Quebec premier concerned about NAFTA's survival
Bombardier triples profit
OSHAWA, OTTAWA: GM WORKERS STAGE BLOCKADE
Hundreds of angry autoworkers blockaded the entrance to General Motors headquarters in Oshawa, ON, on Wednesday to protest against its decision announced Tuesday that it would close the city's truck plant and put 1,000 workers out of a job. The Canadian Auto Workers union says that in fact 2,600 jobs will be lost. The union says it will continue the blockade until GM makes a commitment to a new product for the plant or sits down with the CAW to explain its decision. GM explained on Tuesday that it will close the Oshawa plant, two others in the U.S. and one in Mexico because of the decline in sales of trucks and SUVs in the U.S. due to soaring gasoline prices. The union claims the company has betrayed a promise made before the signing of a new contract on May 15 to increase not to decrease production in Canada. In Ottawa, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion accused the Conservative government of refusing to recognize the economic challenges the country faces, while NDP leader Jack Layton claimed that Canada has lost 180,000 manufacturing jobs since the Conservatives were elected. Prime Minister Stephen Harper claimed there has been a net increase of jobs since January 2006.
OTTAWA: 'CLUNKER' PROGRAM TO BE LAUNCHED
The federal government has announced a long-awaited program aimed at persuading drivers to take polluting older car models off the road. Environment Minister John Baird says the government will contribute $92 million over four years to the Toronto-based Clean Air Foundation to operate a national vehicle "scrappage" program. The program will offer incentives including rebates on new vehicles, free transit passes, bicycles, membership in ride-sharing programs and $300. The old vehicles will then be delivered to scrapyards for crushing and recycling. The program applies to vehicles older than 1996 models. The Clean Air Foundation's Car Heaven was mostly funded by GM and Imperial Oil.
OTTAWA: COMMONS APPROVES CLIMATE LAW
The three opposition parties in the House of Commons gave final approval in third reading to a bill that would require the Conservative government to cut greenhouse gases considerably. Assuming that the bill is approved by the Senate and receives royal assent, the government would be obliged to act to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050. The target would be roughly in line with Canada's commitments under the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, commitments which the Conservatives denounce as unattainable. The legislation is a private-member's bill introduced by NDP leader Jack Layton, who declined how to speculate how or if the opposition could force the Conservatives to adopt the bill's emissions target. The government itself has committed itself to reducing emissions by 20 per cent below 2006 levels by 2020.
GUANAJUATO: QUEBEC PREMIER WORRIES ABOUT FATE OF TRADE PACT
Quebec Premier Jean Charest says he worries that a wave of protectionism among American politicians will endanger the survival of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, adding that he intends to lobby the next American president in favour of NAFTA. Mr. Charest spoke in Guanajuato, Mexico, at a conference hosted by North America's SuperCorridor Coalition, a non-profit group devoted to increasing trade within North America. The Democratic Party presidential candidat, Barack Obama, has vowed to renegotiate better labour and environmental guarantees if elected. Mr. Charest says several U.S. governors are stirring up anti-NAFTA sentiment, including those of Pennsylvania and Ohio, where numerous manufacturing jobs have been lost. Manitoba Premier Gary also is attending the event but says NAFTA can be defended without resorting to "negative speeches."
UNDATED: OECD SEES LOWER GROWTH
The Organisation for Economic Growth and Development has slashed its growth forecast for the world's industrialized powers, including Canada. A report by the OECD says growth in this country is projected to remain weak until the spring of 2009, as U.S. demand stagnates amid higher oil prices and a depressed housing market. Economic growth is projected at 1.2 per cent this year, down sharply from a forecast of 2.7 per cent 12 months ago. Growth is expected to revive to two per cent in 2009. However, the OECD study says the worst appears to be over and the Canadian economy should avoid a recession.
TORONTO: HOME OWNERSHIP RISING
Never before have so many Canadians owned homes. According to the Canada Housing and Mortgage Corp., 68.4 per cent of Canadians were in the housing market in 2006, compared with 60 per cent in 1971. CHMC attributes the change to lower mortgage rates, low unemployment and changes that allow home buyers to acquire them with less money down and repayment over longer periods. The increase has been recorded despite soaring home prices and the stagnation of average incomes. However, the statistics also show that the average household spent an average of 37 per cent of after-tax income on mortgage payments last year, up from 32 per cent 2006.
