Sunday, November 08, 2020

US Election: Trump doubles down on allegations of voter fraud, 'stolen' election in Twitter tirade

Lana Andelane

Donald Trump has doubled down on his allegations of voter fraud in a bitter Twitter tirade, reiterating his belief that Democratic successor Joe Biden "stole" last week's landmark election.

The outgoing President barraged the social media platform with a series of resentful tweets on Sunday morning (local time), the morning after Biden cemented his victory as President-elect with a stirring speech promising widespread reform and an immediate response to the United States' ongoing coronavirus epidemic.

On Saturday (local time), television networks called Biden the President-elect after days of painstaking ballot-counting across several battleground states. The 77-year-old surpassed the 270 Electoral College votes required to clinch the presidency after flipping the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, securing its 20 electoral votes by a razor-thin margin.

Yet Trump, 74, has refused to concede, making it clear the reins of power will not be transferred without a fight. The Republican's campaign has declared its intention to pursue ballot recounts, filing a number of last-ditch lawsuits in several states in an apparent bid to delay vote counting and shroud the election in a cloud of uncertainty.

The campaign announced it will take legal action in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Nevada - battleground states secured by Biden - and in the Republican stronghold of Georgia, a state yet to be called. The latest data shows Biden leading by a knife-edge - a narrow margin of just 0.21 percent. The states of North Carolina and Alaska have yet to be called.

On Saturday, it was revealed the Trump campaign had also taken legal action in Arizona regarding rejected ballots. As reported by Reuters, a state official rejected the lawsuit, dubbing it "a stalling tactic". In a statement, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said "they are grasping at straws".

The President and his campaign have attempted to justify legal action with unsubstantiated allegations of inadequate access to poll counting, invalid votes being tabulated and the tallying of late-arriving ballots. After a period of relative social media silence, Trump kicked off his latest effort to cast doubt over the Democratic victory by declaring: "We should look at the votes. We're just beginning the tabulation stage. We should look at these allegations."

"We're seeing a number of affidavits that there has been voter fraud," he claimed. "We have a history in this country of election problems. In Pennsylvania you had an order by a Supreme Court Justice to compel them to separate ballots that were received after the legislative deadline. It required the intervention of Justice Alito. That's a large group of ballots.

"When you talk about systemic problems, it's about how these ballots were authenticated, because if there's a problem in the system about authentication, that would seriously affect the ENTIRE ELECTION - And what concerns me is that we had over a hundred million mail-in ballot in cities like Philadelphia and Detroit with a long series of election problems (to put it mildly).

"We believe these people are thieves. The big city machines are corrupt. This was a stolen election."

The President continued his attempts to smear his successor, claiming it unfathomable that Biden had eclipsed former President Barack Obama's popular vote record. In 2008, Obama earned 69,498,516 votes in the presidential election - a history-making moment. The latest data shows Biden, Obama's former Vice President, has now surpassed that tally with 75,219,773 votes (50.7 percent of the total) - and counting. Trump is currently sitting on 70,817,945.

"Best pollster in Britain wrote this morning that this clearly was a stolen election, that it's impossible to imagine that Biden outran Obama in some of these states," Trump tweeted.

"Where it mattered, they stole what they had to steal."

According to local media, lawsuits either filed or declared in Michigan, Georgia and Nevada have been rejected due to a lack of evidence to corroborate the claims.

After a short period of inactivity, Trump later tweeted: "Since when does the Lamestream Media call who our next president will be? We have all learned a lot in the last two weeks!"

The landmark election will see Biden's running mate, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, make history as the first woman and first woman of colour on a winning presidential ticket. The California Senator will also become the first woman, the first Black American and the first person of South Asian descent to hold vice presidency.

Taking the stage in Wilmington, his city of residence, on Saturday night (local time), Biden vowed to take immediate action against America's ongoing battle with COVID-19, rebuild the country's economy, eliminate systemic racial injustice and fight climate change, while Harris encouraged women, particularly women of colour, to continue breaking barriers in a country still heavily divided along racial lines.

Biden will be officially sworn in as President at his inauguration on January 20, 2021. 



Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
...and Detroit with a long series of election problems (to put it mildly).” @JonathanTurley
Learn how voting by mail is safe and secure
6:38 AM · Nov 8, 2020
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Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
....Where it mattered, they stole what they had to steal. @newtgingrich
This claim about election fraud is disputed
7:17 AM · Nov 8, 2020
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Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
Since when does the Lamestream Media call who our next president will be? We have all learned a lot in the last two weeks!
11:52 AM · Nov 8, 2020
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 World War Three 'a real risk' due to coronavirus crisis, warns top UK military chief

General Sir Nick Carter said the world needed to learn from international missteps that led to the previous world wars given the uncertainties caused by Covid-19











By Patrick Daly, Lizzy Buchan 

Political Correspondent DAILY MAIL

8 NOV 2020

NEWS

Sir Nick Carter warns that history "has a rhythm"

The world risks plunging into another global conflict amid economic chaos triggered by the coronavirus crisis, the head of the UK armed forces has said.

General Sir Nick Carter said there was a "risk" of World War Three as escalation of threats during the pandemic could prompt a "miscalculation" which would lead to fresh conflict.

The Chief of the Defence Staff said Britain and the rest of the world would need to "learn" from history and the international missteps that led to the previous world wars given the uncertainties caused by Covid-19.

Sir Nick expressed fears that the increase in regional conflicts playing out across the world could ramp up into "a full-blown war", mirroring the run-up to the two world wars in the 20th century when a series of alliances between countries led to years of bloodshed.

The UK's most senior military commander said the world was "a very uncertain and anxious place" during the pandemic and there was the possibility "you could see escalation lead to miscalculation".

Boris Johnson tonight announced a month-long lockdown for England with pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and non-essential shops forced to shut. Here's what we know so far about seeing family, travelling, bubbles, shielding, furlough and more

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"We have to remember that history might not repeat itself but it has a rhythm and if you look back at the last century, before both world wars, I think it was unarguable that there was escalation which led to the miscalculation which ultimately led to war at a scale we would hopefully never see again," he told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

Asked if there was a "real threat" of World War Three, he said: "I'm saying it's a risk and we need to be conscious of those risks.

"And that's why Remembrance matters, because if you look back at history, hopefully you learn from their experience and you make sure that you're very cautious about how you manage the sorts of regional conflicts that we see playing out in the world today."

In a separate interview with Times Radio, Sir Nick admitted to being uneasy about the prospect of the military being drafted in to police coronavirus lockdowns in the UK.

He said forcing "people to get off the streets" is "not what the military is for".

Sir Nik added: "I would be leery about getting involved in all of that.

"There are others who are better qualified to do it, I would suggest."

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MR.HOCKEY

OBITUARY
Colourful analyst Howie Meeker was on-air hockey teacher for generations of Canadians

TOM HAWTHORN
SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 8, 2020UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO


Howie Meeker, at his home in Parksville, B.C, on Oct. 24, 2013.
JOHN LEHMANN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Howie Meeker was a square-jawed and craggy-faced former player whose squeaky-voiced enthusiasms entertained – or annoyed – generations of hockey fans.

Mr. Meeker, who has died a few days after turning 97, was a ubiquitous presence on Canadian television in the 1970s. As well as providing analysis for Hockey Night in Canada, he was host of a weekly 15-minute television program for children and coaches called Howie Meeker Hockey School. He wrote two books about the teaching of hockey fundamentals, the first of which the Literary Review of Canada cited as one of the 100 most important books in the country’s history. At century’s end, the Hockey News selected him 76th on a list of 100 most colourful figures in hockey history.

On air, his lexicon was sprinkled with folksy words such as “dunderhead” and “malarkey.” He used “goldarn” and “humpty-dumpty” as adjectives. Having grown up on ice rinks and served in a military in which expletives were not unknown, he trained himself as a broadcaster to rely on cornpone exclamations such as “Jiminy Cricket,” “Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat!” and “Golly gee whillickers!” The folksy phrasing, delivered in hyperkinetic outbursts, made him a favourite target for parodists and impressionists.


Howie Meeker, photographed circa 1951 when he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Mr. Meeker’s fame rose following the eight-game Summit Series in 1972, when Canada’s best National Hockey League professionals barely avoided humiliation at the hands of the Soviet Union. In the wake of that near disaster, a proselytizer for mastering basic hockey fundamentals such as skating and stickhandling seemed to hold the answer to what ailed Canadian hockey.

