Latest news with #HydroQuébec
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rio Tinto's (RIO) Aluminerie Alouette Invests $1.1 Billion in Quebec Aluminum Smelter Upgrade
Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) is one of the top 10 materials stocks to buy according to analysts. On July 2, Aluminerie Alouette, an aluminum producer partially owned by Rio Tinto Plc, announced plans to invest up to C$1.5 billion (approximately $1.1 billion) to modernize its operations in northern Quebec, according to sources familiar with the matter. A worker in full safety gear operating an excavator in a mining operation. The Sept-Îles smelter employs approximately 900 people and has an annual production capacity of 630,000 metric tons of primary aluminum. The investment will fund technological upgrades to the smelter's infrastructure, energy efficiency improvements in production processes, enhanced production capabilities to maintain competitiveness, and strengthened environmental controls and monitoring systems. Bloomberg cited sources who said that Aluminerie Alouette has secured a new electricity supply deal with Hydro-Québec, the Quebec government-owned power utility, to support the project. The modernized project is expected to support 900 direct jobs at the smelter. It will also create thousands of indirect jobs in the regional supply chain, enhance the tax base for municipal and provincial governments, and provide supply chain security for industries like aerospace and beverage packaging. Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) is classified as a material stock because it operates in the basic materials sector, focusing on the exploration, mining, and processing of key industrial metals like iron ore, aluminum, copper, lithium, and titanium dioxide. With operations spanning over 35 countries, the company plays a crucial role in supplying raw materials for global infrastructure, manufacturing, and clean energy. Among its standout assets are the Pilbara iron ore mines in Australia and the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia. Rio Tinto plays a pivotal role in the energy transition, particularly through its strategic investments in battery materials, such as lithium. While we acknowledge the potential of RIO as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 10 Best Organic Food and Farming Stocks to Buy Now and 13 Best Blue Chip Stocks to Buy According to Analysts. Disclosure: None.
Globe and Mail
28-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
How Michael Sabia can make Ottawa move fast and build things
Michael Sabia is being asked to reverse, in a matter of months, an inertia that has taken hold in the nation's capital over decades. Since Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that the erstwhile chief executive officer of Hydro-Québec will serve as Clerk of the Privy Council – the country's top bureaucrat – Ottawa has been rife with speculation about how Mr. Sabia will try to light a fire under a federal public service accustomed to moving more slowly and cautiously than is demanded by the current moment. But while much of the chatter following Mr. Sabia's June 11 appointment has been about personnel changes to the bureaucracy's highest ranks – through an expansive shuffle of deputy ministers, the most senior civil servants in each ministry, expected this summer – that only scratches the surface of what's needed to get things rolling. Hanging in the balance is an agenda, put forward by Mr. Carney to assert Canada's economic sovereignty, that's at odds with the government's implementation capacity to date. It includes fast-tracking energy and infrastructure projects, scaling homegrown technologies, diversifying exports, building housing, reorienting immigration, developing self-reliant supply chains and leveraging industrial gains from increased defence spending. Opinion: Michael Sabia faces an uphill climb in reforming Canada's civil service The scale of the challenge – and what sorts of structural, cultural and personnel changes could be required – were conveyed to The Globe and Mail in recent interviews with two dozen people closely familiar with the bureaucracy's workings, including current and former deputy ministers and senior political officials. Although there was recognition that some departments have functioned better than others (and some have stepped up in other times of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic and 2008 global financial meltdown), they highlighted an array of overarching barriers that have taken root since the 1990s, if not earlier. Among them are a depletion of talent despite the bureaucracy's total ranks growing; particular lack of implementation expertise in some economic areas and policy mechanisms Mr. Carney is prioritizing; disconnect between the public and private sectors; a lack of clear lines of accountability; failure to make use of modern technologies; and severe aversion to taking risks. Mr. Sabia's suitability to tackling all of that, if anyone can, is a subject of considerable debate. Over a late-career run that has included heading pension giant Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, serving as deputy finance minister and then leading Hydro-Québec, he's earned a reputation as a creative policy maker and architect of big, ambitious projects. Among them are the Canada Infrastructure Bank, the Canada Growth Fund and a new hydroelectricity relationship between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. He is also, like Mr. Carney, a rare Canadian executive who has moved fluidly between government and the private sector, giving him an unusual combination of institutional knowledge and outside perspective. At the same time, with his federal experience limited mostly to the Finance department, he may have less knowledge of government-wide dynamics than previous clerks who were career bureaucrats. Sharing some of Mr. Carney's suffer-no-fools reputation, it's an open question how he'll fare at bringing others along. And with a recent pattern of staying in jobs long enough to set big plans in motion and then