BoC's Macklem says Canadian economy appears to be on track for soft landing - The Globe and Mail

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Governor of the Bank of Canada Tiff Macklem arrives for a news conference in Ottawa, on June 5, 2024.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said the Canadian economy appears to be on track for a soft landing where inflation falls back to the bank’s target without a major spike in unemployment.

At the same time, the continuing slowdown in the labour market is hitting some groups harder than others, especially new Canadians and young people, Mr. Macklem said in a speech to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce on Monday.

The unemployment rate in Canada has risen more than a percentage point over the past year, hitting 6.2 per cent in May, just above pre-pandemic levels. There has not been a large increase in layoffs. But businesses have pulled back on hiring as high interest rates have weighed on consumer spending and dulled corporate investment.

“This is the soft-landing scenario,” Mr. Macklem said. “It has always been a narrow path, and we have yet to fully stick the landing. Looking forward, the unemployment rate could rise further. … But we continue to think that we don’t need a large rise in the unemployment rate to get inflation back to the 2-per-cent target.”

The speech comes two weeks after the bank lowered its policy interest rate to 4.75 per cent from 5 per cent, the first rate cut in four years.

Mr. Macklem offered few hints about the timing of further rate cuts. But his focus on how the labour market has come into “better balance” suggests policy makers are increasingly comfortable that inflationary pressures are easing.

The rapid pace of wage growth, which can feed into inflation as companies raise prices to cover costs, remains a concern. Average hourly wages were up 4.7 per cent year-over-year in April compared to an inflation rate of 2.7 per cent. Mr. Macklem said he “will be looking for wage growth to moderate further.”

However, he also said the bank is focusing on certain measures of wage growth that have slowed more than the overall rate. That suggests the bank may be less concerned about wage pressures than markets expect.

“Ultimately, the Bank of Canada seems content with the progress on the labour market, although they want to see more of it,” Desjardins economist Tiago Figueiredo wrote in a note to clients about the speech.

“Barring any major surprises, we continue to see the Bank of Canada cutting rates by another 25 basis points in July,” Mr. Figueiredo wrote, noting that the bank will receive two key pieces of economic data this week – the May inflation numbers on Tuesday and the April GDP numbers on Friday.

While the speech highlighted the “smooth” labour market cooling – companies have stopped posting jobs instead of laying people off outright – Mr. Macklem said the slowdown in hiring has hit young people and new Canadians particularly hard.

“With fewer job vacancies, it’s taking longer for young people entering the labour market to find a job, and their unemployment rate has risen. It’s now about 2 percentage points above its pre-pandemic average,” he said.

Likewise, job creation has failed to keep pace with the historic level of immigration over the past year, leaving more new immigrants without work.

This dynamic could help explain growing signs of financial stress among renters, who are often younger workers and newcomers. While mortgage delinquency rates remain relatively low, late payments on credit cards and auto loans are above pre-pandemic levels, especially for renters.

Looking further ahead, Mr. Macklem used his podium to highlight Canada’s lagging productivity (output per worker), which he called the country’s “Achilles’ heel.”

This has become a major theme for central bank officials. Senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers created a stir several months ago by calling poor productivity and low levels of business investment in machinery and equipment an “emergency.”

Mr. Macklem said Canada has been good at growing its economy by increasing the number of workers, but not by increasing output per worker. This needs to change for the Canadian standard of living to keep improving as the population ages and the country bumps up against the “limits” of immigration policy, he said in a news conference after the speech.

He said that politicians and policy makers need to get a grip on why business investment is relatively weak in Canada. And he offered a few ideas to improve the investment climate, including lowering interprovincial trade barriers and speeding up regulatory approvals for companies and projects.

“There are also a whole range of bigger questions that I think are going to need more thought,” he said. “The role of multinational versus home headquartered businesses. Investing in houses, investing in machinery and equipment. There are a number of big questions. I don’t have all the answers but I think we need to collectively be thinking about those.”

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2024-06-24 21:16:03Z
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Trying to buy a car? Your dealership might be recovering from a cyberattack - CBC News

Car dealerships in North America continue to wrestle with major disruptions that started last week with cyberattacks on a software company used widely in the auto retail sales sector.

CDK Global, a company that provides software for thousands of auto dealers in Canada and the U.S., was hit by back-to-back cyberattacks Wednesday. That led to an outage that has continued to impact operations.

For prospective car buyers, that's meant delays at dealerships or vehicle orders written up by hand. There's no immediate end in sight, with CDK saying it expects the restoration process to take "several days" to complete.

As of Thursday last week, "hundreds of dealers" across Canada had been impacted by the outage, according to Tim Reuss, president and CEO of the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association.

Some members have flagged attempts from scammers to steal their log-in credentials by impersonating CDK representatives, said Reuss.

He says these bad actors are adding insult to injury and taking advantage of the situation, adding to "frustration" among the dealerships.

Here is what you need to know.

What is CDK Global?

CDK Global is a major player in the auto sales industry. The company, based just outside of Chicago, Ill., provides software technology to dealers that helps with day-to-day operations — including recording the sale of a new or used vehicle, logging a service appointment or noting the sale of spare parts.

CDK serves more than 15,000 retail locations across North America, according to the company.

What happened last week?

CDK experienced back-to-back cyberattacks on Wednesday. The company shut down all of its systems out of an abundance of caution, spokesperson Lisa Finney said last week.

"We have begun the restoration process," Finney said in an update over the weekend — noting that the company had launched an investigation into the "cyber incident" with third-party experts and notified law enforcement.

"Based on the information we have at this time, we anticipate that the process will take several days to complete, and in the interim we are continuing to actively engage with our customers and provide them with alternate ways to conduct business," she added.

In messages to its customers, the company has also warned of "bad actors" posing as members or affiliates of CDK to try to obtain system access by contacting customers. It urged them to be cautious of any attempted phishing.

The incident bore all the hallmarks of a ransomware attack, in which in which targets are asked to pay a ransom to access encrypted files. But CDK declined to comment directly — neither confirming or denying if it had received a ransom demand.

What are manufacturers saying about Canadian dealers?

CBC News reached out to several auto manufacturers to understand how dealers were impacted by the outage.

A BMW Group Canada spokesperson confirmed that the outage was impacting some of its retailers across Canada and the U.S., adding that its retail partners "remain open for business to support our customers with their sales and service needs."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Nissan Group told CBC News on Friday that the company is aware of the situation, "and we continue determine the impact on our business. In the meantime, we are working closely with our dealer network to limit any inconvenience to our customers."

A Honda Canada spokesperson said on Friday that the manufacturer was working to understand the "full scope" of the event.

