Tausi Insider

Bill Browder was once Russia’s biggest foreign investor, but in 2005 Vladimir Putin declared him a "threat to national security." Christopher Katsarov/Tausi Insider Canada stands with Ukraine, but Ottawa’s inability to fight financial crime is enabling Russia’s war machine. That stark assessment comes from Bill Browder, a man who has risked his life to expose how Russian President Vladimir Putin has enriched himself through corruption, money laundering and flagrant violations of human rights. The U.S.-born British citizen, who co-founded hedge fund Hermitage Capital Management, was once Russia’s biggest foreign investor. But these days, he’s considered an enemy of the Russian state. Not familiar with his story? Let me catch you up so it’s clear why the Canadian government must heed his call. Mr. Browder made his fortune in Moscow during the 1990s and the early aughts by investing in newly privatized Russian companies. But his time in the “Wild East” came to an end in 2005 w...

Ireland’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday that parliament cannot ratify the European Union’s free trade deal with Canada unless laws are changed, posing a challenge to the coalition government if it wants to avoid the matter going to a referendum. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) sets out the removal of tariffs on 99 per cent of all goods types traded between the EU and Canada, some over a period of up to seven years. It has been provisionally in force since September 2017, and has so far been ratified by 16 of the 27 EU member countries, with Germany’s coalition agreeing in June to add its signature. The Irish government had intended to do so as well through a vote in parliament once it cleared the legal hurdles. Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said last year that a delay would send out the wrong message on Ireland’s commitment to trade. However a member of the ruling coalition challenged it in the courts, arguing that the deal should be put to a referendum bec...

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, in London, on Nov. 9. ANDY BAILEY/AFP/Getty Images Britain has been in managed – or mismanaged – decline since its costly victory in the Second World War, a quarter-century after the British Empire reached its peak. That decline seems to be accelerating as Brexit, the pandemic, the energy crisis and seemingly endless political turmoil work their dark magic. Every decade or so since the war ended, a currency or economic crisis or an epically bad political decision has pushed Britain’s economy – and global stature – ever lower. The pound’s devaluation in 1949 ensured the rise, and ultimate dominance, of the U.S. dollar. The chaos of the 1970s – strikes, social unrest, gaping budget deficits, soaring oil prices and inflation – intensified the country’s tribulations and triggered a bailout by the International Monetary Fund. Then came another currency crisis – “Black Wednesday” of 199...

Construction workers on the top floor of the Time and Space condominium project in Toronto on Oct. 11. Fred Lum/Tausi Insider Canada’s federal housing agency is lending billions of dollars to boost construction of rental homes without routinely disclosing the recipients of the money or where the units are being built, shrouding in secrecy a program designed to address the country’s housing shortfall by providing developers with low-cost financing. The Rental Construction Financing Initiative is one of Ottawa’s major efforts to boost home construction. It was announced in 2016 with $2.5-billion in funding, which has grown to more than $25-billion, making it the largest program in the government’s National Housing Strategy, a bundle of different initiatives intended to improve access to affordable units. RCFI is administered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which as of this summer had committed to $13.6-billion in loans through the program. The developers receiving the m...

The economic update that was meant to shed light on how Canada will compete with new clean-spending measures in the United States and elsewhere has instead sowed confusion about one of the key elements of that strategy. Last spring, the federal government announced that it was exploring carbon contracts for differences (CCFDs). As presented then, the mechanism would guarantee companies making clean-technology investments of financial benefits from planned carbon-price increases, even if the price did not actually go up to $170 per tonne by 2030 as planned. Since August, when Washington committed US$370-billion to climate-related measures via the Inflation Reduction Act, Ottawa has faced increased pressure to follow through. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has suggested that Canada’s national carbon price means it doesn’t need to match subsidies in the U.S. But Canadian industries have complained that political uncertainty around the market-based mechanism – including whether it will be...

Shopify Inc.'s headquarters in Ottawa on May 3, 2022. During the pandemic, the company partnered with the government on an initiative to help small businesses grow, and on the COVID Alert app. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press Vass Bednar is the founder of Regs to Riches , a senior fellow at CIGI, and the executive director of McMaster University’s master of public policy in digital society program. I recently reported Shopify to … itself. The Twitter account “ Deceptive Design ,” which illuminates deceptive design patterns, had noted two fishy apps available on the app store of Shopify Inc. , the Ottawa-based e-commerce platform. One advertises the ability for merchants using Shopify to create fake low-stock indicators. Another adds faux time pressure for customers through a large animated countdown timer. These apps are made by third-party app developers and are not necessarily Shopify’s fault. But Shopify claims certain standards in its official requirements for apps . By a...

