CTV National News: Canada exploring defence partnerships in Europe
CTV National News: Canada exploring defence partnerships in Europe
Canada is exploring defence partnerships with Europe as U.S. President Trump renews his offer to make it the 51st state. Judy Trinh has more.
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CBC
3 minutes ago
- CBC
Some Ontario grocery stores question selling booze over empties deposit program
Social Sharing Very few Ontario grocery stores that are required to accept empty alcohol containers are doing so, leaving the future of the deposit return program in question as The Beer Store closes locations across the province. Only about 70 grocery stores — ones that are more than five kilometres away from a Beer Store — have been required to take empties since last fall but only four are complying, says The Beer Store, which operates the deposit return system. On Jan. 1, 2026, all grocery stores selling beer and wine — more than 1,000 are licensed, according to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario — will have to accept bottle returns as part of Premier Doug Ford's move to speed up the availability of alcohol. The Ministry of Finance says 13 of the grocery stores are complying and the rest of them with current obligations are "expected to join over the coming months." But Jan. 1 is also when The Beer Store is allowed under Ford's alcohol agreement to close an unlimited number of stores, and with so few grocery stores already participating and others threatening to hand back their licences rather than participate in the deposit return program as currently structured, the program that saw 1.6 billion containers returned last year could be in jeopardy. Karen Wirsig, a senior program manager at Environmental Defence, a Canadian environmental advocacy group, said the program allows for beer bottles to be reused, ensures the effective recycling of most alcohol packaging and keeps millions of tonnes of material out of landfills. "As The Beer Stores keep closing, that will kill the Ontario deposit return program," she said. "If you don't make returns convenient for people, they won't do it." WATCH | Ford's push to expand alcohol sales early to cost Ontario $612M, budget watchdog says: Ontario's booze expansion rollout could cost taxpayers $1.4B, FAO says 4 months ago Duration 3:49 John Nock, president of the union representing The Beer Store employees, said there should be some enforcement to ensure the grocery stores get deposit return systems up and running so consumers can get their 10 or 20 cents per container. "If they're allowed to sell alcohol ... they should take returns," he said. "Why are [we], the public, paying a deposit to the government that we can never get back? Or we've got to drive a half an hour [to the nearest Beer Store] to get our $2 or $3 back." Grocery store associations sent letter to Ford Grocery stores have for months voiced their concerns with the program, from sanitation issues and space constraints to a sheer cost effectiveness calculation. Earlier this month associations representing both small and large grocers wrote a joint letter to the premier warning they will stop selling alcohol if the program isn't improved. "Unless urgent changes are made to build fairer economics and to move away from a mandatory return-to-retail recycling system, our grocery members have advised that their stores will start the process of reviewing their future participation, potentially exiting the category all together," wrote the Retail Council of Canada and the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers. Adding insult to injury, they say, is a move by the government in its budget to increase a wholesale alcohol discount from 10 to 15 per cent for bars, restaurants and convenience stores — who do not have to accept empties — but not grocery stores, who do. "It's inexplicable," said Gary Sands, senior vice-president of public policy and advocacy with the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers. "If anything, what they should have been doing is saying, 'In light of the fact that we've dumped all the recycling on you guys, we're going to increase your allowance and we'll leave the others as it is.' Instead, it's the reverse." It puts grocery stores at a competitive disadvantage, Sands said. "[Ford] promised us that when he rolled out the new system, there would be no winners and losers," he said. "He's broken that promise." The big grocery chains, through the Retail Council of Canada, are echoing those concerns. Loblaws is testing a return-to-retail system at one location and is finding it's "ludicrously expensive," said Sebastian Prins, director of government relations for the retail council. "It's tightening already tight margins," he said. "Our folks just want to be able to kind of compete on a level playing field." The AGCO has started sending grocers some "compliance letters," Prins said, but the language is fairly soft for the time being. WATCH | Ontario to spend hundreds of millions to boost alcohol sector in 2025 budget: Ford's budget promises to bolster Ontario-made alcohol, lower prices 15 days ago Duration 2:14 There are many steps the government could take to help enable grocers to offer return systems, Prins said, such as looking at removing the deposit from beer cans and leaving those to the blue box system. "Even something as simple as the government saying, 'We are going to convene major grocers and The Beer Store in a room to talk about is there a cheaper mouse trap that can be built here' — even that would be seen as forward progress," he said. "They've kind of got all their levers pushed to zero." The Beer Store processes 1.6B containers annually Ford's previous plan was to get beer, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails in convenience stores and all grocery stores by 2026, but in May of 2024 he announced that would instead happen that year. An "early implementation agreement" with The Beer Store involves the province paying the company up to $225 million to help it keep stores open and workers employed. The province's financial accountability officer said there will also be a $215-million cost as a result of lower tax revenues as grocery, big box and convenience stores are not subject to beer, wine and spirit taxes. As well, the FAO said there will be $172 million in lower net income to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. While there will be a $1.1 billion increase in wholesale LCBO revenue, there will also be an approximately $812 million decline in LCBO retail revenue, a $192 million cost to give wholesale discounts to new retailers, $150 million in service rebates to brewers, $105 million in higher operating expenses, and $22 million in higher recycling fees. Under the agreement, The Beer Store has to keep at least 300 stores open up to the end of this year, but starting in 2026 there is no minimum number. Ozzie Ahmed, vice-president of retail for The Beer Store, said in a statement that the stewardship of alcohol containers is an important part of retailer responsibility. "Annually The Beer Store processes about 1.6 billion alcohol containers, more than we sell in our own network of stores," Ahmed wrote.
