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Metro
3 days ago
- Business
- Metro
Your pension pollutes more than planes — here's how to make your money do good
You recycle your yoghurt cartons, watch your carbon footprint and always choose the 'green' supermarket delivery slot, but you may be ignoring one of the biggest ways you can make a positive environmental difference; the money that you invest and put into your bank account. Figures from Make My Money Matter, an ethical finance group backed by filmmaker Richard Curtis, show that changing just one product – your pension – reduces your carbon footprint 21 times more than if you gave up flying, went vegetarian and switched your energy provider to a greener version. 'Consumers are waking up to the power their money has,' says David Macdonald, ethical financial planner at Path Financial. 'In much the same way that people now won't buy products from companies with exploitative supply-chains or won't tolerate their friends drink-driving, attitudes with money are changing too.' There are many ways you can use your money to make the world a better place without sacrificing convenience or financial performance. Here are 10 of them, big and small. The smallest green change needs only a single click and proves that every little helps. Almost every bank offers you the choice of paper or 'paperless' bank statements, and by going paperless you are making an environmental difference. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video High street bank NatWest calculates that by moving from a paper bank statement to a digital one, you save the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as are generated by charging your smartphone five times a month, so it's worth clicking that box. Where you do your day-to-day banking really matters, says Lori Campbell, from ethical finance site Good With Money. Check where they invest your savings, so that your salary is not helping to fund environmentally harmful practices. It can benefit your pocket as well as the planet: at the moment, Nationwide, which is rated highly by Good With Money, is offering £200 to switch through the current account switching service, and the mutual also pays out £100 Fairer Share bonuses to eligible members each year, with the latest batch hitting accounts from this month. If you have a workplace pension, chances are it is invested in whichever fund is the default for your company. But you may have a more ethical option available that you aren't aware of, and it can be easy to switch. The fund that your pension is in should be on your annual statement. You can check how it is invested and if you aren't happy with it, ask your workplace provider if it has a 'green', 'responsible' or 'ethical' option. If it does, check what it invests in and whether you're happy with performance, and if you are, you can ask to switch all or a proportion of your fund. Many of us want our savings and investments to be more sustainable but are bewildered by the many funds and products out there, that promise to be 'green' or 'environmental' (and don't always live up to expectations). Lori, at Good With Money, says this is 'greenwashing' – a marketing technique where a provider or product appears to be more eco-friendly than it is. If your pension or Isa is invested in funds, you can check whether it lives up to green credentials by looking at the companies it holds in its fund. Some that are badged as 'green' simply screen out certain types of companies – for example those involved in fossil fuels or tobacco – while others screen positively for companies that are trying to make an active difference. As well as buying funds with good outcomes, you can divest those you aren't happy with in terms of their ethical actions. David, at Path Financial, says that if you're swapping out shares in companies you are not happy with, you are making some difference – but you must also consider what to buy instead. He suggests replacing any shares for which you aren't happy with the ethics of with funds that attempt to be actively good. 'One example is the Columbia Threadneedle UK Social Bond fund,' David says. 'With this, the £1 you have just made by selling your 'bad actor' can go into a new housing unit for a vulnerable person.' This fund's bonds include money lent to affordable healthcare companies as well as social housing in various countries. 'Such investments have a direct impact and a serious social purpose,' David adds – and the fund also yields over 4%. Is your pension provider or fund manager making a difference? David recommends choosing companies that will advocate for the change you want to see. Those running funds or pensions get a vote on the activities of the companies they're investing in. And he notes that while most do not take it seriously, some do. 'I'd look at the stewardship aspect of whoever is running your pension or the fund it invests in,' he says. 'Do they use their vote to influence companies for the change you want to see? I'd recommend using a financial adviser or fund manager who expressly goes to company annual general meetings and presses for better behaviour from companies.' Alternatively, buy the shares yourself. After all, you only need to own one share to have a right to attend meetings. This could be via a self-select Isa or Sipp (self-invested personal pension). That's real shareholder action! Rather than putting your savings with a giant high-street bank, help your local area or those otherwise connected with you by depositing them with a credit union. These organisations help people to access affordable credit and can offer attractive savings rates, too. Figures from financial services consultancy Broadstone, out this month, show that they are more popular than ever, with more than two million members across the country. Richard Pinch, senior director at Broadstone, believes they are one of the finance world's 'best-kept secrets', adding: 'Another bonus of credit unions is that they offer attractive rates to savers, who also benefit from the knowledge that their deposits are helping to provide loans for other members.' Investing your money at an early stage into small projects can help you to make a difference and get a return. Ethical bank Triodos offers several investments, some of which can be put into an innovative finance Isa (Ifisa) to gain tax relief. Alternatively, David at Path recommends using One Planet Capital to invest in green start-ups that are investing in environmental challenges. The One Planet Capital schemes include a significant amount of tax relief as they are either an Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) or Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS). More Trending However, these are risky investments and you may not get your money back, so are only suitable for expert investors. As well as greening your own affair, you can speak to others about the environmental impact of financial decisions. You can find resources on this on the Make My Money Matter website and a list of companies on the Good With Money website that hold a Good Egg award for ethical finance. View More » None of this means, of course, that you can forget about those yoghurt cartons… Do you have a story to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@ MORE: 10 of the best affordable waterproof jewellery brands you can wear non-stop MORE: Let them take the ferry – Reader says Schengen Agreement would stop the boats MORE: The Metro daily cartoon by Guy Venables Your free newsletter guide to the best London has on offer, from drinks deals to restaurant reviews.
CBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Trump's 'big, beautiful' tax reform bill could cost Canadians billions
Social Sharing A small, obscure section buried in U.S. President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act could cost Canadians and Canadian companies billions of dollars, CBC News has learned. Moreover, it could hand Prime Minister Mark Carney's government yet another political hot potato from south of the border — forcing it to choose between scrapping Canada's digital services tax (DST) or risk the U.S. imposing a new withholding tax on the income Canadians, Canadian companies and pension plans receive from investments in U.S. securities. While it still has steps to go before becoming law, the provision has Canadian experts worried. "This is building a nuclear option into a tax treaty that has lasted for 80 years between Canada and the U.S," said David Macdonald, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. "Just like the U.S. is totally willing to blow up the international trade order, they're totally willing to blow up international tax rules." The concern centres on Section 899 of Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill — more than 1,000 pages of proposed legislation that Trump says will make good on his domestic campaign promises, including tax cuts for Americans. The bill passed the House of Representatives on May 22 by one vote and now has to be approved by the Senate. Section 899, entitled Enforcement of Remedies Against Unfair Foreign Taxes, would increase withholding taxes for non-resident individuals and companies from countries that the U.S. believes have imposed discriminatory or unfair taxes. Experts believe Canada is likely to be one of the countries targeted by the measure because of U.S. government criticism of the DST. The tax applies to all large businesses, foreign and domestic, that earn revenues from certain online business models in Canada. Global minimum tax measures adopted by Canada could also put it in the Trump administration's crosshairs. Up to 20% withholding tax The timeline for the legislation is in flux and Section 899 could still get dropped from the bill or be amended. If, however, Section 899 becomes law, it could hit Canadians in different ways. For example, the U.S. currently imposes a 15 per cent withholding tax on dividends Canadians receive from U.S. companies. Under tax treaties, however, an equivalent tax credit from the Canadian government generally offsets the withholding tax. If the measure becomes law and the Trump administration designates Canada as a country with discriminatory taxes, a new five per cent withholding tax would go into effect. That tax would increase by five percentage points per year to a maximum of 20 per cent. It is not known if Canada would adjust its tax credits to offset such a tax. Max Reed, a cross-border tax lawyer with Polaris Tax Counsel, said the potential impact could be wide ranging. "It's definitely going to be in the billions, maybe tens of billions," he said. Kim Moody, founder of Moodys Private Client and Moodys Tax, agrees. "Billions, absolutely billions, for sure, would be the impact," he said. "If Canada and the United States allows this to take hold, the result will be chaos. Absolute chaos." Experts say it is not clear exactly how the tax would be applied. For example, would the new withholding tax be imposed on top of existing withholding taxes? Would it also apply to securities held within registered accounts such as RRSPs or only to dividends from shares held directly by Canadians? WATCH | The 'Big, Beautiful Bill' and your wallet: What Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' means for Canadians' wallets 4 days ago Duration 4:49 U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that he would increase government spending and loosen some fiscal restraints with a new spending bill dubbed the "big beautiful bill" last week. Mark Ting, a partner with Foundation Wealth and On The Coast's personal finance columnist, says that markets have already responded positively to the bill. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne's office declined an interview request from CBC News. "Analysis of the implications of the U.S. tax reform bill is ongoing and we await the final version of the bill," wrote spokeswoman Audrey Milette. The U.S. embassy also declined to comment on Section 899 or how it would work. "We are unable to comment at this time as the legislation is still pending final approval," responded an embassy official. U.S. Internal Revenue Service figures show that in 2022, the U.S. withheld $2.9 billion US in tax on $108.5 billion US worth of income from a variety of U.S. sources for Canadian residents and companies. The IRS said $261.4 million US was withheld from individual Canadian residents while $1.22 billion was withheld from companies and $1.24 billion US under the category of Canadian "withholding rate pools (general)." Of the sources of U.S. income received by Canadians, the IRS said $31 billion US was from dividends — half of which went to Canadian corporations. Impact on pensions and beyond David Pierce, vice-president of government relations for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber began getting worried messages from Canadian businesses once Trump's tax reform bill passed the House of Representatives. "I think the attention and the awareness of it really grew from what was a small subset of companies, now right across the economy — from financial to pensions to, you name it," Pierce said. "They're all very concerned at what this means for average Canadians in your retirement savings and how this would be applied should, of course, it become law." Pierce said the potential cost of Section 899 far outweighs