Activist investor Engine Capital plans to vote against US$9.1B Parkland-Sunoco deal
CALGARY - A major shareholder in fuel refiner and retailer Parkland Corp. says it plans to vote against its planned takeover by U.S. heavyweight Sunoco LP.
Engine Capital owns 2.5 per cent of Parkland's shares, making it one of the Calgary-based company's biggest investors.
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CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
‘To say that our American sales fell off a cliff would not be an exaggeration:' Calgary wine store owner
Andrew Ferguson, the owner of the Kensington Wine Market, said sales of U.S. liquor have 'fallen off a cliff'. Sales of American booze have 'fallen off a cliff' for one Calgary wine store owner, but luckily for the Kensington Wine Market, it's a pretty shallow cliff. After it was confirmed that Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis (AGLC) will resume selling American liquor products after a three-month pause, Kensington Wine Market owner Andrew Ferguson said that they never actually went away. "They are bringing it back but they're bringing it back with a tariff on it,' he said. 'I think it might surprise people in Alberta, but stores and restaurants have not been prevented from buying American products for the past three months -- but I think like most, we've seen a massive decrease in demand for it." On Friday, the AGLC announced it will 'resume accepting liquor products from the United States, effective immediately,' at the direction of the provincial government. This will affect all liquor products registered with the AGLC and declared to Canada Border Services Agency. Products that were shipped from the U.S. after March 4 will continue to be subject to a surtax of 25 per cent of the invoice price, the AGLC added. 'I think when it all went down, I think a lot of people thought, 'oh, you're going to just stop selling this stuff immediately,'' Ferguson said, 'but they don't realize that before a bottle of bourbon or wine or Canadian whiskey or whatever gets delivered to our stores, we have to pay for it. 'So we already own that stuff -- so the idea that we aren't going to sell something that we've already paid for is a bit tough (to swallow),' he said. What really changed, he said, was the appetite among customers for made-in-the-U.S.A. booze. 'It's a big drop in demand,' he said. 'The natural depletion of a case of wine – like maybe we'll sell through in about two or three weeks -- but we've had some where we haven't even sold (through) an American case in three months." Ferguson said U.S. liquor generally amounts to around 10 per cent of his sales, but that has gone down since Trump's tariffs were announced. 'There are still people buying it (U.S. alcohol) and we don't take a place of judgement on it – (but) we've (also) got lots of alternatives for them,' he said. 'I'd say by and large the bigger response has been 'I want a bottle of whiskey for cocktails or I want a bottle of wine. I don't want an American product.'" 'By and large, the disproportionate response has been more the other way,' he added. 'And for those people that want to continue to purchase their favourite American products, we still carry a lot of them but not as many as we might have had three months ago.' Support Canadian producers The initial decision was made to support Canadian producers in the wake of U.S. tariffs, Premier Danielle Smith said in March. 'If the Americans aren't going to buy products from our Canadian companies, we have to,' the premier said. 'That means we should be buying more Canadian beer, more Canadian spirits and more Canadian wine. And so that's the reality of what we're facing.' Ferguson said there was plenty of alternatives to American liquor. 'Whether it's wine or especially beer here in Alberta, or spirits, there's a lot of great alternatives,' he said. 'So if you want an alternative to bourbon, we've got alternatives to bourbon here. 'We've got great wines, not only from Canada but other countries with which we have a fair trading relationship.' Lifting restrictions In a statement Friday night, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Dale Nally said the government lifting restrictions on the purchase of U.S. alcohol and video lottery terminals signals a 'renewed commitment to open and fair trade with our largest partner.' 