A STENCH OFF TRUDEAU"S PIPELINE BAILOUT

   Two executives at the Canadian unit of Texas-based Kinder Morgan are poised to cash in with $1.5 million bonuses after Ottawa offered to bailout their west coast oil pipeline system and expansion project, according to a new filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
    Economist Robyn Allan, who has spent the past few years analyzing the Trans Mountain project, said that the Trudeau government is misrepresenting the business case for the pipeline. Trans Mountain's last estimated the project would cost about $7.4 billion, but Allan estimates that the construction costs alone would likely exceed $9 billion, not including the $4.5 billion purchase price for the assets.

Allan also questioned the claims from the government that its deal would create 15,000 jobs.
"How does this purchase create jobs? They don't even know the capital costs of this project, according to this agreement," said Allan, a former president of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, in an interview.

CANADIAN DOLLAR TANKS

   Huff Post:  Some analysts see even more weakness ahead for the loonie, due to Canada's declining competitiveness on exports.
"What's been lacking are ribbon-cutting ceremonies at the new facilities — factories, labs and office towers — needed to expand export capacity."
  The economists noted that a dropping loonie would make Canada more competitive, but "it would be better if Canada had other advantages to support export growth, rather than rely on a weak loonie that makes us less able to spend abroad."
  If the country doesn't step up its export game, the loonie will drop to around 70 cents U.S. in the 2020s, the CIBC economists predicted.
   To boost Canada's exports, they suggested "thinner" business regulations, lower corporate taxes and faster government approvals of projects.

ONTARIO'S NIGHTMARE

  Toronto Sun:  Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath is no longer ruling out the possibility of forming a coalition government with Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals, installing Horwath as premier, if she fails to win a majority of seats in the June 7 election.
   “If we get there on June 8th, and that’s a decision that has to be made, the question would be, would Kathleen Wynne be willing to work with me?” Horwath told CBC’s Ottawa Morning Friday.
   That’s a flip-flop from Horwath’s firm declaration on May 14 that: “I am unequivocally saying I have no interest in partnering up with that (Liberal) party. They have consistently made decisions that were in their own political best interest, decisions that were in the best interest of the well-connected Liberals and high-income earners that tend to be their friends.”

SHINY PONY COMING AFTER TRUMP'S GHERKINS

   NP:  Quiche. Toilet paper. Steel tubes. Chocolate. Coffee. Gherkin pickles. And something called "odoriferous preparations used during religious rites."
    These are just a few of the U.S.-manufactured items that Canada is planning to penalize in planned countermeasures against President Donald Trump's just-announced tariffson Canadian steel and aluminum products.
   The following is the full list of retaliatory measures proposed this afternoon by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.

MANDATORY EVACUATION ORDERS IN HAWAII

   Dangerous 'vigorous' lava eruptions have prompted a strict mandatory evacuation order for the Hawaii community hardest hit by the Kilauea Volcano.
   Those who snub the order risk being arrested, as the Big Island's mayor, Harry Kim, declared a roughly 17-block swath of the lava-stricken Leilani Estates subdivision off-limits indefinitely, and gave any residents remaining there 24 hours to leave
   After a month of continual eruptions at Kilauea's summit and along its eastern flank, geologists say they have no idea how much longer it will last.
   'There's no sign we're getting that anything is going to slow down at the moment,' Wendy STOVL, a vulcanologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, told reporters on a conference call on Thursday. 'We don't see any changes occurring.'

ALL HAIL THE G7 LEADERS

   Montreal Gazette, QUEBEC:  Farmers in the Charlevoix region near the site of next week’s G7 summit at the posh Fairmont Manoir Richelieu are being asked to refrain from spreading manure lest a world leader get a whiff of it during their stay.
    Many farmers are none too happy about being told what they can and cannot do.
   This is a critical time for producers to get their crops in after the long, cold winter.
   But the missive obtained by the paper is clear.
  “We ask your collaboration so that the stay of our invitees in our welcoming region be as positive as possible,” the memo says. “For this, all elements of hospitality take on notable importance.”

PROTECTIONISM, PURE & SIMPLE

   NP: The Trump administration delivered a gut punch to America’s closest allies Thursday, imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum from Europe, Mexico and Canada in a move that drew immediate vows of retaliation.
   Stock prices slumped amid fears of a trade war, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling nearly 252 points, or 1 per cent, to 24,415.84.
    The import duties threaten to drive up prices for American consumers and companies and are likely to heighten uncertainty for businesses and investors around the globe.