For three decades as a hockey analyst for CBC and TSN, he saw himself as an on-air teacher whose blackboard was video replay and whose chalk was a Telestrator, a tool that allowed him to draw circles and arrows to spotlight events on the ice.

“To me, it’s education,” Mr. Meeker told Peter Gzowski on CBC-TV’s 90 Minutes Live in 1977. “The more you see, the more you enjoy the product.”

To an older generation, Mr. Meeker was known as a bristly, flat-topped forward who won four Stanley Cups with a post-war Toronto Maple Leafs dynasty. He scored five goals in one game in his rookie season, which set an NHL record, and went on to claim rookie-of-the-year honours in the same season in which Gordie Howe made his debut.

An unsuccessful term as Leafs coach and a disastrous short stint as general manager was followed by a long stretch in Newfoundland, where he developed the coaching philosophy he later espoused on national television. It was while in self-exile that Mr. Meeker made his broadcasting breakthrough as host of a bowling program, among other shows.

While he held a spot on the Maple Leafs players’ bench, Mr. Meeker also won a by-election as a Progressive Conservative in 1951 to gain a spot on the Opposition backbench in the House of Commons. He was the first active NHL player to serve in Parliament.

Howard William Meeker was born in Kitchener, Ont., on Nov. 4, 1923, to the former Kathleen Wharmsby, known as Kitty, a painter’s daughter, and Charles Howard Meeker, both English immigrants. The family later moved to nearby New Hamburg where his father ran a country inn

The elder Meeker had immigrated to Canada as a young man to work as a gardener before enlisting for overseas duty in 1915. He was gassed on the Western Front while serving with the Royal Canadian Dragoons and was discharged as medically unfit with “chronic bronchitis with an asthmatic tendency.” After marrying in London, the couple came to Canada with £55 in savings to start a new life.

Young Howie, the oldest of five brothers, first gained notice as a goal scorer while playing Junior-B hockey for the Kitchener Greenshirts and the Kist Canadians, a team sponsored by the Kist beverage company of Stratford, Ont. In 1942, Stratford defeated the Galt Civics, Waterloo Siskins, Hamilton Tigers and Sault Ste. Marie Rapids to claim the provincial Junior-B title. Mr. Meeker, playing centre and wing, recorded four goals and two assists in a 13-0 shellacking of Waterloo and three goals with six assists in an 18-4 defeat of Galt.

In 1943, at an age when he might have been getting a tryout in the NHL, Mr. Meeker enlisted in the army’s Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers. A minor heart condition kept him from the front lines, so he was assigned to give physical instruction. In one training session, a live grenade exploded at his feet, sending shrapnel into both legs. He recovered, and by war’s end was playing hockey for army teams in England.

The Maple Leafs signed the forward in 1946 after a goal-a-game season with the senior Stratford Indians, during which he completed his high school education. In training camp at St. Catharines, Ont., Mr. Meeker, then 22, played right wing with fellow rookie Vic Lynn, 21, at left wing and 20-year-old Teeder Kennedy at centre. The line mates were dubbed The Kid Line and The Tricky Trio.

The intense Mr. Meeker, who was described by one sportswriter as being “perennially worried looking,” scored 27 goals in his first campaign, spurred by a five-goal outburst against goaltender Paul (Babe) Bibeault in a 10-4 Leafs victory on Jan. 8, 1947. Two of the goals were originally credited to Wally Stanowski but players urged officials to change the scoring during the second intermission. Mr. Meeker went on to score two more goals in the final stanza. A few weeks later, NHL president Clarence Campbell told officials to stop awarding what he described as “dressing-room points.” Don Murdoch equalled Mr. Meeker’s one-game rookie standard in a 1976 game.

Mr. Meeker was a runaway winner in voting by hockey writers and broadcasters for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie, gaining 49 of a possible 54 points.

The sensation proved to be a fragile forward who suffered a series of injuries in following seasons, including a broken foot, torn knee ligaments and a broken shoulder blade when he stepped on a stick during practice and fell awkwardly into the boards. A nagging back injury would end his playing days.

He played a key supporting role in Toronto winning four Stanley Cups in his first five seasons, a dynasty culminating in Bill Barilko’s famous overtime goal in 1951.

