The collapse of the billionaire – Business News

Consumer Reports has released its list of premium vehicles for 2019.

SUVs are now more popular than cars and dominate the magazine's rankings.

"We looked at your unique data on reliability, results from our (our) test drive and safety information, all the important information when you buy a car," Consumer Reports spokesman Jake Fisher told CTV News.

The Hyundai Kona was the top sub-compact SUV.

Subaru had two top picks, the compact Forester and mid-sized Ascent.

The BMW X5 was Consumer Reports' luxury SUV, and the magazine was one of the best SUVs ever tested.

Four Toyota cars made the list of top picks – the Camry and Avalon hybrid sedans along with the Prius and Yaris.

Ford's F-150 was rated the largest full-size pickup.

– with files from CTV Vancouver

The Canadian Press –
February 27, 2019 / 5:51 am | Story:
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The Canadian Press –
February 27, 2019 / 5:48 am | Story:
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UPDATE: 5:47 a.m.

Canada's national annual inflation rate was 1.4 percent in January, according to Canadian statistics. Here is what happened in the provinces (previous month in parentheses):

– Newfoundland and Labrador: 0.1 percent (0.5)

– Prince Edward Island: 0.4 (1.3)

– Nova Scotia: 1,1 (1,6)

– New Brunswick: 1.1 (0.9)

– Quebec: 1.0 (1.1)

– Ontario: 1.5 (2.3)

– Manitoba: 1.4 (2.1)

– Saskatchewan: 0.7 (1.1)

– Alberta: 1.2 (2.1)

– British Columbia: 2.4 (3.0)

The agency also released the rates for large cities, but warned that the numbers may have fluctuated a lot because they are based on small statistical samples (previous month in parentheses):

– St. John's, N.L.: 0.1% (0.5%)

– Charlottetown-Summerside: 0.4 (1.4)

– Halifax: 1.0 (1.5)

– São João, NB: 1,5 (0,9)

– Quebec: 0.7 (0.9)

– Montreal: 1.2 (1.4)

– Ottawa: 1.7 (2.5)

Toronto: 1.8 (2.6)

– Thunder Bay, Ont.: 1.2 (2.1)

– Winnipeg: 1.3 (2.0)

– Regina: 0.4 (0.9)

– Saskatoon: 0.8 (1.1)

– Edmonton: 1.2 (2.1)

– Calgary: 1.0 (2.0)

– Vancouver: 2.3 (3.1)

– Victoria: 2.7 (3.2)

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ORIGINAL 5:38

Statistics Canada says the consumer price index in January rose 1.4 percent compared to a year ago.

The change compared to a year-on-year increase of 2.0 percent in December.

On average, economists were expecting a 1.5% increase in January, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.

More coming.

The Canadian Press –
February 27, 2019 / 5:30 | Story:
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Torstar Corp. posted a loss in its last quarter compared to a profit a year earlier as its revenue fell.

The publisher of the Toronto Star newspaper reported a loss attributable to shareholders of $ 3.1 million or four cents per share for the quarter ended Dec. 31.

This compares to a profit attributable to shareholders of $ 8.7 million or 11 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Operating income totaled US $ 144.9 million, down from US $ 169.3 million.

On an adjusted basis, Torstar says it made a profit of 15 cents a share in the quarter, below the adjusted profit of 32 cents a share the year before.

Analysts, on average, were forecasting $ 143.58 million in revenue and nine cents a share after adjustments, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.

In addition to the Toronto Star, the company owns daily, community and passenger newspapers in several communities and a 56% stake in VerticalScope, a Toronto-based digital media company.

"While quarterly results continue to reflect continuing challenges in the print advertising market, we are pleased with a number of important developments in our transformation efforts," Torstar chief executive John Boynton said in a statement.

"Having released digital signatures at the Star at the end of the third quarter, we ended the year with almost 10,000 subscriptions paid only digitally."

The Canadian Press –
February 27, 2019 / 5:25 am | Story:
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Nutrien Ltd. has signed an agreement to buy the Australian company Ruralco Holdings Ltd. for about $ 442 million.

Ruralco provides a wide range of services to Australian farmers.

Under the agreement, Nutrien agreed to pay $ 4.40 per share from Ruralco for a total of $ 469 million Australian dollars.

The Canadian company says that Ruralco will add to its subsidiary Landmark in Australia.

The agreement requires approval from the shareholders and regulatory bodies of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board.

Nutrien's chief executive Chuck Magro said the deal should be immediately positive.

"The combination of our Landmark operations with Ruralco in Australia should provide significant benefits to all stakeholders, including delivering excellent value to the shareholders of Ruralco and Nutrien," said Magro in a statement.

