MuckRaker
10-06-2001, 04:25 PM
Todays Canadian Report, as published by the St. Petersburg Times, home to more Retired Canadians than any other state in the Union.
Canada's tourism industry struggling
Staying close to home, avoiding the United States, overseas destinations and air travel,
appears to be the trend among Canadians after the recent terrorist attacks.
Canada's normally robust fall tourism season is taking a beating with the losses soaring
from canceled conventions, group tours and an uneasy feeling among travelers.
Ad campaigns by the Canadian Tourism Commission and provincial governments wooing U.S. and
foreign visitors have been put on hold or altered as the industry seeks more visitors from
local and regional markets.
Quebec City faces a tourism loss of up to $40-million after 25,000 hotel room nights were
canceled through the end of the year, while the province of Quebec has seen its huge Asian
market for fall color tours dry up.
Tourism officials in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces are
trying to tabulate the economic impact while urging more people to take close-to-home trips to
escape temporarily from the cares of the world.
U.S.-owned cruise ships are still docking at eastern ports on Canada-New England fall color
sailings but passenger numbers are much lower.
Rocky Mountain resorts in Alberta have been pushed into the off-season a month early, said
Holly Wood of Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Room occupancy is ""hovering around 50 percent.''
Border communities relying on American visitors are hard hit especially in Windsor,
Ontario, across from Detroit where the casino has lost half its business as well as in Niagara
Falls, Ontario, bordering New York state.
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Responding to terror
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Canada is considering an international spy agency because of the new global terrorist
threat.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley made the comment Friday, warning that Canada will have
to pay much more for defense, foreign aid and intelligence if it wants to play a significant
role in world affairs.
The existing Canadian Security Intelligence Service is primarily a defensive
counter-espionage and counter-terrorist agency operating almost entirely within Canada.
Also under review is the military budget currently at of $11.2-billion (Canadian) as part
of a look at all aspects of national security.
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News in brief
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÷‚Mohamed Zeki Mahjoub, 41, an Egyptian refugee accused by Canada's spy agency of being an
international terrorist with links to Osama bin Laden, has been ordered deported by the
Federal Court of Canada. He has been in a Toronto jail since June 2000 of last year when it
was believed he belongs to a militant Islamic organization.
÷‚Another meeting is planned between Canadian and U.S. negotiators as some progress is
reported in the soft-wood trade dispute. The United States imposed a duty on all Canadian
softwood shipments to make up for what it called unfair subsidies. The duty has cost Canadian
producers hundreds of millions of dollars and resulted in tens of thousands of layoffs,
especially in British Columbia.
÷‚Prime Minister Jean Chretien has appointed three new senators: Gerard Phalen of Nova
Scotia; Joseph Day, in New Brunswick; and Michel Biron for Quebec. With the appointments,
there are 60 Liberals, 30 Conservatives, one Canadian Alliance, five independents and nine
vacancies in the Upper Chamber.
÷‚Air Canada didn't get the $2-billion (Canadian) it was seeking to offset the current loss
of business. Instead the government said it would give the airline $100-million of a
$160-million package offered to the industry.
÷‚Montreal police arrested 31 demonstrators after they sprayed graffiti on the city hall to
protest the eviction of squatters from an abandoned building. One of the slogans called Mayor
Pierre Bourque a fascist. They blame him for not providing enough low-income residents with
affordable housing.
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Facts and figures
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Canada's jobless rate was steady at 7.2 percent last month but analysts say recent events
will push the economy into a downward spiral with thousands of job losses by Air Canada and
Nortel Networks.
The Canadian dollar gained a third of a cent in advance of the Thanksgiving weekend,
closing Friday at 64.01 U.S. cents. The American greenback returned $1.5622 Canadian before
bank exchange fees.
Stock markets were higher Friday with the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 Index at 6,894 points
while the Canadian Venture index was 2,857 points.
There's no change in the Bank of Canada key interest rate of 3.75 percent or the prime
lending rate at 5.25 percent.
Lotto 6-49: (Wednesday) 19, 20, 22, 28, 40, 42; bonus 1. (Sept. 29) 2, 11, 16, 18, 21, 33;
bonus 5.
