#P3 #STATECAPITALISM

Ehren Cory appointed as new Canada Infrastructure Bank CEO

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Canada Infrastructure Bank has appointed Ehren Cory as its new chief executive officer.

Cory previously served as Infrastructure Ontario's president and chief executive and prior to that, was a partner at McKinsey and Company.

The ministry of infrastructure and communities says Cory was selected because of his experience and background in dealing with financing, building and managing significant projects.

Cory will be tasked with implementing the three-year, $10-billion growth plan the federal government announced in October as a way to help Canadians get back to work by creating about 60,000 jobs.

The government hopes the plan will also connect more households and small businesses to high-speed internet, strengthen the agriculture sector, encourage the transition to clean power and help build a low-carbon economy.

Cory says he is convinced that the CIB can be a vital catalyst for innovative investment.

"I look forward to working with the talented CIB team and our partners to accelerate projects that create economic and environmental benefits for Canada," he said in a statement Thursday.

Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Catherine McKenna said she supports Cory's appointment.

Video: Local tech company disrupting the fashion world gets boost from ACOA (Global News) https://tinyurl.com/y6672r4k

"I am pleased with the bank’s announcement of Ehren Cory as its new CEO, as he has extensive experience in getting innovative and large-scale infrastructure projects built," she said in a release.

The government created the Canada Infrastructure Bank in 2017 to create partnerships between provincial, territorial, municipal, and Indigenous entities and leverage the private sector to build infrastructure.

Infrastructure Bank Chairman Michael Sabia said Cory's appointment will allow the board to proceed to assess new investment opportunities by attracting more private capital.

"We have every confidence that he has the leadership skills and the infrastructure expertise needed to build the CIB and to deliver new investments." he stated.

Infrastructure Ontario chairman Christopher Voutsinas said Ehren’s experience in the private and public sectors give him a deep understanding of how to realize the needs of industry, government and other stakeholders.

"Infrastructure Ontario has benefited greatly for having Ehren as its president and CEO the past four years. I have no doubt that he will be a value-add contributor as leader at the Canada Infrastructure Bank," he said in a release.

Cory is replacing Pierre Lavallée, who departed the organization in the spring.

He was selected after an extensive search, said Jim Cherry, chairman of the board's human resources committee. The appointment is effective Nov. 9.

Cory received his MBA in France and an honours degree in business administration from Western University in London, Ont.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published October 29, 2020.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

#STATECAPITALISM

Aecon beats expectations as third quarter helped by federal subsidy program

TORONTO — Aecon Group Inc. beat expectations as its net profit surged to $73.6 million in the third quarter as it was helped by the federal wage subsidy program.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Toronto-based construction firm said it earned 99 cents per diluted share for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with 60 cents per share or $42.1 million a year earlier.

Revenues increased about one per cent to $1.04 billion, from $1.02 billion.

Aecon was expected to earn 41 cents per share on $1 billion of revenues, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.

The company said it received $69 million from the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, which helps companies maintain employment as they deal with the impact of COVID-19.

Its backlog was about $6.7 billion, up from $6.6 billion in the third quarter of 2019.

"Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Aecon has been well served by the diversity and resilience of its operations," said CEO Jean-Louis Servranckx.

"While we have certainly been impacted by COVID-19, operating conditions have stabilized and Aecon's underlying business performance remains strong."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:ARE)

The Canadian Press

TAXPAYER FUNDING WELL WASTED 

Alstom shareholders approve US$8.4-billion acquisition of Bombardier Transportation

MONTREAL — Bombardier's refocusing on business jets has taken another step forward with Alstom shareholders giving the green light to its US$8.4-billion purchase of the Quebec company's railway division.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge says the deal's closing, expected in the first quarter, will allow the French company to "accelerate its strategy."

The combined company is expected to become the second-largest manufacturer of rolling stock with revenues of about US$18 billion, well behind industry leader China's CRRC at US$32 billion.

