Thursday December 8, 2016

Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
Share

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Thursday December 8, 2016 Families could pay up to $420 more for food in 2017, report finds The average Canadian family may need to dish out as much as $420 more for food next year Ñ and consumers could have president-elect Donald Trump to thank for part of the price bump, the lead author of a new report says. Canada's Food Price Report, published by researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, was released Monday evening. The annual report, which looks ahead to 2017, cites weather disruptions caused by La Nina, energy-related costs Ñ including the potential effect of carbon pricing on the agricultural sector Ñ and a weak Canadian dollar as factors in the expected price hikes. Economists forecast the loonieÊcould fall as low as 70 cents US in 2017, and a weaker dollar would reduce the buying power of importers. "Everything we actually import from everywhere will increase in price," says Sylvain Charlebois, lead author of the report. But Charlebois, who works with the faculties of management and agriculture at Dalhousie, suggests there's one more major factor that could contribute to the increase in food prices: the incoming U.S. President. "We are expecting Canadian shoppers to be Trumped at the grocery store," said Sylvain Charlebois, lead author of the report. The annual report, which has come from the University of Guelph in years past, says the "proverbial sweet spot for food inflation" is between one and two per cent each year.ÊÊAt that rate, the increases are manageable for restaurateurs, grocery stores and consumers, the authors say. The latest report looks forward to 2017 and finds that food prices could increase between three per cent and five per cent Ñ with meat, vegetables, fish and other seafood projected to jump by as much as four to six per cent. Regionally, Ontario and British Columbia are expected to see most of the increases. (Source: CBC)Êhttp://www.cbc.ca/news/business/food

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 8, 2016

Families could pay up to $420 more for food in 2017, report finds

The average Canadian family may need to dish out as much as $420 more for food next year — and consumers could have president-elect Donald Trump to thank for part of the price bump, the lead author of a new report says.

Friday December 11, 2015 Payday loan industry comes under microscope The province is moving to protect vulnerable people from cash stores and collections agencies Ñ but a local councillor calls the efforts "half-hearted." If passed, new legislation by the Ontario government promises to increase protections under the Payday Loans Act, Consumer Protection Act and the Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act. The aim is to provide safeguards such as a cap on the rates charged by cheque-cashing services, a grace period for repayment for customers of rent-to-own services and reasonable costs for optional insurance on instalment loans. It would also offer longer repayment periods for repeat payday loan borrowers, and expanded rules against unfair collection practices from businesses that purchase and collect overdue debts. But Ward 3 Coun. Matthew Green says the legislation "doesn't go nearly far enough in terms of really tackling the core elements and the predatory nature of this industry." There are 813 licensed payday lenders in Ontario Ñ more than there are McDonalds restaurants. Roughly 35 of those are in Hamilton, according to the ministry's online database. For starters, Green wants to see the "ridiculous" interest rates on payday loans slashed. Green put forward a motion this summer to limit and regulate these stores at a municipal level, which would have made Hamilton the first city in the province to do so. Staff is now looking into the feasibility of that. In the meantime, he and a working group made up of local agencies, including credit unions, are actively researching a model for a market alternative low-cost loan service. Tom Cooper, director of Hamilton's Roundtable for Poverty Reduction (HRPR), says he'd like to see provincial legislation that enables municipalities to license lenders at the local level. He agrees there's more work to do on this. "At the end of the day É these services are predatory by nature and they'll continue to take a

December 11, 2015

Canada’s Food Price Report, published by researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, was released Monday evening.

The annual report, which looks ahead to 2017, cites weather disruptions caused by La Nina, energy-related costs — including the potential effect of carbon pricing on the agricultural sector — and a weak Canadian dollar as factors in the expected price hikes.

Economists forecast the loonie could fall as low as 70 cents US in 2017, and a weaker dollar would reduce the buying power of importers.

Friday April 25, 2014“Everything we actually import from everywhere will increase in price,” says Sylvain Charlebois, lead author of the report.

But Charlebois, who works with the faculties of management and agriculture at Dalhousie, suggests there’s one more major factor that could contribute to the increase in food prices: the incoming U.S. President.

“We are expecting Canadian shoppers to be Trumped at the grocery store,” said Sylvain Charlebois, lead author of the report.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday April 6, 2016 Panama Papers: Document leak exposes global corruption, secrets of the rich The financial secrets of heads of state, athletes, billionaires and drug lords have been exposed in the latest Ñ and biggest ever Ñ leak of records from an offshore tax haven. The leak includes 11.5 million confidential documents shedding light on the assets and murky fiscal dealings of everyone from the prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan to soccer player Leo Messi, movie star Jackie Chan and associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The records, dating as far back as 1977, come from a little-known but highly influential Panama-based law firm called Mossack Fonseca, which has 500 staff working in 40-plus countries. The firm is one of the world's top creators of shell companies Ñ corporate structures that can be used to hide ownership of assets. German newspaper SŸddeutsche Zeitung obtained the files from a source and shared them with global media partners, including CBC News and the Toronto Star, through the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. CBC News will be exploring more of what's in the documents, including Canadian connections, in a series of stories this week. "These findings show how deeply ingrained harmful practices and criminality are in the offshore world," said Gabriel Zucman, an economist at the University of California at Berkeley and author of The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens. Zucman, who was briefed on the media partners' investigation, said the release of the leaked documents should prompt governments to seek "concrete sanctions" against jurisdictions and institutions that peddle offshore secrecy. While offshore accounts are not in themselves illegal, the leaked records show they are often used to shield illicit dealings. In a written response to questions from the media consortium, Mossack Fonseca said it "do

April 6, 2016

The annual report, which has come from the University of Guelph in years past, says the “proverbial sweet spot for food inflation” is between one and two per cent each year.  At that rate, the increases are manageable for restaurateurs, grocery stores and consumers, the authors say.

The latest report looks forward to 2017 and finds that food prices could increase between three per cent and five per cent — with meat, vegetables, fish and other seafood projected to jump by as much as four to six per cent. Regionally, Ontario and British Columbia are expected to see most of the increases. (Source: CBC)