Happy Thursday, everyone! For some, that’s easier said than done. We have a group of stories today in which everyone has had it up to here (except John Boehner, as you’ll see). B.C.’s businesses are ticked at their premier, Albertans are ticked at Ottawa, Toronto buyers are ticked they can’t afford a condo, and Whistler locals are ticked at the ski hills’ new owners. So, let’s read:<\/p>\n
IT TURNS INTERNAL<\/b><\/p>\n
The trade war between B.C. and Alberta over the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline project could result in Alberta cutting off petroleum supplies to B.C.<\/a> \u2014 which could mean soaring prices for gasoline, diesel and even consumer goods in the Lower Mainland. As Geoffrey Morgan<\/a> reports, it could cost $120 to fill up in B.C. if this happens. Premier John Horgan’s defiant stance against the pipeline has business groups turning against their provincial government. <\/p>\n Quote<\/strong>: “The impasse created and sustained by the provincial government is now challenging \u2014 in full view of the international investment community \u2014 the very ability of our country to govern itself,\u201d Greater Vancouver Board of Trade president and CEO Iain Black said.<\/p>\n TURNING TIDE I<\/strong><\/p>\n Ticked-off Albertans have risen up against Ottawa’s empty pipeline promises<\/a>, with protesters showing up in force in Calgary yesterday. (And, as Claudia Cattaneo<\/a> writes, this isn’t Vancouver, where protesters seem to be on speed dial, but people in a tight-lipped oil industry.) They’re mad that the PM is holding on to his climate-change and carbon-tax strategies instead of supporting oil and gas. That pent-up anger is expected to continue at a rally today in Edmonton.<\/p>\n Quote: <\/strong>\u201cIt\u2019s not fair to denigrate an industry that provides energy products in one of the most ethical and sustainable ways in the world. It\u2019s not fair to let vocal minority groups that don\u2019t run on fact to control the fate and prosperity of an entire country,\u201d Conservative MP Michelle Rempel said.<\/p>\n TURNING TIDE II<\/b> <\/p>\n Former Republican House Speaker John Boehner and former Massachusetts Governor William Weld will join the advisory board of U.S. cannabis producer Acreage Holdings. Boehner’s move marks a fundamental shift for a man who nine years ago said he was \u201cunalterably opposed\u201d to legalization, and it indicates that pot is increasingly supported by the American establishment<\/a>. In fact, one analyst said the \u201cbombshell\u201d move may help legitimize the sector and generate investor interest. <\/p>\n Quote<\/strong>: \u201c\u201cOver the last 10 or 15 years, the American people\u2019s attitudes have changed dramatically,\u201d Boehner said. \u201cI find myself in that same position.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n RAISES REQUIRED<\/b><\/p>\n If you want to buy a condo in Toronto<\/a>, you’ll need to have an income of at least $100,000. Naomi Powell<\/a> reports that, what with low supply and soaring demand, the average price of a resale condo in Toronto hit $558,000 in Q1 2018, up from $510,000 for the same period last year. In order to satisfy new lending standards and tougher mortgage qualification rules, a buyer would need a five-figure income. Just a year ago that threshold was $77,000. <\/p>\n Quote<\/strong>: “It\u2019s difficult to make that leap as a first-time buyer,\u201d said Shaun Hildebrand of market analysts Urbanation. \u201cThat\u2019s pushed some out of the market at least temporarily, adding pressure to a rental market that\u2019s already extremely tight.\u201d<\/p>\n SKI BUMS <\/b><\/p>\n Canadians are pretty angry over the Vail acquisition of Whistler Blackcomb<\/a><\/a> by an American corporate behemoth. The new owner\u2019s offences include the adoption of an on-mountain app that features Fahrenheit and inches; tickets priced with a base rate in U.S. dollars; and a season’s-pass pricing system for all of the company’s 14 resorts in North America and Australia, which benefits globetrotting jet-setters at the expense of locals.<\/p>\n Quote<\/strong>: \u201cIt irks you,\u201d says Roger Schmidt, an engineer based in Ottawa who\u2019s been skiing at Whistler since the 1970s. \u201cI\u2019m the victim of the exchange rate in my own country. It\u2019s like the message is, if you\u2019re local, you can ski at the smaller hills.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A handful of top business stories we’re watching at 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\/4976"}],"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=4976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4976\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}