What effects will a declining Canadian dollar have on the Canadian economy? President-elect Trump’s threatened trade actions against Canada could also exert further downward pressure on the loonie, especially if the Bank of Canada responds to Trump’s actions by making additional rate cuts. For context, it took $1.33 Canadian dollars to purchase one U.S. dollar on January 1, 2024, compared to $1.43 Canadian dollars on December 13, 2024. This represents a substantial depreciation in the Canadian dollar’s value of approximately 7.6 per cent over the period. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/commentary/declining-canadian-dollar-could-stifle-productivity-growth-canada

The End of Money, This movie is an in depth inquiry into the direction we are headed if the central banks get their way, https://cbdctheendofmoney.com/

Trudeau’s former public safety minister, Marco Mendicino, finds himself at the center of controversy as the Canadian Parliament debates whether to formally censure him for “deliberately lying” about the justification for invoking the Emergencies Act and freezing the bank accounts of civil liberties supporters during the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests. Conservative MP Glen Motz, a vocal critic, emphasized the importance of accountability, stating, “Parliament deserves to receive clear and definitive answers to questions. We must be entitled to the truth.” https://reclaimthenet.org/marco-mendicino-censure-emergencies-act-controversy-freedom-convoy

Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has announced her resignation from Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, taking aim at “costly political gimmicks” on the eve of the government’s fall economic update. In a letter to Trudeau posted on social media Monday morning, Freeland said rather than be shuffled to another cabinet position she will be resigning, claiming she and Trudeau have been “at odds about the best path forward for Canada.” There have been several reports that Trudeau is actively courting former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney to join his cabinet. https://tnc.news/2024/12/16/freeland-resigns1/

On his last day as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Shaktikanta Das shared his vision to transform India’s economy with a home-grown central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital rupee. During the farewell speech on Dec. 10, Das highlighted his six-year-long effort to capitalize on new technologies, including setting up the RBI Innovation Hub in Bengaluru and a regulatory sandbox for fintech innovation. https://activistpost.com/2024/12/india-preparing-for-a-cbdc-driven-economy-central-bank-governor-says.html

Refugees rely on food banks, welfare years after arrival: report! Between 2016 and 2022, two-thirds of refugees were men under 29 from Syria and Afghanistan. https://www.rebelnews.com/refugees_rely_on_food_banks_welfare_years_after_arrival_report

The U.S. Justice Department says the 24-year-old former employee arrested Tuesday had worked at a TD Bank location in Doral, Fla., where, starting in June 2023, he allegedly assisted a money laundering network by issuing dozens of debit cards for shell companies in exchange for bribes. It says the accounts were allegedly used to launder millions of dollars in drug proceeds through cash withdrawals at ATMs in Colombia. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/td-bank-employee-arrested-charged-1.7407762

(Kitco News) - Spot gold sold off in CAD while strengthening in USD after the Bank of Canada (BoC) cut its key interest rate by 50 basis points, lowering rates for the fifth consecutive meeting. The Bank of Canada lowered its target for the overnight rate to 3.25% on Wednesday, with the Bank Rate at 3.75% and the deposit rate at 3.25%. https://www.kitco.com/news/article/2024-12-11/gold-price-dips-against-canadian-dollar-boc-cuts-rates-50-basis-points

TORONTO — Canada’s financial intelligence agency says it has imposed an administrative penalty of $2.46 million against Exchange Bank of Canada for non-compliance with money-laundering rules. Fintrac says it found Exchange Bank of Canada failed to submit suspicious transaction reports when there were reasonable grounds to do so, failed to conduct ongoing monitoring of business relationships and failed to report $10,000 or more in cash in a single transaction. https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/company-news/2024/12/11/exchange-bank-of-canada-fined-246m-by-fintrac-for-anti-money-laundering-failures/

(Bloomberg) -- The Bank of Canada made its second straight outsize cut in interest rates and signalled policymakers are ready to slow down monetary easing. Officials led by Governor Tiff Macklem lowered the benchmark overnight rate by 50 basis points to 3.25% on Wednesday, bringing borrowing costs to the top end of the range of their estimate for the neutral rate — a level that’s neither restrictive nor stimulative for the economy. https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/economics/1970/01/01/bank-of-canada-cuts-key-interest-rate-by-50-bps-to-325/