Canada clears C$20 bln Rogers-Shaw deal with tough conditions - Reuters

March 31 (Reuters) - Canada on Friday approved Rogers Communications Inc's C$20 billion ($14.8 billion) buyout of Shaw Communications after securing commitments from them to promote competition in a market with some of the highest wireless bills in the world.

The final nod from Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne capped two years of antitrust uncertainty and paves the way for the creation of Canada's No. 2 telecoms firm.

The deal was opposed by consumer advocates and politicians on worries it could lead to higher prices due to an overlap between Rogers and Shaw's wireless divisions.

On Friday, Champagne agreed to the transfer of wireless licenses held by Shaw's Freedom Mobile unit to Quebecor Inc-owned (QBRb.TO) Videotron - a proposal that helped resolve antitrust concerns.

Champagne has secured a commitment from Videotron that it will offer plans at least 20% cheaper than competitors and invest C$150 million to upgrade Freedom Mobile's network in the next two years, or risk a fine of up to C$200 million.

Rogers made 21 conditions, including setting up a western headquarters in Calgary, creating 3,000 new jobs in Western Canada and investing C$5.5 billion to expand 5G coverage and services.

If it breaches the commitments, Rogers (RCIb.TO) will have to pay a fine of as much as C$1 billion, Champagne said at a news conference in Ottawa.

When asked about how these commitments will be enforced, Champagne said, "I will (enforce it). Am a lawyer and it's a contract, I know how to read a contract and enforce them. And it's subject to arbitration."

Champagne said if wireless prices do not go lower, he would seek further legislative and regulatory powers.

FREEDOM SALE

The merger unites two of Canada's wealthy families whose companies have for long fought for market share.

"Today begins an exciting new chapter for the future of connectivity in Canada,” said Brad Shaw, CEO of Shaw, in a statement.

While Champagne said the sale of Freedom Mobile to Videotron would create another major national player and help lower prices, consumer advocacy groups were not convinced.

Rosa Addario, a spokesperson for internet advocacy group OpenMedia, said the concessions sought by the government were unlikely to result in lower prices.

"This is undoubtedly going to harm our competition, our choice and will make our bills more expensive," Addario said.

Shares of Shaw rose more than 3% to C$40.43, just below the offer price of C$40.50. Rogers was down 1.6%.

Shares of Canada's telecom companies since their C$20 billion merger was announced.

The Rogers-Shaw merger had faced intense opposition from Canada's antitrust regulator whose efforts to block it were rejected by the Competition Tribunal and a Canadian court.

Its approval now paves the way for the deal to close on April 7, after the completion date was delayed for a fifth time.

The combined company will benefit from Rogers' strong presence in urban Ontario and Shaw's dominance in the sparsely populated regions of Western Canada. ($1 = 1.3535 Canadian dollars)

Reporting by Eva Mathews, Juby Babu, Aditya Soni and Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru Additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa and Maiya Keidan in Toronto Editing by Arun Koyyur and Matthew Lewis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2023-03-31 20:45:00Z
1887914412

US Stocks Rise After Inflation Data; Bonds Drift: Markets Wrap - Yahoo Finance

(Bloomberg) -- Technology shares extended the week’s US stocks rally after a key measure of inflation cooled last month, suggesting the Federal Reserve may be close to ending its rate-hiking campaign. Treasuries rose.

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Excluding food and energy, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures price index — rose 0.3% in February, slightly below the median estimate. Meanwhile, the PCE price index was up 5% from a year earlier, a deceleration from January but far higher than the Fed’s 2% goal.

The S&P 500 rose 1.4% — bringing its weekly gains to 3.5%, the most since November — while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 gained 1.7%, helping it to notch its biggest quarterly gain since June 2020.

“Overall, it was a round of data consistent with the peak inflation narrative but also with the Fed’s insistence that there remains work to be done to re-establish price stability,” Ian Lyngen of BMO Capital Markets wrote in a note.