"At this time, we are directing Canadian Honda and Acura dealers affected by the CDK outage to alternate tools and processes that will allow them to continue to conduct business while CDK systems remain offline," the spokesperson said.

Representatives for Ford Motors, General Motors and Toyota did not respond.

Are impacted dealerships still selling cars?

Several major auto companies — including Stellantis, Ford and BMW — confirmed to The Associated Press last week that the CDK outage had impacted some of their dealers, but that sales operations continue.

In light of the ongoing situation, Reuss told CBC News on Thursday that many dealerships would have to switch to manual processes to serve customers, including writing up orders by hand.

A Ford spokesperson added that the outage may cause "some delays and inconveniences at some dealers and for some customers." However, many Ford and Lincoln customers are still getting sales and service support through alternative routes being used at dealerships.

With many details of the cyberattacks still unclear, customer privacy is also at top of mind — especially with little known about what information may have been compromised this week.

In a statement sent to the AP on Friday, Mike Stanton, president and CEO of the National Automobile Dealers Association said that "dealers are very committed to protecting their customer information and are actively seeking information from CDK to determine the nature and scope of the cyber incident so they can respond appropriately."

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2024-06-24 20:01:19Z
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From fast food to construction, employers turn more and more to temporary foreign workers - CBC.ca

Businesses' demand for temporary foreign workers has surged across the country in recent years, with employers given the green light to hire more than double the people through the federal program last year as they did five years ago.

The program is designed to provide short-term relief to employers as a last resort, but has been scrutinized for its potential knock-on effects to the broader economy and the vulnerable position in which it can place workers.

Last year, employers were cleared to hire 239,646 temporary foreign workers, about the population of Regina. That's up from 108,988 in 2018, according to figures published by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).

The program's growth coincided with the government loosening hiring restrictions to help businesses with post-pandemic labour shortages. Some economists criticized that move, saying it undermined healthy competition for workers in a market economy.

"All we hear about are labour shortages, [but] we have to begin to recognize that this really is a self-serving narrative mostly coming from corporate Canada," said Mikal Skuterud, a labour economics professor at the University of Waterloo. 

As the program has expanded, there's been interest from a wide range of industries. 

CBC News analyzed federal data about the number of positions on positive labour market impact assessments (LMIAs), a document proving there are no Canadians available to take a job.

The numbers show that while farm and greenhouse workers have consistently been the program's most in-demand roles, demand for other jobs is on the rise. 

Across the economy, employers have turned to the program to fill roles ranging from administrative assistants (from 287 in 2018 to 3,337 in 2023), to light duty cleaners (from 201 to 3,043), to construction trade helpers and labourers (from 132 to 5,353).

An increase in positive LMIA positions doesn't necessarily mean there are more temporary foreign workers in the country. For example, an approved employer might change their mind before actually hiring one.

But its reflects employers' rising interest in the program — which, by any metric, is growing. Work permit data published by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada shows the number of temporary foreign workers in the country last year hit its highest point since records began in 2015.

Taking orders and flipping burgers

Fast food chains and restaurants are a major source of demand for temporary foreign workers. After farm and greenhouse workers, the roles with the most approvals last year were cooks, food service supervisors, food counter attendants and kitchen helpers.

Food counter attendants, in particular, increased from 170 jobs in 2018 to 8,333 in 2023. The top 10 employers cleared to hire the highest number of them last year were all fast food operators.

The relationship between the food service industry and the temporary foreign worker program has at times been fraught. Roughly a decade ago, controversy around the industry's use of the program led the federal government to impose a temporary moratorium on that sector.

Franchise Management Inc., a company that operates KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell franchises, says the temporary foreign worker program has allowed it to keep restaurants open in rural and northern areas. (AP)

But times have changed along with labour markets. 

Citing significant labour shortages, in 2022 the federal government doubled the proportion of low-wage workers businesses could hire through the program, from 10 per cent of their workforce to 20 per cent. 

Certain sectors hit particularly hard by the pandemic, including food service, were greenlighted to hire as much as 30 per cent of low-wage staff through the program.

For businesses, a major benefit is stability, as the workers' permits are tied to their employer, meaning they can't easily quit to work for a rival business down the street. 

"It guarantees a worker will stay employed with them for the term of the agreement," says the Canadian Franchise Association on its website. 

CBC News reached out to 14 restaurants and franchise groups cleared to hire the most cooks, food service supervisors and food counter attendants last year. 

None agreed to an interview, although a spokesperson for Franchise Management Inc., which operates Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell franchises, said the program has allowed it to keep operating in rural and northern areas.

"Unfortunately, some of these communities often lack the population base to meet the demand for labour," said Dana Myshrall in an emailed statement.

The company was cleared to hire 140 food counter attendants last year, though Myshrall said it expects to hire far fewer this year.

Workers' experience

Temporary foreign workers' experience in Canada is often mixed, said Migrante Alberta director Marco Luciano. Some employers follow the rules, he said, but some take advantage of their position by underpaying their workers. (Samuel Martin/CBC)

For workers, a lack of domestic opportunities is typically what pushes people to seek work abroad, said Marco Luciano, director of the advocacy group Migrante Alberta. 

Canada is appealing because it's one of the few countries where a temporary job can turn into a permanent residency, he said. 

But the experience of being a temporary foreign worker can be mixed, he said. 

There are good employers who abide by their contracts and support workers in applying for permanent residency, said Luciano. 

"My boss [was] really, really good, just really nice," said Ruth St-Martin, a former temporary foreign worker who moved from the Philippines to St. Alberta, Alta., in 2011 to work at an Arby's restaurant. She has since obtained permanent residency and become an oil and gas lab technician.

"When I got my permanent residency, I didn't quit right away in Arby's, because I want[ed] to show my loyalty to my boss."

WATCH | The cost to hire a TFW and how an LMIA works:

How the temporary foreign worker program works in Canada

4 hours ago

Duration 4:26

Employers must first post the job to find workers locally, says Peter Veress, president of Vermax Group, an immigration consulting firm.

But Luciano said other employers abuse their power and underpay workers, even withholding pay to compensate for the money spent on an LMIA. Workers are often afraid to speak up for fear of losing their status in Canada, he said. 

Former migrant worker Danilo de Leon says he was underpaid while working as a cleaner. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)

Danilo de Leon does not remember his time in the program fondly. De Leon came to Edmonton, also from the Philippines, in 2009 to work for Bee Clean, a cleaning company contracted by the University of Alberta.

At the time, de Leon and his colleagues alleged the company withheld pay and threatened them with deportation. The company later said the unpaid wages were an error, apologized and said it would pay the workers back.

