SummaryIn 2016/17, Ontario's net debt reached $302 billion, or approximately $21, 500 per Ontarian. The province's debt-to-GDP level stands at 38 percent, just below its all-time historic high.Ontario's net debt has increased dramatically since 2003/04, with the province running budget deficits in 11 of the past 14 years. These annual deficits have ranged from $991 million to $19.3 billion and hav...Read More
Nutrien Ltd., the newly formed company from the merger of The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan and Agrium Inc., is well on course to achieve savings of half a billion dollar in synergies annually, according to its chief executive officer Chuck Magro.“When we look at it, the $500 million in annual synergies — we’re very confident about that number,” Magro told investors on...Read More
This blog post is a guest post on BullionStar's Blog by the renowned blogger JP Koning who will be writing about monetary economics, central banking and gold. BullionStar does not endorse or oppose the opinions presented but encourage a healthy debate. Would it make sense to rebuild an international gold standard like the one we had in the late 1800s? Larry White says the idea has merit, Davi...Read More
The presence of counterfeit medicines in international commerce was initially identified as a problem in 1985 at the World Health Organization Conference of Experts on Rational Drug Use. Prior to this event, the dangers and challenges of pharmaceutical counterfeiting were primarily limited to developing countries. The global picture, however, has starkly changed. Pharmaceutical counterfeiting now...Read More
OTTAWA — The federal government is designating a single agency to oversee what is expected to be a more stringent and far-reaching review process, amid concerns Canada is burdening the industry with new and untested layers of regulations.Environment Minister Catherine McKenna told reporters Thursday that the new law would create a “predictable, timely and evidence-based” review p...Read More
As market turmoil hits both equities and cryptocurrencies, the heightened volatility in these assets underscores gold's unique role as a safe haven, store of value and portfolio diversifier.Stock Market SelloffsWith major US stock indices falling again sharply on Thursday (DJIA - 4.02%, NASDAQ - 4.08%, S&P -3.41%), last Monday's equity market selloff and spike in volatility looks set to be a m...Read More
Acacia Mining produces gold and copper, both of which are surging in price, so why did the company ditch its dividend and post a $700 million loss?“We were thrown … a lot of curveballs,” chief executive Peter Geleta said on an investor earnings call on Monday. “In fact, I don’t think many people would have faced what we faced last year in their whole careers.”H...Read More
SummaryIn many respects, British Columbia can currently boast of having the soundest fiscal position of any Canadian province. While other provinces, including Ontario and Alberta, have struggled in recent years with comparatively large budget deficits and significant debt accumulation, BC recorded a $2.7 billion operating surplus last year (2016/17)-its fourth consecutive operating surplus and th...Read More
Alberta faces significant fiscal and economic challenges. The government has run nearly uninterrupted deficits since 2008/09 and has seen an approximately $57 billion decline in its net financial assets between 2008/09 and 2017/18. The government has stated that it will continue to run significant budget deficits for many years before finally achieving balance in 2023/24. This unambitious target f...Read More
Gold prices are rising after a prolonged period of sluggish performance, but not all gold producers will be able to use 2018 to grow — as three earnings announcements released this week by senior Canadian gold companies demonstrated.Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer, cut its 2018 production outlook to 4.5 million to 5 million ounces whereas Goldcorp Inc., at nearly half...Read More
Barrick Gold Corp., the bullion producer that once towered over rivals, continues to shrink.The Toronto-based miner is predicting its eighth straight decline in annual production as it takes less gold out of the ground at its main mines. The company expects to produce 300,000 fewer ounces in 2018 than it had previously forecast. It now projects total production will be 4.5 million to 5 million oun...Read More
The Report Card on Ontario's Secondary Schools 2018 collects a variety of relevant, objective indicators of school performance into one, easily accessible public document so that anyone can analyze and compare the performance of individual schools. By doing so, the Report Card assists parents when they choose a school for their children and encourages and assists all those seeking to improve their...Read More
Canada, the top steel and aluminum exporter to the U.S., is hopeful of being left out of a Trump administration crackdown on foreign shipments.While the U.S. Commerce Department didn’t recommend giving its northern neighbour a pass when it outlined possible tariffs and quotas on Friday, it did acknowledge Canada’s importance to the U.S. aluminum industry. Canada accounts for...Read More
This report presents the results of the Fraser Institute's 2017 annual survey of mining and exploration companies. The survey is an attempt to assess how mineral endowments and public policy factors such as taxation and regulatory uncertainty affect exploration investment. The survey was circulated electronically to approximately 2,700 individuals between August 22nd and November 10th, 2017. Surve...Read More
A gap of about 50,000 ounces — or about 125 gold bars — is all that stands in the way of Newmont Mining Corp. from claiming the title of world’s biggest gold miner.The Greenwood Village, Colorado-based miner said Thursday its 2017 gold production was 5.27 million ounces, ending the year in a near dead-heat with industry leader Barrick Gold Corp., which produced 5.32 million...Read More
With cobalt prices soaring and fears of a potential shortage mounting, reports emerged Wednesday that Apple Inc. is in talks with a mining company to secure a direct supply of the scarce metal - a critical component of batteries.It's the type of deal that Fortune Minerals Ltd.'s chief executive Robin Goad has been trying to broker for years. Since 1996, Goad has raised tens of millions of dollars...Read More
Main ConclusionsDuring the 2015 federal election, Justin Trudeau's Liberals presented a fiscal plan to Canadians that proposed three years of deficit spending of no more than $10 billion annually with a return to a balanced budget by 2019/20. After forming government, they abandoned this fiscal plan-breaking a pledge to Canadians.Despite a growing economy, the Trudeau government has recorded annua...Read More
The British Columbia government has committed to proceed with electoral reform. The government has set a deadline of November 2018 to have a referendum on proportional representation. Part of the consultation process includes designing the referendum question. This paper reviews precedent and good practices that have been established in Canada and by several international organizations on the craf...Read More
"Community capitalism" is the term used here to describe a politico-economic system in which a First Nation uses its assets (land, location, natural resources, and money) to generate income and provide social services for its members. The Fort McKay First Nation (FMFN) furnishes an important case study of community capitalism. As a result of its remarkable success, its characteristic features stan...Read More
Shares in Lithium X Energy Corp. plunged Thursday morning, just days before the company is set to be acquired at a huge premium by a consortium of Chinese investors, suggesting market skepticism the deal will be completed. The Vancouver-based company traded as low as $1.77 per share, before recovering to close at $2.21, up four per cent on the day. The buyout deal, which would pay share...Read More