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CBC
14 minutes ago
- CBC
Ottawa makes good on promise to cut Confederation Bridge tolls, ferry fares in Eastern Canada
The federal government is slashing tolls on the Confederation Bridge and lowering ferry fares in Eastern Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced while in Prince Edward Island on Monday. Effective Aug. 1, the cost of crossing the bridge which connects P.E.I. with New Brunswick will fall to $20 from $50.25. Fares for passengers, cars and commercial traffic on ferry services in Eastern Canada that are federally supported will go down by 50 per cent. Those ferries provide service between: Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Que., and Souris, P.E.I. Wood Islands, P.E.I., and Caribou, N.S. Saint John, N.B., and Digby, N.S. The federal government also announced it was scrapping fuel surcharges on those routes. "By cutting tolls on the Confederation Bridge and ferries in Atlantic Canada, Canadians and businesses will save millions of dollars. That means more travel and trade between provinces," Carney said in a written release. Fares for passengers and vehicles on the ferry that operates between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador are also going down. Ottawa has pledged to increase funding to the operator, Marine Atlantic, to lower the price by 50 per cent. Ottawa is also freezing commercial freight rates on that route. This is Carney's first time on P.E.I. as prime minister. The announcement makes good on his pledge during the federal election campaign to reduce tolls on the Confederation Bridge and cut ferry fares.
36 minutes ago
The U.S. economy is thriving in spite of tariffs. Will it last?
By just about every indicator, the U.S. economy is holding up remarkably well. When Donald Trump launched his global trade war, economists and markets said his tariff policy would slow the economy, drive up prices and dramatically reduce global trade. And yet, stocks are at all-time highs, the country's employment is strong, its economy is expanding and the expected surge in inflation hasn't materialized. Canada's economy has shown surprising resilience, as well, with consumer spending starting to pick up last month and unemployment declining. Economists told CBC News it's unclear whether the tariffs' impact was overestimated, or if further pain lies ahead. But they say resilience in both countries is fragile, and could be quickly upended if the trade war worsens or expands. A lack of retaliation BMO's chief economist Douglas Porter says two key factors are driving the recent U.S. resilience. Other nations have not really been retaliating against the U.S., so their own exports are not facing that much pressure. And on the flip side, the U.S. consumer has been pretty heavily sheltered so far from this, said Porter. In the meantime, American businesses have not passed on the costs of tariffs. General Motors, for example, released earnings last week that said Trump's tariff policies drove down profits by 35 per cent in the second quarter. The automaker said tariffs on cars and parts led to a $1.1-billion US loss in its quarterly earnings. But still, it has not increased prices. Enlarge image (new window) GM said its profits fell by $1.1 billion US in the second quarter of this year as a result of Trump's tariffs. Photo: Reuters / Chris Helgren Royce Mendes, managing director at Desjardins Capital Markets, says that's becoming a trend among affected American companies. Some companies may choose to just eat the tariff increase in costs rather than draw the ire of President Trump, said Mendes. GM stock fell on the news, but has since rebounded, paring losses and climbing almost all the way back to where it was before it published its earnings. Financial markets have had some pretty volatile sessions, including steep sell-offs when tariffs are announced, and big rallies when exemptions are made. But stock markets in both Canada and the U.S. are at or near record highs — which investors believe is a sign that the resilience we're seeing will last. A stockpile of products The question, though, is whether the impact of the tariffs has simply been delayed. When the levies were first announced last spring, businesses around the world scrambled to get product out the door and into the United States. That has led to a huge stockpile of products — and it means American importers have not yet had to bear the worst of the tariffs. WATCH | The future of Canada-U.S. free trade: There was a lot of front-running and that may be one of the big reasons why we haven't seen much impact yet, said BMO's Porter. There's probably some pain to come, but I don't think it's going to be as bad as many economists were fretting about earlier this year, at least for the U.S. Canada's economy has shown resilience, too But both economists point to the fact that Canada's economy has also fared better than almost anyone had expected. Economic growth shrank in April, but only by 0.1 per cent. Statistics Canada says another 0.1 per cent decline is likely