A few weeks later, Mr. Meeker was enjoying a breakfast of trout at his favourite fishing hole in the Ontario bush when a dusty limousine arrived. Progressive Conservative leader George Drew made a personal appeal to the reluctant player to run for the federal party in a by-election.

The hockey player defeated two challengers to hold Waterloo South for the Opposition Tories.

He hinted at retiring from pro sports, saying, “I’ll play hockey if I’ve got the time, and if the people who elected me want me to play.”

The salary for a member of Parliament at the time was $4,000, less than he made as an athlete. At age 27, Mr. Meeker was the “baby of the Commons,” as some newspapers called him, since he was three months younger than Paul Hellyer of the Liberals. In the end, the player kept both his on- and off-ice jobs, though he decided not to run in the 1953 general election.


The novice politician found the atmosphere on the floor of the House to be familiar. “It’s an arena,” he once said. “It was exactly the same as playing hockey. There’s arguing and bitching and complaining and everything else.”

In 346 NHL games, the right winger scored 83 goals with 102 assists. He scored six goals and nine assists in 42 playoff games.

After retiring as a player, he coached senior hockey for a year before going behind the bench of the Pittsburgh Hornets of the American Hockey League. He guided the Toronto farm club to a Calder Cup championship in his first season.

The Maple Leafs hired him as head coach for the 1956-57 season, but the club was in a rebuilding phase and missed the playoffs. He was promoted to general manager only to be fired six months later before the start of the season. Some accounts have him punching Stafford Smythe of the ownership group, though Mr. Meeker insisted over the years the altercation involved nothing more physical than the grabbing of lapels.

He packed up his family and moved to Newfoundland, where he reorganized boys’ hockey programs. While coaching senior teams in St. John’s, the former pro occasionally laced up, playing competitive hockey until age 45.

In 1960, Mr. Meeker got a tryout doing five-minute radio sportscasts. An outspoken style made him an immediate hit and within a year he was sports director for a radio station and three television outlets owned by the Newfoundland Broadcasting Company. He delivered between-period commentary during playoff games, providing memorable descriptions of the action, including this about a small winger on a scoring streak: “He’s killing those guys, and he’s hardly got enough meat on him to make a suitcase for a canary.”


The commentator also played host to a popular weekly television bowling report, as well as a series on outdoor activities such as archery in the barren hills of the Avalon Peninsula and scuba diving in St. John’s harbour. On radio, he provided two-minute-long fishing and hunting tips.

When not on air or in the rink, he worked as a sales agent for a knitting mill and manufacturing firms. He also owned a sporting-goods store.

Mr. Meeker was attending a trade show in Montreal in 1968 when local Hockey Night in Canada host Ted Darling asked producer Ralph Mellanby to use him as an analyst. As it turned out, the producer had been a boyhood fan. It was the start of a two-decade run on the legendary show.

“No one broadcaster ever changed TV hockey coverage more than Howie,” Mr. Mellanby later said.

The former player was a Picasso with the Telestrator, an innovation that allowed him to draw on the screen like a coach in the locker room. The broadcaster added to the national lexicon with his chirpy instructions to unseen video operators to “Stop it there!” and “Roll it back, fellas, roll it back!”

Two instructional books, Howie Meeker’s Hockey Basics (1973) and More Hockey Basics from Howie Meeker (1975), influenced a generation of players, many of whom learned the game while wearing Meeker-endorsed CCM and Bauer hockey equipment.


He became a popular guest speaker at hockey banquets and it was on one of those tours that he and a son hooked a pair of large salmon off Vancouver Island. He decided to move from one side of the country to the other in 1977, settling in on a seaside home overlooking the Strait of Georgia near Parksville. He was an indefatigable supporter of several charities, including the Special Olympics and the B.C. Guide Dog Services.

Mr. Meeker died on Nov. 8. There was no immediate word on cause of death. He leaves Leah Meeker, his wife of 21 years. years. He was predeceased by his first wife, the former Grace Hammer, who died in 1998. A complete list of survivors was unavailable. A memorial will be held in New Hamburg, Ont., at a later date, the Leafs said in a statement.

