Reading Time: 2 minutes Toronto | Reuters –– Ontario will scale back its purchase of renewable power in a move expected to result in savings of up to $3.8 billion from a 2013 forecast, the provincial government said on Tuesday. It’s not clear consumers will benefit directly, though the province’s Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault told a news conference a […] Read more
Ontario to scale back renewable energy purchases

Growmark buys up Ontario farm fuel firm UPI
Reading Time: < 1 minute U.S. farm co-operative Growmark is set to boost its space in the Ontario farm supply market with a deal for the half of fuel supplier UPI Energy it doesn’t already own. Growmark on Monday announced it would buy the remaining 50 per cent stake in Guelph-based UPI from Suncor Energy for an undisclosed sum. UPI […] Read more

EU, Canada seek to win over CETA doubters with declaration
Reading Time: 2 minutes Vienna/Brussels | Reuters — Canada’s trade minister and the European Union’s trade chief sought Wednesday to overcome the doubts of Austria and other EU members over a planned EU-Canada free trade deal, with a declaration spelling out the limits of the contentious pact. Canadian Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, speaking in Vienna, said the legally binding […] Read more

Germany’s Gabriel gets green light to support CETA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Wolfsburg, Germany | Reuters — Germany appeared set on Monday to back an ambitious trade accord between the European Union and Canada after the leader of the Social Democrats (SPD), junior partner in the ruling coalition, overcame left-wing resistance to the deal within his party. The SPD decision paves the way for EU member states […] Read more

Bayer betting billions farmers will back linked-up supplies
Reading Time: 3 minutes Frankfurt | Reuters — Bayer’s US$66 billion purchase of Monsanto amounts to a long-term bet that farmers will grow to trust combinations of seeds and pesticides rather than continue to pick from ranges of separate products. In the short term, the German drugs and chemicals firm hopes to benefit from a marketing and sales force […] Read more

Austrian government split on opposition to CETA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Vienna | Reuters –– Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern’s opposition to a free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada was countered by fervent praise for the deal from his deputy at a special parliamentary session on the issue on Wednesday. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada, negotiations for which have finished, […] Read more

TPP study sees net ‘neutral’ effect on dairy sector
Reading Time: 4 minutes An economic impact study on Canada’s participation in a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal finds losses in Canada’s dairy sector would be “offset” by gains for dairy processors from cheaper dairy imports. The study, prepared for the federal government by its Office of the Chief Economist and released Friday, notes Canada has offered expanded access […] Read more

Canada working toward EU trade agreement in October
Reading Time: < 1 minute Toronto | Reuters –– Canada is working toward signing a new trade agreement with the European Union in October, federal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday. “We’re working hard for it to be the year when CETA, the Canada-EU trade agreement, is signed. We’re working towards signing in October and ratification early next year,” she […] Read more

Cara to buy control of Original Joe’s chains
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chain restaurant firm Cara Operations is set to buy a bigger presence in Canada’s West, with a deal for control of the Original Joe’s, State + Main, and Elephant + Castle pub-style restaurant chains. Cara, whose other chains in North America include Swiss Chalet and Harvey’s, announced last week it will pay $93 million for […] Read more

German activists take EU-Canada trade deal to Constitutional Court
Reading Time: 2 minutes Berlin | Reuters — Activists delivered what they said was Germany’s biggest-ever public complaint to the Constitutional Court on Wednesday, hoping it will scupper a trade agreement between the European Union and Canada. The deal, which some see as a template for an EU-U.S. agreement still being negotiated, is the EU’s most ambitious trade pact […] Read more