The Canadian Press –
February 27, 2019 / 3:00 AM | Story:
250237

After a month of cold temperatures in the Rocky Mountains, a prediction of Canada's environment for colder than normal weather in March is good news for ski operators hoping to extend the season with packages of spring skiers .

Meanwhile, in Ontario and Quebec, ski resorts face strong winds and snow this week, after the rain cut down on activity for some of the main holiday parties.

In the first 24 days of February, average temperatures in Banff National Park – home to the Norquay and Sunshine Village ski areas – averaged 17.9 degrees Fahrenheit, about 10 degrees below historical standards, according to Environment Canada .

The extremely cold weather was seen to varying degrees across Canada and resulted in unusually large snowstorms in Vancouver and Victoria, said David Phillips, lead climatologist at Environment Canada.

He added that March also looks like a cold month.

"Clearly what this means is that the ski season will continue, with the attractiveness that the sun will be high in the sky and for longer, but the snow you have now will not disappear," he said.

In western Calgary, the ski slope of the Canadian Olympic Park was closed for three days in early February because of the skier's safety concerns due to the extreme cold, but is heading for a count of skiers over the past year.

"Last year we had a horrible Christmas holiday season because it was very cold and we had closures," said senior communications manager Dale Oviatt.

"This year we had a great holiday season, and then the cold certainly hurt us. We have to wait for a warmer climate in the next five weekends we will be open."

He said the budgets of the COP to 10 days closed due to the weather per year. In Calgary, where hot West Chinook winds can turn a lot of snow into a river that flows in a few hours, the closures usually happen because of the hot weather, not the cold, he added.

Meanwhile, extreme winds forced the closure of Mount Saint Louis Moonstone, a ski area about 145 miles north of Toronto on Monday.

Strong western winds lasted a day and a half and raised concerns that the seats could swing enough to reach the support towers, General Manager Robert Huter said. He said the roads were also in bad shape.

In Mont Tremblant, Quebec, similar bursts forced the closure of one of its 14 lifts on Monday, marketing director Jean-François Gour said.

Huter and Gour said that a busy Christmas period and good skiing time on weekends suggests that this season will be as successful financially as last year.

"We have received more snow compared to last year," said Gour. "We had some rain but we have a great ability to make snow."

Christopher Nicolson, CEO of the Association of Western Canadian Ski Areas, said he expects this to be a "solid year" if the western hills are occupied in March – his 92 ski hills recorded a record 9.5 million visitors last year.

"Most areas had snow at Christmas time, so that gave the industry a good start," he said.

"Cold weather certainly had some impact, but we expect it to be a delay in terms of visitation, while maintaining winter's highest priority in urban markets."

Both the western and eastern ski resorts are having an "amazing" season, "says Matt Mosteller, senior vice president of marketing and resort experience at Resorts of the Canadian Rockies.

He said the Calgary-based company is experiencing a significant increase in longer vacations by American, European and Australian skiers attracted by reports of deep snow at resorts such as Fernie and Kicking Horse in BC and Mont-Sainte-Anne, near the city of Quebec.

The Canadian Press –
February 26, 2019 / 2:45 p.m. | Story:
250189

Alison Coville, president of iconic retailer Hudson's Bay, is stepping down.

Hudson's Bay Co., its Toronto-based parent company, which also owns Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord and Taylor stores, did not give a reason for leaving Coville.

An HBC statement says that Coville's exit will take effect on March 1 and that the company will be led by key executives until a permanent successor is found.

Coville joined HBC in 1999 as division merchandise manager, but eventually rose to the rankings to win the position as president in June 2017.

Coville also oversees the home appliance brand, Home Outfitters, which will close its 37 Home Outfitters stores this year.

The company said earlier that closing will help reduce costs, simplify its business and improve overall profitability.

The Canadian Press –
February 26, 2019 / 12:27 | Story:
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British Columbia is changing consumer protection law to provide more guarantees for people forced to resort to high-cost lending services and risking being caught up in an endless cycle of debt repayments.

Attorney General Mike Farnworth said proposed amendments to the Consumer Practices and Trade Practices Act will set limits on borrowing costs, prohibit certain fees and charges, and restrict the use of borrowers' personal information.

The New Democrat government highlighted stronger consumer protection measures in its throne speech earlier this month, saying it plans to crack down on unfair payday lending practices.

Last June, the government limited fees to cash assistance checks at $ 2 plus one percent of the check's value up to a maximum of $ 10 and reduced the maximum rates for payday loans to $ 15 for each $ 100 borrowed.

