‘It's just a cash grab': Some businesses oppose evening, Sunday paid parking in ByWard Market, Little Italy
Motorists may soon have to pay to park on Preston Street on evenings and on Sundays. (Dave Charbonneau/CTV News Ottawa)
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Globe and Mail
8 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
The Best EV Stock to Invest $1,000 in Right Now
If you're looking at the electric vehicle (EV) space, you have probably examined Tesla very closely. That makes sense, given that the company basically created the EV market, forcing established automakers to take electric vehicles seriously for the first time. But Tesla is a fairly mature business at this point. If you have $1,000 to invest, you might want to consider a company that seems to be successfully following Tesla's playbook. That stock is EV truck maker Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN). What does Rivian do? Rivian makes electric vehicles, just like Tesla and, at this point, just about every major automaker. But Rivian isn't trying to be all things to all people -- it's highly focused on making EV trucks and SUVs. This is a niche that allows the company to differentiate its product to some degree. There are two notable things going on behind the scenes here. Rivian has inked key partnerships to support its business. One is with online retailer Amazon for delivery trucks. This relationship has been a vital support early in Rivian's existence, as it provided both a customer for the company's technology and a proof of concept for the world. In fact, when Rivian ran into supply issues for its consumer vehicles after a factory upgrade in 2024, it was able to shift production to Amazon trucks to keep its business moving forward. Rivian also has an important partnership with Volkswagen, which is providing money that Rivian is using to invest in its technology. In exchange, Volkswagen will get to use Rivian tech in its vehicles. This is a win/win, since Volkswagen hasn't been as aggressive as its peers with EVs, and it will give Rivian a customer for its technology. One of Rivian's key goals is to sell its technology to other companies. Rivian is about to follow Tesla in an important way All that said, Rivian has been following Tesla's basic playbook. It started out with very expensive consumer models. High-end trucks are a great offering, and Rivian has award-winning trucks, but the market is a bit limited. There are only so many people who can afford to buy expensive vehicles. The benefit of starting at the high end is that it brings in more revenue during the start-up phase, when costs are extremely high. After all, Rivian, like Tesla, had to build a capital-intensive manufacturing business from the ground up. That was the key goal through 2023. In 2024 and 2025, however, Rivian has shifted gears to reducing costs and working toward profitability. That process has involved, as noted above, improvements at the company's factory. Costs have come down, with Rivian producing a gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025. This is where the next big goal comes in. Like Tesla, Rivian is now looking to introduce a truck priced for the mass market, called the R2. With costs coming down, the big goal is to sell more trucks. That will allow Rivian to spread its manufacturing costs over more vehicles and further help it work toward a sustainable profit. Given the EV maker's strong execution so far, it seems highly likely that it will achieve this next goal. Helping it along is that partnership with Volkswagen, which is investing billions in Rivian with each milestone it reaches. That makes achieving the next goal that much more likely. Rivian is a high-risk investment To be fair, Rivian is still losing money, and it will likely continue to do so for a while longer. So this isn't a stock that conservative investors will likely want to buy. But if you are a bit more aggressive, Rivian looks like it could be on the cusp of a very important business shift. That makes it one of the best EV stocks to invest in, with $1,000 netting you around 70 shares of this exciting auto industry upstart. Should you invest $1,000 in Rivian Automotive right now? Before you buy stock in Rivian Automotive, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Rivian Automotive wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $660,341!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $874,192!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is999% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to173%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends Volkswagen Ag. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Globe and Mail
10 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Industry Minister Joly sees role for automakers in boosting Canada's defence capacity
