🔗 Articles: Thursday 25.Apr.2024
Globe: Andrew Coyne: What might a serious growth agenda look like? More labour, more capital, and more incentive to use both wisely
The good news about the recent budget is that it at least talks about per capita GDP, however briefly. The appalling performance of Canada’s economy on this crucial measure has been the subject of growing alarm outside of government. Yet it was not considered worth so much as a mention in the fall economic statement.
Neither did it come up in Budget 2023. Nor the 2022 fall economic statement. Budget 2022 gave it a chart, mostly as an advertisement for the government’s policies on child-care subsidies and the “transition to a low-carbon economy,” then dropped it. Even in Budget 2024, it is brought up largely to dismiss it as a concern. A “strong, temporary rise in immigration,” it explains, has “weighed on average income and productivity in the short term.”
But this, it seems, is no more than a statistical illusion.
New Republic: Trump Brutally Mocks Latest “Gutless” Republican to Endorse Him
In a late-night Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump gleefully posted news of Barr’s endorsement, with a jab thrown in:
“Wow! Former A.G. Bill Barr, who let a lot of great people down by not investigating Voter Fraud in our Country, has just Endorsed me for President despite the fact that I called him “Weak, Slow Moving, Lethargic, Gutless, and Lazy” (New York Post!),” Trump wrote. “Based on the fact that I greatly appreciate his wholehearted Endorsement, I am removing the word ‘Lethargic’ from my statement. Thank you Bill. MAGA2024!”
BlogTO: Fans think rich people killed the vibe at Toronto Maple Leafs’ playoff game
Attending a Toronto Maple Leafs playoff game is a costly endeavour, and the lower bowl of Scotiabank Arena is reserved for the ultra-privileged willing to shell out thousands for the best seats in the house.
Unfortunately, wealth and rowdiness don’t have too much overlap, and rich ticketholders are once again being slammed for deadening the vibe during a big Leafs home game.
BlogTO: Here’s how much it costs to see a Leafs vs Bruins playoff game in Toronto
As of Friday morning, ticket prices available for the series’ first home game next Wednesday range from $222.25 for an obstructed standing-room-only view to seats re-selling for north of $3,000 in the lower bowl.
The most expensive single tickets listed at their original price are first-row seats in sections 107 and 109, selling for just over $1,800 with taxes and fees included.
Anyone hoping to catch the action in person will have to fork over some big bucks, though, as tickets are being sold at a premium — some far higher than originally priced thanks to the all-too-familiar work of Ticketmaster resellers driving prices through the stratosphere.
A Japanese resident has shared a brutal and honest Q&A about his experience living in Canada and many Canadians are agreeing with their point of view.
Living in Canada FAQ > 1) Is it okay if I can’t speak English?
> Absolutely not. You better learn native-level English.
> 2) Will I find a job?
> No. Even Canadians can’t find jobs.
> 3) Is it safe?
> Except for certain areas, it’s fine. But it’s important to walk with confidence.
> 4) Is it expensive?
> 1.5 times Japan. Add in the exchange rate and it’s chaos.
> 5) Is there a Japanese community?
> Yes, but avoid at all costs.
> 6) Are Canadians friendly?
> On the surface they seem friendly, but inside it’s a big ball of complaints and racism
> 7) What should I bring from Japan?
> Japanese salt.
> 8) Is there any racism?
> I can feel it in the air and it’s terrifying. 90% of what Canadians tell you is bullshit.
> 9) What is the most important thing I need to work in Canada?
> 1. Mental strength > 2. Money > 3. English > 4. Skills
>
> 10) What is the best thing about going to Canada?
> Realizing how great Japan is.
CBC: Bob Cole, the play-by-play voice of countless NHL games, dies at 90
Cole’s trademark call — “Oh, baby!” — was one of many signposts he brought to play-by-play commentaries that earned him the love of fans and even players themselves.
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Cole, who said he still got goosebumps in his mid-80s when he stepped into an arena broadcasting booth, called one of the most famous plays in Canadian sports history: Paul Henderson’s Summit Series goal in 1972, against the Soviet Union.