OTTAWA: GOVT. CRITICIZED FOR NOT ATTENDING UN FOOD CONFERENCE
The opposition in the House of Commons on Wednesday attacked the Conservative government for not sending the agriculture minister, Gerry Ritz, to the Food and Agriculture conference in Rome. Liberal Member of Parliament Maria Minna asked the minister why he wasn't in Rome defending Canada's interests when Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, who is generally thought to have destroyed his country's agricultural sector, is defending his nation's. Mr. Ritz responded that Mr. Mugabe's presence precisely defines the credibility of the event, a remark which Mrs. Minna called "totally inappropriate and totally irresponsible." Canada is represented at the FAO meeting by the ambassador to Italy. The conference is being held as world food prices have skyrocketed and several poor countries have experienced food riots. The minister noted that Canada does take the crisis serious and that when the World Food Program asked for emergency contributions in April, Canada responded with an additional $50 million.
OTTAWA: VALOUR OF MILITARY PERSONNEL IN AFGHANISTAN TO BE REWARDED
Canada's Governor General, Michaelle Jean, has announced that 12 members of the Canadian Forces will receive the Medal of Military Valour for their actions in Afghanistan. The medal is the third-highest award available to Canadian troops. It is awarded for "an act of valour or devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy." Eighty-four Canadian soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan since the NATO mission began their in 2002, the last on Tuesday. The large majority of deaths were a result of roadside bombs. Canada has 2,500 soldiers serving with the NATO force in the southern region of Kandahar.
OTTAWA: PEARSON AIRPORT SUED
Local news media report insurers of Air France are suing the Greater Toronto Airport Authority and NAV Canada, which is responsible for air control at Canadian airports, for an accident at Pearson International Airport in August 2005. The Toronto Star newspaper reports that Air France is suing for $180 million for the accident involving an airliner that skidded off a runway and burst into flames with 309 people on board. The Airbus A340 overshot the runway while travelling at almost 80 knots. The plane ended up in a ravine at the end of the runway. All those on board survived, although several were hurt. An investigation by Canada's Transport Safety Board later attributed the accident to a thunderstorm, high winds and the pilots' dilatoriness in starting engine thrust reversers. The Board also suggested adding a 300-metre buffer zone at the end of Canadian runways as a backup in emergencies.
UNDATED: CANADIANS WANT TARGETED IMMIGRATION POLICY
A public opinion survey shows that a majority of Canadians want a national immigration policy to select newcomers whose skills meet the needs of the country's workforce. The poll by the Nanos Research for Policy Options magazine 84.9 per cent of respondents felt that way. In addition, 72.6 viewed immigration as "important" or "somewhat important" for the country's future. More than 81 per cent of those asked felt that family reunification is as important as selecting immigrants with needed skills. The survey was conducted in reference to the controversial proposed changes to immigration law which the House of Commons is expected to approve on Thursday. The amended law would allow the immigration minister to fast-track the applications of desirable categories of immigrants, such as doctors. The minister would also be permitted not to process all applications.
ZIMBABWE
The authorities freed opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and several of his top Movement for Democratic Change associates after keeping them at a police station in Harare after several hours of intense questioning. After his release, Mr. Tsvangirai described the detentions as "the usual harassment." A MDC lawyer said the police accused the men of staging an unauthorized political rally, when in fact they had gone to a hospital to visit patients and afterwards chatted with a crowd. Western governments condemned Mr. Tsvangirai's arrest, the U.S. state department demanding his immediate release. He has been arrested several times, and twice charged with treason. In March of last year, he suffered head injuries after being beaten by members of the security forces as he tried to stage a rally in Harare. Mr. Tsvangirai faces President Robert Mugabe in a presidential runoff vote on June 27.
ALGERIA
One person has died and five others were wounded when a bomb exploded near a police barracks outside the Algerian capital on Wednesday. The explosion occurred at a Republican Guard barracks in an eastern suburb of Algiers. Another bomb exploded in front of a shop in the same area but its not known if there were casualties from that blast. In December an al-Qaeda group claimed responsibility for a double suicide bombing in Algiers that left dozens of people dead, including 17 United Nations employees.
LIBYA
The government says it paid to repatriate 30,940 illegal immigrants last year and is seeking one billion euros of international aid to defray the cost. The revelation came from Col. Abdel Monem Ayad of the Libyan interior ministry, who was speaking at a conference on voluntary repatriation in Tripoli organized by the International Organization for Migration. He says the Europe is asking Libya to stop the flow of migrants passing through Libya but that the country lacks the means. According to the police officer, illegal migrants comprise one-fifth of Libya's population. The Libyan government had reported having expended four million euros in 2006 to repatriate 64,430 illegal migrants.