The federal government has rolled out $800-million for clean fuel projects, the first round of cash from a $1.5-billion fund launched by Ottawa in 2021 to help accelerate Canada’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the fight against climate change. Canada’s Clean Fuels Fund was launched with the aim of increasing the production of clean fuels such as hydrogen, renewable diesel and natural gas, cellulosic ethanol, synthetic fuels and sustainable aviation fuel. The idea is to help clean fuel project proponents address barriers to growth by taking the risk out of the capital investments required to build new facilities, or expand existing ones. For now, the federal government is remaining mum on the details of who exactly gets how much cash, as it undertakes negotiations to finalize the terms of funding for each project. Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Monday that details of the projects will be released in the coming weeks, but added they include production f...

Construction crew work on the development of Concession Road 5 before the start of the construction of a housing complex in Pickering, Ont., on Nov. 14. Eduardo Lima/Tausi Insider Determined to build 1.5 million new homes in a decade to alleviate severe housing shortages, Ontario’s government has introduced numerous changes to multiple legislations, aimed at making land development faster and cheaper. Among the biggest losers: Ontario’s conservation authorities. Bill 23 (also known as the More Homes Built Faster Act) clarifies and limits the powers and responsibilities of these organizations, transferring some of their powers to municipalities or the provincial government. Of note, the bill would restrict the ability of conservation authorities to comment on development and planning applications. It would constrain their ability to appeal development approvals, and compel them to adopt a single, universal regulation. The province also proposes to expedite conservation authorities’ pr...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Nov. 3. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press John H. Cochrane is a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and author of The Fiscal Theory of the Price Level , available January, 2023. Jon Hartley is a PhD student in economics at Stanford University and a research fellow at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity. The most important source of Canada’s inflation is simple: Starting in 2020, the government borrowed more than $700-billion, and mostly handed it out. People spent it, driving up prices. It was, of course, proper for the government to help people and businesses gravely hurt during the COVID-19 pandemic. And debts and deficits do not automatically cause inflation – Canada can borrow an immense amount without an impact on the price level if the government has a believable plan for repayment. But t...

Ring of Fire Metals is in talks with the United States government about possibly getting funding for its critical minerals project in northern Ontario. “We’ve had initial discussions with the U.S. Department of Defence (DOD) regarding the important role that Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire region will play in producing the critical minerals needed by Canada and the U.S.” the company said in a statement to Tausi Insider. The Australian-owned junior mining company is trying to move forward on the Eagle’s Nest nickel project, which it hopes one day will produce metals for electric cars. Ring of Fire Metals. is also studying the viability of constructing a battery processing plant in Ontario that would refine nickel for the automotive industry. The DOD last week confirmed it is willing to help fund feasibility studies for early-stage mining companies in North America with promising projects that could help alleviate shortages in some critical minerals, like battery metals. Feasibility st...

BP BP-N is paying more tax as it is making more profit, its U.K. head Louise Kingham told the Reuters Energy Transition Europe 2022 event on Wednesday. “It’s right that (the government) should think about how they protect the most vulnerable and taxation is not for companies to determine,” Kingham said. “I think when companies make more profits, they expect to pay more taxes, and that’s exactly what we are doing,” she added. British finance minister Jeremy Hunt is considering increasing a windfall tax on oil and gas firms and extending it to power generation firms as he tries to find ways to repair the country’s public finances, sources said on Saturday. Hunt is due to announce his new budget plan on Thursday “Taxes that we will pay here in the U.K. will be about two and a half billion dollars, all told, with the (existing) additional levy,” Kingham added, referring to the 25 per cent windfall tax, or Energy Profits Levy, approved by British lawmakers for oil and gas producers in the...

British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt, in London, on Nov. 17. Alastair Grant/The Associated Press Millions of people across Britain face higher taxes and energy bills after the government on Thursday announced an emergency budget focused on restoring the country’s financial credibility and bolstering an economy battered by soaring inflation. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt unveiled a £55-billion ($86-billion) package of tax increases and spending cuts designed to demonstrate that Britain is committed to paying its bills after his predecessor spooked financial markets by proposing tax cuts without saying how they would be paid for. Mr. Hunt sought to cushion the blow by pledging to protect the most vulnerable, announcing that he would increase welfare benefits and state pension payments in line with inflation and help low-income residents with their energy bills. The government will also maintain investment in energy and infrastructure projects to boost economic growth, he said. Even so, th...