"We were treated like slaves. We were working like 12 hours every night, we don't get paid for overtime, no night differential," said de Leon, of his past experience. He has since become an advocate for migrant workers and is seeking his own permanent residency. 

"If not for my daughter, I wouldn't have wanted to stay here, but there's no job back home."

Economic impact

Skuterud, the economist, said the temporary foreign worker program can also affect the broader economy. 

He pointed to one paper that suggests the hiring of such workers correlates with lower earnings for Canadian workers in similar jobs and locations. 

"We don't like to think about this kind of competition, but of course it's hard reality," he said. 

In a statement, ESDC spokesperson Liana Brault said employers are required to offer temporary foreign workers at least the regional median hourly wage for the job in question.

University of Waterloo professor Mikal Skuterud says labour shortages aren't a problem to be solved by bringing in additional workers, but an opportunity for businesses to make themselves more efficient. (Sue Goodspeed/CBC)

This program isn't the only source of temporary workers in the country. International students also hold permits, as do workers under the wide-ranging international mobility program. 

But taken together, Skuterud believes growth in all three programs shows the government is moving away from its points-based immigration system and toward a more ad hoc approach where people try to parlay a work or study permit into permanent status.

"It looks like a lottery and your ticket is a work permit," said Skuterud. "We need to get back to a transparent system that's fair to the migrants."

'Not truly temporary'

While most sectors are now limited to hiring 20 per cent of their staff through the temporary foreign worker program, the construction sector has been allowed to retain its 30 per cent hiring cap. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

This spring, the federal government changed course on the temporary foreign worker program, tightening how many such workers a business could hire, citing changing labour markets and lower vacancies. 

Most employers are now limited to hiring 20 per cent of low-wage staff through the program. (That's still higher than the pre-pandemic limit of 10 per cent, and some sectors, like health care and construction, can continue to hire up to 30 per cent.)

While public pressure has mounted regarding the connection between immigration and housing affordability, ESDC's Brault said the changes were unrelated, and "solely based on employment numbers."

There are different perspectives on how to improve the program. Groups like Migrante Alberta want to see easier access to permanent residency for migrant workers — an initiative that was recently announced for caregivers — while a recent senators' report called for changes including an end to closed work permits. 

The report noted the program was created in 1973 as a limited, last-resort means of filling jobs. But 50 years later, it's become core to certain industries, with no indication of ending anytime soon.

"Neither migrant work programs nor workers are truly temporary," it said.

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Big pizza party promise if Oilers win Stanley Cup - CTV News Edmonton

That's a lot of dough.

A major pizza franchise is pledging to provide 30,000 free pizzas to people in Edmonton and across the country if the Oilers win the Stanley Cup in Monday's Game 7 against the Florida Panthers.

Boston Pizza, in a media release on Sunday, said it promises to "make it rain pizzas in Oil Country and across Canada on parade day."

"Canadians heard our calls to cheer for Canada and rallied behind us,” Peter Blackwell, senior vice-president of marketing and communications for the international company that started in Edmonton in the early 1960s.

“While some refused to toss their allegiances aside, many chose to join the excitement and cheer on Canada’s last standing team. That calls for a celebration ... and lots of pizza.”

Boston Pizza said fans and Edmontonians "should remain on the lookout for the biggest pizza delivery in history" on the day of the parade, if it happens. 

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Unifor says 1,350 of its members are on strike at Bombardier after deal deadline passes - CBC News

More than 1,000 Bombardier aircraft assembly workers went on strike as of Sunday after their union failed to reach an agreement with the company.

A Sunday release from Unifor said 1,350 employees stopped work at the company's aircraft manufacturing facility, based at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, after the strike deadline expired at 11:59 p.m. ET on Saturday.

The union says negotiations with the employer continued through the night and late into the morning, noting bargaining talks are set to resume early Monday.

"The union's bargaining committee members are working towards an agreement and both parties remain committed to continuing the bargaining process," Unifor said.

Mark Masluch, a spokesperson for Bombardier, said the collective goal is to "swiftly reach a mutually beneficial agreement."

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2024-06-23 21:57:27Z
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Bombardier aerospace workers in Toronto area on strike - CityNews Toronto

Approximately 1,350 unionized Bombardier aerospace workers in the Toronto area walked off the job on Sunday after contract talks failed to result in an agreement.

According to a statement issued on behalf of Unifor Local 112 and Local 673, contract talks with Bombardier went past the 11:59 p.m. Saturday deadline and into Sunday morning.

“The union’s bargaining committee members are working towards an agreement and both parties remain committed to continuing the bargaining process,” the brief statement said.

A Bombardier spokesperson told CityNews the company is “continuing to negotiate with all parties” and the “collective goal remains to swiftly reach a mutually beneficial agreement.”

The union statement said talks are set to resume Monday morning.

It wasn’t immediately clear what sticking points remain in the contract talks.

News of the strike came nearly two months after the aerospace giant officially opened its new global business jet production facility at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Bombardier relocated Toronto Pearson airport as airfield operations at the Downsview airport site ended this year ahead of a massive, multi-decade redevelopment initiative.

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Health Canada responds to products containing fecal matter - CTV News

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning letter to a company appearing to sell products containing human fecal matter without approval from the agency.

In March, the FDA wrote to Human Microbes, a company advertising itself as “the world’s largest, highest quality stool donor bank” for Fecal Microbiota Therapy (FMT) transplants, after reviewing its website a month prior.

According to Health Canada, FMT is the transfer of bacteria from the feces of a healthy person to the gut of a patient to re-establish a healthy microbiome, executed through enema, colonoscopy, or other means.

A spokesperson for Health Canada confirmed to CTVNews.ca that this type of therapy should only be used in the context of an authorized clinical trial, or to treat patients with recurrent Clostridium difficile (also known as C. difficile), a bacteria that causes diarrhea and intestinal conditions, like colon inflammation.

Per Human Microbes’ website, FMT yields “promising results in clinical trials” to treat other conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and mental health disorders like depression and anxiety, among others.

Human Microbes appears to sell fecal microbiota for transplantation through capsules and enema to those in the United States, Canada and the rest of the world, and appears to have sought out high-quality stool donors, offering US$500 per donation.

In the FDA’s letter, the agency says that to “lawfully market” these biological products, a valid biologics licence application is needed. Since these products are considered new, an FDA-approved application must be in effect to introduce and deliver them. Additionally, an investigational new drug application must be in place for products to be distributed to people in clinical trials while in the development stage.

According to the FDA, Human Microbes does not have any of the required applications and consequently are “both unapproved new drugs and unlicensed biological products.”

