No moratorium on Alberta nuclear plants, minister says December 15, 2009
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Energy Minister Mel Knight said Monday there will be no moratorium on nuclear energy plants in Alberta. (CBC)Alberta will not stand in the way of the construction of nuclear power plants, Energy Minister Mel Knight said Monday, following the release of a telephone survey that suggests 45 per cent of Albertans want nuclear plants approved on a case-by-case basis.
“There’ll be no moratorium,” Knight told reporters at the Alberta legislature.
“We are not proponents of nuclear energy. We’re not working with any company to build nuclear energy. ? We’re saying that we need power, and proponents that want to build in the system in Alberta are welcome to do so.”
In the government-commissioned telephone survey, 45 per cent of respondents said they wanted projects considered on a case-by-case basis, 28 per cent opposed any proposals for nuclear power plants in the province, 19 per cent felt the province should encourage proposals and eight per cent said they didn’t know.
In the intial voluntary online and mail-in survey, about 55 per cent opposed proposals for nuclear plants, about 28 per cent felt the province should encourage proposals and 16 per cent felt projects should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
However, unlike the telephone survey, the results of the voluntary survey are not considered to be a statistically valid sample of Albertans.
The random telephone survey of 1,024 Alberta residents was conducted from July 8 to 20 by Innovative Research Group, Inc. The poll has a margin of error of 3.06 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
The surveys were part of Alberta’s nuclear power consultation that was launched earlier this year after an expert panel in March identified issues around nuclear power but made no recommendations about the direction the province should take.
Plans for 1st nuclear power plant in Alberta
There are no nuclear power plants in Alberta. Bruce Power is working on a proposal to build a plant about 30 kilometres north of Peace River, in northern Alberta.
NDP legislature member Rachel Notley says the government is ignoring what Albertans want by allowing nuclear plants in the province.(CBC)Any prospective applications would go through the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, where proponents would have to hold public hearings, Knight said. While Alberta does have the power to put a moratorium on nuclear power, Knight said the province isn’t going to do that.
“This is a really disappointing outcome for Albertans,” NDP MLA Rachel Notley said.
Even though the government engineered the consultation process to get a certain outcome, Notley said, the results showed many Albertans are still concerned about the launch of nuclear power in the province.
“If this government was really interested in listening to Albertans, what they would do is they would close the door [on nuclear power].”
The questions in the telephone survey were developed after an initial consultation period that involved discussion groups with 193 people in 10 communities, an online and mail-in workbook that was completed by another 3,615 people, and consultation with community, business, environmental and First Nations groups.
With files from The Canadian Press (more…)
Globalive says wireless network launch imminent December 11, 2009
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Anthony Lacavera is the chairman of Globalive, which got approval Friday to become Canada’s fourth major mobile phone company after Rogers, Bell and Telus. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)
Upstart wireless company Globalive said it could launch its Wind cellphone network “as early as Monday” in Toronto and Calgary after the federal government approved its ownership structure Friday.
Globalive chairman Anthony Lacavera floated the possible Monday launch date in comments he made to CBC News after a press conference in Toronto on Friday announcing the network.
CEO Ken Campbell, who was also at the press conference, was more vague, saying Wind would be available in Toronto and Calgary “very soon.”
Globalive plans to have its wireless service available across the country, except in Quebec, in 2010, starting with major cities.
The company bought the right to establish a new wireless network after spending $442 million in a government auction of airwaves last year.
The federal government had set aside airwaves in the auction for new players in the hopes of encouraging more competition in the wireless market and lowering prices for consumers.
Campbell said consumers in the launch markets won’t have to wait until Christmas to get a Wind cellphone.
“The objective is to have quite a few Wind mobiles under Christmas trees,” he said.
The company already has national and international roaming agreements and will be offering smartphones, including a selection from brands such as HTC, Samsung and BlackBerry. But it won’t be offering Apple’s iPhone or any phones using Google Inc.’s Android software.
Three-month stock chart for BCE Inc. on the TSX.(CBC)
Three-month stock chart for Telus on the TSX.(CBC)
Three-month stock chart for Rogers on the TSX.(CBC)CRTC decision overruled
Industry Canada had approved Globalive’s ownership structure, but the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said in October that the company did not meet Canadian ownership and control requirements.
