Canada report

By JIM FOX

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 15, 2000

More tax cuts likely with election coming

Canadians are expected to learn of further income tax cuts soon as the Liberal government prepares for an election.

Finance Minister Paul Martin will give an "economic statement," which some are calling a mini-budget, on Wednesday. It's expected to include an acceleration of a five-year, $58-billion tax cut plan.

The tax cuts announced in last February's budget are in addition to a more aggressive debt-reduction strategy because of budget surpluses that should top $120-billion over the next five years.

Reducing Canada's $565-billion debt should be Martin's top priority, in part to avoid over-stimulating the economy and raising interest rates, said Rick Egleton, deputy chief economist with Bank of Montreal.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation wants Martin to immediately cut excise taxes on fuel and begin working with the provinces to lower fuel taxes overall.

Chretien defends stance

Canada was only supporting peace in the Middle East when it backed a United Nations resolution opposing the use of force against Palestinians, Prime Minister Jean Chretien said.

Chretien was responding to Canadian Alliance Leader Stockwell Day, who accused him of taking sides by backing a resolution "clearly slanted with an anti-Israel bias."

In brief

An investigation into how the town water supply in Walkerton, Ontario, was contaminated, leading to six deaths, concluded that heavy rain in mid-May likely washed cattle manure laced with E. coli into one of the wells. More than 2,000 people in the farming town of 5,000 became sick.

Kenneth Dyer, a retired admiral who acted on his own and sent Canadian warships to sea to help the United States during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, has died in Ottawa. He was believed to be in his 80s; his family did not reveal the cause of death.

Canada's Royal Bank is ending its free banking package for customers 60 and older who aren't in the program by mid-December. The bank says it's partly an issue of fairness because no one else gets free service.

Facts and figures

The Canadian dollar is down at 66.41 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar is worth $1.5057 in Canadian funds, before exchange fees

There's no change in the Bank of Canada key interest rate of 6 percent or the 7.5-percent prime lending rate.

Lotto 6-49: (Wednesday) 5, 6, 21, 35, 38 and 46; bonus 15. (Oct. 7) 6, 24, 25, 40, 41 and 44; bonus 16.

Regional briefs

Calling him the "catch of the Day," Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day introduced a high-profile New Brunswick candidate who could give the fledgling party a boost in the Maritimes. Day said Jean Gauvin, a former provincial Conservative Cabinet minister and a lobbyist for the fishing industry, will seek the party's nomination for the next federal election.

General Motors Canada will invest $440-million in St. Catharines, Ontario, for a plant to build a new V-6 engine. It boosts the company's operations in the city, which has been plagued by job cuts for years. Former British Columbia Premier Glen Clark is considering a career as a radio broadcaster at CKNW in Vancouver. Clark, who resigned as New Democratic Premier after a conflict-of-interest scandal last year, is on the short list for a job as an evening host.

The NADON, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police patrol catamaran, sailed into Halifax harbor midway through its bid to circumnavigate North America, as the St. Roch did via the Northwest Passage 56 years ago. The 22,000-mile voyage is part of a fundraising effort to restore the historic schooner by the Vancouver Maritime Museum and the Mounties.

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