Treasuries also ended the quarter of wild swings higher on Friday as investors struggled to adjust for recent bank failures and the shifting outlook for interest rates. The two-year yield fell to around 4.05% Friday while the 10-year maturity dipped to 3.48%. The dollar strengthened against major peers.

“The S&P 500 has done well to recover from banking sector concerns over the past few weeks,” wrote Michael Gibbs, director of equity portfolio and technical strategy at Raymond James. “However, the rally has been a bit more uneven beneath the surface, reflecting the confusion inherent within the current backdrop.”

While technology stocks have risen to the highest since August 2022 — propelling gains in the broader market — the percentage of stocks above their 50-day moving average has contracted, Gibbs said. Only a small number of shares actually account for the US rally.

“Extremely narrow rallies are not healthy ones at all, so it is going to be essential for the bulls to see more groups participate in the rally going forward,” Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co., wrote. “If they don’t, it will only be a matter of time before a correction in the big-cap tech names turns this nice rally into an ugly decline.”

Citigroup Inc. strategists said the focus among investors is set to shift from worries about high interest rates to the risks of a recession, and as that happens, US stocks look more attractive than those in Europe.

A Citi team led by Beata Manthey upgraded US stocks to overweight from underweight on Friday as they “perform more defensively than other markets” during earnings recessions. They expect global earnings-per-share to contract 5% in 2023 and say that analysts are likely to slash profit estimates even further.

Elsewhere in markets, oil traded in New York saw a weekly gain of 9% amid ongoing disruption to Iraqi exports. Bitcoin notched its best quarter since March 2021 with a gain of about 70%. And Digital World Acquisition Corp., the blank-check firm taking Donald Trump’s media company public, rallied after he became the first former president to be indicted.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 rose 1.4% as of 4:04 p.m. New York time

• The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.7%

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3%

• The MSCI World index rose 0.7%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%

• The euro fell 0.6% to $1.0844

• The British pound fell 0.4% to $1.2334

• The Japanese yen was little changed at 132.76 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 0.9% to $28,416.49

• Ether rose 1.7% to $1,826.2

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined eight basis points to 3.47%

• Germany’s 10-year yield declined eight basis points to 2.29%

• Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 3.49%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.6% to $75.56 a barrel

• Gold futures fell 0.5% to $1,987.50 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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©2023 Bloomberg L.P.

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2023-03-31 14:45:28Z
1867239882

Rogers (RCI) Shaw (SJR) Takeover: Trudeau Government to Approve Deal Friday - Bloomberg

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1. Rogers (RCI) Shaw (SJR) Takeover: Trudeau Government to Approve Deal Friday  Bloomberg
2. Rogers takeover of Shaw set to go ahead with Industry Minister's approval of Freedom Mobile deal  The Globe and Mail
3. Canada to approve Rogers Communications takeover of Shaw  BNN Bloomberg
4. Decision expected Friday in $26B Rogers-Shaw merger  CityNews Vancouver
5. Canada set to approve Rogers takeover of Shaw with transfer -Globe and Mail  Reuters
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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2023-03-31 06:09:00Z
1887914412

Stocks rise as Wall Street looks to extend rally: Stock market news today - Yahoo Canada Finance

U.S. stocks moved higher Thursday, building on a strong showing on Wednesday.

Checking in with the indexes around 12:15 p.m. ET, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) added 0.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) traded near the flatline. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) gained 0.6%.

Bond yields were mixed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note ticked down to 3.56%. On the front end of the yield curve, two-year yields jumped to 4.1%. The dollar index was down to $102.

Meanwhile, in a key signal that volatility has stabilized, the VIX moved below 20, as traders bet the banking fallout is mostly in the rear view.

The S&P 500 closed up 1.4% on Wednesday, above the levels last seen before the Silicon Valley Bank fiasco. Real estate and tech were the top-performing sectors, while gold and oil moved lower. Treasury yields were mixed, while the Nasdaq 100 (^NDX), which tracks the 100 largest companies by market cap — excluding financial sector firms — officially entered a bull market.