The administration also notes that, per its guidance issued in November 2022, FMT treatment for other conditions outside of C. difficile has more limited data, and the study of this treatment for other uses is not included in the FDA’s enforcement discretion policy.

“Although your website recommends that patients ‘discuss their plans with their doctor,’ it offers your products directly to patients, including for self-administration,” the letter reads. “Therefore, there is no assurance that a licenced health care provider treating each of these patients is directing the screening and testing of the stool donor and stool for the patient, as described in the November 2022 guidance.”

The letter also says these particular products raise “potential significant safety concerns,” due to insufficient screening.

The FDA advised Human Microbes to review its website and materials to ensure it is compliant under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic and Public Health Service acts, asking for a response on what the company’s next steps will be to correct any violations or provide reasoning on why the products are not in violation.

Rebyota and Vowst are currently both listed as FDA-approved fecal microbiota products.

According to a blog post in response to the FDA’s letter, Human Microbes’ founder Michael Harrop said they intended to run the products as a clinical trial, “but all I could find were companies charging $1,500 to tell you whether or not it was possible.”

“I also contacted the FDA about getting approved for an IND (investigational new drug) application and never heard back. So I continued as is,” Harrop’s post reads. He agrees Human Microbes should be regulated, but as a “source of stool donors” rather than a drug developer.

“I’m searching for people healthy enough to be stool donors. Researchers, doctors, clinical trials, etc., can then purchase stool from our donors. I’m not sure what the exact requirements are, but it is widely stated that IND requirements are extremely onerous,” Harrop’s post reads.

Harrop told CTVNews.ca via email that a meeting with the FDA is scheduled for next month, “after which I plan to post a new blog about major changes, regardless of what the FDA decides. But the blog will also cover what happens with the FDA.”

What Health Canada says about FMT

Per its guidance published in 2015, Health Canada says FMT can be used in treatment of C. difficile that isn’t responsive to conventional therapies. Licenced health care practitioners can treat patients with this type of therapy without a clinical trial application if certain conditions are met, like if the feces used is obtained from a single donor known to either the patient or health care practitioner and if the donor has been screened for all relevant transmissible diseases.

Outside of these circumstances, the use of fecal therapy must be conducted under an authorized clinical trial.

A spokesperson for Health Canada says it considers fecal therapy to be a drug, since it meets the definition laid out in the Food and Drugs Act, which can be any substance used in the “diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of disease.”

“The active ingredient is the human microbiota contained in feces, rather than the feces itself. Researchers are just beginning to understand the important role that human microbiota (i.e. bacteria that colonize the skin, gut and other tissue surfaces) appear to play with respect to human health,” the emailed statement reads.

So, like all new drugs, Health Canada stressed the importance of conducting clinical trials to adequately answer this treatment’s safety and efficacy. As of June 2024, Health Canada says it has approved 68 clinical trials for fecal therapies.

While Health Canada didn’t comment specifically on Human Microbes, the agency said only authorized products can be advertised and sold in the country.

“Selling unauthorized health products or making false or misleading claims to prevent, treat or cure illnesses is illegal in Canada.”

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2024-06-23 18:09:26Z
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Proposed legislation would ensure flight attendants are paid for pre- and post-flight duties - CBC News

Conservative MP Lianne Rood has put forward a private member's bill that would ensure flight attendants are paid for their pre- and post-flight duties.

Flight attendants have been advocating for changes to the labour code because they don't start getting paid until their plane is in motion — and their compensation ends when the plane stops at the gate after landing.

"This is unfair and puts many women and diverse Canadians at a disadvantage," Rood said Wednesday as she tabled the bill.

Conservative member of Parliament Lianne Rood rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 23, 2021. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) air division — which represents 18,000 flight attendants — says that on average, flight attendants do 35 hours of unpaid work per month. That includes such duties as overseeing the boarding and unboarding process.

C-409 would amend the labour code by adding a section requiring that flight attendants be paid for "carrying out all pre-flight and post-flight duties relating to aircraft security and passenger service, including assisting with embarking and disembarking and pre-flight cabin and passenger safety checks."

Wesley Lesosky, a flight attendant and president of CUPE's air division, said the bill being introduced is "momentous."

"I think it's amazing that we're growing the support behind the payment for flight attendants, so we're very happy to see that something has been introduced," he said.

But Lesosky said the Conservatives didn't consult with the union before tabling the bill and it could use some tweaks.

As it stands, the bill says that flight attendants should be compensated for completing mandatory training. But Lesosky said that language needs to be altered to specify that attendants must receive their full hourly wage for mandatory training.

"For training, for instance … a lot of us are paid half our hourly rate or minimum wage, whichever is greater," he said. 

"Flight attendants deserve to be paid their full hourly rate for any mandatory training."

The NDP has been calling on the government to make similar changes to the labour code. Party leader Jagmeet Singh and MP Bonita Zarrillo joined CUPE members for a press conference to raise awareness of the issue in May.

Zarrillo told CBC News she wants to ensure the changes the Conservatives propose are thorough enough before deciding on whether to support the bill.

"The consultation has been limited on this bill. So we definitely want to consult with the workers," she said.

"We definitely want to make sure that the bill is robust enough to cover all the needs of unpaid workers and unpaid flight attendants."

New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh and president of CUPE 407 Alia Hussain look on as Wesley Lesosky, president of Air Component CUPE, speaks about unpaid work by flight attendants on Thursday, May 30, 2024 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

In a media statement, CUPE said that the lack of consultation by the Conservatives is "disappointing." But Lesosky said he was encouraged by the fact that the issue is gaining cross-party support.

"You have two parties behind it. It definitely gives us pause to reflect and see that this is a great thing. It's moving, it has momentum," he said.

Rood wasn't made available for an interview. A Conservative Party spokesperson referred CBC News to her statement on Wednesday, when she introduced the bill.

The House of Commons has adjourned for the summer, meaning the bill won't be debated until MPs return in the fall. But private member bills rarely get through the Parliament in a timely manner — if they pass at all.

When asked if the Liberals would support the legislation, Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan's office said they are evaluating Rood's bill.

"We take the issues facing flight attendants very seriously and are currently reviewing the proposed legislation," a spokesperson said in an email.

Lesosky said he doesn't expect the legislation will pass before the next election, but hopes the labour code changes will make it into parties' platforms.

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Canada could soon raise tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles - Global News

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2024-06-23 02:30:25Z
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Hackers demand massive ransom as cyberattack plagues auto dealerships - TESLARATI

By Zachary Visconti

Posted on June 22, 2024

A cyberattack on the U.S. and Canada’s most commonly used auto dealer management software has rendered over 15,000 dealerships unable to make sales over the past few days, and those who claim to be behind the outage are demanding tens of millions of dollars as ransom.

