Canada's retaliatory auto tariffs take effect at midnight
Canada's counter-tariffs on U.S.-made vehicles will come into force first thing this morning. CBC's Raffy Boudjikanian provides Hanomansing Tonight with the latest, and David Adams, president and CEO of Global Automakers of Canada, weighs in, too.
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Canada Standard
3 hours ago
- Canada Standard
Ottawa Battery Project Down But Not Out After Failed Committee Vote
A proposed 250-megawatt battery storage project in Ottawa's rural west is down but not out, after the city's Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee (ARAC) voted unanimously last week to reject the plan. The Energy Mix has learned that supporters of the Marchurst Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) expect a closer margin when the full city council meets June 11-with the possibility that at least two ARAC members will change their votes. The 10-hour meeting last Thursday heard 68 public delegations before denying official backing for the project, CBC reports. Gatineau, Quebec-based Evolugen, a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management, already has a contract from Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator to build the project on a 4.5-hectare site, about 30 kilometres west of downtown Ottawa. But it's conditional on a municipal support resolution (MSR) from the city. "The technology is a key part of the Ford government's plan to solve a looming energy supply crunch, as demand in the province is expected to increase by 75% by 2050," CBC writes. "But for many residents, the location of this particular battery trumped any broader provincial picture." Still, while the ARAC vote "was unanimous at face value," some committee members were "very conflicted", a committee observer told The Mix , with one councillor comparing the introduction of battery storage to the arrival of the motor car in a horse and buggy community. View our latest digests "I believe that BESS is a good technology, and this, on its merits, may actually be a good project," said Councillor Matthew Luloff (Orleans East-Cumberland), according to a segment of an unofficial meeting transcript viewed by The Energy Mix . While Luloff said his committee vote followed the wishes of councillor Clarke Kelly (West Carleton-March), who vehemently opposes the project in his ward, "I reserve the right to make my own decision at Council, where this matter will come forward again for further discussion." Luloff added: "I will be taking the lessons I learned here today at that vote. Let this also be a lesson on consultation, it is not a box to be checked but a fundamental part of decision-making. Community education is incredibly important, and we must continue to do better... in how we inform." Angela Keller-Herzog, executive director of Community Action for Environmental Sustainability (CAFES), said the community adjacent to the Marchurst site "needs to come together" in order to negotiate with Evolugen for local benefits from the project. But at the moment, "avowed opponents... distrust information offered up by the project proponent company," she wrote in an email. "The anti-BESS group is talking about 'raising pitchforks' and the local Facebook group ejects anyone who has positive things to say about the project." [Disclosure: CAFES is a partner of the Green Resilience Project, a joint community listening effort hosted by Energy Mix Productions and the Basic Income Canada Network.] The Energy Mix could not verify the content of the private West Carleton BESS Facebook group. Courtney Argue, a leading project opponent who lives about 400 metres from the site, said "it really depends" how visitors are treated when they join the group. "People get deleted if they are being disruptive or we have a suspicion that they have ties to Evolugen or their potential or confirmed partners," she told The Mix in an email. "You try your best. Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you get it wrong." As for the comment about pitchforks, "we hold our pitchforks in our hearts when it comes to protecting our land, wildlife, and way of life," Argue wrote. "Rural folk are not violent folk. We handle things together. We show up in the masses at town halls, we help neighbours. In this fight, we cannot leave any stone unturned." While the group is meeting neighbours who support sustainable energy solutions-Argue said she'd "love to add solar to our farm to help sustain our operations"-she maintained that most of the people she's heard from oppose the BESS project. Keller-Herzog said the local community newspaper, West Carleton Online, which has covered the issue extensively over the last two years, recently estimated that "the community was pretty evenly split but that the anti-BESS voices consistently tried to present a picture as everybody against." In spite of the furor and the "significant coverage" it has received, "there is probably a majority of busy working families that are not tuned in to the local news and have no engagement on the issue," she said. "The real problem? Our community lacks a calm