Intel (INTC) stock was the biggest single gainer, surging more than 7% after the company announced that its new server chips will come sooner than anticipated. Shares rose another 2.5% early Thursday.

Also on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve's top banking regulator, Michael Barr, signaled that the central bank intends to maintain its stance in its “meeting-by-meeting judgment on rates” and that “incoming data” will continue to be analyzed. These comments were consistent with Chairman Jerome Powell’s recent remarks, which has driven market participants' expectations for a May rate hike to be little changed.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael S. Barr (R) testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee March 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Wall Street is also paying attention to the recent developments from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The FDIC is mulling over plans to increase fees paid by larger banks to strengthen its bank rescue fund after the agency took a $23 billion hit to cover the costs from Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, Boston Federal Reserve President Susan Collins said in a speech in Washington at the NABE Economic Policy Conference on Thursday that she is in support of another 0.25% interest rate hike in the wake of the recent banking turmoil. Separately, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin echoed a similar sentiment, approving for interest rates to increase by 0.25%. However, Collins and Barkin are not currently voting members for the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the group that decides on policy changes.

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari is slated to speak this afternoon.

On the economic front, the number of people filing unemployment claims rose to 198,000, up 7,000 from the prior week ending March 25, slightly above expectations of 196,000. Separately, the American economy expanded to an annualized rate of 2.6% in the fourth quarter of 2022, slightly down from earlier estimates of a 2.7% gain.

"The slight downward revision to Q4 GDP shows the economy ended 2022 with marginally less momentum," Oren Klachkin, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics, wrote following the release.

"Looking ahead, the economy will face the full brunt of tighter credit conditions and Fed policy this year, and inflation is set to stay above its historical trend. The recent banking sector turmoil will affect the economy mainly through tighter lending standards and a reduction in the availability of credit," the economist added.

Here are some trending tickers on Yahoo Finance:

• Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW): Morgan Stanley analyst Michael Cyprys downgraded his buy-equivalent rating on Schwab for the first time since he started covering the brokerage firm over seven years ago.

• Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA): Executives at the company gave the latest update about the restructuring plans to split the business into six units. CEO Daniel Zhang told investors on Thursday “Alibaba will be more of the nature of an asset and capital operator than a business operator, in relation to the business group companies.”

• Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY): The struggling retailer announced it would sell up to $300 million in shares as a rescue financing deal after reporting fourth quarter sales results, missing analysts expectations.

• EVgo (EVGO): The electric-vehicle charging company posted better than expected fourth quarter sales, notching up to $27.3 million, while Wall Street was expecting $20 million in sales.

• Mullen Automotive (MULN): The California-based EV startup filed a lawsuit against the news outlet dot.LA allegedly accusing the author of article of printing "false and defamatory statements regarding Mullen, including false and defamatory statements regarding the terms of a settlement agreement of a civil action."

• Rivian Automotive, Inc. (RIVN): The stock gained as much as 9% during Wednesday's trading session after Needham, an investment firm said it's positive on the risk and reward going into the EV's first quarter delivery data, which is potentially announced next week.

• RH (RH): The luxury home furniture company missed its top and bottom line for its last quarter. RH CEO Gary Friedman blamed the Fed, inflation, the underperforming stock market, and banking crisis for poor quarterly results.

In the crypto market, Bitcoin (BTC-USD) has soared over 17% in the last two weeks, crossing $29,000 briefly on Thursday before retreating back to near $28,000 amid regulatory headwinds.

Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @daniromerotv

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2023-03-30 17:01:42Z
1875698180

Law restricting foreign property buyers amended, opening door for non-Canadian NHLers - Sportsnet.ca

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2023-03-29 16:22:00Z
1880342828

Stocks open higher, crypto rallies as quarter-end nears: Stock market news today - Yahoo Finance

Stocks were higher near midday on Wednesday as investors eye the end of an eventful month and first quarter of the year marked by resiliency in the face of a bank crisis and looming questions about the global economy.

