In the news today: BoC expected to cut interest rates again today

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

BoC widely expected to cut interest rates today, odds leaning toward half-point cut

The Bank of Canada is set to make its final interest rate announcement of the year this morning. Forecasters are widely expecting a half-percentage point interest rate cut. That would bring the Bank of Canada’s key rate down to 3.25 per cent. The November labour force survey solidified those expectations, as the latest employment figures showed the jobless rate rose to 6.8 per cent. The central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point in October in response to inflation returning to its two per cent target.

Read More:

• Affordability measures could take longer than Sask. government hoped
• Saskatchewan passes affordability bills, keeps federal carbon levy off home heating
• GST break could cost Ottawa $2.7B if provinces don’t waive compensation

Trudeau to meet premiers today to talk U.S. trade

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to meet with provincial and territorial premiers this afternoon to talk Canada-U.S. relations. The premiers will virtually discuss a joint plan to tackle the threat of 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports by incoming U.S. president Donald Trump. The meeting is the first time Trudeau will address the premiers following his dinner with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate. It comes one day after Trump made a social media post referring to Trudeau as a governor of “the great state of Canada” — a nod to his ribbing that Canada should join the U.S. as its 51st state.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

Tension up between Canada Post, union amid strike

Canada Post and the union representing postal workers are in a war of words as a countrywide strike enters its 27th day. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers pushed back on recent criticisms from Canada Post in a bulletin to members Tuesday evening, giving a list of proposals it said are meant to bring the two parties closer together. The statement came after Canada Post said Monday that the union’s latest proposals widen the gap between the two parties, claiming in some cases the union has increased its demands. The strike by more than 55,000 workers is approaching the four-week mark with no end in sight.

Ontario nurse practitioners to get new role in LTC

Ontario long-term care homes could soon have nurse practitioners overseeing residents’ medical care instead of physicians. The long-term care minister has introduced a bill that would — among other changes — replace the requirement for homes to have a medical director, who must be a physician, with a requirement for a clinical director, who could be a physician or nurse practitioner. The bill would also require homes to have a dementia care program and create new offences for the abuse and neglect of residents.

Quebec institutions ponder Lionel Groulx’s legacy

Quebec municipalities and institutions are mulling whether to pull the name of priest and historian Lionel Groulx from public places over views described as antisemitic and racist. Groulx was born in 1878 near Montreal. He was a historian who helped professionalize the field, an intellectual and a Quebec nationalist figure who inspired pride. Born of modest means, he went on to become a priest, writer and thinker who penned the slogan “maîtres chez nous” (“masters in our own house”) that later became a rallying cry of the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2024.

The Canadian Press