The regulator said the fact that the Toronto-based company has received most of its funding from Naguib Sawiris, the billionaire head of Egyptian telecommunications company Orascom, disqualified it from operating in Canada.
But on Friday, Industry Minister Tony Clement overturned the CRTC ruling, saying a government review found Globalive met Canadian ownership and control requirements under the Telecommunications Act.
“We take this decision very seriously. It is based on the application of these requirements to the facts in this case,” said Clement.
He said the decision would allow Globalive to set up shop “effective immediately” and would not require the company to make any changes to its ownership structure.
Industry Minister Tony Clement on Friday said Globalive will not have to make changes to its ownership structure, even though it is mostly funded by the head of an Egyptian telecommunications company.
Globalive had argued its ownership was Canadian and that it would liked to have secured financing from other sources, but the global credit crunch prevented it from doing so for much of the past year.
Canada’s existing cellphone companies, Bell, Rogers and Telus, had argued that Globalive was little more than a front for Orascom. The carriers were disappointed with Clement’s ruling.
“If Wind is Canadian, then so was King Tut,” said Michael Hennessy, head of regulatory affairs for Telus, on his Twitter page. “When you have no effective opposition party, you can make the rules you want.”
Shares of the three major Canadian wireless players all declined sharply on the Toronto Stock Exchange Friday morning.
Consumer advocates cheered the government’s decision as a big win for cellphone customers.
“More competition should elevate Canada’s market to that approaching what exists in the rest of the world,” said Michael Janigan, director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.
Clement said the ruling was a one-time decision specific to the company’s situation and would not have any bearing on foreign-ownership restrictions currently in place.
CRTC says no to Globalive November 3, 2009
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Globalive CEO Anthony Lacavera had planned to launch cellphone service in Toronto and Calgary this year.(Globalive)
Globalive does not meet Canadian ownership and control requirements and cannot therefore set up shop as Canada’s fourth national cellphone company, the CRTC says.
The regulator on Thursday found that the Toronto-based company, which is backed by Egypt’s Orascom and had plans to launch service in Toronto and Calgary this year under the Wind brand, does not meet ownership and control rules.
“The commission found it particularly important that Orascom owns 65.1 per cent of the equity, has entered into a strategic technical arrangement with Globalive, controls and holds the ‘Wind’ brand under which Globalive will operate, and holds the overwhelming majority of the outstanding debt,” the regulator said.
“The commission therefore determines that Globalive has not met the requirements of the ownership and control regime and is therefore not currently eligible to operate as a Canadian telecommunications common carrier.”
The CRTC prescribed a list of changes the company could theoretically make in order to bring itself into compliance, which would include amendments to the composition of its board of directors, liquidity rights and the threshold for veto rights.
However, the fact that Orascom controls almost all of the company’s debt is a factor that cannot be easily resolved.
“When these levers are considered in concert with Orascom’s provision of the vast majority of Globalive’s debt financing, the commission finds that it cannot conclude that Globalive is not controlled in fact by a non-Canadian, to wit Orascom,” the CRTC said. “In other words, the commission finds that Orascom has the ongoing ability to determine Globalive’s strategic decision-making activities.”
Globalive chief executive Anthony Lacavera said the CRTC has made a “bad decision” and that Canadians need to speak up on what they want to see in the wireless marketplace.
“What this means for Canadians is less choice in wireless, higher prices, less features and services,” Lacavera told CBC News. “We were ready to launch with a new competitive offering that’s going to cause all the incumbent players to bring better offerings themselves to Canadians.”
‘We are a Canadian company’
Lacavera rejected the findings of the CRTC, saying Globalive complies with Canadian ownership rules.
?The CRTC has, in our estimation, made errors in their assessment of our control and ownership. We are a Canadian company, we have always been a Canadian company. We’re ready to begin a new wireless offering to Canadians and Canadians have spoken loud and clear that they want this choice in wireless.”
He said they are still assessing their options.
The CRTC decision stymies the company’s plans to launch service across the country, except in Quebec, by next year after spending $442 million in an auction of government airwaves last year. Globalive passed an ownership test by Industry Canada at the conclusion of the auction.
