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A Canadian mining company is proposing to move its headquarters outside of the country in an attempt to avoid a federal government national-security review that could have blocked its proposed financing deal with an opaque China-based company.
Montreal-based SRG Mining Inc. in July announced a tentative deal worth $16.9-million to sell a 19.4-per-cent stake to Carbon ONE New Energy Group Co. Ltd. (C-ONE) of China.
At the time, SRG warned its investors that the transaction was subject to approval by the federal government. But in a public filing last week, SRG laid out a workaround that it says will remove Canada’s power to police the transaction. The company will maintain its TSX Venture Exchange listing, but redomicile outside the country. Consequently, the C-ONE deal will no longer need Ottawa’s approval, SRG said.
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Labourers of Alpha Lithium work at the Tolillar salt flat, in Salta, Argentina, Aug. 13, 2021.AGUSTIN MARCARIAN/Reuters
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Israel pursues Hamas in south Gaza
Israel continued its fight against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip’s biggest cities Friday. Residents reported fierce battles going on east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza’s largest city. The United Nations warned that its aid operation is “in tatters” because no place in the besieged enclave is safe.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Ivy League university presidents are reckoning with a swift backlash over their comments on antisemitic incidents on their campuses. University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill was grilled during a five-hour hearing Tuesday, along with Harvard President Claudine Gay and MIT President Sally Kornbluth, on how their institutions had responded to instances of antisemitism on campuses.
Facing heavy criticism, Magill walked back some of her remarks given earlier this week at a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism, saying she should have gone further to condemn hate against Jewish students.
In Canada, Calgary’s mayor has bowed out of attending the city’s annual menorah lighting ceremony, which coincides with the two-month anniversary of Hamas attacking Israel, because she said the event has been “repositioned” as political. Her statement sparked immediate backlash, most notably from the federal Conservative Party of Canada, which said Jyoti Gondek’s withdrawal could “dangerously normalize antisemitism” in the country.
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Palestinians go through a house destroyed during an Israeli bombardment in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Dec. 7, 2023.Fatima Shbair/The Associated Press
AFN’s new National Chief Cindy Woodhouse vows to hold government accountable
Cindy Woodhouse, a regional chief from Manitoba, said Canadians need to work with First Nations in a positive way shortly after being elected the new national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, after six rounds of voting that unfolded until almost midnight on Wednesday.
Canadians need to work with First Nations in a positive way, the new national chief of the Assembly of First Nations said Thursday as she took the helm of an advocacy organization that works to influence federal government policy and budget spending for 634 communities.
National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Cindy Woodhouse, centre, delivers remarks following a swearing-in ceremony during the third day of the special chiefs assembly in Ottawa, on Dec. 7, 2023.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
With plans for oil and gas emissions cap, Ottawa calls industry’s bluff
Canada’s oil and gas producers will face a moment of truth with Ottawa’s long-awaited release of its plan for a cap on the industry’s greenhouse-gas emissions.
It’s a test that fossil-fuel companies knew was coming since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first promised it more than two years ago. And the framework finally laid out on Thursday, which indicates that the regulation will require sectoral emissions to fall 20 to 23 per cent from 2019 levels by 2030 – or 35 to 38 per cent to avoid having to buy offsets or pay into a decarbonization fund – is less onerous than the government had earlier signalled.
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A flare stack burns off excess gas at a processing facility near Crossfield, Alta., June 13, 2023.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
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Also on our radar
In London, Ont., two caring addiction doctors sit on either side of the safe-supply divide: Two doctors find themselves on opposite sides of a bitter debate that has split the addiction-medicine community in the midst of Canada’s worst-ever drug crisis. At issue is something with an innocuous-sounding name: safe supply.
BoC deputy governor Gravelle says high immigration adding to housing inflation: Home construction has not kept pace with heightened levels of population growth, driving up shelter inflation to the highest it’s been in decades, a senior Bank of Canada official said in the bank’s most explicit statement yet on how the country’s housing and immigration ambitions collide.
Canada scores poorly in UN aviation agency safety oversight audit: A United Nations aviation agency has issued a draft report that is highly critical of Ottawa’s oversight of the safety of the Canada’s civil aviation system.
Ottawa hikes the funds foreign students need to qualify for study permits: International students who want to come to Canada will need to prove they have more than $20,000 in order to qualify for study permits – more than twice as much as is currently required – a reform the federal government expects to significantly cut the number arriving here.
Morning markets
Markets await U.S. jobs data: World shares were mostly up on Friday ahead of a U.S. government jobs report, after Wall Street rose Thursday to snap its first three-day losing streak since Halloween. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.58 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 added 0.43 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.68 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.07 per cent. New York futures were steady. The Canadian dollar was up at 73.66 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
The task of rescuing the Assembly of First Nations begins now
“The AFN needs an identity overhaul, and I hope Ms. Woodhouse has the chutzpah to do it, by making it an organization that makes our people proud, based on the spirituality of our nations and our laws. Instead, over the course of the past few days of politicking in Ottawa’s Shaw Centre, things have felt slightly bizarre. The procedures, the resolutions, the omnibus motions, the votes that only chiefs could participate in – it all felt rather colonial.” – Tanya Talaga
An inconvenient truth: The carbon tax helps more than it hurts
“People who have lots of money fork it out on both those fronts. But they get the same rebates as people with far less income. Consequently, the rebates have a bigger impact on families with lesser income – they notice it more. It makes up a more sizable portion of their total income.” – Gary Mason
Today’s editorial cartoon
Illustration by David Parkins
Living better
Food that makes us feel good, plus: a recipe for comforting kimchi pancakes
Food affects mood – there’s no secret about that. Foods like lean protein and complex carbs (fibre) are proven to take longer to digest, helping stabilize blood sugar – and energy levels. Iron, which can be found in spinach, kidney beans and lentils, can help fend off fatigue and strengthen neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin, which help regulate your nervous system. And then there are comforting foods that make us feel good – bread, potatoes and pasta. Here’s a comforting pancake recipe to try that includes both complex and simple carbs.
Moment in time: Dec. 8, 1923
A sign advertises the opening of the Hollywoodland housing development in the hills on Mulholland Drive overlooking Los Angeles, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, circa 1924.Underwood Archives/Getty Images
Erected this day in 1923, the now iconic Hollywood sign in the hills above Los Angeles originally read “HOLLYWOODLAND” as a billboard for an upscale real estate development. Studded with lightbulbs, it was built by Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler for US$21,000. The poles supporting the sign were hauled up by mules. Hollywood was the mecca of the film world and California was the destination of dreams. The sign was aspirational and the zeitgeist’s marquee. The giant placard was meant to be up for just 18 months. Damaged by vandals and windstorms, it fell into disrepair over the years – a metaphor for the times. By 1948, movie box-office receipts were plummeting because of the advent of television. The billboard was restored in 1949, but with the “LAND” removed. The original letters were replaced in 1978. The century-old monument stands proudly to this day. Incidentally, in 1923, when it was first mounted, the year’s top film was Cecil B. DeMille’s silent epic The Ten Commandments. Is that story folklore or non-fiction? Without a sign, it is hard to say. Brad Wheeler.
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