City Ottawa Financial News

As Canada continues to grapple with a housing crisis, the conversation is increasingly turning to international students coming into the country.

TOKYO—A Chinese aircraft carrier and around two dozen other Chinese warships were gathering in the western Pacific, according to authorities in Taiwan and Japan, an unusually large group suggesting Beijing may be planning major naval exercises. The movement follows a flurry of U.S. military activity in the region, and comes as efforts by Washington and Beijing to improve relations appear to have lost momentum.

India and keeping the provinces in the dark about trade talks.In a letter Moe released Monday, Saskatchewan Trade Minister Jeremy Harrison argued Trudeau is picking a fight with India for domestic political gain and risking access to one of his province’s most important export markets.“It is very difficult to come to any other conclusion that your government has once again put its own domestic political interests ahead of the national economic interest — particularly as it relates to exports and trade of western Canadian-produced commodities,” Harrison wrote.Last month, Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma told The Canadian Press in an interview that Ottawa sought a pause “within the last month” to ongoing talks for an Early Progress Trade Agreement.The news stunned business leaders, and Harrison wrote that his peers have had a “complete lack of updates” on the negotiations since at least late July.“It is unacceptable to our government that we first heard of a pause in the EPTA negotiations through the media one week ago, and have received no explanation from (the) Government of Canada subsequent to that,” reads Harrison’s letter, dated Sept. 8.“Clearly, what your government has done has put the already strained Canada-India relationship in even further peril after some improvement following the prime minister’s disastrous trip to India in 2018,” he wrote, a reference to Trudeau being mocked for wearing traditional outfits and for inviting a convicted terrorist to a reception he hosted in India.Harrison added that provinces and territories ought to be present in the negotiations, saying this has been done in talks for past trade deals.

“Freedom Convoy” protests are expected to make their case today to block nine Ottawa residents and business representatives from taking the stand.Tamara Lich and Chris Barber are on trial for criminal charges related to their role in the demonstration, which blockaded Ottawa city streets for weeks last year as protestors railed against COVID-19 public health measures.The Crown plans to call five Ottawa residents as witnesses in the case, including Zexi Li, who filed a class-action lawsuit against the organizers on behalf of people who live and work in downtown Ottawa.The Crown also intends to call the owner of a women’s clothing boutique, and employees from the National Arts Centre, the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel, and the local public transit operator.Lich’s lawyer Lawrence Greenspon argued against hearing from the witnesses when court resumed Monday.Lich and Barber have already signed admissions that the “actions of certain individuals” who participated in the protest interfered with public transit and the lawful use and enjoyment of property and businesses.“There’s is absolutely no need to call these nine witnesses,” Greenspon said, arguing their testimony would be irrelevant in a strictly legal sense.The witnesses didn’t have any direct interactions with Lich or Baber, and the organizers have not admitted to playing any role in the disruptions.The admission did not go far enough to justify blocking the testimony of people directly impacted by the protest, Crown attorney Siobhain Wetscher argued.“I don’t think that Mr. Greenspon is in a position to admit that the protest is not peaceful,” Wetscher said.

Justin Trudeau after his plane broke down Sunday, leaving the Canadian delegation stranded in India.It’s adding another complication to an already rocky trip to the country.A spokesperson with the Department of National Defence told Global News in an email Monday that a problem with a component was discovered with the prime minister’s Royal Canadian Air Force CC-150 Polaris. That part must be replaced before the plane is able to fly again, they said.Trudeau was planning to return home after attending the G20 summit in New Delhi.“The Canadian Armed Forces continue their best efforts to get the Canadian delegation home.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s return to Canada from the G20 summit in India has been delayed by problems with his plane.

Federal Health Minster Mark Holland says the government will step in to assist Alberta if required, as reports of E.coli cases from an outbreak at multiple daycares in Calgary continue to rise.

OTTAWA-Bank of Canada Gov. Tiff Macklem said higher interest rates are suppressing consumption and dampening price increases, and might be at “sufficiently restrictive” levels for the central bank to achieve its 2% inflation target.

