Canada
column for Sunday, Jan. 6/13
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THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By
Jim Fox
Now that the Royal Canadian Mint will start taking pennies out of
circulation next month, the elimination of the nickel could be next.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the penny has become a nuisance and
was costing more to produce than it was worth.
Former
Bank of Canada economist Jean-Pierre Aubry said the nickel is also becoming
obsolete and should be next in line for retirement.
Aubry said dumping the nickel should be part of a larger strategy to
retool the Canadian currency.
This could include creating a new coin to replace the five-dollar bill;
adding a 20-cent coin and eliminating the quarter; creating a $200 bill; and
reducing all coin sizes significantly to ease the burden on pockets.
David Barnabe of Finance Canada said the government has no plans so far to
eliminate the nickel.
New
Zealand eliminated its five-cent coin in 2006 after dumping its penny and two-cent
piece and Australia’s government has been considering ending production of its nickel.
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The
Canadian government is raising the price of a passport valid for five years to
$120 from $87 on July 1.
For
the first time, Canadians can also apply for a ten-year passport at a cost of
$160 or $260 for citizens living abroad.
The
fee hike will offset rising fees and the cost of imbedding a microchip into
each new passport booklet that will digitally store basic personal information
to curb fraud and counterfeiting.
About
two-thirds of all Canadians currently have a valid passport.
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News
in brief:
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Ontario public teacher unions vow it “won’t be business as usual” now that the
provincial government has imposed a two-year contract with a wage freeze and benefit
cuts. Education Minister Laurel Broten had given the unions representing
126,000 teachers and education workers until Dec. 31 to settle their
outstanding contracts. Teachers staged one-day strikes last month and are
refusing to supervise extracurricular activities in protest.
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A former beauty queen has given notice through her lawyer that she will plead
guilty Monday to taking part in Vancouver’s 2011 Stanley Cup riot and breaking
and entering. Sophie Laboissonniere, 21, of Richmond, who was named Miss
Congeniality in a local beauty pageant, was arrested after the riot that caused
about $4 million in damage and injured 140 people. So far, police have arrested
173 people and are considering charges against 142 others.
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Facts and figures:
Canada’s jobless rate is at a four-year low of 7.1 percent, down from
7.2 percent, as the economy created added 39,800 jobs in December, Statistics
Canada said Friday.
The
Canadian dollar has advanced to $1.0143 in U.S. funds while the U.S. dollar
returns 98.58 cents Canadian, before bank exchange fees.
The Bank of Canada’s key interest rate is steady at 1 percent while the
prime-lending rate is 3 percent.
Stock
markets are higher, with the Toronto exchange index at 12,500 points and the
TSX Venture index 1,221 points.
Lotto 6-49: (Jan. 2) 10, 14, 15, 39, 43 and 49; bonus 9. (Dec. 29) 1,
26, 33, 36, 45 and 48; bonus 22. Lotto Max: (Dec. 28) 1, 9, 25, 28, 32, 41 and
48; bonus 12.
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Regional briefs:
- Metro
Vancouver’s new Port Mann Bridge between Surrey and Coquitlam has been closed
twice in two weeks over weather-related problems. Freezing temperatures and fog
turned the bridge icy during the morning commute Thursday, leading to crashes
involving 40 cars and one injury. The bridge operator said the span was not
properly de-iced while last month chunks of ice fell from support cables damaging
about 250 vehicles and injuring two people.
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A Nova Scotia man will have to serve 18 month in jail for sexual assault after
poking holes in his girlfriend’s condoms. Craig Hutchinson lost his appeal of
the conviction after his trial was told he wanted the woman to get pregnant and
not break up with him. The Halifax-area woman did become pregnant and had an
abortion.
- Thousands
of hardy Canadians took part in a New Year’s Day tradition – the Polar Bear
Dip. This involved 800 participants stripping down or donning outlandish
costumes before jumping into a frigid Lake Ontario at Oakville in 21 F weather.
In Vancouver, thousands of swimmers gathered on the beach at English Bay in the
same temperature. Crowds also gathered for a dip in Winnipeg and elsewhere to
raise money for charities.
-30-
Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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