The former player has been inducted into several regional and provincial sports halls of fame. He was presented the Gordon Sinclair Award for outspoken opinion and integrity at the ACTRA (now known as the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) ceremonies in 1974. In 1998, he won the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for broadcasting at the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was enshrined in the media section of the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003 and was named a member of the Order of Canada in 2010.

Perhaps his most fitting accolade was one he originally balked at receiving because he felt unworthy of the honour. In Parksville, local children now skate and play hockey in a 1,000-seat rink named the Howie Meeker Arena.

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Britain does about-face, backs soccer star Marcus Rashford’s child hunger campaign

PAN PYLAS
LONDON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED  NOVEMBER 8, 2020

Open this photo in gallery  

Manchester United player Marcus Rashford visits FareShare Greater Manchester at New Smithfield Market, Oct. 22, 2020.
MARK WAUGH/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The British government has made another abrupt about-face and now says it will provide free meals to disadvantaged children in England over the upcoming holidays following a hugely popular child hunger campaign by soccer star Marcus Rashford.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson phoned the 23-year-old Manchester United striker after his team’s Premier League victory over Everton on Saturday to inform him of the government’s decision to spend 170 million pounds ($220 million) in extra funding to support needy families over the coming year.

“Following the game today, I had a good conversation with the prime minister to better understand the proposed plan, and I very much welcome the steps that have been taken to combat child food poverty in the U.K.,” Rashford said. His petition demanding the Conservative government pay for free school meals for disadvantaged students over the holidays attracted more than 1 million signatures.

The money will be handed to local authorities by December in time to support families over Christmas, many of whom are facing financial difficulties due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Rashford, who has eloquently spoken about his own childhood experiences of relying on free school lunches and food banks, said the steps taken will improve the lives of nearly 1.7 million children in the U.K. over the next 12 months, “and that can only be celebrated.”

Rashford said he was “so proud” of those who backed his campaign against child hunger and that he was “overwhelmed by the outpouring of empathy and understanding.”

It’s the second time this year that Rashford has forced the government to change its policies. In June, it agreed to keep funding meals for poor students over the summer holidays after initially resisting.

The new money will pay for the COVID Winter Grant Scheme to support families over Christmas while the Holiday Activities and Food program will be extended to cover the Easter, summer and Christmas breaks in 2021.

As part of the package, Healthy Start payments, which help expectant mothers and those on low incomes with young children buy fresh fruit and vegetables, are to rise from 3.10 pounds to 4.25 pounds ($3.61 to $4.94) a week beginning in April 2021.

“We want to make sure vulnerable people feel cared for throughout this difficult time and, above all, no one should go hungry or be unable to pay their bills this winter,” said Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey.

The new money comes a month after the Conservative government failed to back a motion from the opposition Labour Party to extend free school meals.

Labour’s education spokesperson, Kate Green, accused the government of “incompetence and intransigence” for waiting until after the October fall school break to make the announcement, and of creating “needless and avoidable hardship for families across the country.”

Businesses and local governments stepped into the breach following the government’s failure to pay for free school meals in October.

England’s children’s commissioner, Anne Longfield, welcomed the government’s announcement Sunday but called on it to “go further” with benefit payments.

“Hunger does not take a holiday when schools close and a long-term solution to the growing number of children in poverty is urgently required,” she said.

Anna Taylor, executive director of the Food Foundation think tank, also welcomed the government’s change of heart, saying it was a “big win” for disadvantaged children. But she said the government needs to help another 1.7 million poor students who miss out on free school lunches because the qualifying income is set far too low.

“Children’s food poverty, like the pandemic, will not go away until we have a lasting solution in place,” she said.
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Investors celebrate Biden winning U.S. presidency

By Lewis Krauskopf, Koh Gui Qing, Lawrence Delevingne


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors and financial executives took a big sigh of relief on Saturday after major networks declared Democrat Joe Biden winner of the U.S. presidential election, offering some certainty after days of conflicting reports about who might run the White House next term.



Although current President Donald Trump said he would fight the results in court, Wall Streeters who offered comments felt there was little doubt Biden would ultimately succeed. Election predictors including the Associated Press, NBC, Fox News and Edison Research, upon which Reuters relies, called the presidency for Biden.

