Foreign interference inquiry to hear from data-crunching academic researchers

TORONTO – Anthem Sports & Entertainment has acquired independent Canadian broadcaster Hollywood Suite.

Anthem, a Toronto-based global multiplatform media company, says the acquisition diversifies its movie offerings, which includes film distribution house Gravitas Ventures and U.S. television channel HDNet Movies.

Hollywood Suite operates four linear TV channels featuring uncut, commercial-free films from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, also available on-demand.

The deal is pending regulatory approval from the CRTC and would keep Hollywood Suite president David Kines in his role.

Anthem also owns entertainment brand AXS TV, game-show channel Game TV and sports channels Fight Network and Game Plus.

Anthem CEO Leonard Asper says he looks forward to working closely with Kines and the Hollywood Suite team.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

WENTWORTH, N.S. – A 17-turbine wind farm in central Nova Scotia is receiving a $118-million low-interest loan from a federal Crown corporation.

The Canada Infrastructure Bank announced the loan today for the Higgins Mountain project, operated by Elemental Energy, about 45 kilometres northwest of Truro, N.S.

The federal financial corporation has been offering loans to low-emissions energy projects, and it says this investment will produce enough clean, intermittent power for 40,000 homes.

The project is one of several being promoted by the province and Nova Scotia Power Inc. as part of the province’s drive to reach a legislated target of 80 per cent renewable electricity on the utility’s grid by 2030.

Construction of the wind farm is underway, with operations commencing by late next year.

The project is being financed through the bank’s $10-billion program aimed at supporting energy projects that don’t emit greenhouse gases.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

HALIFAX – The co-chair of a working group looking into support for Nova Scotia’s wine industry has resigned, calling the talks with the provincial government an “enormous disappointment.”

Premier Tim Houston created the industry group last spring after he paused a contentious subsidy program for two commercial wine bottlers.

In a letter sent to Houston on Monday, Karl Coutinho, chairman of Wine Growers Nova Scotia, says government proposals presented at a meeting Friday were incomplete and “had the appearance of being written on the back of a napkin.”

In an interview today, Coutinho said the government is still pushing the idea of a subsidy for bottlers, something wine and grape growers are against.

He says the move would effectively subsidize foreign wines, while undercutting the operations of wine growers and farmers in Nova Scotia.

Coutinho says wineries are asking for a meeting with the premier to air their concerns over the working group.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.