Tausi Insider

An affordable energy advocate says the imposition of consumer carbon pricing in Nova Scotia is a good idea, but adds that rising energy costs continue to pose problems for people with lower incomes. Brian Gifford, chair of the Affordable Energy Coalition of Nova Scotia, believes most people will be helped by the federal government’s plan to provide quarterly rebates to offset carbon pricing costs, beginning in July. The rebates will see households in Nova Scotia get $248 with every payment, while those in the other two provinces where carbon pricing was imposed on Tuesday – Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island – will see rebates of $328 and $240 respectively. But Gifford said even more help will likely be needed. “In this time of high oil prices, especially, and rising electricity rates, there is still going to be a problem for people,” Gifford said in an interview Wednesday. The carbon price is expected to add an initial 17.4 cents per litre to the cost of heating oil....

A person leaves a Toronto supermarket on Oct. 5. Alex Lupul/The Canadian Press Canada’s inflation rate eased slightly in November but there were signs that underlying price pressures in the economy remain strong, increasing the odds that the Bank of Canada moves ahead with another interest-rate increase in January. The Consumer Price Index rose 6.8 per cent compared with the previous year, as lower prices at the gas pump offset an acceleration in grocery prices and rent costs, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday. That’s down from 6.9 per cent in October, although slightly ahead of economist expectations of 6.7 per cent. The rate of inflation has trended down since peaking near a four-decade high of 8.1 per cent in June. But key measures of core inflation, which strip out volatile food and gasoline prices, continued to rise in November. That suggests the economy is still running hot in the face of multiple interest-rate hikes, and makes it more likely that the Bank of Canada will rai...

A person leaves a Toronto supermarket on Oct. 5. Alex Lupul/The Canadian Press Canada’s inflation rate eased slightly in November but there were signs that underlying price pressures in the economy remain strong, increasing the odds that the Bank of Canada moves ahead with another interest-rate increase in January. The Consumer Price Index rose 6.8 per cent compared with the previous year, as lower prices at the gas pump offset an acceleration in grocery prices and rent costs, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday. That’s down from 6.9 per cent in October, although slightly ahead of economist expectations of 6.7 per cent. The rate of inflation has trended down since peaking near a four-decade high of 8.1 per cent in June. But key measures of core inflation, which strip out volatile food and gasoline prices, continued to rise in November. That suggests the economy is still running hot in the face of multiple interest-rate hikes, and makes it more likely that the Bank of Canada will rai...

Galen Weston Jr., executive chairman of Loblaw, at a news conference in Toronto on July 15, 2013. Michelle Siu/The Canadian Press Sylvain Charlebois is professor of food distribution and policy and the director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University. It all started with one reporter taking a simple, trivial photo of an overpriced pack of five boneless, skinless chicken breasts. The price was $37 – $26.87 a kilogram – a world-class sticker shocker. That’s at least double what one would expect to pay for chicken breasts. Within hours, the picture became the lightning rod for frustrated consumers on social media. Loblaw Cos. Ltd. L-T and Galen G. Weston – Loblaw executive chairman, president and well-known public persona of the company’s brand – became public enemy No. 1. Attacks were instant, and mostly vicious. On the surface, the collective uproar against Loblaw lacked any rational thinking. The chicken breasts in the picture were skinless, boneless, and free from hor...