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Canadian Media Resource Articles

Ontario energy isolationism tops Quebec separatism – Martin Regg Cohn (Toronto Star – July 31, 2014)

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Quebec is awash with cheap power. Ontario is burdened by rising electricity prices. Time to talk.

Quebec is awash with cheap power as yet more hydro dams come on stream. Ontario is burdened by rising electricity prices and an aging fleet of nuclear reactors. Time to talk?

Kathleen Wynne and her Quebec counterpart, Philippe Couillard, will connect by telephone in mid-August ahead of a premiers’ summit in P.E.I. later that month. Electricity and a national energy strategy are on the agenda.

Conceptually, co-operation seems a good fit. Politically, however, it’s a high-wire balancing act fraught with interprovincial tensions.

Ontario has historically sought energy self-sufficiency, anchored in nuclear power. Quebec has sold its electricity to the highest bidder south of the border. For decades, it seemed as if Quebec was practicing electricity separatism, while Ontario indulged in energy isolationism.

Now, energy conservationists in both provinces are lobbying their governments with a sense of urgency. They hope to dissuade Ontario from committing to the costly refurbishment of its nuclear reactors when cheaper hydroelectricity can be bought from Quebec.

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Canada’s great First Nations experiment – by Jeffrey Simpson (Globe and Mail – July 30, 2014)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Canada, without being sure precisely how to proceed, is trying to do something with aboriginal peoples in its midst that no other country in the world is attempting.

The effort involves taking the principles and statements of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 about fair treatment of natives and respect for their rights and updating and giving practical effect to those ideals for the 21st century.

Necessarily, this is a complex task in today’s world, since aboriginals account for a small fraction of Canada’s population (perhaps 4 per cent), compared with their majority position in the mid-to-late 18th century in the territory we now call Canada.

Almost 60 per cent of First Nations communities have fewer than 1,000 persons, but that description misleads since in many cases members have left their reserves or traditional areas. That these “nations” number in the hundreds and are scattered across most of Canada means, among other practical things, that they have – and historically have had – little in common one with the other. As a result, they are always going to struggle, whatever their “title” to land and other aboriginal rights, to deliver what they demand: self-government.

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Ontario First Nations Prepared To Lay Down Their Lives To Protect Lands: Chiefs – by Maria Babbage (The Canadian Press/Huffington Post – July 29, 2014)

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/

TORONTO – Aboriginal people in Ontario are prepared to lay down their lives to protect their traditional lands from any unwanted development, a group of First Nations chiefs said Tuesday.

Five aboriginal chiefs served notice on the Ontario and federal governments, developers and the public that they’ll assert their treaty rights over their traditional territory and ancestral lands.

That includes the rights to natural resources — such as fish, trees, mines and water— deriving benefit from those resources and the conditions under which other groups may access or use them, which must be consistent with their traditional laws, said Ontario Regional Chief Stan Beardy.

“All those seeking to access or use First Nations lands and resources have, at a minimum, a duty to engage, enquire and consult with First Nations with the standards of free, prior and informed consent,” he said.

“We will take appropriate steps to enforce these assertions.”  Tuesday’s declaration follows a Supreme Court of Canada ruling in late June which awarded 1,700 square kilometres of territory to British Columbia’s Tsilhqot’in First Nation, providing long-awaited clarification on how to prove aboriginal title.

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Quebec lawyers optimistic about revived Plan Nord – by Julius Melnitzer (National Post – July 30, 2014)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Quebec’s mining lawyers are cautiously optimistic about the impact of the Liberal government’s revival of the Plan Nord mining project.

“What lies ahead for Quebec’s mining industry is better than what the future looked like during the last two years when there was no clear signal from the PQ that the mining industry was welcome here, ” said Jean-Philippe Buteau in Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP’s Quebec City office. “That’s not to say we’re just a few weeks or months from being back to the good old days, but now there’s a majority government that has both hands on the steering wheel.”

Indeed, the stars seem to be lining up. On July 8, Stornoway Diamond Corp. closed a $946-million comprehensive funding package for the construction of the company’s Renard Diamond Project in north-central Quebec.

“The government assisted Stornoway in building the access road to the project and was instrumental in obtaining financing,” said Michel Brunet in Dentons Canada LLP’s Montreal office. Significant support from the new Liberal government, then, was instrumental in the deal’s culmination.

