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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has approved a dollar coin to celebrate the LGBT experience and commemorate the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada. The coin is already generating backlash, with opponents of the Trudeau government questioning whether the prime minister hasn’t done enough already to promote identity politics in Canada. According to CBC News, Trudeau gave his blessing to the coin on Dec. 14. The dollar coin, dubbed a “loonie” in Canada because a loon appears on one side of the coin, will be issued by the Royal Canadian Mint and be circulated throughout Canada as...

Canada’s dollar took a wild ride in overnight trading in the midst of Donald Trump‘s U.S. presidential victory, shedding nearly 1.3 cents before stemming some of its losses. The loonie tanked on global markets, falling as low as 73.89 cents US on Wednesday at around 12 a.m. ET, down 1.27 cents from its close Tuesday. It later regained some ground, trading at 74.38 cents US, not far off the levels it’s been at in the waning weeks of the U.S. presidential election campaign.

Unsanitary washrooms, unsafe food handling practices, unrelenting stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhea: these are some of the complaints being reported about popular Canadian vacations destinations in Cuba promoted and operated by Sunwing Vacations of Toronto. "It's very severe, and I am struggling a week later," said Amanda Klein of Medicine Hat, Alta., who recently returned from Cuba and says she is still experiencing stomach problems. Klein, 26, spent a week with her boyfriend and two other Canadian couples at the Memories Paraiso Azul Beach Hotel in Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba between Jan. 5 and 12. But within days of the Canadians'...

TORONTO — The Canadian dollar kicked off the new year above parity with the U.S. dollar as oil prices hit a two year high. The loonie gained 0.13 cents to 100.67 cents US. Recent strength in the Canadian dollar has been fuelled by higher crude prices, which sit at a two year high. The February crude contract was unchanged at US$91.54 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Meanwhile, the February gold contract slipped $25.10 to US$1,397.80. The March copper contract on the Nymex lost one cent to US$4.44. The Canadian dollar closed above parity against...

When the Canadians in 1987 started to emboss a common loon on the back of their dollar coin, it affectionately became known as the loonie. That affection has since worn thin as a successful investor calls for its abandonment. Herbert Grubel, a Canadian economist who developed the concept of a North American currency comparable to the euro, recommends that Canada come up with a new Canadian dollar to replace the current one.

NOVEMBER 24--A 77-year-old South Carolina man whose home was stocked with an arsenal of guns told Secret Service agents that he wanted to shoot Barack Obama “for what he has done to this country,” according to a criminal complaint charging him with threatening the president’s life. Michael Bowden allegedly first spoke of killing Obama last week during a “routine check-up” at a Veterans Administration clinic in Spartanburg. Bowden, pictured in the mug shot at right, told a nurse that he “was thinking of traveling to Washington, DC, to shoot the President (Obama) because he is not doing enough to help...

It’s a good day to go cross border shopping as our Canadian Loonie is buying more in the US. The Loonie is almost on par withe the US dollar. Fueled by high oil prices and a declining US dollar the high loonie hurts employment in Canada. “Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said yesterday in remarks to reporters in Toronto that he shares Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney’sconcern that gains in the country’s currency could slow recovery. Carney said in a speech on June 4 that a persistently strong Canadian dollar would “work against” positive factors such as improved trade.”...

The Canadian dollar – the only among the major global currencies – is on the rampage, reaching its highest level against the US dollar in 2009 Tuesday. The loonie, as the Canadian dollar is called, reached almost 94 cents US for the first time since October 2009, raising concern about its impact on the country’s economic recovery. As Canada is a major exporter of minerals, metal and oil and gas, the rising loonie will deter buyers, mainly the US, with its sinking dollar and continuing economic crisis. The dollar rampage forced Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty Tuesday to warn of...

Only about two months ago, Canada hit parity with the U.S. dollar for the first time in 31 years. Now many Canadians have had their fill: Companies ranging from jetmaker Bombardier Inc. to lumber producer Canfor Corp. say their currency’s strength is cutting into profits and jobs. “There is not much pride in declining business,” said Ken Lewenza, a Canadian Auto Workers union leader in Windsor, Ontario, where parts suppliers are closing operations and the casino just cut another 200 jobs. “The squeeze is on, and our lives are miserable.”

Quebec's Liberal government has announced a $620 million aid package for the province's bruised manufacturing sector. The measures, to be rolled out over the next five years, will help Quebec companies and businesses adjust to the Canadian dollar's unprecedented gains. Some $256 million of the money announced Friday in Montreal is new funding. The rest was previously included in Quebec's May 2007 budget. Premier Jean Charest said the measures will help companies adapt to the rapid rise in the Canadian dollar. "That the dollar rises so quickly is brutal for the Quebec economy," he said. The upside has been lower...

