Voyageur 122
Gold Knocked US Treasuries Off the World's Reserve Throne, and Spies Are Bracing for Canada's Religious-Symbols Ruling.
News for residents of the “11th province”: Canadians abroad.
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Gold Knocked US Treasuries Off the World's Reserve Throne
For the first time, the world's central banks are holding more value in gold than they are in US Treasuries. The European Central Bank ran the numbers and gold now makes up 27% of global reserves, up from 20% the year before. Treasuries slipped to 22% from 25%.
Part of the reason is the price of the shiny stuff - gold’s been on a tear and blew past $5,500 an ounce in January, so the bars that are already in a vault are simply worth more. But trust is also a factor. China, Poland, Turkey and India have been loading up since 2022, shifting their reserves away from the dollar, and central banks together now hold more than 36,000 tonnes, closing in on Bretton Woods levels.
The US dollar is still the biggest single slice of global reserves at 42%, so nobody's walking away from it. But the people who manage the world's money are spreading their bets. 'Geopolitical tensions continue to drive strong central bank demand for gold,' said ECB chief Christine Lagarde.
If you’re holding your savings in greenbacks or watching the loonie from abroad, the slow drift out of US debt might be worth a deeper look.
Read more: Financial Post / Financial Times
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Spies Are Bracing for Canada's Religious-Symbols Ruling
Canada's spy agencies see a 'realistic' chance that an upcoming Supreme Court ruling could feed violent extremist rhetoric, according to a federal intelligence assessment that was released this week.
The case is Quebec's Bill 21, the 2019 secularism law that bars public workers in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols like a hijab, turban or kippah while on the job. “Public workers” includes, among others, teachers, police officers, judges and prison guards.
Quebec shielded the law with the notwithstanding clause, part of the constitution that lets a government switch off Charter rights when it “needs to.” The National Council of Canadian Muslims, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and an English Montreal school board all weighed in to challenge it, and the country's top court heard four days of arguments during the month of March. A decision is expected to land in the next few months.
The bigger question the judges have to settle is how far a province can go in overriding the rights in Canada's Charter. The answer to that question is likely to well outlast Bill 21.
Read more: National Post / Canadian Civil Liberties Association