The government had reserved airwaves for potential new wireless carriers during the auction in an effort to boost competition in the Canadian marketplace.
Telecommunications analyst Carmi Levy said he was shocked by the decision, given the federal government?s apparent openness to foreign investment.
Several other companies are also hoping to enter the sector and Levy said they should be double-checking their ownership structures.
?It means that the CRTC is looking very closely into precisely who?s pulling the strings,? he said, ?who?s making the decisions, and if they don?t meet those very stringent Canadian ownership criteria, they, too, will be denied entry.?
Levy predicted Globalive won?t give up because it has invested too much already.
?They will look at re-jigging their organizational structure, possibly seeking additional Canadian-based investment and re-approaching the CRTC at some future point in time,? he said.
Carney says G20 must stay the course on stimulus September 25, 2009
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Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says the G20 countries must not abandon stimulus measures too early.
To read the complete transcript of Peter Mansbridge’s interview with Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, click here.
Carney made the comments in an interview with CBC News anchor Peter Mansbridge, which will air on the main CBC network Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (local time) and on CBC Newsworld Saturday at 2:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and Sunday at 12:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. (all times Eastern.)
“We met recently, as you know, as finance ministers and governors, and it was endorsed by all finance ministers that fiscal stimulus in all G20 countries should continue,” said Carney. “Because we’ve started on this path but we are not all the way through, and they need to stay the course.”
Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says G20 finance ministers ‘need to stay the course’ on stimulus.(Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)
Carney pledged to provide more stimulus if the economic downturn is prolonged. The bank rate, at 0.25 per cent, is “effectively the lowest rate interest rates can go,” he said.
The Bank of Canada has taken the unprecedented step of signalling that the rate will likely stay at that level to the end of June 2010. Beyond that, Carney said, the bank is still prepared to use what’s called quantitative easing ? basically printing money.
Quantitative easing refers to the practice of the central bank buying government and corporate debt from commercial banks, which are then expected to use the proceeds for increased lending at lower rates in order to stimulate the economy.
‘We are going to do our job’?Mark Carney, Bank of Canada governor
Still, the bank governor kept his options open.
“The question is [then] the use of proceeds of that quantitative using. Is it used to buy credit? Is it used to buy government bonds? Or is it used to buy something else?
Carney said the Bank of Canada will reassess those options the third week of October, but also raised the importance of the level of the Canadian dollar. It is up 12 per cent this year, hurting exporters and posing the threat of inflation if lower-priced imports trigger excessive demand.
As long as inflation does not appear to be a threat, Carney said, “If we have to provide additional stimulus and we think that this situation is persistent, we are going to do our job,” he said.
Carney committed to watching the dollar’s level and to acting if it moves away from levels that reflect the fundamental strength of the Canadian economy.
“It’s the same reason we track everything in the economy, it’s because of the impact it has on inflation. And we have a mandate, it’s very clear as you know, to deliver two per cent CPI ? consumer price inflation ? over the medium term. And if dollar movements are going to materially impact that, all things being equal, we need to think about how to respond.”
‘There is no viable alternative to the U.S. dollar’?Mark Carney, Bank of Canada governor
Carney repeated comments that there’s little likelihood of any move to replace the U.S. dollar as the world’s “reserve” currency, the one used to price transactions and commodities.
“There is no viable alternative to the U.S. dollar at the moment, as a reserve currency. So it’s not a question of right, but it’s a question of reality,” he told Mansbridge. “And I would also say that the U.S. has had to respond to a very difficult economic situation, but U.S. authorities are very aware of what they need to do to bring both of those on a path that is consistent with longer-term growth.”
Canadian mining needs tax relief in tough ‘09, industry says August 31, 2009
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Canada’s mining companies need government help in order to prevent a sector worth $40 billion from contracting further, according to an industry submission released Monday.
The Canadian Mineral Industry Federation (CMIF) said Ottawa must make it more attractive for its members to invest in new machinery in order to keep valuable jobs processing various minerals in the country.
“The CMIF believes that, with appropriate tax measures for exploration and plant investment, Canada can build on its competitive advantages and continue to have an important presence in value-added activities,” the federation said in a report submitted to a conference of mines’ ministers in St. John’s, N.L.
