the so-called fiscal cliff in January, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney warns.

   Extending U.S. tax cuts and spending beyond the end of this year is the “most imminent threat” facing Canada’s economy, the head of the central bank said.

   There’s concern by economists that without political cooperation in the U.S. on a new budget arrangement about $600 billion in tax cuts and spending will end abruptly.

   This could rob the U.S. economy of about four percentage points in growth and push the country into a recession that the Canadian economy would be sure to follow, said Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

   Carney and Flaherty have pledged to take action to support the Canadian economy if a shock from the U.S. or Europe again threatens to plunge the country into a recession.

   How U.S. policy-makers deal with the threat highlighted concerns among the world’s economic leaders attending the G20 meeting last weekend in Mexico, Flaherty said.

U.S. election pleasing to most Canadians; Obama victory, oil and bridge to Michigan

   Canada column for Sunday, Nov. 11/12

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   THE CANADIAN REPORT

   (c) By Jim Fox

   Canadians could be shipping their oil to the U.S. after all and will find it easier to cross the border after the re-election victory of President Barack Obama and a vote in Michigan.

   Prime Minister Stephen Harper said while sharing “one of the closest and most extensive relationships in the world," he wants Canada and the U.S. to “continue finding ways to increase trade and investment flows.”

   Some Canadian politicians were quietly pulling for Republican challenger Mitt Romney based on his commitment to approve the stalled Keystone XL pipeline to ship Alberta oil to Texas.

   Although Obama deferred a decision on the pipeline until after the election, Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said he expects the project will go ahead because it’s in the “national interest” of the U.S.

   Harper said he was “very pleased” that voters in Michigan supported a Canadian-financed $1-billion project to build a second bridge between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan.

   Canada and the U.S. have the world's largest trading partnership with some $2 billion in goods and 400,000 people crossing between the two countries every day.

Two deaths, power cut to 150,000 in storm aftermath

   Canada column for Sunday, Nov. 4/12

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   THE CANADIAN REPORT

   (c) By Jim Fox

   Two people were killed and thousands left in the dark as the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy sideswiped Ontario and Quebec.

   A worker was killed when repairing a downed power line in Sarnia, Ontario while a Toronto woman died after being struck in the head by a Staples sign the wind had blown apart.

   Trees were toppled and power lines came down as wind gusts reached 60 mph, leaving 150,000 people without power, including 55,000 in Toronto.

   As the storm blew out, there were pounding waves along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River and into Atlantic Canada.

   Hundreds of utility workers from Hydro One in Ontario are in New York and New Jersey helping to restore power and clean up.

   As well, workers from Toronto Hydro and the Toronto Transit Commission have offered to help make repairs with New York’s power and subways.

   “In the aftermath of the ice storm (in 1998), it was great to see our American cousins up there with their trucks, their workers, their equipment, doing what they could to help us,” said Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.

   Hydro One workers also helped restore power after hurricanes in Florida in 2004 and 2005.