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The cost of the Coutts blockade is starting to add up for the Alberta economy as the illegal protest hits five days.
The cost of the Coutts blockade is starting to add up for the Alberta economy as the illegal protest hits five days.
David MacLean, the vice-president of the Alberta and Saskatchewan division of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, said between 800 and 1,200 trucks cross at the Coutts-Sweetgrass entry every day.
“We know the impact is huge,” he said. “(There is) $15.9 billion in two-way trade a year at that single crossing, that’s $44 million per day. Roughly speaking, we export by the Coutts border crossing almost as much as we import.”
Coutts is Alberta’s only 24-hour, seven-day-a-week crossing and the only one set up to handle much of the type of traffic that is now bottlenecked.
The blockade started to loosen Wednesday with a single lane of traffic open each way, as RCMP negotiations with protesters continue. MacLean said that even if the blockade ended immediately, it would likely take a week or two to clear the backlog.
He said all industries have been affected by the blockade, which has worsened a “supply chain crisis” created by a trucker shortage, two years of pandemic and major weather events such as the B.C. floods and winter storms.
“It’s like an ongoing, slow-motion train wreck there,” said MacLean.
“I have members who were expecting delivery of critical inputs who have trucks either parked on the U.S. side of the border or diverting through North Dakota through Saskatchewan, which of course costs time and money. We have essential equipment that is vital for oil and gas and manufacturing and every sector stalled south of the border.”
The Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers said rural communities are most affected, as they often rely on a single supplier.
Gary Sands, the senior vice-president for the CFIG, said the overall shortage at member stores is about 25 per cent, but in rural communities it was between 30 and 35 per cent before the blockades.
“With all of the things we are facing right now, we feel we should be having food convoys, not so-called freedom convoys,” said Sands.
He noted the independent grocers operate on slim 1.5- to two-per-cent margins, and increases in the cost of shipping will invariably be passed on to consumers.
On Monday, the Canadian Meat Council tweeted about 150 loads of Canadian beef stuck at the border and the effects it could have on producers. On Wednesday, an emailed statement said they were encouraged by the progress in negotiations.
“Hopefully this means that the backup will soon be cleared and commerce can continue,” said Marie-France MacKinnon, vice-president of public affairs for CMC.
The NDP called on the provincial government to provide emergency supports for those affected by the blockade.
Rural Economic Development and Agriculture critic Heather Sweet and Transportation critic Lorne Dach said the province should set up a program to cover uninsured costs.
“We are at a point where we are at Day 5 of a border crossing basically being held hostage, and what that means is it’s holding our economy hostage,” Sweet said.
“We’ve seen steel sitting at the border, we’ve seen agriculture products sitting at the border, forestry products are sitting at the border, tech products are sitting at the border, every single industry in Alberta that relies on our international trade with the United States has come to a stop.”
Provincial representatives did not return requests for comment.
Twitter: @JoshAldrich
VICTORIA – British Columbia is forecasting a record budget deficit and a rising debt of almost $129 billion less than two weeks before the start of a provincial election campaign where economic stability and future progress are expected to be major issues.
Finance Minister Katrine Conroy, who has announced her retirement and will not seek re-election in the Oct. 19 vote, said Tuesday her final budget update as minister predicts a deficit of $8.9 billion, up $1.1 billion from a forecast she made earlier this year.
Conroy said she acknowledges “challenges” facing B.C., including three consecutive deficit budgets, but expected improved economic growth where the province will start to “turn a corner.”
The $8.9 billion deficit forecast for 2024-2025 is followed by annual deficit projections of $6.7 billion and $6.1 billion in 2026-2027, Conroy said at a news conference outlining the government’s first quarterly financial update.
Conroy said lower corporate income tax and natural resource revenues and the increased cost of fighting wildfires have had some of the largest impacts on the budget.
“I want to acknowledge the economic uncertainties,” she said. “While global inflation is showing signs of easing and we’ve seen cuts to the Bank of Canada interest rates, we know that the challenges are not over.”
Conroy said wildfire response costs are expected to total $886 million this year, more than $650 million higher than originally forecast.
Corporate income tax revenue is forecast to be $638 million lower as a result of federal government updates and natural resource revenues are down $299 million due to lower prices for natural gas, lumber and electricity, she said.
Debt-servicing costs are also forecast to be $344 million higher due to the larger debt balance, the current interest rate and accelerated borrowing to ensure services and capital projects are maintained through the province’s election period, said Conroy.
B.C.’s economic growth is expected to strengthen over the next three years, but the timing of a return to a balanced budget will fall to another minister, said Conroy, who was addressing what likely would be her last news conference as Minister of Finance.
The election is expected to be called on Sept. 21, with the vote set for Oct. 19.
“While we are a strong province, people are facing challenges,” she said. “We have never shied away from taking those challenges head on, because we want to keep British Columbians secure and help them build good lives now and for the long term. With the investments we’re making and the actions we’re taking to support people and build a stronger economy, we’ve started to turn a corner.”
Premier David Eby said before the fiscal forecast was released Tuesday that the New Democrat government remains committed to providing services and supports for people in British Columbia and cuts are not on his agenda.
Eby said people have been hurt by high interest costs and the province is facing budget pressures connected to low resource prices, high wildfire costs and struggling global economies.
The premier said that now is not the time to reduce supports and services for people.
Last month’s year-end report for the 2023-2024 budget saw the province post a budget deficit of $5.035 billion, down from the previous forecast of $5.9 billion.
Eby said he expects government financial priorities to become a major issue during the upcoming election, with the NDP pledging to continue to fund services and the B.C. Conservatives looking to make cuts.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the debt would be going up to more than $129 billion. In fact, it will be almost $129 billion.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
NANAIMO, B.C. – Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he’ll be advising the Liberal party to flip some the challenges posed by an increasingly divided and dangerous world into an economic opportunity for Canada.
But he won’t say what his specific advice will be on economic issues that are politically divisive in Canada, like the carbon tax.
He presented his vision for the Liberals’ economic policy at the party’s caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C. today, after he agreed to help the party prepare for the next election as chair of a Liberal task force on economic growth.
Carney has been touted as a possible leadership contender to replace Justin Trudeau, who has said he has tried to coax Carney into politics for years.
Carney says if the prime minister asks him to do something he will do it to the best of his ability, but won’t elaborate on whether the new adviser role could lead to him adding his name to a ballot in the next election.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she has been taking advice from Carney for years, and that his new position won’t infringe on her role.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government has introduced a bill that would kick-start the province’s offshore wind industry without federal approval.
Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton says amendments within a new omnibus bill introduced today will help ensure Nova Scotia meets its goal of launching a first call for offshore wind bids next year.
The province wants to offer project licences by 2030 to develop a total of five gigawatts of power from offshore wind.
Rushton says normally the province would wait for the federal government to adopt legislation establishing a wind industry off Canada’s East Coast, but that process has been “progressing slowly.”
Federal legislation that would enable the development of offshore wind farms in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador has passed through the first and second reading in the Senate, and is currently under consideration in committee.
Rushton says the Nova Scotia bill mirrors the federal legislation and would prevent the province’s offshore wind industry from being held up in Ottawa.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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