Tausi Insider

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the COP27 climate conference, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on Nov. 11. SeanGallup/Getty Images U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking Friday at an annual international summit on climate change, urged world leaders to “double down” on their resolve to fight global warming, saying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reinforces the need to phase out fossil fuels. “We can no longer plead ignorance to the consequences of our actions, or continue to repeat our mistakes,” Mr. Biden said. The President’s brief attendance at the United Nations climate conference, known as COP27, was largely a victory lap as he emphasized new spending on clean energy initiatives that will “change the paradigm” for the United States and the rest of the world. But Mr. Biden glossed over how he’s pushed for more oil and gas production to bring down costs that have been politically troublesome at home, and fuelled the invasion of Ukraine by allowing Russia to fetch higher prices for its energ...

Steve Hawkins at the Horizons ETFs office in Toronto on Oct. 29, 2020. Fred Lum/Tausi Insider Steve Hawkins has unexpectedly stepped down as president and chief executive officer of Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. after seven years at the helm of one of Canada’s largest exchange-traded fund providers. On Tuesday, Horizons ETFs, a subsidiary of Seoul-based Mirae Asset Financial Group, announced Mr. Hawkins’ retirement, effective immediately. Mr. Hawkins, who has been with the company for 15 years, will be replaced on an interim basis by Horizons ETFs’ chief operating officer Jasmit Bhandal. In a statement, the company said the board intends to begin a global search for a permanent president and CEO, while Mr. Hawkins has agreed to “assist” in the transition and act as an adviser to the new leader. The company and Mr. Hawkins, 54, declined to comment. With more than $21-billion in assets in 107 investment funds, Horizons is Canada’s fourth-largest ETF provider. The company is we...

Israeli designate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the swearing-in ceremony for the new Israeli parliament the 25th Knesset in Jerusalem, on Nov. 15. POOL/Reuters Several leading Israeli businesses pledged on Monday to strengthen their internal anti-discrimination rules in the wake of remarks by hard-right members of Israel’s incoming government seen as undermining gender equality and minority rights. The remarks, including a call to scrap the Jerusalem gay pride march and another to ease a ban on individuals who support terror or racism from running for parliament, have alarmed many Israelis and drawn a warning from the country’s President. On Sunday, a member of the far-right Religious Zionism party – one of the parties in prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu’s new coalition – told public radio that hotels and doctors should be allowed to refuse services to people on religious grounds, provided others are available. Leading hospitals and health care providers, appare...

People walk with shopping bags in Berlin, on Nov. 16. LISI NIESNER/Reuters German companies expect only a mild recession next year despite headwinds from the energy crisis, raw material shortages and a tepid global economy, a survey of major associations published by Reuters on Tuesday showed. “The last quarter of 2022 and the start of 2023 are likely to be accompanied by a decline in economic activity,” said Siegfried Russwurm, president of the Federation of German Industries (BDI). “However, we expect only a slight slump.” There have been growing signs that the German economy could stave off the worst of an economic downturn triggered by a plunge in energy supply from Russia after the Ukraine invasion. Inflation slowed slightly to 11.3 per cent in November from a high of 11.6 per cent the month prior as energy prices eased. The German government has predicted the economy will grow by 1.4 per cent this year and contract by 0.4 per cent next year. Russwurm warned that growth would re...

Canada and the United States are going to argue at a North American leaders’ summit next week that resolving a dispute over measures that favour Mexican energy companies would help draw more foreign investment to Mexico, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday. “Both [U.S] President [Joe] Biden and I are going to be... fairly clear with President [Andres Manuel] Lopez Obrador that this ... needs to be understood as a way to help Mexico develop, a way to continue to draw in investments from companies in Canada and the United States,” Trudeau told Reuters. Asked if he hoped to make progress at the summit in Mexico City, Trudeau said: “Absolutely.” The United States and Canada entered into dispute settlement talks last year with Mexico under a North American trade deal, known as the USMCA, charging that Mexican energy policies were discriminatory and undermine international firms. Trudeau will arrive in Mexico City on Monday for a three-day visit, which will include bilateral meeti...

Hudson's Bay Co. says the head of The Bay, its online marketplace division, is retiring this month. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press Hudson’s Bay Co. says the head of The Bay, its online marketplace division, is retiring this month and that the current president of Hudson’s Bay, which oversees Canadian retail stores, will take on the additional role. The retailer says Sophia Hwang-Judiesch, who came on as president of Hudson’s Bay last September, will lead efforts to transform and improve both the digital and in-store performance of the retailer after Iain Nairn retires. HBC separated its 86 stores into a separate division from its website in 2021. Nairn, who is stepping down as president and CEO of The Bay, was appointed president of Hudson Bay’s before the split, in January, 2020. Richard Baker, executive chairman of HBC, thanked Nairn in a statement and said he was confident Hwang-Judiesch could help improve the retailer’s performance. HBC did not give a specific reason for N...

Former OPSEU boss Warren 'Smokey' Thomas speaks to reporters at Queens Park in Toronto in a file photo on Jan. 21, 2019. Chris Young/The Canadian Press The former president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union — Warren ‘Smokey’ Thomas — has called the recent allegations of financial improprieties made against him by the union “bogus” and is vowing to defend them. Mr. Thomas released a statement on Tuesday afternoon, just a day after OPSEU filed a lawsuit accusing him and two other former union executives of improperly using millions of dollars in cash and assets for personal enrichment. The statement, issued by Mr. Thomas’s lawyers, said that the lawsuit was riddled with “errors, falsehoods and untrue allegations.” “Mr. Thomas rejects the claims against him and intends to defend his good name,” the statement read. The union alleges that Mr. Thomas, who served as president of OPSEU for 15 years before retiring from the union last April, along with Eduardo Almeida, the...