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Canada report

Daylight saving likely to keep up with U.S.

By JIM FOX
Published July 24, 2005

Canadians don't want to be left in the dark, so it appears the provinces will follow the United States if it extends daylight saving time by two months.

Experts say the move would save energy and ensure Canadian business remains in step with its largest trading partner.

U.S. legislators are considering an energy package that would add a month of daylight savings in both the spring and fall. Both countries follow the same time patterns now in most cases, with the exception of Saskatchewan, which remains on standard time year-round.

The decision falls under the jurisdiction of the country's 10 provincial governments.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said his province "is not anxious to have a disconnect between us and our chief trading partner, but we'll have to make an assessment as to whether or not it's in our interests to follow."

Canadian energy expert Terry Young said the change could result in an average 2.2 percent annual decline in energy use over 15 years.

Canada has given final consent to a bill that legalizes same-sex marriages.

Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin signed the bill into law, making the country the fourth in the world to legally allow such unions.

A survey found 55 percent of Canadians want the law to stand while 39 percent want politicians to try to have the Liberal government's legislation repealed.

The first shipments of Canadian beef across the U.S. border began Monday as a second court case dealing with a permanent ban on imports was delayed indefinitely. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a Montana district court ruling that would have continued to ban Canadian cattle over concerns about mad cow disease.

Three British Columbian men were arrested after digging an elaborate tunnel about the length of a football field beneath the Canadian-U.S. border to smuggle drugs. Francis Devandra Raj, 30, Timothy Woo, 34, and Johnathan Valenzuela, 27, of Surrey face counts of conspiracy to distribute and import marijuana. The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will pay $125-million U.S. to settle accusations it provided financing to hedge fund clients who engaged in improper trading at the expense of long-term mutual fund investors. The Toronto-based bank reached the settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Attorney General's Office.

Higher gasoline prices pushed the annual inflation rate in June to 1.7 percent from 1.6 percent in May. Statistics Canada said gas prices have risen 4.2 percent in the past year.

The key interest rate of the Bank of Canada remains at 2.5 percent, while the prime lending rate is 4.25 percent.

Canada's dollar advanced to 82.26 U.S. cents, while the U.S. dollar is $1.2156 Canadian, before bank exchange fees.

Stock markets are higher, with Toronto's composite index at 10,334 points and the Canadian Venture Exchange at 1,762 points.

Lotto 6-49: (Wednesday) 2, 7, 22, 27, 45, 48; bonus 42. (July 16) 14, 22, 23, 32, 43, 49; bonus 34.

Michael White, 28, of Edmonton has been arrested and charged with murdering his pregnant wife, Liana White, 29. Police said the woman and her unborn child were killed in a violent struggle. The body of the woman, who also had a 3-year-old daughter, was found in a ditch.

Ontario's 5,400 government-run liquor store workers are threatening to strike Thursday. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario workers would stop deliveries to warehouses that provide wine, beer and liquor to retail stores.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled the Mi'kmaq tribe of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick cannot cut trees on government land for commercial gain without a permit. Called a setback for native rights, the unanimous ruling said commercial logging does not represent "a logical evolution" of the traditional native trading activity described in 250-year-old treaties.

Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com

[Last modified July 24, 2005, 00:50:06]