UNITED STATES
News media including the ABC television network report that Sen. Hillary Clinton will concede the presidential nomination to her rival Sen. Barack Obama on Friday, the reports being confirmed to Agence France Presse by a senior source in the Clinton entourage. Sen. Obama says he has spoken to Sen. Clinton and that he's confident that the Democrats will be united in the presidential campaign against the Republic Party of outgoing President George W. Bush. The Republican candidate will likely be Sen. John McCain.
MONTREAL: BOMBARDIER MULTIPLIES PROFIT
Canadian manufacturer Bombardier Inc. says it has almost tripled its first-quarter profit to US$226 million, an achievement which has enabled the company to bring back the shareholder dividends which were cancelled three years ago. The reinstated dividend is 2.5 cents a share. Outgoing CEO Laurent Beaudoin says all of the company's divisions did well in the quarter. His son Pierre, who had been the head of Bombardier Aerospace, replaced his father on Wednesday. Pierre Beaudoin says the increased orders for business jets in developing markets like Russia and India have greatly decreased the division's reliance on the U.S. market.
TORONTO: BANKRUPTCIES RISE
The number of personal bankruptcies in April rose to their highest level in more than four years, the damage being especially severe in Ontario and Quebec. According to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, 8,035 consumers declared bankruptcy along with 592 businesses. The two central provinces have been hit by the downturn in the manufacturing sector. Factors blamed for the greater numbers of bankruptcies are the worldwide credit crisis, the downturn of the U.S. economy, the high dollar and high energy prices.
CALGARY: DANGER OF REFINING SHIFT LAID OUT
Canadian and U.S. environmentalists say that two-thirds of the planned increased crude oil refining in the U.S. will go to refine highly polluting crude oil from the oilsands of northern Alberta. A report by the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Integrity Project says the American refiners are shifting their capacity from conventional crude oil to Canadian oilsands, a highly negative development. The Environmental Defence Canada contributed to the report. Environmentalists have long deplored that oilsands development destroys water resources and contributes heavily to creation of greenhouse gases, supporters claiming however that the projects create work and can be built in a relatively clean way. One-point-six-billion barrels of oil per day are refined in the U.S., a figure which is to be increased by 1.1 billion barrels. Eric Schaeffer, the director of the Environmental Integrity Project, calls the looming reliance on Canadian oilsands a "setback of truly staggering proportions."
TORONTO: BLACK APPEAL HEARD
A federal court in Chicago on Thursday is scheduled to hear appeals by jailed former media tycoon Conrad Black and his three co-defendants. Black is serving a six-and-a-half-year sentence in a Florida prison after being found guilty of obstruction of justice and fraud in a scheme to fleece shareholders of what was then known as the Hollinger International Inc. newspaper chain. He vainly protested his innocence. His lawyer says he'll argue that no proof was presented that he defrauded shareholders or that he was guilty of obstruction of justice by removing boxes from his Toronto office despite an order by an Ontario court not to do so. A ruling is expected within several months.
MARKETS
TSX on Wednesday: 14,690, down 38. Canadian dollar: US98.20 cents US, down 0.95 of a cent. Euro: C$1.5717, up 1.22 cents. Light, sweet crude: US$122.30, down $2.01.
HOCKEY
The Pittsburgh Penguins hosted game six of the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup championship at the Mellon Arena after a triple-overtime victory in Detroit on Monday. The Red Wings' last win in the series was in Pittsburgh, a 3-2 decision last Wednesday that snapped the Penguins' 17-game home win streak.
Weather
British Columbia on Thursday: rain, high 12 Celsius Vancouver. Yukon: sun. Northwest Territories: rain. Nunavut: mix of sun, cloud. Whitehorse 16, Yellowknife 17, Iqaluit 6. Alberta: rain north, mix of sun, cloud south. Saskatchewan, Manitoba: rain. Edmonton, Winnipeg 23, Regina 21. Ontario: rain south, cloud north. Quebec: mix of sun, cloud. Toronto 18, Ottawa 24, Montreal 23. Maritimes: mix of sun, cloud. Newfoundland and Labrador: rain. Fredericton 20, Halifax 21, Charlottetown, St. John's 15.
