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Industry minister echoes Shopify calls to boost ambition in Canada

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TORONTO – Canada’s industry minister has thrown his support behind a call from one of Shopify Inc.’s leaders for the country to get more ambitious.

“I could not agree more because for 10 years, I’ve always finished my speeches by saying, ‘Let’s seize the moment. Let’s be ambitious,'” François-Philippe Champagne said Thursday.

He was speaking at the Elevate tech conference in Toronto, where the tech community has been gathering since Tuesday to discuss trends in the industry and beyond.

Among the buzziest talks was one from Shopify president Harley Finkelstein, who told the audience on opening night that he had noted a lack of ambition in Canada that he likened to a “600-pound beaver in the room.”

Adding ambition to the Canadian psyche is “unequivocally necessary,” so the country doesn’t become a nation of branch plants and instead fosters massive companies at home, the leader of the Ottawa-based e-commerce software giant said.

He added that the current lack of ambition had left Canadian companies with a reputation for being acquired, while U.S. businesses are known for being the dominant “acquirees.”

“When someone calls me and says, ‘I’m thinking of selling my company to Google,’ my usual answer is, ‘Have you ever thought about one day you buy Google?'” Finkelstein said.

His remarks set off chatter across much of Canada’s tech ecosystem, with many backing his calls for the country to get bolder

But some disagreed.

Laura Lenz, a partner at the venture capital arm of pension plan Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, called Finkelstein’s narrative “tired” and lamented that it places “the blame of sluggish productivity squarely on the shoulders of founders and management teams working as hard as they ever have.”

“Maybe it’s time to take a broader view of the problem and the lack of infrastructure supports to keep these companies here at home,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

She said the country has to address the lack of tax incentives, willingness to use and purchase Canadian software, and funding for companies, especially in their infancy or “seed stage.”

Abdullah Snobar, the executive director of the DMZ tech hub in Toronto, agreed that “Canada is failing to provide the right conditions of startups to thrive.”

“High costs of living, transportation, infrastructure and transportation — these things are making it next to impossible for entrepreneurs to succeed here,” he wrote on X.

However, on Thursday, Champagne argued the country is well-resourced and that talent is teeming in Canada.

He said Canada has the highest number of AI startups in the world, including Toronto firm Cohere, and when it comes to quantum computing, everyone in the global auto sector considers another one of the city’s companies, Xanadu, “the rock star.”

To be more ambitious, Champagne said the country has to “be more. Be more of everything.”

“I just wish we would all be bragger-in-chief,” he said. “There’s something in our DNA that we need to change somehow, to just be talking more about what we do.”

Aside from ambition, Champagne was questioned about the country’s approach to AI.

Canada is still working on an Artificial Intelligence and Data Act meant to guide how companies operating in the country will design, develop and deploy the technology.

It isn’t expected to come into effect until at least next year, so Champagne has been using a voluntary code of conduct as a stopgap.

The code asks signatories to build risk mitigation measures into AI tools, use adversarial testing to uncover vulnerabilities in such systems and keep track of any harms the technology causes.

Thirty companies, including BlackBerry, Cohere, Salesforce and CGI, have signed the code, but others including Shopify have railed against it, complaining it could hold innovators back.

Asked by moderator and tech personality Amber Mac whether more organizations could have signed the document in the one-year since it was released, Champagne joked he had a copy in his back pocket for any interested companies to sign.

“We may not have a law in the book as of yet but at least we have something,” he said.

“Honestly, the companies that have signed tell me that this has been beneficial.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)

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Cineplex reports $24.7M Q3 loss on Competition Tribunal penalty

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TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.

The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.

The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.

Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.

Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CGX)

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Restaurant Brands reports US$357M Q3 net income, down from US$364M a year ago

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TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.

The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.

Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.

On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:QSR)

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Electric and gas utility Fortis reports $420M Q3 profit, up from $394M a year ago

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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.

The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.

Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.

Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:FTS)

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