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Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s business and investing news quiz. Join us each week to test your knowledge of the stories making the headlines. Our business reporters come up with the questions, and you can show us what you know.

This week: The federal and Ontario governments unveiled a multibillion-dollar deal under which Honda Motor Co. will expand its Alliston, Ont., plant to manufacture electric vehicles. The two governments say Honda will manufacture 240,000 vehicles a year at the site. Meanwhile, Gildan Activewear Inc. announced changes to its board of directors as it battles dissident shareholders. The Canadian clothing maker is replacing five directors, including current chairman Donald Berg, with new faces effective May 1. It’s also proposing to add two directors supported by activist shareholder Browning West to replace two directors not standing for re-election.

Also: Tim Hortons had big plans to celebrate its diamond jubilee.


1Ottawa and Ontario teamed up this week to announce up to $5-billion in incentives for Honda to expand its auto plant in Alliston, Ont. How many jobs will be created as a result?
a. 100
b. 1,000
c. 5,000
d. 10,000

b. 1,000. The two governments said it is the largest single investment in Canada’s auto sector. The expanded plant will manufacture electric vehicles and host a battery plant.

2What is Tim Hortons doing to celebrate its 60th anniversary this year?
a. Rolling prices back to 1964 levels for a day
b. Offering anyone who turns 60 this year free doughnuts
c. Unveiling a line of giant Timbits
d. Staging a musical

d. Staging a musical. The Last Timbit will make its debut at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto this June. It is loosely based on a snowstorm in 2010 that prompted drivers near Sarnia, Ont., to wait out the weather in a local Tim Hortons.

3A Statistics Canada report this week examined the alarming slowdown in Canada’s economic growth since 2017. According to the study, how much richer would each of us be, on average, if Canada had avoided the recent malaise and maintained its long-term growth trajectory?
a. $1,100 a year
b. $2,500 a year
c. $4,200 a year
d. $5,400 a year

c. $4,200 a year. Canada’s economic output per person has slipped 7 per cent below its long-term trend, according to the report. The pandemic played a role in that massive shortfall, but lackluster business investment also slowed productivity growth.

4Mining giant BHP unveiled a surprise US$39-billion bid for which fellow miner this week?
a. Anglo American
b. Freeport-McMoRan
c. Vale
d. Glencore

a. Anglo American. BHP wants to become the world’s largest miner of copper, a key metal in the transition to a greener, more electrified economy. If BHP succeeds in taking over Anglo American, the combined company will control about 10 per cent of the world’s output of the metal.

5McKinsey & Co., the management consulting firm, is now under criminal investigation by federal prosecutors in the United State for its role advising:
a. Latin American governments
b. Cryptocurrency exchanges
c. Opioid makers
d. Donald Trump’s campaign finance team

c. Opioid makers. McKinsey is facing allegations it played a key role in fuelling the opioid epidemic through its work advising OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and other drug makers. McKinsey has already paid nearly US$1-billion to settle opioid lawsuits brought by U.S. states and health insurers, among others.

6Why did BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, decide to dramatically boost security around its chief executive officer Larry Fink?
a. Because of disappointing earnings
b. Because of growing tensions over Gaza
c. Because of the backlash to “woke” investing
d. Because of a feud with a former executive

c. Because of the backlash to “woke” investing. Fink and BlackRock have been criticized for the company’s use of environmental, sustainability and governance criteria in its investment products. Conservative groups say the company is pushing left-wing ideology on businesses.

7What did you do during the Great App War? Earlier this month, China ordered Apple to remove U.S.-owned WhatsApp and Threads from its Chinese app store. This past week, the U.S. Congress passed a bill requiring ByteDance, the Chinese owner of the TikTok app, to:
a. Cease operations in the United States
b. Divest TikTok’s worldwide operations by January or face a ban
c. Operate under the control of U.S. regulators
d. Divest TikTok’s U.S. operations by January or face a ban

d. Divest TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a ban. The U.S. bill would require ByteDance to divest TikTok's U.S. operations by January, although that deadline could be extended by three months.

8Why is Canada Revenue Agency pursuing a Montreal tenant for tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes?
a. He used his apartment for commercial purposes
b. His landlord doesn’t live in Canada and did not pay taxes
c. He said he was married but was actually single
d. He did not live in the unit for most of the time he rented it

b. His landlord doesn’t live in Canada and did not pay taxes. In a story that should chill any tenant’s heart, the Canada Revenue Agency ordered David Siscoe, a Montreal renter, to pay several years' worth of his non-resident landlord’s withholding taxes. Siscoe says he did not know his landlord was a non-resident.

9Yes, the housing market is officially bonkers. As Canada’s housing crisis keeps growing more intense, sales of new condos in the Toronto region are:
a. Three times their level 15 years ago
b. Double their level 15 years ago
c. 50 per cent higher than their level 15 years ago
d. The same as 15 years ago

d. The same as 15 years ago. Surprising, isn’t it? Sales of new condos in the Toronto region have dropped to their lowest level since 2009 despite the housing crunch and government efforts to spur more building. High borrowing costs and lofty prices have put ownership out of reach for many people.

10Meta Platforms stock plunged this week. Why?
a. A bad earnings report
b. Fears about overspending
c. Worries about the Chinese market
d. A possible crackdown in Europe

b. Fears about overspending. Meta chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg told analysts that costs could grow “meaningfully” over the coming years before the company makes “much revenue” from some of its artificial intelligence products.

11Rogers Communications and the National Hockey League this week sold Amazon.com exclusive rights in Canada to stream regular-season NHL games on the U.S. giant’s Prime Video service on:
a. Monday nights
b. Thursday nights
c. Saturday nights
d. Sunday afternoon

a. Monday nights. The Monday night deal is for two seasons and is the NHL’s first exclusive national broadcast package with a digital-only streaming service in Canada.

12The New York Stock Exchange is polling market participants on whether the exchange should:
a. Start trading 24 hours a day
b. Start trading cryptocurrency
c. Start trading derivatives tied to home prices
d. Start trading funds that will benefit if Russia wins the war in Ukraine

a. Start trading 24 hours a day. The survey could be the first step in moving the venerable stock exchange to round-the-clock, seven-days-a week trading, according to the Financial Times. A startup stock exchange, backed by financier Steve Cohen, is seeking approval from U.S. regulators to launch a 24-hours exchange.

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