Opinion
Profiting from the pandemic
By Carlo Fanelli and Heather Whiteside June 1, 2020
If there is a crisis to be found in the earnings of Canada’s Big Six banks, it isn’t in how much their profits have been reduced, but rather how high they’ve remained in the face of a global health and economic emergency.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau last month announced $300-million loan program for large corporations. The feds say that companies convicted of tax evasion won't be eligible for the bridge loans. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Canada’s Big Six banks released their second-quarter earnings last week, and with profits cut in half, alarm bells were quick to sound in the business press. A closer look shows that most banks remained very healthy, with many earning well over a billion in the last three months. It bears reminding that 2011 to 2018 were banner years, bringing year-over-year record annual profits, which peaked at a staggering $45-billion in 2018—that’s $22-million per hour in profits, more than double what they were earning a decade earlier.
Sponsored Content
Supporting a Digital Public Sector
By Schneider Electric’s Secure Power Division - Canada
Related Stories
Politics This Morning
Your email has been added. An email has been sent to your address, please click the link inside of it to confirm your subscription.
Lambropoulos’ comments could be used against Grits in next election, say Liberal insiders, pollsters, and MPs
Quebecers are more upset with Liberal MP Emmanuella Lambropoulos’ comments about decline of French in Quebec than they were with the WE Charity scandal, says one Quebec Liberal insider.Race to replace MP Kent as Thornhill’s Conservative on the ballot a chance to ‘bring Conservatives back into the fold’, sign of ‘generational shift’, say early candidates
Two names have emerged stating their intentions of running for the party’s nomination in the riding so far, including long-time Conservative staffer Melissa Lantsman as well as Progressive Conservative MPP Gila Martow. MPs, experts paying close attention to housing supply after very strong year of sales, despite COVID-19
During a banner year for home sales in Canada despite the economic downturn associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, both MPs and experts are watching the country's housing supply carefully in the months and years to come.Aerospace sector looks to government for help as pandemic grounds once high-flying industry
The aerospace industry is a big contributor to GDP and employs hundreds of thousands of Canadians. Many of Canada's biggest competitors in the space, like France, have doled out billions in sector specific relief.Feds need to flex creative muscles in pandemic messaging, say experts
The feds’ television ad campaigns featuring Dr. Theresa Tam don't sufficiently leverage the power of the medium, says Professor Alex Marland.
Ottawa projects three million Canadians could be vaccinated by March 2021
Though Canada no longer has the manufacturing ability to scale up production, the two most promising vaccines are produced using a new technology called mRNA, which is not widely available. MPs press Bibeau to give trade compensation timeline, details to struggling farmers
‘It’s caused a great deal of stress,’ and agriculture producers want an answer on compensation before 2020 closes, says Conservative MP Richard Lehoux.NDP’s spring convention offers chance to pit party’s vision against governing Liberals’, say members
For New Democrats, conventions often generate 'vigorous and energetic' debate on 'emerging policy' issues among the party faithful, says former NDP MP Libby Davies. DND says budget for Surface Combatants remains unchanged; PBO report expected in late February
In 2019, the PBO projected the cost of 15 CSC frigates to be nearly $70-billion. The defence department says the ships are still projected to cost between $56- and $60-billion. Trending Stories
