Latest news with #RichardBrooks
CTV News
2 hours ago
- Automotive
- CTV News
Apology note left on dinged car was a ‘binding contract,' B.C. tribunal rules
A 10-word apology note a woman left on a car she dinged in a parking lot constituted a legal agreement to pay for repairs, B.C.'s Civil Resolution Tribunal recently ruled. A decision on the dispute was posted online Friday, finding the handwritten note was enough to establish a 'binding contract' between the parties. 'The note read 'I dinged your back passenger door / happy to pay for!' and included a phone number,' tribunal member Maria Montgomery's decision said. It was 'undisputed' that Carly Peddle 'caused the dent' and left the note in September of 2023 when she was dropped off at an event by a friend, according to the decision. The owner of the damaged car, Richard Brooks, filed a claim with the tribunal seeking damages for negligence, asking for $500 as reimbursement for his ICBC deductible. According to the decision, the two spoke on the phone after the incident, and Peddle offered Brooks three options: paying for the repairs after they were completed, paying $2,000 immediately, or leaving Brooks to pursue reimbursement through ICBC. 'The respondent argues that she did not agree to pay for repairs if the applicant filed a claim with ICBC,' Montgomery wrote. However, the note contained no such caveat. 'I find that the respondent offered to pay the repair costs. I find that the parties' submissions and emails show that the applicant accepted that offer,' the decision said. 'I therefore find that the parties had reached a settlement agreement, which was a binding contract that the respondent could not later amend without agreement from the applicant.' In addition to reimbursing Brooks for the deductible, Peddle was ordered to pay $125 in tribunal fees and $34.35 in pre-judgment interest.
Canada Standard
01-05-2025
- Business
- Canada Standard
RBC Abandons Green Finance Goal, Could Trigger 'Domino Effect'
The Royal Bank of Canada's announcement Tuesday that it will abandon its sustainable finance goals could set off a "big domino effect" across the banking sector in Canada and beyond, a leading Canadian climate finance analyst warns. RBC blamed the decision on amendments to the federal Competition Act last year that require companies to prove their environmental claims, The Canadian Press reports. At the time, advocates said the amendments amounted to a "very modest provision" that "simply requires companies to tell the truth and to have an evidence base to back up their claims." In 2021, RBC pledged to add $500 billion to its sustainable funds by 2025, after hitting an initial target of $100 billion the previous year. At the time, the Globe and Mail said the commitment put Canada's biggest bank "in league with a growing number of global corporations aligning with commitments their countries have made under the Paris Agreement." But now, RBC says it can't square those commitments with the anti-greenwashing provisions in the new federal legislation. "Sounds like a possible admission they misled investors with previous statements," Climate Finance Director Richard Brooks wrote on LinkedIn. RBC media relations officer Jeff Lanthier did not respond to a request for comment by the time The Energy Mix went to virtual press last night. We'll update this story when we hear back. In its 2024 sustainability report released Tuesday, the bank stated [pdf] that "we have reviewed our methodology and have concluded that it may not have appropriately measured certain of our sustainable finance activities as presented on a cumulative basis." In a statement, it added that the Competition Act amendments "limit the information we can share on certain sustainability disclosures and the progress we are making and have restricted our ability to publicly report on several metrics." As a result, the sustainability report "provided a methodology to calculate its energy supply ratio, the ratio of financing for low-carbon energy projects compared with their financing for fossil fuel projects, but was unable to disclose the number," CP writes. "The bank said it would continue to monitor and report the ratio internally," after previously agreeing to disclose it in an agreement with the New York City Comptroller, a longtime advocate on climate finance. Until now, the $500-billion sustainable finance pledge "has been this kind of marquee first message that was delivered over and over and over again," Brooks told The Mix. "Every time there was criticism levelled at RBC for their financing of fossil fuel companies, their first retort would be, 'we are a leader, we have committed to $500 billion of sustainable finance by 2025, and we're helping our customers [make the] transition and decarbonize.'" Independent analysts "knew the framework and criteria they were using were pretty loose," he added, taking in loans to oil and gas pipeline companies on the hope or pretext that they would decarbonize their operations. Now, the language in the sustainability report is "banker talk for 'we misreported on what was deemed to be sustainable finance.'" Brooks said it's "very troubling" to see RBC using the Competition Act amendments as an "excuse" to scale back its reporting and its green investments. But it isn't such a bad thing that "there's a little bit of pulling back the green curtain, and we're seeing the real wizard behind it. That's good from a transparency standpoint, but it means there's even more need for our government to step in," since "it's clear that voluntary commitments, whether they were real or not, are not working." RBC also said it will no longer