Alberta Premier Proposes Denying Health Care, Education to Newcomers Until They Pay Taxes
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith proposed on Wednesday that the province deny newcomers access to health care, public education, and child care until they work and pay taxes for several years. Smith told the Calgary Herald the approach mirrors restrictions other countries have adopted. The United Kingdom recently extended its residency requirement for permanent residence from […]
EU Backs Away From Total Combustion Car Ban
The European Union will replace its planned complete ban on new combustion engine vehicles by 2035 with a more flexible 90% emissions reduction target, European Parliament leaders announced Friday. The European Commission plans to unveil the revised automotive package on Tuesday in Strasbourg, marking a significant retreat from the bloc’s 2023 climate policy that required […]
USTR Targets Canada’s Dairy And Digital Rules In CUSMA Review
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is signaling CUSMA’s next term is not automatic, explicitly tying any 16-year extension to fixes for “specific and structural issues,” with Canada’s dairy policies placed near the top of the list. In briefings relayed from Greer’s Congressional engagement, the US frames the agreement as “successful to a certain degree,” but […]
Swiss-Backed Firm Announces $1.3B Data Center Development in Alberta
A Swiss asset management firm has committed to developing four artificial intelligence data centers across Alberta, marking one of the largest foreign technology investments in the Canadian province this year. Data District Inc., a division of Alcral AG, has partnered with Technologies New Energy to build facilities valued at approximately $1.3 billion, Invest Alberta announced […]
Scotiabank Reportedly Rebuilding Metals Trading Desk After 5 Years
Scotiabank (TSX: BNS) is moving to revive a metals trading desk as the bank positions for a commodity cycle where spreads, hedging flows, and investor interest have intensified. People familiar with the matter said Bank of Nova Scotia has tapped recruiters to hire commodities traders, sales specialists, and strategists to staff a revived unit. The […]
Italy Resolves Gold Reserve Dispute With ECB
A budget dispute over Italy’s massive gold holdings ended Thursday when officials from Rome and the European Central Bank reached an understanding in Brussels, according to Italian Treasury sources. The controversy stemmed from a Brothers of Italy proposal that would formally declare the nation’s gold reserves belong to “the Italian people.” Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti […]
Is The Till Empty at OpenAI? $10B Amazon Talks Add Fresh Runway
Near-term liquidity of OpenAI is put into question tied to a $30-billion tranche led by SoftBank, framed as a two-week countdown to “virtually no cash left” if the close does not happen. A snippet of the filing back in November states that SoftBank Group entered an amendment agreement with OpenAI to enable “the full investment […]
Scotiabank Plans Return to Metals Trading Market
Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX: BNS) has begun recruiting staff to restore its metals trading operations, five years after shutting down one of the industry’s most established desks during the pandemic. The Canadian bank has engaged recruiters to find commodities traders, sales specialists and strategists for the revived unit, according to Bloomberg. The desk will […]
Canada Seeks Input on Western Copper Processing Facility
The federal government launched a request for information on December 17 to explore building Western Canada’s first copper smelter and refinery, which would become the country’s second domestic processing facility. The federal initiative involves cooperation with British Columbia and Alberta to assess whether establishing midstream copper infrastructure makes economic and strategic sense. Responses to the […]
Trump Administration Plans Executive Order Limiting Defense Contractor Buybacks, Dividends
The Trump administration is preparing an executive order that would restrict stock buybacks, dividends, and executive compensation at defense contractors with projects running over budget and behind schedule, three sources familiar with the plan told Reuters on Monday. The proposed order targets major Pentagon suppliers, including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, RTX, and L3Harris Technologies. […]