'The decision sets the stage for more constructive negotiations ahead of a Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement renewal, potentially leading to increased trade opportunities and economic growth for Alberta,' Nally added. Ferguson said the lack of clarity and unpredictability of the supply chain created by Trump's tariffs is taking a toll on consumer habits. 'Maybe they (the UCP) know something we don't,' he said, 'that there's a trade deal that's coming soon between Canada and the U.S. and this is a way to offer a bit of a carrot. 'What we've seen overall,' he addedm '(is that) consumer demand is down, consumers are worried about their money -- and so the longer this drags on, the harder it's going to be on retail.' For more about the Kensington Wine Market, go here. With files from CTV's Tyler Barrow, Steven Dyer and Kevin Green
Canada Standard
6 hours ago
- Canada Standard
Cautious Americans delay summer travel, await better deals
WASHINGTON, D.C. Forget bucket lists; this summer, it's all about budget lists. Amid economic uncertainty and a weaker dollar, Americans are growing cautious about travel. From flights and hotels to rental cars, many are delaying bookings or scaling back plans entirely, hoping to snag better deals closer to the date. It's a trend that's starting to worry the travel industry. Hotel bookings are flat or declining, and airline reservations are down—even though airfare has become cheaper. Big travel players like Delta, Marriott, and Booking Holdings have lowered or withdrawn their 2025 forecasts as U.S. demand softens. Airbnb also flagged that more users are waiting until the last minute to confirm trips. That hesitation has left companies with less visibility on what the second half of the year will look like. Delta said in April it was too early to predict the full-year outlook given current economic uncertainty. United Airlines echoed that, warning that bookings could slow further. "It's very clear that consumers are waiting to make decisions, including for the summer," said Southwest Airlines CEO Robert Jordan at a recent industry conference. He added that while demand is stable, it's lower than expected earlier this year. According to Flighthub, summer flight bookings in the U.S. are down 10 percent compared to last year despite a 7 percent drop in average prices. Long-haul flights are seeing even steeper discounts — with tickets to destinations like Sydney, Australia down 23 percent. "You can't keep an airline seat on the shelf in a warehouse," said Steve Hafner, CEO of Kayak. "If you don't fill that seat tomorrow and the airplane flies, it's gone." Hotel bookings are showing the same pattern. "They've actually fallen off, and it gets weaker like a month out," said Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian. "By the time you get to that month, it recovers." CoStar data shows bookings in major U.S. cities are flat-to-down. Room rates are only expected to rise by 1.3 percent in 2025 — down from a 1.8 percent increase in 2024. "We're not getting that crazy pricing power we got in the early days of the recovery," said Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano. Some hotels are already sweetening deals, offering free nights or special packages to drive bookings. "That's what Jackie Lafferty is hoping for," the story notes. The Los Angeles PR director has shifted her plans from Hawaii or Florida to a California-based vacation. "By the time we broke down the cost of the flights, the hotel and the rental car, it looked expensive, it felt unreasonable," she said. Meanwhile, the weakening dollar is nudging travelers to stay closer to home. In March, a Deloitte survey showed Americans planned to increase summer travel budgets by 13 percent. But by April, they were budgeting roughly the same as last year. "The dollar is just not going as far, and I think people are starting to realize that," said Chirag Panchal, CEO of luxury travel firm Ensuite Collection. His U.S.-based clients are now favoring Canada or the Caribbean over Europe. Rachel Cabeza, a New Jersey-based actor and fitness instructor, sums it up: "We might go international at the end of the summer. If we do, it will be last-minute and spur of the moment based on cheaper flights." For now, her only confirmed trip is a local getaway to Martha's Vineyard.