The mining sector contracted in the first quarter of 2009.(CBC)
The federation is an umbrella group consisting of 17 mining organizations, including the Mining Association of Canada.
Over the past 25 years, Canada’s mining and extraction companies have been finding fewer rocks and liquids to extract, the federation said.
That has led some companies to seek new mines and wells in other countries.
Some firms have moved toward processing minerals as a way of staying in business, the CMIF said.
In the federation’s view, Ottawa could help these companies by, among other measures:
Introducing a tax credit for deep drilling.Improving tax depreciation allowances for firms modernizing their facilities.Making permanent an existing 15-per-cent mining exploration tax credit.
Canada’s extraction sector, which includes oil pumpers as well as miners, has seen its share of difficulties during the current recession.
The GDP of the country’s mining and oil and gas sectors declined in June over May and slumped 5.5 per cent between October 2008 and March 2009.
Mexican economy recovering, Calderon says August 26, 2009
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President Felipe Calderon says there are signs Mexico’s economy is heading toward recovery following the worst quarterly contraction since comparable record-keeping began in 1981.
Calderon says the recovery “will be slow but positive for Mexico.”
In a televised addressed Tuesday, he said “there is initial data, still insufficient but very encouraging,” that the economy will expand again.
Anemic growth
As the worldwide recession was unfolding, Mexico’s economy was hit especially hard by the swine flu outbreak. After Mexico was identified as the source of the outbreak, the tourism sector dried up. Hotel occupancy rates were cut in half, and many airlines cancelled flights to the country.
The government unveiled a $1.5 billion package to stimulate the key economic sector. The government in the capital city even offered free health insurance to all travelers.
The Mexican economy has lost the equivalent of $2.59 billion on account of the swine flu outbreak, the finance minister said in May.
That, coupled with Mexico’s heavy dependence on a wobbly U.S. economy, combined to make Mexico’s gross domestic product shrink 10.3 per cent in the second quarter.
The central bank predicts a full-year decline of between 6.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent for 2009, while the Treasury department forecasts a 5.5 per cent decrease.
With files from The Associated Press (more…)
Magna says wrinkles in Opel bid ironed out August 15, 2009
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An employee of GM’s Opel division works on a Corsa at a plant in Eisenach, Germany. If Canadian-based Magna International acquires the unit, it will use it to boost car and part shipments to Russia.(Tobias Schwarz/Reuters)Magna International Inc. said Thursday it has ironed out the final details in its bid to buy General Motors Co.’s Opel unit and the deal will now be put before GM’s board.
The board will have to decide between the bid by Magna and its partner, Russian lender Sberbank, and an offer from Brussels-based RHJ International SA.
Aurora, Ont.-based Magna’s bid is preferred by the German government, which is providing bridge financing, but the final decision rests with GM. Magna said it’s not clear when that will happen.
GM Europe released a statement Thursday afternoon confirming the Magna offer would be reviewed.
“This morning Magna and Sberbank provided to GM and the German automotive task force revised draft agreements. GM will be reviewing these documents over the next few days,” the statement said.
“The automotive task force will be reviewing as well, as GM has requested from the task force an outline of the financing package that the German government and other European governments would support. When this outline is available, the options for Opel will be discussed with GM’s board of directors,” it said.
Magna, headed by Canadian entrepreneur Frank Stronach, hopes to use the Opel deal and the Canadian auto parts maker’s alliance with Russian carmaker Gaz to boost shipments of vehicles and parts from Europe to Russia.
GM had earlier expressed concern about Magna’s bid, saying it “contained elements around intellectual property and our Russian operations that simply could not be implemented.”
John Smith, GM’s chief negotiator, said RHJI’s bid “would represent a much simpler structure and would be easier to implement.”
Opel employs 25,000 people in Germany, about half of GM Europe’s total work force. Magna has said before it would likely cut about 11,600 positions at Opel.
With files from The Associated Press (more…)
Air Canada will get pension break, Flaherty says July 25, 2009
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Air Canada is struggling with a $2.85-billion pension shortfall. (Canadian Press)
The federal government is close to letting Air Canada delay certain pension fund contributions, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Thursday.
