Advocates say fate of B.C. public health hangs on election

Juraj Slafkovsky was an NHL draft pick, just like Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard. The spotlight, however, has not been quite as bright or the hype train as strong for him in Montreal.

“I like it that way,” Slafkovsky said.

Regardless of the attention or lack thereof, Slafkovsky is on the vanguard of hockey’s next generation of stars, along with the likes of San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, Buffalo’s JJ Peterka and New Jersey’s Luke Hughes.

“It’s really cool to be a part of it, and I hope I will be a part of it,” Slafkovsky said two years after the Canadiens took him at No. 1 in 2022. “Hopefully we can do some things as the younger generation.”

Slafkovsky, Peterka, Hughes and Quinton Byfield of the Los Angeles Kings have been around a bit, and now is the time to show they can be among the league’s best. Newcomers like Celebrini, Smith, Philadelphia’s Matvei Michkov and even teammate Lane Hutson are front-runners in the race for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.

Macklin Celebrini

The most recent No. 1 pick does not have the so-called “generational talent” label like Crosby, McDavid or Bedard, but he still won the Hobey Baker Award last season at Boston University as the top college player in the country with 64 points in 38 games.

Sharks forward William Eklund was not too familiar with Celebrini’s game until the draft, so he made it a point to check out his highlights.

“I looked him up a little bit, and obviously he’s a great skill guy,” Eklund said. “He’s a high-caliber player, and it’s going to be fun to see.”

BetMGM Calder Trophy odds: 4-1

Will Smith

Rivals at Boston-area schools, Smith and Celebrini are now front and center as the faces of San Jose’s rebuild.

“It’s going to be a fun relationship,” said Smith, the fourth pick in 2023 who decided to turn pro after starring last season at Boston College. “Really cool. We were talking about it earlier just how crazy it is that we’re on the same team now.”

Smith, a year older than Celebrini, is coming off a 71-point season, helped the U.S. win world junior gold and played at the world championships.

“He’s a kid that has a really bright future and a ton of talent,” said Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren, who was a teammate at worlds. “A really good kid, too, and I think he’ll go in and play for San Jose this year and I think you’ll see him do pretty well.”

BetMGM Calder Trophy odds: 5-1

Juraj Slafkovsky

The MVP of the 2022 Beijing Olympics without NHL players struggled in his rookie year. Last season, he quintupled his production with 20 goals, 30 assists and 50 points and said, “I’m ready to start where I finished.”

Slafkovsky in the spring signed an eight-year contract extension worth over $60 million. Now it’s up to the big Slovak forward to earn it.

“I just want to show them that they made the right decision,” Slafkovsky said. “I feel like the only way I can do it is showing up every day and playing hard and being there.”

JJ Peterka

A 2020 second-round pick of the Sabres, Peterka is older at 22 but could get a look on the first line this season after establishing himself as a full-time NHL player and scoring 28 goals. The Germany-born forward is in a contract year looking to get the kind of guaranteed deal Slafkovsky and others have.

Peterka thinks the key is not putting too much pressure on himself, especially while trying to help Buffalo end the league’s longest playoff drought.

“I want to be put more in situations where I’m maybe not too uncomfortable,” Peterka said. “I want to be more responsible, more consistent. For me it’s just take the next step to just grow as a player, as more of a complete player.”

Quinton Byfield

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound power forward is expected to play center after getting a five-year, $31.25 million contract. He spent the summer working on his shot to be more of a threat from further away from the net and prefers center offensively and defensively.

“I like playing good defense and shutting down their top lines, so when I can be in my own end kind of playing those guys down low, that’s where I want to be,” Byfield said. “Also I don’t want to just be on the wall standing there going up the ice. I want to be able to use my speed and kind of demand the middle of the ice.”

Luke Hughes

A left shoulder injury from summer training could cause the Devils defenseman to miss the start of the season. That absence should not keep Hughes from building on a 47-point rookie year that left him third in Calder Trophy voting.