and credible space to talk things through," Keller-Herzog wrote in a mid-May opinion piece for West Carleton Online. "Many thoughtful West Carleton residents, who might offer balance or ask good questions, have simply gone silent, understandably reluctant to wade into a conversation that has become conflictive and dominated by a few loud voices." Evolugen, meanwhile, "now appears hesitant to engage further, perhaps understandably, given how strident the misinformation has become," she said. Evolugen's Canadian head of development, Geoff Wright, had not responded to a request for comment as The Mix went to virtual press Monday evening. But "there are other BESS conversations that affirm of course residents and businesses in Ottawa want the lights to stay on, want the grid to be stable, want power to be affordable, want the jobs, investment, taxes paid and local community benefits from a safe, non-polluting energy infrastructure solution," Keller-Herzog added. Source: The Energy Mix
a day ago
Widow takes on CIBC after husband's $15K pension sent to stranger's account
When longtime Edmonton lawyer and retired family court judge James Koshman died last fall, his family never imagined a simple transfer of his survivor's pension benefit to his widow would go so wrong. But soon after the $15,000 survivor benefit was issued, the money was gone — deposited into a stranger's account. CIBC blamed the Koshmans, saying they used the wrong transit number — a five-digit code that directs deposits to specific bank branches. The family was floored. They say that number came directly from a CIBC employee — confirmed during a call to the local branch. The Koshmans later discovered CIBC had sent crucial instructions about when to use the transit number, but it went to James's email account — weeks after he died. Another serious blunder, the family says. WATCH | Bank blames family after deposit goes to a stranger: Début du widget Widget. Passer le widget ? Fin du widget Widget. Retourner au début du widget ? Widow takes on CIBC after pension transfer sent to stranger | Go Public A grieving Edmonton woman got a nasty surprise when CIBC put her deceased husband's pension transfer into someone else's account — and then blamed the family. CBC's Go Public team looked into what went wrong and the limits of Canada's banking complaint system. There's something very wrong about what's going on, said the couple's son, Jason Koshman, who helped his mother apply for the benefit. The money should have been moved from Alberta Pensions Services Corporation to one of the Koshmans' CIBC accounts. CIBC told the Koshmans it could only recover $3,200 of the misdirected funds — and Yvette Koshman, James's widow, would have to swallow the nearly $12,000 loss. What followed was months of back and forth with the bank — until CIBC told the family there was nothing more it could do. Consumer advocate Duff Conacher, co-founder of the non-profit consumer advocacy organization Democracy Watch, says the case reveals troubling gaps in bank accountability — and cracks in Canada's system for handling complaints. The marketplace is completely out of balance, tilted totally in favour of the powerful banks who have all the money, he said, and totally against the customers who are on their own, frustrated, having lost money. In an email to Go Public, CIBC says its process for handling complaints is clear and meets all the requirements for financial institutions in Canada. Key email sent to deceased man This all started because the branch where James Koshman had banked for decades was in the process of closing. All accounts were being automatically transferred to another location with a different transit number. The Koshmans say weeks after they called CIBC and were given the transit number, the bank sent an email explaining that number shouldn't be used until after Nov. 21. But because the message was sent to James Koshman's email account — after he died — his family says they didn't see it until it was too late. The paperwork had already been filed. They know he's passed away. They still sent him emails, said Jason. Frustrated and out thousands of dollars, the Koshmans tried to resolve things through CIBC's official complaints process — first with CIBC's main customer service department, then escalating to the bank's Client Complaint Appeals Office. The family got the same response from both: The wrong transit number had been used, only a fraction of the funds could be recovered, and there was nothing more the bank could do. I just don't think it's right or it's fair that CIBC can just do what they want, said Yvette Koshman. Banking watchdog can't force banks to pay The family then escalated the issue to the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI), which opened an investigation. CIBC reversed its decision and reimbursed the Koshmans in full — but only after Go Public reached out to the bank. OBSI says that, generally, when a problem is resolved before an investigation is complete, it closes the file. Going to the media was the right move, says Conacher, because even if OBSI had ruled in the family's favour, the