Auto dealerships in the U.S. and Canada using the CDK Global software have been facing an outage since Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the matter in a Friday report from Bloomberg.  The outage has prevented dealerships from normal operations using the dealer management system (DMS), such as making sales, performing repairs, and following through on deliveries.

“It’s just mass chaos at this point,” said Diana Lee, CEO of marketing company Constellation, which works with many U.S. dealerships. “The dealer’s required to actually run a DMS for sales, service, parts, for every single functionality — even stocking a vehicle, you can’t do it without the DMS system. So it is a disaster.”

The company said on Thursday that it expects service to be out for several days, despite it briefly starting to work again in between cyberattacks on Thursday. The source, who asked to remain anonymous due to the privacy of the matter, also said that CDK is planning to make the payment.

Emergency Press Conference:

Over 50% of US Car Dealers Are Shut Down Due To Cyber Attack pic.twitter.com/lTc75pX9LJ

— Car Dealership Guy (@GuyDealership) June 20, 2024

The person also said that the hackers are believed to be based in Eastern Europe, though conversations about how to handle the situation are still ongoing and could be subject to change.

The situation also stands to have a major impact on the auto industry as the end of the second quarter approaches.

On Saturday, a CDK spokesperson told Automotive News that there weren’t any updates on the matter, while many U.S. dealerships face what is typically a very busy sales day. Dealers have said that they haven’t heard updates from CDK, while many are still attempting to operate as much as possible on what is typically the busiest sales day of the week.

Robert Serrano, the General Manager of several dealerships including New Country Toyota in Westport, Connecticut, said that his staff’s morale remained somewhat high, as they maintained plans for a busy Saturday—despite not having heard many updates from CDK on the situation.

“As of this morning, there’s been no communication,” Serrano said. “I mean, I’m hoping, and maybe this is just wishful thinking, that it comes on today because it’s the second-to-last Saturday of the month, and I’d love to bill out some cars, but right now, [it] doesn’t look that way.”

Automotive News report also spoke with Todd Edwards, one owner of the Iowa-based, family-owned dealership group, Edwards Auto Group. Edwards said that he was also expecting a busy Saturday, especially because “the general public is unaware of what’s going on.”

Workers at the dealership group have also resorted to using paper and pencil for writing service tickets, as well as adding plans to follow up with customers via email.

“Parts is probably the hardest hit besides the actual accounting office,” Edwards said. “In sales, we’re able to transact customers but are unable to stock in trades and auction purchases.”

Ford wants more dealers involved in EV sales

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

Hackers demand massive ransom as cyberattack plagues auto dealerships

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CDK Global outage caused by BlackSuit ransomware attack - BleepingComputer

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1. CDK Global outage caused by BlackSuit ransomware attack  BleepingComputer
2. 'Absolute nightmare': cyberattack leaves thousands of car dealers in turmoil  CityNews Vancouver
3. CDK cyber attack hackers demand millions in ransom, Bloomberg reports  USA TODAY
4. Car dealership outage: CDK hackers demand ransom  CTV News
5. Car dealerships are being disrupted by a multi-day outage after cyberattacks on software supplier - Business News  Castanet.net

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Oil and gas industry making risky play in response to greenwashing law: experts - Canada News - Castanet.net

Photo: The Canadian Press

Greenpeace activists, some dressed in business suits and wearing smoke stack hats, 'greenwash' BP's Calgary headquarters with large letters spelling out 'TAR SANDS' in Calgary, Thursday, April 15, 2010. 

The oil and gas industry is taking a risk in its response to new greenwashing rules, communications experts say, but they add the opinions of Canadians are already so divided that the actions may have little effect.

The Pathways Alliance group of oilsands companies removed all content from its platforms, while other companies have modified their websites and social media in anticipation of new greenwashing rules that were passed Thursday as part of an update to the Competition Act.

The chief executives of the six oilsands companies behind Pathways put out a statement late Thursday that said the law, which requires companies to back up their environmental claims with evidence, represents a serious threat to freedom of communications.

The industry chose a very risky response, said Sarbjit Kaur, co-founder of KPW Communications, by email.

"It could be perceived that either their environmental claims are false and unfounded and they've been misleading the public all along — or they don't respect legislation that is designed to ensure Canadians are getting accurate and truthful information."

She said that in an era of misinformation, it's more important than ever that claims be backed up.

"Any reluctance to do so reflects badly on an industry or organization."

The executives behind Pathways said the public disclosure standards in the bill are so vague that they lack meaning and rely on undefined internationally recognized methodology that "may or may not exist."

They said the law opens the door to frivolous litigation, as it allows outside groups to launch efforts at enforcement through the courts system.

"The result of this legislation, which has been quickly put in place with little or no consultation, is to silence Canadian businesses taking climate action," the heads of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Imperial Oil Ltd., MEG Energy Corp., Cenovus Energy Inc., ConocoPhillips Canada, Suncor Energy Inc. and the Pathways Alliance, said in the statement.

The law amendment, however, follows established patterns of competition rules, said Wren Montgomery, associate professor of sustainability at Western University's Ivey Business School, who studies greenwashing.

"What the Competition Bureau has always done is make sure companies aren't fooling or lying to Canadians."

She said there are numerous internationally recognized methodologies to make sure companies are backing up their claims, like the Science Based Targets initiative that sets out guidelines on what a legitimate net-zero emissions target looks like.

"There's lots of easy ways for companies who are actually legitimately making changes on the environment to report to an acceptable standard to prove that they're doing that," Montgomery said.

She said there's flexibility in the wording of the act to give the Competition Bureau room to adapt as standards evolve, but it was important to have the words 'internationally recognized' to avoid the use of small, often industry-funded standards that may set a low bar.

The update is also important, said Montgomery, because there's been an increase in so-called future washing, or promises of better environmental records ahead, that have so far proved difficult to police.

On the concern of frivolous lawsuits, she said a Competition Tribunal will review cases before they go to the courts to make sure they're legitimate.

She said Canadians, especially younger consumers, are very savvy and dislike hypocrisy, and will look at the industry's move as a confirmation of suspicions.

"I think what they're going to think is, 'Hey, we were right. Not all of these claims were legitimate or were backed in evidence.'"

While the decision by oil and gas companies may serve to confirm skeptics' existing views, it will also reinforce opinions on the pro-industry side, said Joanne McNeish, associate professor of marketing at Toronto Metropolitan University's Ted Rogers School of Business.