When the transaction closes, the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, which owns nearly 35 per cent of Bombardier Transport, will become Alstom's largest shareholder with a stake of around 18 per cent.

Two Quebecers will join Alstom's board: its first vice-president Kim Thomassin as well as Serge Godin, the founder and executive president of CGI Group Inc.

Alstom has committed, in the first year of the closing, to establish its North American headquarters in Montreal, which will oversee 13,000 employees, set up a research centre and improve production at the Bombardier Transport plant in La Pocatiere, where the order book is almost empty.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2020.

Supreme Court to settle Loblaw offshore tax case that feds say risks $1 billion in revenue

The Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday announced it will hear an offshore tax case the federal government claims has jeopardized more than $1 billion in revenue and undermined its ability to combat corporate tax avoidance.

© Provided by Financial Post The Loblaw headquarters in Brampton, Ont.

Canada’s highest court granted the government’s application for leave to appeal a Federal Court of Appeal decision released in April involving a Barbados-based subsidiary of another subsidiary of Loblaw Cos. Ltd., the grocery and pharmacy chain controlled by the billionaire Weston family.

That decision, the government claimed in June , “imperilled” the collection of approximately $1.18 billion in federal and provincial tax thus far, partly “by failing to properly articulate the anti-avoidance purpose” of the rules for foreign accrual property income (FAPI). This can be rent, interest or other forms of passive income earned by non-Canadian companies that are controlled by a Canadian taxpayer.

The government’s statement of facts to the Supreme Court said the Canada Revenue Agency had estimated there were tax matters involving 14 Canadian multinational corporate groups, including Loblaw, that could be affected by the appeal court’s reading of FAPI. The government appealed to the Supreme Court to get a ruling on how to properly interpret the rules, which the judges are now teed up to deliver.

“We respect the decision to grant leave to appeal and we are ready to present our arguments to the Supreme Court of Canada as we did successfully at the Federal Court of Appeal,” Loblaw said in a statement to the Post. “We continue to believe that we have been fully compliant in our tax filings and that was confirmed by the previous decisions. Canadians expect us to pay our fair share of taxes and we do.”

Loblaw has said in financial filings that it has already recorded a $367-million charge regarding the matter, which is made up of $176 million in interest and $191 million in income taxes to cover the “ultimate liability” if its appeal was unsuccessful. As of July, Loblaw said it had not reversed any part of the charge.

The Supreme Court’s decision (which, as is standard practice, did not come with an explanation) arrives as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has faced pressure to crack down on offshore tax havens.

It also comes as the federal government is on pace to post the largest budget deficit since the Second World War, as a result of massive spending on support programs for people and businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

“The leave application was made in the context of the government’s ongoing efforts to protect Canada’s tax base and uphold its commitments to address international profit shifting,” a CRA spokesperson said in an email. “We are pleased with this decision and will now take steps to file the appeal documents.”

© Peter J. Thompson/National Post files

Loblaw has said in financial filings that it has already recorded a $367-million charge regarding the matter.

Ottawa’s tax issue with Loblaw boils down to FAPI, which is supposed to be included in a taxpayer’s income. The rules for that income also form “the cornerstone of the government’s efforts to prevent the erosion of the Canadian tax base through the use of foreign affiliates in low tax jurisdictions,” the government’s notice of the application to the Supreme Court said.

The Canada Revenue Agency had reassessed a Loblaw subsidiary for tax years between 2001 to 2010 that required it to pay tax on income earned by another subsidiary, Glenhuron Bank Ltd. Glenhuron was licensed as a bank in Barbados in 1993, before it was wound up in 2013 to help fund Loblaw’s purchase of Shoppers Drug Mart.

However, Loblaw had pushed back against the reassessments, saying Glenhuron was a regulated foreign bank mostly doing business at arm’s length with others, which would exempt its investment activities from FAPI. The government disagreed.