report on its progress toward other climate goals, including $30 billion in low-carbon energy financing and tripling its renewable energy investments by 2030. "All the more reason to look to the new government of Prime Minister Mark Carney to step [in] and regulate and incentivize real climate investments by our biggest banks and pension funds," Brooks wrote on LinkedIn. The sustainability report followed decisions earlier this year by RBC and other big banks in Canada to step away from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), part of a network of climate finance coalitions brought together by Prime Minister Mark Carney in his former role as UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance. The banks' positioning at the 2021 UN climate summit in Glasgow didn't stop them from pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into new fossil fuel investments in the years that followed, with Canadian banks supplying almost US$104 billion out of the $6.9 trillion that went to the industry in the eight years after the 2015 Paris climate conference. Now, Brooks said RBC's action may be the beginning of a wider shift. "The banks move as a pack," he told The Mix. "When they first started quitting NZAB they were tripping over each other to get out the door. So I'm sure the other banks are very much looking at what RBC has done and are considering doing the same." He called that trend an "infection" could extend beyond Canada given RBC's global profile among the world's top ten financiers of fossil energy projects. "When one of the top energy financing banks takes an action related to energy financing, which this very much is, all the others pay attention. So I think it could have a big domino effect quite quickly," he said. "The backsliding on climate by banks and other corporations that is happening right now has largely been in response to the Trump administration, and this would be another step." Source: The Energy Mix
Hamilton Spectator
30-04-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
RBC scraps sustainable finance commitment
TORONTO - RBC says it is scrapping its sustainable finance commitment and holding back on other climate disclosures in part because of regulatory changes. The bank says in its latest sustainability report that, following an evolution in industry practices, it has concluded that its methodology 'may not have appropriately measured' some of its sustainable finance activities. It says its conclusion, as well as amendments to Canada's Competition Act that set expectations around environmental claims, led to it 'retiring' its commitment to facilitate $500 billion of sustainable finance by this year. The bank says it also will not be publicly disclosing its findings of how its high-carbon energy financing compares with its financing of low-carbon energy, something it committed to following shareholder pressure, nor how it's making progress on its commitment to provide $35 billion to low-carbon energy by 2030. RBC chief executive Dave McKay says in the report that he's proud of the bank's work to measure and monitor its progress, while refining its approach in a shifting external policy, legal and regulatory environment. climate finance director Richard Brooks says the scrubbing of data is a disappointing and concerning step backwards by Canada's biggest bank. He says in an email that the apparent backsliding by one of the world's largest fossil fuel funders shows voluntary measures aren't working and Prime Minister Mark Carney should accelerate regulatory efforts. RBC says in its report that it remains committed to sustainable finance, and to reporting on its climate activities in a clear and transparent manner in compliance with applicable laws. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:RY)
Winnipeg Free Press
29-04-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
RBC scraps sustainable finance commitment
TORONTO – RBC says it is scrapping its sustainable finance commitment and holding back on other climate disclosures in part because of regulatory changes. The bank says in its latest sustainability report that, following an evolution in industry practices, it has concluded that its methodology 'may not have appropriately measured' some of its sustainable finance activities. It says its conclusion, as well as amendments to Canada's Competition Act that set expectations around environmental claims, led to it 'retiring' its commitment to facilitate $500 billion of sustainable finance by this year. The bank says it also will not be publicly disclosing its findings of how its high-carbon energy financing compares with its financing of low-carbon energy, something it committed to following shareholder pressure, nor how it's making progress on its commitment to provide $35 billion to low-carbon energy by 2030. RBC chief executive Dave McKay says in the report that he's proud of the bank's work to measure and monitor its progress, while refining its approach in a shifting external policy, legal and regulatory environment. climate finance director Richard Brooks says the scrubbing of data is a disappointing and concerning step backwards by Canada's biggest bank. He says in an email that the apparent backsliding by one of the world's largest fossil fuel funders shows voluntary measures aren't working and Prime Minister Mark Carney should accelerate regulatory efforts. RBC says in its report that it remains committed to sustainable finance, and to reporting on its climate activities in a clear and transparent manner in compliance with applicable laws. During Elections Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:RY)