Canada's auto-making sector can play a key role in the federal government's $9.3-billion plan to bolster the country's defence, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday that Canada would fulfill its NATO commitment of spending 2 per cent of gross domestic product on its military in this fiscal year. Ms. Joly, speaking at an automotive industry conference Tuesday, said the sector, battered by U.S. tariffs, could use its manufacturing muscle to help Canada reach its defence goals. 'We are in a wartime cabinet right now,' Ms. Joly told reporters at the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association's annual meeting. 'We must build our defence capacity.' Ms. Joly did not provide specifics but said she will have talks with various industries, including autos, steel, aluminum and artificial intelligence. She pointed to General Motors' Oshawa operations, which have made military vehicles based on existing truck platforms. 'We know the Canadian Armed Forces need more vehicles and need to be protected better,' she said. 'We will build through our defence investments. That means more than $9-billion, and that includes investment in our industrial defence capacity, and that in turn could help the auto sector.' Carney lays out defence boost, says era of U.S. dominance over Flavio Volpe, president of APMA, said defence spending is welcome but is no substitute for the passenger-vehicle manufacturing that has sustained the domestic sector for more than 100 years. Military manufacturing involves different engineering tolerances, regulations and markets, he said. 'Good that we are thinking about it. I think we need to be creative and figure out how we feed into that, but it's not a replacement,' Mr. Volpe said. The day-long conference gave industry representatives an opportunity to hear from political and business leaders amid a tariff war with the United States that has already cost thousands of jobs and threatened the Canadian auto sector. U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed 25-per-cent tariffs on the non-U.S. content in Canadian- and Mexican-made cars. Canadian auto parts have been spared the tariff applied to Canadian-assembled cars. Rob Wildeboer, executive chair of parts maker Martinrea International Inc., told the conference how he helped Trump advisers at the White House understand that duties on parts would quickly shut down the industry across North America, as suppliers would refuse to make money-losing components. It was a message they were not hearing from the U.S. industry for fear of reprisals, Mr. Wildeboer said. Still, the suppliers rely on Ontario's assembly plants for about half their sales. 'We got the tariffs off parts. We got to do it on cars,' Mr. Volpe said. Industry Minister Joly signals action on steel dumping into Canada coming The trade tensions come amid falling North American car sales and production, said Joe McCabe of AutoForecast Solutions, a Pennsylvania-based consultancy. Even before the tariff war, Ontario's auto plants owned by the Detroit Three faced uncertain futures: idled and awaiting new vehicles, making niche-market minivans and muscle cars, or operating under capacity. The tariffs have amplified those risks, Mr. McCabe said in an interview on the sidelines of the conference. Ontario's plants have been hit by layoffs and production cuts this year as automakers delay new models and extend the life of existing ones, trying to buy time while gauging the tariffs' effect on production and sales. For parts makers and their customers, this has meant a freeze in new investments, illustrated by Honda Canada's recent move to postpone its $15-billion EV project in Ontario. 'There's no question there is a chill,' said Vic Fedeli, Ontario's Minister of Economic Development. Mr. McCabe said automakers will pass on the tariffs to buyers of luxury models, eat them at the low end and share the cost with consumers on mid-priced autos. Victor Dodig, CEO of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, said the tariffs have put Canada in a 'war-footing' economic state that will mean uncertainty for 10 or 15 years. He said Canada will get through the tough times, but faces a changed world. 'It's not going to be like it was before,' he said. 'It's going to be different.' Still, he said, the U.S. will remain Canada's largest trading partner, likely forever.
CTV News
11 hours ago
- CTV News
This vehicle will help the City of Ottawa better manage traffic
A City of Ottawa vehicle with a mounted camera will be capturing data to help city staff improve traffic infrastructure. (City of Ottawa/Provided) Residents might notice a City of Ottawa vehicle with a mounted camera driving around this summer. The city's mobile mapping unit will be going around Ottawa to capture imagery and data to plan and improve traffic infrastructure. The SUV, mounted with precision 360-degree cameras and LiDAR sensors, will help city staff plan and create a digital inventory of traffic assets as part of the Mobile Mapping of Traffic Infrastructure Project. 'The collected data is then processed and analyzed to create a comprehensive inventory of assets such as traffic lights, signage, paint lines and other traffic-related infrastructure,' the city says on its website. 'This initiative leverages new technologies to improve data accuracy, reduce repeat site visits by City staff and lower operational costs in managing the City's traffic assets. It aims to enhance the quality of traffic infrastructure by improving the quality and timeliness of information used for planning upgrades and repairs.' The mobile mapping unit will be gathering its data throughout the city until August. Personal information, including images of identifiable individuals and licence plates, will not be held. The city has used similar technology to create a 3D interactive map that visualizes potential future development as part of the New Zoning Bylaw.