moving on, it's not clear how much emphasis he'll place on long-term systemic reforms. But If ever there were a time for impatience to be a virtue, this might be it. While there are widespread calls around Ottawa for a formal, government-wide program review to comprehensively reallocate resources and modernize rules and processes – the sort of effort last seriously undertaken by Jean Chrétien's government in the '90s – that push could take most of Mr. Carney's mandate to complete. By then, the opportunity to seize on Canada's elbows-up moment with a transformative economic agenda, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump, might have passed. The hope among some reform-minded government veterans is that Mr. Carney and Mr. Sabia land on a two-track approach – in which they set in motion long-term structural overhaul, to leave the government in better shape than they found it, but more immediately send whatever signals and create whatever workarounds are needed to get stuff done now. That may not be a viable pathway to overcoming every obstacle. There may, for instance, be few quick fixes for Ottawa's reliance on outdated technologies and information systems. But three of the biggest potential obstacles to implementing Mr. Carney's agenda are instructive, in terms of how it could work. A common perception in Ottawa is that high-level bureaucratic talent has diminished over the past couple of decades. More specifically, there are widely acknowledged expertise gaps. In a government that has traditionally done most spending through grants and transfer payments, that includes lack of comfort with more complex financial tools that Mr. Carney may be looking to deploy in industrial strategies. And lack of employment mobility, between the public and private sectors, has contributed to a perceived disconnect between career bureaucrats in Ottawa and policies' real-world impacts. There are many fundamental ways to address those shortcoming – new strategies around recruitment and career advancement, changing pay structures, using technology to expedite glacial hiring processes. Most contentiously, but increasingly whispered about, Ottawa could loosen bilingualism requirements to broaden its pool. Canada has 'ambition deficit' and regulations that are scaring away investment, Sabia says In the near term, the most obvious lever is the anticipated deputy-minister shuffle, following a small shuffle that took place this month. It could see Mr. Sabia bringing in some new faces, and perhaps more so trying to elevate younger talent already in the bureaucracy, even if they have not worked their way up as gradually as has been customary. But many people interviewed for this story also suggested Ottawa may have to get more creative about bringing in people from industry – and possibly provincial governments – to work on policy priorities of Mr. Carney's for which they have specific expertise. That could potentially be done under Interchange Canada, an underutilized federal program enabling exchanges between the public and private sectors. It could also see people seconded from outside government, forming hybrid teams with bureaucrats to advance key files. Navigating conflict-of-interest considerations would be a challenge – but not, by most accounts, an insurmountable one. And Mr. Sabia's unusual history straddling the public and private sectors could help convince others to do so. A near-universal lament is that civil servants feel incentivized to keep their heads down and avoid risks – in putting forward new ideas, or taking ownership of moving policies forward. That's partly because of additional rules and guidelines layered on after any sort of spending or ethics controversy. Paring those down, to maintain but simplify accountability, is seen as a long-term play. But it's also because of a common perception that politicians are prepared to throw bureaucrats under the bus – or shove them in front of parliamentary committees – at the first sign of trouble, rather than taking heat themselves. And that's where there may be an opportunity to quickly pursue culture change. Mr. Sabia could help by sending a signal across the bureaucracy that people who take initiative and move quickly will be valued. Much will come down to Mr. Carney. His tone, early on, has suggested that expedience and ambition are the priority. But bureaucrats tend to say that the real message about risk tolerance will come from how tolerant he and his ministers prove when moving fast causes something to go wrong. Another oft-cited reason for slowness and lack of individual initiative is that there are too many cooks in the kitchen. While recent growth of the total federal workforce (well above 300,000 people) is likely to be targeted by Mr. Carney for cost savings, ballooning upper ranks – assistant deputy ministers, associate deputy ministers, directors-general, etc. – have particularly bogged down decision-making by creating hierarchical confusion. So too, bureaucrats counter, has an excess of political staff – numbering around 800, by the end of former prime minister Justin Trudeau's tenure, far more than in other Westminster democracies – dipping in and out of files. Not to mention decisions notoriously getting log-jammed in the Prime Minister's Office. That crowdedness is crying out for a review aimed at paring back and simplifying lines of authority. But some of that could be done informally, for now. While a small number of top priorities will inevitably have heavy involvement from the PMO – and the Privy Council Office, the (also enlarged) bureaucratic department that supports it – the rest could be delegated to ministries with minimal central interference. And deputies there could be pushed to identify a small number of their top performers to push things through, bruised egos be damned. As with other possible quick fixes, it could be inelegant. But Mr. Carney has been elected, and Mr. Sabia appointed, with promised focus on results. Those results may include a dramatically restructured federal government. But they may not have time to wait for it, if they want to get everything else done.
