Canada’s multi-billion dollar cruise ship industry could end up being one of the most permanent economic casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic if the U.S. follows through with a suite of new laws intended to help vessels bypass Canadian ports.
Economy
Canada faces large wave of business closures — even after we reach full vaccination
As restaurants, patios and shops reopen across the country, there’s hope pain from lockdowns will soon be behind Canadian businesses. But the worst may still be yet to come for some.
Trudeau says government looking at plan for return of international tourists
Trudeau says he expects high interest from overseas travellers who wish to come to Canada because of vaccination uptake rates and case counts that are better than peer countries.
Freeland lauds G7 deal to tax multinationals, says corporations must pay ‘fair share’
In a tweet earlier on Saturday, Freeland said multinational corporations “need to pay their fair share of taxes,” adding that the G7 has now “outlined a path to make this possible.”
Massive immigration boom created Canadian housing supply problem
There’s been a lot of debate about Canada’s housing markets suffering from a lack of supply, but many argue high levels of immigration are the key contributor to a shortage and high home prices.
New Poll Shows How Riots Have Doomed Downtown Portland
Riots rocked Portland, Oregon throughout 2020 and have continued in 2021. While some peaceful protesters advocated for justice in the wake of George Floyd’s death, violent agitators escalated dozens of these protests into violent riots, doing more than $23 million in damage to businesses in downtown Portland.
NDP rolls out $14-billion housing plan
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is pledging a 20 per cent foreign home buyers’ tax and a $14-billion housing plan. The election campaign-style promise, which Singh says would foster 500,000 homes in four years, aims to drive down home and rental costs and create more supply amid a white-hot real estate market.
Liberals overstate benefit of fiscal stimulus: PBO
Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) says the federal stimulus plan may have been “miscalibrated” and will have less of an impact than the Liberals’ claim.
Ottawa tables legislation to send striking Port of Montreal workers back on the job
Federal Labour Minister Filomena Tassi has tabled back-to-work legislation for the Port of Montreal’s 1,150 dock workers, who have been on strike since Monday morning.
The legislation, set to be debated Tuesday afternoon, would require employees to return to work after the bill passes. It would also extend their previous collective agreement until a new one is negotiated.
The legislation would also prevent any strikes or lockouts until a new agreement is signed and impose a mediator-arbitrator on both parties if negotiations fail again. Workers at the port also walked off the job seven months ago.
Food Prices Are About to Soar Right Alongside Gas and Electricity Costs
In the weeks following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, costs of most of the food items found on the shelves of US grocery stores rose based on anticipated shortages of such items that might result from transportation and logistical problems that followed the shutdown of many parts of the economy. There wasn’t so much a shortage of goods to go on the shelves as there was an anticipated interruption in the “just in time” delivery supply line that keeps such products moving from processes to wholesalers, wholesalers to distributors, and distributors to retailers. As those disruptions were solved — or didn’t happen as feared in many instances — consumer goods and staples reappeared on the store shelves without much difference from the pre-pandemic pricing.
But warning bells are starting to be heard about another impending shortage of consumer goods and food staples as wholesale prices of certain raw materials used in a wide variety of food preparations have risen sharply over the past several weeks. This steady upward price pressure is coming at a time when many fragile economies around the world are not in a position to handle a sharp rise in the cost of food for their populations.
‘Three-dollar gas will be the norm by Memorial Day’: Traveling Americans will pay 30% more at the pump compared to a year ago when they emerge from COVID-19 lockdowns as fuel prices surge toward 7-year high
Americans who have been cooped up at home over the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic will likely pay $3 a gallon for gasoline when they emerge from lockdowns this summer and resume traveling, economists say.
Motorists in the United States have not paid an average of $3 per gallon since 2014.
As of Tuesday, drivers in California, Hawaii, Washington State, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Alaska, Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia were paying an average of more than $3 per gallon.
California motorists are paying an eye-popping $3.88 per gallon – the highest rate in the country, according to the American Automobile Association.
Canada Must Reject Capital Gains Tax On Homes, & Crack Down On Foreign Speculation In Our Housing Market Instead
Why would we impose more taxes on Canadians when we could instead put limits on foreign speculation?
Manufacturers hopeful COVID-19 will force Canada to rethink domestic supply chains
Penny Wise became president of 3M Canada on Feb. 18, 2020, just as the COVID-19 virus was beginning to take hold in Canada. 3M had tackled health crises before, but like most Canadians, Wise had no idea how much the world was about to change.
Minimum wage just isn’t cutting it anymore. It’s time for a living wage, says Lakehead Social Planning Council
The growing cost to live a quality, healthy life in Thunder Bay, Ont. has outpaced the provincial minimum wage, according to the Lakehead Social Planning Council.
It’s why they’re looking for businesses in the city to join their living wage campaign, where employers agree to pay their staff a minimum of $16.20 per hour. In other words, pay the minimum amount that the social planning council says is required for people to meet the social determinants of health.
Joe Biden’s Administration Nailed In 21-State Lawsuit Over Cancellation of the Keystone XL Permit
The complaint stated that Biden’s Executive order violated “the liberty and property of individuals and the prerogative of sovereign States” by canceling the pipeline. The States argue that when the Constitution was ratified, States ceded the ability to regulate interstate commerce with the U.S. Congress and not the President of the United States.