Following a long trial, a Tax Court judge ruled in 2018 that Glenhuron had mostly been doing business with related parties and didn’t qualify for the exemption.

Loblaw appealed, and an April decision by the Federal Court of Appeal found Glenhuron — which received funds from Loblaw-related companies, bought short-term U.S. debt and entered into swap contracts, among other things — had mostly done business at arm’s length with its debt and swap partners.

The Federal Court of Appeal set aside the Tax Court’s decision and referred the reassessment back to the government for adjustment based on its ruling that Glenhuron’s FAPI had only been the income it received from managing investments for Loblaw-related companies.

“The proposed appeal further raises the correct interpretation of provisions within the FAPI regime, and in particular the due consideration to be given to its anti-avoidance purpose,” the government said in its notice of application. “Both are important questions of law that have never been addressed by this Court, and are matters of public importance.”

Financial Post

 

In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)
Artist
Zager & Evans

Sanjin

Here's a music video I cut together with footage from the classic apocalyptic sci-fi film Metropolis, combined with sci-fi folk song In The Year 2525 by Zager & Evans. I really found them fitting together in a dystopian transhumanist meets Aldous Huxley's Brave New World kind of way. What awaits humanity after the intense technological and biological developments set in motion? If we ever get there? Thea von Harbou had some intensively accurate visions of the future. And Fritz Lang did the visual masterpiece. All this is now a classic topic about the future of humanity. In this video I wanted to concentrate the idea, the message and the visions of the future. With the classic one hit wonder song and outstanding vintage film footage. - Buy the song 'In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)' - https://amzn.to/2WW55hn - Rent the film 'Metropolis' - https://amzn.to/2WVixCm - Buy 'Metropolis' [Blu-ray] - https://amzn.to/2Twahq7 LYRICS In the year 2525, if man is still alive If woman can survive, they may find In the year 3535 Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lie Everything you think, do and say Is in the pill you took today In the year 4545 You ain't gonna need your teeth, won't need your eyes You won't find a thing to chew Nobody's gonna look at you In the year 5555 Your arms hangin' limp at your sides Your legs got nothin' to do Some machine's doin' that for you In the year 6565 Ain't gonna need no husband, won't need no wife You'll pick your son, pick your daughter too From the bottom of a long glass tube In the year 7510 If God's a-coming, He oughta make it by then Maybe He'll look around Himself and say "Guess it's time for the Judgement Day" In the year 8510 God is gonna shake His mighty head He'll either say, "I'm pleased where man has been" Or tear it down, and start again In the year 9595 I'm kinda wonderin' if man is gonna be alive He's taken everything this old earth can give And he ain't put back nothing Now it's been ten thousand years, man has cried a billion tears For what, he never knew, now man's reign is through But through eternal night, the twinkling of starlight So very far away, maybe it's only yesterday Disclaimer: This video description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.

Music in this video
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In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)
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#NUMISTICS
Man with metal detector finds 222-year-old coin near church
October 25, 2020

EMBDEN, Maine (AP) — A man with a metal detector has found a long-hidden, 222-year-old coin under a few inches of soil outside a church in Maine.

Shane Houston, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was on a metal-detecting trip with a friend from New Hampshire when he found the coin earlier this month, the Bangor Daily News reported.

The copper penny, dated 1798, comes from the first decade of American-minted money in North America.

He said it was found on the grounds of a church in Embden where he had permission to use his metal detector.

The penny is not in pristine condition. Houston said it might fetch $200 but he has no intentions of selling it.

On the same trip, he also found an 1818 penny, a full wagon wheel and a musket ball. The ammunition was measured at 0.75 caliber, making it British in origin.

Abortion rights protests block city streets across Poland

By Joanna Plucinska, Anna Koper

WARSAW (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Poles blocked city streets in cars, on bicycles and on foot on Monday on the fifth day of protests against a Constitutional Court ruling that amounts to a near-total ban on abortion in the predominantly Catholic country.