Our neighbors to the north are prospering. That's good news for businesses here in the Valley A strong economy north of the border will likely mean a few more “ehs” and “aboots” in the Rio Grande Valley this winter. The number of visitors from Canada has been growing among the region’s Winter Texan population in recent years, and last week the Canadian dollar hit an all-time high versus the U.S. dollar. For the first time in more than 30 years, the Canadian dollar — colloquially known as the loonie — is worth more than the U.S. dollar. In short, Canadians...

A strong currency reflects booming commodity exports and sound public finances. But not everyone is cheering. IT HARDLY came as a surprise when, on September 21st, the Canadian dollar crossed a symbolic threshold and overtook its American counterpart in value for the first time since 1976. Since January 2002, when Canadians needed C$1.61 to buy a greenback, the loonie (so nicknamed after the aquatic bird depicted on the dollar coin) has been pushed up by world demand for Canada's commodities. Yet even hard-bitten currency traders cheered out loud as the loonie inched towards parity, and then beyond. David Watt, a...

TORONTO — Boosted by high commodity prices and a weakening U.S. dollar, the loonie reached parity with the greenback Thursday for the first time in nearly 31 years, promising to boost the energy and import sectors and give consumers cheaper vacations but spelling more trouble for Canada’s industrial heartland. The loonie, which has been gaining on its American counterpart since bottoming out below 62 cents in early 2002, has recently been on a spectacular run, up from 95 cents at the start of September and from under 90 cents last spring. Soaring demand for Canadian commodities, ranging from oil and...

For those experiencing a Conrad Black-trial hangover and are tired of dragging legal battles, here's a summer blockbuster that no movie studio would deliver: The Prince of Darkness versus the Queen. It's certainly a legal battle for the ages. But it's happening. On Aug. 7, 2007, Satan — nee Brian (Godzilla) Salmi, president of Canada's Rhinoceros party — announced a $50-million lawsuit contesting an election reform law that stripped his party of its registered status in 1993. The suit is filed as Satan v. Her Majesty the Queen. Rebirth of the Rhinos Brian Salmi, a.k.a. Dark Clown Lord, Satan, or...

TORONTO (CP) - For the first time in more than 30 years, the dollar has closed above 96 cents US. And it's still heading higher. The loonie soared more than eight-10ths of a cent to end the day at 96.36 cents US. Right now, the dollar is trading overseas at $96.58. Traders point to signs that Canadian retail sales roared ahead in May. That's fuelling speculation the Bank of Canada will raise its trend-setting overnight rate on September 5 to try to put some downward pressure on inflation. Two weeks ago, the central bank rate increased from 4.25 per cent...

The last time the Canadian dollar stood at par with the American dollar, in January, 1976, British Airways and Air France were readying the Concorde's first supersonic commercial flight and Nick Izzo was a peppy 10-year-old with an obsession for toy cars. Now the Concorde is dead and he's dealing the real thing -- saving many Canadians a lot of money as the loonie claws its way back to its former glory. Mr. Izzo and his family run Superior Auto Sales Inc., a car dealership near Lake Erie just south of Buffalo. In business for more than 50 years, they...

The Plan to Disappear Canada 'Deep integration' comes out of the shadows. By Murray Dobbin, Vancouver If the machinations going on in this country regarding so-called "deep integration" were instead a communist conspiracy to take over the country (you will, of course, have to try hard to imagine this) the news media would be blaring the story. Pundits would pontificate, editorialists would erupt, security forces would be unleashed. Instead, a virtual conspiracy to make the country disappear through assimilation into the U.S. gets barely a mention.But news of the scheme -- formally called the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North...

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Canada's dollar rose above 90 U.S. cents Tuesday -- the first time it's been worth that much since the Camp David accord for Middle East peace was signed, the Jonestown massacre took place in Guyana, the Bee Gees topped the pop music charts with "Stayin' Alive" and Guy Lafleur and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Boston Bruins for the Stanley Cup. Known as the "loonie," Canada's dollar coin advanced to 90.44 U.S. cents from 89.82 Monday. It touched 90.45 U.S. cents earlier Tuesday, the highest since 90.62 cents on Jan. 24, 1978. One U.S. dollar buys $1.1057 Canadian. The Canadian...

SMYRNA, Tenn. (AP) - Members of a church say God is punishing American soldiers for defending a country that harbors gays, and they brought their anti-gay message to the funerals Saturday of two Tennessee soldiers killed in Iraq. The church members were met with scorn from local residents. They chased the church members cars' down a highway, waving flags and screaming "God bless America." "My husband is over there, so I'm here to show my support," 41-year-old Connie Ditmore said as she waved and American flag and as tears came to her eyes. "To do this at a funeral is...