The approval, which Air Canada has said requires a cabinet order, is “virtually ready,” Flaherty said. Air Canada is federally regulated, so it needs the government’s approval to change its pension plan.
The moratorium on payments to the pension fund, which faces a $2.85-billion shortfall, is one leg in the airline’s three-point plan to rebuild its business.
It has already renegotiated pension arrangements with its five unions and non-unionized employees. The deals give the airline a moratorium on past service contributions totalling $645 million until early 2011, and then call for fixed payments till 2013.
The third leg requires the airline to raise at least $600 million in new financing.
But even meeting those three conditions will not be enough, CEO Calin Rovinescu said recently.
“To return Air Canada to profitability will require a fundamental restructuring of our business,” he said. “This will include the execution of a disciplined and significant cost-reduction program, requiring participation by certain suppliers and stakeholders, as well as new revenue-generation initiatives.”
As part of its deal with the unions, Air Canada has negotiated an extension to its contracts, freezing wages and pensions for 21 months.
With files from The Canadian Press (more…)
2 economic indicators slow their decline, StatsCan says June 23, 2009
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Statistics Canada on Monday released two reports suggesting that the economic slowdown is easing.
Both indicated aspects of the economy got worse, but both also showed the rate of decline is slowing.
More people received regular Employment Insurance benefits in April, but the 2.7 per cent increase — up 18,600 to 697,000 — was the smallest in six months, Statistics Canada said.
A second statistic showed household net worth dropped $72 billion in the first quarter, but that was “a much slower rate of decline” than in the last two quarters of 2008, when losses totalled $438 billion, the agency said.
EI up most in West
The rate of increase in EI recipients increased fastest in Alberta and Saskatchewan — over 16 and 12 per cent, respectively — but the overall unemployment rate in the two provinces and British Columbia remained among the lowest in the country.
Alberta has 48,310 and Saskatchewan 13,200 people receiving EI.
Ontario reported a 4.4 per cent rise in April to 230,000, and is up 73 per cent from April 2008.
Stock market, real estate behind wealth drop
The stock market’s continued fall in the first quarter and declining real estate values caused the drop in wealth, Statistics Canada said.
“On a per capita basis, national net worth has fallen from $180,000 in the fourth quarter of 2008 to $178,800 in the first quarter of 2009,” the agency said.
However, the 1.3 per cent fall was only half the 2.6 per cent decline in the United States.
Both real estate and stock markets have risen since the end of the first quarter, March 31.
Economy to shrink 2.9% this year, World Bank says June 23, 2009
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The World Bank warned Monday that the international economy will shrink by 2.9 per cent this year, a sharper decline than the 1.7 per cent drop predicted in March.
“The need to restructure the banking system, combined with emerging limits to expansionary policies in high-income countries, will prevent a global rebound from gaining traction,” Justin Lin, World Bank chief economist, said in a news release.
Less money for everyone
The bank’s forecast for 2009 predicts the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita will by fall by $600 US to $8,362 worldwide this year. In other words, the production of goods and services will drop by that amount.
In the “high income” countries, the decline will be $2,164, to $38,470. For Canadians, given that about 60 per cent of GDP is spent on consumption, it means about $1,300 less to spend.
Developing countries could help drive the recovery, but they need capital, and that means a resumption in the flow of credit, the bank said.
But private capital inflows to developing countries are forecast to drop to about 30 per cent of the 2007 level this year. The flow, which peaked at $1.2 trillion US in 2007, will hit $363 billion this year, the bank said.
A drop in capital flows will cut growth, jobs and trade, and hurt the neediest people.
“To prevent a second wave of instability, policies have to focus rapidly on financial sector reform and support for the poorest countries,” said Hans Timmer, director of the bank’s prospects group.
Global GDP growth will rebound to two per cent in 2010 and 3.2 per cent by 2011.
The bank called for the “quick implementation of detailed reforms” and said governments have to give up ownership stakes in the financial system to make room for private capital.
Like other economic forecasters, it also said the advanced countries will have to unwind the expansion of the money supply and cut deficits “in the medium term,” to avoid a debt crisis.
