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.
Statistics Canada says retail sales in April posted their largest drop since April last year at the start of the pandemic as governments moved to deal with its third wave.
Statistics Canada said Wednesday retail sales fell 5.7 per cent to $54.8 billion in April, the largest decline since April 2020 during the pandemic's first wave.
The agency also said its preliminary estimate suggested an additional drop of 3.2 per cent for May, but cautioned the figure would be revised.
TD Bank economist Ksenia Bushmeneva said third wave-related restrictions on non-essential and in-person shopping held back retail sales in April as expected.
"In addition to restrictions, auto dealers were also impacted by the shortage of microchips, limiting their inventory and weighing on sales that month," Bushmeneva wrote in a report.
"While the microchip shortage may persist for some time, other headwinds will ease. With the vaccination campaign gathering speed and most provinces gradually lifting restrictions in June, consumer spending is on track to rebound strongly in the second half of the year."
The drop in April sales was concentrated in retailers deemed "non-essential" as sales fell in nine of 11 subsectors.
Core retail sales -- which exclude gasoline stations and motor vehicle and parts dealers -- fell 7.6 per cent.
Sales at clothing and clothing accessories stores plunged 28.6 per cent in April, while general merchandise stores dropped 8.1 per cent.
Statistics Canada said sales at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers fell 10.4 per cent, their first drop in nine months.
Meanwhile, sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers and gasoline stations also fell for the first time in four months
Sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers fell by 1.4 per cent, while sales at gasoline stations fell 4.1 per cent in April.
Retail sales in volume terms fell 5.6 per cent in April.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2021.
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.