Near 12:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 1.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was higher by 0.7%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led gains, rising 1.4%.

With the first quarter set to wrap up Friday, the Nasdaq is sitting on gains near 12%, the S&P 500 is up more than 3% so far this year, and the Dow is lagging, falling 2.2% in 2023.

This relative performance is a reversal from what was seen last year when the Nasdaq fell nearly 30%, the S&P 500 lost over 18%, and the Dow fell a more modest 9%.

The price of crude oil was volatile on Wednesday, trading near $73 after having changed hands north of $74 earlier in morning trade. The 10-year yield was trading near 3.55%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was also notably higher, rising more than 5% to trade north of $28,000.

So far this year, bitcoin has gained more than 70%.

Wednesday's move higher comes amid a somewhat slower calendar for corporate and economic news, with earnings last night from Micron Technology (MU) and Lululemon (LULU) serving as the key highlights early in the trading session.

Micron shares were up more than 6% early Wednesday after the chip giant last night suggested the battered chip business could be turning a corner, with CEO Sanjay Mehrotra telling investors "we are close to a transition to sequential revenue growth in our quarterly results."

Micron reported revenues for its fiscal second quarter on Tuesday that were down about 10% from the prior quarter and more than 50% lower than the same period last year.

Mehrotra also called out the potential positive impacts that recent investor enthusiasm around AI advances could have on the industry, telling investors: "Recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) provide an exciting prelude to the transformational capabilities of large language models, or LLMs, such as ChatGPT, which require significant amounts of memory and storage to operate. We are only in the very early stages of the widespread deployment of these AI technologies and potential exponential growth in their commercial use cases."

Lululemon shares, meanwhile, were up as much as 12% on Wednesday after reporting top and bottom line results that beat estimates, with revenue rising 30% in the fourth quarter as comparable store sales rose 27%.

On the economic data side, data on pending home sales from the National Association of Realtors showed homes under contract rose for the third-straight month in February.

A Lululemon sign is seen at a shopping mall in San Diego, California, U.S., November, 23, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Blake

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2023-03-29 13:32:12Z
1875698180

US banking crisis: Lawmakers grill US regulators over Silicon Valley Bank collapse | US Senate - WION

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2023-03-29 12:17:29Z
1842003826

Federal government eases some restrictions on non-Canadians purchasing property - CBC News

The government is walking back some restrictions on foreigners purchasing residential property just months after the new rules came into force.

Non-Canadians in the country on a work permit or who are authorized to work in Canada can now purchase residential property. They must have at least 183 days or more remaining on their work permit or work authorization and must purchase only one property to be eligible.

Non-Canadians and foreign businesses can now also purchase residential property if they intend to develop it, and can purchase vacant land zoned for residential or mixed use for any purpose.

Parliament passed the law restricting non-Canadians from purchasing property, the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act, in June 2022. The law went into force at the start of this year, and prevents non-Canadians from buying residential property in Canada for two years. The restrictions were part of a Liberal promise made during the 2021 federal election campaign amid rising home prices.

Ahmed Hussen, the minister of housing and diversity and inclusion, announced the changes Monday. A news release from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said the changes went into effect immediately.

"These amendments will allow newcomers to put down roots in Canada through home ownership and businesses to create jobs and build homes by adding to the housing supply in Canadian cities," Hussen said in the news release.

"These amendments strike the right balance in ensuring that housing is used to house those living in Canada, rather than a speculative investment by foreign investors."

CRA waives late penalty on new housing tax

The changes came on the same day the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) waived late fees and interest on the Underused Housing Tax (UHT), which also came into effect on Jan. 1. The tax requires non-resident, non-Canadians to pay one per cent of the value of any vacant or underused property in Canada yearly. There are several exemptions to the UHT, including an exception for seasonal properties.

The CRA said in a news release it was waiving the penalties because it "understands that there are unique challenges for affected owners in the first year" of the tax.