"I would imagine that this will have no effect on opinions, since Canadians already have their perception on the oil and gas industry," she said by email.

She said providing support for environmental claims can be much harder when a company is trying to account for supply chains and industry partners. The removal of industry claims signals the uncertainty the companies feel about the implications of the bill, and could lead to reduced communication efforts going forward.

"They have tried to explain the complexity of these issues and are still criticized," she said.

Shane Gunster, a professor at Simon Fraser University's School of Communications, also thought the move will be viewed closely along political lines.

"I suspect in some ways, those on the right will find it to be almost a useful thing that they can say, well, here's another example of freedom of speech, or freedom more broadly being squashed."

But he said that in terms of persuading the general public, which doesn't follow these issues very closely, it's more likely that the audience will see it as confirming suspicions about the industry.

"Scrubbing your website and essentially going dark, really could raise some questions with those people, especially in so far as it fits with a sort of broader social understanding of the role that the oil and gas industry has played historically in cultivating climate denial."

Pathways members emphasized the move doesn't change their environmental commitments, but Gunster said the past record of the global oil and gas industry leaves many skeptical.

"I really do think that people are likely to draw upon what they already think with respect to the role of the oil and gas industry in greenwashing, and the role of the oil and gas industry in climate skepticism or denial," he said.

"It's just, the evidence is so overwhelmingly damning historically of what they have done."

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'How much is too much?' councillor asks of surging Lansdowne 2.0 estimate - CBC.ca

Critics of the Lansdowne redevelopment plan say they're not surprised the city auditor has found the project could cost $74 million more than expected.

"Last November we were being told [it was] only going to cost $5 million a year, every year, for the next 40 years," said Carolyn Mackenzie, chair of the Glebe Community Association's planning committee. 

"Well, with this, it's likely going to cost significantly more."

In the first report from a so-called "agile audit" released Thursday, the Office of the Auditor General warned of cost escalation due to delays and said the city hadn't included a sufficient contingency fund to cover its risks.

Toby Sanger, an economist who spoke against the Lansdowne 2.0 plan before a committee vote last year, said he wasn't shocked by the latest financial outlook either. 

"When the Lansdowne P3 was first announced, the people of Ottawa were promised it was hardly going to cost anything because there's going to be a waterfall that would produce all these revenues that come back," Sanger said.

But the auditor's report concluded that the waterfall — financial distributions split between the city and Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group — could be more like a trickle, leaving less money to pay back the debts of those mounting construction costs.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says city councillors will have a more solid Lansdowne 2.0 budget figure to consider before a final decision on the planned redevelopment is made. (Michel Aspirot/CBC News)

Alexandra Gruca-Macaulay, Lansdowne chair of the Old Ottawa East Community Association, said that trickle is a major risk for taxpayers.

"Every dollar that waterfall disbursements to the city fall short of projections is another dollar of Lansdowne debt repayment that Ottawa taxpayers will need to bear," she said.

But Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said the auditor's report has to be put in context. He noted the $419 million estimate council heard in November was never more than that: an estimate. The same is true of the auditor general's $493-million figure. 

"Whenever there are estimates for a project of this size, there's the potential for those estimates to vary and for there to be a range of what something might cost," he said. "We still haven't made all the final decisions about what will happen at Lansdowne Park."

When council does make that decision, it will have a more solid number to weigh in on, one based on a project agreement with a successful bidder, the mayor added. 

Councillor fears 'never-ending growing budget'

Some councillors seem willing to take a wait-and-see approach. 

Orléans East-Cumberland Coun. Matt Luloff said the $419 million number was always supposed to be rough, so it's no wonder the price is changing.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the final numbers and then voting on it based on its merits," he said.

But Capital Coun. Shawn Menard, a longstanding critic of the project, said the plan should go back to the drawing board.

"It seems like we're going to be paying close to half a billion dollars for fewer seats, more expensive tickets, no roof over people's heads on the north-side stands and less green space," he said. "Doesn't sound like a win to me."

He said councillors seem set on sticking with the current plan, whatever the cost. But he urged them to keep one simple question in their minds.

"This is a never-ending growing budget for Lansdowne which will be a large source of debt for us for 40 years," he said.

"How much is too much?"

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Businessman J.K. Irving dies at 96 - Telegraph-Journal

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New Brunswick industrialist James K. (J.K.) Irving has died at the age of 96.

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Irving – the eldest and last living son of K.C. Irving – died Friday in Saint John, according to a statement issued on behalf of the family.

He was the chairman of Saint John-headquartered J.D. Irving, Limited, a conglomerate made up of businesses in forestry, wood products, agriculture, construction, shipbuilding, logistics and transportation, among other sectors.

J.D. Irving, Limited also once owned Brunswick News, publisher of the Telegraph-Journal, Daily Gleaner, Times & Transcript, and other New Brunswick newspapers, before divesting the company’s media assets in 2022.

J.K. Irving took over a diverse group of businesses from his father K.C. Irving, while his brother Arthur took over the oil refining and distribution piece of the industrial empire. A third brother, Jack, took over construction, engineering, real estate and radio companies.

J.K. Irving’s sons, Jim and Robert Irving, are today the co-CEOs of J.D. Irving, Limited, with Jim heading the Saint John-based operation and Robert the Moncton-based operation.

“J.K. leaves an enduring legacy which will live on through the lives of his loved ones and his company’s employees across New Brunswick, Canada and internationally,” Premier Blaine Higgs said in a statement Friday night.

Last month, Arthur Irving – K.C.’s middle son and the former president of Irving Oil – died at the age of 93. Businessman Jack Irving – K.C.’s youngest son – died in July 2010 at age 78.

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“It does really feel like the passing of an era, and their combined impact is very big, not just for New Brunswick but in the Canadian context,” Jack’s son John Irving, president of Ocean Capital Holdings Limited, said in an interview about his uncle Friday night.

“They had a belief in trying to make things better and they had a commitment to community.”

Known for his love of the woods, J.K. Irving was passionate about environmental conservation. He was proud of J.D. Irving, Limited’s reforestation programs, resulting in the planting of more than one billion trees, according to his nephew John.

Irving was also passionate about addressing poverty.

“(Mr. Irving) was a key leader in our Liberal government’s poverty reduction initiative,” former New Brunswick premier Shawn Graham said in a statement Friday. “And it was this passion I witnessed firsthand, visiting the community programs he funded, to help children receive the best start in life.”

Irving founded PALS (Partners Assisting Local Schools), an organization focused on breaking the cycle of poverty in Saint John’s priority neighbourhoods. More than 30 schools and more than 150 partners are now part of this program that started with one school and one partner.

