Clearing around an Enbridge buried natural gas pipeline in Hope, B.C. The company's T-South system runs from Chetwynd in northeast B.C. to the Huntingdon-Sumas meter station at the Canada-U.S. border.COLE BURSTON/AFP/Getty Images
Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of The Globe’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis on the biggest headlines, stock tips, personal finance strategies and more.
Carney unveils new advisory council ahead of potentially rocky USMCA talks
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday pushed back at the suggestion the United States is setting conditions before renegotiations on USMCA are launched.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
This week started with Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiling the new Canada-U.S. advisory committee as a review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement gets under way. The advisory committee will be chaired by Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister for Canada-U.S. trade relations, and includes 24 other members, including former politicians and Canadians with experience in business, investment, trade and labour.
Canada has begun re-engaging with the U.S. on trade issues after a rupture in October. The USMCA’s formal review date is July 1, but both Canadian and U.S. officials have said they expect negotiations to extend beyond that date.
The Trump administration is reportedly demanding upfront concessions as a condition of advancing negotiations, but the Prime Minister pushed back on Wednesday on the notion that the U.S. would be able to set conditions for trade talks. “It’s not a case of the United States dictates the terms. We have a negotiation,” Mr. Carney told reporters in Ottawa.
Enbridge launches $4-billion expansion of B.C. pipeline system for natural gas
Enbridge Inc. is embarking on a $4-billion expansion of its pipeline system for transporting natural gas in British Columbia after receiving approval from the federal government.Artur Widak/Reuters
The federal government has approved Enbridge’s Sunrise Expansion Program, a $4-billion expansion of its pipeline system for transporting natural gas in British Columbia, Brent Jang reports.
The project will increase capacity by 17 per cent at Enbridge’s T-South system – which runs from Chetwynd in northeast B.C. to the Huntingdon-Sumas meter station at the Canada-U.S. border – focusing on southern B.C. but also bolstering the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
“This project will enable us to heat more homes, businesses, hospitals and schools, while bolstering British Columbian industry, including for LNG, and creating thousands of jobs,” federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson said in a statement.
Agnico bulking up in Finland with three acquisitions worth roughly $3.8-billion
The Agnico Eagle Mines Limited booth at the PDAC convention in Toronto on Mar 3. The Canadian gold miner bulked up this week with three acquisitions worth a total of $3.8-billion.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Canadian gold miner Agnico Eagle is betting big on northern Finland with three acquisitions worth a total of $3.8-billion, Niall McGee reports. It has reached an agreement to buy Rupert Resources for up to $2.9-billion in stock and cash, Aurion Resources for $481-million in cash, and B2Gold’s 70-per-cent stake in Fingold Ventures for US$325-million.
All three of the new acquisitions operate in Finland’s Lapland region, where Agnico has operated the Kittilä mine since 2009.
Agnico is Canada’s most valuable gold company and the second-largest in the world after Colorado-based Newmont. The bulk of its operations are in Canada.
Apple, Lululemon name new CEOs
John Ternus speaks during Apple's annual world wide developer conference in San Jose, Calif., in 2017.Stephen Lam/Reuters
Long-time Apple Inc. chief executive Tim Cook is stepping down from the job after a nearly 15-year reign as John Ternus, the company’s vice-president of hardware engineering, gets set to take over as CEO on Sept. 1. Mr. Ternus joined the company in 2001 and played a central role in shaping Apple’s biggest products such as iPads and AirPods. Mr. Cook will stay on as executive chairman.
In other big corporate news, Lululemon Athletica Inc. has appointed former long-time Nike Inc. executive Heidi O’Neill as its new CEO after a four-month search process that began with the announcement of former CEO Calvin McDonald’s departure late last year. Ms. O’Neill will step into the role on Sept. 8 and she will join the board of directors on the same day, Susan Krashinsky Robertson reports.
David Ellison is on a mission to remake Paramount before the film industry self-destructs
David Ellison, the new CEO of Paramount Skydance, delivers his grand promise to revitalize the media company at CinemaCon 2026 in Las Vegas.Caroline Brehman/Reuters
The movie industry is facing an uneasy era of change. Last week, Barry Hertz attended CinemaCon, an annual film industry conference in Las Vegas, to hear from movie theatre owners and Hollywood studio executives about their ideas for the future.
The big talking point was how Paramount’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. might impact the industry – from the possibility of fewer films being released under a combined studio, to the hundreds, if not thousands, of layoffs that might result from such consolidation.
Paramount’s latest leader, David Ellison pledged that his studio was going to be an unstoppable force in an industry enduring another brutal era of financial and existential anxiety. But to fight the good fight, Mr. Ellison would need to acquire Warner Bros., which he had recently wrested away from rival bidder Netflix for about US$110-billion, pending regulatory approval. Read about Mr. Ellison’s grand promise of revitalization and his mission to remake Paramount before the film industry self-destructs.
Take our business quiz for this week
d. Xanadu is working on building quantum computers that use light as a medium of calculation. If this means nothing to you, that’s okay. Quantum computing, which could be the key to a new generation of super powerful devices, is still confined to the laboratory. However, Xanadu and other quantum-focused companies are booming as a result of recent breakthroughs that suggest the technology could become a commercial reality in the next few years.
Get the rest of the questions from the weekly business and investing news quiz here, and prepare for the week ahead with The Globe’s investing calendar.