Are Americans’ Finances Better or Worse Under Trump?

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Luke Vargas (0:34)

Relief for Canada's Prime Minister as the province of Alberta votes against pursuing independence.

Plus, Japan looks to carve out a role for itself in lucrative commercial space market.

And brace yourself for the priciest holiday travel season in years.

Rebecca Cadenhead (0:49)

The average domestic round trip ticket over the Thanksgiving travel period is 31 percent more expensive than last year so far.

Luke Vargas (0:56)

It's Tuesday, October 20th. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

Alberta has voted overwhelmingly to remain in Canada following a historic referendum. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is projecting that more than three quarters of voters who cast a ballot backed staying in Canada, avoiding a political crisis that Prime Minister Mark Carney had argued the country could ill afford amidst a trade war with the US. In a statement this morning, Carney said that Canada now had the chance to unleash its full potential as a global energy superpower with oil-rich Alberta at its core. Journal Canada correspondent Amanda Coletta is in Alberta for us this morning. Amanda, good morning. Take us through how this vote unfolded.

Amanda Coletta (1:51)

Albertans voted by a pretty convincing margin to remain in Canada after a months-long debate on whether the province should stay in Canada or start the process towards a second binding referendum on separation. In many ways, this is kind of an odd time for a part of Canada to be holding a referendum on whether to take steps towards separation. The vote comes at a pretty delicate time for Canada's national unity, in part because of President Trump, who has levied tariffs on Canadian goods and threatened to make the country the 51st state. So this will be a relief for many in Canada, including Prime Minister Carney.

But the result was not unexpected. This is pretty much what polls have predicted.

Luke Vargas (2:47)

So what does all this mean going forward, Amanda, especially for Carney's plans to spur growth in a shift away from the United States?

Amanda Coletta (2:55)

One reason people are breathing a sigh of relief is that there had been some pretty dire warnings about the economic consequences of a vote in favor of holding a second referendum. The Calgary Chamber of Commerce surveyed its members in June, and nearly half of those who responded said that they'd consider relocating to another province if voters picked the second option. And that brought back to mind what happened during Quebec's debates over independence when there was an exodus of corporate head offices from Montreal, which was at the time Canada's financial capital to Toronto.

And there had been a whole host of other studies by economists and other academics, which said that Alberta would have to pay huge costs to become an independent country, that unemployment would rise, that GDP would shrink, that it would take on way more debt. And this also would not have been great for Canada, which depends on Alberta's oil and gas revenues.

Luke Vargas (4:07)

And Amanda, those industries have been pretty central to Carney's pitch, to Canada's potential trading partners. No, what does this result mean for them?

Amanda Coletta (4:15)

One thing that a vote for a second referendum would have fomented is uncertainty. And as Alberta and Canada are looking for investors from abroad and investors at home to put money in what Prime Minister Carney has called nation-building projects. These are projects that would help get Canada's exports to new markets as part of an effort to diversify Canada's economy away from the United States. There were fears that that uncertainty could lead to a chilling of investment. And now that the debate appears to be somewhat more settled, that is something that could potentially be taken off the table.

Luke Vargas (5:00)

I've been speaking to the Journal of Canada correspondent, Amanda Coletta. Amanda, I appreciate you getting up early for us. Thanks so much.

Amanda Coletta (5:06)

Thanks for having me.

Luke Vargas (5:10)

President Trump is confirming his interest in a proposal pitched to him by Vladimir Putin in which he would meet with the Russian leader and China's Xi Jinping next month. Speaking to reporters, Trump pushed back on criticism from Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, who'd said the US was on the wrong side of history for engaging with Moscow.