{"id":2495,"date":"2018-03-28T05:10:41","date_gmt":"2018-03-28T09:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/business.financialpost.com\/?p=1566044"},"modified":"2018-03-28T05:10:41","modified_gmt":"2018-03-28T09:10:41","slug":"five-things-you-should-know-before-starting-your-work-day-on-march-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2018\/03\/28\/five-things-you-should-know-before-starting-your-work-day-on-march-28\/","title":{"rendered":"Five things you should know before starting your work day on March 28"},"content":{"rendered":"

A pleasant mid-week good morning to you all! Shari Kulha<\/a> reporting in on the top business stories we’re tracking.<\/p>\n

ROLL UP THE GRIM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tim Hortons will bring down a $700-million program<\/a> to modernize about half of its store network across Canada, with management sharing some of the costs with franchisees. Hollie Shaw<\/a> reports there will be communal seating and electric outlets at tables to charge phones and other electronics, but there won’t be self-serve kiosks. \u201cWe are exploring other things, but it\u2019s a little too early to share,\u201d CEO Alex Macedo said. <\/p>\n

Quote<\/strong>: But it wasn’t too soon for reaction. “With 60 per cent to 80 per cent of our customers using the drive-thrus and never entering our stores, it would seem these renos are a steep price to pay for eat-in transactions,\u201d said the Great White North Franchisee Association, representing about half of all Canadian franchisees, who have already been upset with their corporate bosses for a year over financial issues.<\/p>\n

ENTRE DEUX<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia and Russia are working on creating a 10-to-20-year pact that could extend controls over world crude supplies<\/a> by major exporters. Riyadh and Moscow are considering updating their year-to-year agreement on oil curbs that began in January 2017 after a crash in crude prices. Russia, never a member of the OPEC, has worked with the 14-member cartel during previous oil gluts, but this lengthy bilateral deal would be unprecedented.<\/p>\n

Quote<\/strong>: \u201cThis is all about whether the arrangement is a short-term expedient to deal with this particular crisis \u2026 or whether it reflects a realignment in world oil,\u201d said oil historian Daniel Yergin at consultancy IHS Markit. \u201cOPEC countries want to find a way to institutionalize this relationship rather than to have it be a one-shot deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

CAN’T BEAT ‘EM?<\/b><\/p>\n

Aecon’s sale to Chinese interests<\/a> will give it access to China’s expansive growth projects and create a major opportunity for the company to boost its international operations. Currently under review by Investment Canada, as Jesse Snyder<\/a> reports, critics say the $1.5-billion deal would give Aecon unfair advantage over rivals in Canadian project bids. But CEO John Beck retorts that Canadian construction companies here already compete against South Korean, Chinese, European and U.S. firms.  <\/p>\n

Quote: <\/b>\u201cIt\u2019s frustrating to have to be bulking up with foreign (companies) to be able to compete on your own land \u2014 so we\u2019re looking for a way to bulk up,” Beck said. <\/p>\n

GIRDING FOR TROUBLE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Canada Border Services Agency will get extra powers, as steel producers, government officials and other stakeholders have formed an urgent working group to head off a possible flood of foreign steel into Canada<\/a> as a result of tariffs imposed by the U.S. The CBSA will identify businesses that try to dodge import duties and will determine whether prices in countries of origin are reliable or distorted, Naomi Powell<\/a> reports. The committee is to meet in Ottawa today for the first time and we’ll follow developments.<\/p>\n

Quote<\/strong>: \u201cWe\u2019re coming together out of a recognition that these are extraordinary times,\u201d said Joe Galimberti of the Canadian Steel Producers’ Association. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a blanket tariff \u2026 so there is a risk of imported steel, which was bound for the U.S., being diverted into Canada\u2019s domestic market. This is something we \u2026 look for the government to address.\u201d<\/p>\n

APPLE FOR THE TEACHER<\/strong><\/p>\n

With yesterday’s introduction of an education-focused iPad, Apple refocuses on the classroom<\/a>, looking to grab market share back from Google and Microsoft. It unveiled a more powerful 9.7-inch iPad, to be had for $399 for schools and $429 for consumers. Its new software allows integration of music, video, photography and drawing into more conventional subjects such as math or history. There will also be a couple of new apps and more features. <\/p>\n

Quote<\/strong>: \u201cWe\u2019ve been at this for 40 years and we care deeply about education,\u201d Apple CEO Tim Cook said. \u201cWe love curiosity. We know our products can bring out the creative genius of any child.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A handful of top business stories we’re tracking in the Financial Post<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/578"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2495"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2496,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495\/revisions\/2496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}