“He’ll take another step,” older brother and New Jersey teammate Jack Hughes said. “Luke will be even more mature this year. He’ll know the league a little bit more and know the players and he’ll know things he can get away with and where he can capitalize on certain things. I think he’ll have a better year offensively, obviously, and just keep getting better.”

Matvei Michkov

The 19-year-old Russian winger is the new face of the Flyers with the weight of the franchise’s nearly five-decade Stanley Cup drought on his shoulders. Michkov was the seventh pick in 2023, with some teams concerned he might not be able to leave the KHL or was under-scouted given the war in Ukraine.

Early returns are positive.

“Everyone’s really excited to have him, and when you see him on the ice it’s pretty special and gives our team a positive boost,” forward Owen Tippett said. “Super skilled. We’re all really excited to have him on our side, and we’re excited to see what he can do.”

BetMGM Calder Trophy odds: 7-2

Lane Hutson

A saucer pass from Hutson during an early training camp scrimmage that landed right on the stick blade of teammate Emil Heineman went viral in hockey circles. It’s just a taste of what the 20-year-old defenseman might be able to do when he gets used to life in the NHL, but he already has big expectations in Montreal.

“I haven’t proved anything yet,” Hutson said. “There’s a lot to prove before I’m even close to a face of the team.”

BetMGM Calder Trophy odds: 7-1

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AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson and freelance writer W.G. Ramirez in Las Vegas contributed.

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AP NHL:

VANCOUVER – In the seven years since the NDP came to power in British Columbia, food prices have jumped by almost 30 per cent.

Rent and transport costs are up by about a quarter, while the cost of filling up with gasoline has risen by almost half.

It’s been a painful process that has made the cost of living a major battleground ahead of the Oct. 19 provincial election. But experts say that while some provincial policy strategies can have an impact, much of the inflationary pressure has global origins.

University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business associate Prof. Werner Antweiler said interest rate and fiscal policy can effect change in housing prices, but the pressures that have forced up grocery prices cannot be easily influenced at a local political level.

In a note published through the research agency C.D. Howe Institute, Antweiler said Russia’s war on Ukraine was a fundamental reason why grain, fertilizer and energy costs had cascaded into food costs.

“The blame for high food prices falls neither on greedy retail chain CEOs nor on Canada’s carbon tax,” Antweiler said in the note. “Most contributing factors can be attributed to global sources.”

Nevertheless, the issue of costs has been a key driver of political debate in B.C.

On Sept. 12, before the campaign period officially began, B.C. NDP Leader David Eby announced that his party would end the provincial carbon tax on consumers if the federal mandate requiring such a tax was removed by the party that wins the next federal election.

Eby cited “rising interest rates” and “high global inflation” as cost pressures that had eroded political consensus on the carbon tax, which Antweiler said had been used as a “scapegoat.”

B.C. Conservatives Leader John Rustad described the move as a “desperate attempt” to boost support and called the carbon levy a “disastrous tax that punishes families and businesses.”

B.C’s consumer price index jumped by more than three per cent for each of the last three years — including a 6.8 per cent spike in 2022 — and is about 56 per cent higher than it was 2002. That’s about one-tenth lower than all of Canada at 62 per cent.

“Two, three per cent is no problem,” said Simon Fraser University finance Prof. Andrey Pavlov of the price of inflation.

“The moment it becomes six or seven, people notice that right away. And when it’s not just one item, but it’s everything you consume, people who are living on a tight budget to begin with absolutely notice it.”

The B.C. Conservatives list cost-of-living at the top of the party’s policy plan on its website, calling for the privatization of auto insurance, supporting parents directly with daycare costs, and removal of the carbon tax.

The heavy focus on daily costs doesn’t surprise Pavlov, who said Canada’s inflation rate had reached a level in 2022 that was difficult to ignore.

“Inflation has tapered off, but at some point it was up to six per cent, seven per cent in Canada,” Pavlov said, adding the prices are not coming down. “And when it’s that high, people feel that immediately, because every single item you’re shopping for is certainly more expensive.”

The issue isn’t restricted to personal living costs. Business groups say higher costs in B.C. have translated to labour shortages as people seek more affordable destinations.

