$30M for orphan wells

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says $30 million the federal government is giving to the province for the oil and gas industry is good news. She says her government will use the money to focus on reclaiming orphan oil wells and getting oilfield workers back to work. Notley says they have been lobbying Ottawa for months […]

Fed’s eye on capital gains

Ottawa made no changes in the federal budget to the way capital gains are taxed, but Finance Minister Bill Morneau isn’t completely ruling out changes in the future. When asked about possible changes to the way profits from selling off personal assets are taxed in the future, Morneau left the door open. In an interview, […]

Dairy-for-lumber deal?

The most common uses of Canadian dairy normally include milk, cream, yogurt, butter and cheese. Yet a new report suggests an altogether different purpose – use it as a bargaining chip. A free-market think-tank suggests offering American negotiators in upcoming NAFTA talks more open trade in dairy, in exchange for more predictable trade in softwood lumber […]

Gloom and doom at Sears

Sears, a back-to-school shopping destination for generations of kids, has said that after years of losing money that there is “substantial doubt” it will be able to keep its doors open. But it also insisted that its actions to turn around its business should help reduce that risk. It was still a dramatic acknowledgment from […]

‘Optimum’ service restored

Shoppers Drug Mart said Wednesday it resolved a computer outage that began Monday night, affecting more than 1,300 locations and preventing customers from paying with debit cards and using the retailer’s loyalty points program. The national pharmacy retail chain, owned by Loblaw Companies Ltd., said the outage was caused by a network failure that impeded […]

Unprecedented uncertainty

Recent government regulations have created “unprecedented levels of uncertainty” for the high-end home market heading into the key spring buying season, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada said in a report released Wednesday. Data compiled by the realtor in Canada’s four largest real estate markets predicts little deviation from ongoing trends. Toronto is expected to continue to […]

Not ‘Optimum’ service

A system outage at Shoppers Drug Mart locations across the province has halted customers from gaining Shoppers Optimum Points or being able to use their debit cards on Tuesday. The company said they are working to resolve the issue and hope to have their systems running smoothly soon. “We are experiencing intermittent system outages in stores […]

Pipeline spill at Enbridge

Federal agencies are responding to an oil spill at an Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB) storage site that contaminated a creek in an area east of Edmonton. The National Energy Board says staff are on site monitoring the company’s response, while the Transportation Safety Board of Canada says it’s deploying a team of investigators to the pipeline […]

Economy gathers strength

Signs of strength in the Canadian economy continued to gather momentum as retail sales for January came in better than expected. Statistics Canada says retail sales climbed 2.2 per cent to $46.0 billion in January after declining in December. Economists had expected a gain of 1.1 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters. The data follows […]

Wholesale tops expectations

The automotive sector helped Canadian wholesale sales beat expectations and hit a record in January, in another sign of gathering strength in the economy. Statistics Canada said on Monday that wholesale sales climbed 3.3 per cent to $59.1 billion in January, the largest monthly percentage gain since November 2009. Economists had expected a gain of […]