Canada
column for Sunday, March 31/13
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THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By
Jim Fox
Some people call it meddling but Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said that
pressuring banks not to engage in a mortgage-rate war is in the best interests
of Canadians.
Flaherty personally called Bank of Montreal (BMO) executives to complain
when its five-year mortgage rate was reduced to 2.99 per cent this month.
Members of his staff then contacted Manulife Financial the next day to
express displeasure after dropping its five-year rate to 2.98 percent.
There
is a concern with current historically low rates “whether people can afford
their mortgages when interest rates go up,” Flaherty said.
Manulife quickly complied and put its rate back up to 3.09 percent while
BMO’s rate was restored to 3.09 percent last Friday.
Small Business Minister Maxime Bernier opposed Flaherty’s action, saying
he wouldn’t dictate the rates the private sector should offer.
“It’s
supply and demand that decides the prices,” he said.
“We
want to ensure that mortgages remain affordable and stable and that the market
stays stable and affordable in the long run for Canadian families," Prime
Minister Stephen Harper said.
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A
new national strategy is in place to help combat prescription drug abuse in
Canada.
Health
Minister Leona Aglukkaq said is a “very complex process,” as she gave details
of a10-year plan to revamp laws so doctors and pharmacists can no longer
prescribe painkillers indiscriminately.
It will also ensure that drug addicts are able
to get appropriate and timely help, she said.
The government believes it is a growing problem as a survey of found
that 8.2 percent of young smokers in Grades 6 to 12 reported using prescription
and over-the-counter drugs in the previous year to get high.
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News
in brief:
-
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said that potentially deadly E. coli
bacteria detected at a Cargill meat processing plant in Alberta did not leave
the facility. The bacteria was discovered in routine tests at the High River
plant. Mike Martin of Cargil said this shows improved safety measures that
followed last year’s massive beef recall at the Alberta XL Foods plant are
working.
- Manitoba
provincial government's flood-watch forecast expects a “moderate to major risk”
this spring. The risks have increased along the Red, Souris, Pembina,
Saskatchewan, Qu’Appelle and Assiniboine rivers due to a recent heavy snowfall
and above-average snowpack with a high water content. Communities in Southern
Manitoba have started sandbagging and buying flood-prevention implements.
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Richard Kachkar, 46, who ran down and killed a Toronto police officer with a
stolen snowplow was found not criminally responsible due to mental illness. A
jury returned the verdict into the death last year of Sergeant Ryan Russell,
35. Kachkar will remain confined to a mental health facility for an
indeterminate period.
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Facts and figures:
The
Canadian dollar has advanced to 98.25 cents U.S. while the U.S. greenback is
valued at $1.0177 in Canadian funds, 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 lower, with the Toronto exchange index at 12,749 points and the TSX
Venture index 1,099 points.
Lotto 6-49: (March 27) 2, 8, 11, 26, 27 and 33; bonus 17. (March 23) 1,
2, 7, 10, 33 and 38; bonus 13. Lotto Max: (March 22) 7, 12, 16, 19, 21, 24 and
47; bonus 34.
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Regional briefs:
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Five more people were fined in Superior Court this month for conspiring to fix
the price of gasoline across Quebec. A Competition Bureau investigation has so
far led to fines totaling $3 million and jail terms of 54 months. To date, 39
people and 15 companies have been charged.
- British
Columbia Auditor General John Doyle said the province’s carbon offset program
is a fraud. The government said it spent $6 million on projects to offset air
pollution that would have been done anyway, so they shouldn’t be claimed as
achieving carbon neutrality, he said. Program officials said Doyle ignored the
evidence and lacks the expertise to examine the system.
-
Despite saying it wouldn’t raise taxes, New Brunswick Finance Minister Blaine
Higgs said there was no other option to battling the deficit. Personal income
and corporate tax rates will rise in the $8.5-billion spending plan along with
higher tobacco taxes. The government decided, however, not to increase sales
taxes.
-30-
Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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