CALGARY - Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci said Monday he will hold firm on his promise not to introduce a sales tax even as a business audience expressed interest in such a revenue-raising measure.Ceci told the Calgary Chamber that the government is focused on economic stimulus and cutting costs, and while it's willing to hear suggestions on how it can bring in more revenue to plug a deficit hole, that would not include a new sales tax."I'm not ready to do that, this government has said it [Read more]
Some oil companies undeterred as global leaders sign on to Paris climate deal
OTTAWA - With almost 150 countries, including Canada, poised to sign the Paris climate agreement at the end of this week in New York, some of the world's biggest oil companies aren't convinced there's any end in sight for fossil fuel use.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be among signatories from some 147 countries convening Friday at the United Nations headquarters on Earth Day, the first opportunity to formally sign the global climate agreement completed in December.The Paris accord envisions [Read more]
Credit rating agency DBRS downgrades Alberta rating a notch on rising debts
CALGARY - Credit rating agency DBRS has downgraded Alberta's credit rating a notch to double-A, a day after the province released a deficit-laden budget.DBRS says the NDP government's reluctance to rein in spending or increase taxation would push debt levels higher than a triple-A rating could justify.Finance Minister Joe Ceci described the downgrade was a "disappointment" but said the province is still financially stable and responsibly managing its debt.In its credit update DBRS did improve [Read more]
A tale of two budgets: deluge of red ink in Alberta, N.L. amid oil crash
CALGARY - Albertans bewailing the deluge of red ink in the provincial budget can take some comfort in knowing matters could be worse: they could be in Newfoundland and Labrador's predicament.The two provinces, which tabled their budgets on Thursday, are both facing massive budgetary holes where oil and gas revenues used to be.In Alberta, non-renewable resource revenues are expected to be a paltry $1.4 billion this fiscal year — a level not seen in 40 years and 85 per cent below its 2014-15 [Read more]
A look at some of the highlights of the Alberta budget
EDMONTON - The Alberta government tabled its 2016-17 budget Thursday. Here are some of the highlights:— Total revenue is pegged at $41.4 billion against $51.1 billion in spending. The government is adding a $700-million buffer if oil prices fall into the US$30 barrel range, which would bring the deficit to $10.4 billion.— Benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil expected to average US$42 a barrel and the dollar is forecast at US73.5 cents.— The province is amalgamating or dissolving 26 agencies, [Read more]
Oil and gas land sale rights down in Saskatchewan as industry struggles
REGINA - Sales of petroleum and natural gas rights in Saskatchewan are down as investment in the sector plunges.The province says the April sale raised $3.1 million, bringing the year's total so far to $8.1 million.That's almost two-thirds less than the $22.8 million brought in over the same period last year and far below the $98.6 million raised over the same dates in 2014.Economy Minister Bill Boyd says there's no question that when the price of oil drops significantly, the markets react and [Read more]
Newfoundland and Labrador budget delivers tax hikes, job cuts, $2B deficit
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Critics are calling Newfoundland and Labrador's new spending plan the Tax on Pretty Much Everything Budget, saying it could repel investment and migration to a province that badly needs both."We cannot tax our way back to prosperity," Des Whelan, chairman of the St. John's Board of Trade, said as the new Liberal government delivered its first fiscal blueprint Thursday."In this budget we have seen an increase in every tax, fee and levy that you could possibly do. That's going [Read more]
Alberta braces for $10B in red ink as Finance Minister Ceci unveils budget
EDMONTON - The Alberta government, with oil prices taking massive bites out of its bottom line, blew past its own spending safeguards Thursday to deliver a budget that forecasts almost $58 billion in debt within three years.Finance Minister Joe Ceci confirmed that this year's deficit will be $10.4 billion and said there is no expectation of balancing the books before 2024.He also outlined details of a planned carbon tax that will cost a two-income household earning more than $100,000 annually [Read more]
Hard choices expected in Newfoundland and Labrador’s Bad News Budget
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Tax hikes, job losses and spending cuts are among grim expectations for Newfoundland and Labrador's budget Thursday as the oil price slide takes its toll."It is not something that we take pleasure in. It is a very difficult situation," Finance Minister Cathy Bennett told the legislature this week as the Liberal government prepares to deliver its first spending blueprint since winning power last fall after 12 years of Progressive Conservative rule.Bennett asked officials across [Read more]
CBRE says Calgary downtown office vacancies above 20% for first time in 30 years
CALGARY - The hollowing out of Calgary's core has hit its highest level in more than 30 years and the situation in what was once the energy industry's thriving financial pulse is likely to worsen, a commercial real estate firm says.In a report released Wednesday, CBRE Canada estimates the city's downtown office vacancy rate was 20.2 per cent in the first quarter ended March 31, almost twice as high as the 11.8 per cent vacancy rate in the same period a year ago.Greg Kwong, regional managing [Read more]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 360
- 361
- 362
- 363
- 364
- …
- 544
- Next Page »