Description: As a Toronto Star opinion piece stated this past week, “A living wage is not the same as a minimum wage.” The current minimum wage in Ontario is $15 per hour, but the Ontario Living Wage Network calculates that someone living in Toronto requires $22.08 per hour in order to get by. Financial problems… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Uncategorized
Time to Pay, Volkswagen
Description: Dieselgate, the emissions scandal associated with Volkwagen since 2015, hit Canadian news again this past week. A judge imposed $196.5 million in fines on the German car maker, punishing Volkswagen for importing cars that didn’t comply with Canadian emission regulations. This huge fine is the largest environmental fine ever imposed in Canada. Date: January… Read more »
Pressure on Wages
Description: Statistics Canada tells us that in Toronto and other cities in southern Ontario, wages for men have either been flat – no increases – or on the way down for the 15 year period between 2000 and 2015. In contrast, wages for males elsewhere in Canada went up by 13% over the same period…. Read more »
Debt rising
Description: Canadians owe more. That is, for every dollar of income, Canadians owed $1.678, up from the amount owed in the prior quarter. With interest rates now on the way up following years of low rates, economists worry that this rising debt load poses an economic risk. Date: September 15, 2017 Source: cbc.ca Link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/debt-income-ratio-1.4291294… Read more »
Quebec bucks the trend
Description: While Saskatchewan, Alberta and the federal government in Ottawa have all delivered budgets with big planned deficits in recent weeks, last week the Province of Quebec issued a balanced budget. The budget also promised an income tax cut for Quebec citizens. Could this have anything to do with a coming election in 2018? Date:… Read more »
Betting on buses
Description: With schools opening all over Canada today, it might be time for investors to look at those bright yellow buses students are boarding this morning. Student Transportation Inc of Barrie, Ontario has been producing better than solid results for investors, particularly in terms of dividend yield, by providing student transportation across North America. Student… Read more »
Going negative
Description: Try this one on for size: you pay the bank for the privilege of holding your money. Sounds pretty strange doesn’t it? But with stagnant economic growth, central banks in several jurisdictions are crossing the boundary between low interest rates and negative rates – effectively charging banks to place their funds with the central… Read more »
Google cost control
Description: Googles latest results have fallen short of analyst projections. Both revenue and profit were below expectations. One issue noted was that Google’s operating expenses had increased by 35% from the previous year, perhaps due to some projects outside the core business, such as the so-called driverless car project. Source: Globe and Mail.com Date: January 29, 2015… Read more »
Kia, Hyundai pay $100 million fine
Description: It’s a tad more than your average traffic ticket. Automakers Hyundai and Kia (which are both controlled by Hyundai) paid $100 million in fines for over-stating gas mileage figures on automobile window stickers. The overstatements were detected by the US Environmental Protection Agency in its audits of audit company test results. In addition to the… Read more »
The quiet merger
Labour Day is often seen as a point of transition. Cottages are closed down for the year. Camping trailers are returned to storage for the winter. Summer turns into fall. This September 1, 2014, Labour Day marked another transition of sorts in New Brunswick. September 1st this year marked the official launch of the Chartered… Read more »