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During his lengthy broadcasting career, he anchored the news for Here & Now, CBC’s flagship TV news program in Newfoundland and Labrador, and was also quiz master on CBC’s Reach for the Top in Newfoundland and Labrador.
His voice appeared outside sports, too. Actor and producer Allan Hawco asked Cole to voice the recap intro heard at the beginning of most episodes of the series Republic of Doyle.
CBC: Makeshift slaughterhouse in a residential garage points to growing concerns about illicit meat sales
Inside a garage in an established Edmonton neighbourhood, animals were being slaughtered and the meat was advertised for sale to consumers, a CBC News investigation has learned.
Police entered the rented garage in the quiet residential Woodcroft community in February 2023. Images shared with CBC News show piles of goat carcasses, tubs of blood and the remains of a skinned baby goat on a makeshift slaughter table.
Neighbour John Bos told CBC News that the sounds of bleating goats first alerted him to unusual activity in the garage.
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“We have all the laws we need on the books,” LeMay said.
“We need investment in enforcement. We need boots on the ground … on the cattle rustling side and on the meat processing side, to enforce those laws.”
CBC: Ontario MPP defies order to remove keffiyeh at Queen’s Park
An Ontario legislator has refused to remove her keffiyeh at Queen’s Park and was subsequently banned from returning to the chamber for the rest of the day on Thursday.
Speaker Ted Arnott ordered independent member Sarah Jama to leave the chamber, but she refused.
Legislative security did not physically remove her from question period, so she remained.
How can this be seen as racist? Pro-Palestinian is not the same as antisemitic. People are legitimately complaining about the bombing of civilians. It is not an endorsement of Hamas’ war crimes.
Arnott banned the keffiyeh after deciding it was being worn to make a political statement, contrary to the rules of the assembly.
Heaven forbid someone make a political statement in a political assembly.
CBC: Documentary Channel: My adventures with assholes
When I set out to make Assholes: A Theory, a film for the documentary Channel, after reading Aaron James’ book of the same name, I had no idea where it would take me. I knew it was going to be difficult to explain: “Hey, I’m making a film about assholes. Would you like to be in it?” This is the magic of the documentary impulse that drives me to new frontiers.
If someone had told me I would be having a conversation about assholes with the governor general of New Zealand, Dame Patsy Reddy, and her husband, Sir David Gascoigne, or that I would be sitting beside comedic legend John Cleese as he burst into laughter at the North American premiere of Assholes: A Theory, I would have said, “You’re out of your mind!”
NewsNation: Kansas moms killings: Fifth person arrested and charged with murder
Tifany Adams, 54; her boyfriend Tad Cullum, 43; Cora Twombly, 44; and her husband Cole Twombly, 50, have each been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree in relation to the killing of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39.
OSBI said that “based on the evidence and information gathered from the case,” Paul Grice, 31, was arrested and booked into the Texas County Jail with the same charges as the other four previously arrested.
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According to the affidavit of probable cause for Grice’s arrest warrant, he admitted he was part of the planning, killing and burying of Butler and Kelley.
Atlantic: What If Mike Johnson Is Actually Good at This?
What if Mike Johnson is actually good at this?
CBC: Nunavut government wants to open a protected area in the High Arctic to tourism
Tuvaijuittuq Marine Protected Area off coast of Ellesmere Island considered the last ice area.
CBC: Canadian who died in Cuba was mistakenly buried in Russia, family says
Faraj Allah Jarjour’s family received body of Russian man after death in Varadero.
Apple Insider: The Worst of WWDC - Missteps on the way to success
It’s not often that an entire operating system is considered disappointing. Still, iOS 11 was not a normal update, and its release in 2017 occurred during an abnormal period at Apple marked by challenges and changes.
In 2017, Apple admitted what iPhone users had already noticed. A previous iOS update deliberately slowed down some older models to prevent issues with their aging internal batteries.
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Almost seven years after Google Maps was released, Apple announced its own Maps app at WWDC 2012. The plan was to replace Google Maps on the iPhone, but right out of the gate, Maps was a disaster.
