Tausi Insider

A totem pole is pictured outside the Kinder Morgan Burnaby Terminal and Tank Farm in Burnaby, B.C., on June 20, 2019. JASON REDMOND/AFP/Getty Images Robert Merasty is the executive director of the Indigenous Resource Network and former chief of Flying Dust First Nation. With the continuing global energy crisis, Canada is looking at ways to fast-track resource development infrastructure. For example, the federal government’s recent fiscal update provided $1.28-billion to improve its response time in assessing major projects. While this could help Ottawa in its regulatory approval process, there’s still a piece missing: The industry needs more support from Indigenous communities if it wants to move projects along quicker. The federal government has said multiple times that its duty to consult with Indigenous communities affected by mega-projects does not equal to their having a veto. But time and again, Indigenous opposition has been a major force in stopping or delaying energy infra...

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Friday banned approvals of new telecommunications equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE because they pose “an unacceptable risk” to U.S. national security. The FCC said on Friday it had adopted final rules banning the sale or importation of equipment deemed to pose a national security risk to the United States, the latest crackdown on the Chinese telecoms equipment makers. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated the proposed measure, which effectively bars the firms from selling new equipment in the United States, to the other three commissioners for final approval in October. Huawei declined to comment and ZTE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The idea was first proposed in mid-2021. The FCC action would also affect Dahua Technology Co, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co Ltd and Hytera Communications Corp Ltd, according to the statement from the FCC. https://www.tausiinsider.com/u-s-bans-...

A monster Canadian National Railways locomotive on Nov. 11, 1926. John Boyd/Tausi Insider Jackie Forrest is the executive director of the ARC Energy Research Institute and co-host of the ARC Energy Ideas podcast, a weekly show that explains the latest trends and news in Canadian energy and beyond. Slashing Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions to 40 per cent to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050 is no small endeavour. Think long electricity transmission lines, carbon pipelines, hydrogen facilities and new critical mineral mines. The green shift will require hundreds of billions of dollars in new investments across the country. It’s kind of like Canada’s first megaproject, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). CP-T It, too, was a colossal undertaking to build infrastructure across this vast, sparsely populated land from coast to coast. It, too, faced huge challenges. But where they differ is that, despite all its challenges and the technological limitations...

The Bank of Canada is expected to increase interest rates once more this week, capping off a tumultuous year for the central bank. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press The Bank of Canada is expected to cap its tumultuous year with another interest-rate increase this week, although private-sector forecasters are split on how big the bank will go as it appears to be approaching a turning point for monetary policy. Central bank Governor Tiff Macklem has been clear over the past month that he’s not done raising borrowing costs for Canadians. But he has started arguing that the bank needs to balance the risk of doing too little to fight inflation against the risk of doing too much and crashing the economy. Financial markets are betting on a quarter-point rate hike on Wednesday, which would bring the bank’s benchmark interest rate to 4 per cent for the first time since early 2008. Bay Street economists are more divided, with some backing the market view and others arguing for another half-point ...

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem conducts an end-of-year fireside chat with the Business Council of British Columbia, in Vancouver, on Dec. 12. JENNIFER GAUTHIER/Reuters Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said there is a “greater risk” of not doing enough to tackle inflation than doing too much and damaging economic growth, even as the bank has signalled that it is nearing the end of its aggressive rate-hike cycle. In a year-end speech in Vancouver, Mr. Macklem reiterated that the central bank has entered a new phase of monetary policy. After raising interest rates seven consecutive times, the bank has moved from asking how big the next rate hike should be to asking whether to raise interest rates at all. That could mean a pause to rate increases as early as January. But Mr. Macklem also suggested that the bank remains concerned about throwing in the towel too early. The annual rate of inflation was 6.9 per cent in October, still more than three times the bank’s 2-per-cent infl...

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem conducts an end-of-year fireside chat with the Business Council of British Columbia, in Vancouver, on Dec. 12. JENNIFER GAUTHIER/Reuters Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said there is a “greater risk” of not doing enough to tackle inflation than doing too much and damaging economic growth, even as the bank has signalled that it is nearing the end of its aggressive rate-hike cycle. In a year-end speech in Vancouver, Mr. Macklem reiterated that the central bank has entered a new phase of monetary policy. After raising interest rates seven consecutive times, the bank has moved from asking how big the next rate hike should be to asking whether to raise interest rates at all. That could mean a pause to rate increases as early as January. But Mr. Macklem also suggested that the bank remains concerned about throwing in the towel too early. The annual rate of inflation was 6.9 per cent in October, still more than three times the bank’s 2-per-cent infl...

