Description: Carolyn Rogers of the Bank of Canada says Canada needs to improve its productivity, or we could be bracing for a tough period of inflation. Canada lags behind other parts of the world in our investments in plant and equipment, in addition to our comparative deficits in intellectual property. Scotiabank vice-president Derek Holt says… Read more »
Posts By: Brent White
No Krispy Kreme Here!
Description: On Tuesday McDonald’s announced they would be bringing Krispy Kreme’s tasty products to its American restaurants by 2026. It wasn’t long though before Canadian consumers found out it was no sweet deal here. Krispy Kreme has only 14 locations in Canada, so one may surmise that this would have been an excellent way to… Read more »
A Rather Unique Escape Room
Description: The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has launched a unique service to help educate Ottawa residents how to avoid being defrauded. Inside the city’s St. Laurent Shopping Centre mall shoppers will find the the ‘Be Smart Scam Escape Room’ where they can move about three rooms, answering various challenges that will boost their knowledge about… Read more »
When to Call a Pro
Description: Very affordable and easy to operate software has made tax season a lot less tougher than it used to be in the good old days. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has even compiled a list of free or inexpensive software choices to help you along the way. The CRA website is also an excellent… Read more »
More Headaches at Apple
Description: In January, European officials slapped a $1.8 billion Euro fine on Apple for its practices in the music streaming space. Now the U.S. government is going after Apple for anti-competitive practices in its smartphone business. The Justice Department stated that “Apple undermines apps, products, and services that would otherwise make users less reliant on… Read more »
McDonald’s System Goes Down
Description: Friday was a tough day for McDonald’s restaurants in several countries as system issues brought business to a standstill. Very early Friday morning Brian Rice, McDonald’s Chief Information Officer, reported the chain “experienced a global technology system outage, which was quickly identified and corrected.” Temporary shutdowns appeared to be required in countries such as… Read more »
Saltwire Sadness
Description: The Halifax Chronicle Herald is one of Canada’s oldest continuously publishing newspapers, but its future may be in jeopardy following news that its parent company, the Saltwire Network, is seeking creditor protection. Saltwire owes about $94 million, with about one third of that on the books of its largest creditor, Fiera Private Debt. Stephen… Read more »
Wordle Imitators Beware!
Description: Lots of people love to play Wordle – the daily game featured by the New York Times. And because of the game’s popularity, as might be expected imitators have flocked in on the action. But now the Times is fighting back with take-down notices to the duplicators. The Times is seeing the imitators as… Read more »
Does Apple Owe You?
Description: Last week a judge at the British Columbia Supreme Court approved Apple’s offer to pay up to $14.4 million to settle a class-action suit regarding its iPhone 6 and 7. At the heart of the case was a contention that Apple used software updates that deliberately slowed down the old phones once the iPhone… Read more »
January Tough Month for Insolvencies
Description: Business insolvencies in January were about double of what they were in January 2023. One factor cited for the problem was the requirement to pay back loans of up to $60,000 under the Canada Emergency Business Account program by January 18. Simon Gaudreault of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business says that “Insolvencies are… Read more »