revenue the Canadian government collects from the DST, a tax his group has opposed from the outset. He said the Canadian government should pause the next DST payment scheduled for June 30 and consider getting rid of the tax in negotiations with the U.S. "The concern is that when the U.S. administration makes allegations of Canada's trade practices, they can cite the DST and that's a talking point that rings true not just for Republicans, but also Democrats, in the United States," said Pierce. "That strengthens their hand. It's not strengthening our hand at the bargaining table." Macdonald says the proposed withholding tax would hit hard. "It would have major impacts on Canadian companies, Canadian investors in the U.S — they'd be downright punitive," said Macdonald. "That would probably end up shutting down Canadian businesses in the U.S. and kicking Canadian investors out of the U.S." And the DST isn't the only Canadian tax the U.S. could consider unfair now, or in the future, said Macdonald. "I think this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of threats against Canadian corporate taxation that attempts to level the playing field between American transnationals and Canadian domestic companies that are paying corporate income taxes," he said. Macdonald said the proposed tax could also hit Canadians who don't have direct investments in U.S. securities. "This isn't only for folks with an RRSP," Macdonald said. "I mean, this could extend to the Canada Pension Plan, which is the major means by which people retire in Canada. They could potentially pay dramatically more."
CBC
20-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Local news coverage in Canada in steep decline, inviting misinformation: report
The number of local news outlets has been in significant decline in Canada, leaving suburban residents in particular "starving" for local coverage, a new report found — and creating gaps for misinformation to take hold. The report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found that almost 2.5 million Canadians live in a postal code with either one or zero local news outlets, double the proportion from 2008. Put bluntly, "local news is dying," said David Macdonald, report co-author and CCPA senior economist. "Without local news, disinformation, often from social media, will happily fill the void of high-quality, trusted local news." He and co-author Sonja Macdonald (no relation), a principal at Civicplan, found that since 2008, Canada has lost 11 per cent of its newspaper and online media outlets. That's about 25 a year over the past decade. There are currently 2,900 local news outlets in the country between radio, TV, newspapers and online media. Macdonald said 2023 was a particularly bad year for the sector with the closure of 83 outlets due to the bankruptcy of Metroland and the closure of Metro Media in Quebec. Meanwhile, the number of private broadcasting outlets in radio and TV has shrunk by nine per cent since 2008. Last year was the worst year on record, with a net loss of 14.5 outlets driven by closures at CTV and Corus. The report found every province and territory except Ontario has seen a decline in local news outlets in communities with less than 100,000 people. The only reason Ontario is faring marginally better is because it has seen some growth in online-only outlets like INsauga, said Macdonald. Even so, local news coverage is lagging on a per-person basis as the populations of regions surrounding major cities like Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal grow, he said. "We just have not seen the kind of growth that's necessary in local news outlets to actually cover the goings-on in those suburban spots," he said. The cities with the least news deprivation are regional hubs like Yellowknife, Whitehorse and Saint John, N.B., which produce broadcast content for the entire province or territory, the report said. As local news coverage has declined over the years, the industry has also become more consolidated as companies have bought up local outlets, whether newspapers or broadcast stations. These moves often resulted in significant reductions in local news programming and staff, the report said. Because of this consolidation, when one of those companies runs into challenges, more news coverage is at risk, said Macdonald. The Metroland case is a grim example, he said. In September 2023, Ontario-based Metroland Media Group announced mass layoffs, a move to a digital-only model and an end to its flyer business as it planned to restructure under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Creditors approved the company's restructuring proposal later that year. The major issue driving the decline in local news across the country is the business model Canadian news outlets have long relied on, which is being threatened by social media and search giants like Meta and Google, the report said. "The ad-fuelled business of news is having a very difficult time in the internet age," said Macdonald. "All those ad dollars are being scooped by social media, being scooped by search, and so you just don't have the budget to support local news. That model is dying." The "worst-case scenario" can be found in Newfoundland and Labrador, he said, where small towns in that province have lost three-quarters of their news outlets in the past 16 years. Macdonald said the industry needs to "fundamentally shift" away from the traditional model for news outlets. The report argues that despite efforts by the federal government and regulatory supports for this business model, "its demise is accelerating." It argues for a more balanced approach, including having existing parts of the current media system taking on new or augmented roles while also making room for innovation. Opportunities