The legalization of marijuana could lead to longer waits at Canada’s border crossings as officers deal with “cannabis tourists,” warns an intelligence report obtained by Global News. The declassified Canada Border Services Agency document also said that illicit exports of marijuana “are expected to increase” after legalization, putting additional strain on officers. “Unless exemptions are made for personal amounts of marijuana, cannabis legalization may increase workloads for officers and translate into longer border wait times, particularly at land borders,” it said. Border delays will be particularly bad during summer months…
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TD Bank Becomes Latest To Bar Customers From Using Credit To Buy Cryptocurrency – National | Globalnews.ca
The decision follows moves by several U.S. banks to stop allowing credit card purchases of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The value of bitcoin soared last year, trading for more than C$20,000 per bitcoin. The value of the cryptocurrency has since come off its all-time highs and trades for around C$13,000, but remains up significantly from where it was a year ago. Read full story here: TD Bank Becomes Latest To Bar Customers From Using Credit To Buy Cryptocurrency – National | Globalnews.ca
Read MoreCRTC Rejects Call For Public Inquiry Into Aggressive Telecom Sales Practices – Business – CBC News
A consumer group is protesting the CRTC’s refusal to hold a public inquiry into numerous claims of aggressive and misleading sales practices by some of Canada’s major telecoms. The telecom regulator says there’s no need for an inquiry. But the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), a non-profit agency based in Ottawa, says the decision hurts consumers. “CRTC throws consumers to telco sales dogs,” PIAC’s executive director, John Lawford, said in a statement. “The CRTC refusal to inquire into the shocking sales practices of Canada’s major telecommunications and broadcasting companies says to consumers, ‘You’re…
Read MoreNova Scotia Power Testing Tesla Batteries In Electrical System – Halifax | Globalnews.ca
Nova Scotia Power is testing Tesla batteries in a pilot project exploring how they can be used to provide a more reliable power supply. A couple dozen battery compartments, each about the size of an enclosed portable toilet, have been installed at an electrical substation in Elmsdale, N.S. The modular arrangement is called a Powerpack system; essentially a giant rechargeable battery. A smaller-scale system was installed in Australia. “The wind blows when it blows, the sun shines when it shines, but people like to watch TV at night,” Jill Searle, the NSP’s…
Read MoreTelecoms, CBC And Others Urge CRTC To Establish Agency To Help Locate Piracy Websites – Business – CBC News
Prominent members of Canada’s entertainment industry are calling for a new federal agency to locate and shut down websites that are portals for illegally obtained video and audio content. Bell Canada, Rogers Communications Inc., Quebecor Inc., Cineplex Inc., Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and several other organizations have banded together to create FairPlay Canada. They argue that Canadian jobs are at risk because consumers can get access to TV shows, movies and music from websites that don’t pay for the content that they stream to consumers. They want the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications…
Read MoreCanadian Dollar Falls From 4-Month High After Trump Boosts U.S. Dollar – Business – CBC News
The Canadian dollar retreated from a four-month high against the U.S. dollar on Thursday after comments from U.S. President Donald Trump boosted the greenback against most major currencies. During his first visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump stressed that he ultimately wanted to see a stronger U.S. dollar. The move comes on the back of comments made by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday, when he said a weaker buck was good for American exporters.Those comments had sent the U.S. dollar to a three-year low against a basket of currencies. On Thursday, the…
Read MoreCanada Trialing Use Of Ethereum Blockchain To Enhance Transparency In Govt Funding – National | Globalnews.ca
The Canadian government has launched a trial to explore the use of blockchain technology in making government research grant and funding information more transparent to the public. For the trial, the National Research Council (NRC) is using the Catena Blockchain Suite, a Canadian-made product built on the Ethereum blockchain, to publish funding and grant information in real time. When the NRC creates or amends a grant, the pertinent information is stored on the Ethereum blockchain, and posted on an online database that Canadians can peruse. “Blockchains provide the ultimate in transparency and…
Read MoreRise In Duty-Free Allowance Could Cost Hundreds Of Thousands Of Jobs: Study – Business – CBC News
Canada’s retail industry is warning that raising the duty-free allowance for cross-border shipments could lead to hundreds of thousands of job losses and cut billions of dollars from the Canadian economy. The numbers come from a Retail Council of Canada-commissioned PwC study out Friday that shows the potential fallout if Canada agreed to requests from U.S. lawmakers to increase the duty-free allowance from $20 to $800 as part of NAFTA talks. “It has very, very significant implications for not only our sales, but for employment in the industry, for Canadian…
Read MoreCanadian Oil Selling At A Deep Discount – And It Hurts – Business – CBC News
North American oil prices are marching toward $65 US a barrel this month, giving the industry a boost after the market collapsed three years ago. The oil sector hasn’t seen these prices since late 2014, but most companies in Alberta are receiving significantly less, just above $40 US a barrel. The Alberta oilpatch continues to increase oil production, but as pipelines fill up, companies are receiving less money for their oil compared to the rest of the continent. While there is always a gap between the North American benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI),…
Read MoreOttawa’s New Carbon Pricing Plan Will Reward Clean Companies – Politics – CBC News
The federal government added more meat to the bones of its core environmental policy Monday by releasing draft legislation on how pricing carbon pollution will work in Canada. The new legislation is the federal backstop and will apply to all provinces that haven’t created their own system and put it in place by September 2018. Here are three things to take away from the proposed legislation: The price on carbon pollution will start at $10 a tonne this year and increase to $50 a tonne by 2022. Environment Canada is launching…
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