“Stornoway is a great signal that Quebec will stand beside the mining companies if their business plan makes good sense and they are willing to play by the rules,” Mr. Buteau said.

About one month earlier, Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. and Yamana Gold Inc. completed their acquisition of Osisko Mining Corp. The new owners will take over operation of the Canadian Malarctic gold mine located in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region about 550 kilometres northwest of Montreal.

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A year after brutal losses, Canada’s gold miners expected to see return to stable ground – by Peter Koven (National Post – July 30, 2014)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

One year ago, the gold mining sector reported its most appalling quarterly earnings ever. A steep decline in the price of gold caught the industry off-guard in the spring of 2013, prompting some miners to report record writedowns and net losses in the second quarter. Barrick Gold Corp. led the way with an absurd quarterly loss of US$8.56-billion, the second biggest in Canadian history.

The senior gold miners are now set to report their latest Q2 results over the next two days. But thanks in part to the measures they took a year ago, their earnings should be a lot less noisy and a lot less troubled.

“I’m not looking for any big dislocations in this quarter,” Mackie Research Capital Barry Allan said. “Not a lot of ‘Oh my God, where did that come from?’”

When gold plunged 26% in April and May of 2013, the whole industry shifted focus. Instead of chasing production growth (as they had for many years while prices were rising), miners turned their attention to cost reductions and capital spending cuts.

At the time, the cost reduction announcements were overshadowed by some of the more ridiculous writedowns. But those moves are bearing fruit today.

The senior gold miners reported significant year-over-year reductions in all-in sustaining costs in the first quarter of 2014.

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Aboriginal court decisions shouldn’t be dealbreakers – by Drew Hasselback (National Post – July 30, 2014)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

You’ve heard varying degrees of panic over the Supreme Court of Canada’s rulings in Tsilhqot’in and Grassy Narrows.

These are clearly important aboriginal rights decisions, and each will have a profound impact on Canada’s natural resource industry. Yet I’m not sure either case justifies any fear.

The cases clarify some technical aspects of aboriginal law. And, well, that’s it. They’re not legal blocades that will halt all development in this country.

Litigation is a zero-sum game. If a case makes it all the way to judgment, you have a winner and you have a loser. Now, what is it that the winner gets? A bill from the lawyers, and a bunch of legal rights that too often require a fresh round of litigation — i.e., even more legal bills — to enforce. Just because you can win a legal case doesn’t mean you instantly get what you really want.

A lot of commentary around Tsilhqot’in and the Grassy Narrows decisions treats them like winner-takes-all victories. But that’s not how it works. If you win some rights in native litigation, you still have to speak with the other side about how you will use those rights. Indeed, a lot of lawyers who practice aboriginal law actually spend their time negotiating so-called impact and benefit agreements. These are business deals that ensures a local First Nations participates in the profits from a project on or near their lands.

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Mining deals defy the doubters – by Peter Koven (National Post – July 30, 2014)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Mining M&A activity has defied the doubters and returned to prominence in 2014, with several big deals being struck and more in the pipeline.

After an extremely slow 2013, the expectations for mergers and acquisitions activity were muted going into this year. Metal prices remained low, junior and intermediate companies did not want to sell while their stock prices were depressed, and many seniors were still trying to recover from bad acquisitions in the last cycle. They were effectively in the investor “penalty box.”

Regardless, the takeovers have come. There have been 41 Canadian mining deals so far this year worth a total of $7.1-billion, according to Financial Post Data. By comparison, there were just $9.3-billion of deals in all of 2013.

Most notably, there has been an impressive number of large and medium-sized takeovers, including those of Osisko Mining Corp. ($3.7-billion), Augusta Resource Corp. ($555-million), Lumina Copper Corp. ($470-million), and Sulliden Gold Corp. Ltd. ($300-million). And of course, Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. were negotiating a potential US$13-billion tie-up until talks collapsed in April.

The pace and size of deals is still far below peak years like 2010, when there were 191 transactions worth almost $40-billion. But the action is very encouraging in a sector that needs more consolidation.

Kevin Thomson, a partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP who works on many mining deals, said the hostile bid for Osisko back in January was the catalyst that got people looking at M&A again.

