City Ottawa Financial News

The federal government is currently looking for ways to tighten its budget and curb the size of the public service. In order to do that, it’s undertakinga multi-billion dollar spending review.

The Canada Post strike, now in its third week, is set to cost Canada’s small- and medium-sized businesses more than $1 billion by Wednesday, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). The prolonged labour dispute, which began on Nov. 15, has paralyzed operations at the Crown corporation, disrupting supply chains and dealing a significant blow to small businesses during the critical holiday season.

Legislation to create a two-month-long GST holiday is expected to pass on Thursday.

Last week the federal government announced a $4.7-billion tax expenditure, along with a two-month sales tax change that will create severe administrative and logistical nightmares for businesses, and whose effect on federal revenue the government seems to have badly miscalculated. According to economist Trevor Tombe, it will likely cost around $3.0 billion, versus the $1.6 billion the government estimates. Ottawa branded this $7.7-billion package an affordability measure and tax “holiday.” It is nothing of the kind. It is ridiculous nonsense, which this government delivers on a regular basis and is what Canadians really need a holiday from.

One annoying characteristic of Canadian unions is timing strikes to when they will cause the most harm and stress. Twelve days ago, as the busy holiday season approached, Canada Post workers went on strike, leaving small businesses scrambling to make alternative arrangements. Not an easy task, as the cost of FedEx and UPS is prohibitive for many. Purolator, which Canada Post owns, has lower rates, but Teamsters Canada has prohibited its members from handling packages identified as an alternative to Canada Post. As a result, according to the CFIB’s Corrine Pohlmann, “People unsure about delivery timelines are staying away from shopping altogether. It’s just the next big obstacle our members must deal with.”

The head of one of Canada’s largest banks says newcomers need support from all corners as “people are turning a little sour” on immigration.

Business and political leaders in Canada say there will be pain if Donald Trump follows through on his pledge to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods, but they note the hurt will happen in his country as well.

The federal government is calling on the provinces to “step up” and drop their sales taxes on certain items in line with Ottawa’s proposed two-month relief period.

The federal government has apologized for its role in the killing of sled dogs in Nunavik between the mid-1950s and the late 1960s.

Pat King, one of the most prominent faces of the 2022 “Freedom Convoy,” was on Friday found guilty on five counts, including on charges of mischief and disobeying a court order, in an Ottawa court.

First things first. Hot off the press.

First came Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s “Axe the tax” ads targeting the carbon tax. Now the Alberta government is running a “Scrap the cap” campaign, in reference to the federal government’s plan to — for purely performative reasons — impose a cap on emissions from the oil and gas sector.

a countrywide strike entered its fifth day.“On smaller issues, we were able to find some progress,” said Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton in a phone interview.“The special mediator has helped facilitate those discussions. So we’re going to continue to be at it.

Canada’s point person for U

Canada Post employees are on strike and calls emerge to exclude Mexico from upcoming trade talks.While question period has continued, other house business is on hold due to a Conservative privilege motion calling on the government to turn over unredacted documents on a green technology fund.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and some members of his cabinet are not in Ottawa for the first half of the week, as they attend the G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Lima, Peru this weekend, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said many nations have been approaching Canada on how to work with the incoming Donald Trump administration in the United States.The Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement signed during the first Trump presidency is up for review in 2026, and the premiers of Ontario and Alberta say Canada should oust Mexico from the deal over not matching Canadian and American tariffs on imports like electric vehicles.

“The devil appeared to a monk disguised as an angel of light, and said to him, ‘I am the angel Gabriel, and I have been sent to you.’ But the monk said, ‘Are you sure you weren’t sent to someone else? I am not worthy to have an angel sent to me.’ At that the devil vanished.” — Nun and theologian Benedicta Ward

The union for Canada Post workers says their members are now on a “nationwide strike” as negotiations with the Crown corporation failed to reach an agreement by Friday.

Canada’s economy has been falling behind the United States — in fact, most major economies — for some time now, but the election of Donald Trump threatens to widen that record gap even further, say economists.

Marc Miller on Wednesday said “the age of unlimited supply of cheap foreign labour is over,” and that employers may need to offer higher wages to attract more Canadian workers.Speaking to reporters after addressing the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, Miller also suggested the federal government may be looking at boosting enforcement resources to crack down on irregular migrants who don’t leave Canada, and addressed the need for mutual enforcement of the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S.Miller said it’s important to address what is sometimes a “very disproportionate relationship between employers and employees” when it comes to low-cost temporary foreign workers.“There are exploitative relationships that exist, and we need to crack down on them.

The union representing Montreal dockworkers plans to challenge in court a decision by the federal labour minister to end a lockout at the port by sending the dispute to binding arbitration.

Donald Trump’s second administration is filling up with some of his most loyal supporters and many of the people landing top jobs have been critical of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and security at Canada’s border.