CBC
16 hours ago
- CBC
Indigenous business leaders support push to build major projects — but want 'terms that work for us'
Social Sharing Indigenous business leaders gathered outside Calgary this week for an energy industry conference say they're not opposed to building major projects quickly — in fact, they're all for it. But as Ontario and B.C. pass bills criticized by First Nations in those provinces for trampling on their rights in the service of fast-tracking infrastructure, they warn that Canada risks backsliding into a more contentious relationship with Indigenous communities that will ultimately delay projects further. "Broadly speaking, are First Nations or Indigenous communities opposed to development? Absolutely not. Are we opposed to resource projects? Absolutely not. Energy generation? Absolutely not. We want to participate on terms that work for us," said John Rowinski, CEO of the Zhooniya Makak Limited Partnership with Hiawatha First Nation, who is from the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte near Belleville, Ont. "Frankly, they would likely find much less opposition to these projects if they showed a willingness to talk in advance as opposed to after the fact," he said in an interview. WATCH | Why Ontario's Bill 5 has sparked opposition: Ontario passes Bill 5 despite opposition from First Nations, environmental groups 2 days ago Duration 2:39 Doug Ford's government has passed the controversial Bill 5 that aims to speed up mining projects and other developments in areas deemed to have economic importance. As CBC's Lorenda Reddekopp reports, the move has sparked outrage among First Nations and environmental groups. Amid an increasingly tumultuous trade relationship with the U.S., politicians at both the federal and provincial levels have been scrambling to show they can get major projects built quickly and boost the country's economy. But recent bills passed in Ontario and B.C. aimed at speeding up major projects have already been subject to significant criticism from First Nations. In both provinces, the legislation includes an aim to fast-track projects that could include critical mineral mines and has been met with concern from First Nations that it could trample over their rights. In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford has said he will consult with First Nations over the coming months, while in B.C., Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma said she will "work to come back together" and heal any rifts that have been created. The federal Liberal government also tabled a bill Friday that pledges to advance national interest projects, in part by speeding up approvals from five years to two. The Assembly of First Nations, which met with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday, has previously said that while it supports efforts to protect Canada from geopolitical uncertainty, it had concerns that draft legislation could " violate many collective rights of First Nations." In a statement, a spokesperson for the federal government said the proposed act recognizes that Indigenous consultation and partnership are key to building projects in the national interest. "To that end, Section 35 rights are constitutionally protected. There is no possibility of any government overriding those rights. This legislation acknowledges that and considers Indigenous consultation and partnership as integral," said Gabriel Brunet, a spokesperson for Dominic LeBlanc, who is the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade and intergovernmental affairs. Pro-development, to a point Business leaders gathered in Alberta this week say they agree with the urgency of getting projects built and diversifying trade away from the U.S. "I see Canada as one of the richest countries in the world with our resources, we just need to get it to market," said Karen Ogen, CEO of the First Nations Natural Gas Alliance and former elected chief of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation in B.C., speaking on the sidelines of the Indigenous Cleaner Energy Forum on Tsuut'ina Nation, just west of Calgary. Until this point, Ogen said Canada had been making progress in how capital projects are built in partnership with First Nations, with more and more communities participating through an equity stake. She pointed to the in-development Cedar LNG project off the coast of B.C., a collaboration between Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corp. and the Haisla First Nation. "That's a showcase for the rest of Canada, for the rest of B.C., that this is how projects get built." WATCH | First Indigenous-owned natural gas export facility in the world approved in B.C.: B.C. approves first Indigenous-owned LNG project in Canada 2 years ago Duration 1:57 Another positive step, Ogen said, is the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program, which facilitates access to capital for Indigenous communities and was recently doubled from $5 billion to $10 billion. But Ogen said the bills out of Ontario and B.C. are a move in the wrong direction, and that First Nations won't be afraid to push back. "If there's going to be opposition and blockades, so be it, the government has to listen," said Ogen, who noted the federal bill does seem to include Indigenous people, but that she hopes this inclusion is meaningful. Steven Vaivada, CEO of Scout Engineering and a member of the Kainai First Nation in southern Alberta, agrees. He said that while Canada certainly needs more development, governments could end up undermining their own plans if they try to rush projects forward without including First Nations. "Indigenous opposition occurs when rights and title and the duty to consult and free, prior and informed consent are not incorporated into these discussions and legislation that's put forward," he said in an interview. In the long run, Glenn Hudson, former Chief of Peguis First Nation in Manitoba, said collaboration with First Nations will also help ensure projects are built with sufficient environmental protection. "That in itself will also protect the settlers of this country in terms of their sustainability going forward," Hudson, who is also CEO of Sovereign Energy Projects, told CBC News. As global demand for electricity ramps up, Rowinski, with the Zhooniya Makak Limited Partnership, said there's plenty of opportunity for Canada — but dialogue between different levels of government and First Nations is critical. "We're very fractured as a nation right now," he said. "We've got a history that we can learn from, so it's time to sit down, roll up our sleeves and work together to build on from that history so the future is that much better."
