Canada column for Sunday, April 10/16
THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By Jim Fox
Strong employment
numbers and higher oil prices are giving Canada’s dollar and stock markets a
boost.
The dollar rose
above 77 cents US, up more than one cent on Friday, as Statistics Canada
reported 40,600 jobs were created last month.
The job numbers
showed the largest one-month increase in employment in six months.
As the price of
crude oil strengthened to almost $40, so did Canada’s fortunes as an oil-rich
nation.
Last month’s job
advances were significant as 35,300 were for full-time work and pushed the unemployment
rate down 0.2 percent to 7.1 percent from a month earlier.
While Alberta’s
unemployment rate fell to 7.1 percent in March from 7.9 percent, there were
more people out of work in Calgary and Edmonton.
Over the past year,
Canada has added 129,600 net new jobs, an increase of 0.7 percent.
Meanwhile, the pace
of housing starts in Canada slowed in March due to drops in multi-unit
construction.
Canada Mortgage and
Housing Corp. said the seasonally adjusted annual rate was 204,251 units, down
from 219,077 in February.
---
There are no
financial skeletons in his family’s closet, suggests Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau referring to off-shore bank accounts.
Trudeau said he has
been fully open with Canadians about the investments he holds as the “Panama
Papers” controversy highlights many international political leaders and corporate
figures using tax havens.
His Liberal
government’s first budget has allocated an extra $440 million to find tax
cheaters, he said.
Media reports have
linked hundreds of wealthy Canadians to the controversy but no names have been
disclosed so far.
---
News in brief:
- Alberta’s fate is
Canada’s, says Premier Rachel Notley, urging political leaders to recognize the
need for new pipelines. “Every Canadian benefits from a strong energy sector,”
she said. The premier of the oil-rich province wants to build consensus for the
Energy East pipeline to take oil from Alberta to ports and refineries in New
Brunswick.
- A funeral was
held Friday for former federal Liberal cabinet minister Jean Lapierre and his
relatives who were killed in a plane crash in Quebec. Killed when the chartered
plane crashed were Lapierre, his wife Nicole Beaulieu, sister Martine Lapierre
and brothers Marc and Louis Lapierre, along with pilots Pascal Gosselin and
Fabrice Labourel. They were en route to the funeral of Lapierre’s 83-year-old
father Raymond.
---
Facts and figures:
Canada’s dollar has
advanced to 77.0 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.298 in Canadian
funds, before bank exchange fees.
The Bank of Canada’s
key interest rate is steady at 0.5 percent while the prime-lending rate is 2.7
percent.
Markets are higher,
with the Toronto Stock Exchange index at 13,402 points and the TSX Venture
index 602 points.
The average price for
gas nationally is lower at 96.1 cents a liter or $3.65 (Canadian) for a U.S.
gallon.
Lotto 6/49: (April
6) 1, 3, 5, 8, 13 and 31; bonus 21. (April 2) 2, 15, 21, 40, 41 and 44; bonus
23. Lotto Max: (April 1) 5, 6, 27, 28, 31, 41 and 45; bonus 12.
---
Regional briefs:
- Mountie Constable
Sarah Beckett, a 32-year-old married mother of two children, was killed when her
cruiser and a pickup truck collided in Langford on Vancouver Island. Beckett
was with the West Shore Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The other driver had
“non-serious injuries” and the cause of the crash is being investigated.
- A new ferry
service is planned between Nova Scotia and Maine. Known as The Cat, the service
is being subsidized by the Nova Scotia government. It will run daily from June
15 to Sept. 30 from Yarmouth and Portland, with a capacity of 866 passengers
and 282 vehicles.
- The ongoing
battle between taxi owners and the Uber service will go before Toronto city
council on May 3 and 4. It is expected council will ease restrictions on taxis
as the popularity of the “ride-sharing” Uber has soared to tens of thousands of
passengers a day. Council is also reviewing Uber rules established in Edmonton
and Ottawa.
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Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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