The Bank of Canada will be in no rush to cut interest rates after Statistics Canada reported a larger-than-expected employment gain last month, economists say. The federal agency's labour force survey released Friday said the economy added 37,000 jobs in January after several months of relatively no change in employment. Canada’s unemployment rate fell to 5.7 per cent last month, marking the first decline since December 2022.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is trash-talking BCE Inc.'s widespread layoffs, calling the cuts a "garbage decision." Trudeau says he's furious over Bell Media's decision to end multiple television newscasts and that the corporation should know better.
An undercover operation led by Vancouver police has resulted in 20-thousand-dollars in fines against 10 different businesses that illegally sold bear spray. Vancouver bylaw restricts where bear spray can be displayed in stores, limiting sale of the product to people over age 19 and requiring stores to keep sales records.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is pledging to fix the federal access-to-information system to speed up response times and release more information. He made the commitment during a news conference in Vancouver on Thursday, where the Opposition leader announced a new revenue plan for First Nations alongside leaders in the region.
B.C. went on to experience deep and prolonged drought after a record-breaking heat wave in May spurred rapid melting and drying. Then came the province's devastating fire season. Thursday's bulletin says the low snowpack combined with warm seasonal forecasts and "lingering impacts" from the previous drought are creating "significantly elevated drought hazards" for 2024.
Premier David Eby says the first purchase using the government's Rental Protection Fund will save 290 affordable rental units in two housing co-ops that have expired leases and were facing the prospect of being sold out from under the residents. Eby says the government's fund will contribute $71 million towards the $125 million acquisition in the Metro Vancouver city of Coquitlam by the non-profit Community Land Trust of B.C.
