“In consequence of the late disgraceful conduct of the American troops in the wanton destruction of private property on the north shores of Lake Erie… you may, should you judge it advisable, assist in inflicting that measure of retaliation which shall deter the enemy from a repetition of similar outrages” -- Sir George Prévost, Governor General of Upper and Lower Canada

On this day in 1814, British troops set fire to the Library of Congress, United States Treasury and Department of War on the second day of the Burning of Washington. A 4,000-strong British force had occupied the city as part of the War of 1812. The previous day, they had burned the White House (then known as the Presidential Mansion) and the Capitol. British rear admiral George Cockburn walked into the House of Representatives, sat in the Speaker’s chair and asked:  “Shall this harbour of Yankee democracy be burned? All for it will say ‘Aye.’”  Within minutes troops were piling up flammable items.

POLOZ CLARIFIES RATE CUT COMMENTS 

Our Top Line today is the blaze ignited in currency markets by Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz, who confused investors yesterday when he seemed to tell the House of Commons, less than a week after revealing that the bank has been discussing more stimulus, that the best plan is to wait for the next 18 months. That was initially seen as a warning that more easing is not coming soon, which pushed the Canadian dollar sharply higher. But within two hours, Poloz issued a clarification that the 18-month comment was not about monetary policy but was a reference to the output gap. 

AIRBNB'S EFFECT ON HOUSING

Speaking of real estate destruction, at 5:30 p.m. ET on Greg Bonnell’s House Money, we’ll be joined by Hilliard MacBeth, author of When the Bubble Bursts. He has been warning that inflated home prices threaten to inflict a financial crisis on Canada.

Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says the province will not imitate the B.C. tax on foreign homebuyers.

And Greg’s all over the controversial question of whether short-term home-rental websites such as Airbnb make rented accommodation tougher to find for permanent residents. Trying to fend off of strict regulations in Toronto, Airbnb has produced numbers it says demonstrates that the business is having little effect.

At 5:30 pm. ET, Greg talks to Alex Dagg, public policy manager at Airbnb Canada. We then have a fresh angle on the story at 5:40 p.m. ET when we hear from Linda Pinizzotto, head of the city’s Condo Owners Association. She says condo owners aren’t happy when neighbouring suites are rented out via Airbnb.

“All of a sudden you start seeing a bunch of strange faces roaming around the building for two days,” she told the Toronto Star. “People are knocking on doors asking why there’s no coffee machine. It’s nonsense.”

Pinizzotto said the renters cause more wear and tear to common areas: “The buildings were never made to be a bed and breakfast.”   

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Are You a Financial Advisor?

As we approach the final months of 2016, BNN’s Catherine Murray looks at some of the best ways to utilize TFSAs and RRSPs - and the tax implications that are making the TFSA extremely popular among high-net-worth clients.

Compensating advisors for selling mutual funds and ETFs

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Explaining life cycle investing to clients

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TALKING TECH 

If Toronto home prices are to stay aloft, the country’s biggest city will need a lot of new jobs, many of which will be in emerging industries. At 10:40 a.m. ET, we’ll hear from Alex Norman of TechToronto, which bills itself as "the best way to expand your knowledge and network within Toronto's technology community.​"

TechToronto reckons that as of last year,  2.7 million people were employed in the city and tech jobs accounted for 401,000 or 15 per cent of that amount.

We’ve also got technology on Commodities at 11:50 a.m. ET when we're joined by Stéphane Germain, president of  GHGSat. The Montreal-based company has launched a satellite, named Claire, to measure greenhouse gas emissions from industrial facilities around the world. Oil sands companies have signed on for the service.

CETA UNCERTAINTY CONTINUES 

Finally, we’re finding out more about  Belgium’s decayed industrial region of  Wallonia, which is blocking the EU trade pact with Canada. The BBC says it includes the city of Charleroi, which has been dubbed the ugliest  in the world. The artist Magritte came from Wallonia and it’s home to FN Herstal, which makes the M4 assault rifle.

Finally, it may be the place that invented French fries.

French fries? We need this deal.

Every morning Commodities host Andrew Bell writes a ‘chase note’ to BNN's editorial staff listing the stories and events that will be in the spotlight that day. Have it delivered to your inbox before the trading day begins by heading to www.bnn.ca/subscribe.