VICTORIA — Premier John Horgan says British Columbia won’t be pressured by “honking horns” to lift the province’s COVID-19 public health restrictions.
“People want to put COVID behind them. I get that,” Horgan told a news conference Tuesday after the government delivered a throne speech outlining its political agenda for the coming months.
“I’m at the front of that line … but we want to make sure that we don’t do it in a reckless and cavalier manner just because people are honking horns, a small minority are honking horns.”
Horgan’s comments came Tuesday as some provinces announced plans to remove many COVID-19 restrictions, including Saskatchewan, which is dropping its vaccine passports and won’t renew its indoor mask mandate, while many of Quebec’s restrictions will be gradually removed by March 14. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney also announced his government will immediately start phasing out health restrictions.
Horgan, who recently underwent successful chemotherapy after being diagnosed with throat cancer, said he will take guidance on B.C.’s approach to the pandemic from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.
“I don’t want to leave the impression that I’m passing the buck to Dr. Henry but she is far more equipped and able to understand that data and translate that for the public than I am,” he said.
Henry said late last month some COVID-19 restrictions on social gatherings are expected to be gradually lifted by Feb. 21. The most recent public health orders related to gatherings at sports events and concerts are set to expire on Feb. 16, and Henry has said she will announce any changes a day earlier.
Large trucks have blocked streets in downtown Ottawa for more than a week in a protest against vaccine mandates. Similar protests have also been held in other cities and at border crossings.
“We want to make sure that the sacrifices that businesses and workers and communities have made over the past two years are not just thrown away because of some noise out on the legislative lawn or in the capital city of Canada,” Horgan said. “Having said that, I absolutely understand that people are done with this.”
He said the pandemic has been one of many challenges the people of B.C. and the government have faced over the past year, including floods, wildfires, the opioid overdose crisis and last summer’s heat dome.
“In the coming months ahead, your government’s top priority will continue to be keeping people healthy and safe through the rest of the pandemic,” said the throne speech read in the legislature by Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin. “It can be easy to forget how far we have come.”
The throne speech highlighted the government’s plans to introduce a long-term economic plan next week that aims to deliver a greener economy. The government also promised to tie minimum wage increases to the rate of inflation and said it will introduce a cooling-off period on home purchases to protect buyers in a volatile housing market.
Horgan said the government will create a new ministry to focus on lands, water and resource stewardship.
New anti-racism legislation is also expected during the spring session.
B.C. Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon said the throne speech repeated previous NDP promises and was more of a look back than a look-ahead document.
“Frankly, it’s disappointing,” he said in a video statement. “We want to see how we’re going to get into the future with real measurable outcomes.”
Green Leader Sonia Furstenau said in a statement the speech acknowledges the loss and sacrifices B.C. residents made over the past year, but rather than offer a vision for the future “the government patted themselves on the back for past initiatives and reannounced projects that have been underway for years.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2022.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was higher in late-morning trading, helped by strength in energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also moved up.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 34.91 points at 23,736.98.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 178.05 points at 41,800.13. The S&P 500 index was up 28.38 points at 5,661.47, while the Nasdaq composite was up 133.17 points at 17,725.30.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.56 cents US compared with 73.57 cents US on Monday.
The November crude oil contract was up 68 cents at US$69.70 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up three cents at US$2.40 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$7.80 at US$2,601.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.28 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
OTTAWA – Canada’s inflation rate fell to two per cent last month, finally hitting the Bank of Canada’s target after a tumultuous battle with skyrocketing price growth.
The annual inflation rate fell from 2.5 per cent in July to reach the lowest level since February 2021.
Statistics Canada’s consumer price index report on Tuesday attributed the slowdown in part to lower gasoline prices.
Clothing and footwear prices also decreased on a month-over-month basis, marking the first decline in the month of August since 1971 as retailers offered larger discounts to entice shoppers amid slowing demand.
The Bank of Canada’s preferred core measures of inflation, which strip out volatility in prices, also edged down in August.
The marked slowdown in price growth last month was steeper than the 2.1 per cent annual increase forecasters were expecting ahead of Tuesday’s release and will likely spark speculation of a larger interest rate cut next month from the Bank of Canada.
“Inflation remains unthreatening and the Bank of Canada should now focus on trying to stimulate the economy and halting the upward climb in the unemployment rate,” wrote CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham.
Benjamin Reitzes, managing director of Canadian rates and macro strategist at BMO, said Tuesday’s figures “tilt the scales” slightly in favour of more aggressive cuts, though he noted the Bank of Canada will have one more inflation reading before its October rate announcement.
“If we get another big downside surprise, calls for a 50 basis-point cut will only grow louder,” wrote Reitzes in a client note.
The central bank began rapidly hiking interest rates in March 2022 in response to runaway inflation, which peaked at a whopping 8.1 per cent that summer.
The central bank increased its key lending rate to five per cent and held it at that level until June 2024, when it delivered its first rate cut in four years.
A combination of recovered global supply chains and high interest rates have helped cool price growth in Canada and around the world.
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem recently signalled that the central bank is ready to increase the size of its interest rate cuts, if inflation or the economy slow by more than expected.
Its key lending rate currently stands at 4.25 per cent.
CIBC is forecasting the central bank will cut its key rate by two percentage points between now and the middle of next year.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is also expected on Wednesday to deliver its first interest rate cut in four years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick‘s finance minister says the province recorded a surplus of $500.8 million for the fiscal year that ended in March.
Ernie Steeves says the amount — more than 10 times higher than the province’s original $40.3-million budget projection for the 2023-24 fiscal year — was largely the result of a strong economy and population growth.
The report of a big surplus comes as the province prepares for an election campaign, which will officially start on Thursday and end with a vote on Oct. 21.
Steeves says growth of the surplus was fed by revenue from the Harmonized Sales Tax and federal money, especially for health-care funding.
Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs has promised to reduce the HST by two percentage points to 13 per cent if the party is elected to govern next month.
Meanwhile, the province’s net debt, according to the audited consolidated financial statements, has dropped from $12.3 billion in 2022-23 to $11.8 billion in the most recent fiscal year.
Liberal critic René Legacy says having a stronger balance sheet does not eliminate issues in health care, housing and education.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
