The Canadian Markets started off the month of December on a sour note with the bears once again coming out of hibernation to maul the bulls. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange plunged 9.32%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 13.8% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, dropped 3.55% with the declining issuers outpacing the advancers by a 543 to 253 margin on volume of 144 million shares traded.