Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says he expects 2024 to be a transition year as higher interest rates slow down the economy, making way for lower inflation. In his final speech of the year, the governor lays out his expectations for a softer economy next year and offers some criteria that must be met for the central bank to start discussing rate cuts. Macklem says higher borrowing costs will restrain spending, limit growth and employment, a price that the economy needs to pay to get inflation down. Once the central bank is sure inflation is on a clear path back to two per cent, Macklem

Alberta has increased the mandatory crash reporting limit from $2,000 to $5,000. Alberta residents will now only report a vehicle accident to police if the damage exceeds $5,000. This rule will come into effect from January 1, 2024. According to Alberta Transportation, this will prevent fraud when reselling damaged vehicles. This will save time to settle the minor collision report but if there is any death or injury during the accident then it has to be reported. According to the Transportation Minister, this will reduce the burden on the justice system. After about a decade it has been chan

The federal government is considering whether to pause its original plan to broaden the rules that govern medically assisted dying so they include patients whose only underlying condition is a mental disorder. "We're weighing our options," Justice Minister Arif Virani said Thursday. It would be the second time the federal Liberals have hit pause on the plan. The first came in February, when the government decided to impose a one-year delay amid widespread public and political concern. That decision established a new deadline of March 2024, one that now appears in jeopardy. Cabinet will consid

The Speaker of the House of Commons has once again apologized for filming a video played at a partisan event, after a parliamentary committee called on him to show more contrition. Speaker Greg Fergus says he made a "serious mistake" in recording a video in tribute to the outgoing interim leader of the Ontario Liberals. He was wearing his ceremonial robes in the video, which was shot in his Parliament Hill office and played at the provincial party's recent leadership convention. The procedure and House affairs committee said in a report released Thursday that there should be clearer guidelines

The final regulations for the Online News Act show the amount of funding both private broadcasters and the CBC will get through Ottawa's 100-million-deal with Google will be limited. The regulation shows private broadcasters will receive at most 30-million-dollars from the fund, while CBC/Radio-Canada will see no more than 7 million dollars. The rest of the money is earmarked for other qualifying news outlets like newspapers and digital platforms Last month Google agreed to contribute 100-million-dollars a year to Canadian news publishers, indexed to inflation, leaving it exempt from havin

Senators have passed a government bill that cements restrictions on handguns, increases penalties for firearm trafficking and aims to curb homemade ghost guns. The legislation also includes a ban on assault-style firearms that fall under a new technical definition. Senators voted 60 to 24 in favour of the bill at third reading today. Upon introducing the bill last year, the Liberals announced a plan to implement a freeze on importing, buying, selling or otherwise transferring handguns to help reduce firearm-related violence. Federal regulations aimed at capping the number of handguns in Cana

British Columbia's Coroners Service says there's been a sharp increase in deaths among people experiencing homelessness. A statement from the coroners service says the deaths of 342 people experiencing homelessness were reported last year, an increase of almost 140 over the past two years. The coroners service says there were 1,464 deaths of people who were homeless in B.C. in the period between 2015 and 2022, averaging about 183 deaths per year. Most of those deaths were in Vancouver, Victoria and Surrey, BC, and 82 per cent of them were male. However, the coroners service says the number of

The World Health Organization has advocated a ban on all flavored vapes. The World Health Organization has urged governments to ban e-cigarettes on the same lines as tobacco.The United Nations agency said that the time has come to take necessary steps to control them. The World Health Organization cited the study as saying that there is little evidence that vapes have released cigarette butts. The agency said flavored vapes pose a risk to non-smokers, particularly as they may increase nicotine addiction among children and youth. According to the agency, children aged 13 to 15 are using it more

The Canadian Real Estate Association says home sales fell in November as the average price of a home sold inched highercompared with a year ago. The association says November home sales fell 0.9 per cent compared with the same month last year. On a seasonally adjusted basis, November home sales were also down 0.9 per cent compared with October this year. The number of newly listed homes fell 1.8 per cent on a month-over-month basis in November. CREA says with new listings down more than sales in November, the national sales-to-new listings ratio rose for the first time since April to come in