Those affected by the tax will now have until Oct. 31 to file UHT returns and payments without penalty.

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2023-03-28 16:32:30Z
1880342828

Ex-crypto boss Bankman-Fried charged with bribing China officials - Al Jazeera English

US accuses founder of now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange of conspiring to pay $40bn to Chinese officials.

United States prosecutors have unveiled a new indictment against Sam Bankman-Fried, accusing the founder of now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange of conspiring to bribe Chinese government officials with $40m worth of payments.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Bankman-Fried with directing the payment in order to unfreeze accounts belonging to his hedge fund, Alameda Research, that Chinese authorities had frozen. The accounts held more than $1bn of cryptocurrency, US prosecutors said.

The accounts were unfrozen after the bribe payment was transferred around November 2021 from Alameda’s main trading account to a private cryptocurrency wallet, according to the new indictment on Tuesday.

After the accounts were unfrozen, Bankman-Fried authorised a transfer of tens of millions of dollars of additional cryptocurrency to complete the bribe, prosecutors said.

The new charge increases the pressure on the 31-year-old former billionaire, who had previously pleaded not guilty to eight counts over the collapse of FTX. Prosecutors say Bankman-Fried stole billions of dollars in customer funds to plug losses at Alameda.

Lawyers for Bankman-Fried did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bankman-Fried has acknowledged inadequate risk management at FTX, but has denied stealing money.

China’s foreign ministry could not immediately be reached for comment after normal business hours in Beijing.

US District Judge Lewis Kaplan scheduled a court hearing for Thursday after prosecutors asked for Bankman-Fried to be arraigned on the new, 13-count indictment.

Prosecutors last month unveiled four new counts against Bankman-Fried, accusing him of orchestrating an illegal campaign donation scheme to buy influence in Washington, DC. He has not yet been arraigned on the new charges.

The new count accuses Bankman-Fried of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which makes it illegal for US citizens to bribe foreign government officials to win business.

Bankman-Fried is currently confined to his parents’ Palo Alto, California home on $250m bond ahead of his October 2 trial.

On Monday, his lawyers and prosecutors reached a new agreement on revised bail conditions, after Kaplan raised the prospect of sending Bankman-Fried to jail pending trial. That came after prosecutors raised concerns he may have been tampering with witnesses.

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2023-03-28 15:26:31Z
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'People are going to be shocked': NSLC hikes prices ahead of federal tax increase - CTV News Atlantic

Regular shoppers at Nova Scotia liquor stores faced significant price hikes Monday, less than a week before another sizable federal tax increase.

Retiree John McCracken was picking up his usual bottle of wine when he spoke to CTV News outside the NSLC store on Joseph Howe Drive in Halifax.

"I bought last week, the same bottle was $2 less,” said McCracken. “We're talking like $15, $16 bottle of wine. So not high-end wine.”

"If you go into that liquor store right now, people are going to be shocked."

Workers were replacing pricing signs in all stores on Monday, but officials insist the overall increase only amounts to about 3 per cent.

"It has to do with overall costs to our supplier community. So that could be anything from freight, transportation, commodities costs, things like glass or aluminum, or other commodities like barley -- all of those things are seeing an increase in price, and that's what factoring in to the overall price increase," said Allison Himmelman, a spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC).

She says the increase is below the cost of inflation.

Last month, the corporation reported a healthy earnings increase of 6.6 per cent.

On April 1, federal excise taxes are set to increase another 6.3 per cent -- the biggest increase in 40 years. 

"The excise tax is actually just one factor that goes into our overall prices here at the NSLC," said Himmelman.

“And it's actually a very small factor because not all suppliers choose to pass on that excise tax to their retail product prices."

Still, some local bars and restaurants say the hikes will have to be passed on to customers, which will hurt business.

"There's no doubt, yeah, we can't absorb it," said Dimo Georgakakos, owner of the iconic Gus' Pub & Grill in Halifax's north end.