Globe and Mail
7 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Which U.S. body curbed Trump's ‘Liberation Day' tariffs? Take our business and investing news quiz for the week ending May 30
Welcome to The Globe and Mail's business and investing news quiz. Join us each week to test your knowledge of the stories making headlines. Our business reporters come up with the questions, and you can show us what you know. This week: Elon Musk has left the Trump administration to focus more on Tesla, and the U.S. President's 'Liberation Day' tariffs, including some levied against Canada and Mexico on fentanyl-related grounds, were handed a big blow this week. But which body put a damper on one of the Mr. Trump's favourite tactics? Take our quiz and find out.
Globe and Mail
7 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Canada was once a global leader in crypto. It can be one again
Lucas Matheson is chief executive of Coinbase Canada In a world that's becoming more unstable every day, embracing digital assets must be part of Canada's plans for the future. We are seeing countries around the world take cryptocurrency seriously. The United States has appointed a 'crypto czar,' formed a working group on digital assets, and is launching a strategic cryptocurrency reserve. Last year, the European Union's regulations for crypto assets (MiCA) are coming into full effect. But here in Canada, we lag – even though this country has historically been a global crypto leader and innovator. We're the birthplace of the decentralized blockchain platform Ethereum and the world's first bitcoin ETF. U.S. banks tiptoe toward crypto, awaiting more green lights from regulators Trump Media to raise US$2.5-billion to invest in bitcoin Crypto was not a priority for our previous administration. And although Pierre Poilievre came out strongly in support of crypto when he ran for Conservative leader, no policies around digital assets appeared in his party's official platform before last month's election. Such plans were absent from the Liberals' platform, too. Now, with Prime Minister Mark Carney having formed government, there's a critical opportunity to catch up – and lead – by prioritizing policies around digital assets. Mr. Carney has made various positive public statements on crypto in the past, which is a step in the right direction. He has also appointed a crypto champion to cabinet: Joël Lightbound, the Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement, endorsed bitcoin in the House of Commons in November, 2023, contrary to the then-government's stance. Crypto users aren't a fringe group – an estimated five million Canadians already hold digital assets. And there's a clear economic opportunity. The House of Commons' Standing Committee on Industry and Technology found that the global blockchain industry could grow to US$1.59-trillion by 2030. The price of bitcoin remains volatile relative to more conventional assets, but over 16 years it has matured considerably. BlackRock, the asset manager, has recommended investors allocate up to 2 per cent of their portfolio to bitcoin. Countries including the United States are in the process of establishing a crypto reserve and even here at home, last year the City of Vancouver voted to explore the process. The blockchain ecosystem is still young and, like all new technologies, has its growing pains. Bad actors are also continuing to affect the industry's reputation. From investment and phone scams to kidnappings to exchange-platform hacks and the exploitation of meme coins, we still see Canadians who are learning about crypto being taken advantage of, further damaging trust in the system. Despite this turbulence, I deeply believe that cryptocurrency is the future of money and that, with some bold commitments, Canada can become a global leader in it once again. First of all, within the first 100 days, the new government should establish a crypto task force, bringing together leaders from public and private sectors and academia with the goal of developing a national strategy on implementing policy. The task force would also map out a strategy to establish a strategic crypto reserve, which would help diversify government holdings and hedge against financial risks. The government should also begin regulating stablecoins, cryprocurrencies whose value is pegged to a reference asset, and put forward a market structure bill, similar to the laws currently progressing through the U.S. Congress. The government needs to remove securities regulation barriers for fiat-backed stablecoins, which are crypto's fastest growing use case, and align with international jurisdictions by treating them as payment instruments rather than securities. Next, our banking and payment infrastructure must evolve. Our banks need to be allowed to safely hold and manage crypto assets, enabling unified management of both traditional and digital assets. This could be a win-win for consumers and financial institutions. For consumers, these reforms would greatly simplify their experience managing digital assets and build deeper trust in crypto. For banks, this could open up new revenue streams and demonstrate their commitment to financial innovation. We also need to double down on crypto mining. With some of the world's cheapest energy, Canada could become the world's crypto mining capital. We're talking about unlocking many billions of dollars in potential investment. The new government needs to make it easier for Canadians to build large crypto and AI data centres, and that starts with cutting red tape and taxes that make it difficult to establish mining operations. Lastly, Canadians need clear guidelines, clear definitions of crypto assets and greater education on investing in digital assets. There's so much opportunity in blockchain, and government and the private sector need to work together to create safe ways for Canadians to participate in the crypto economy. Canada has the talent and resources to become a global crypto leader again. It's up to the government to make it happen.