for May. (Those numbers will be confirmed on Thursday.) The unemployment rate has actually begun to decline since peaking in May at seven per cent. And last week's retail sales figures showed consumer spending had started to pick up again in June. We've been pointing to this broader resilience in consumer spending, said Claire Fan, a senior economist with RBC. She says consumer sentiment plunged in the spring, at the height of the uncertainty. But since then, RBC crunched U.S. customs data and found exemptions for CUSMA-compliant products (new window) have dragged the average effective tariff rate all the way down to as low as 2.3 per cent. It's a reflection of President Trump's overall strategy of coming out very aggressive early on, but then walking things back. I mean, the tariffs have not been as punitive for Canada as initially believed — nowhere close to it, said Mendes of Desjardins. Sector-specific pain However, real damage has been done in sectors like auto, steel, aluminum and lumber. The concern now is that the carve-outs Canada has secured for CUSMA-compliant products won't last. Unless a trade deal is reached to significantly reduce U.S.-Canada tariffs by Aug. 1, when new U.S. tariffs are set to come into effect, we expect job losses and higher prices from tariffs to squeeze disposable income and cause households to tighten their purse strings, wrote Michael Davenport, senior economist at Oxford Economics in a note to clients. WATCH | Negotiations continue between Canada and the U.S.: On the one hand, some in the Trump administration will look at the U.S. economy's relative resilience as a reason to double down and push harder for more and more punitive tariffs. But escalation wouldn't just be bad for the Canadian economy. Right now, most businesses and consumers on both sides of the border have been sheltered from the worst impacts of the tariffs. That shelter depends on a fine and tricky balance of importers eating some costs, exporters dropping some prices and countries limiting retaliatory measures. Upending that balance further comes with risks on both sides of the dispute. Peter Armstrong (new window) · CBC News · Senior Business Reporter Peter Armstrong is a senior business reporter for CBC News. A former host of On the Money and World Report on CBC Radio, he was previously a foreign correspondent and parliamentary reporter for CBC. Subscribe to Peter's newsletter here: Twitter: @armstrongcbc
CBC
37 minutes ago
- CBC
4 senior level employees at Conestoga College lose their jobs as part of restructuring
Conestoga College has announced significant restructuring and leadership changes that includes the elimination of four high level employees who held positions that made a collective annual salary of $1.2 million. Both deans of the School of Interdisciplinary and the School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts were dismissed. Also let go by the college were the senior vice president academic and students and the senior vice president and secretary general to the board of governors. "We wish them the best in their future endeavours," Conestoga president John Tibbits said in a memo to college staff. "As we continue navigating through these unprecedented and challenging times, we thank all employees for their continued understanding and support." The announcement came in an email sent to all Conestoga college employees, which was obtained by CBC K-W. The memo also outlined the restructuring and expanded job portfolios of nine other senior positions at the college. A spokesperson from the college confirmed the restructuring in an email to CBC K-W. "Like most post-secondary institutions across the country, Conestoga continues to navigate unprecedented and challenging times. As a result, four executive positions were impacted over the last week," said the statement. At least 190 support staff have been laid off at the college and suspended 82 programs. Earlier this month, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) said that across Ontario's 24 public colleges, approximately 10,000 faculty and staff have been laid off or are projected to lose their jobs in the past year due to funding issues. According to an arbitration document between OPSEU and the College Employer Council, 23 of the 24 colleges reported a 48 per cent decrease in first-semester enrolment of international students last year. The document says the decline and financial troubles are a result of the federally implemented international study permit cap. The impact is being felt by employees not laid off, too, local union reps have said. Vikki Poirier, president of Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 238, representing Conestoga's support staff, said "there is a sense of panicking now" for some people. "We receive emails daily from our members with how upset they are," Poirier said. "Morale has hit an all-time low." This fall, Conestoga College will also move out of the former Market Square building and any academic-related operations for the college will be moved to 1 Young St., near city hall.