BC Chamber of Commerce president Fiona Famulak said while some cost factors are beyond provincial control, the government was able to lower taxes and provide other measures granting some relief.

“We have a sign on our provincial storefront that says to the world, British Columbia is closed for business,” Famulak said of the high costs and their knock-on effects. “It’s time to flip that sign.”

Pavlov said there are adjustments B.C. can make locally, even given the global forces at play on items such as groceries.

The province could boost local goods and services to insulate B.C. more from global inflationary pressures, he said.

“That will help British Columbians manage that inflation much better,” he said. “Unfortunately, I don’t see that. I haven’t seen that from our current government. On the contrary, one measure after another imposes additional risk and costs on doing really any business in British Columbia, and as a result, it’s very difficult to provide goods and services in British Columbia locally.

“That really depends a lot on what happens with the election. If whichever government comes in takes this seriously and actually helps businesses operate in British Columbia … then it will make it much easier for people to manage those higher prices.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.

Deloitte Canada expects economic growth to pick up next year as it forecasts the Bank of Canada to cut its key interest rate below three per cent by mid-2025.

In the company’s fall economic outlook released Thursday, it forecasts the central bank’s interest rate will fall to 3.75 per cent by the end of this year and a neutral rate of 2.75 per cent by mid next year.

Meanwhile, it expects the economy to grow moderately as softer labour market conditions persist, especially as many homeowners have yet to face higher rates when they refinance their loans.

“We do think that we’re going to be in for a decent year next year,” said Dawn Desjardins, chief economist at Deloitte Canada.

It appears Canada will successfully skirt a recession despite the impact of higher borrowing costs on the economy, said Desjardins.

“It’s hard to argue that the economy is just skating through this period of higher interest rates. But having said that, the overall numbers themselves continue to show the economy is expanding,” she said.

“Yes, the labour market has softened, but I don’t think we’re in any kind of crisis in the labour market at this time.”

The Bank of Canada has cut its benchmark rate three times so far this year as inflation has eased, and signalled more cuts are coming.

Inflation in Canada hit the central bank’s two per cent target in August, falling from 2.5 in July to reach its lowest level since February 2021.

However, higher rates have weighed on economic growth and the labour market.

Deloitte’s predicted 2.75 per cent neutral rate — the rate at which the central bank’s monetary policy is neither stimulating nor holding back the economy — is higher than where interest rates were hovering in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Desjardins said the forecast aligns with the central bank’s own projections. There are a number of factors on the horizon that may pose increased risk to inflation, she said, such as climate change.

“These are costly things that we’re going to have to deal with and will be embedded in prices. So that’s sort of how we get to this 2.75 (per cent).”

The report says the global backdrop continues to be challenging, with no clear ends to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, growing trade frictions and an uncertain impact of the U.S. election on policy.

Consumers and businesses alike are still facing a lot of uncertainty, said Desjardins.

The heightened uncertainty, including from the looming U.S. election in November, makes businesses reticent to invest, she said, but added more clarity should come in the new year.

“We’ll see inflation coming down and interest rates coming down. So those are two powerful factors that will support an improvement in confidence both from the consumer side as well as the business side as we go through next year,” she said.

In its report, Deloitte said it’s still optimistic about Canada’s economy next year.

“Lower rates will ease the burden on the highly indebted household sector sufficiently to support a pickup in spending and a housing market recovery,” it said in the report. “After two years of subpar growth, we look for the economy to hit its stride in 2025.”

Deloitte said despite the easing of overall inflation, shelter prices — especially rent — “remain too high for comfort.” However, it also said interest rate cuts are expected to “rejuvenate construction activity,” with home-building activity set to rise throughout 2025.

While rate cuts should help stimulate the housing market, Deloitte said it expects the recovery to be modest amid poor affordability.

Desjardins said without a significant boost to housing supply, the affordability issue is unlikely to subside.

“We know that Canada has a pretty significant supply deficit on the housing side,” she said.

“The housing cannot be created overnight.”

However, she also doesn’t see house prices significantly increasing.

“I think we’re going to see some easing up on demand from new Canadians as we move forward. So that might give a little bit of a relief,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.