Jun 1 2020 — Alex Binkley — National Newswatch — Proposed British tariffs could hit Canadian agrifood. Ottawa—With less than seven months to Britain’s departure from the European Union, Canada’s commercial relations with its fifth largest trading partner are clouded in uncertainty. Conservative MP Michael Kram told Parliament in May the United Kingdom has “released its list of tariffs on Canadian exports that will […]
Jun 1 2020 — Staff — National Newswatch — Dear Prime Minister: Your government’s swift policy response to the economic consequences of COVID-19 spared millions of Canadians from significant hardship. Measures such as the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and the Canada Emergency Business Account have provided urgently needed assistance to Canadian workers and businesses, clearly demonstrating the value of public-private collaboration. These programs succeeded […]
Jun 1 2020 — Nigel Rawson — National Newswatch — The federal government has pursued an aggressive agenda over the past two years to use untried methods to force drastic reductions in the prices of new medicines in Canada. The response has been many loud warnings from patients and others that the policies would inevitably stop vital new medicines from being introduced here. The warnings […]
May 29 2020 — Nicole McNeill — National Newswatch — The pandemic has forced companies to make some bold decisions to move employees out of the office space for good and to work permanently from home. Big banks and tech companies have been on this journey for years; but news this week that Shopify was going to abandon their new 254,000 sq/ft Toronto office for […]
May 29 2020 — Jim Sheppard — National Newswatch — Finally . . . A major media organization in Canada is getting it right. The future of journalism – an essential service in the time of COVID-19 — is entirely digital and the new owners of The Toronto Star have recognized that. Torstar buyers plan to ramp up struggling newspaper’s digital strategy It’s too bad […]
May 28 2020 — Alex Binkley — National Newswatch — Program intends to bring more young Canadians into food production. Ottawa—The federal government will provide $9.2 million to a federal youth employment program to fund up to 700 new positions in the farm sector, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has announced. The money will go to the Youth Employment and Skills Program (YESP) at the […]
May 27 2020 — Alex Binkley — National Newswatch — Governments need to think now about how they will manage. Ottawa–While we have a long way to go before COVID-19 is just a bitter memory, Canadians need to fully appreciate what it will take to revive the heavily-indebted economy that will emerge from the recovery. Fortunately, there’s a lot of high-level thinking about this […]
May 26 2020 — Wayne Liko — National Newswatch — This month the province of Ontario signaled the first steps of what will be a complex and challenging return to work with the opening of certain stores and essential services but closing schools until September 2020. We face a lot of unknowns – but one thing is clear – the modern workplace as we know […]
May 26 2020 — Alex Binkley — National Newswatch — Both countries could retaliate by halting imports from the U.S. Ottawa—A suggestion by President Trump that U.S. borders should be closed to cattle imports flies in the face of the new North American trade deal, says Bob Lowe, President of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA). Trump said in mid-May the United States might want […]
May 25 2020 — Hassan Yussuff — National Newswatch — We are in the midst of a global pandemic. The federal government is introducing new programs almost daily to support millions of Canadians who have been affected by this crisis. Public service employees are doing amazing work getting that support to the people who need it. Meanwhile, the calls for austerity are already coming fast […]
May 25 2020 — K.W. Grafton — National Newswatch — For months now the world has been subjected to a relentless “infodemic” of COVID-19 media coverage, some of it sensationalistic fearmongering. Conflicting information is rampant, and the real threat of fake news to global health has prompted governments and health authorities to take action to shield the public from harmful misinformation. According to PEW Research, 48% of Americans report seeing […]
May 25 2020 — Alex Binkley — National Newswatch — Fate of WTO reforms uncertain. Ottawa—The sudden resignation of the director general of the World Trade Organization is raising a lot of questions about the maintenance of rules-based international commerce in the midst of the global pandemic. Roberto Azevedo, a career Brazilian diplomat, plans to step down Aug. 31. His second four-year term was […]
May 23 2020 — John Milloy — National Newswatch — Is a basic income on the horizon? Advocates would say “absolutely”. It seems a day doesn’t go by without another opinion piece pointing out that the pandemic has created the ideal conditions for its adoption here in Canada. People want radical change, especially for people who are struggling. COVID-19 may render millions permanently unemployed and […]
May 22 2020 — Alex Binkley — National Newswatch — Pilot to run until May 2023. Ottawa—A three-year program to help agrifood employers hire foreign workers provides a badly-needed route to tackle the sector’s chronic worker shortages. Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino says the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot will test an industry-specific approach to help employers in the meat processing, mushroom and greenhouse production, and livestock-raising […]
May 21 2020 — Agata Soroko — National Newswatch — After refusing to deny bailout money to companies that operate in offshore tax havens, Prime Minister Trudeau recently stated that right now is not the time to solve tax avoidance. When the “right” time does arrive, I hope the federal and provincial governments consider–as part of their solution–mandating financial literacy courses for the CEOs whose firms […]