“His efforts touched many lives, from his leadership in the business community to his environmental initiatives and dedication to youth,” Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).

Forbes Magazine, on its website Real Time Billionaire, estimates Irving’s wealth at $5.5 billion. According to the magazine’s calculations, he was the world’s 549th richest person as of Friday.

J.K. Irving was predeceased by his wife, Mrs. Jean Irving. He is survived by their children, Jim, Robert, Mary-Jean and Judith, along with 14 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements are to be announced at a later date.

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New Brunswick businessman James Kenneth Irving dies at 96 - The Globe and Mail

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J.K. Irving in Toronto on Nov. 20, 2007.Ashley Hutcheson/The Globe and Mail

James Kenneth (J.K.) Irving, who was the last living son of New Brunswick industrialist K.C. Irving, has died at 96.

Chairman of J.D. Irving Limited, a family-owned, Saint John-based company that spanned the forestry, pulp and paper, tissue, lumber, building supplies, frozen food, transportation, shipping and shipbuilding industries, Mr. Irving was a giant even among the biggest names in Canadian business.

“It is with great sadness that the family of James K. Irving mark the peaceful passing of our father, age 96, today in Saint John, New Brunswick,” the Irving family said in a statement released by the company on Friday.

Mr. Irving was someone who could get private audiences with premiers and federal cabinet ministers or command attention in any boardroom. But those who knew him say he was most at home when tromping through the backwoods of New Brunswick. The gentlemanly billionaire was always happiest outside with his boots on, they say.

Mr. Irving was the eldest son of industrialist K.C. Irving, whose Bouctouche, N.B., sawmill grew into an international conglomerate that today employs more than 17,000 people. His brother, Arthur Irving, who was responsible for Irving Oil, died in May. His younger brother, Jack Irving, who oversaw construction, engineering, and steel fabrication companies as well as commercial properties and broadcasting, died in 2010.

His father, a well-known taskmaster, taught J.K. Irving the importance of being hands-on in all aspects of that business – a lesson he carried late into his senior years, often checking the logging roads of his company’s woodlots, inspecting the streams and measuring the distance between the timber tops.

“That was his absolute favourite thing in the world,” said Frank McKenna, a former Canadian ambassador to the United States who, as a premier of New Brunswick, came to know the Irvings well.

“He loved being in the forest, or on the rivers.”

Mr. Irving had an unpretentious, hardy woodsman-like personality, ingrained at an early age from his time in company paper mills and logging camps. Like his father, he was a private person who preferred old Ford vehicles and a Presbyterian work ethic over drinking, golfing or any kind of flashes of wealth.

“Sometimes he would go visit his sawmills at 11, 12, 1 or 2 in the morning,” Mr. McKenna said. “The Irvings are not remote managers, and I think that’s one of the reasons he was so deeply rooted in New Brunswick. He knew all the workers, he knew their names, he knew all the numbers even with hundreds of companies they had.”

His first business was selling eggs as a young boy with his brothers around Bouctouche. He told people how his father came home late one night and found two cartons on the counter – and woke J.K. up to deliver them immediately. The lesson: Work came first, no matter what.

Trees were certainly a big part of Mr. Irving’s business – his timber and forestry operation have planted more than a billion of them since 1957. Irving Woodlands, a division of J.D. Irving, is the sixth-largest landowner in the United States. His company grew into one of the most sophisticated forestry enterprises in the world, funding seed research that cut in half the time it takes a spruce tree to reach harvesting age.

He was equally hands-on in matters of international politics that affected his business. During a particularly tense phase in the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber dispute, Mr. Irving frequently jetted between Ottawa and Washington, meeting with politicians and showing a level of knowledge on the issue that surpassed anyone else.

“I had cabinet ministers tell me he knew more about that file than anybody on the planet. If they needed advice, that’s where they’d go,” Mr. McKenna said.

Mr. Irving also understood how political power worked. He often played host to influential American and Canadian politicians at his family’s lodges in New Brunswick, taking them salmon fishing on the Miramichi River or cooking lobster dinners in Bouctouche – driving to the wharf himself to negotiate a good price with the fishermen.

Once while playing host to former U.S. vice-president Hubert Humphrey at an Irving lumber camp in northern New Brunswick, he was embarrassed by the swarms of mosquitoes attacking his guests. So he ordered a company pilot to spray the area. The order was delayed until the pilot, who had been off-site drinking, finally woke up and buzzed the camp at around 5 a.m., alarming everyone inside.

“The Secret Service all came running out with their guns, and this spray plane dropped a whole load of mosquito repellent on all of them,” Mr. McKenna said.

His philanthropy work included efforts to protect the Atlantic salmon and establish nature parks around his home province. With his wife, Jean Irving, whom he called his “compass,” he established programs to help inner-city school kids and support pregnant teens, and funded public spaces, school playgrounds, chapels and gardens around New Brunswick.

Mr. McKenna said when he needed to put 5,000 people to work as part of an initiative to get people off social assistance, he simply had to call Mr. Irving, who would find a way to arrange it.

While his companies generated significant jobs for New Brunswick, he also attracted some controversy – whether it was for crushing union drives, threatening to move business out of the province or putting much of his wealth in offshore trust accounts in Bermuda.

“The sentimentality he had for the province has its limits. There’s also that toughness there,” said Jacques Poitras, a veteran CBC reporter and author of the book Irving vs. Irving. “He was the kind of person who could fire someone on the spot. But on the other hand, if you shook hands on a deal, that was it. That was his commitment.”

He took an old-fashioned, detail-oriented, no-nonsense approach to running his empire, Mr. Poitras said. Mr. Irving wanted to see his network of businesses in action, and was preoccupied with efficiency and productivity. When his own four children came of age, he put them through the same family business apprenticeship program that he went through.

Mr. Irving also played a significant role in New Brunswick’s media landscape. He owned all of the province’s daily newspapers and most of its weeklies, a near-monopoly that in 1971 brought charges against his father under the Combines Investigation Act.

While that media ownership sometimes invited criticism, there’s little question Mr. Irving often saw his business interests and those of New Brunswick as one and the same. It was his province, and he felt an obligation to look after it.

“I think he saw himself as a steward of this vast machine that was really embedded in the New Brunswick economy, and embedded in those communities,” Mr. Poitras said. “I think J.K. felt a responsibility to keep the thing running, to always make it bigger and better, and I think he succeeded in that.”

Mr. Irving leaves his four children, Jim, Robert, Mary-Jean and Judith; 14 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and extended family. His wife of nearly 70 years, Jean, died in 2019.

