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Thursday January, 14, 2016

January 13, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday January, 14, 2016

Canadian dollar will drop to 59 cents US in 2016, Macquarie forecasts

A day after the loonie slipped below the 70-cent US level for the first time since 2003, a forecaster at investment bank Macquarie says he expects the loonie to lose another 10 cents to reach an all-time low of 59 cents by the end of 2016.

David Doyle of Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd. lowered his Canadian dollar forecast to 59 cents US on Tuesday. That would eclipse the all-time low for the loonie, set on Jan. 21, 2002, at 61.79 cents US.

Doyle knows of what he speaks. Last February, when the Canadian dollar was valued at just over 80 cents, he — correctly, as it turns out — predicted the loonie would hit 69 cents US at some point in the next 12 months.

It did so Tuesday.

“Once [the loonie] reaches this level,” Doyle said, “it should remain subdued through [the end of] 2018 and potentially even longer.”

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Thursday October 15, 2009 Big problems in higher dollar There is a certain giddiness attached to a soaring Canadian dollar, with visions of cheaper trips to Florida or New York for those who canÊafford to travel. There is also a degree of smugness about us doing better than the Americans in managing the economy. We should dismiss such thoughts, however. The fact is that a higher-valued dollar is a disaster for Ontario's economy, based as it is onÊexports of manufactured goods into the U.S. market. Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) estimates that, for every hike of oneÊcent in the value of our dollar, 25,000 factory jobs are lost. And since the beginning of this year, the loonie has gone up 15 cents. Partly this is attributable to our better fiscal situation, in comparison to the tax-averse Americans. (The U.S. deficit Ð a staggering $1.6Êtrillion this year Ð is "unsustainable," according to the Congressional Budget Office.) And partly it can be traced to rising prices forÊcommodities, particularly oil, for the loonie is now a "petro-dollar." For manufacturers, this is a double whammy: the higher dollar makes their products less competitive in the American market, and higherÊoil prices drive up their costs. "Canadian manufacturers are really caught between a rock and a hard place," says CME President Jayson Myers. Prime Minister StephenÊHarper notes the "difficult effects" on the economy. (Source: Toronto Star) Canada, Dollar, loonie, strength, strong, imports, exports, fish, skeleton, bones, economy

The good old days

Doyle’s new forecast doesn’t see the loonie above 65 cents US at any time between the end of 2016 and the two years that follow.

The loonie has been whipsawed of late by oil and the U.S. dollar. Oil prices can’t find a bottom, with a barrel of the North America crude oil benchmark dipping below $30 a barrel for the first time in 13 years on Tuesday. That’s dragging the loonie down with it, as Canada’s dollar is widely considered to be a play on oil prices.

But strength in the U.S. dollar is making the loonie look even worse.

Economic uncertainty makes investors flock to assets perceived as safe, and for the most part none are perceived to be safer than the U.S. dollar. That drives up the greenback’s value. So while the Canadian dollar is sliding lower compared to most currencies, it looks especially cheap compared to the U.S. buck. (Source: CBC News)

Friday January 8, 2016

January 7, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday January 8, 2016

Ultra-low-cost carrier planning flights from Hamilton airport

Canada’s latest airline will unveil its plans for flights out of Hamilton airport on Wednesday.

That’s when Dean Dacko, chief commercial officer of NewLeaf Travel, the country’s new ultra-low-cost air carrier, will unveil the company’s plans for making Hamilton one of its hubs.

Details of the announcement remain a closely guarded secret, but in a news release airport officials promise “NewLeaf plans to revolutionize the Canadian travel market.”

NewLeaf’s bare-bones website promises its service will feature “No more extra costs for things you don’t want” and “You pay for your seat and the rest is up to you.”

Wednesday’s announcement will include details on non-stop routes, pricing and booking.

NewLeaf announced its interest in the city in June, saying it would make its headquarters in Winnipeg with bases in Hamilton and Kelowna.

2005

Ultra-low-cost carriers — also called no-frills or budget airlines — offer lower fares, making up for lower ticket prices by charging for extras such as food, priority boarding and baggage. The largest such operator is United States-based Southwest Airlines.

Aircraft and crews for the NewLeaf flights will be supplied by Kelowna-based Flair Airlines.

Ultra-low-cost carriers are new to Canada’s aviation industry and Hamilton airport executives have been keen to get at least one located here as a boost to their long-cherished dream of turning the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport into a passenger destination.

While they have long argued that 2 million people live within an hour’s drive of the airport, its passenger history has been one of soaring hopes followed by bitter disappointment as more than 20 airlines have come and gone through the facility.

2003

Passenger traffic peaked in 2003 at about 1 million when the airport was the eastern hub for WestJet, before the airline moved the hub to Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport. In 2014 it handled 332,000 passengers.

The only year-round scheduled service from Hamilton now is a single daily WestJet return flight to Calgary. That’s in addition to seasonal service to vacation spots.

