Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes a statement in Ottawa on Sept. 5.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is in Vancouver this week for a cabinet retreat, says his government will focus on the economy when Parliament resumes later this month.
The Official Opposition Conservatives are scheduled to unveil their new leader Saturday, just more than a week before members of Parliament return to Ottawa on Sept. 19.
It is widely expected that Pierre Poilievre, a former finance critic who has campaigned heavily on economic themes, will win the leadership and square off with Mr. Trudeau in the House of Commons.
“Our focus this week as we kick off what will be a busy and important fall of parliamentary work is on the economy. It’s hearing from Canadians, working with Canadians, to solve the very real pressures they’re facing,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters Tuesday at a news conference.
The federal cabinet retreat began Tuesday afternoon and is scheduled to wrap up on Thursday. The full Liberal caucus is then scheduled to gather next week in New Brunswick.
Mr. Trudeau said examples of an economic focus include federal funding for child care and support for housing programs.
Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough said she’s focused on solutions for Canada’s labour shortage.
“We’re looking at impacted sectors to see what we can do with maximizing work-force participation of groups that traditionally haven’t been involved in the labour market – think of Indigenous youth, persons with disabilities. We need to tap into these talent pools,” she told reporters as she headed into meetings on Tuesday.
“It’s kind of incredible to think that a year and a half ago, my entire job was around finding jobs for workers, and now it’s finding workers for jobs.”
Ms. Qualtrough said Ottawa is just about to enter negotiations with the provinces on labour market agreements that would make labour mobility more accessible.
Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, said his government has “obviously heard” about affordability issues in every part of the country.
“Our focus is to continue the work we’ve been doing as a government for Canadians … principally on questions of importance in terms of economic issues, affordability, housing, inflation – things as important as childcare agreements that have lowered the cost of childcare for Canadians in every province, things as important as the Canada child benefit,” he said Tuesday.
“We understand the anxiety of Canadians, and that is the focus of our work here in Vancouver.”
Earlier in the day, Mr. Trudeau announced a $1.4-billion loan for a massive new rental development led by a Vancouver-area First Nation. Mr. Trudeau said the project exemplifies his government’s focus on Indigenous reconciliation, climate change and expanding the housing supply.
“We’re coming together in one of Canada’s major cities to be part of putting forward solutions to make a difference for Canadians,” he said.
Mr. Poilievre’s economic themes have primarily focused on the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and housing becoming unaffordable to many Canadians.
While the pandemic led to large government deficits in order to fund emergency supports for individuals and businesses, Ottawa and the provinces are suddenly reporting better-than-expected revenues thanks to a rebounding economy and high commodity prices.
That boost in revenue could be short-lived, however, as central banks ratchet up interest rates in an effort to cool inflation, which runs the risk of creating a recession.
In addition to addressing economic concerns, the Trudeau government – along with the provinces – are under public pressure to improve Canada’s health care system. A recent Nanos Research survey for The Globe and Mail found respondents gave the system a failing grade and seven in 10 Canadians said access to health care has worsened compared with before the pandemic.
Mr. Trudeau has promised to raise the rate of increase of health transfers, but premiers have expressed frustration at the lack of progress in talks with Ottawa.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says real gross domestic product grew 0.2 per cent in July, following essentially no change in June, helped by strength in the retail trade sector.
The agency says the growth came as services-producing industries grew 0.2 per cent for the month.
The retail trade sector was the largest contributor to overall growth in July as it gained one per cent, helped by the motor vehicles and parts dealers subsector which gained 2.8 per cent.
The public sector aggregate, which includes the educational services, health care and social assistance, and public administration sectors, gained 0.3 per cent, while the finance and insurance sector rose 0.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, goods-producing industries gained 0.1 per cent in July as the utilities sector rose 1.3 per cent and the manufacturing sector grew 0.3 per cent.
Statistics Canada’s early estimate for August suggests real GDP for the month was essentially unchanged, as increases in oil and gas extraction and the public sector were offset by decreases in manufacturing and transportation and warehousing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index closed above 24,000 for the first time Thursday as strength in base metals and other sectors outweighed losses in energy, while U.S. markets also rose and the S&P 500 notched another record as well.
“Another day, another record,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones.
“The path of least resistance continues to be higher.”
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 127.95 points at 24,033.83.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 260.36 points at 42,175.11. The S&P 500 index was up 23.11 points at 5,745.37, while the Nasdaq composite was up 108.09 points at 18,190.29.
Markets continue to be optimistic about an economic soft landing, said Kourkafas, after the U.S. Federal Reserve last week announced an outsized cut to its key interest rate following months of speculation about when it would start easing policy.
Economic data Thursday added to the story that the U.S. economy remains resilient despite higher rates, said Kourkafas.
The U.S. economy grew at a three-per-cent annual rate in the second quarter, one report said, picking up from the first quarter of the year. Another report showed fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week.
The data shows “the economy remains on strong footing while the Fed is pivoting now in a decisive way towards an easier policy,” said Kourkafas.
The Fed’s decisive move gave investors more reason to believe that a soft landing is still the “base case scenario,” he said, “and likely reduces the downside risks for a recession by having the Fed moving too late or falling behind the curve.”
North of the border, the TSX usually gets a boost from Wall St. strength, said Kourkafas, but on Thursday the index also reflected some optimism of its own as the Bank of Canada has already cut rates three times to address weakening in the economy.
“The Bank of Canada likely now will be emboldened by the Fed,” he said.
“They didn’t want to move too far ahead of the Fed, and now that the Fed moved in a bigger-than-expected way, that provides more room for the Bank of Canada to cut as aggressively as needed to support the economy, given that inflation is within the target range.”
The TSX has also been benefiting from strength in materials after China’s central bank announced several measures meant to support the company’s economy, said Kourkafas.
However, energy stocks dragged on the Canadian index as oil prices fell Thursday following a report that Saudi Arabia was preparing to abandon its unofficial US$100-per-barrel price target for crude as it prepares to increase its output.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.22 cents US compared with 74.28 cents US on Wednesday.
The November crude oil contract was down US$2.02 at US$67.67 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down seven cents at US$2.75 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$10.20 at US$2,694.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up 15 cents at US$4.64 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal sector, while U.S. stock markets were also higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was 143.00 points at 24,048.88.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 174.22 points at 42,088.97. The S&P 500 index was up 10.23 points at 5,732.49, while the Nasdaq composite was up 30.02 points at 18,112.23.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.23 cents US compared with 74.28 cents US on Wednesday.
The November crude oil contract was down US$1.68 at US$68.01 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down six cents at US$2.75 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$4.40 at US$2,689.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up 13 cents at US$4.62 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
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