B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
A senior Bank of Canada official says the central bank is keeping a close eye on the stresses to the global banking system ahead of its next interest rate decision and monetary policy report in April.
In a speech to the National Bank financial services conference, Bank of Canada deputy governor Toni Gravelle said Wednesday the bank is watching for any further effects from the recent banking problems in the U.S. and Europe.
"We will consider the macroeconomic impact of this evolving situation as we put together our next projection," Gravelle said.
"We'll be looking specifically at potential spillovers into the real economy to the extent that financial conditions tighten and there are broader confidence effects."
U.S. regulators had to take control of Silicon Valley Bank as well as Signature Bank earlier this month to prevent wider financial problems amid a run on deposits, while Swiss authorities helped UBS to acquire Credit Suisse after its rival ran into difficulties.
Gravelle said global banks are more resilient today than they were 15 years ago, at the outset of the global financial crisis.
"With the reforms put in place since then, global banks are required to have substantially increased their capital and liquidity buffers, making the system safer and better able to withstand stress," he said.
Gravelle said while the Canadian banking system has an international reputation for stability, it is not immune to events happening elsewhere and that financial stresses that arise outside of Canada can negatively affect things here.
He said the Bank of Canada is ready to act in the event of severe market-wide stress and provide liquidity support to the financial system.
The Bank of Canada's next interest rate decision and monetary policy report is set for April 12.
The central bank kept its key policy rate on hold at 4.50 per cent at its interest rate decision on March 8. It was the first time the Bank of Canada did not raise rates since it began hiking them last year in an effort to bring inflation under control.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2023.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.