CTV News
27-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Quebec's deficit will be lower than expected
Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard responds to the Opposition during Question Period at the Quebec National Assembly, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press) Quebec's Finance Ministry says it expects the 2024-2025 deficit will be $3.2 billion less than predicted in the March budget. During the budget announcement, Economy Minister Eric Girard said last year's deficit didn't hit the $11 billion mark it had first projected and was at $10.4 billon. In a new preliminary report released by the Ministry Friday, that number melted down to $7.3 billion for 2024-2025, representing 1.2 per cent of Quebec's GDP. That number takes into account $2.4 billion in payments to the Generations Fund, which is dedicated to repaying Quebec's debt. The exact amount of Quebec's deficit for the 2024-2025 fiscal year will be confirmed in the fall. The ministry attributes the revised numbers to a $2.3 billion decrease in government spending and a 'resilient' provincial economy. 'The financial situation for the 2024-2025 fiscal year has been revised positively thanks to an increase in revenue of nearly $1 billion and a decrease in expenditure growth from 7.7 per cent to 6.2 per cent,' Girard said in a statement. Meanwhile, economic growth was up by 1.3 per cent in 2024, compared to 0.6 per cent in 2023. The Ministry said it noted an increase in tax revenue from personal and corporate income taxes as well as consumption taxes. Hydro-Québec also saw an uptick in revenue. 'This positive revision is the result of measures taken over the past year to ensure more effective and targeted management of spending in order to stay within the allocated budgets,' the ministry said in a news release. Quebec noted it spent more than expected in health and social services, education, families and transportation. It spent less on employment and solidarity, housing and municipal affairs, energy, and the environment. The Coalition Avenir Québec has come under fire over budget choices, including its recent decision to slash $570 million from the education network and refusing to allow schools to run on a deficit. The health-care system also saw its budget slashed as the province tries to eliminate a $1.5-billion deficit in the network, leading to thousands of job cuts. Faced with global economic uncertainty, the government expected an $13 billion deficit for 2025-2026, one of the highest on record for Quebec. But Girard maintains he wants to return to a balanced budget within the next five years, even with American President Donald Trump's rollercoaster trade war. Also on Friday, Trump said he was ending all trade talks with Canada. The president imposed 50 per cent tariffs on aluminum and steel, which impacts Quebec's metal workers. As of March 31, the province's debt is 38.6 per cent of its GDP, which the government says is 0.1 per cent lower than projected in its 2025-2026 budget. In April, Quebec's Standard & Poor's credit was lowered and the company said it did not expect new measures to have any meaningful impact on its standing.
CTV News
27-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Union workers call out Hydro-Quebec for asking tribunal to force employees back to work over holiday outages
Trade war or not, Hydro-Québec will have to continue to limit its exports to the United States. A Hydro-Québec worker on September 1, 2023. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press) Union workers with Hydro-Quebec are calling out the Crown corporation's decision to ask the labour tribunal to force employees back to work after Monday's storm that left over 100,000 clients in the Quebec City region without electricity. Hydro-Québec attempted to restore service quickly following the outages, but when it called on employees for help, very few responded, likely due to Fête Nationale. 'It was difficult to mobilize our teams, partly because of the holiday,' explained Hydro-Québec spokesperson Louis-Olivier Batty, in an interview with Noovo Info. Batty said that on holidays, the Crown corporation expects a 40 to 50 per cent response rate from its workers, but on Tuesday, only about 10 per cent of workers responded to the call. Fréderic Savard of the Hydro-Québec Trades Employees Union (SCFP 1500) told Noovo Info the situation highlights shortcomings in Hydro-Québec's planning regarding the management and predictability of work. 'We would like to point out the hypocrisy of Hydro-Québec, which brought the SCFP1500 union before the tribunal when there are still outages related to the storm, but Hydro-Québec discharged the workers on Wednesday, and all the teams were sent back to their respective regions,' said Savard. Hydro-Québec said on Thursday that the situation is nearly resolved, with 95 per cent of 'customers affected by outages related to the June 23 storms having their power restored.'By Friday morning, only 241 out of nearly 420,000 addresses were still without electricity. - With files from Noovo Info
Ottawa Citizen
11-06-2025
- Business
- Ottawa Citizen
Michael Sabia named new clerk of the Privy Council
Michael Sabia will become the next clerk of the Privy Council in a shake up in the public service's highest office. Article content On July 7, Sabia will replace John Hannaford, who has served in the role since 2023. Article content Article content The incoming clerk brings with him a background in both major projects and public finance. Sabia is leaving his position as chief executive officer for Hydro Québec where he oversaw plans for major projects to expand energy production in the province from 2020 to 2023. Article content Article content The fast-tracked development of big infrastructure projects remains a central priority for Prime Minister Mark Carney's government. Article content Article content Sabia also carries an intimate experience with public finances, having served as the deputy minister for the Department of Finance from 2020 until 2023. Article content 'As Canada's new government builds the strongest economy in the G7, Mr. Sabia's leadership will be key to this mission,' the Prime Minister Office said in a statement. 'Canada's exemplary public service – with Mr. Sabia at the helm – will advance nation-building projects, catalyze enormous private investment to drive growth, and deliver the change Canadians want and deserve.' Article content The incoming clerk also served as the president and CEO of Québec's public pension fund manager Caisse de Dépôt et placement du Québec and the director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Article content Article content In a news release, the Prime Minister's Office thanked Hannaford for his service and congratulated him on his upcoming retirement. Article content Article content Hannaford joined the federal public service in 1995, and as clerk, looked to lead an overhaul of ethics and values within the public service. Article content 'Our public service values and ethics are our compass to guide us through times of change,' he said in a statement when launching the initiative. Article content 'As head of the public service, I am committed to fostering a renewed conversation on values and ethics that will support the effective management and renewal of our public service over the years to come.' Article content The change inside the clerk's office came within a month of Carney's cabinet swearing-in ceremony in May. Article content
