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On Thursday, Statistics Canada reported a fall of total exports by 1.2 percent in October resulting in an increased trade deficit of a $1.2 billion, in comparison, the deficit was of $891 million during September. Notably, energy products exports fell 12.4 percent mainly due to the 15.4 percent plunge of crude oil price. Despite this unfavourable outcome, CIBC economist Katherine Judge noted the increase in export volumes as a positive indicator for manufacturing shipments and monthly GDP in her report. The Bank of Canada kept its key interest rate target unchanged due to the oil prices and the decline in business investment. Conversely exports of motor vehicles and parts increased 4.4 percent to $7.8 billion while total imports fell 0.6 percent to $50.5 billion in October.      

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On Tuesday, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada brought to attention the changes to the Criminal Code regarding the laws on alcohol impaired driving. The first part of bill C-46 became effective when it was given royal assent on June 21, the second part will come into force on December 18. One of the major features of the reform is that it will apply mandatory alcohol screening, which will enable law officers to demand a breath sample form any driver that has been lawfully stopped on the road. The new law is also intended to simplify the investigation process that will result in shorter trials and reduced delays with the increased deterrence.    

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Bonnie Lysyk, the Auditor General of Ontario made public the 2018 Annual Report on Wednesday. The report is presented in two volumes; the first volume consists of 15 value-for-money audits, as well as chapters on the public accounts of the Province and the auditor general’s review of government advertising. The second volume deals with the progress made by government ministries and agencies toward implementing a percentage of the actions recommended and presented the cumulative rate for full implementation of recommended actions made from 2012 to 2015 compared to the cumulative rate of the previous year. The auditor general concluded in her report that almost all of the audits showed failure to achieve cost effective program benefits or addressing program risks.

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Rod Phillips, minister of the Environment, Conservation and Plants, unveiled Ontario’s environment plan Thursday. The plan is designed to keep the target agreed in the Paris Accord of reducing emissions by 30% of 2005 levels by 2030. The minister said that the province has already attained a reduction of 22% of the 2005 levels, due to having decommissioned all coal fired power generation and the decline of manufacturing production. A major point of the plan is the Ontario Carbon Trust. With the provincial government committing to inject $400 millions in the next four years in an effort to develop clean technologies to reduce emissions alongside the private sector, hoping it will elicit $1 billion from the private sector with a $50 million reverse auction for the project that will produce the lowest cost reduction in greenhouse gas emission. Ontario Green Party leader and federal Environment Minister were not impressed by the plan presented in light of the current clash with the federal government over carbon pricing.

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The 2016-2017 annual report for Manitoba’s provincial courts released Tuesday reveals 2650 court cases that took longer than the maximum time frame set by the Supreme Court. This resulted in several cases being dropped for exceeding the time limit. However, the report also shows that 93 per cent of the cases were completed within the limits since the courts were forced to adjust to the reduced timeframe in 2016, but the current lack of data stops the courts from examining the flaws of the system so they can fix the issues. The report also highlights the success of the three specialty courts operating in Manitoba, as these take less time to complete trials.

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The Nova Scotia Electoral Boundaries Commission issued its interim report Wednesday showing four possible situations: setting limits so 51 electoral districts stay as they are; increasing the number so that there are 55 districts, adding four formerly protected seats; set the number of districts to 55 but adding 1 more seat for a total of 56 seats; and setting the boundaries to 56 districts including the 4 protected seats plus one for the district of Cheticamp. According to the report the commission does not support that option leaving the 51 districts as they are despite being one of the scenarios proposed. The report also stated that among of the factors leading to the current position was the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal decision about the dissolution of the protected seats and an attempt to balance demographics with an accurate representation of the growing population. The Acadian federation received favourably the interim report. A final report will be delivered in April once the commission receives feedback from the public next year.

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A recent survey by Statistics Canada revealed the number of Canadian smokers aged 25 and up had increased hitting 16 per cent in 2017 compared to 13 per cent two years before, which has prompted Health Canada to review its tobacco control strategies. Over the years, the Federal Tobacco Control Strategy (FTCS) has successfully lead numerous initiatives to persuade Canadians to quit smoking, but now Health Canada asks contractors to prepare a report that will evaluate FTCS’s performance between 2001 and 2017 and will help update the fiscal success of new strategies while supporting ongoing policy decisions in terms of best investments programs. David Hammond, a professor and expert on tobacco control policy suggests that federal government should put more regulations on where cigarettes can be sold and regulatory controls over cigarettes themselves. Since Health Canada recently acknowledged vaping products as safer than cigarettes, Hammond also suggests Ottawa could advocate e-cigarettes and vaping products as alternatives to traditional cigarettes.  

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The Public Health Agency of Canada and health officials advise people to avoid romaine lettuce in Ontario and Quebec following an outburst of the same strain of E. coli bacteria that hit Canada and the U.S. last year. So far health officials have been unable to identify the origin of the contamination and federal government have not issue a mandatory recall. Professor Keith Warriner, a microbiologist specialized in food safety commented about the issue explaining that mistakenly singling out any company or supplier as the point of origin can be financially devastating for the company or supplier in question. Moreover, it is very difficult to pinpoint anything anyways since lettuce passes through many hands between farm field and the stores, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirms this explaining that they lack enough information to issue a recall. A spokesperson for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) indicated that an investigation had begun to look for the origin of the outbreak. In response of these recent incidents, Loblaw Companies Limited and Sobeys Inc. decided to remove romaine lettuce out of their stores across the country.

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Federal Labour minister calls for Canada Post and The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) to settle a labour dispute giving them a couple of days more to come up with an arrangement after the latest proposal from Canada Post was rejected. The pressure rises as the next holiday season approaches. Reportedly, the strikes have caused a month delay of undelivered parcels and mail, prompting some businesses to issue pleas for a resolution. The Crown corporation issued an statement offering up to $1000 to each CUPW member if they stop strikes and the Retail Council of Canada urged the government to use legislation to put an end to the strikes. Around 42000 urban employees and 8000 rural and suburban carriers have been affected by the strikes.  

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Transport Canada is set to announce a call for proposals for funding transport projects in the north of Canada. The goal here is to improve all transportation routes up north, including roads, ports, airports and bridges. Notably, the National Trade Corridors fund will dedicate $2 billion over 11 years for upgrading Canadian trade infrastructure, of which some will go for providing support for trade alternatives strategies and $400 million will be dedicated to transportation plans in the Yukon, Northwest territories and Nunavut. Groups that present proposals will be measured based on certain criteria including but not limited to addressing issues like supporting the flow of goods and passengers and improving upon heat systems of the transports. The government looks for projects that will support all of the above while ensuring security, and economic growth. The deadline for proposals is 2019-01-19. Researchers at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy first proposed the idea.

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Statistics Canada faces backlash over its data-collecting practices, compromising ongoing and future projects that assist the processes of compiling accurate data. Analysts note that the controversy could have been averted had agency been more open about what information collects and how is such information protected to Canadians. The agency replied that survey response rate had been declining lately which forces the agency to turn to new sources to acquire information like banking information compiled by other organizations. Additionally, former Statistics Canada officials join in the debate saying that private and sensitive information is carefully protected but the federal privacy commissioner observes that any government agency that manages private information needs to put preventive measures to prevent abuse.