OTTAWA — Suncor remains totally committed to eliminating its carbon footprint in less than three decades, the company’s CEO said Monday on Parliament Hill.
But Rich Kruger was accused by some MPs of greenwashing his industry’s efforts to address climate change, including after he said he hadn’t yet read in detail the fine print on new federal regulations to cut emissions from gasoline and diesel.
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The regulations took effect July 1, requiring gasoline and diesel producers and importers to offset their emissions through various investments, such as replacing power sources at oil extraction sites with renewable or lower-emitting energy, investing in the production of biofuels like ethanol or investing in electric-vehicle charging infrastructure.
Bloc Quebecois MP Mario Simard tried to have Kruger explain the cost the new clean fuel regulations will have on his company, whether those costs will be passed on to consumers and how they compare to Suncor’s main climate investment of installing a carbon capture and storage system.
“I’ve not studied the regulation in my six months in the job here,” said Kruger.
Simard scoffed at the idea, saying in French that either Kruger didn’t really care about climate change enough to pay attention to the regulations, or he was a bad manager.
Kruger pushed back to say that he was aware of the regulations he just hadn’t looked at them in detail. He also said the company was meeting them as required.
The early stages of the regulations have a limited impact on most companies, which were already doing enough to meet them. They become more stringent each year through to 2030.
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Following the meeting, NDP MP Charlie Angus said he simply doesn’t believe Kruger doesn’t know the cost of the regulations.
“Someone in Mr. Kruger’s capacity, who has been top dog in some of the biggest oil firms in the world, knows what’s going on in the industry,” said Angus.
“And this is a major battle zone right now between the provincial government in Alberta, where he’s based, and the federal government. It will have implications for us meeting our climate targets. And he hasn’t read them? It’s it’s simply not believable.”
Kruger was at the House of Commons natural resources committee to explain comments he made to shareholders in August about reducing his company’s emphasis on the transition to lower-emitting energy sources.
Kruger said his comments were misinterpreted as Suncor ending its commitment to curbing its carbon footprint, when the focus is really on ensuring the company is making profits now to be able to afford the required investments in decarbonization.
He said it’s about making sure the company is healthy both now and in the future, and only investing in areas where the company can be competitive.
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“Our commitments on being part of the transition have not changed,” he said.
The company sold off its solar and wind power assets last year before Kruger took over as CEO. But he said Suncor is investing in clean fuels with its large ethanol plant in St. Clair, Alta., and with plans to build carbon capture.
He said last year the company invested $540 million in decarbonization efforts.
Suncor is part of the Pathways Alliance, a consortium of oilsands companies joining together to invest in carbon capture. The technology has been in limited use to date but is a critical part of Canada’s emissions targets.
Liberal MP John Aldag said Suncor’s planning sounds like a company trying to pump out as much oil as it can while it still can.
“It seems like you’re trying to get every last dollar out of that oil and gas sector,” he said.
Kruger said the fact is that oil and gas will remain part of world energy sources for decades to come and even if Canada produces less oil, that doesn’t mean the world will consume less oil.
“The question for me is where the investment will be made,” he said.
“I think oil and gas has a long life ahead of it, it’s how we do it that will make it more socially acceptable.”
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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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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.
Companies in this story: (TSX:ROOT)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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