Description: After shopping around for potential buyers, Suncor has decided to keep, rather than sell, fuel retailer Petro-Canada. Suncor had been seeking a cash purchase price in the range of $3.8 billion to $5.7 billion. Though Petro-Canada has the largest market share in its class in Canada, no buyer was interested in paying the price…. Read more »
Posts By: Brent White
Financial Literacy
Description: How financial literate do you feel you are? November was financial literacy month in Canada and some high schools in Canada are adding this important life-skill area to the curriculum. With the economic pressures facing Canadians, and the clear correlation between financial health and mental health, some observers are calling for mandatory financial literacy… Read more »
Living Wage at Bike Shop
Description: Cyclesmith, a Halifax bike shop, has been paying all of its 31 full-time employees a “living wage” of at least $23.50 an hour. Andrew Feenstra, the owner of the business, implemented this policy in September 2021, and he has noted its positive impact on employees who no longer have to live paycheque to paycheque…. Read more »
Six Unions; Only One Contract
Description: Workers at six Starbucks locations in Alberta and British Columbia have formed unions. But so far, only in one store in Victoria has the new union actually reached a collective agreement with management. Until that first contract is in place, union members do not pay dues. It will be interesting to watch ongoing developments… Read more »
Questionable Conduct at Laurentian
Description: In a special report on the Laurentian University financial crisis, Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk showed that senior management at the school erred by declining government assistance and heading straight to bankruptcy. Lysyk found that the Laurentian senior management and board of governors relied on external advisors in opting for the bankruptcy route, rather… Read more »
Swift Rebuke
Description: Taylor Swift called it “excruciating.” That’s her take on the fiasco that saw frustrated fans struggling to secure tickets for her upcoming tour after waiting it out for hours. Swift and others see this as a signal that Ticketmaster – and its parent company Live Nation – are broken. Calls are emerging to investigate… Read more »
That’s a Big Fraud Doc!
Description: An Alberta physician, Dr. Yifei Shi, has been convicted in what has been called the largest doctor billing fraud in the province’s history. In addition to a four-year prison term, Dr. Shi will have to repay $827,077 to the province. Dr. Shi will also face scrutiny from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of… Read more »
Are Your Classmates’ Cars in Danger?
Description: Zeynel Ari said that the time it took him to walk from a parking lot, into his bank, then back to the lot, was all the time it took for thieves to grab his vehicle. Car theft rings are getting better at their illegal craft, with the number of stolen vehicles in Ontario rising… Read more »
Insolvencies Up
Description: Insolvencies in Canada were up 22.5% over the same quarter last year. Statistics Canada said this was the largest year-over-year increase in 13 years. During the pandemic, a number of government programs seemed to have helped businesses and consumers to avoid this level of financial difficulty. But the rise of inflation, increasing interest rates,… Read more »
Silence at Sobeys
Description: Sobeys has gone virtually silent in the face of an apparent data breach last week. Customers at Sobeys and other related Empire Company stores, found themselves unable to process transactions normally. Problems included filling prescriptions at the pharmacy. Another food company, Canada Packers, also had similar problems last week, but it took a different… Read more »