Economy
Millions spent on the taxpayer-owned Trans Mountain Pipeline are not included in total costs, records show. Additional subsidies were excluded from calculations used in supporting cabinet’s claim that “no more public money will be used to complete the Trans Mountain Expansion.”
“The government stands by its commitment that no more public money will be used,” said a Department of Natural Resources memo. Other funds spent for related costs like Indigenous engagement were not included since they were not for construction, it said.
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Read More“Private capital” is needed to revive public transit, a Department of Infrastructure report said yesterday. Ridership nationwide remains below pre-pandemic levels at a loss to operators of more than $46 million a month, according to Statistics Canada.
“We heard the immense need for and the associated costs of major public transit projects cannot be met by governments on their own,” said the report. “There was interest in exploring the role of alternative financing and public-private partnerships.”
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Read MoreThe Edmonton Police Service (EPS) assisted with the closure of homeless encampments in downtown Edmonton which took over Mary Burlie Park in Chinatown.
Tattered tarps, dilapidated tents, and trash blew aimlessly in the wind as vulnerable people grabbed what they could before their belongings went into the garbage on Monday.
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Read MoreConventional wisdom would suggest that Alberta’s oil and gas industry will suffer the most when federal carbon taxes hit $170 after 2030.
But a new study by the Canadian Energy Centre suggests it will actually be Ontario’s manufacturing heavy economy that will take the biggest hit, with ripple effects for the rest of Canada.
Ontario is by far the largest contributor to GDP of Canada at about 38% — double Alberta’s 17% — making it a bellwether for the entire country.
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Read MoreAlthough it isn’t exactly in the money, Alberta’s treasury can take comfort that world oil prices are back above the provincial government’s breakeven point on strengthening fundamentals.
North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up about a buck on Tuesday to US$79.64, the highest since April.
Even more important, Alberta’s signature Western Canadian Select (WCS) cocktail of heavy crudes was up more than 2% to $61.87, dragging the entire Canadian crude complex with it.
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Read MoreA labour dispute at the sprawling LNG Canada site near Kitimat has been resolved, averting a potentially crippling strike that could have stopped work on the country’s first LNG project.
Ironically it wasn’t construction trades clamouring for better working conditions, but 450 hospitality workers at the Cedar Valley Lodge that houses up to 5,000 onsite workers.
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Read MoreIn the past decade, Canada had its slowest per capita GDP growth since the 1930s, due largely to lacklustre exports and a sharp drop in business investment. Bad government policies have played a significant role, but this slide towards stagnation increasingly reflects a hostile environment for business that undermines our economy’s dynamism.
Canadian governments claim without exception to be pro-growth. And, to be fair, over the years they have adopted many of the policies economists have recommended to boost incomes, including free trade deals, high levels of formal education, carbon and consumption taxes, and repeated stimulus to research and development. But Canada’s lagging economic performance shows these policies are not enough. Free trade deals don’t ensure export competitiveness if a country’s culture does not support innovation and entrepreneurship. And most government policies provide at best a one-time boost to incomes, when sustained economic growth requires a culture that relentlessly drives innovation year after year.
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Read MoreCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled much of his cabinet on Wednesday with the aim of increasing focus on economic issues like a housing shortage and the rising cost of living that have hurt his standing with voters.
It could be the last shakeup before an election, which is not due until the second half of 2025 but could come earlier.
Liberal leader Trudeau, who has been in power since 2015, brought seven new people into cabinet, but kept heavy hitters such as Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly in their portfolios.
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Read MoreTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A fire on a freight ship carrying nearly 3,000 cars was burning out of control Wednesday in the North Sea, killing one crew member and injuring others, the Dutch coast guard said.
The agency said it was working to save the vessel from sinking close to an important habitat for migratory birds.
Boats and helicopters were used to get the 23 crew members off the ship after they tried unsuccessfully to put out the blaze, the coast guard said in a statement. The cause of the blaze wasn’t immediately known, and it wasn’t clear how the crew member died.
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