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Hard Numbers: Brazil bets on tourists, Canada braces for flames, Biden beefs up bridges, Is Ottawa spending too much money?
Cityscape of the Guanabara Bay at the peak of Corcovado Mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1 July 2019.
3: Brazil has now, for the third time,prolonged visa-free entry for citizens of the US, Canada, and Australia. For years, Brazil’s visa policy has operated on the principle of reciprocity — “we ask of your citizens what you ask of ours” – but in 2019, the Bolsonaro administration scrapped that for the US and others to boost tourism. While current President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva pledged to reverse that decision, the flood of US tourists has made it a hard sell. Brasilia now says it’ll wait until next year at the earliest.
6,000: As Canada girds for another “catastrophic” summer wildfire season, Ottawa hasdoubled the tax credit for volunteer firefighters to $6,000. Last year was the country’s worst wildfire season on record, with blazes that displaced more than 230,000 people and sent smoke billowing across the US, blanketing major cities with smog for days at a time.
830 million: Speaking of governments spending money, the Biden administration announced Thursday that it has earmarked $830 million to make US infrastructure — roads, bridges, rails, and ports — more resilient to climate change. The money will go to 80 different projects across 37 states and territories.
59: Is the Canadian government spending too much money? Some 59% of Canadians think so, according to anew survey (carried out just in time for tax season!) The partisan divide is stark though — more than three-quarters of conservative voters said Ottawa is too loose with its cash, but just 30% of Liberal voters agreed.