Nickel and dimed

Here’s a banking product you really don’t need: With the Bank the Rest savings program, Canadians using their ScotiaCard to make debit card purchases can choose to round up the total purchase amount to the nearest dollar or five dollars, and have the difference deposited automatically into their Scotiabank Money Master High Interest Savings accountcontinue reading

My new title

From a press release for a media event sponsored by La Senza, Hellmann’s and Tide: Jane is 34 and she’s a mover-and-shaker at work. At home, think of her as the Chief Household Officer. This also makes her Manager of Nutrition, Investment Advisor, Family Trip Planning Counsel and Director of Hockey Equipment Delivery. And that’scontinue reading

Funding is essential too

It’s heartwarming to read the unusually warm words spoken about Toronto at yesterday’s emergency session of the legislature. The Premier praised Torontonians for their “characteristic goodwill, patience, and grace”, while Labour Minister — and former Toronto city councillor — Brad Duguid highlighted the importance of the TTC to the city’s operation: …we cannot stand bycontinue reading

Deciphering the headlines

For “Indignation grows over police story” (print headline in today’s paper), read “The Globe finally got its private briefing with an anonymous Conservative official”: A senior Conservative official says the raid on Tory party headquarters last week was “over the top,” with flak-jacket-clad RCMP officers storming in and copying everything from payroll information to thecontinue reading

Enthusiasm on the wane

Regularly scheduled Bank of Canada interest rate decision announcements are always made at 9 am. The press releases from the big banks, announcing their intention to pass the change onto their customers through the prime rate, usually follow fairly quickly thereafter. Until recently. Below, the time stamp of press releases from TD Bank Financial (usuallycontinue reading

The Official Story

The federal Conservatives have become accustomed to spreading their talking points* through anonymous “officials”. For some reason media outlets have, for the most part, gone along with this, and the question about how much credibility to give unsubstantiated theories touted by anonymous sources seems to have gone forgotten. Saturday, Conservative officials contacted selected reporters tocontinue reading

The boom goes boom

– Urban is often a euphemism for “black”, “inner-city” or “low-income”. Unless, of course, you’re the Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods, the FUN part of the Coalition After Property Tax Reform, in which case urban means… South Rosedale. – Have you heard? The housing boom is “officially over.” That’s according to Doug Porter of BMO Economics,continue reading

Profiling the pool protesters

Sometimes, the messager is just as important as the message. And given this, the pool protesters might want to re-examine who’s speaking for them as they continue their war of publicity against the closing of some (not all) of the Toronto District School Board’s 84 pools. Exhibit A: This morning’s guest on CBC’s Metro Morning.continue reading

From the too-good-to-be-true dept.

Icelandic economist Frosti Olafsson comments on the faltering krona: “In some senses, Iceland is like an economic experiment,” Olafsson said. “In 20 years or 50 years, economics professors will look at Iceland and say it’s possible for a country of that size to have its own currency or not.”