include expanding upon the model being tested by new entrants in areas that are losing community newspapers, an online-only news website supported by micro-targeted advertising. The report also identifies the CBC as a key part of the solution, noting the public broadcaster needs to expand more into local and regional areas, and should have a formal implementation strategy for local news service. "This needs to go beyond the recent announcements of single reporters serving large geographic areas," the report said. The federal government recently passed the Online News Act, legislation meant to extract money from tech giants to compensate news organizations. Google secured a five-year exemption from the Act by agreeing to pay $100 million a year to media organizations, while Meta decided to block access to Canadian news on its platforms. "There's certainly recognition this is a big problem," said Macdonald. However, "I think there's been a fundamental change here," he said.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
In the news today: Local news continues shrinking, P.M.'s blind trust explained
Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed... Local news coverage in steep decline: report The number of local news outlets has been in significant decline in Canada, leaving suburban residents in particular "starving" for local coverage, a new report found — and creating gaps for misinformation to take hold. The report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found that almost 2.5 million Canadians live in a postal code with either one or zero local news outlets, double the proportion from 2008. Put bluntly, 'local news is dying,' said David Macdonald, report co-author and CCPA senior economist. 'Without local news, disinformation, often from social media, will happily fill the void of high-quality, trusted local news.' Mark Carney's blind trust, explained Prime Minister Mark Carney's critics have been asking pointed questions lately about the assets in the former central banker's blind trust — a tool meant to allow politicians to avoid conflicts of interest. How do blind trusts work? A trust is a legal arrangement that forms whenever a beneficiary's assets, like stocks and bonds, are managed by a trustee. In a blind trust, an individual's assets are managed by an arm's-length third party with no pre-existing personal or professional relationship with the beneficiary. That third-party adviser manages the individual's assets — making trades and sales and purchasing new investments — all without the beneficiary's knowledge for as long as the trust is in place. Tariffs pose risk for Canada's greenhouse sector U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods pose a big risk for the greenhouse sector, which relies heavily on exports south of the border and would suffer if importers buy less because of the trade war. 'These tariffs have some significant consequences,' said Richard Lee, executive director of Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers. Ontario grows the majority of greenhouse vegetables in Canada. The three-day tariffs that were in place earlier this month cost the Ontario greenhouse sector more than $6 million, Lee said. On March 4, U.S. President Donald Trump enacted tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports. Just two days later, he announced a one-month pause on goods that meet the rules-of-origin requirements under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement. Quebec to table bill to strengthen secularism The Quebec government will table new legislation today to strengthen secularism in the province's schools. Education Minister Bernard Drainville says that religious accommodations have no place in Quebec schools and that science, sex education and gender equality must be taught properly. The government is planning to update Quebec's Education Act following a controversy over reports of religious practices at several of the province's public schools. Drainville says he was "stunned" to learn about the situation at Bedford elementary school in Montreal, after a government report last fall documented a toxic climate created by a group of teachers. Manitoba budget to include payroll tax cut The Manitoba budget to be released Thursday is expected to include help for businesses and new spending to create infrastructure jobs. The spending plan will reduce the Health and Post Secondary Education Tax Levy -- commonly called the payroll tax -- for roughly one-thousand businesses, a government source told The Canadian Press. The threshold at which businesses begin to pay the tax will rise to $2.5 million of annual payroll from the current $2.25 million, and the threshold at which a second rate kicks in will rise to $5 million from the current $4.5 million, the source said. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record. Premier Wab Kinew recently appeared to leave the door open to phasing out the tax entirely over time. School support workers union ratifies new deal The union for school support staff in Edmonton says its 3,000 members are to return to work Thursday after ratifying a new deal with the public school board. Members voted 93 per cent in favour of the new deal, which the Canadian Union of Public Employees has said includes a higher wage package. Workers from the Parkland and Black Gold school divisions also ratified deals and will return to work Thursday, while those at the Calgary Board of Education accepted an agreement and are back at work Friday. A tentative deal has been reached with the union chapter representing the Foothills School Division, the last of the nine striking school divisions to reach an agreement. --- This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2025 The Canadian Press