There’s a crisis in cybersecurity right now, with a rise in attacks coupled with a shortage of talent. Handout Yogen Appalraju is a partner and the Canadian cybersecurity leader at EY Canada. If the digitization of businesses has taught us anything, it’s that cybersecurity is much more than simply a technology risk, it’s also a very serious business risk. A recent report from Statistics Canada showed that 18 per cent of Canadian businesses were affected by cybersecurity incidents last year, including 37 per cent of large businesses. By not giving the required attention to cybersecurity, businesses open themselves up to a plethora of risks, including effects on their operations, which will drive losses of revenue and profits. In fact, last year Canadian businesses spent $600-million on recovery efforts after cybersecurity incidents, a figure which doesn’t account for the reputational effect and subsequent loss of customers that a data breach can have on a business. Much of the increas...

Operating and conducting your affairs in private is a fundamental human right – even for businesses. the globe and mail/iStockPhoto / Getty Images Martin Kenney is managing partner of Martin Kenney & Co., an investigative litigation practice based in the British Virgin Islands, specializing in global asset recovery. Across Europe, countries have been switching off public access to what are known as beneficial ownership registers, in response to a ruling from the continent’s top court, the European Court of Justice (ECJ). It’s a move that transparency campaigners are decrying , but which, after a 30-year background in battling economic criminals, I believe is a victory for common sense and the right to privacy. Other jurisdictions should take heed of the decision. Since 2018, a patchwork of systems, which we refer to as ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) registers, have been operating across the European Union. These registers list the names of people who ultimately own a company, an...

Germany has enough gas to get through the current winter season without the risk of a supply emergency, the head of the country’s network regulator told weekly Bild am Sonntag, adding the focus was now on the 2023-24 period. “I don’t expect something to go wrong this winter,” Klaus Mueller was quoted as saying, adding Germany’s gas storage facilities would likely be more than 50-per-cent full once the winter season ends. Currently, levels stand at 90.97 per cent. “We are now focusing on the next winter.” Mr. Mueller said gas prices, which soared during 2022 but have recently come down again, had reached a “plateau” level that would persist for the next one to two years. But he added that three risk factors might bring prices back up: colder temperatures in the upcoming winter season, higher gas demand in China and the vulnerability of gas infrastructure, referring to the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline. https://www.tausiinsider.com/germanys-energy-regulator-says-winter-gas-...

It is time to increase the Canada Deposit Insurance Corp.’s insurance limits to strengthen this country’s banking system. Andrew Moor is the president and chief executive officer of EQ Bank, and Michael Mignardi is general counsel. Deposit insurance provided by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corp. is an important contributor to the stability of Canada’s banking system. If a participating financial institution goes under, CDIC ensures that people’s savings are insured up to a certain amount and remain accessible. That’s why it is concerning that nearly 20 years have passed since the last time a federal budget (2005) increased coverage for Canadians to $100,000 per insurable category, up from $60,000 with the cost borne by participating financial institutions. While $100,000 may sound sufficient, it is far lower than other developed countries, and that figure has been eroded by inflation, which reduces purchasing power and the value of money – making a limit of $100,000 even lower in rea...

Peter Routledge, who heads the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, struck an assertive tone in his first public remarks since OSFI raised the domestic stability buffer and ignored calls to relax the mortgage stress test in December. Fred Lum/the Globe and Mail Canada’s banking regulator is gearing up to take a more active role among the country’s largest financial institutions, signalling that it could continue to boost the amount of money lenders must hold as a buffer against economic risks. Peter Routledge, who heads the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), said at a Monday conference held by Royal Bank of Canada RY-T that the regulator will “adapt or change course more readily and more frequently than in the past.” The message was delivered one month after the regulator adjusted the range of the capital level it could force the banks to maintain, sparking concerns over whether it would hike requirements just as some of Canada’s largest...

Wind turbines at the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm, off the coast of the Guerande peninsula in western France, on Sept. 22, 2022. STEPHANE MAHE/The Associated Press Climate change is the global economy’s biggest long-term challenge but one the world is least prepared to tackle because of short-term problems led by a cost-of-living crisis, the World Economic Forum said in a report Wednesday. The group’s Global Risks Report, released ahead of its annual gathering of government leaders and business elites next week in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos, offers a bleak outlook. The report based on a survey of 1,200 risk experts, industry bosses and policy-makers says the biggest challenges over the next decade involve the environment, yet more immediate challenges are distracting world leaders, some of whom will be in Davos for panel discussions and schmoozing at an event that has faced criticism for not producing concrete action. “The coming years will present tough trade-offs for gove...