federal watchdog has no power to force banks to pay. OBSI can review complaints but can't force banks to follow its recommendations — something the Liberals promised to fix during the 2021 election. Years later, it still hasn't happened. It's completely negligent that no federal government, no federal finance minister, has done anything to correct this over the past decades, said Conacher. It seems unlikely the Finance Ministry will change that. In an email to Go Public, it said only that it had recently introduced guardrails to encourage banks to follow OBSI's recommendations. When asked why it twice denied the Koshmans compensation, only to reverse course and compensate the family after Go Public's inquiries, CIBC said, Given the unique circumstances, and after further review, we've decided to reimburse our client for the remaining amount. No answers on missing money The Koshmans are also frustrated that it appears a stranger was able to keep money that clearly didn't belong to them. It's a fraud, said Yvette. Jason says the fact that CIBC recovered some of the missing money suggests the bank knows who received it. But when he asked what steps were taken to hold that person accountable, he said CIBC refused to say, citing privacy laws. The bank should be compensating the people whose money was lost and then pursuing the people who… took the money out of the account, Jason said. Go Public asked CIBC what steps it took to recover the missing money. The bank didn't answer that question, but confirmed it has since apologized and fully reimbursed the Koshmans. Jason says they're grateful — but worries about others in similar situations who may not be so lucky. My family is fortunate, he said. But what if this was a widow relying on that money to pay rent? To eat? Banks need to be held accountable. And this shouldn't be allowed to happen to anyone else. Rosa Marchitelli (new window) , Marnie Luke (new window) · CBC News ·
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
Sault Ste. Marie Duty Free owner laments near 40% drop in revenue, blames 'tariff war'
Social Sharing The owner of Sault Ste. Marie Duty Free is lamenting the "tariff war," which he said has had a devastating impact on business as Canadians cut back on travel to the U.S. Ralph Caria says he's seen a near 40 per cent drop in sales since President Donald Trump took office and later implemented sweeping tariffs. "The [duty-free] shops across Canada, they're down 40 to 80 per cent," Caria told CBC Sudbury. "There are some shops in remote areas like in B.C., they're down 80 per cent. Obviously the Ontario duty free, I'm in Ontario, we're closer to the 40 per cent." Caria said he would usually employ between 20 and 25 people during the summer. Those seasonal workers were excited about the summer, he said, adding they have been dealt a blow as they would be without a job this year. "It has an impact on staff… They worked so hard getting on the road to recovering after the border closure due to the pandemic and they were in a positive mindset," Caria said. "When they worked so hard and they thought we were on the way to recovering out of COVID and they were excited for this summer … it's disheartening for them … it's another punch in the gut." 'We cannot sell to the domestic market' Caria said duty-free stores are in a unique position where they can't pivot. "We cannot sell to the domestic market…I can't open my side door and sell to someone on a local street. I can't sell to you unless you're travelling to the U.S.," he said. "We have to sell to people that are entering the U.S. and that would be Canadians travelling and that would be Americans returning home. As you could well envision, that's devastating when the border is closed like in the pandemic or now because of the tariffs." FDFA appeals to Ottawa for help Last week the Frontier Duty Free Association (FDFA), which represents 32 stores across the country, pleaded with the federal government to offer financial assistance to struggling independently owned duty free stores amidst the ongoing political and economic trade war tension. An open letter penned on behalf of the association was sent to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne on Tuesday. The letter outlines what's referred to as a disproportionate impact the stores, and their work forces, are facing from tariffs and continued cross-border travel disruptions. Barbara Barrett, the executive director for FDFA, says "immediate action" is needed from Ottawa. "When travel slows or stops, our stores — all independently owned, family run and often the main employer in their towns — are the first to feel it and often the hardest hit," she told reporters during a Tuesday morning news conference on Parliament Hill. "Our communities can't afford to lose these businesses. That's why today's letter is so urgent and why we're calling on the government to step in before the damage becomes permanent." Association president Tania Lee says the FDFA is looking for things such as liquidity support for its hardest hit stores, and clarity on export rules. "Our ask is modest, but the need is urgent," Lee said.
