Current Affairs

Quebec Headed into Elections

Quebec City. Quebec’s Liberal Premier Jean Charest today asked the Quebec Lieutenant-Governor to dissolve the National Assembly precipitating an election on September 4th, just 35 days away. This will be Quebec’s third Provincial election in just over 5 years, following the March election of 2007 which resulted in a Liberal minority government and the December 2008 election resulting in a Liberal majority government. With less than a year left before an election would have been mandatory, Charest has chosen September 4th as an election date in all likelihood to avoid campaigning after Quebec’s inquiry into construction corruption resumes, in which the governing party’s dirty laundry is expected to be aired out. Continue reading…

The International Economic Summit of the Americas

Montreal. MtlEconomist will be represented at the International Economic Summit of the Americas and  will be reporting on the World’s business, NGO and governmental leaders plans for the future. Leaders from all over the World are converging on Montreal for a few days to discuss recent economic developments, environmental developments corporate and governmental governance and many other subjects of interest. Many speakers of renown will be sharing their opinions and views so stay tuned for commentaries from our blog…

Spanish Bank’s Get Government Brokered Bailout

Madrid / Brussels. While Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy continues to deny Spain’s need to bailout its banking sector an informal agreement has been reached on the possibility of Spain taping 100 Billion Euros for the purpose of restructuring its banks. The agreement was apparently reached in less than two hours over the weekend at which time Spain was offered $125 Billion with virtually no strings attached. While the details of the agreement remain unannounced, previous rounds of austerity measures and structural reforms were enough to convince Northern Europe of Spanish fiscal credibility and bailout merit. Continue reading…

Ireland Reluctant, Votes for Austerity

Dublin. In a mild rebuke of the last Greek election voters in Ireland have voted in a referendum to ratify the European Fiscal Compact, and of the 50% of the electorate that voted, 60.3% voted for ratification. The treaty which was billed the “Austerity Treaty” by opposition parties headed by Sinn Fein, calls for increasing fiscal policy oversight by the European commission, essentially ceding some individual member states sovereignty over to Brussels. The Fiscal Compact would come into effect on January 1st 2013, continue reading…

EI Changes

Ottawa. Unemployment Insurance (or employment insurance as its ironically called in Canada) is getting its first make over in a while. The Conservative Government has come out with an outline for its proposed EI changes. The government intends to tighten eligibility requirements. The exact structure will be presented in a bill once the governments omnibus budgetary bill has been passed. Continue reading…