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Panama Papers: Iceland’s PM resigns over offshore tax haven revelations

April 5, 2016

Panama Papers: Iceland’s PM resigns over offshore tax haven revelations

Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson denied any wrongdoing amid protests by thousands

Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, seen Tuesday, and his wife have come under fire for being linked to an offshore company that may represent a severe conflict of interest.

Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, seen Tuesday, and his wife have come under fire for being linked to an offshore company that may represent a severe conflict of interest. (Bertil Enevag Ericson/Scanpix/Reuters)

Iceland’s embattled Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunlaugsson has resigned amid a scandal related to his offshore financial dealings revealed in the Panama Papers, according to the Icelandic public broadcaster.

He had earlier refused to step down.

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Icelanders mount massive protest against prime minister1:04

Agriculture Minister Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson told Icelandic broadcaster RUV that Gunnlaugsson was stepping down as leader of the country’s coalition government.

Earlier Tuesday, Iceland’s President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson refused to grant Gunlaugsson’s request to dissolve parliament and call for an election.

Thousands of Icelanders protested outside parliament on Monday and Tuesday demanding that Gunlaugsson resign.

Leaked financial documents allege that the prime minister and his wife set up a company in the British Virgin Islands with the help of a Panamanian law firm. Gunlaugsson is accused of a conflict of interest for failing to disclose his involvement in the company, which held interests in failed Icelandic banks that his government was responsible for overseeing.

PANAMA-TAX/ICELAND-PROTEST

Hundreds of people demonstrated in Reykjavik on Monday after news broke about the leaked documents. (Stigtryggur Johannsson/Reuters)

The so-called Panama Papers — legal records from the Mossack Fonseca law firm based in Panama — were published Sunday night by news organizations working with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, including CBC News.

Ukraine’s president implicated

Ukraine’s fiscal service will examine the documents relating to President Petro Poroshenko’s offshore assets that were published over the weekend after a massive data leak, the head of the service, Roman Nasirov, said on Tuesday.

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Bank of Canada faces key rate decision Wednesday: To cut or not?

January 19, 2016

Bank of Canada faces key rate decision Wednesday: To cut or not?

Economists have conflicting views on whether the central bank should cut its rate or hold steady

Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz is set to reveal the bank's latest decision on interest rates on Wednesday, and many economists say a rate cut could be in the offing.

Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz is set to reveal the bank’s latest decision on interest rates on Wednesday, and many economists say a rate cut could be in the offing. (Ryan Remoritz/Canadian Press)

A year to the day after being surprised by a sudden rate cut, investors and mortgage holders will be anxiously waiting for the Bank of Canada’s next decision on interest rates.

A little after 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz will reveal the bank’s latest decision on interest rates. The bank can choose to raise its benchmark rate, known as the target for the overnight rate, from its current level of 0.5 per cent, lower it, or keep it the same.

Technically, all the bank’s rate does is govern the amount that retail banks charge each other for short-term loans. But it also filters down to impact the rates that borrowers and savers get for mortgages and savings accounts at commercial banks.

Broadly speaking, the bank opts to cut its rate when it wants to juice the economy by encouraging spending and investment, and it raises its rate when it wants to pump the brakes on inflation and cool down an overheated economy.

The bank’s rate decisions are always closely watched because they have such a direct impact on the real economy. But this decision will be of particular interest, since there’s growing fear the economic uncertainty of 2015 has morphed into full-blown crisis in 2016, with oil below $30 and the loonie below 70 cents US.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Melting glaciers, rising sea level slow down Earth’s rotation

December 12, 2015

Melting glaciers, rising sea level slow down Earth’s rotation

Ancient eclipse records used to calculate changes in speed of Earth’s spin

The new study shows that the Earth's rotation is slowing down as a result of melting glaciers and rising sea levels.

The new study shows that the Earth’s rotation is slowing down as a result of melting glaciers and rising sea levels. (NASA)

With human-caused climate change, we puny creatures are having some powerful effects on our entire planet, including one you might not imagine was possible — making it spin more slowly.

The melting of glaciers near the Earth’s poles and the resulting rise in sea level is slowing down the Earth’s rotation and making each day a little longer, a new study confirms.

Scientists had predicted it would happen, but to their puzzlement, they couldn’t measure much of an effect.

Glaciers contain a huge amount of mass near the poles, close to the Earth’s axis of rotation, which runs from pole to pole. When glaciers melt, the meltwater ends up in the oceans, which have most of their volume near the equator, farther away from the Earth’s axis.

Mathieu Dumberry

Scientists measure changes in the speed of the Earth’s rotation over thousands of years by looking at records of ancient eclipses recorded by civilizations such as the Babylonians, says Mathieu Dumberry, a physics professor at the University of Alberta. (John Ulan)

Just as a spinning figure skater slows down as she extends her arms out from her chest, moving mass away from the Earth’s axis of rotation should slow the Earth down, says Mathieu Dumberry, a physics professor at the University of Alberta who co-authored the paper published today in the journal Science Advances.

