The mining of critical minerals is essential to Canada’s growth in the electric vehicle sector, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford on the occasion of a “historic” and “generational” $15-billion investment by Honda Motor Co. in southern Ontario.
In formulating a strategy to establish secure a “start-to-finish” battery chain ecosystem, Trudeau said on April 25 that Canada has the abundant critical mineral supply that the rest of the world wants, the available skilled talent, and advanced manufacturing capacity to build the innovative economy of the future.
And compared to socially and environmentally dubious mining players like China, “our approach is much more responsible.”
Boosting Canadian critical mineral production means tapping into greenfield areas like the Ring of Fire in the James Bay region.
In the stalled decades-long government process to do that, Premier Doug Ford expressed confidence that a forthcoming deal with Aroland First Nation will help make a crucial next step in the construction of a north-south access road to the Far North mineral belt.
Honda is spending $15 billion on four manufacturing plants in Ontario, including building an electric vehicle battery plant next to its existing Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which is being retooled to produce electrical vehicles.
Once operational in 2028, the new assembly plant will produce up to 240,000 vehicles per year. One thousand new direct jobs are expected to be created and an estimated 28,000 to 30,000 in economic spinoff jobs in the decades to come.
Queen’s Park and Ottawa are delivering to the Japanese carmaker a hefty incentive package worth a combined $5 billion in federal clean-tech manufacturing tax credits and provincial assistance covering site service costs.
This is the third electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in Ontario that the province and the federal government are assisting following significant investment dollars for the Stellantis LG plant in Windsor and a Volkwagen plant in St. Thomas.
While Queen’s Park and Ottawa are spending billions in southern Ontario, comparatively little has been announced in upstream investment in Northern Ontario to support the mines and mid-level processing facilities that will feed this ecosystem.
Four lithium companies with mineable deposits in northwestern Ontario are looking to government for help with construction of lithium conversion plants in Thunder Bay, Red Rock and elsewhere in Northern Ontario.
In Temiskaming, Toronto’s Electra Battery Materials needs US$60 million to finish construction of its nickel, cobalt and battery recycling plant, a project that’s been on hold for a year. The company is considering setting up a second refinery in Becancour, Que.
Honda did say it’s vertically integrated Ontario supply chain will include some processing capability with a new precursor material processing facility formed through a joint venture partnership with POSCO Future M Co., Ltd., a South Korean battery materials company, along with a separator facility through a joint venture partnership with Asahi Kasei Corp., a Japanese chemical company.
Whether any Northern Ontario communities are in the running for these plants remains to be seen. Honda said further details will be rolled out over the next six months.
Promoting a domestic mines-to-EV assembly plant supply chain was clearly on the minds of Trudeau and Ford, even if the path for government cooperation in the Ring of Fire remains murky to get there.
The two leaders fielded a media question that both governments might be cutting regulatory corners to expedite mine production in Canada.
Trudeau responded that Canada is widely regarded as a responsible and reliable supply chain partner when it comes to upholding labour standards, working with Indigenous people, and doing what’s right on the environmental front to offer a clean product to the world.
“We will continue to invest in the mining sector in Canada. We’ve extraordinary mining expertise, but we will do that responsibly in partnership with Indigenous people, unions and protection of the environment.”
Ford pushed back against a question that First Nation communities in the area of the Ring of Fire are against development because they have not been properly consulted.
The premier disputed that, calling Marten Falls and Webequie, the two First Nation communities closest to the Ring of Fire, great partners that are leading the environmental assessment processes on their respective sections of the road.
“They’ve been an incredible, incredible partner and we look forward to getting shovels in the ground.”
Ford revealed an announcement is coming soon on an access road deal with Aroland First Nation that might clear the path for the road.
Ford mentioned he’s had “great conversations” with the Aroland leadership and that the province is close to signing an agreement that would give the community control of the first 80 kilometres of the road. Aroland is situated near the southern terminus of the road where it would connect with the provincial highway system at Nakina.
Driving a road to the Ring of Fire, Ford said, would create jobs and opportunities in the region, provide better access to health care, lessen the cost of food and supplies, and extend broadband and hydro power to the communities.
“This is going to change their lives.”
Mine development in the Ring of Fire has been largely stalled since the discovery of nickel and chromite in 2007-’08.
The latest hurdle to development has been the imposition of a federal regional assessment by Ottawa in 2020. The fledgling socioeconomic process has been rejigged in the past year to involve more Indigenous oversight.
In the meantime, the Ontario government has launched a legal challenge against the legitimacy of the entire federal Impact Assessment Act.
HALIFAX – Ottawa is negotiating a $500-million bailout for Nova Scotia’s privately owned electric utility, saying the money will be used to prevent a big spike in electricity rates.
Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson made the announcement today in Halifax, saying Nova Scotia Power Inc. needs the money to cover higher costs resulting from the delayed delivery of electricity from the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric plant in Labrador.
Wilkinson says that without the money, the subsidiary of Emera Inc. would have had to increase rates by 19 per cent over “the short term.”
Nova Scotia Power CEO Peter Gregg says the deal, once approved by the province’s energy regulator, will keep rate increases limited “to be around the rate of inflation,” as costs are spread over a number of years.
The utility helped pay for construction of an underwater transmission link between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, but the Muskrat Falls project has not been consistent in delivering electricity over the past five years.
Those delays forced Nova Scotia Power to spend more on generating its own electricity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
