Business
First-quarter GDP worst showing since 2009: StatCan – CTV News
OTTAWA —
Canada’s economy had its worst quarterly showing since 2009 through the first three months of 2020 owing to COVID-19, Statistics Canada said Friday, warning an even steeper drop may be coming.
Gross domestic product fell at an annualized rate of 8.2 per cent in the first quarter, including a 7.2-per-cent drop in March as restrictions by public health officials began rolling out, including school closures, border shutdowns and travel restrictions.
Preliminary information indicates an 11 per cent drop in GDP for April, but the statistics agency said that figure is likely to be revised as more information becomes available.
Similarly, the agency said first-quarter figures are likely to have larger than usual revisions in subsequent data releases. Some numbers had to be estimated because they were not available.
Early indications are that March and April could end up as the largest consecutive monthly declines on record.
The drastic drop in gross domestic product likely doesn’t fully reflect the experience of every Canadian, said BMO chief economist Douglas Porter, noting GDP is just one barometer of how the pandemic has affected the domestic economy.
“You don’t get the entire picture just from GDP and even from employment (figures) because policy-makers have stepped up with such unusual and aggressive actions that a lot of the common metrics just don’t apply 100 per cent in this episode,” Porter said in an interview.
The federal response to date totals about $152 billion in direct spending. The parliamentary budget officer has said that could leave the deficit at $260 billion, with a national debt north of $950 billion.
A preliminary estimate released by the Finance Department on Friday showed deficit of $21.8 billion for the fiscal year that closed in March. The figure will still be subject to revisions, which may land it closer to the government’s last estimate of $26.6 billion.
The monthly fiscal monitor also showed the debt pushed past $794.4 billion.
Many of the items adding to this year’s deficit are expected to show up in supplementary spending estimates. The documents will be scrutinized for four hours in mid-June based on the motion the adopted this week to put the Commons on extended hiatus until late September.
Budget officer Yves Giroux told a Commons committee on Friday that would provide parliamentarians little opportunity to properly scrutinize tens of billions, if not over $100 billion in proposed spending.
“It comes up as a very expensive four hours potentially for Canadian taxpayers,” he said. “The amount of scrutiny for this unprecedented spending will also be unprecedented, but for the wrong reasons.”
The latest federal spending figures showed $41.44 billion has been paid to 8.29 million people through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, and $7.9 billion in wage subsidies to 181,883 companies.
MPs on the Commons finance committee were told Thursday the cost of the wage susbidy program is somewhat less than the original $73-billion estimate. Consultations are underway to understand why companies aren’t accessing the program that covers 75 per cent of salaries, subject to a cap of $847 per week, per employee.
Asked about the lopsided spending, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the subsidy will become “more and more important” as restrictions ease and businesses reopen. He also said the CERB has helped “support millions of Canadians who need help paying for groceries, paying their rent.”
Statistics Canada said household spending, a backbone of the Canadian economy, was down 2.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, the steepest quarterly drop ever recorded.
The drop in household spending was broad, affecting goods like new cars and clothing, and services for food as bars and restaurants in particular were ordered closed. Instead, spending on going out became money spent staying in, Statistics Canada said, noting increases in household food and alcohol by 7.2 per cent and six per cent, respectively.
As a result of less spending overall, the savings rate rose for the quarter to 6.1 per cent from the 3.6 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019 with higher rates recorded at higher income levels.
The savings built up during the shutdown period could translate into extra spending as restrictions ease, said CIBC senior economist Royce Mendes in a note.
TD senior economist Brian DePratto wrote in a note that it isn’t unreasonable to think a modest recovery may already be forming.
“The key question is what kind of recovery? Given the significant hits to incomes and longer-lasting impacts on some industries, a marathon appears more likely than a sprint.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 29, 2020.
Business
Pearson airport gold heist: Police announce 9 arrests – CTV News Toronto
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
At a news conference Wednesday on the one-year anniversary of the heist, police confirmed that five suspects were arrested and four others are facing charges in connection with the largest gold theft in Canadian history.
Police said the suspects face a total of 19 charges and Canada-wide warrants have been issued for the arrest of three of the suspects who have not yet been apprehended. All of the suspects arrested in connection with the heist have been released on bail, police confirmed in a news release issued Wednesday.
Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said the heist was “carefully planned” by a “well-organized group of criminals.”
“This story is a sensational one and one which probably, we jokingly say, belongs in a Netflix series,” he said.
Police said 6,600 gold bars were stolen from Air Canada’s cargo facility on the evening of April 17, 2023 by a suspect who arrived at the warehouse in a five-tonne delivery truck.
The gold, along with about $2.5 million in foreign currency, had been shipped to Toronto from Zurich in the hull of an Air Canada plane and was offloaded to an Air Canada cargo facility shortly after the flight landed at Pearson Airport that afternoon.