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COP21: Canada’s new goal for limiting global warming ‘perhaps a dream’

December 11, 2015

COP21: Canada’s new goal for limiting global warming ‘perhaps a dream’

Target ambitious but not impossible, scientists say

Canada is currently committed to reducing emissions 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, which is 'nowhere near strong enough' to stay below the country's new stated target, an environmental scientist says.

Canada is currently committed to reducing emissions 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, which is ‘nowhere near strong enough’ to stay below the country’s new stated target, an environmental scientist says. (CBC)

This story is part of CBC News special coverage of climate change issues in connection with the United Nations climate change conference (COP21) being held in Paris from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.

Canada’s new Liberal government has upped the ante on its promises to help slow global warming, joining other countries at the Paris climate talks that say a previously agreed upon global target falls short of protecting everyone’s interests.

Canada supports a long-term goal of limiting rising average temperatures to within 1.5 C of pre-industrial levels, although 2 C remains the official target.

The 1.5 C goal is ambitious, scientists say, but not impossible. Success requires immediate action from all governments, including Canada’s, and enough buy-in from citizens to spark some big changes.

‘Train’s almost left the station’

A half-degree change in the target may not seem like much, but scientists say it means the world’s average emissions would have to decline more sharply, over less time.

“1.5 degrees is a hope — perhaps a dream,” says Rob Jackson, an environmental scientist at Stanford University in California. “As a practical matter, the train’s almost left the station.”

‘That level of commitment is nowhere near strong enough.’– Rob Jackson, environmental scientist at Stanford University

If global carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase by two per cent each year, the world’s average temperature could be 2 C hotter within 20 years and 3 C hotter within 30 years, according to a paper Jackson co-authored and published this summer.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Trans-Pacific Partnership text has been released

November 5, 2015

Trans-Pacific Partnership text has been released

Canada has entered into side letters with U.S., Japan, Malaysia as part of deal

New Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, left, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, seen with Canadian Governor General David Johnston, right, will be challenged early by how they respond to a critical economic agreement that was negotiated by their predecessors.

New Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, left, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, seen with Canadian Governor General David Johnston, right, will be challenged early by how they respond to a critical economic agreement that was negotiated by their predecessors. (Geoff Robins/AFP/Getty Images)

The long-awaited text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal was released on Thursday, revealing the details of a pact aimed at freeing up commerce in 40 per cent of the world’s economy but criticized for its opacity.

The partners — which in addition to Canada include Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam — have made commitments to discourage imports of goods produced by forced labour and to adopt laws on acceptable working conditions, and the first prohibition on harmful fisheries subsidies.

But TPP, which will set common standards on issues ranging from workers’ rights to intellectual property protection in 12 Pacific nations, was kept largely from public scrutiny, angering transparency advocates concerned over its broad implications.

The Liberals, before assuming power, criticized the Conservative government for a lack of transparency regarding what Canada may have given up in the negotiations, although they support the notion of free trade.

Justin Trudeau, in a statement on Oct. 5, promised “a full and open public debate in Parliament to ensure Canadians are consulted on this historic trade agreement.”

Ed Fast

Ed Fast, seen speaking to reporters on Sept. 30 from the site of the most recent talks, Atlanta, said he believed the deal could be worth about $3.5 billion of additional economic activity to Canada. (Alex Panetta/The Canadian Press)

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Bombardier’s strange chokehold on the public purse

November 3, 2015

Bombardier’s strange chokehold on the public purse

In today’s lexicon, government ‘investment’ means spending your money on someone else

Bombardier's new, much-delayed CS300 aircraft made its first test flight in February, but some investment analysts are wondering if the longer, narrow-bodied jet has missed its moment.

Bombardier’s new, much-delayed CS300 aircraft made its first test flight in February, but some investment analysts are wondering if the longer, narrow-bodied jet has missed its moment. (Christinne Muschi/Reuters)

Has anyone noticed how the word “spend” vanished at some point from the political vocabulary?

Governments simply don’t spend anymore, they “invest” on behalf of grateful taxpayers who put up the capital.

The political appeal of this semantic shift is obvious: “investing” has a virtuous ring; it implies prudent choices and a handsome return.

Put it this way, you might actually pay someone to invest your money, but do you really want anyone else spending it?

As for “bailout,” well, that term is about as politically acceptable nowadays as a racial slur. You bail out the weak and incompetent. You invest in winners.

So, this week, Bombardier is — once again — a “winner.”

“This will be a profitable transaction for everybody,” declared Quebec’s minister of the economy, Jacques Daoust, as he confirmed his government’s decision to “invest” $1 billion in the floundering airplane maker, which has been hemorrhaging money and missing delivery deadlines.

In addition, Daoust made it clear he expects “everybody” to include Canada’s new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, just as soon as he officially takes possession of the federal vault this week.

“I can assure you,” said Daoust, that upon learning the name of Trudeau’s new industry minister, “I’ll get his or her phone number and put in a call.”

Daoust is counselling a nice round “investment” figure for Ottawa, too. Say, another billion or so.

Trudeau hasn’t made any commitments, but Daoust’s message is pretty clear: You won with Quebec’s help, and it’s time to help Quebec.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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