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Canada May retail sales likely fall 0.6% after April rebound - BNN Bloomberg

Canadian retail sales likely dropped last month, nearly wiping out all of April’s gains and highlighting weakness in consumer spending that will keep more Bank of Canada rate cuts on the table this year.

Receipts for retailers fell 0.6 per cent in May, the biggest monthly decline since January, according to an advance estimate from Statistics Canada released Friday. That followed a 0.7 per cent jump, matching expectations in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

April’s increase — the only gain in retail sales so far this year — was primarily driven by gasoline stations and fuel vendors, which likely benefited from higher prices. In volume terms, retail sales rose 0.5 per cent.

The largest decline in retail sales in April was posted by car dealers, which had been a driver of higher receipts for months. New vehicles led the drop. Excluding autos, receipts surged 1.8 per cent, three times faster than expected.

Core retail sales, which exclude gas stations and car dealers, increased 1.4 per cent on higher sales at food and beverage stores.

“Overall, the report suggests that consumer spending remain relatively weak and spending per person continues to ease,” Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist at Alberta Central, said in an email.

The report is not expected to have a big impact on the Bank of Canada, which remains focused on inflation, he said. Tuesday’s release of the consumer price index for May will be an important determinant as to whether it follows its June rate cut with another trim in July, he said.

“In my view, a cut in July followed by a lengthy pause to evaluate the impact of lower rates would be the right course of action.”

Andrew Grantham, an economist at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, said the annual increase in retail sales remains well below the pace of population growth.

“Today’s data therefore suggest that many Canadian households continue to restrict their spending in the face of high interest rates, and rates will need to come down further to provide meaningful relief,” he said in a report to investors.

“We continue to expect three more 25 basis-point reductions to the Bank of Canada’s overnight rate before the end of the year, including a move at the next meeting in July.”

Regionally, sales rose in eight of 10 provinces, with Alberta seeing the largest provincial increase of 3.1 per cent, driven by higher receipts at vehicle and parts dealers.

Ontario, on the other hand, recorded the biggest provincial decline of one per cent, led by lower sales at car dealers. Sales were down 2.5 per cent in Toronto.

The statistics agency didn’t provide details on the advance estimate for May, which was based on responses from 47.5 per cent of companies surveyed. The average final response rate for the survey over the previous 12 months was 90.3 per cent.

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Supply Concerns and Demand Optimism Are Boosting Oil Prices - OilPrice.com

Michael Kern

Michael Kern is a newswriter and editor at Safehaven.com and Oilprice.com, 

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By Michael Kern - Jun 21, 2024, 8:10 AM CDT

Oil prices surged this week as hurricane season began, demand improved, and both U.S. crude and gasoline inventories fell. Rising geopolitical risk around the world only added to bullish sentiment.

Friday, June 21, 2024

The onset of hurricane season in the US, improving demand figures that are corroborated by shrinking crude and product inventories, and more visible Chinese buying have come together to lift oil prices to their highest since early May. The market was also reminded of the dysfunctional Red Sea navigation with the Houthis sinking another bulker this week, adding upward pressure to oil prices.

Chevron-Hess Merger Stalled by Arbitrage Delays. Even though three months have passed since the case for a contract arbitration panel on Chevron’s planned takeover of Hess’ Guyana assets was filed, there is still no final arbitrator selected, delaying the $53 billion merger.

Alberto Becomes the New Scare for the Gulf. A storm system has made landfall in Mexico’s northeast regions, becoming the first named tropical storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, with Tropical Storm Alberto bringing heavy rains that disrupted lightering operations in Corpus Christi and Beaumont. 

Here Comes the New PE-Backed Gas Giant. US private equity giant Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) will form a new Mediterranean-focused oil and gas company after purchasing Energean’s (LON:ENOG) assets in Italy, Croatia, and Egypt for $945 million, naming former BP boss Tony Hayward as its new CEO.

Europe Approves 14th Russia Sanctions Package. The European Union approved a 14th package of sanctions against Russia that bans re-exports of Russian LNG in the EU, however steering clear of banning LNG imports per se, whilst also blocking any financing for Russia’s planned Arctic and Baltic LNG terminals. 

Iran Boasts of Ever-Increasing Oil Production. Iran’s oil minister Javad Owji stated that the country’s crude output reached 3.6 million b/d, the highest level since the 2018 reimposition of US sanctions, with some 1.5 million b/d allocated for exports that still mostly revolve around Chinese buyers. 

Italian Major to Farm Out Ivory Coast Finds. Italy’s oil major ENI (BIT:ENI) is reported to be looking into a partial divestment of its offshore exploration activities in Ivory Coast, seeking to sell up to 30% of its holding to garner some $1.1 billion from the emerging frontier, home to the largest oil find of 2021 (Baleine). 

Oil Leaks Jeopardize Nigeria’s Supply. Nigerian upstream firm Aiteo was forced to shut down all oil production at its 50,000 b/d Nembe Creek facility, the largest of 11 fields operated by the company in Bayelsa state, after detecting a leak in the pipeline feeding the Bonny oil export terminal. 

China’s Spike in Hydro Helps Non-Fossil Generation. Heavy rains across spring months have led to a notable resurgence in Chinese hydropower generation, skyrocketing to 115 billion KWh last month, up 40% year-on-year and potentially rising even higher as monsoon season promises to be above average. 

European M&A Doesn’t Really Work. Protracted negotiations between the Dutch and German governments over the sale of the German arm of grid operator TenneT have collapsed after the two sides failed to agree on a price, estimated to be around $20-25 billion.

Chevron Eyes New Angola Opportunities. US oil major Chevron (NYSE:CVX) signed two risk service contracts with Angola for offshore blocks 49 and 50, located in proximity to its existing Cabinda concessions, pledging to undertake seismic surveys in the previously untapped area.

China Tames Its Coal Ambition. China’s coal production growth tapered off after rapid growth in 2022-2023, with Chinese miners producing 1,858 million tonnes of coal in January-May, down 3% year-over-year as Beijing sees the country’s energy supply as more comfortable. 

Suriname Dreams of Repeating Guyana Success. The South American country of Suriname expects to produce 400,000 b/d of oil equivalent from its offshore fields by 2030, led by TotalEnergies’ fields in Block 58 that are expected to start producing in 2028 and account for at least half of that growth. 

Mexico Refuses to Give Up on Dos Bocas. Chief executive of Mexico’s state oil firm Pemex Octavio Romero reiterated his promise to launch crude processing at Mexico’s new Olmeca refinery by end-2024 despite being almost three years overdue, eyeing a ramp-up to 163,000 b/d.

By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com

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Michael Kern

Michael Kern is a newswriter and editor at Safehaven.com and Oilprice.com, 

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