Farnworth says the amendments seek to improve accessibility for people who use payday loans and other high-end products and establish a new licensing and regulatory system for high-cost loan providers.

He says the legislation will also establish a new consumer education fund to help people better understand and prevent financial problems.

"There are consumers who have limited options and are looking for high-cost loans and other high-cost credit products from alternative lenders, often with terms and conditions that are not fair," Farnworth said. "This bill proposes measures to strengthen the existing laws of payday loans."

The Canadian Press –
February 26, 2019 / 9:30 | Story:
250154

Fiat Chrysler announced on Tuesday a $ 4.5 billion investment plan that would boost its workforce in Detroit and the outskirts of the city by about 6,500 jobs to build new or next-generation SUVs.

Under the plan, the company said it would reopen an engine factory in the city and convert another into the same complex at a future assembly plant for the Jeep Grand Cherokee and a new Jeep SUV three-line and plug. in hybrid models for all.

The car city has housed about a dozen huge automobile factories, but a series of closures helped push Detroit's unemployment rate to about 25 percent in 1990. Unemployment has dropped to about 8 percent last year.

The new Chrysler plant would be the first to be built in the city since 1991 and is expected to add 3,850 jobs. The company said in a press release that it would add another 1,100 new jobs at its plant at the Jefferson North Assembly, and about 1,500 new jobs at facilities in the neighboring suburb of Warren.

Officials say SUVs remain in demand, with strong sales and growth potential both in the domestic market and in some international markets such as the Middle East. The company's chief financial officer told investors in June that trucks and SUVs would account for 80 percent of revenue by 2022.

Fiat Chrysler said the additional investments are subject to tax incentive packages with the city and state of Michigan. The automaker would need to acquire property for the project.

If these agreements are approved, construction is expected to begin later this year and the first new vehicles may be in production by the end of 2020.

The Detroit Motor Company's cash injection and jobs contrast sharply with news from rival General Motors, which has announced plans to close its Detroit-Hamtramck plant next year and plans to close four more in the US and Canada.

The Canadian Press –
February 26, 2019 / 8:39 am | Story:
250147

Two former men's basketball players at the University of Maryland are suing the manufacturers of "Fortnite," claiming that video game developers have misappropriated a dance that they popularized online.

The federal lawsuit, open Monday in Maryland, accuses Epic Games Inc. of North Carolina of unfairly profiting from the "Running Man Challenge" dance that Jared Nickens and Jaylen Brantley presented in social media videos and the Ellen DeGeneres in 2016.

The costume says that the "Running Man" dance that "Fortnite" players can buy for their characters is identical to the dance that Nickens and Brantley created.

Other artists, including Brooklyn 2 Milly rapper and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" star Alfonso Ribeiro, also sued Epic Games for other dances portrayed in the game.

The company did not immediately respond on Tuesday to an e-mail asking for comments.

The Canadian Press –
February 26, 2019 / 8:34 am | Story:
250145

Earnings in basic consumer stocks as well as in the industrial and healthcare sectors helped boost Canada's leading stock index in the late morning trading as US stock markets rose.

The S & P / TSX composite index rose 52.69 points to 16,109.72.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 9.56 points to 26,101.51. The S & P 500 index rose 4.46 points to 2,800.57, while the Nasdaq index rose 4.61 points to 7.559.07.

The Canadian dollar was trading at 75.81 cents, up from an average of 75.91 cents on Monday.

The April contract rose 11 cents to $ 55.59 a barrel and the April natural gas contract rose 1.2 cents to $ 2.83 a barrel.

The gold contract in April fell 50 cents to $ 1,329.00 an ounce and the copper contract in May rose 0.20 percent to $ 2.95 a pound.

The Canadian Press –
February 26, 2019 / 7:33 am | Story:
250142

Corus Entertainment and Twitter Canada have created a new social media format that will feature a weekly series of eight pre-recorded episodes featuring a variety of Food Network chefs preparing a wide variety of meals for visitors.

The #destinationdishes series of five-minute episodes at @FoodNetworkCA is sponsored by the CIBC Travel-oriented Travel Credit Card from the Imperial Bank of Canada.

Representatives from Corus and Twitter Canada see the series as the first of a number of new collaborations that will provide customized TV quality programming sponsored for the social media platform.

They say they will be closely monitoring how the series performs with the audience but will not be selling that information to third parties or collecting personal data about individual followers.

A feature of #destinationdishes that producers consider a key feature will be the ability of @FoodNetworkCA followers on Twitter to vote on which destination will be featured in the next episode.

The first poll will open on March 7th and the first pre-recorded episode will be released on March 11 at 4pm. ET.