New Year’s yearnings

Just when you forgot all your New Year’s resolutions and thought there was nothing else to worry about, along comes a cold-hearted announcement from Ottawa. The Old Age Pension, otherwise known as the pogey, has been increased for 2026 by a piddly 2 percent, less than the rise in the cost of living last year.
According to the economic advisory group CanAge, seniors are turning down the heat in their homes and buying expired food to save money.
Even the economists at Canada’s six major banks couldn’t come up with anything more positive about the coming year than “cautiously optimistic” according to a report in my morning paper. And you can bet they will all make daily adjustments in their outlook, according to a report from me, thus ending the year by being exactly on the mark.
As for house prices, as any seller can tell you, the Toronto-area market is in a slump with prices averaging $1 million, which sound pretty good except the last time I looked the average was $1.2 million. That’s a lot of lost moolah. Condos and semi-detached have fared worst of all.
And there’s our oblivious Prime Minster on his usual world travels, trying to beat the record set by Christopher Columbus. Mark Carney goes to China next week, then to the Qatari capital of Doha in the Persian Gulf, followed by the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
And this is a leader whose government is one seat short of a majority. Imagine the freedom he’d feel if he had swept the country. We’d never see him. He’d be on Mars heading for Pluto.
By contrast, Trump is beginning to make sense, even to me, a doubting Thomas. He’s pulling out of 66 international organizations. The annual savings might even pay for another Rose Garden. Although Trump is still musing about annexing Canada, fortunately, he’s got Greenland more on his mind.
And what’s there to cheer about in the world of sports? After the Blue Jays almost won the World Series, our hockey teams are in a tailspin. Edmonton and Montreal are doing fine but the Winnipeg Jets have lost ten games in a row. The beleaguered Toronto Maple Leafs, who last won the Stanley Cup in 1967, are fifth in the wild card, a long way from nowhere. If I were a betting man, I wouldn’t be betting.