People protest against the ruling by Poland's Constitutional Tribunal that imposes a near-total ban on abortion, in Warsaw, Poland October 26, 2020. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

Carrying banners reading “Enough”, “I won’t be your martyr” and “I want choice, not terror”, protesters gathered in several dozen towns and cities in defiance of coronavirus restrictions.

“I will be here until the end,” said Piotr Wybanski, 31, in one of Warsaw’s main thoroughfares. Speaking of his five sisters, mother and grandmother he said: “I came here with my fiancee and I fight for all of them.”

“I need to fight for the future of my daughter,” said Justyna, 37, who declined to give her family name.

Scuffles erupted between protesters and far-right groups who broke through a police cordon separating them in front a church elsewhere in Warsaw, prompting the police to use pepper spray. In the city of Wroclaw, abortion rights activists used flares.

The court ruling last Thursday fuelled an unprecedented backlash against the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, which is seen as having close links with the conservative nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government.

It has also heightened criticism of PiS, which came to power five years ago on a promise to instil more traditional values.

Crowds gathered again near the house of PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski in an affluent Warsaw neighbourhood, as police in vans with flashing lights kept them away and a helicopter hovered overhead.

After the ruling goes into effect, abortion will be banned in the case of foetal abnormalities and will be legal only in the case of rape, incest or a threat to the woman’s health.

Critics say the court has acted on behalf of the party, which has in the past stepped back from efforts to tighten abortion rules. PiS denies that.

The Constitutional Court was part of the government’s sweeping overhaul of the justice system which the European Commission says subverted the rule of law by politicising courts. The government says the court is independent.

MILITARY POLICE

In the capital and elsewhere, groups formed around church buildings, with local media reporting far-right groups were gathering to protect them. Late in the evening, flares were launched close to the PiS headquarters in central Warsaw.

The government has called for a halt to the protests because of a rising number of coronavirus cases overwhelming the health care system, though except for isolated scuffles with the police the protests have been largely peaceful.

“What’s happening in recent days is absolutely unacceptable,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s chief of staff, Michal Dworczyk, told private radio RMF. “Pandemic rules are being broken.”

The government said military police would be called in to help enforce pandemic rules, which include an obligation to wear face masks in public, from Wednesday. The defence ministry said on Twitter the decision was not connected with the protests.

Poland recorded 10,241 new coronavirus cases on Monday, compared with a record of 13,632 on Friday.

More protests are planned across Poland later this week, including a mass gathering in Warsaw on Friday.

Additional reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Agnieszka Barteczko and Jakub Stezycki; Writing by Justyna Pawlak; Editing by Nick Macfie and David Holmes

Polish protesters disrupt church services over near-total abortion ban

By Alicja Ptak, Kuba Stezycki

WARSAW (Reuters) - Thousands of activists disrupted church services across Poland on Sunday, chanting during mass and spraying slogans on walls to protest against a court ruling that amounts to a near-total ban on abortion.

In the first large-scale demonstrations directly targeting churches in the predominately Catholic country, crowds carried posters depicting a crucified pregnant woman and handed out protest cards to priests.

A Constitutional Court decision outlawing abortions due to foetal defects has now triggered four days of demonstrations.

The ruling ended the most common of the few legal grounds left for abortion in Poland and set the country further apart from the European mainstream.

In southern city of Katowice, a 7,000-strong crowd of mostly women gathered in front of the cathedral, chanting “this is war” and “human law, not ecclesiastical law”. State news agency PAP said police used tear gas after officers were attacked.

Three dozen protesters interrupted a mass in the western city of Poznan, chanting “we are sick of this” and holding banners with slogans including “Catholic women also need their right to abortion” in front of the altar.

“Our rage should be directed towards politicians, but also towards senior church figures as they have also added to this women’s hell that the authorities are preparing,” said Mateusz Sulwinski, one of the protest organizers in Poznan.


