A British Columbia company that received federal approval to produce and sell cocaine has revised its original statement that outlined plans to commercialize the controlled substance.
Adastra Labs issued a clarification Friday that said the Langley, B.C., company is “not currently undertaking any activities with cocaine,” and its amended Controlled Drug and Substances Dealer’s Licence does not permit the firm to sell cocaine to the general public.
Adastra Labs CEO Michael Forbes said in the original statement on Feb. 22 that the company would “evaluate how the commercialization of this substance fits” with the firm’s business model. That reference was removed in the latest statement.
Health Canada approved Adastra Labs’ licence amendment to allow the production, sale and distribution of cocaine on Feb. 17. Under the licence, Adastra cannot produce more than 250 grams of cocaine in 2023.
Scrutiny on the issue began Thursday when B.C. Opposition leader Kevin Falcon brought up Adastra’s original statement on commercialization plans during question period at the provincial legislature.
The issue quickly triggered responses from both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier David Eby.
Trudeau said Friday he was “as surprised as” Eby about Adastra’s plans. He said that the federal government was “working very quickly” with Adastra Labs “to correct the misunderstanding” caused by the company’s statement on commercialization.
Trudeau said Adastra did not have permission to sell cocaine on the “open market,” while Health Canada said the firm could only sell to other licence holders.
“I was as surprised as the premier of British Columbia was to see that a company was talking about selling cocaine on the open market or commercializing it,” he said, adding that Adastra’s licence was “not a permission to sell it commercially or to provide it on an open market.”
Trudeau also said commercializing decriminalized cocaine “is not something that this government is looking at furthering.”
Eby said on Thursday he was “astonished” by Adastra’s plans, and the province had not been notified or consulted by Health Canada on the matter.
The premier saidFridaythat he has spoken to the federal government, and that he is “further disturbed” to hear from Health Canada that Adastra may have “significantly misrepresented the nature of the licence” in an irresponsible manner.
“I find it more than a little bit frustrating that Health Canada is not apparently in line with us in terms of the direction we’re going,” he said. “We need to work together on the toxic drug crisis and our response to it.”
In a written statement, Health Canada says it “thoroughly reviews applications” to ensure licensees follow all existing policies on public health and safety.
“Health Canada has contacted the company to reiterate the very narrow parameters of their licence,” it says regarding Adastra Labs. “If the strict requirements are not being followed, Health Canada will not hesitate to take action, which may include revoking the licence.”
Meanwhile, a second B.C. company says it is now also licensed to produce, sell and distribute cocaine, as well as opium and MDMA, also known as ecstasy.
Victoria’s Sunshine Earth Labs, a biosciences firm that “aims to bring safer supply of drugs to the global market,” said in a news release it obtained an amended Controlled Drug and Substances Dealer’s Licence to include MDMA and cocaine last year.
It said received an amendment to possess, produce, sell and distribute opium and morphine in January.
On Friday, Sunshine Earth also issued a revised statement, saying the company is licensed to conduct activities with these controlled substances “under tight limitations imposed by Health Canada.”
When asked how many other companies have received similar amendments to their licences, Health Canada said it does not share or publish the list of companies who have received licences, nor does it discuss the status of applications for licensing amendments due to safety, security and privacy reasons.
Health Canada spokesman Mark Johnson said it is “not new” to have companies getting licence amendments such as these, and “some companies have had this substance on their licence for 20-plus years.”
B.C.’s drug decriminalization policy went into effect at the end of January, allowing individuals who are 18 and over to possess up to 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA without criminal penalties.
The decriminalization is a three-year pilot project and a part of the province’s ongoing effort to stem the overdose death rate, with an average of more than six people dying every day in B.C. last year.
For its part, Sunshine Labs said it “does not engage in promoting or launching safer supply initiatives” and defers the implementation of policy on decriminalized cocaine, opium and MDMA to experts.
But the company also said the elevated overdose death rate in B.C. coincides with public health officials’ reports that the majority of deaths came from occasional, rather than chronic, users.
That means decriminalization may not be enough, Sunshine Labs’ statement says, and points to some experts suggesting providing users with “an opportunity to purchase certified drugs with known levels of purity and quantity” as a way to prevent deaths.
“While this notion may be difficult for some to accept, it represents the rational next step,” the statement said.
Safe-supply drug policy advocates, however, said Health Canada’s decision to issue cocaine-related licences to private companies does little to address the actual issues on the streets.
John Braithwaite, supervisor and former board member at the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, or VANDU, said the group saw its own plan for safe supply rejected by the province a few months ago.
To see companies receive licences for substances like cocaine, he said, felt like a “slap in the face” because VANDU does not believe for-profit firms have the drug users’ best interest at heart or an understanding of how their products would affect the community.
“Our plan involves the community,” Braithwaite said. “The Downtown Eastside knows what they want and knows what they need to save lives.”
Adastra Holdings Ltd., Adastra Labs’ holding company, saw its share price on the CSE rise from $0.85 on Thursday morning to $1.33 at closing Friday, a 56.5 per cent increase.
— By Chuck Chiang in Vancouver
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2023.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
