In the news today: Liberal support sinking as inflation and interest rates rise

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This article was published 12/12/2023 (1015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…

How inflation, interest rates, tanked the Liberals

Experts say the Liberals will have to find a way to sell Canadians on the economy again after inflation and interest rates took a big bite out of their popularity.

The Trudeau government has been badly trailing the Conservatives as cost-of-living issues dominate federal politics.

David Coletto, the CEO of Abacus Data, says the Conservatives started overtaking the Liberals in polls around the time of the Bank of Canada’s first interest rate hike in March 2022.

That gap widened considerably this summer, leading to a double-digit lead for the Tories.

Tyler Meredith, a former head of economic strategy and planning for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, says that’s because Canadians have begun renewing their mortgages at much higher interest rates.

Trudeau: Canada’s digital tax not a Biden priority

Canada’s tax on Netflix and other foreign digital services companies may be a major irritant for the U.S. tech sector, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it doesn’t seem to be much concern to President Joe Biden.

In a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, Trudeau said “not once” did Biden indicate that the digital services tax, which is set to go into effect on Jan. 1, was a significant worry for the White House.

The prime minister said he was poised to defend the policy, which is widely opposed on Capitol Hill. David Cohen, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, warned in October about the risk of a “big fight” over the three per cent levy.

The measure is aimed at ensuring foreign tech giants that are generating revenue from Canadian users are required to pay taxes on that revenue in Canada. The bulk of those companies are based in the U.S.

Update expected in Kenneth Law investigation

An update is expected today in the case of Kenneth Law, an Ontario man accused of sending lethal substances to people who later took their own lives.

Peel Regional Police investigators are set to hold a news conference at 10 a.m. to provide new information on their investigation.

Law is facing 14 charges of counselling and aiding suicide in Ontario.

Police have alleged that the Mississauga, Ont., man ran several websites that were used to sell sodium nitrite and other items that can be used for self-harm, shipping them to people in more than 40 countries.

Verdict expected today in Faqiri inquest

Jurors are expected to deliver a verdict today in the coroner’s inquest into the death of a mentally ill man at an Ontario jail.

The jury examining the circumstances of Soleiman Faqiri’s death began deliberating Friday afternoon after hearing about three weeks of evidence.

Faqiri, who was 30, was arrested in early December 2016 after allegedly stabbing a neighbour while experiencing a mental health crisis.

The inquest has heard that Faqiri, who had schizophrenia, appeared increasingly unwell during his time at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, but did not see a psychiatrist, nor was he taken to hospital.

He died on Dec. 15, 2016, after a violent struggle with correctional officers that broke out as they were escorting him from the shower to his segregation cell.

B.C. Conservatives awaken from decades of dormancy

It’s been a banner year for BC’s Conservative Party as it emerges from decades of political dormancy in the province.

The party is riding high in polls that suggest it would finish second behind Premier David Eby’s New Democrats if an election were held now.

The BC Conservatives are led by John Rustad and only achieved official party status in the legislature this year when Bruce Banman also defected from the Opposition BC United.

Political communications expert David Black at Victoria’s Royal Roads University says the big unanswered question is whether the party is simply riding the coattails of Pierre Poilievre and the federal Conservatives.

Gaza offensive grinds on with no end in sight

Israel and the United States are increasingly isolated as they face global calls for a cease-fire in Gaza, including a non-binding vote expected to pass at the United Nations later on Tuesday.

Israel has pressed ahead with its devastating offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers that officials say could go on for weeks or months.

The war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel has already brought unprecedented death and destruction to the impoverished coastal enclave.

More than 18,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and minors, and over 80 per cent of the population of 2.3 million have fled their homes.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2023