NewLeaf is headed by Jim Young, a former vice-president and chief marketing officer at Denver-based Frontier Airlines who also served for six months as president of upstart Canada Jetlines Ltd.(Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Published in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Saturday, January 9, 2016

Thursday April 2, 2015

April 2, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday April 2, 2015

At least 40 current, former senators asked to account for questionable expense claims

At least 40 current and former senators have received confidential letters from Auditor General Michael Ferguson about questionable expense claims, and one of them has been asked to account for more than $100,000, sources have told CTV News.

The senators were tight-lipped Tuesday when asked about the letters — and whether they’ve been asked to pay back any money.

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Other senators have quietly repaid the money.

“If a senator is found with a … simple mistake, a good-faith mistake, it’s his decision to reimburse or not,” said Conservative Sen. Claude Carignan, the government Senate leader.

Insiders said Conservative Sen. Dan Lang gave back money after auditors questioned a flight that appeared to be unrelated to Senate business, but he would not confirm that to CTV News.

“No I will answer for my audit when the audit is completed, just like I made a commitment to the auditor general,” he said.

Sources said Liberal Sen. Serge Joyal also had a suspicious expense claim, but Joyal refused to discuss the matter with CTV News.

“Well I think this is a decision that takes place between the auditor general and ourselves individually,” he said.

He repeated that comment when asked whether he had paid any money back.

Auditors are matching travel and expense claims with phone records. They’ve been combing through the expenses of 117 current and former senators who sat in the red chamber from April 2001 to March 2013. (Source: CTV News)

Published on National Newswatch, The Winnipeg Free Press, Edmonton Journal, and Nanaimo Daily News

Friday August 29, 2014

August 28, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday August 29, 2014

Sunwing flight to Cuba forced back to Toronto after disruption

A Sunwing Airlines flight headed to Cuba was forced to turn back to Toronto’s Pearson airport Wednesday after an apparent disruption by two passengers.

In a statement, Sunwing spokesperson Janine Chapman said the flight turned back after two “unruly” female passengers allegedly became disruptive after they had “consumed a significant quantity of their duty free alcohol purchase in the plane’s lavatory.”

Chapman said the passengers lit a cigarette, triggering a smoke alarm, before getting into a “physical altercation with each other.”

The pair also allegedly made a “threat against the aircraft, which was considered non-credible given their condition,” Chapman said.

NORAD confirmed Wednesday night that two Canadian fighter jets escorted the passenger aircraft back to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport as “a precautionary measure.”

Earlier reports suggest the plane was near Florida when it had to turn around.

Police said two women, both in their mid-20s, were arrested and remain in custody. Charges are pending as investigators interview witnesses, Peel police said.

Sunwing Airlines Flight 656 departed at 4:30 p.m., and was en route to Varadero via Manzanillo de Cuba Airport.

NORAD said in the statement that once the aircraft was safely on the ground, the CF-18 fighter jets returned to their home base in Bagotville, Que.

Sunwing said the flight was scheduled to take off again from Pearson at approximately 11 p.m. with a new flight crew.

This is the second time in just over a month that a plane travelling from Toronto has been forced to turn back. On July 25, a Panama-bound plane returned to Pearson Airport after a passenger allegedly made threats while aboard the aircraft.

The man was escorted off the plane by a tactical team of police officers. He was charged with counts of mischief, endangering safety, and uttering threats. (Source: CTV News)

OTHER MEDIA

Posted to Yahoo Canada News.

Wednesday April 29, 2014

April 29, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday April 29, 2014

Gardiner grief: delays, lane closures a sign of things to come

Long-term lane closures on Toronto’s busy Gardiner Expressway begin today and mark the start of a long-term repair project that will add extra time to an already busy morning commute for the next few years.

On Monday morning the left lanes on both the eastbound and westbound Gardiner were closed between Park Lawn Road and Strachan Avenue. The closures are part of long-term construction work on the Gardiner that will continue through to 2016.

“On my way in to work this morning, the road was already slower than usual,” CBC’s Linda Ward reported.

In the early morning hours there were further lane restrictions eastbound from the Humber River to Carlaw. Those extra closures were removed up as of 5 a.m.

Things didn’t get much easier as the morning wore on. CBC overnight reporter Tony Smyth reported stop-and-go traffic on the eastbound Gardiner at 6:40 a. m

As a result of the construction work, eastbound Lake Shore Boulevard was also very slow Monday morning.

There were also a dozen collisions on the Gardiner Monday morning, three of them involving injuries.

Other details about the long-term repair work on the Gardiner:

The work and the lane closures it creates will continue until December 2016 with a pause for next summer’s Pan Am Games.

During this period, crews will repair three bridges on the Gardiner between the Humber River and Park Lawn Road. There will also be work done this summer to replace the centre median between Ellis Avenue and Dufferin Street.

GO Transit officials say they expect the work will cause delays during peak hours on the following bus routes: 16, 21 and 31.

“You’ll definitely need to give yourself more time in the mornings,” Ward reported. “These delays are going to be the new normal for the next few years.” (Source: CBC News)