COVID-19 variants across the country, attention is once again turning to rapid antigen tests.However, this flu season is different from the last, as the federal government stopped its shipments of rapid tests to the provinces and territories, meaning Canadians may have to look a little harder to find them, or even pay out of pocket, experts say.Given the dwindling supply, increasing numbers of expired tests and the emergence of new COVID-19 variants in the country, the question arises: Are rapid tests still effective?“I still see a value in the tests, because SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID sheds for a longer time than we tend to see with some the other respiratory infections,” explained Dr. Gerald Evans, infectious disease specialist at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont.“It would be able to inform you of the likelihood you might have to be off work for a little bit longer than you were expecting.”In March 2023, the federal government ended new shipments of rapid antigen tests to provinces and territories.

By David Ljunggren and Steve Scherer

Conservative party gathers in Québec City this weekend.The Conservatives are riding high in national polling and head into this weekend’s policy convention — the party’s first in-person convention since 2018 — with a sense of cautious optimism after eight years on the opposition benches.But it wouldn’t be a Conservative gathering without some good old fashioned intra-party power struggles.Alissa Golob, the executive director of anti-abortion group Right Now, said her organization is pushing for more transparency around party nominations and more power resting with local riding associations — rather than Poilievre and his team in Ottawa.The group’s goal is to nominate and elect more anti-abortion politicians to the House of Commons, with an aim of passing legislation to restrict abortion access in Canada.Unlike previous conventions, however, Golob said social conservatives are focusing their attention less on policy debates and more on the power dynamics between the party “establishment” and local volunteers.

OTTAWA-Bank of Canada Gov. Tiff Macklem said higher interest rates are suppressing consumption and dampening price increases, and might be at “sufficiently restrictive” levels for the central bank to achieve its 2% inflation target.

OTTAWA—The Bank of Canada held its main interest rate steady at 5% after back-to-back rate rises in June and July, saying the economy has shifted into a weaker phase and labor-market pressures have eased. Nevertheless, the central bank Wednesday said it remained concerned “about the persistence of underlying inflationary pressures,” and is prepared to raise rates again should conditions not improve. Along with the U.S.

OTTAWA-Bank of Canada Gov. Tiff Macklem said higher interest rates are suppressing consumption and dampening price increases, and might be at “sufficiently restrictive” levels for the central bank to achieve its 2% inflation target.

foreign interference in Canadian elections and society.Marie-Josée Hogue, a puisne judge of the Court of Appeal of Quebec, has been tapped to lead the inquiry, a government source told Global News Thursday. Two government sources also confirmed the news to The Canadian Press.Hogue was appointed as puisne judge in the Quebec appeals court on June 19, 2015, according to the court’s website.

OTTAWA—The Bank of Canada held its main interest rate steady at 5% after back-to-back rate rises in June and July, saying the economy has shifted into a weaker phase and labor-market pressures have eased. Nevertheless, the central bank Wednesday said it remained concerned “about the persistence of underlying inflationary pressures,” and is prepared to raise rates again should conditions not improve. Along with the U.S.

The Ottawa Police Service incident commander in charge of the “Freedom Convoy” response told the court hearing a trial of two of its organizers that work to shrink the footprint was undermined after the first weekend by an order to not to give an inch of downtown.

OTTAWA—Economists believe the Bank of Canada is likely to keep its main interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, as data suggest the economy has shifted into a lower gear after 10 rate increases over a 16-month span.  

OTTAWA—The Bank of Canada held its main interest rate steady at 5% after back-to-back rate rises in June and July, saying the economy has shifted into a weaker phase and labor-market pressures have eased. Nevertheless, the central bank Wednesday said it remained concerned “about the persistence of underlying inflationary pressures,” and is prepared to raise rates again should conditions not improve. Along with the U.S.

Rising home prices have sent property values soaring over the past five years, and for some lucky buyers who snapped up homes in 2018, that’s amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra equity.

OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada was persuaded to hold its key interest rate steady on Wednesday as signs of a faltering economy emerge, but with inflation still above target, the central bank is walking a tight line to avoid fuelling speculation of rate cuts.