Edmonton’s Wil Bateman continues to grow on Korn Ferry Tour with steady approach

VANCOUVER – British Columbia’s party leaders have jousted over affordability in their first and only radio debate of the province’s election campaign.

The debate brings together NDP Leader David Eby, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad and Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau for the first time on the campaign trail ahead of the Oct. 19 vote.

Eby said cost-of-living issues have been “challenging” for households and that his proposed middle-class tax cut was aimed at driving down costs.

Rustad agreed that affordability was the top issue in the campaign, and asked “why suddenly now” was Eby talking about tax cuts.

Furstenau said it was “fascinating” that neither Eby nor Rustad wanted to talk about the issues that she says drive unaffordability in the province, including “financialized” housing and a “backwards-looking” fossil fuel industry.

The hour-long debate is being hosted by Mike Smyth on Vancouver radio station CKNW.

The only televised debate of the B.C. election campaign will be held on Oct. 8.

The party leaders will be back together again later Wednesday at an event with the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade where they will speak with business leaders.

The leaders’ encounters come as Rustad has been told by a campaign working to end violence against women that organizers are withdrawing their permission for him to wear a moose hide pin meant to show support.

Moose Hide Campaign co-founder Raven Lacerte says in a letter that elected leaders have a unique level of responsibility to uphold basic standards of respect, “including respect for Indigenous Peoples and those along the gender continuum,” and that Rustad is “not upholding these standards.”

The Conservative campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the letter.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2024.

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Vancouver-area home sales dropped 3.8 per cent in September compared with the same month last year, while listings grew to put modest pressure on pricing, said Greater Vancouver Realtors on Wednesday.

There were 1,852 sales of existing residential homes last month, which is 26 per cent below the 10-year average, and down 2.7 per cent, not seasonally adjusted, from August.

The board says the results show recent interest rate cuts haven’t yet led to the expected rebound in activity, and that sales are still coming in below its forecast.

“September figures don’t offer the signal that many are watching for,” said Andrew Lis, the board’s director of economics and data analytics, in a statement.

The Bank of Canada has already delivered three interest rate cuts this year to bring its policy rate to 4.25 per cent. With further cuts expected at its next two decisions, including what some banks say could be a half-percentage-point cut, there’s still room for an upward swing in the market, said Lis.

“With two more policy rate decisions to go this year, and all signs pointing to further reductions, it’s not inconceivable that demand may still pick up later this fall should buyers step off the sidelines.”

For now though, there are many more sellers entering the market than buyers.

There were 6,144 newly listed properties in September, up 12.8 per cent from last year, to bring the total number of listings to 14,932. The total number of listings makes for a 31 per cent jump from last year, and is sitting 24 per cent above the 10-year seasonal average.

The combination of fewer sales and more listings left the composite benchmark price at $1,179,700, which is down 1.8 per cent from September 2023 and down 1.4 per cent from August.

The benchmark price for detached homes stood at $2.02 million, up 0.5 per cent from last year but down 1.3 per cent from August. The benchmark for apartment homes came in at $762,000, a 0.8 per cent decrease from both last year and August 2024.

The board says the sales-to-active listings ratio across residential property types was at 12.8 per cent in September, including 9.1 per cent for detached homes, while historical data indicates downward price pressure happens when the ratio dips below 12.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2024.

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TORONTO – BMO Financial Group says it has named Kristin Milchanowski to the newly created role of chief artificial intelligence and data officer.

The bank says Milchanowski will oversee several areas including AI, analytics and robotics strategies, as well as data management and data governance across the bank.

Chief technology officer Steve Tennyson says in a statement that Milchanowski will look to use AI to differentiate BMO’s digital offerings from its competitors.

BMO says Milchanowski comes to the role from EY, where she was a global innovation partner focused on AI, high-process computing and quantum technologies. It says she is also an AI associate fellow of the University of Oxford.

The Bank of Canada says the financial sector has been investing in AI to improve customer service, enhance compliance and risk management, and better assess credit and liquidity risk.

However, the central bank has warned that the trend could lead to operational risks including through reliance on a few third-party service providers and potential hallucinations and biases from predictive AI.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BMO)

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