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Greenpeace stands for delay, delay, delay – by Peter Foster (National Post – July 30, 2014)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Greenpeace Canada continues to squirm to avoid coming up with a defence against Resolute Forest Products’ $7-million lawsuit alleging “intentional interference with economic relations;” that is, trying to destroy Resolute’s business by pressuring its customers

Last Friday, lawyers for Greenpeace sought leave to appeal the decision of the Divisional Court of Ontario (which had rejected an earlier appeal and told Greenpeace to file a defence, plus pay costs).

The case has significant ramifications for whether radical NGOs will be allowed to continue to spread misinformation, trample over corporate reputations, and destroy business and jobs. This is somewhat related to those over-ballyhooed CRA audits of charitable institutions, although Greenpeace had its charity status removed long ago. In fact, “intentional interference with economic relations” could almost be Greenpeace’s mission statement.

The suit goes back to claims made by Greenpeace about Resolute’s business practices after the radical environmental NGO exited the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement, the deeply flawed 2010 deal under which forestry companies were persuaded that they could buy off their radical opponents by becoming “partners” in plans to sanitize huge swathes of Canada in the name of “environmental protection.” Screw the people who lived there.

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Disclosure of First Nations salaries raises eyebrows – by Mike De Souza (Toronto Star – July 30, 2014)

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

OTTAWA—Records showing a native councillor with construction contracts worth $300,000, a chief with a six-figure salary, and an eight member band council each making about $6,500 annually are among dozens of revelations that emerged Tuesday under a new transparency law targeting First Nations leaders.

The information came from multiple First Nations communities across the country trying to meet a deadline set by the new First Nations Financial Transparency Act, which requires them to publish a range of annual business and financial records, including salaries and benefits.

The communities were previously only required to submit these records to the government without sharing them with the public.

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada posted some of the records from at least 20 communities on its website Tuesday, including four Ontario First Nations, two from Manitoba, two from Saskatchewan and 10 from British Columbia.

In its own records, the Snuneymuxw First Nation in B.C., revealed that Eric Wesley, a councillor, received $307,201 in contracts for construction related services in the last fiscal year from his own community.

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Changes afoot for aboriginal treaty talks and resource development – by Bill Curry and Kathryn Blaze Carlson (Globe and Mail – July 29, 2014)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

OTTAWA — The Conservative government is launching more flexible options for aboriginal treaty talks after setbacks to its ambitious resource development plans.

The announcement signals Ottawa’s desire to give its stagnant British Columbia treaty process a boost by negotiating smaller, incremental treaties where possible and signing deals with aboriginal groups outside the formal treaty process.

It is also promising to improve its nation-wide approach to aboriginal consultation, which has been at the heart of a string of court defeats for the federal government as it attempts to speed up resource projects like mining and new pipelines, particularly in Western Canada.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt made the announcement on Monday in Vancouver via a news release and was not available to answer questions.

The plans are in response to recommendations in a November, 2013, report from Douglas Eyford, who was appointed last year by Prime Minister Stephen Harper as Canada’s special federal representative on West Coast energy infrastructure.

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Scotiabank named in silver price-fixing lawsuit – by Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew (Toronto Star – July 29, 2014)

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Bank of Nova Scotia, Deutsche Bank and HSBC named in suit.

A U.S. investor has accused the Bank of Nova Scotia, Deutsche Bank and HSBC of engaging in an ongoing conspiracy to fix the price of silver.

Investor J. Scott Nicholson alleges that thousands of small investors around the world have been put at a disadvantage by the secretive way in which prices for the physical metal, as well as futures contracts, are set by the financial institutions.

The three firms have knowingly engaged in “an unlawful combination, agreement, and conspiracy” to “intentionally manipulate” the price of physical silver and silver derivatives, including futures contracts, according to the lawsuit.

“We intend to vigorously defend ourselves against this suit,” a spokesperson for Toronto-based Bank of Nova Scotia said in an email.

None of the allegations have been tested in court. The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York on Friday, seeks to establish a class action that could have thousands of members, the court filing states.

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Investors unclear on Barrick’s future direction amid CEO shakeup – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – July 29, 2014)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

On the eve of the first full meeting of Barrick Gold Corp.’s new board, investors are in the dark about the gold giant’s strategy.

