Just over a year ago, we began the longest election period in our history, and at the end of that time, Justin Trudeau and a Liberal majority were elected to govern Canada. While it is not quite time to write “A year in review: PM JT’s first 365 days in government,” I do believe there are some points worth meditating on regarding the federal election.In order to better understand what we’re talking about, let’s look at some statistics: Election 2015 stretched 76 days, which can be broken down into two and a half months; it also means there were 52 working days, equaling 416 regular hours, and 24 non working days including Labour Day and Thanksgiving. Furthermore, the combined expenditures of all major parties was over $100 million, which equals $1.3 million per day, or $54,824 an hour.I cite these figures to make it clear that this latest election was nothing short of a monumental effort, comparable …
Go to Source
Canadian startup looking to sell electric cars in a completely different way
An upstart Canadian auto seller is aiming to drive the worldwide market for electric vehicle sales by launching an innovative web-based sales platform and showroom that will move transactions online and away from the traditional car lot.Dedicated solely to electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, the GTA-based company, called EVEN Electric, will not be exclusively aligned with one particular auto maker. Instead, the retailer will sell multiple, competing brands of both used and new green vehicles, delivering them right to the driveways of consumers around the world and often to places where electric cars are not yet sold.
The model, which departs drastically from traditional auto sales conventions, is designed to address several issues hampering the proliferation of electric vehicles (EVs) on the road. EVEN’s founders say many of those issues can be traced to problems at the point-of-sale.“The traditional dealership model has proven unable to deliver the sales …
Conservatives call on health minister to repay $1,700 bill for car and driver
Health Minister Jane Philpott will stop using a pricey limousine service owned by a Liberal supporter after Conservatives complained about a $1,700 bill for transportation in the Greater Toronto Area.
Philpott said in a statement Wednesday the price tag was “too high” and “inappropriate.”
“I have already taken steps to prevent this from occurring in the future,” she said.
While Philpott’s office said the minister won’t use the limo service again, it stopped short of saying she would repay the money, noting the transportation was for legitimate business.
While the Tories demanded Philpott repay the $1,700, her office revealed even higher expenses …
Go to Source
Canada officials may charge U.S. hunter who speared bear to death
CALGARY, Alberta Alberta may file charges against a U.S. hunter who posted a video of himself killing a black bear with a spear, wildlife officials said on Tuesday, as the Canadian province moved to ban spear hunting.The video, which sparked outrage online, shows hunter Josh Bowmar baiting a trap for the bear in a wooded area and then impaling the animal with a long spear with a camera attached to it.Bowmar, 26, defended the way he killed the bear while Alberta Environment Ministry spokesman Kyle Ferguson described the hunt as “unacceptable” and “archaic.””We will introduce a ban on spear hunting this fall,” Ferguson said. “In the meantime, we have asked Fish and Wildlife officers to investigate this incident to determine if charges are warranted under existing laws.”Bowmar, a javelin thrower and hunter, uploaded the video in June, local media reported. It appears to have been taken …
American may face charges for spearing Canadian bear
Officials in Canada’s Alberta province have said they plan to ban spear hunting after an American posted a video of himself impaling a black bear.Social media users criticised US hunter Josh Bowmar, 26, for uploading a 13-minute video showing the hunt.Though spear hunting is legal in Alberta, officials have said they are looking into whether Mr Bowman could face charges for the kill. A ban on spear hunting is expected to be in place this autumn, they said. Alberta Environment Ministry spokesman Kyle Ferguson said the agency had asked Fish and Wildlife officers to launch an investigation into whether …
Go to Source
Government of Canada's Plan for a Strong Middle Class Brings Real Change to Winnipeg
August 15, 2016 – Winnipeg, Manitoba – Department of Finance Canada
The Government of Canada knows that a strong middle class means hard-working Canadians can look forward to a good standard of living throughout their lives and a better future for their children.
The Government’s plan puts people first in making smart, necessary investments to grow the economy today while positioning Canada as a leader of tomorrow. It recognizes that when you have an economy that works for the middle class, you have a country that works for everyone.
Today at Stella’s au CCFM, Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Dan Vandal, Member of Parliament for Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, highlighted key measures from this plan that put more money in the pockets of Canadians who need it most, so they can buy healthier food, pay for their kids’ activities, and live more comfortably in retirement.
As one of its first actions, the …
Go to Source
Canada home sales down for third month: real estate group
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Sales of existing Canadian homes fell for the third month in a row in July, data showed on Monday, as fewer homes changed hands in Vancouver and elsewhere in British Columbia, some of the hottest markets in the country.
Still, home prices kept rising, the report from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) said, lifted by a surge in prices in Vancouver and Toronto.
Seasonally-adjusted home sales declined 1.3 percent in July from June. Sales were down in just over half of all markets last month, led by the Greater Vancouver area and the Fraser Valley in British Columbia. Sales in the two regions have tumbled by 21.5 percent and 28.8 percent respectively since peaking in February, the industry group said.
The decline in sales in July even as prices rise in those areas suggests sales are muted by a lack of inventory and their increasing unaffordability, said CREA’s chief …
Disillusionment, U.S.A. Where Voters Are Just Hoping for Change
Parker Fox drifted out of the Donald Trump rally in a sort of euphoric daze, along with the thousands emptying into the parking lot alongside him. “After leaving a Trump rally, you’re very pro-Trump,” he recalled a few weeks later, describing a noisy communion with people who understood that politics mattered, unlike some people he could name at his high school. “It was so enthusiastic and so energetic you could feel it in your body. It gave you chills.”
He’d barely had time to calm down when he learned through Facebook that his other favorite presidential candidate would also be passing through his quiet corner of eastern Michigan—Bernie Sanders. In fact, the U.S. senator from Vermont would be at the same community college the very next day. This thrilled Fox: his first presidential election as a voter—he was 18—and the two most crowd-whipping, pundit-defying, establishment-bucking …
Go to Source
Canadian tax incentives headache for ITV as it bids for Peppa Pig maker eOne
ITV’s £1bn bid for Peppa Pig-maker Entertainment One (eOne) and a potential counter approach by the private equity giant KKR face challenges over the company’s use of tax credits, according to City sources.
Investment bankers said eOne, which is domiciled in Canada and listed in London, relies on tax incentives designed to boost the Canadian film and television industries.
Any buyer would need to take the “quite material” boost to its profits into account if a takeover would mean shifting its domicile, one senior media dealmaker said. Another added: “The thing about Entertainment One is it is a …
Go to Source
'Gun Goddess' takes aim at Canada's firearm laws
Grandmother. General manager. Gun goddess — on Twitter, anyway.Meet Tracey Wilson, the Orléans chairwoman of the board of the recently formed Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights.Her message is simple: Gun-owners are your neighbours, law-abiding hunters and sport-shooters. They’re not, as she puts it, pot-bellied guys drinking beer and blasting shotguns from four-wheelers, so legislating them does nothing to combat crime.The engaging Wilson — who manages a law firm, shoots competitively and hunts her own meat — borrows the language of social justice activists when talking about the need to “reduce stigma” and battle “stereotypes.”“It’s about time that …
Go to Source