“Biden is good news for the markets,” Christopher Stanton, chief investment officer at Sunrise Capital Partners, said on Saturday. “We’re all so tired of the whipsaw that came with the Trump tweets.”

Major U.S. stock indexes registered their biggest weekly gains since April this week, as investors bet Biden would win and Republicans would hold onto the Senate. That scenario would create a steadier hand in the Oval Office and a Congress that would check left-leaning impulses on taxes or regulations that pinch companies, investors said.

However, there are lingering risks to asset prices in the days and weeks ahead.

Republicans have already filed several lawsuits over ballot counting and Trump said his campaign will file more. The litigation could drag out election proceedings.

Investor focus also now turns to the Senate, which remains undecided ahead of two runoff elections in Georgia on Jan. 5. The significance of those races, which could potentially end up with the Democrats controlling all three of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives, means January is “the new November” in terms of election volatility risk, Michael Purves, founder and CEO of Tallbacken Capital, said in a note to clients. Purves said that was evident when looking at contracts for the stockmarket’s fear gauge, the VIX, stretching out into the months ahead.

Beyond those battles, investors have been worried about the people Biden might appoint to his Cabinet. Some of those officials would be negotiating with Congress about a relief package and have extensive powers to craft Wall Street rules.

Current U.S. Federal Reserve governor and former McKinsey consultant Lael Brainard’s name has been floated as a potential Treasury Secretary, while Biden has already tapped former derivatives market regulator and Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker Gary Gensler for advice on financial regulation.

Factbox: With Biden declared winner, what's next for investors

For the moment, investors and prominent Wall Street figures said they were happy with the election finally being called after what seemed like unending tension as ballots were counted through the week.

“Now is a time for unity,” JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said in a statement. “We must respect the results of the U.S. presidential election and, as we have with every election, honor the decision of the voters and support a peaceful transition of power.”

Leon Cooperman, a billionaire former hedge fund manager who had previously criticized Democrats said he was pleased with the results.

“It’s a signal to the world that America has not changed its values,” said Cooperman, of Omega Family Office. “That’s a good thing in my view.”

Robert Wolf, a major Democratic donor and former UBS Group AG executive who now runs 32 Advisors, was enthusiastic: “I am ecstatic, relieved and deeply hopeful for the future of this country,” he said in a text message.

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman wrote on Twitter: “There comes a time in the battle when one should fold the tent,” and urged: “Concede graciously and call for unity.”

The financial industry was not reacting in a bubble: major cities from New York to San Francisco erupted in celebration on Saturday. Though Trump undoubtedly has significant support throughout the country, including on Wall Street, 2020 has been a difficult year for the United States.

The coronavirus pandemic has taken a huge toll on the country, killing some 236,250 people so far, while social unrest over the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, has only hardened divisions that already existed.

Many voters were hoping for a decisive election that would offer some calm, whichever candidate they cast ballots for.

Mohamed El-Erian, Allianz Group’s chief economic adviser, said he hoped a Biden administration could work with Congress to get a handle on the pandemic and pass an economic stimulus package for struggling Americans.

“The country needs to come together to deal better with a surge in Covid infections that risks the loss of more lives, greater disruptions to livelihoods, and long-term economic, institutional and social scarring,” he said.

Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf, Koh Gui Qing and Lawrence Delevingne; Additional reporting by Ira Iosebashvili and Megan Davies; Writing by Lauren Tara LaCapra; Editing by Alden Bentley, Grant McCool and Daniel Wallis



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Canada ready for talks on aid to airlines, which could include loans

By Steve Scherer

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada is ready to start talks with major airlines this week about financial assistance to the hard-hit sector that could come in the form of loans or other support, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said on Sunday.

The government is drafting a package of measures for Canadian airlines, airports and the aerospace sector, Garneau said in a statement, confirming an exclusive story last week by Reuters.

“As part of this package, we are ready to establish a process with major airlines regarding financial assistance which could include loans and potentially other support to secure important results for Canadians,” Garneau said.

He said it would ensure that regional communities would retain their connections to the rest of Canada, the world’s second-largest country by area, and added that “strict conditions” would come with any aid.

Garneau also said Canada would not spend “one penny of taxpayer money on airlines” until Canadians received refunds for flights that were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

While several countries, including the United States and Australia, have offered billions in direct emergency support to their airlines, Canada has not.