Barrick’s new chairman John Thornton said he wants the miner, the world’s biggest gold producer, to be the “leading gold company” and a “leader” in copper. But what that means is unknown.

“I don’t think they have been clear, and I don’t think they have made up their minds yet,” said Michael Sprung, president of Sprung Investment Management, which has held Barrick shares for about five years.

The miner’s game plan has come under scrutiny after Mr. Thornton got rid of the company’s chief executive role. Instead, the company will have two co-presidents and the company’s chief financial officer will work closely with Mr. Thornton to develop strategy, he said. Barrick CEO Jamie Sokalsky will be leaving in September, just two years into his tenure.

The management shakeup will lead to further changes at Barrick, which is already in flux after a turbulent year. Directors who had served on the board with former chairman and founder Peter Munk since the beginning faced pressure to leave, and merger talks with Colorado-based gold company Newmont Mining Corp. blew up, with each side blaming the other for the collapse.

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U.K. opens more than half of country to drilling, goes ‘all out for shale’ – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – July 29, 2014)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

David Cameron’s long and risky campaign to unleash a shale gas revolution in Britain finally met with success on Monday, when government ministers opened up more than half the country to drilling.

The prime minister and his top deputies had been promoting shale gas for years, declaring that his government is “going all out for shale” as a way to reverse the country’s dependency on imported fuels, create jobs and bring down, or a least slow the relentless increase, of energy prices.

Lately, the crisis in Ukraine added a geo-political boost to their effort. Russia is the top supplier of gas to Europe and much of that gas travels through Ukrainian pipelines.

But the drilling approval has come with severe restrictions that deprived Mr. Cameron of total victory. Drilling in national parks and “areas of outstanding natural beauty” will only be allowed in “exceptional circumstances,” government guidelines dictated. Those circumstances were not immediately clear.

A spokeswoman for the department of communities and local government, publisher of the new drilling guidelines, said “defining exceptional circumstances is not an easy thing to do. It all depends on local communities and local conditions.”

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What is Harper’s ‘real interest’ in Mongolia? – by Campbell Clark (Globe and Mail – July 28, 2014)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

OTTAWA — John Baird was given a ceremonial welcome in Ulan Bator, and invited to try a bow-and-arrow at a festival in the Jargalant Valley. The Foreign Affairs Minister is on a trip to Asia, visiting big powers China and Japan. But last week, his first stop was in a sparsely populated nation of three million.

Stephen Harper’s government is taking a particular interest in, of all places, Mongolia. Why?

Mongolia’s Foreign Minister, Luvsanvandan Bold, called Canada an important part of his country’s foreign policy. Canada just put Mongolia, a middle-income country, on its list of “countries of focus” for foreign aid.

Yes, there’s potential mining trade. But there’s also an invitation that the Harper government finds alluring: to help a little democracy maintain its independence from its two authoritarian neighbours, Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the People’s Republic of China.

“The Prime Minister has taken a real interest in Mongolia,” Mr. Baird said in a telephone interview.

Mr. Harper long ago turned from strident China critic to pragmatic trader with a rising economic power, but he still views its global influence darkly. And Mr. Harper has been a vocal critic of Mr. Putin’s actions in Ukraine: He’s called the Russian President a “throwback” to the Soviet Union.

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Pact Putinia: How Russia’s gas plan will unfold – by Diane Francis (National Post – July 26, 2014)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Speculation about President Vladimir Putin proliferates. Does he want to occupy Ukraine? Has he gone too far by arming and training Russian mercenaries who shot down the Malaysian Air jet with 298 passengers? Why is he thumbing his nose at global outrage and more sanctions? What will stop him?

Such questions miss the mark.

Putin has been executing the same business/geopolitical model for years aimed at guaranteeing his natural gas monopoly in Europe and keeping out rivals.

Ukraine is his latest victim because it ousted his puppet, Victor Yanukovych, and also because its huge oil and gas reserves could eventually make Ukraine a competitor for European customers.

Russia has controlled Ukraine since it declared independence in 1991, mostly through corruption. But in 2005, the populace staged the 2005 Orange Revolution and the 2013-14 Maidan uprising rose up against and finally expelled Yanukovych. But their victory became defeat because Putin changed tactics by shifting from managing a Ukrainian kleptocracy to engineering a fake insurrection in parts of the country to turn its resource base into a no-go zone.

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