As Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan dole out $1.5 billion in federal funding to reclaim inactive oil and gas wells, Indigenous leaders are concerned none of the cash will be spent cleaning up their land.
The federal government announced the program as part of its aid package to the oilpatch, designed to stimulate work for the oilfield service sector while reducing the environmental risk from aging infrastructure.
The three provincial governments have already started dispersing the money, but so far none of it has been directed toward remediating wells on First Nations land, said Stephen Buffalo, president of the Indian Resource Council, which represents more than 100 First Nations with oil and gas reserves.
“We have been here before where we were told that things will be taken care of. Right now, we’re in working committees [with government officials]. Meanwhile, these funds are being flowed out,” Buffalo said.
“I don’t think some of our members are satisfied with how the process is going.”
An oil pumpjack in southwestern Alberta. The province, which has tens of thousands of inactive wells, has received $1 billion from Ottawa for remediation. (Meghan Grant/CBC)
The federal money was divided between B.C. ($120 million), Alberta ($1 billion) and Saskatchewan ($400 million). Another $200 million from Ottawa to Alberta’s Orphan Well Association is to be repaid.
As of June 19, the Alberta government had approved $40 million to more than 102 companies.
The government spending is proving popular with industry. For example, the first phase of Alberta’s program gives companies up to $30,000 to clean up wells. Within the first month of the program’s launch on May 1, about 3,000 companies had already applied to remediate close to 37,000 wells.
The IRC is asking that each province allocate 10 per cent of the federal money it receives to First Nations, which would represent about $150 million.
So far, only British Columbia has signalled a willingness to set aside funding specifically for First Nations. “The second increment of $50 million may include a specific allocation for Indigenous contractors,” said a letter from the province to the IRC earlier this month.
A crew works to abandon a natural gas well in Alberta. As of June 19, the provincial government had approved $40 million to more than 102 companies to reclaim unused wells. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)
In an emailed statement, Saskatchewan government spokesperson Ashley Schoff said Indigenous businesses, communities and peoples will benefit appropriately from all phases of the well cleanup program. The government is working on its engagement process and intends to reach out to Indigenous groups in the “coming days and weeks,” she said. Is there a specific allocation?
The Alberta government also did not commit to a specific allocation, but spokesperson Kavi Bal said in an emailed statement that “the necessary supports are in place to build broad Indigenous community participation.”
WATCH | Stephen Buffalo on the opportunity to clean up inactive wells:
The CEO of the Indian Resource Council doesn’t want First Nations to miss out on the opportunity to remediate inactive oil and gas wells. 1:22
Buffalo said discussions are taking place with all three provinces. But he said what First Nations really need is a firm commitment.
“I’m just hoping that we don’t fall through the cracks,” he said. “Not everyone feels confident with the process that we’re going through right now.”
Buffalo said the primary concern is to clean up the wells to ensure there aren’t any leaks that could contaminate First Nations land. The spending could also provide jobs in communities and activity for Indigenous-owned oilfield service companies.
There are at least 900 wells on First Nations land that would qualify for the federal funding, said Chief Roy Fox of the Blood Tribe in southwest Alberta. In a letter to federal Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller this month, he said that he is afraid little if any of the money will go toward cleaning up wells on Indigenous territory.
Indian Oil and Gas Canada, the federal agency that manages resource development on First Nations lands, is encouraging the three provinces to ensure that some of the money from Ottawa is allocated to Indigenous groups.
“This will boost employment opportunities for community members and promote their general well-being, specially in such unprecedented times,” Strater Crowfoot, the agency’s CEO, wrote in separate letters to the three provincial governments.
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.