Air Canada AC.TO and WestJet, the two main carriers, and transport unions have been pleading for help for months as passenger demand cratered.

Air Canada has already laid off around 20,000 workers, about half its workforce. According to the Canadian Airports Council, Canadian passenger traffic from April through August was down 92% from the same period in 2019.

“The air sector cannot respond to these challenges on its own, given the unprecedented impacts on its operations,” Garneau said.

Airlines must refund customers for cancelled flights before they get federal aid, Garneau says

ERIC ATKINS TRANSPORTATION REPORTER
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 8, 2020

Transport Minister Marc Garneau says airlines must refund customers' money for flights cancelled in the COVID-19 pandemic before the carriers receive any federal government aid.

The government is readying a long-awaited package of financial bailouts for Canadian airlines, airports and the aerospace industry, which have seen customer demand and traffic plunge owing to fears of catching the deadly virus, border closings and travel quarantines. Negotiations are to begin this week, and will include a requirement that customers get their money back for cancelled flights, Mr. Garneau said in a statement.

Canada’s airlines have, in most cases, collectively hung on to billions of dollars in fares for flights that never happened, offering credits instead and angering thousands of customers. The carriers face financial straits as about 90 per cent of flights have been grounded, while some, including Porter Airlines, have suspended all service.

On Sunday, Mr. Garneau signaled airlines that want government help will have pay back customers. “Before we spend one penny of taxpayer money on airlines, we will ensure Canadians get their refunds,” he said in the statement, without elaborating.

“Wow,” said John Gradek, who teaches aviation leadership at McGill University. “That’s putting a line in the sand, isn’t it? He’s making a definitive statement in terms of what has to be done.”


The Canadian Transportation Agency has received about 8,000 complaints from airline customers since mid-March, when airlines cancelled most of their flights and governments closed borders and issued stay-at-home advisories. Most carriers have added a few flights since the spring, but cancellations continue amid low demand owing to a resurgent virus and travel restrictions.

Canada’s borders are closed to most non-essential travelers, and those who enter are required to self-isolate for 14 days.

“We have heard from many Canadians who have been negatively affected,” Mr. Garneau’s statement said. “When the unprecedented pandemic broke out in the spring, Canadians who had already booked travel ended up stuck with vouchers for trips they could not take instead of getting refunds. They found themselves in a situation where they have given thousands of dollars in interest-free loans to airlines.”

He said the government will ensure Canadians and regional communities retain air connections to the rest of Canada, and that air carriers maintain their status as key customers of Canada’s aerospace industry.

“Any assistance the government of Canada provides will come with strict conditions to protect Canadians and the public interest,” the statement said.

Mr. Garneau was not available on Sunday for an interview.

WestJet Airlines Ltd. recently broke ranks with its rivals, offering refunds to some customers who paid for flights that were cancelled because of the pandemic. The refunds will take as long as nine months to arrive, and do not apply if the customer cancelled. “We will evaluate this afternoon’s statement from the government of Canada and will await greater clarity on what support for the aviation sector might include,” WestJet said in a statement on Sunday.

Air Canada has said it has provided more than $1-billion in refunds where required by law, in Europe and the United States, but generally offers credits for cancelled domestic flights. It has about $2.4-billion in prepaid fares, according to its most recent financial report. The airline had more than $9-billion in liquidity as of June 30, but has been spending about $16-million a day to keep operating, and posted a loss of $1.7-billion in the second quarter. (Air Canada is scheduled to report its third-quarter results on Monday morning.)

An Air Canada spokesman declined to comment on Sunday, and pointed to a statement by the National Airlines Council of Canada, an industry group that said it welcomed the government’s efforts to stabilize the industry but did not address the question of refunds.

The statement quotes Mike McNaney, head of the group, as saying: “Airlines are struggling to remain viable because of the economic chaos created by COVID-19.”

Mr. McNaney could not be immediately reached by phone on Sunday.

Montreal-based leisure airline Transat AT Inc., which has $564-million in non-refunded fares, said the government aid will help it reimburse customers, and it is eager to learn about the package. “Most of our foreign competitors have received massive aid from their governments many months ago,” spokesman Christophe Hennebelle said.
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