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SEAN FRASER: Government has plan to protect health, support economy through second wave of COVID-19 – TheChronicleHerald.ca

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By Sean Fraser

SPECIAL TO THE NEWS

This has been a long year.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses the greatest public health and economic threat to Canadians in a generation. In order to keep one another safe, we have collectively changed everything about the way we live and work. These changes have been difficult, but they are saving lives.

The federal government has developed a plan to help protect Canadians during this public health emergency and to address its extraordinary economic consequences. Since the onset of this pandemic, the federal government has invested more than eight out of every $10 spent in response to COVID-19.

The first and most important pillar in our economic strategy is to maintain a world-class public health response. The faster we defeat the virus, the faster our economy will recover.

We know this pandemic ends with a vaccine. That’s why we have secured access to the most diverse supply of vaccine candidates of any country in the world. Four of those vaccines are currently undergoing approval processes now, and the first doses are expected to arrive shortly. We have been working with the provinces for months, as well as the Canadian Armed Forces, to plan the logistics of distributing the vaccines as they arrive. When a vaccine is ready, Canada will be ready to receive it.

We have invested more than $20 billion to help keep Canadians safe by making substantial investments in testing and contract tracing, procurement of PPE for health-care professionals, and other measures to support a safe restart of the economy in each of the Provinces. This includes $2 billion in measures that are helping provincial governments provide a safe return to class for our kids, and measures to protect seniors living in long-term care.

The second pillar of our response has been to implement financial supports for Canadian households and businesses until the economy has stabilized.

When the economic consequences of the pandemic revealed themselves, we quickly implemented CERB, which helped almost nine million Canadians who lost income to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. We have since put new income support measures in place by enhancing EI and establishing the new Canada Recovery Benefit for Canadians who lost income as a result of COVID-19.

To support businesses, we advanced the Canada Emergency Business Account, which provides $60,000 interest free supports to businesses, $20,000 of which is forgivable. To date, approximately 800,000 small and medium sized businesses have taken advantage of this program. We advanced the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, which pays up to 75 per cent of workers’ salaries and is helping keep nearly four million workers on payroll. We also created a new program that will help cover up to 65 per cent of rent for businesses that have lost revenue as a result of COVID-19, and up to 90 per cent when closures were made pursuant to a public health order.

Many of these programs were designed in the early days of the emergency, but we plan to continue various support measures through to at least next summer so Canadians will know their government will be there for them during this time of unprecedented economic uncertainty.

The final phase of our plan is to make significant investments that will kickstart the economy once it is safe to do so, with a view to setting the course for long term growth that is robust, sustainable, and inclusive.

The path forward will include investments to create a National Early Learning and Child Care System, universal broadband connectivity, major reform in long-term care, and transformational investments in the green economy. Initial steps for each of these measures have recently been announced and are rolling out already, with the remaining details to be included in the upcoming federal budget.

2020 is almost over. The outlook for 2021 is in our hands. So, as we head into the holiday season, let’s continue our focus on keeping each other safe so next year is better than the last.

In the meantime, our government will do whatever it takes, as long as it takes, to help keep our communities safe and to see us through to better days.

TAGLINE: Sean Fraser is MP for Central Nova.

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Economy

Trump’s victory sparks concerns over ripple effect on Canadian economy

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As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.

Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.

A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.

More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.

Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.

“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.

“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”

American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.

It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.

“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.

“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”

A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.

Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.

“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.

Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”

“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.

“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Economy

September merchandise trade deficit narrows to $1.3 billion: Statistics Canada

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OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the country’s merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $1.3 billion in September as imports fell more than exports.

The result compared with a revised deficit of $1.5 billion for August. The initial estimate for August released last month had shown a deficit of $1.1 billion.

Statistics Canada says the results for September came as total exports edged down 0.1 per cent to $63.9 billion.

Exports of metal and non-metallic mineral products fell 5.4 per cent as exports of unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals, and their alloys, decreased 15.4 per cent. Exports of energy products dropped 2.6 per cent as lower prices weighed on crude oil exports.

Meanwhile, imports for September fell 0.4 per cent to $65.1 billion as imports of metal and non-metallic mineral products dropped 12.7 per cent.

In volume terms, total exports rose 1.4 per cent in September while total imports were essentially unchanged in September.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Economy

How will the U.S. election impact the Canadian economy? – BNN Bloomberg

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How will the U.S. election impact the Canadian economy?  BNN Bloomberg

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