Canada's tourism industry struggling
Staying close to home, avoiding the United States, overseas destinations and air travel,
appears to be the trend among Canadians after the recent terrorist attacks.
Canada's normally robust fall tourism season is taking a beating with the losses soaring
from canceled conventions, group tours and an uneasy feeling among travelers.
Ad campaigns by the Canadian Tourism Commission and provincial governments wooing U.S. and
foreign visitors have been put on hold or altered as the industry seeks more visitors from
local and regional markets.
Quebec City faces a tourism loss of up to $40-million after 25,000 hotel room nights were
canceled through the end of the year, while the province of Quebec has seen its huge Asian
market for fall color tours dry up.
Tourism officials in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces are
trying to tabulate the economic impact while urging more people to take close-to-home trips to
escape temporarily from the cares of the world.
U.S.-owned cruise ships are still docking at eastern ports on Canada-New England fall color
sailings but passenger numbers are much lower.
Rocky Mountain resorts in Alberta have been pushed into the off-season a month early, said
Holly Wood of Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Room occupancy is ""hovering around 50 percent.''
Border communities relying on American visitors are hard hit especially in Windsor,
Ontario, across from Detroit where the casino has lost half its business as well as in Niagara
Falls, Ontario, bordering New York state.
gs,8
rr
f,12,ux0
Responding to terror
gs,4
xr
f,10,on0
Canada is considering an international spy agency because of the new global terrorist
threat.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley made the comment Friday, warning that Canada will have
to pay much more for defense, foreign aid and intelligence if it wants to play a significant
role in world affairs.
The existing Canadian Security Intelligence Service is primarily a defensive
counter-espionage and counter-terrorist agency operating almost entirely within Canada.
Also under review is the military budget currently at of $11.2-billion (Canadian) as part
of a look at all aspects of national security.
gs,8
rr
f,12,ux0
News in brief
gs,4
xr
f,10,on0
÷‚Mohamed Zeki Mahjoub, 41, an Egyptian refugee accused by Canada's spy agency of being an
international terrorist with links to Osama bin Laden, has been ordered deported by the
Federal Court of Canada. He has been in a Toronto jail since June 2000 of last year when it
was believed he belongs to a militant Islamic organization.
÷‚Another meeting is planned between Canadian and U.S. negotiators as some progress is
reported in the soft-wood trade dispute. The United States imposed a duty on all Canadian
softwood shipments to make up for what it called unfair subsidies. The duty has cost Canadian
producers hundreds of millions of dollars and resulted in tens of thousands of layoffs,
especially in British Columbia.
÷‚Prime Minister Jean Chretien has appointed three new senators: Gerard Phalen of Nova
Scotia; Joseph Day, in New Brunswick; and Michel Biron for Quebec. With the appointments,
there are 60 Liberals, 30 Conservatives, one Canadian Alliance, five independents and nine
vacancies in the Upper Chamber.
÷‚Air Canada didn't get the $2-billion (Canadian) it was seeking to offset the current loss
of business. Instead the government said it would give the airline $100-million of a
$160-million package offered to the industry.
÷‚Montreal police arrested 31 demonstrators after they sprayed graffiti on the city hall to
protest the eviction of squatters from an abandoned building. One of the slogans called Mayor
Pierre Bourque a fascist. They blame him for not providing enough low-income residents with
affordable housing.
gs,8
rr
f,12,ux0
Facts and figures
gs,4
xr
f,10,on0
Canada's jobless rate was steady at 7.2 percent last month but analysts say recent events
will push the economy into a downward spiral with thousands of job losses by Air Canada and
Nortel Networks.
The Canadian dollar gained a third of a cent in advance of the Thanksgiving weekend,
closing Friday at 64.01 U.S. cents. The American greenback returned $1.5622 Canadian before
bank exchange fees.
Stock markets were higher Friday with the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 Index at 6,894 points
while the Canadian Venture index was 2,857 points.
There's no change in the Bank of Canada key interest rate of 3.75 percent or the prime
lending rate at 5.25 percent.
Lotto 6-49: (Wednesday) 19, 20, 22, 28, 40, 42; bonus 1. (Sept. 29) 2, 11, 16, 18, 21, 33;
bonus 5.