The leaders of the protests have accused Poland’s conservative ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), of pressing the court to tighten restrictions to appeal to the party’s base and to please the influential Church. The party denies that.

Church leaders have also denied wielding political power.

“The Church does not constitute the law in our homeland and these are not the bishops who decide on the compliance or non-compliance of laws with the Polish Constitution,” Polish archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki said in a statement.

“However, the Church cannot stop defending life, nor can it abandon the proclamation that every human being must be protected from conception until natural death.”

A spokesman for the government could not be reached for comment.

In Krakow, protesters hung black underwear and clothes on lines between trees - a reference to early protests against tightening of abortion restrictions where people wore black to show their supp

In Warsaw protesters sprayed “abortion without borders” on one church, according to state news agency PAP. At another church “you have blood on your hands” was daubed on the wall.

Some people give priests cards with a bolt symbol symbolising their protest instead of the traditional donation during mass.

“I’m here today because it annoys me that in a secular country the church decides for me what rights I have, what I can do and what I’m not allowed to do,” said media worker Julia Miotk, 26, protesting in front of a church in Warsaw.

The protests started on Thursday despite bans on gatherings of more than five people imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Activists said they were planning more protests on Monday afternoon.

Offers of free food to needy English children put government in awkward spot

By Estelle Shirbon

LONDON (Reuters) - Businesses and charities across England offered free meals for children on Monday, in a public relations fiasco for the Conservative government which voted last week not to provide food vouchers for poor families during a school holiday.

Some 1.3 million children are eligible for free lunches at schools in England. Following a campaign by a soccer star to provide extra support during the coronavirus crisis, the government gave their families food vouchers for the summer school holiday. But last week it voted not to do the same during a weeklong school break at the end of October.

Family-run cafes, fish and chip shops, bakeries, pubs, football clubs, hotels and a Sikh temple are among businesses, charities and places of worship that have since responded by announcing plans to give away meals.

“We haven’t got much money but we are not prepared to stand back and worry about children not getting a meal over half-term,” said the Oceans of Fun soft play centre in the city of Nottingham, offering eligible children free hot or cold meals.


Marcus Rashford, a 22-year-old Manchester United soccer forward who has spoken of sometimes going hungry as a child, has spearheaded the campaign.

“Those who have rallied around our communities, please continue to do so, you are the real pride of Britain,” he said, using his Twitter feed to publicise dozens of offers of free food. A petition he launched on Oct. 15 to end child food poverty in Britain had attracted close to 900,000 signatures.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended the government, saying it was providing support through other means such as an increase in welfare benefits and funding for local goverments.


“We will do everything in our power to make sure that no kid, no child goes hungry this winter during the holidays,” Johnson said, describing Rashford’s efforts as “terrific”.

“The debate is how do you deal with it,” Johnson said.

Under pressure from angry constituents, several Conservative lawmakers have broken ranks and called for a rethink. 

Bolivia parliament recommends charges against ex-interim president

Bolivia's outgoing parliament on Thursday approved a motion recommending that ex-interim president Jeanine Anez and her ministers face justice for responsibility over last year's unrest which left around 30 people dead   

.

© - Conservative former senator Jeanine Anez assumed power as interim president after Evo Morales fled following weeks of protests over his winning an unconstitutional fourth term and allegations of fraud

The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, meeting in joint session, approved a parliamentary report on the "massacres of Senkata, Sacaba and Yapacani, which recommends a judgment of responsibility against Jeanine Anez for genocide and other offenses", according to the Senate's Twitter account.


Parliament also approved the criminal indictment of 11 ministers.

A parliamentary commission, controlled by the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party of ex-president Evo Morales, spent months investigating incidents that took place in several regions of the country between October and November 2019, which left about 30 dead.

It presented its report on Tuesday, a little over a week after new socialist President Luis Arce, the MAS candidate, took power.

An investigation by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (CIDH) found that 35 people were killed in these incidents.

