Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Federal Auditor-General Karen Hogan released a pair of scathing reports Wednesday on the Trudeau government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.
In one, Hogan said Ottawa failed to protect essential migrant workers from the spread of COVID-19, despite repeated warnings that its oversight of working conditions was insufficient.
The Auditor-General’s office reviewed dozens of inspections conducted by government officials and found that 73 per cent of the inspections reviewed from 2020 were found to be “inadequate.” After the government was informed of these problems and given an opportunity to remedy them, matters only worsened: 88 per cent of inspections from 2021 were deemed inadequate, the report found.
Hogan also took aim at the government’s handing of border issues related to the pandemic. Her department found that the Public Health Agency of Canada does not have the information needed to ensure its travel rules are being followed and so doesn’t know the extent to which testing and quarantining at the border is actually limiting the spread of COVID-19.
In the report, the Auditor-General said the federal health agency only has records to verify that one-quarter of the people who were supposed to isolate at government-authorized hotels – while they awaited negative test results – actually did so.
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Bank of Canada deputy governor warns of persistent supply chain constraints
Bank of Canada deputy governor Toni Gravelle warned Thursday that disruptions to global supply chains could persist longer than expected, creating significant uncertainty about the path of inflation.
In a virtual speech, the central bank said it expects the high rate of inflation to decline next year, but that forecasts about the path of inflation are cloudy.
He also warned that the longer supply chain problems persist, the greater the risk that inflationary pressures will become entrenched.
A longer forecast of inflation would likely place pressure on the bank to raise interest rates in an effort to lower prices and consumer borrowing. Analysts widely expect the bank to start hiking rates in April and financial markets are pricing in as many as five rate hikes next year. The Bank kept its overnight rate at 0.25 per cent on Wednesday and reiterated that it expects to start raising interest rates in the middle quarters of next year.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Number of jailed journalists reached global high in 2021, at least 24 killed for their coverage: Report from the Committee to Protect Journalists says that 293 reporters were imprisoned as of Dec. 1 this year. At least 24 journalists were killed because of their coverage, and 18 others died in circumstances that make it too difficult to determine whether they were targeted because of their work, the CPJ said.
Indian farmers suspend year-long protest against new laws: The Indian government has withdrawn contentious farm laws and set up a committee to consider the other demands of farmers, including guaranteed prices for key crops and the withdrawal of criminal cases against the protesters. Farmers started removing their tents and prepared to vacate highways ringing New Delhi where they have camped since November of last year.
Chinese central banker says financial markets can handle real estate developer debt: Yi Gang’s comments by video to a seminar in Hong Kong added to indications that Beijing has no plans to bail out Evergrande Group, which is struggling to avoid defaulting on US$310-billion in debt. Fears of a default have rattled financial markets, but economists say the ruling Communist Party wants to avoid sending the wrong signal at a time when it is trying to force companies to cut high debt burdens.
New Zealand plans for lifetime smoking ban for youth: New Zealand is proposing a lifetime ban for those aged 14 or younger. Under the proposed law, the minimum age to buy cigarettes would keep rising year after year. That means, in theory at least, 65 years after the law takes effect, shoppers could still buy cigarettes – but only if they could prove they were at least 80 years old.
MARKET WATCH
Market volatility continued with Canada’s main stock index posting a triple-digit drop as commodity sectors fell ahead of U.S. inflation numbers that could trigger stimulus tightening by the Federal Reserve.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 151.86 points to 20,925.49. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down six tenths of a point at 35,754.69. The S&P 500 index was down 33.76 points at 4,667.45, while the Nasdaq composite was down 269.62 points or 1.7 per cent at 15,517.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 78.74 cents US compared with 79.10 cents US on Wednesday.
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TALKING POINTS
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole finally shows he’s willing to fight to keep his job
“There is a fault line that runs through the Conservative Party ranks on several high-profile issues. Whether that fissure opens up and destroys the party at some point – who knows? Still, there is no denying that the Tories have had a few good weeks now. Momentum is on their side. And Erin O’Toole looks more comfortable on the job with each passing day.” - Gary Mason
France is set for an ugly presidential election campaign
“Along with his candidacy, [Éric] Zemmour, the son of Jewish Algerian immigrants to France, announced the creation of a new political party – named Reconquest – in a nod to the medieval Christian reconquering of Muslim Spain. Though he seeks to reclaim the mantle of Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the French resistance, he romanticizes Vichy France.” - Konrad Yakabuski
Joe Biden’s Summit for Democracy must recognize that feminism is key to the system’s survival
“While most societies welcome improvements in women’s welfare, it is quite a different thing to accept that men ought not to control the bodies of women, dictate their reproductive decisions, enjoy impunity for violence against them, monopolize power positions in the state and economy, or criminalize alternatives to heterosexuality. This is why feminism is so profoundly subversive.” - Shirin Ebadi, Leymah Gbowee, Tawakkol Karman, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, and Jody Williams
LIVING BETTER
Hotels and resorts across Canada are offering a wide range of festive packages
Deerhurst Resort in Ontario's Muskoka region.Courtesy of Deerhurst Resort
A year ago, most Canadian hotels were either shuttered or operating at a bare minimum. But with Canada’s vaccination rates edging higher, many lodgings are offering very merry Christmas and New Year’s Eve packages.
For the double-vaxxed, here are nine deals certain to put you in a festive mood.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Could Canada hold the U.S. liable for billions in B.C. flood damage?
Richard Bosma has begun rebuilding his dairy farm in Abbotsford, B.C., in the aftermath of the devastating floods that hit British Columbia last month.
“We’re looking at a million-dollar setback here,” said Bosma, who has insurance, but thinks that some of the bill should be paid by the country whose waters contributed to the flooding: the United States..
The flooding that inundated Abbotsford came in part from the overflow of the Nooksack River in Washington State, which was prompted by B.C. for decades to dredge the river or build better dikes.
Bosma and others believe that the U.S. should be made to pay for the damage the Nooksack waters caused, estimated to exceed $1-billion in the Abbotsford area alone. “I think they owe us billions,” he said.
Read Nathan VanderKlippe’s full story here
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