Police allege that the suspect came into possession of the stolen gold and bank notes after presenting Air Canada personnel with a fraudulent airway bill.
“The airway bill was for a legitimate shipment of seafood that was picked up the day before,” Det.-Sgt. Mike Mavity, the major case manager for the joint investigation, dubbed Project 24K, told reporters on Wednesday.
“This duplicate airway bill was printed off from a printer within Air Canada cargo.”
Brinks Canada, which was hired to provide security and logistics services for the transportation of the shipment, showed up at the facility a few hours later to pick up the items, police said.
According to investigators, when Air Canada employees tried to locate the container, they realized it was missing and quickly launched an internal investigation. Police were notified about the stolen goods shortly before 3 a.m. the following day, Mavity said.
Air Canada launches probe
An exhaustive investigation followed, police said, with officers reviewing video surveillance footage from 225 businesses and residences in an effort to track the path of the truck, which has since been recovered.
Mavity said that last summer, they identified 25-year-old Durante King-McLean as the driver of the truck but were unable to locate him.
In September 2023, Mavity said King-McLean was stopped in rental vehicle by Pennsylvania State Police near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
“After a brief foot chase, he was detained and troopers located 65 illegal firearms in the vehicle,” Mavity said Wednesday.
According to Mavity, investigators believe that the stolen gold was melted down and sold and the proceeds were used to purchase illegal guns for a firearms trafficking operation.
He said members of Project 24K have been liaising with the U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Bureau (ATF) with respect to this aspect of the investigation.
Speaking at the news conference on Wednesday, a representative from the ATF said the law enforcement agency believes the 65 guns seized during the arrest of King-McLean were bound for Canada.
While King-McLean is currently in custody in the United States, he is now wanted on multiple charges in connection with the gold theft.
“We are alleging that some individuals who participated in this gold theft are also involved in aspects of this firearms trafficking,” Mavity added.
Two “debt lists” were found by investigators at separate locations during the investigation, police said.
“A common term in drug trafficking investigations, we believe these lists actually show where the money was distributed when the gold was sold by the suspects,” Mavity said.
He said the names on both lists are “consistent” and police are trying to identify all of those identified.
‘They needed people inside Air Canada’
Police said one current Air Canada employee, identified as 54-year-old Brampton resident Parmpal Sidhu, has been charged with theft over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. A Canada-wide warrant has been issued 31-year-old Simran Preet Panesar, who police said resigned from his position as a manager at Air Canada back in the summer.
“He has been known to us since early on in the investigation. He actually led a tour for Peel Regional Police before we knew his involvement,” Mavity said Wednesday.
He added that police have an idea where Panesar may be but did not elaborate on a possible location.
Mavity said he believes the suspects needed employees on the inside to carry out the heist.
“Because of their position within Air Canada, in my opinion, yeah they needed people inside Air Canada to facilitate this theft,” he said.
Business
Gas prices expected to rise 14 cents on Thursday
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Drivers are bracing for a double-digit spike at the gas pumps on Thursday, as the price is expected to rise 14 cents at midnight.
Roger McKnight, chief petroleum analyst withEn-Pro International Inc., tells CityNews the price at gas pumps is set to rise to 178.9 cents/litre at local stations. The price as of Wednesday is 164.9 cents/litre.
The last time gas prices were this high was back in August 2022.
McKnight says the spike is due to price increases for wholesale gas and only applies to gasoline. He adds the price for diesel will increase by 0.4 cents.
Earlier this month, the price rose to its highest levels in six months following the implementation of the federal carbon price, also referred to as the carbon tax.
That saw the carbon tax on gasoline go up by 3.3 cents per litre, while diesel increased by 4.1 cents per litre.
Business
Rupture on TC Energy's NGTL gas pipeline sparks wildfire in Alberta – The Globe and Mail
A section of TC Energy’s TRP-T NGTL gas pipeline system in Alberta ruptured and caught fire on Tuesday, sparking a wildfire in a remote area, the company said.
“An initial ignition of natural gas at the rupture site is now extinguished. We are working to support Alberta Wildfire in their response to contain a secondary fire,” the company said in a statement on its website.
TC said there were no injuries and it was working closely with first responders in the region.
How fire broke out at the TC gas pipeline near Edson, Alberta
The fire broke out about 40 km (25 miles) northwest of Edson, Alberta, in Yellowhead County. Canadian broadcaster Global News said there was a plume of flames and smoke visible from many kilometres away.
The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) said initial investigations indicated a rupture in a gas pipeline caused the fire, which was under control.
TC Energy said it has isolated and shut down the affected section of the NGTL system, and the remainder of the system is operating normally with no commercial impact.
The CER said it is sending inspectors to the area to monitor and oversee the company’s response and determine the impact of the incident.
NGTL is TC Energy’s natural gas gathering and transportation system that transports gas produced in Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) to markets in Canada and United States.
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