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iOS 8 ushered in health and fitness tracking, but some things didn’t work out as planned. Basic features like step measurement and flight climbed often failed to be recorded. Communication of health data between apps, one of the main reasons Apple developed HomeKit, often didn’t work. Third-party health apps had problems sharing data with Apple’s Health app.
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Memoji and Anamoji
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[Since 2011,] a near-comical lack of comprehension has … hampered Siri’s amazing potential. Siri’s inability to process commands and its lack of features compared to other smart assistants has drawn criticism, and Siri’s shortcomings have been the subject of countless jokes.
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Many find that Siri has lost features and functionality over time, with no way for users to keep track of these changes.
ScienceAlert: NASA’s Advanced Solar Sail Has Successfully Deployed in Space
On Tuesday a RocketLab Electron rocket launched NASA’s new Advanced Composite Solar Sail System. It aims to test the deployment of large solar sails in low-earth orbit and on Wednesday, NASA confirmed they had successfully deployed a 9 metre sail.
CBC (CP): Alberta to pay nurse practitioners up to 80 per cent of what family doctors make
Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said nurses eligible for the payment plan must commit to caring for 900 patients and operate their clinics on weekends, evenings and holidays. They also must accept walk-ins.
She said compensation will depend on how many patients are being served, with pay being higher for nurses with more patients.
“Roughly 80 per cent of what a physician can do is roughly what a nurse practitioner will be doing,” LaGrange said.
Rolling Stone: Team Trump Is Ready to Lose the Supreme Court Immunity Case. They’re Celebrating.
Three people with direct knowledge of the matter tell Rolling Stone that many of the former president’s lawyers and political advisers have already accepted that the justices will likely rule against him, and reject his claims to expansive presidential immunity in perpetuity. Bringing the case before the court – after a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., shut down their arguments on executive power – was a delaying tactic designed to push Trump’s criminal election subversion trial past Election Day this fall. The strategy paid off so much more than MAGAworld anticipated.
“We already pulled off the heist,” says a source close to Trump, noting it doesn’t matter to them what the Supreme Court decides now.
via Apple News+
BMO chief investment strategist Brian Belski believes a rally is due in domestic dividend stocks.
“Against the backdrop of rising long-term interest rates year to date, ALL the Canadian yield-heavy sectors have underperformed. However, from our perspective each of these areas are excessively oversold and are extremely overdue for a sharp reversal to the upside once interest rate concerns stabilize. While we do subscribe to the “higher-for-longer” interest rate narrative, our work shows that these sectors can post solid absolute returns and, in some cases, even outperform when long-term interest rates are in a range. Indeed, the Real Estate sector typically posts its best absolute and relative performance when interest rates are range bound … While the Communication Services sector is interest rate sensitive, we believe the sector should be doing much better on an absolute basis given we are likely at or near peak long-term interest rates. Utilities is historically the most correlated with interest rates, but typically sees a clear inflection of performance once long-term interest rates peak and is generally a Market Perform in range-bound rate environments. Lastly, Canadian banks have become too interest rate sensitive in our view … the sector can outperform in most interest rate environments and typically posts its best absolute performance when interest rates are range bound or rising gradually”
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TD Cowen analyst Mario Mendonca thinks domestic bank stocks have roughly 20 per cent upside if they can hit their return on equity (ROE) target. The catch is that he doesn’t believe they will.
“The group delivered an adjusted ROE of 13.8% in 2023, 610bps below the 5-year average before the GFC, reflecting a sharp decline in NIM [net interest margins] and much lower leverage. The sharp decline in leverage was a direct result of much higher capital requirements related to the introduction of Basel III and all its iterations. Without a sharp increase in NIM, we do not believe medium-term ROE guidance is achievable. We believe that if the ROE makes it back to medium-term guidance it will happen through a combination of a) 10-20bps increase in NIM, b) a recovery in capital markets revenue (CMRR), and c) slightly better efficiency ratios. There are a number of reasons why industry NIM is down 75bps over the last 20+ years, but we believe the most important (and most likely to reverse) is the sharp decline in 5-year bond yield.”
Last Updated: 25.Apr.2024 23:58 EDT
