Description: One of the biggest news items this past week had to be the indictment of former US president Donald Trump in a New York City courtroom. Though there was lots of debate about the event, from an accounting perspective, the interesting notion is that the charges revolve around the falsification of business records. One… Read more »
Posts By: Brent White
WestJet Strike?
Description: It’s probably not the news you wanted to hear as you wind down the winter term at university and get ready to travel back home for the summer break: WestJet’s pilots’ union is set for a strike vote. Bernard Lewall, a union representative, is frustrated by the results of the last six months of… Read more »
Good Times at Dollarama
Description: Inflationary times have been good times for Dollarama. The rising cost of living has driven customers Dollarama’s way in a search of savings, pushing sales figures about 17 percent higher than in the previous fiscal year. Profits are also up, prompting the discount retailer to pump up the quarterly dividend to its shareholders. Date:… Read more »
Rogers-Shaw Merger Approved
Description: The Government of Canada has approved Rogers takeover of Shaw. The move grants Rogers an even greater share of Canada’s cable and media business. But Rogers mobile phone business will see only limited gains as it picks up the smaller prize, Shaw Mobile, which operates primarily in Alberta and BC. The larger portion of… Read more »
Blackberry Sells Patents
Description: Blackberry, that Canadian company once known for its namesake phones, is now rebranded as a software and messaging security organization. Consistent with this outlook, Blackberry has sold-off patents it no longer considers part of its core business for the tidy sum of $900 million. Part of the compensation is based on future royalties of… Read more »
Here Comes Shake Shack
Description: Canada will be getting its first Shake Shack in 2024. The American burger joint has targeted Toronto for its entry into our Canadian market, but it has said it plans to have 35 stores here by 2035. The fast food market in Canada reports growing sales, with the number up 9% in 2022 and… Read more »
Gordon Moore Dies
Description: Intel co-founder Gordon Moore has died at age 94. In 1965 Moore made a famous prediction that became known as Moore’s Law: essentially, it states that the capacity of computer chips would double every 12 months or so. His rule was expanded to a broader range of technology, sparking the notion that the next… Read more »
Canadians Interest Payments up 45%
Description: Canadians are paying 45% more in interest costs than they were last year at this time. With the Bank of Canada raising interest rates to help control inflation, Canadians are facing financial risks unknown to them since the 1990s. The Bank of Canada is keeping an eye on households falling behind on their debt,… Read more »
The PPE Suppliers Disappear
Description: In the early days of the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic, many Canadian companies responded to the requests from the federal and various provincial governments to help fill the need for personal protective equipment (PPE) for our health care workers. But now 90% of those businesses have collapsed as Canadian governments and hospitals have inked contracts with… Read more »
Corporate Welfare Billions
Description: Several media reported this week on a recent Fraser Institute study on the extent of corporate welfare in Canada. The various business subsidies “come with huge costs to government budgets and taxpayers while doing little if anything to stimulate economic growth,” according to Tegan Hill, a co-author of the report. From 2007 through 2019,… Read more »