"We've been absorbing so many things, and in the bar business we're a stoic bunch, and we just sort of put our heads down and keep doing it. And now, they just sort of do that and we've got to pass it on and it's going to make customers come here less," said Georgakakos, son of the bar's founder.

He and others are still recovering from lost business in the pandemic, and worry many customers have gotten used to staying home.

"In general, things are not going to get back to the way they were," said Georgakakos. "It's going to be different."

NSLC notes that increased revenue from price adjustments is also shared with producers, including Nova Scotia wineries, brewers and distillers.

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2023-03-27 20:16:00Z
1858542681

Offhand comment by Joe Biden shows Ottawa can't take mining boom for granted - Financial Post

Apparent difference of opinion on critical minerals during U.S. president's visit

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a joint news conference with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Ottawa, on March 24. Photo by KEVIN LAMARQUE/Reuters

Article content

Financial Post writers went back to their notebooks to set the scene for budget 2023. Mining reporter Naimul Karim looks at the disconnect between the United States and Canada when it comes to mining and producing critical minerals.

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When Justin Trudeau’s government announced plans to invest $3.8 billion to develop its critical minerals sector in the last budget, many in Canada’s mining sector believed the industry was finally going to get the attention it deserves amidst rising global demand for the minerals used to power electric vehicles.

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Some had called the allocation by the federal government a “game changer,” while others described it as an “exceptionally positive” move for the industry.

A year on, however, the sentiment seems to have changed. Ottawa’s decision to clamp down on Chinese companies investing in Canadian miners due to security concerns and a perceived lack of support for companies running advanced mining projects have offset some of the enthusiasm about the global mining boom.

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For instance, a number of industry leaders, including Barrick Gold Corp.’s Mark Bristow and Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.’s Robert Friedland, said earlier this year that Canada’s crackdown on Chinese investment would make it harder for miners to produce the metals needed to transition away from fossil fuels. Toronto-based TMX Group Inc., which runs the Toronto Stock Exchange, said the move appeared to create some uncertainty among miners listed on the exchange.

The government, however, said that the decision was “well-received” by Canada’s allies and that there were no such concerns regarding investments in Canada. The evidence of that lies in the deals that Ottawa inked with leading auto and battery companies such as Umicore SA, Stellantis NV, General Motors Co. and Volkswagen Group in the past year.

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Budget and EVs

Despite a flurry of such agreements, the head of Canada’s top mining association, Pierre Gratton, said earlier this month that Ottawa’s strategy to build an electric vehicle industry would fail if it doesn’t use the upcoming budget to create tax credits and other incentives to construct the mines needed to produce critical minerals that power EVs, such as nickel and lithium.

Gratton, chief executive of the Mining Association of Canada, said car companies making deals with Canada “are mistaken” if they think the country is on track to supply them with the minerals they need for their EVs, considering that a number of “shovel-ready” mining projects are struggling to raise capital to construct mines and produce the minerals.

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The mining sector was also discussed during U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Canada last week.

Throughout the visit, both Trudeau and Biden stressed how the partnership between the two nations have mutually benefited the countries. Towards the end of the tour, however, while discussing critical minerals, there seemed to be a difference in opinion.

When asked at a press conference whether his “Buy American” strategy would lead to some trade tensions between the two countries, Biden said that an increase in investment in the U.S. would only benefit Canadian businesses.

However, he also said: “Well, you guys — we don’t have the minerals to mine. You can mine them. You don’t want to produce — I mean, you know, turn them into product. We do.”

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Canada, though, plans to do exactly that. It wants to mine its own minerals, process them, supply battery makers and carmakers and produce the end product. It will, however, have to compete with the Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which encourages businesses to invest in the U.S. through tax credits and other investments.

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At the same press conference, Trudeau said his government would target areas where the country can “best compete,” when the budget is announced this week.

As the competition rises, many in the mining industry will hope that they are among those targets.

• Email: nkarim@postmedia.com | Twitter:

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2023-03-27 14:11:53Z
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