The unrest came after Morales won an unconstitutional fourth term in an election that sparked weeks of protests and charges of fraud.

Morales was forced to resign on November 10 before going into exile in Mexico and then Argentina.

Conservative former senator Anez assumed power as interim president after Morales fled.

Senate president Eva Copa, a member of MAS, specified that the report would be submitted to the Bolivian prosecution for opening possible proceedings.

She is also counting on the fact that the report will likely be approved by the new parliament, where the MAS retains its majority and which is due to take office next week.

jac/rsr/ob/mtp/je

Democrats prefer 'scalpel' over 'jackhammer' to reform key U.S. internet law

By Nandita Bose

© Reuters/REUTERS FILE PHOTO FILE PHOTO: 

A combination photo from files of Facebook Google and Twitter logos

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Big Tech's decisions to block some posts and videos while letting other content viewed as inflammatory proliferate have drawn the ire of Republicans and Democrats alike, raising the prospect that a 24-year-old U.S. law that fostered the internet's explosion will be pared back.

While many Republicans call for the repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, Democrats would prefer targeted, surgical revision of the law protecting Facebook and Twitter from being sued for content posted by users.

President Donald Trump and top Republicans, angered by what they allege is tech companies' censorship of conservative ideas, say the legal shield has outlived its usefulness. That thinking was on full display at a hearing held to discuss the law on Wednesday.

Democrats have also taken aim at the law because they claim it fails to tackle widespread misinformation and hate. But they argue the law is important to free speech online and want a more deliberate and moderate approach to reform.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has called for "revoking" the law, but many believe he will be more receptive to ideas from congressional Democrats if he wins the election.

Multiple Democratic lawmakers said in interviews that they oppose repeal of Section 230, which allows companies to take down or leave material on their platforms without the risk of facing lawsuits.

"Repealing it outright is not viable," Representative Anna Eshoo, a Democrat from California said. She has introduced legislation to remove tech companies' liability protections if their algorithms amplify harmful, radicalizing content that leads to offline violence. She advocated using "a scalpel instead of a jackhammer to reform the critical statute."

The approach has also found support from Virginia's Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, according to a staffer. Manchin's bill, which is co-sponsored by Republican John Cornyn, aims to stop the sale of opioids and illicit drugs online by amending 230 protections. It requires companies to report suspicious activity to law enforcement or be held liable for that failure.

An aide to Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon who originally co-authored Section 230, said the senator urges caution on steps that could limit free speech online. "He isn't saying no one can ever change a word of Section 230, but that politicians need to be very careful when it comes to tinkering with foundational laws around speech and the internet," the aide said.

Meanwhile tech trade groups over the past year began an aggressive lobbying effort against changing the law and view calls for repeal as draconian.

"I do expect the more extreme statements on wanting a full repeal to die down... the Democrats are walking that kind of rhetoric back," said Carl Szabo, general counsel for Netchoice - a trade group that counts Google, Facebook and Twitter among its members.

A MODERATE APPROACH

There is an array of proposals on Capitol Hill. Most of the bills that have found Democratic sponsors seek to change protections for harmful conduct on online platforms like crime, rather than on user speech.

Legislation from Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham goes after online child pornography. Companies that do not detect such images would lose their 230 immunity. The legislation, however, has been criticized by civil rights groups as infringing privacy of ordinary users. https://reut.rs/3munhZA

Democratic Senator Brian Schatz and Senate No. 2 Republican John Thune propose another bill that would require platforms to explain their content screening practices in everyday language, notify users of content rejection within 14 days and allow appeals.

Matt Perault, director at the Duke University's Center for Science and Technology Policy, said the U.S. election has given momentum to calls for revoking Section 230, which would radically alter the nature of online expression.

"No matter the outcome of the election, I think Section 230 reform will be on the agenda next Congress," Representative Eshoo said.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Chris Sanders and Cynthia Osterman)


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